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.

February 1, 2005

The Hockey News February 1, 2005

<div class="byline">&#x2013;NANCY MARRAPESE-BURRELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-07290/8378020-1-eng-US/f0014-072.jpg" title="f0014-07" width="213" height="279"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>n the outside chance there is a season this year, the Bruins face a challenge putting together a team. The club has just 11 NHL regulars under contract and president Harry Sinden said even if there is a short schedule, it would be tough to pull off. &ldquo;There are problems you probably don&rsquo;t realize, like immigration is a big problem. Getting that all together in time, to get these non-U.S. players back in the country, we need some lead time for that.&rdquo; As for the roster, the team would have to chase free agents. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve got over 250 players out there who aren&rsquo;t signed,&rdquo; Sinden said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s another aspect of it. You need a bit of a training camp&hellip;Somehow we&rsquo;d get that done, I guess.&rdquo;&hellip;Andy Hilbert&rsquo;s assist Jan. 16 against Worcester tied him with Andre Savage for second in Providence career scoring with 175 points. The late Sergei Zholtok had 186 points&hellip;Center Patrice Bergeron is enjoying the AHL after playing in the NHL as an 18-year-old rookie. &ldquo;The guys are really intense from the first line to the fourth line,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s just great because I&rsquo;m going to learn from that.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> No affiliation.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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NHL TEAM REPORTS

Getting roster completed would be challenge for B’s

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03605/8379717-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="979" height="708"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02851/8379724-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="209" height="174"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>orried about where you&rsquo;re going to get your hockey fix this winter? Have no fear-we&rsquo;ve got you covered. Throughout the season, THN will be running TV listings for leagues that are actually playing games.</p><h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><h2><b>ECHL</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04420/8379710-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="988" height="158"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05290/8379703-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="995" height="743"></div><h2><b>WESTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06228/8379696-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="988" height="198"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07187/8379689-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="982" height="310"></div><h2><b>NCAA</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-08148/8379682-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="985" height="241"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

WHERE TO GET YOUR HOCKEY FIX

<div class="byline">&#x2013;BRUCE BARRIOCH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06459/8378585-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="215" height="267"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>ired of waiting for an NHL season, Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson returned to Sweden. After hoping the league and players&rsquo; association could come to an agreement on a new labor deal, Alfredsson, 32, suited up for his first game with Frolunda of the Swedish league Jan. 18. Earning a reported $6,000 a month to help cover massive insurance costs on his five-year, $32.5million deal with the Sens, Alfredsson was happy to get back to playing. &ldquo;Sometimes I feel a bit lost out there because of the bigger ice,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t think it will take very long to adapt. This is what I grew up playing on.&rdquo;&hellip;One player who won&rsquo;t be joining Alfredsson is defenseman Wade Redden. Frolunda turned down an opportunity to sign Redden because the club was concerned about its chemistry. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very disappointed,&rdquo; Redden said. &ldquo;I was looking forward to getting back to playing.&rdquo; Redden also was hoping to play for Lloydminster, Sask., in the Sr. A league, but was blocked by a Hockey Canada ruling.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Senators have only goalie Kelly Guard playing with the Charlotte Checkers in the ECHL.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Alfredsson finally relents, signs deal tn play at home

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AMERICAN LEAGUE STATISTICS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011958/8377333-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>MO-DOH!</b></p><p><i>MoDo goalie Tommy Salo winces after taking a puck (check out the black blur at left of page) off the mask in Swedish league action.</i></p></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Opening Faceoff

<div class="byline">Jason Kay Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011912/8377385-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="295" height="326"></div><p>My NHL includes&hellip;a weekly edition of The Hockey News.</p><p>Unfortunately, barring the type of comeback the Boston Red Sox engineered against the New York Yankees last year, that tradition is temporarily on hold.</p><p>Unless the myopic men who run the players&rsquo; union and NHL see the light by the end of this month, we&rsquo;ll start publishing on a bi-weekly basis, effective immediately. Once a deal is struck, it&rsquo;ll be back to business as usual.</p><p>For our readers, there is good news. We vow to keep The Hockey News informative, entertaining and relevant. The two-week window will provide more time for our writers and editors to further sink their teeth into in-depth stories.</p><p>We&rsquo;re also considering ways to alter our focus. We may devote even more space to leagues beyond the NHL and are developing new ideas for recurring features. It should give us an opportunity to spread our wings and take our readers along for the flight.</p><p>Subscribers, meantime, will notice their subscriptions lasting longer. You&rsquo;ll continue to receive the same number of issues you signed up for; they&rsquo;ll just last an extended period.</p><p>Of course, we&rsquo;d be lying if we said the picture is perfect. The decision to go bi-weekly was made to better serve our customers, but it was also made as a business reaction to the NHL lockout. That&rsquo;s our reality.</p><p>The work stoppage - yes, that&rsquo;s right Bob Goodenow, I said work stoppage and don&rsquo;t give a hoot about your disdain for the semantics - is now directly impacting the lives of people close to us and we take that personally.</p><p>In various corners of the hockey world, we have friends with houses to pay for and babies to care for who, during the course of the lockout, have found themselves looking for work. They are the kind of people we all know intimately, whose life stories we share by osmosis.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021610/8377378-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="1315" height="1551"></div><p>And that&rsquo;s the maddening part of this ugly business. Goodenow, Gary Bettman and their lieutenants are seemingly oblivious to the damage they have needlessly inflicted on innocent bystanders.</p><p>From the league&rsquo;s perspective, you can understand them wanting their operations to be financially healthy, but are we really expected to believe a salary cap is the only means to achieve that end? Aren&rsquo;t these billionaire businessmen intelligent enough to work with the 24-per cent salary rollback offer and parlay it into a system that works for them?</p><p>If, as it has been suggested by the players, NHL teams aren&rsquo;t nearly as ill as the league has led us to believe, then shame on Bettman. If the only reason he&rsquo;s going to the wall on the hard cap is because, as has been rumored, he promised one to the Eugene Melnyks and Tom Golisanos when they purchased franchises, then a double pox on his house.</p><p>The same goes for Goodenow. If he&rsquo;s carrying on this destructive behavior in his own self interest, we&rsquo;d advise him to do some soul searching - as in, it&rsquo;d be time for him to find one. Precisely what is he fighting for? We haven&rsquo;t heard one solitary convincing argument yet why a salary cap that maintains guaranteed contracts and gives the players a fair share of overall revenue is so diabolical. In fact, we&rsquo;ve heard from players who are ready and willing to capitulate and negotiate a cap, but they&rsquo;re too fearful to be the first one to cross &lsquo;Iron Bob.&rsquo;</p><p>This glimmer of hope we&rsquo;re seeing in mid-January is certainly a refreshing change. And isn&rsquo;t it ironic it doesn&rsquo;t include Bettman or Goodenow?</p><p>Regardless of how this battle ends, thousands of people&mdash;from NHL head office, to NHL teams, to arena employees, to TV and radio broadcasters, to puck manufacturers, to hockey card makers, to agents, to publishers - have been unnecessarily hurt. The sooner it ends, the fewer the casualties and the sooner the healing can begin.</p><p>Surely, compassion has to be a factor at some point, doesn&rsquo;t it? Think of the legacy. If made to choose, wouldn&rsquo;t we all prefer to be remembered as good men than good business men?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031310/8377371-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="414" height="222"></div><p><b>AMOUNT OF MONEY SPENT ON SALARIES PER GOAL SCORED</b></p><p><b>1993-94 PER GOAL $63,000</b></p><p><b>2003-04 PER GOAL $237,000</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-041065/8377364-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="548" height="380"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Compassion a casualty

<div class="byline">&#x2013;MIKE BROPHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011917/8377440-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>LeClair, Lindros and Renberg spelled doom for NHL rivals.</i></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f Lightning really does strike twice, defending Stanley Cup-champion Tampa Bay won&rsquo;t be the only happy campers in a shortened 2004-05 season. If there is one, of course.</p><p>Eric Lindros, a free agent still in search of a new home, had his most memorable NHL campaign in 1994-95 - the last time the NHL played a partial season following a lockout. To be able to bounce back from his umpteenth concussion - which sidelined him for much of last season&mdash;and once again be a force in the NHL would be a good thing for both Lindros and hockey.</p><p>In 1994-95, Lindros is a bruising 21-year-old with two NHL seasons already under his belt, he ties for the league lead in points and is the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player. Lindros&rsquo;s &lsquo;Legion of Doom&rsquo; linemates, Mikael Renberg and John Leclair, help form what is easily the NHL&rsquo;s most dominant trio.</p><p>Who knows, in another shortened season, Lindros just might be able to duplicate his heroics.</p><p>The 1994-95 season brings us thrilling young players such as Peter Forsberg and Paul Kariya.</p><p>Jaromir Jagr, in his fifth year and still playing with passion, is awarded the scoring title after tying Lindros with 70 points. Jagr gets the nod because he beat Lindros in goals - 32 to 29.</p><p>Wayne Gretzky becomes the first NHLer to hit the 2,500-point plateau as a Los Angeles King while former Oilers team-mate Paul Coffey, with Detroit, becomes the first defenseman to reach 1,300 points and is awarded the Norris Trophy.</p><p>While offense steals headlines, it&rsquo;s defense that ultimately wins.</p><p>The New Jersey Devils, whose top two scorers, Stephane Richer and Neal Broten, combined for just one more point than Jagr and Lindros did individually, suffocate all opponents on the way to their first Stanley Cup championship.</p><p>And just like that, hockey as we knew it then, was caught in a trap - a neutral-zone trap.</p><p>&ldquo;This is not a talented team,&rdquo; says Devils veteran center Bobby Carpenter. &ldquo;It is an emotional, disciplined and well-coached team.</p><p>&ldquo;For a team with as little talent as we have to win again next year by playing with that level of emotion would be the toughest thing ever to accomplish&hellip;For us to do it again would be next to impossible.&rdquo;</p><p>The Devils missed the playoffs the following season, but won the Stanley Cup in 2000 and again in 2003&hellip;and the trap rages on.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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DEPARTMENTS

Memories of 1994-95

<h2><b><i>Best of the Hockey World</i></b></h2><p><b>HOMETOWN HERO</b> Vancouver&rsquo;s Gilbert Brule fires three goals to lead Team Cherry to a win in the CHL Top Prospects Game.</p><p><b>FROM JAGS TO RICHES</b> Jaromir Jagr is lighting it up in Russia, scoring 11 goals and 22 points in 17 games with Avangard Omsk.</p><p><b>GOALS GALORE</b> Greg Pankewicz&rsquo;s five goals and nine points lead the North to a 14-13 win over the South in the Central League All-Star Game.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021368/8377513-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="253" height="402"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GILBERT BRULE</b></figcaption></div><h2><b><i>Worst of the Hockey World</i></b></h2><p><b>I FOUGHT THE LAW I&hellip;</b>And the law won. Flint&rsquo;s Mike Wolf is suspended 25 UHL games for punching referee Steve Marofsky in the chest.</p><p><b>I FOUGHT THE LAW II&hellip;</b>And the law won again. In the same game, Flint&rsquo;s Kam White gets six for making contact with the same ref.</p><p><b>SAY IT AIN&rsquo;T SO, JOE</b> Davos&rsquo;s Joe Thornton is suspended four Swiss League games for cuffing Zurich goalie Ari Sulander in the back of the head.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03891/8377506-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="253" height="402"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOE THORNTON</b></figcaption></div><p><b>10-YEAR ITCH</b>&nbsp;<i>The only NHL award that Eric Lindros has ever won came in the 1994-95 lockout-shortened season. Here&rsquo;s who took home the hardware:</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04566/8377499-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="160" height="487"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HART ERIC LINDROS</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05362/8377492-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="170" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ART ROSS JAROMIR JAGR</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-06229/8377485-1-eng-US/f0005-062.jpg" title="f0005-06" width="160" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NORRIS PAUL COFFEY</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-07134/8377478-1-eng-US/f0005-072.jpg" title="f0005-07" width="167" height="485"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>VEZINA DOMINIK HASEK</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0870/8377471-1-eng-US/f0005-082.jpg" title="f0005-08" width="160" height="485"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CALDER PETER FORSBERG</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-1024/8377544-1-eng-US/f0005-102.jpg" title="f0005-10" width="283" height="451"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ALEXANDER OVECHKIN</b></figcaption></div><p><b><i>From around the NHL</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0942/8377551-1-eng-US/f0005-092.jpg" title="f0005-09" width="169" height="144"></div><p>&bull; <b>Trevor Linden</b> deserves credit for initiating new CBA talks, but let&rsquo;s not deify him. As president of the NHLPA, he was just doing his job.</p><p>&bull; Who will be the NHL&rsquo;s next dynamic duo? <b>Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby?</b> Perhaps <b>Mario Lemieux</b> and Crosby? If the next draft is determined by a lottery, Washington and Pittsburgh stand the best chance of landing Crosby.</p><p>&bull; Speaking of Crosby, if the Carolina Hurricanes are (un)lucky enough to secure the young phenom, chief scout <b>Sheldon Ferguson</b> has some creative marketing advice for his boss, <b>GM Jim Rutherford</b>. &ldquo;Find a way to get Rick Nash in a trade,&rdquo; Ferguson insisted. &lsquo;The we could have the Crosby, (Eric) Staal and Nash Line. Get it?&rdquo; Yes Sheldon, we get it. We&rsquo;re not that Young.</p><p>&bull; A brewing controversy that will be good for the NHL: the shootout. It&rsquo;s a virtual certainty we&rsquo;ll see shootouts to break ties when NHL hockey returns, yet nobody is talking about it. That will change dramatically when the first puck is dropped.</p><p>&bull; Islanders&rsquo; <b>GM Mike Milbury</b> intends to call every Isles season ticket holder, presumably to apologize for the lockout. &ldquo;We took their money and didn&rsquo;t give them a product for their dollar,&rdquo; Milbury said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-10

SNAPSHOTS

<p>Give Sidney Crosby a break!</p><p>Sid the Kid backs out of the Canadian Hockey League&rsquo;s Top Prospects Game and you would think he is singlehandedly responsible for setting the sport back 100 years.</p><p>The NHL&rsquo;s No. 1-ranked draft prospect and the best junior to emerge in years insists the reason he elected not to travel from Rimouski, Que., to Vancouver to participate in an exhibition game against his peers is because he was injured and didn&rsquo;t want to do further damage to his body. That&rsquo;s good enough for us.</p><p>&ldquo;The people who know me know I&rsquo;d be there if I could,&rdquo; Crosby said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not an easy decision not to go. But I&rsquo;m not going to have an injury that&rsquo;s going to last me a while at that cost. I&rsquo;ll take the heat and try to move on.&rdquo;</p><p>Frankly, if Crosby had come out and stated, &ldquo;I just spent a month representing my country at the World Junior Championship and I feel the best thing for me and my Quebec League team, the Rimouski Oceanic, is to take a few days off to rest up for the remainder of the season,&rdquo; that would have been AOK with us, too.</p><p>Obviously it&rsquo;s disappointing for fans who wanted to catch a glimpse of the best junior in the world up close and personal, as well as for the organizers who, with no payment to the player, took advantage of Crosby&rsquo;s celebrity status to sell the game.</p><p>But to ridicule a 17-year-old for not participating in a game in which he has absolutely nothing to gain is utter nonsense. His obligation, at this stage of what promises to be a long and fruitful career, is to himself and to the Oceanic. Besides, Crosby has bent over backwards the past two years to make himself available to both the media and fans when his schedule has allowed. He&rsquo;s no prirna donna.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i><b>Crosby has bent over backwards to make himself available to media and fans&hellip;he&rsquo;s no prima donna.</b></i></blockquote><p>Let&rsquo;s be honest, what started out a few years back as an opportunity for NHL scouts to get a closer look at some top prospects has grown into a corporate schmooze, much the same as the NHL All-Star Game. The big difference is, the participants in the CHL Top Prospects Game are amateurs.</p><p>The Hockey News has long been a proponent for all healthy players selected to play in the NHL AllStar Game. They are pros and should feel a sense of obligation to give back to the game. It irks us when major leaguers, who make an unbelievable living playing hockey, thumb their noses at the sponsors and fans who afford them such comfort and celebrity.</p><p>The same standard cannot be applied to juniors. The players who participated in the Top Prospects Game had something to gain and were thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in the event. But none of those players participated in the World Junior Championship, as did Crosby.</p><p>In a perfect world, Crosby would have played in the game and everybody would have gone home happy. But circumstances dictated he could not and when that happened, it was as though he was suddenly transformed into Public Enemy No. 1.</p><p>That&rsquo;s not only not right; it&rsquo;s just not fair.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Sidney Crosby’s no-show no big deal in big picture

f0006-01

Elston

<h2><b>TWEAKING SHOOTOUT SOLUTION</b></h2><p>The shootout is exciting for fans, so I suggest the NHL introduces a shootout after the second period of each game.</p><p>The winner of the shootout would get half-a-goal. That way, the third period will feature two teams trying to win, instead of the boring spectacle of playing for a tie.</p><p>This system will result in entertainment, no more ties, and allows the team aspect to stay intact. It is the best of both worlds.</p><p><i><b>Denis Vincent, Longueuil, Que.</b></i></p><h2><b>MORE PRAISE FOR GREAT DEBATES</b></h2><p>I loved your Great Debates magazine, but there is one debate I just can&rsquo;t let go.</p><p>Both the writers and fans decided Wayne Gretzky was the &ldquo;The Best Player Of All Time&rdquo;. However, Bobby Orr was a better and faster skater than Gretzky (and Gordie Howe) and could play both offense and defense.</p><p>Sorry, but in a 1-on-1 battle with any player - including Gretzky - Robert Gordon Orr would have emerged victorious.</p><p><i><b>Colin Morano, Port Elgin, Ont.</b></i></p><h2><b>LETTER OF THE WEEK</b></h2><p>If and when the NHL comes back, I hope they heed the recommendations of Jeremy Roenick. (THN, Dec. 28)</p><p>As J.R. said, it is time to give the game back to the fans, even if it means irritating the purists. I may not have the pedigree of a player, executive or coach, but I have a pedigree in what brings me back as a paying customer.</p><p>The game needs tweaking. Purists will always freak out - witness the complaints made in the past about slapshots, goalie masks and curved sticks - but the game is bigger than its individual components.</p><p>Players are bigger and faster than they were only 10 years ago, so I think that widening the rinks, enlarging the nets and bringing back the tag-up offside rule will make the game better.</p><p>Because, honestly, can it get any worse?</p><p><i><b>John C. Caulfield, Petersburg, N.J.</b></i></p><h2><b>BERTUZZI SHOULD STAY OUT</b></h2><p>Todd Bertuzzi&rsquo;s suspension must last until Steve Moore is fully recovered and signs with an NHL team.</p><p>I&rsquo;ve been involved with hockey since I lived in Montreal in the 1920s and I can&rsquo;t remember a player being so maliciously hit from behind. Should Moore never recover, Bertuzzi should be barred from playing hockey-in any league, anywhere.</p><p>Let&rsquo;s clean up our game and come down hard on these retaliatory hits before someone gets killed.</p><p><i><b>Art Tipaldi, Vernon, Conn.</b></i></p><h2><b>HELP FIGHT HUNTINGTON&rsquo;S</b></h2><p>I would like to thank The Hockey News, more specifically writer Andy Baggot, for the story about Jake Dowell&rsquo;s fight against Huntington&rsquo;s disease. (THN, Jan. 18)</p><p>My father-in-law suffers from the disease and my wife, therefore, has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the Huntington&rsquo;s gene. Unfortunately, few people know about Huntington&rsquo;s, so every article will make the public aware and, hopefully, cause readers to help provide more funding in the search for a cure.</p><p>Please support The Huntington&rsquo;s Society in their work - and thank you, THN, for your assist(ance).</p><p><i><b>Eric Renkema, Orono, Ont.</b></i></p><h2><b>NHL OWNERS LAUGHABLE?</b></h2><p>I think NHLers are being paid more than the sport will support. But when the players&rsquo; union offered to cut salaries, it gained an ally in me. The owners now have a sworn enemy.</p><p>If my employer asked me to make sacrifices in order to recover from poor business decisions that he had made, and <i>then</i> asked me to accept a salary that&rsquo;s contingent on his future decisions, I&rsquo;d laugh in his face.</p><p>But I&rsquo;m not laughing about what the owners are doing to my game.</p><p><i><b>Bill Donnell, Lake Stevens, Wash.</b></i></p><h2><b>EURO OPTION HURTS NHLPA</b></h2><p>The easiest way to end this lockout rests with the European leagues. If they didn&rsquo;t allow NHLers, most, if not all of those players would be sitting at home making next to nothing.</p><p>Maybe then they&rsquo;d be pushing for the CBA deal to get done.</p><p><i><b>Stephen Lynn, Bristol, Ct.</b></i></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 <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a> Include name, hometown, province/state and phone number.</p><p><i><b>Submissions will be edited.</b></i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

<div class="byline">Todd Lewis&nbsp;Guest Columnist</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011930/8377668-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="293" height="377"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>nce the NHL and the NHL Players&rsquo; Association settle their labor situation, focus will - and should&mdash;shift to marketing and promoting the game. Television broadcasts are the greatest opportunity to do that. As somebody who works in TV, I&rsquo;ve come up with some suggestions to spice up the show.</p><p>First, let&rsquo;s look at camera angles, which have changed very little since the early days of TV. Lower-level cameras, coupled with high-definition TV that brings the audience closer to the action, are a couple of ways to change the impact camera angles have on viewers.</p><p>The only good thing to come out of the now-defunct XFL was the overhead camera. For hockey applications, some might suggest an overhead boom-type camera to swing over the ice, but with the speed and unpredictability of the game it is inevitable that the puck or a stick will make contact and impact the game.</p><p>However, in every NHL arena a large scoreboard sits above center ice where mounting a camera is possible. Used properly, this could be a very nice complement to the relatively recent addition of the camera on the glass behind the net And if we&rsquo;ve got cameras on the glass behind the nets, why can&rsquo;t they also be utilized in other areas - say, near the faceoff circle in each end?</p><p>Another innovation-although many people hated the glowing puck and the red vapor trail of the FOX era - can be found on ESPN&rsquo;s current football telecasts.</p><p>On replays, the network&rsquo;s computer imaging shows the flight path of the football as it was passed, indicating its height and speed from the quarterback to where the receiver made the catch.</p><p>Adapting a similar approach to hockey replays would be easy. Such a system would greatly improve the viewers&rsquo; knowledge of how a shot found its way past the goaltender and into the net.</p><p>Incorporating this type of information with a baseball-style radar gun would be a huge addition to hockey&rsquo;s televised arsenal. In the same way baseball fans enjoy seeing how fast a pitcher throws - immediately after a pitch is caught - hockey fans could marvel at the speed and precision of a Chris Pronger slapshot. The success of the NHL&rsquo;s skills competitions proves fans aren&rsquo;t simply interested in game action alone.</p><h2><b>INTERVIEW PLAYERS BEFORE PERIODS</b></h2><p>To the NHL&rsquo;s credit, the league allows between-period player interviews. However, we have all seen the situation when a player comes off the ice, huffing and puffing to the point where any comment is almost incomprehensible. Why don&rsquo;t broadcasters do the interviews when the players are returning to the ice for next period? Players would have had several minutes to catch their breath and be able to answer the pertinent &ldquo;what do you plan to do in the next period to hold the lead, get back into the game, etc.&rdquo; questions.</p><p>Furthermore, there is also no reason that coaches can&rsquo;t be interviewed while the game is being played. Football coaches, baseball managers and NASCAR crew chiefs all conduct interviews during events; hockey should be no different. The L.A. Kings&rsquo; broadcasters began talking with assistant coaches during games last year; it can be a positive addition to the show.</p><p>Getting to know the players is also important. They are the heroes we want to promote. A common complaint is the difficulty seeing their faces with helmets and visors. Why not use head shots of all the players when going through the lineups? Every game telecast runs down the rosters as quickly as possible, many only showing a last name. Put the players&rsquo; face on the screen as often as possible.</p><p>Pictures of the game are very important, but so is the sound. When FOX began televising the NFL one of the changes everyone noticed was the game audio was much improved. With better sounds from the game, it becomes a more exciting event to watch. Understanding that hockey is an emotional game and the occasional four-letter bomb goes flying, perhaps it&rsquo;s inevitable a 10-second delay is built into live broadcasts.</p><h2><b>FOLLOW LEAD OF REALITY TV</b></h2><p>Also, taking a page from reality shows like <i>The Apprentice</i> or <i>Survivor,</i> record player conversations with each other on the bench and run them back during a stop in play. Let the players tell viewers what they&rsquo;re planning on the next shifts. It has been done now and then, but not consistently.</p><p>There are great stories to be told about all NHL players and team members. If we use these tools and others to tell them properly, it will go a long way to helping grow the game.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021286/8377661-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="1251" height="2427"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>SPEAK UP!</b></p><p><i>Wouldn&rsquo;t it be great to hear what NHL players and coaches are saying on the bench during games?</i></p></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Improve game on TV

f0008-01

COVER STORY

MY NHL INCLUDES…

<div class="byline">&#x2013;MARK BRENDER</div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t might have been called progress had they engaged in these discussions two months ago. But with barely two weeks left until the beginning of February and the assumed drop dead date on the season, it looked like Trevor Linden&rsquo;s negotiations jump-start was only serving to postpone the inevitable.</p><p>&ldquo;We continue to have some pretty strong philosophical disagreements,&rdquo; said NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly after two days of talks with NHL Players Association counterpart Ted Saskin and NHLPA president Linden, Jan. 19 and 20. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the issue that has always been there and it continues to be there.&rdquo;</p><p>And it continues to be the only issue that matters. The NHL insists the league needs cost certainty. The players say any link between league revenues and player compensation amounts to a salary cap and is a non-starter. &ldquo;We clearly have some very strong differences of opinion that we have had for some time,&rdquo; Saskin said. &ldquo;We continue to try to find ways to bridge the gap.&rdquo;</p><p>No proposals were exchanged and crucially, no new meetings were planned.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011937/8377772-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="288" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL DALY</b></figcaption></div><p>Daly, joined by NHL board of governors chairman and Calgary Flames co-owner Harley Hotchkiss on the first day in Chicago, said the talks were positive, but couldn&rsquo;t point to any specific progress being made. He said he was no more optimistic a settlement could be reached after the discussions than before the talks began.</p><p>Both men said the lines of communication remain open. Outside counsels Bob Batterman for the league and John McCambridge for the players also took part in the talks, which concluded Jan. 20 in Toronto.</p><p>Daly gave credit to Linden for taking the initiative and getting the two sides back to the table. Linden requested a meeting with Hotchkiss and Daly, but without NHL commissioner Gary Bettman or NHLPA executive direc-tor Bob Goodenow in the room.</p><p>Although no specific deadline was discussed between the two sides, Daly said he and Saskin agreed that the window on the season was short. &ldquo;We all know that time is not our ally in this process,&rdquo; Saskin said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

Season on the brink after Linden’s summit

<div class="byline">Mark Brender&nbsp;Senior Writer</div><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>otes from a hotel lobby on Day 127 of the Great Lockout, waiting for Daly and Saskin to emerge, sipping a lame three-dollar coffee that didn&rsquo;t cost more than a buck twenty a decade ago, and wondering if a coffee cap/escrow system would be fair if patrons get profit sharing on the apple crumble.</p><p><b>CONROY AND FROLOV?</b> It&rsquo;s amazing how quick actual CBA discussions, after four months without, can turn the gloomy into wondering, hey, do you think Craig Conroy is going to work on a line with Alexander Frolov?</p><p>Or, as Mike Ricci said on Day 2 of said discussions: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going duck hunting for the next couple days, but after that I&rsquo;ll be ready.&rdquo;</p><p><b>BATTLING RUMORS</b> In the absence of real CBA news the most interesting thing to do is make it up. And so, in the 24 hours after the first Trevor Linden-initiated meeting between Linden, Ted Saskin and outside lawyer John McCambridge for the NHLPA, and Bill Daly, Calgary owner Harley Hotchkiss and outside lawyer Bob Batterman for the NHL, the stop-the-presses stories flew like&hellip;well, Kitty Hawk.</p><p>There was the nearing completion on a six-year, heavy luxury tax story; the eight-year, four-year luxury tax, four-year salary cap story; the both sides have been working on compromise positions for the past 10 days story; and, last but not least, the diversion story: the Linden meeting was really a diversion to draw away the media hordes while Bettman and Goodenow worked on a deal at a secret locale.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021522/8377810-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="297" height="382"></div><p><b>THERE&rsquo;S NOTHING TO THAT</b> The absence of news was magnified by both parties&rsquo; insistence reporters not read too much into things.</p><p>Among those things are the fact NHLPA executive members Bob Boughner, Vincent Damphousse, Bill Guerin and Trent Klatt flew to Toronto on Day 2 of the meetings. This was not, we were told, any sign that a deal was pending. We also shouldn&rsquo;t read much into the fact Daniel Alfredsson (in Sweden) and Arturs Irbe (said to be unavailable) couldn&rsquo;t make it. We were assured this does not mean the PA is planning a new, non-Euro NHL.</p><p>Most of all, we shouldn&rsquo;t read anything into the fact Linden did not invite Bettman and Goodenow to the meetings. Just a change of pace, that&rsquo;s all. They&rsquo;re still part of the process, not the problem. Really, they are. Honest.</p><p><b>TRUST FACTOR</b> Speaking of honesty, do you think they were in the room talking about the trust factor? Right or wrong, many players still don&rsquo;t trust the league&rsquo;s numbers. For example, Edmonton left winger Georges Laraque says he was told by a Vancouver player at Brad May&rsquo;s charity game that the Canucks made $25 million a year in each of the past three years.</p><p>Now, if that&rsquo;s true, the trust issue is a far bigger deal than most of us thought. Laraque points to the recent partial sale of the Canucks to businessman Francesco Aquilini and says, doesn&rsquo;t that prove something? Who&rsquo;d buy a team during a lockout if it wasn&rsquo;t raking it in?</p><p>Fair question. But it&rsquo;s fair to ask, then, about the sanity of Canucks owner John McCaw, evidently duped into selling half of a gold mine, and Arthur Levitt, who clearly fell victim to a snow job. It&rsquo;s also fair to ask who was that Canucks player&rsquo;s source for his figures, since Orca Bay was a private company that doesn&rsquo;t disclose financials, and since McCaw never talks.</p><p><b>UNION&rsquo;S LAST CHANCE</b> Continuing with the revenue thing, here was something for the players to consider: you know that linkage of salaries to revenues you all despise so much? If this season goes down the tubes, there&rsquo;s zero chance the linkage won&rsquo;t be included in any new deal, precisely because nobody will have any idea what league revenues will be a year from now.</p><p><b>WHAT&rsquo;S THE EURO RATE?</b> And if there is no season? Well, Georges Laraque, as decent and generous as they come, can&rsquo;t afford to sit around in Edmonton any longer.</p><p>Whenever the NHL returns, the competition will be fierce.</p><p>&ldquo;In the beginning I was saying I didn&rsquo;t agree going (to Europe), taking jobs and stuff, but if everybody goes somewhere I&rsquo;m not going to be the only retard staying and not doing something,&rdquo; he says.</p><p>Laraque was predicting an exodus of players going across the ocean, all to be in shape to compete for jobs whenever the NHL gets back. How the players would get back to this side of the ocean without sacrificing their principles is a story for another day.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03992/8377803-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="1503" height="1035"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>ALL FOR ONE?</b></p><p><i>Georges Laraque, center, came out against going to Europe during the lockout, but he&rsquo;d reconsider if the year is lost.</i></p></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-02

CBA crossfire

<div class="byline">BY ELLIOTT PAP</div><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>rom the moment the Vancouver Giants were awarded the Canadian Hockey League&rsquo;s 2005 Top Prospects Game, the Western League team went into full marketing mode trumpeting a clash between eastern star Sidney Crosby and their very own Gilbert Brule.</p><p>Posters, brochures, newspaper ads, they all featured Crosby and Brule face-to-face. Tickets went fast, 16,000 of them. After all, who wanted to miss this type of showdown between the best 17-year-olds in North America?</p><p>Then less than a week before the game, Brule was dropped from No. 2 to No. 6 among North American skaters for the 2005 NHL draft by Central Scouting and Crosby, the consensus No. 1 pick, opted out of the Top Prospects Game citing an injury.</p><p>Luckily for the fans, and perhaps the scouts, Brule stole the show with a three-goal, one-assist performance as his Don Cherry-coached side knocked off John Davidson&rsquo;s squad 8-4.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011764/8377841-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="646" height="852"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>HAT TRICK</b></p><p><i>Gilbert Brule led Team Cherry over Team Davidson in a game featuring prospects for the 2005 draft.</i></p></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Gilbert will be (drafted) No. 6 after this game,&rdquo; Cherry crowed. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what those scouts were smoking. I&rsquo;m so proud of this guy. He had a lot of pressure on him with the other guy (Crosby) not coming. He came through. Four points. First star. When a guy comes through with pressure, that&rsquo;s great.&rdquo;</p><p>After a quiet first period in which he threw a few hits, but otherwise didn&rsquo;t stand out, Brule caught fire in the final 40 minutes playing on a line with Prince George&rsquo;s Nick Drazenovic and Sault Ste. Marie&rsquo;s Chris Lawrence. Brule was dangerous on nearly every shift and scored twice in the second. He added an empty-netter in the third.</p><p>&ldquo;It was pretty fun,&rdquo; said Brule, who grew up in North Vancouver, a short haul from the Pacific Coliseum where the Prospects Game was played. &ldquo;I felt a lot of pressure coming into this game to perform and do well. I was lucky the puck went in.&rdquo;</p><p>Brule&rsquo;s drop in the draft rankings stunned him. He was leading the WHL in scoring at the time, but it also came on the heels of a one-period benching by Giants coach Don Hay for taking undisciplined penalties. Brule is only 5-foot-10 and is intent on proving he can defend himself and play tough. Lately, he has been likened more to Mike Peca than Steve Yzerman.</p><p>While Brule&rsquo;s stock undoubtedly rose in the Prospects Game, he wasn&rsquo;t the only 17-year-old to catch eyes and make an impression. Team Davidson&rsquo;s top line featured Saskatoon Blade teammates Devin Setoguchi and Wacey Rabbit skating alongside Moose Jaw Warrior Kenndal McArdle.</p><p>McArdle, a Vancouver native, scored twice while Setoguchi, the speedy winger who has been inspired by Paul Kariya (both have Japanese heritage), scored once and was the most dangerous forward on his side.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought I played a pretty good game and I feel like I&rsquo;m leaving with no regrets,&rdquo; Setoguchi said.</p><p>Other scorers for Cherry were: Guillaume Lalendresse (Drummond-ville), Marek Zagrapan (Chicoutimi), Alex Bourret (Lewiston), Brendan Mikkelson (Portland) and Radek Smolenak (Kingston), the latter Crosby&rsquo;s replacement. Viatcheslav Trukhno (PEI) had the other Davidson goal.</p><p>Owen Sound&rsquo;s Bobby Ryan, ranked third by Central Scouting, played only a handful of shifts after injuring his shoulder in the first period.</p><p>Finishing between Crosby and Brule on Central Scouting&rsquo;s mid-term rankings were Benoit Pouliot, Sudbury; Ryan; Luc Bourdon, Val d&rsquo;Or; and, Jack Johnson, U.S. national team development program. <i>(See pg. 22-23 for complete draft rankings.)</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-01

Brule a star at home

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he father of a nine-year-old Toronto minor atom player was charged with choking, spent a night in jail, was released on $2,000 bail and ordered to take anger-management courses.</p><p>Bradley Desrocher, 47, is also forbidden from entering any sports arena for up to one year.</p><p>According to published reports, Desrocher became enraged his son was made to sit out a few shifts in a Jan. 16 game for missing an earlier practice, as per team policy. He approached the players&rsquo; bench, yelled at the coach, then reached over the Plexiglass and grabbed the coach by the throat. Other parents restrained Desrocher as coach Mark Teskey collapsed to the floor.</p><p>Remarkably, Teskey regained his breath and finished coaching the game.</p><p>Desrocher will appear at a Feb. 3 court hearing.</p><p>The incident is the latest in a rash of bizarre happenings at amateur rinks. A 38-year-old Wyoming, Ont., man suffered a seven-stitch cut to his left ear, a concussion and possible hearing loss Jan. 12 after being struck by a goalie&rsquo;s stick in an oldtimers game. Goalie Dean Sowinski, 39, of Sarnia, Ont., was charged with assault with a weapon and aggravated assault.</p><p>Recently, an Ajax, Ont., mother and daughter were charged with assault after a player and fan were assaulted during a Jr. A game.</p><p>In November, a Mississauga mother was suspended from attending games for one year by the Greater Toronto Hockey League for taunting 11-year-old players and parents on an opposing team by pulling up her blouse, exposing her bra and shaking her breasts.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Full moon at amateur arenas

<h2><b>MINOR-LEAGUER BANNED 25 GAMES</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span> 6-foot-5, 275-pound United League winger was suspended 25 games for hitting a referee in the chest. Mike Wolf of the Flint Generals was being restrained by linesmen after a fight with Port Huron&rsquo;s Gabriel Proulx when he hit referee Steve Marofsky. &ldquo;It was a direct punch to the chest of the official,&rdquo; said UHL director of operations Brad Jones after watching tape. The Flint enforcer, eligible to return March 6, had no points and 71 penalty minutes in 12 games. There were four other ejections during the fight-filled game. Linesman Chris Wilson sustained a fracture of his wrist and his arm was slashed when he was hit with a flying skate.</p><h2><b>JAGR CONNECTS FOR WINNER</b></h2><p>Jaromir Jagr scored in overtime as Avangard Omsk of Russia won the European Champions Cup with a 2-1 win over Karpat Oulu of Finland in St. Petersburg. The European Champions Cup fields the national champion teams from Europe&rsquo;s top six nations. Other teams included Zlin of Switzerland, Frankfurt of Germany, Dukla Trencin of the Czech Republic and HV-71 of Sweden. The tournament all-star team was goalie Norm Maracle, Avangard; defensemen Oleg Tverdovsky, Avangard, and Josef Boumedienne, Karpat; forwards Maxim Sushinsky and Andrei Kovalenko, Avangard, and Jussi Jokinen, Karpat.</p><h2><b>HOCKEY LIVES AT TSN</b></h2><p>Hockey will have its day in Canada as TSN announced a six-hour Feb. 19 show called <i>Hockey lives Here: Canada&rsquo;s Game.</i> The news came two days after CBC dropped its annual 13-hour telecast - <i>Hockey Day In Canada -</i> because of the lockout. The TSN show will be of similar tone: a celebration of the grassroots of hockey. It will telecast coverage of the Quebec International Peewee tournament, the World Pond Championship from Plaster Rock, N.B., and a Canadian university game.</p><h2><b>10-DAY GAME PLANNED</b></h2><p>The next world&rsquo;s longest game is expected to last so long, it can&rsquo;t even be covered by this weekly magazine. It&rsquo;s scheduled to run 10 days in Ardrossan, Alta. Brent Saik is organizing another &ldquo;longest game&rdquo; in an effort to raise money for cancer research. He raised more than $135,000 during a June, 2003, record game that lasted 82 hours. The current world record game is 203 hours. The game is set to begin Feb. 11 and end Feb. 20, 240 hours later. Donations can be made at <a href="http://www.worldslongestgame.com">www.worldslongestgame.com</a>.</p><h2><b>WHA AIMS FOR OCTOBER</b></h2><p>A mid-winter revival of the World Hockey Association during the NHL lockout isn&rsquo;t going to happen, says league owner Ricky Smith. Plans to launch in February were halted because there were not enough players available. But the rival pro league vows to start fresh in October with at least six North American franchises.</p><h2><b>NO DEMAND FOR PUCKS</b></h2><p>The NHL&rsquo;s official puck supplier laid off half its staff due to falling demand, the <i>Globe and Mail</i> reported. &ldquo;The business has been down since September,&rdquo; Denis Drolet, president of Groupe Drolet, told the newspaper. &ldquo;Retailers have no reason to buy NHL products. They have no interest and no demand for it.&rdquo; Twenty of its 40 staff members have been laid off.</p><h2><b>NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER!</b></h2><p><i>NHLers who have gotten older - technically - during the lockout:</i></p><p><b>Jan. 21</b></p><p>Andrei Zyuzin, Min, 27</p><p><b>Jan. 22</b></p><p>Shean Donovan, Cgy, 30</p><p>Robert Esche, Phi, 27</p><p><b>Jan. 23</b></p><p>Brendan Shanahan, Det, 36</p><p>Tomas Holmstrom, Det, 32</p><p>Scott Hannan, SJ, 26</p><p><b>Jan. 25</b></p><p>Chris Chelios, Det, 43</p><p><b>Jan. 27</b></p><p>Patrice Brisebois, Mtl, 34</p><p>Rhett Warrener, Cgy, 29</p><p><b>Jan. 29</b></p><p>Dominik Hasek, Ott, 40</p><p>Sean Burke, Phi, 38</p><p>Jason Doig, Wsh, 28</p><p>Scott Parker, SJ, 27</p><p><b>Jan. 30</b></p><p>Trent Klatt, LA, 34</p><p>Chris Simon, Cgy, 33</p><p>Alex Khavanov, StL, 33</p><p>Dan Hinote, Col, 28<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

HOCKEY WORLD IN BRIEF

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011916/8377927-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="742" height="573"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PATRICK LALIME</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>or Patrick Lalime, the 2004-05 NHL season was a chance to prove his critics wrong and erase the bitter disappointment of last season&rsquo;s first round playoff loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately for Lalime, who was traded by the Ottawa Senators to the St. Louis Blues in the summer, he has had to wait a lot longer for that opportunity due to the lockout. Unlike the majority of his NHL brethren, Lalime isn&rsquo;t playing in Europe or the American League during the stoppage. This week&rsquo;s NHL team reports feature expanded notebooks.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> Also, this issue&rsquo;s NHL team reports rate the first-half performance of each NHL team&rsquo;s ECHL affiliate - if they have one - and the development of any potential prospects.</p><h2><b>ECHL AFFILIATES</b></h2><p><i>Here are the ECHL affiliates for each NHL team. An asterisk (*) indicates a shared affiliation.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021453/8377920-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="749" height="1292"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-01

<div class="byline">&#x2013;DAN WOOD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-031011/8377958-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="217" height="281"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>ucks mainstays Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Steve Rucchin were considering whether to join the legions of NHLers playing in Europe. Rucchin was entertaining an offer to play with SG Cortina in Italy, while Giguere was willing to go pretty much anywhere. &ldquo;The more we go, the less possibility there&rsquo;s going to be a season here,&rdquo; Giguere said&hellip;After participating with several NHLers in a charity tour through B.C., left winger Garrett Burnett signed with the Danbury Trashers (UHL). Burnett had worked as an assistant coach for Danbury earlier this season&hellip;The Ducks loaned defenseman Juha Alen to his former Finnish club, Ilves Tampere. Alen played in 59 games for Cincinnati (AHL) last season, but hadn&rsquo;t played this year due to injuries.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> Paced by Brian Gornick&rsquo;s team-high 13 goals and a team-best 27 points from Max Birbraer, the San Diego Gulls were battling for a playoff berth with a 19-11-4 record, tied for third place in the Western Division. The Gulls were 12-3-2 at the San Diego Sports Arena. Gornick, a big, strong forward, and goalie Eddy Ferhi, who is under contract to Anaheim through this season, are NHL longshots.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-03

Ducks stars look to Europe as NHL season drifts away

<div class="byline">&#x2013;JOHN MANASSO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05474/8377989-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="218" height="278"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>fter missing two months of Swiss League action with an injury, right winger Dany Heatley returned to his SC Bern team. Heatley, who was hit in the face by a shot from teammate Daniel Briere, saw several eye specialists before being cleared to play Jan. 14&hellip;A group of 97 Thrashers seasonticket holders traveled to Chicago to attend two Wolves games Jan. 14-15. Some 20 of those were players and family of a youth team, TPH Thunder; among the parents whose children play in the Thunder program is former NHL defenseman Uwe Krupp&hellip;Center Tommi Santala, who may have played on Atlanta&rsquo;s fourth line this season, but was sent to Chicago (AHL) before the lockout, had bones in his face broken earlier this season after a fight with San Antonio&rsquo;s Greg Campbell. Santala, however, has returned and played well with a face shield.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> Entering the second half a few points out of first place, the Gwinnett Gladiators - a young team without the goalies they expected to start the season with - were in a good position. Thrashers GM Don Waddell is convinced defense prospect Lane Manson will play in the NHL, but perhaps not for as many as five years.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-05

Heatley resumes Euro career after injured eye fully heals

<div class="byline">&#x2013;JIM KELLEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04700/8378051-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="215" height="280"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f the NHL returns to action this season, Sabres games won&rsquo;t be televised on the Empire Sports Network. The network, created by Adelphia Communications founders the Rigas family, has ceased operations, a victim of the Adelphia bankruptcy. Initial though unconfirmed reports indicate the Sabres will land on the Madison Square Garden Network should the season resume&hellip;Unsigned free agent defenseman James Patrick&rsquo;s concern for the game goes well beyond just the impact of the current CBA stalemate. &ldquo;The bigger issue is how the game is played and how it is shown on TV,&rdquo; Patrick said in a broadcast radio report. &ldquo;We have the best game, played faster than any other sport, but with the way the league has allowed the game to be played, it&rsquo;s become soccer on ice and American fans aren&rsquo;t going to pay to watch that.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> Buffalo has no working agreement with any one ECHL team, but does place prospects with various clubs from time to time. A Sabres spokesman said all of the organization&rsquo;s prospects are either in junior hockey, Europe or the American League.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-04

Sabres look tor new partner after cable outlet goes under

<div class="byline">&#x2013;RANDY SPORTAK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06374/8378082-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="213" height="279"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he long road back for Matthew Lombardi is nearing completion. Lombardi, out with concussion problems since Derian Hatcher elbowed him in the jaw in the playoffs, left Calgary for Lowell on Jan. 18. The young center will only practice until his recurring headaches disappear. &ldquo;The difference is instead of practising in Calgary, it&rsquo;ll be a little more structured,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not far, and that&rsquo;s a good feeling.&rdquo;&hellip;The lockout has players and owners on different sides, but the death of Flames part-owner J.R. (Bud) McCaig affected everybody. &ldquo;Over the years our team was very fortunate to get to spend some time with him and his family, from the team barbecues at his place, to local charity events, or seeing him after a game down in the dressing room, win or lose always smiling,&rdquo; said Jarome Iginla. &ldquo;He was symbolic of why it is special to play professional hockey in Calgary and call Calgary your home.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The second-year Las Vegas Wranglers are hovering above. 500, but in a fight for a playoff spot without much top-end scoring. Rookie pro Dustin Johner, a small center, is leading the team in scoring.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-06

Lombardi heads to Lowell to prepare for game days

<div class="byline">&#x2013;LUKE DECOCK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-08238/8378113-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="217" height="232"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>urricanes owner Peter Karmanos irked some fans by saying his &ldquo;gut feeling&rdquo; was that the season was lost, leaving the team scrambling to placate its season-ticket holders. Karmanos said he was &ldquo;spoken to&rdquo; by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman&hellip;Count Carolina winger Jeff O&rsquo;Neill in with Wayne Gretzky worrying about 2005-06. &ldquo;I think at the beginning of December, when we made our offer as substantial as it was and they turned their noses, we knew then this year&rsquo;s done. And next year is in jeopardy, too.&rdquo;&hellip;Former assistant coach and pro scout Randy Ladouceur left to become coach of the OHL&rsquo;s Oshawa Generals&hellip;Winger Pavel Brendl has played for five teams in four countries during the lockout.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The defending Eastern/American Conference-champion Florida Everblades slipped out of the lead in the ECHL&rsquo;s South Division, but had the conference&rsquo;s fourth-best record. Goalies Rob Zepp and Craig Kowalski are both on Carolina&rsquo;s depth chart. The lockout is robbing Zepp of AHL playing time this season while Kowalski is a first-year pro out of Northern Michigan.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-08

Karmanos gets N.Y. lecture after pessimistic comments

<div class="byline">&#x2013;TIM SASSONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011747/8378144-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="209" height="272"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen Norfolk&rsquo;s Craig Anderson needed hip surgery to repair a torn labrum, he became the third Blackhawks goaltender to undergo the same operation in a little over a year. Both Jocelyn Thibault and Steve Passmore had hip surgery last season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty bizarre when you think about it,&rdquo; said Norfolk coach Trent Yawney. Hawks assistant GM Dale Tallon said all three goalies play the butterfly style, placing a lot of stress on the hips. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re bouncing up and down all the time and it&rsquo;s not a natural move,&rdquo; Tallon said&hellip;Winger Tuomo Ruutu is skating again after shoulder surgery and could be assigned to AHL Norfolk Feb. 1.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Hawks have a only few players placed at Greenville, a secondary affiliate they share with Edmonton. Goalie Mike Brodeur is in his first pro season and the Hawks like his potential.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

Hawks’ butterfly trio hip with the times

<div class="byline">&#x2013;ADRIAN DATER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03883/8378175-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Steve Konowalchuk was dealt to the Avs last year after 12 seasons with the Caps.</i></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04650/8378182-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="214" height="266"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Colorado Avalanche were preparing for 2004-05 without leader Peter Forsberg, but news of a possible season-ending wrist injury wasn&rsquo;t any easier to swallow. Committed for the season with MoDo in Sweden, Forsberg was injured in a Jan. 20 game against Linkoping. Initial reports were he broke the navicular bone in his wrist and is gone for the year&hellip;Avalanche players set a Jan. 21 drop-dead date of their own. If no agreement were reached by then, players said they would stop skating and working out. Veteran Steve Konowalchuk wanted to stop a week earlier, but was persuaded by teammates to keep going&hellip;Right winger Dan Hinote signed to play with Forsberg in MoDo&hellip;The team will refund season-ticket holders with up to five percent interest if and when the season is canceled.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> No affiliate.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-03

Forsberg sidelined with wrist injury

<div class="byline">&#x2013;AARON PORTZLINE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-08265/8378213-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="223" height="275"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>eft winger Geoff Sanderson and center Tyler Wright repeatedly said they didn&rsquo;t want to go to Europe and leave their families. But as the NHL lockout dragged on, both left for Switzerland. Sanderson will play for Servette Geneve, while Wright signed with Bern. Their Columbus teammate, Rick Nash, is playing for Davos&hellip;Blueliner Luke Richardson didn&rsquo;t use the &lsquo;R&rsquo; word, but hinted his career could be over if the season is canceled. The rugged, 17-year NHL veteran said it would be difficult to get back to speed after a year off.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Dayton Bombers have, well, bombed. With an 11-21-1 record, even the home crowds have turned hostile watching the offense-challenged Bombers regularly fall behind. On the bright side, Tyler Kolarik, a rookie pro after four years at Harvard, is the team&rsquo;s leading scorer with 11 goals and 23 points.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-08

Sanderson, Wright join legions in Europe

<div class="byline">&#x2013;MIKE HEIKA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021255/8378244-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="219" height="236"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>tars center Mike Modano&rsquo;s opinions on the NHL lockout have been all over the map, ranging from telling Canada&rsquo;s National <i>Post</i> that the players&rsquo; resolve has a limit to telling Canadian sports broadcaster TSN owners shouldn&rsquo;t try to test the NHLPA&rsquo;s unity. But in what may have been Modano&rsquo;s clearest moment, he said the NHLPA should poll its membership to see exactly how the players feel about losing a year of salary - and maybe more. &ldquo;At the very least, we should be talking about it and how we&rsquo;re going to handle it,&rdquo; Modano said. &ldquo;We need to organize a meeting pretty soon so we can sit down and talk everything out.&rdquo;&hellip;Center Niko Kapanen&rsquo;s pace has slowed, but he still is enjoying a banner season for EV Zug in the Swiss league, with 10 goals and 43 points in 37 games.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> No affiliate.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-02

Modano says NHLers should plan for future

<div class="byline">&#x2013;NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05453/8378275-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="213" height="260"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f the season is canceled, what happens to Detroit&rsquo;s coaching staff? Dave Lewis and his lieutenants - associate coach Barry Smith and assistant coach Joe Kocur - signed one-year deals after last season. But there might be coaches available who weren&rsquo;t available last summer and the roster might change in such a way that management feels another staff would be better. Lewis said there had been no discussions about what would happen if the season were canceled&hellip;Center Kris Draper has decided not to go to Europe even if the season is canceled. He said it wouldn&rsquo;t have been right for his family.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Toledo Storm has been hovering a bit above. 500, good for middle of the pack in the North Division. Goalie Logan Koopmans has gone 5-7-1 with a 3.11 goals-against average., 895 save percentage and one shutout.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-05

Red Wings coaches face uncertain future

<div class="byline">&#x2013;ROB TYCHKOWSKI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06361/8378306-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="210" height="278"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith just five goals in his last 20 AHL games, left winger Raffi Torres admits he has to get his focus back. &ldquo;I have to stop worrying about the NHL and what&rsquo;s going on there,&rdquo; said Torres, admitting he had one eye on CBA negotiations. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of dragged into my head the last little while.&rdquo;&hellip;Left winger Ethan Moreau, convinced the season is done, signed a contract to play in Villach of the Austrian League&hellip;Left winger Ryan Smyth is exploring the idea of an exhibition tour of Alberta for locked-out NHLers.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Greenville Grrrowl are a middle-of-the-pack outfit, two games over. 500 with the same number of goals for as goals against. Goaltender Mike Morrison was called up to Edmonton (AHL) because of injury and let in just one goal in his first two starts, both of which went to overtime.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-06

Labor discussions a distraction to Torres

<div class="byline">&#x2013;MICHAEL RUSSO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07303/8378337-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="218" height="280"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>anthers fans may not be aware of the NHL lockout, but chief operating officer Michael Yormark said the team sold &ldquo;a couple hundred&rdquo; holiday ticket packages for $299 each that include three concerts - and yes, three Panthers games. The package was so popular, the team extended the offer, now calling it the &ldquo;All-Access Pass.&rdquo; &ldquo;The real draw was the concerts,&rdquo; Yormark said&hellip;Not able to make a trade during the lockout, the Panthers last week &ldquo;loaned&rdquo; left winger Eric Beaudoin to Edmonton (AHL) for center Joe Cullen, brother of former Panthers center Matt Cullen.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Texas Wildcatters, owned by Panthers backup goalie Jamie McLennan, was the ECHL&rsquo;s second-worst team, with a 6-23-7 record as of mid-January. They had gone 1-17-2 since late November and were the league&rsquo;s lowest-scoring team with 74 goals.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-07

Panthers sell tickets, but not In ideal way

<div class="byline">&#x2013;MATT MCHALE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-09239/8378368-1-eng-US/f0015-092.jpg" title="f0015-09" width="206" height="267"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen the meetings over the NHL lockout heated up in late January, the Kings&rsquo; AHL affiliate in Manchester wondered what a possible settlement would mean to the Monarchs roster.</p><p>The team certainly would lose goalie Mathieu Garon, who was tied for the league lead - with teammate Adam Hauser - with five shutouts. Garon had 20 of the team&rsquo;s 30 wins and a. 933 save percentage.</p><p>Other probable Manchester losses would be Mike Cammalleri, Dustin Brown, Denis Grebeshkov, Tim Gleason and Yanick Lehoux.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Kings&rsquo; ECHL affiliate is Reading, Pa., but they also have a working agreement with Bakersfield, Calif. The Kings top prospect in Bakersfield is Connor James who had 12 goals and 27 points in 31 games. James, the Kings&rsquo; ninth round pick (279th overall) is a strong skater with an accurate shot.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-09

Garon back In NHL If settlement reached

<div class="byline">&#x2013;BRIAN MURPHY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011708/8378399-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="220" height="253"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f the NHL salvages a season, the Wild still will have the master of momentum behind their bench. Coach Jacques Lemaire was in charge of the 1995 Stanley Cup-champion Devils, who muddled through a 48-game season before launching one of the most stirring post-season runs in NHL history. It took New Jersey 33 games to climb above. 500, but they had a 16-4 record in the playoffs. A decade later, Lemaire wonders about the frame of mind in which players might return. &ldquo;(The) goal will be to make the playoffs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But if (NHLers) come back and they&rsquo;re still talking about the (CBA), the coaching staff has to get their minds back on the game&rdquo;&hellip;Right wing prospect Danny Irmen has yet to play for the Wild, but he has a hat trick at Xcel Energy Center. The University of Minnesota sophomore had three goals in a 9-6 win over Minnesota State-Mankato Jan. 14 and was the WCHA&rsquo;s player of the week.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> For the Louisiana IceGators, hovering around. 500 never felt so good. The team saw their best playmaker, Mike Omicioli, bolt for Italy in December and needed the league to save them from feuding team owners.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-01

Lemaire focused on wins whenever NHL comes back

<div class="byline">&#x2013;HERB ZURKOWSKY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-031012/8378430-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="215" height="246"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ontreal defenseman Sheldon Souray believes the NHLPA&rsquo;s resolve has remained strong during the NHL lockout. &ldquo;It certainly seems the owners are steadfast on having the salary cap and that&rsquo;s something the players will never accept,&rdquo; said Souray, who is following details of the lockout through the union&rsquo;s secure web site. &ldquo;Everyone is on the same page. &ldquo;The one thing - and I&rsquo;m telling you, it&rsquo;s overwhelming when you read it - is that the guys are together.&rdquo;&hellip;Canadiens players continue to flock to Europe. Blueliner Craig Rivet will hook up with center Saku Koivu, becoming teammates on Finnish-based Turku. Center Mike Ribeiro also will head to Finland after having signed with Espoo, while right winger Pierre Dagenais is off to ply his trade in Switzerland. That leaves three Canadiens not playing - Steve Begin and Mike Komisarek, both injured, and defenseman Patrice Brisebois, who suffered a back injury overseas&hellip;Goalie Jose Theodore won his debut with Djurgarden, facing 27 shots in a 4-1 win over Timra in Swedish league play.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> No affiliate.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-03

Souray feels ‘overwhelmed’ by players’ support of union

<div class="byline">&#x2013;DAVID BOCLAIR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05557/8378461-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="217" height="240"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Predators hoped to find out this season whether Darren Haydar could score at the NHL level as he has everywhere else. Instead, the 5-foot-9 left winger has reaffirmed his unique offensive abilities in the AHL. Battling against the too-small-and-too-slow stonewall, Haydar was the leading scorer in last season&rsquo;s AHL playoffs and in more than two years at Milwaukee has averaged close to a point per game, including 15 goals and 35 points in 32 games this season. One of Nashville&rsquo;s 15 draft picks in 1999, Haydar is one of only five from that group who still figures prominently in the team&rsquo;s plans&hellip;The lockout has been helpful - at least, in one way - to center Greg Johnson. &ldquo;I now know my post-hockey experience will be happy and enjoyable,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve spent a lot of time with my kids and with some other interests I have.&rdquo; Johnson is not signed beyond this season&hellip;During a recent trip on personal business, Predators coach Barry Trotz was invited by Kelowna (WHL) to run one of its practices. Predators defensive prospect Shea Weber did not take part in the practice due to illness.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> No affiliate.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-05

Haydar uses time in AHL to prove ability at pro level

<div class="byline">&#x2013;RICH CHERE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07402/8378492-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="200" height="268"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>orris Trophy defenseman Scott Niedermayer said he had no plans to follow his brother, Rob, to Europe to play. Rob Niedermayer signed with Ferencvaros in Hungary, but Scott remained in B.C. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to complain,&rdquo; Niedermayer said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been playing a long time, I have had success on the ice and been paid well for it. Obviously the contract I signed was the biggest I would have made. It&rsquo;s too bad for sure, but that&rsquo;s the way it goes.&rdquo; (Niedermayer was awarded a one-year, $7-million deal in arbitration in the summer.) Since returning from the World Cup and a vacation in Hawaii, Niedermayer said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been quite enjoyable, actually. When you have three kids, it&rsquo;s not too difficult to find things to do. Do I miss (hockey)? Yes. Did I miss training camp? No. But obviously now I&rsquo;m used to playing hockey at this time of year, so it is strange.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Devils have no official affiliation with Augusta, but have a working relationship with the Lynx. Center Eric Johansson was assigned to Augusta from Albany (AHL) and is currently playing in the ECHL.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-07

Niedermayer staying put if season goes down drain

<div class="byline">&#x2013;PETER BOTTE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021338/8378523-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="214" height="282"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>drian Aucoin resisted as long as he could, but the Islanders defenseman headed for Sweden and joined a star-studded MoDo lineup in Sweden. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t think the (NHL) season is going to happen&hellip;so I picked Sweden because it&rsquo;s the best league out there right now,&rdquo; Aucoin told the New York <i>Times</i> about his mid-January decision to play elsewhere. &ldquo;If there isn&rsquo;t hockey until Christmas next year, I have to stay sharp.&rdquo; Aucoin, who also shares duties as the team&rsquo;s union rep with Mark Parrish and Michael Peca, has spent most of the lockout at home in Long Island&hellip;Left winger Mattias Weinhandl, playing mostly on a line with Peter Forsberg, had 22 goals in 35 games for MoDo.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Isles announced a first-year affiliation with Atlantic City last summer and the Boardwalk Bullies - comprised mostly of minor league free agents rather than Isles prospects - sat atop the North Division in midJanuary with a 21-9-5 record. Defenseman Vince Macri, whom the Isles signed out of Brown, has spent the majority of the first half with the Bullies, posting a plus-12 rating in 27 games before a call-up to Bridgeport (AHL).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-02

Swedish league benefits by signing Islanders’ Aucoin

<div class="byline">&#x2013;LARRY BROOKS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04765/8378554-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="215" height="270"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ark Messier turned 44 in mid-January, but has yet to decide whether his 25-year NHL career will be succeeded by an encore. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just waiting, like everybody else, to see what happens,&rdquo; Doug Messier, No. 11&rsquo;s father and agent, told the Canadian Press. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t been in a position yet where he had to make a decision in terms of playing or not playing, because there&rsquo;s no hockey to make the decision on.&rdquo; At the end of last season, Messier was seven goals shy of a 700 and had played 1,756 regular season games, nine fewer than all-time leader Gordie Howe. &ldquo;The longer (the lockout) goes, the less chance, probably, of him playing,&rdquo; Doug Messier said&hellip;Goalie Dan Blackburn continues to practice with ECHL Charlotte using a modi-fled - and league-approved - double-blocker.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Charlotte Checkers have spent the season at or near the top of the East Division, even with constant lineup flux. Lee Falardeau, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound center who was the Rangers&rsquo; 33rd overall draft pick in 2002, was tied for the team lead with 13 goals in 33 games. He is in his first pro season after; coming out of Michigan State this summer.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-04

Messier hasn’t yet decided whether or not to return

<div class="byline">&#x2013;WAYNE FISH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08349/8378616-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="217" height="251"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he NHL lockout could radically change the Flyers&rsquo; depth chart. AHL Phantoms goalie Antero Niittymaki now might figure big in the team&rsquo;s plans. &ldquo;If we started next week, you figure Niittymaki would be our starting goalie,&rdquo; said GM Bob Clarke. &ldquo;If (Robert) Esche misses this year, what effect is that going to have on his career?&rdquo;&hellip;Ken Hitchcock has been using the lockout to work out six days a week in the Flyers&rsquo; gym. The team&rsquo;s coach said his weight is the lowest it has been since the 1970s&hellip;Clarke disclosed that Hitchcock&rsquo;s contract, which expires after 2005-06, has a clause in it extending the deal through 2007 if this season is canceled. &ldquo;(Team chairman) Mr. (Ed) Snider brought that up (at the signing in 2002), that another year would be added on,&rdquo; Clarke said&hellip;The GM on Snider&rsquo;s outlook for a season: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not very optimistic. I spoke with him&hellip;and he said, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t know if we have enough time.&rsquo; &ldquo;.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> A season-opening 6-0-0 mark jump-started the Trenton Titans to the top of the North Division, where they have hovered all year. New coach Mike Haviland has instituted an effective defense-first system.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-08

Flyers GM Clarke suggests Esche no longer No. 1 guy

<div class="byline">&#x2013;JERRY BROWN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011529/8378647-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="206" height="279"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>espite two reports quoting sources saying the Coyotes have quietly been put up for sale, owners Jerry Moyes and Steve Ellman loudly and categorically denied it. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not selling,&rdquo; Ellman said. &ldquo;The last few years have been rough, but we might be through the worst of it. Our future in Glendale with the new arena and the Westgate project remains a bright one&rdquo;&hellip;Are the Coyotes hopeful about a lockout resolution? Sources confirmed that as representatives of the NHL and NHLPA were meeting in an effort to save the year, Phoenix&rsquo;s equipment managers put in orders for new sticks.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The defending Kelly Cup champs, the Idaho Steelheads are 18-16-3, but sit sixth in the eightteam West Division. They are having trouble scoring, but are getting decent production from Scott Burt, Bobby Russell and Warren Peters, who each had nine goals as of mid-January.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

Coyotes ownership denies sale in works

<div class="byline">&#x2013;JOE STARKEY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03872/8378678-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Andy Chiodo is expected to play a big role for the ECHL&rsquo;s Wheeling Nailers.</i></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04642/8378685-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="214" height="282"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>avid Morehouse, who was the senior advisor to the John Kerry for President campaign, was named a senior consultant for special projects. Morehouse, 44, is a Pittsburgh native. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bit ironic I&rsquo;m going to be working for the Penguins on building a new arena,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;considering I spent a good part of my youth trying to sneak into Penguins games to see Syl Apps, Jean Pronovost and Dave Burrows at the Civic Arena.&rdquo;&hellip;Left winger Sergei Anshakov, acquired in the Martin Straka deal, had four goals and five points in seven games for UFA Salabatyulaev in Russia.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Wheeling Nailers feature goalie Dany Sabourin, who has been named a starter for the National Conference all-stars. And goalie Andy Chiodo, who played well in the NHL last season, likely will have a large role after being demoted from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-03

Former Kerry advisor to work on new arena

<div class="byline">&#x2013;DERRICK GOOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08232/8378716-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="211" height="268"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>ast summer, GM Larry Pleau engineered a makeover of the Blues&rsquo; goaltending picture, acquiring Patrick Lalime and Jason Bacashihua, then selecting Marek Schwarz 17th overall in the 2004 draft. A half-year later, the moves are working. Bacashihua was the AHL&rsquo;s player of the week in midJanuary, thanks to a 0.67 goals-against average and. 979 save percentage. Schwarz, meanwhile, shined at the World Junior Championship, making 33 saves on 35 shots in an overtime win to grab the bronze medal. In the semi-final, Schwarz&rsquo;s 21-save shutout of Finland was the difference.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> Only two ECHL teams had scored fewer goals than the Peoria Rivermen, but the team had scored at least three goals in seven consecutive over the holidays. Despite being 12-15-4, when they score they win: the Rivermen are 122-1 when they score three or more.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-08

Blues’ goalie picture looking much brighter

<div class="byline">&#x2013;ROSS MCKEON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021194/8378747-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="211" height="286"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Sharks who live in the San Jose area have scrimmaged twice a week since mid-September, chipping in to rent the very ice they used to practice on for free. The group of regulars has included Patrick Marleau, Alyn McCauley, Kyle McLaren, Scott Hannan, Mike Rathje, Brad Stuart, Scott Thornton, Wayne Primeau and ex-Shark Mike Ricci, who has yet to relocate to Phoenix&hellip;Thornton and McLaren appear headed for Sweden, which would bump San Jose&rsquo;s Europe contingent to 10 players.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> Between two affiliates - the Johnstown Chiefs and Fresno Falcons - the Sharks have only one drafted player, right winger Jonathan Tremblay, on either roster. The Chiefs had a winning record, but had five division teams ahead of them at mid-season. The Falcons, too, sport a winning record, but were well off the division lead.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-02

Current and ex-Sharks working out together

<div class="byline">&#x2013;TOM JONES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05449/8378778-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="216" height="278"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>ightning coach John Tortorella is running out of things to do during the lockout. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve trimmed everything I possibly could trim in the backyard,&rdquo; Tortorella said. &ldquo;We fired our guy who cuts the grass and I cut the grass now.&rdquo; When he wasn&rsquo;t raising money for charity, Tortorella spent most of his time with video coach Nigel Kirwan watching game tapes and compiling instructional videos&hellip;Center Brad Richards remains in Prince Edward Island recovering from a sports hernia&hellip;Dave Andreychuk said he has thought about retirement, but would return if this season is saved. If this season is lost, he said he will make a decision in the summer.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Johnston Chiefs are hovering just above. 500, but should get a boost with the addition of Adam Henrich, a second round pick (60th overall) in 2002 who was demoted from Springfield (AHL).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-05

With nothing to do, Tortorella gets antsy

<div class="byline">&#x2013;KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06347/8378809-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="214" height="283"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>mid the uncertainty surrounding the lockout, it is all but certain Pat Quinn will be the Maple Leafs&rsquo; coach once the NHL resumes play. Even though Quinn&rsquo;s contract called for a $500,000 payout if his contract wasn&rsquo;t extended by Jan. 15, both sides agreed to extend the deadline in hopes of signing Quinn to a new deal&hellip;Center Mats Sundin was working out with a third division team in Vasby, near Stockholm, but indications are he likely won&rsquo;t play for Djurgarden in Sweden this season for tax reasons.</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Leafs have a secondary affiliation with the Pensacola Ice Pilots, who were leading the South Division and near the top of the ECHL&rsquo;s overall standings. Goaltender Todd Ford was caught in a numbers game in St. John&rsquo;s (AHL) when they signed J-S Aubin, but the organization has hopes for him.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-06

Leafs anticipate Quinn will return as coach

<div class="byline">&#x2013;ELLIOTT PAP</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07281/8378840-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="212" height="279"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>fter hanging out in Vancouver and hoping for a lockout resolution, left winger Markus Naslund finally packed his bags and headed home to Sweden. Naslund intends to play for MoDo in his hometown of Ornskoldsvik. &ldquo;It looks like it&rsquo;s going to drag on and there might not be a date set where they&rsquo;ll tell us either way,&rdquo; said Naslund, who had been skating with Vancouver Giants (WHL)&hellip;The Canucks didn&rsquo;t lay off any more staff in January, but assistant GM Steve Tambellini said such an approach was unlikely to continue indefinitely. The staff took a 20 per cent pay cut and is operating on a four-day week.-</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> The Columbia Inferno went 18-11-3 in its first 32 games and was a middle-of-the-pack team in the East. The team didn&rsquo;t have anyone among the top 20 in ECHL scoring, but was doing it by committee.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-07

Naslund heads home, will play in Sweden

<div class="byline">&#x2013;DAVE FAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-09196/8378871-1-eng-US/f0017-092.jpg" title="f0017-09" width="212" height="281"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>apitals defenseman Brendan Witt was three games into his stint with the English League&rsquo;s Bracknell Bees when a neighbor of his Florida home called. A truck hit some electric wires, she said, and set your house on fire. &ldquo;Can you imagine what would have happened if the kids were in the pool?&rdquo; Witt said after returning to the U.S. and viewing the scene. He hopes to return to Bracknell after repairs to the house have begun&hellip;Goalie Olie Kolzig plans to play in the German League once he gets insurance problems settled&hellip;Right winger Stephen Peat has signed with Danbury (UHL).</p><p><b>ECHL UPDATE</b> After some upheaval in the season&rsquo;s first half, the South Carolina Stingrays have turned the corner, recently winning five straight to get back above. 500. Rookie goalie Maxime Daigneault is Washington&rsquo;s only property on the club; he is 7-5 with a 3.12 goals-against average.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-09

Home fires burning, but not like Witt wants

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><p>Keith Ballard left the University of Minnesota a year early, but he&rsquo;s still going to school.</p><p>Only now the classroom is the American League rink, where the slick-skating, talented defenseman is learning how to play a more patient, responsible game while still taking advantage of his great puck-handling ability.</p><p>Ballard played a take-the-puck-and-go style for the Gophers, scoring 33 goals and 100 points in his 123-game career. But life has changed on pro ice.</p><p>&ldquo;Keith Ballard was a pretty talented player at the college level, but here Paul Coffey couldn&rsquo;t go coast-to-coast the way everyone angles and traps,&rdquo; said Utah coach Pat Conacher. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had to learn to be better at distributing the puck and making quicker decisions. He has great poise for a young player, but you can&rsquo;t make a little move with the puck and then walk around a guy.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011589/8378902-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="225" height="357"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEITH BALLARD</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;Guys here aren&rsquo;t looking at the puck, they&rsquo;re looking to go right through you. Nobody swings away from their checks.&rdquo;</p><p>Ballard has learned quickly, Conacher says. The Phoenix Coyotes would someday like to see the 23-year-old Ballard on their blueline. Drafted 11th overall by Buffalo in 2002, Ballard has been traded twice - to Colorado, then Phoenix.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a competitive fire that coaches love,&rdquo; Conacher said.</p><p>At 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, Ballard has to use every inch.</p><p>&ldquo;In the defensive zone, you can&rsquo;t run around and try to throw guys around,&rdquo; said Ballard, who had two goals and 12 points in 35 games. &ldquo;In college, I was one of the stronger guys. But here it&rsquo;s technique. I have to use my feet more, use my quickness to beat guys to the puck.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

Crafty Ballard still taking tutorials

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03895/8378933-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="995" height="1443"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>After a breakout 24-goal season in Grand Rapids last year, center Nathan Robinson has just five goals through 35 AHL games.</i></figcaption></div><h2><b>AHL WEST NOTEBOOK</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021226/8378940-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="239" height="237"></div><p>Home may be where the heart is, but the road is where the points are earned for the Manitoba Moose and Rochester Americans.</p><p>The top two teams in the American League&rsquo;s North Division were loving life on the road.</p><p>The Moose were an AHL-best 16-21-1 as visitors and a so-so 11-8-0-1 at home. The Amerks were 12-4-1-2 on the road and 13-5-2-1 at home, though two of those wins came at Buffalo&rsquo;s HSBC Arena.</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t think of anything we say or do in the locker room that&rsquo;s any different as far as preparation,&rdquo; said Rochester defenseman Doug Janik. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t approach games any differently.&rdquo;</p><p>The stellar road marks are why the Moose and Amerks were leap-frogging back and forth for the division lead and had opened a little daylight on St. John&rsquo;s.</p><p>&ldquo;Usually on the road when you finish. 500, you&rsquo;re ecstatic,&rdquo; Moose center Peter Sarno told the Winnipeg <i>Sun.</i> &ldquo;Here we go 4-0 (on a trip to Texas) and it&rsquo;s just another weekend for us. That&rsquo;s the mentality of our team.&rdquo;</p><p><b>DUSABLON RETIRES</b> Hamilton Bulldogs center Benoit Dusablon was forced to retire before he ever played a game for the team.</p><p>Dusablon has a herniated disc in his neck and was told that even with what could be risky surgery, he&rsquo;d never play contact sports again.</p><p>Never drafted, Dusablon, 25, worked his way from three ECHL teams to the Hartford Wolf Pack and finally to three NHL games with the New York Rangers last season (no points). He played 123 AHL games in his four-year career, scoring 26 goals and 71 points.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel frustration and sadness,&rdquo; he said of being forced to retire because of injury.</p><p><b>BAD BOY</b> Syracuse Crunch center <b>Alexander Svitov</b> was given a five-game suspension for physical abuse of an official.</p><p>Svitov tossed aside a linesman while trying to get at Cleveland center <b>Patrick Rissmiller</b> to fight.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Cleveland Barons left winger Jason Jafffay, hoping to stay at the AHL level after two-plus seasons in the ECHL, notched the first two-goal game of his 22-game AHL career&hellip;The Utah Grizzlies were outscored 33-7 in losing every game of an eight-game road trip&hellip;Milwaukee Admirals goalie Brian Finley went on a 7-1 hot streak, posting a 1.88 goals-against average and a. 935 save percentage over the stretch&hellip;The San Antonio Rampage loaned defenseman Burke Henry, a veteran of 339 AHL games, to Milwaukee.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-03

North foes take charge on the road

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05412/8378978-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="550" height="271"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04605/8378985-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="148" height="141"></div><p class="dropcap"><i><span>T</span>he International Ice Hockey Federation is the world&rsquo;s governing body for hockey. In each issue this season, we profile one of 63 national association members.</i></p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><b>KAZAKHSTAN</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06322/8378971-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="489" height="173"></div><p><b>Major league</b> (seven teams)</p><p>Kazakhstan National league</p><p><b>2004 champ</b> Ust-Kamenogorsk</p><p><b>2003-04 top teams</b></p><p>1. Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk</p><p>2. Gornyak Rudny</p><p>3. Kazakhmys Karaganda</p><p><b>Association email</b></p><p><a href="mailto:hockey@ukg.kz">hockey@ukg.kz</a></p><p><b>Head office</b> Ust-Kamenogorsk</p><p><b>2005 world ranking</b> No. 17</p><p><b>Best world rank</b> No. 8 (1998)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-05

HOCKEY NATION AT A GLANCE

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MASTOVICH</div><h2><b>NOTEBOOK</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07265/8379016-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="220" height="211"></div><p>At 36 and with 44 NHL games on a lengthy resume, South Carolina&rsquo;s Ed Courtenay hardly is a rookie.</p><p>But when the Stingrays forward finally tallied his first goal of the season after an almost 10 game drought, teammate Matt Reid jokingly presented Courtenay the puck, emulating a tradition usually reserved for rookies who net their first pro goal.</p><p>Courtenay accepted the puck and prank in stride. The Stingrays&rsquo; leading scorer last season started slowly, but lately Courtenay has been on a hectic scoring pace.</p><p>&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t worried because I knew it would be only a matter of time before I started to score,&rdquo; Courtenay told The <i>Post and Courier</i> in Charleston, S.C. &ldquo;As soon as I got used to the speed of the league and felt comfortable, I knew things would start working out.&rdquo;</p><p>Courtenay said the NHL lockout added depth, speed and talent to the ECHL as many AHL-caliber players filtered down the pipeline. That took adjusting for a player who had a team-best 66 points, including 29 goals last season.</p><p>During a recent four-game span, Courtenay tallied four goals and eight points. He had two gamewinners during that spurt.</p><p>&ldquo;Ed is a big confidence guy,&rdquo; Stingrays coach Jason Fitzsimmons told <i>The Post and Courier.</i> &ldquo;When he&rsquo;s confident, he&rsquo;s going to score. He&rsquo;s going to dominate when he&rsquo;s on the ice.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CHRISTIE CLIMB</b> Peoria&rsquo;s Jason Christie won his 209th game to tie Pat Kelly on the 23-year franchise&rsquo;s all-time coaching win list.</p><p>Kelly is the ECHL commissioner emeritus. He coached the Rivermen to the Turner Cup in the former IHL and is a member of the Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.</p><p><b>CLOSE SAAL</b> Augusta&rsquo;s <b>Jason Saal</b> is chasing Las Vegas&rsquo;s <b>Marc Magliarditi</b> on the ECHL career shutout list. Saal blanked Columbia 4-0 for his 19th shutout, two behind Magliarditi, who has one shutout this year and 21 since 1997.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-07

Ageless Courtenay rounding into form

<div class="byline">BY ROBIN SHORT</div><p>Denis Hamel has heard all the excuses before: Can&rsquo;t skate, can&rsquo;t play defense. Can&rsquo;t do this, can&rsquo;t do that.</p><p>All Hamel does, though, is score goals.</p><p>Skating on a line with Chris Kelly and Josh Langfeld, Hamel is on pace for a benchmark 50-goal season, his first since his final year of junior in Chicoutimi of the Quebec League.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011460/8379047-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="220" height="356"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DENIS HAMEL</b></figcaption></div><p>The Binghamton Senators left winger may be finally erasing lingering concerns after reconstructive knee surgery and a six-month stay on the disabled list five years ago.</p><p>&ldquo;The skating has always been questioned,&rdquo; said Hamel, whose 25 goals by Jan. 15 trailed only Wilkes-Barre&rsquo;s Michel Ouellet by two for the AHL lead.</p><p>&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m not the fastest guy, but with the experience I have now - being I able to be in the right place on the ice, to read the play-I think I can play (in</p><p>I the NHL). Maybe the skating thing is just an excuse. But I&rsquo;m certain one day I&rsquo;ll get a break.&rdquo;</p><p>With Hamel, it has been a series of bad breaks. After three years in the AHL with Rochester, Hamel finally made it in Buffalo. But his season ended after 41 games when Zdeno Chara, then with the Islanders, fell on his leg tearing his ACL.</p><p>The following year, after extensive rehab, he cracked the Sabres&rsquo; roster but scored just twice in 61 games. Then it was back to the minors.</p><p>&ldquo;The speed wasn&rsquo;t there,&rdquo; said Hamel of his return. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t come back to the point where I had been before.&rdquo;</p><p>Hamel turns 28 in May and is a free agent after his deal with Ottawa expires this summer.</p><p>&ldquo;Bad timing, huh?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Twenty-eight isn&rsquo;t old for the NHL, but it&rsquo;s not young either&hellip;if there&rsquo;s no NHL (next year) or nothing in the AHL, maybe I&rsquo;ll look at (Europe).&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-01

‘Can’t-do’ Hamel proving critics wrong

<div class="byline">BY ROBIN SHORT</div><h2><b>AHL EAST NOTEBOOK</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-021108/8379085-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="240" height="238"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>enators prospect <b>Antoine Vermette,</b> one of five players Ottawa assigned to Binghamton during the lockout, discovered NHLers can go through long slumps in the American League.</p><p>Vermette, sent to the B-Sens along with <b>Jason Spezza, Anton Volchenkov, Brian Pothier</b> and <b>Josh Langfeld,</b> endured a long slump through Christmas and into the New Year with two goals in 16 games.</p><p>He finally broke out Jan. 15 with a two-goal effort against the Rochester Americans.</p><p>&ldquo;I know he&rsquo;s been squeezing the stick a little,&rdquo; said Binghamton coach <b>Dave Cameron</b> of Vermette, who scored seven goals for Ottawa last season following a 34-goal output two years ago that led AHL rookies. &ldquo;But with his skill and speed and shot, we&rsquo;ve been telling him that if he gets the puck to the net, a high percentage of times he&rsquo;s going to score.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s such a good playmaker, sometimes he passes up shots,&rdquo; Cameron said.</p><p>Despite the recent dropoff in production, Vermette was still averaging nearly a point per game at the halfway mark with 12 goals and 36 points through 40 games.</p><p><b>DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS Jim Campbell</b>, a finalist for the NHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year award with St. Louis in 1997, was signed by Bridgeport over the summer to boost the Sound Tigers&rsquo; offense.</p><p>So far, the veteran of 284 NHL games hasn&rsquo;t delivered with just three goals and nine points after 32 games.</p><p>&ldquo;If he could inject his game with blue-collar attributes, he&rsquo;d be a joy to watch,&rdquo; Bridgeport coach <b>Greg Cronin</b> told the Connecticut <i>Post.</i> &ldquo;He&rsquo;d probably be in the NHL, quite frankly. I think his definition of effort and my definition of effort are in two different zip codes.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> The Albany Rivers Rats snapped an 11-game losing streak in a most unlikely fashion, beating the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-1. The Wolf Pack are one of the league&rsquo;s top teams and coach <b>Ryan McGill</b> wasn&rsquo;t impressed. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the worst game we played in two years,&rdquo; said the Hartford bench boss&hellip;The Providence Bruins became the 14th team in the 69-year history of the AHL to play 1,000 games with a matchup against Bridgeport. The Bruins, who arrived in Rhode Island in 1992-93, won the game 4-0&hellip;River Rats veteran <b>Craig Darby</b> was named captain of the PlanetUSA team for the AHL&rsquo;s All-Star Classic Feb. 13-14 in Manchester, N.H. Darby has appeared in more than 500 AHL games with six teams.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03774/8379078-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="991" height="1447"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Springfield defenseman Marc Busenburg has just two minutes in penalties through 30 games, matching his scoring production.</i></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-02

Vermette’s trigger fails him in AHL

<div class="byline">&#x2013;PAVEL BARTA</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04597/8379116-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="93" height="99"></div><p><i>Future and former NHLers are playing in Europe this season. Here are four such players with NHL rights in parentheses:</i></p><p>&bull; <b>Alexander Frolov, 24, LW</b> (Los Angeles). Locked-out King is the leading scorer on Central Army and fourth overall in the Russian league, with 16 goals and 32 points in 34 games.</p><p>&bull; <b>Jarkko Immonen,</b> 22, C (NY Rangers). Drafted 254th by Toronto in 2002, Immonen is leader scorer on JYP Jyvaskyla, and fourth in the Finnish league, with 35 points in 38 games.</p><p>&bull; <b>Craig Johnson,</b> 33, C (Nashville). Johnson played 717 NHL games with four teams in 11 seasons. He is third in the German league with 16 goals and 39 points in 35 games for the Hamburg Freeze.</p><p>&bull; <b>Anders Myrvold, 29, D,</b> (Detroit). A veteran of 33 NHL games with four teams in nine seasons, Myrvold is the top scoring blueliner in the Norwegian.league with 23 points in 30 games with Valerenga Oslo.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0019-04

EYE ON EUROPE

<div class="byline">&#x2013;BRENDAN SAVAGE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05442/8379147-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="187" height="99"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>uskegon winger Robin Bouchard, who won his first United League scoring crown last season, is near the top of the scoring parade this year. But despite his talent for putting up points, Bouchard wasn&rsquo;t selected to play in the All-Star Game Jan. 24 in Glens Falls, N.Y. Voters failed to elect him to the starting lineup and when it came time to name the reserves, he was also overlooked by a panel that included commissioner Richard Brosal and several UHL coaches. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an absolute joke,&rdquo; Fury president Tony Lisman told the Muskegon <i>Chronicle.</i> &ldquo;Its ridiculous an all-star game could be relegated to a popularity contest.&rdquo; Bouchard was third in the scoring race when the reserves were named. A well-placed UHL source said Bouchard&rsquo;s attitude had something to with the snub.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-05

NOTEBOOK

<div class="byline">&#x2013;DAVID HENRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-06329/8379178-1-eng-US/f0019-062.jpg" title="f0019-06" width="165" height="89"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>ven with a record 27 goals scored and 148 shots combined, it wasn&rsquo;t hard to pick out the performance of Colorado right winger Greg Pankewicz on the stats sheet. Pankewicz was named the Central League&rsquo;s Northern Conference MVP during the 2005 Dodge CHL All-Star Game, scoring an all-star record five goals and nine points. Even with Pankewicz&rsquo;s performance, the North needed a goal from Topeka right winger Mike Lukajic in the sixth overtime to beat the South 14-13. Proving to be prophetic, New Mexico goalie Miguel Beaudry predicted before the game there wouldn&rsquo;t be much defense. Pankewicz&rsquo;s nine-point explosion moved him into a tie with Memphis&rsquo;s Don Parsons for career all-star points with 13, and the combined shot total eclipsed last season&rsquo;s 102-shot peppering.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-06

<div class="byline">&#x2013;NICK GATES</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-07277/8379209-1-eng-US/f0019-072.jpg" title="f0019-07" width="147" height="114"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>his was exactly what coach Derek Booth had in mind when he pulled off a blockbuster trade with Jacksonville in late December: Fayetteville&rsquo;s anemic offense would spring to life and thrust the FireAntz into playoff contention. Fayetteville reeled off road wins at Knoxville and Macon and beat Jacksonville 5-2 at home to climb over. 500 (15-14) for the first time this season. Forwards Shawn Roed and Brent Rumble were dealt to Jacksonville for forwards Kory Baker, George Nistas, Tyler Perry and defenseman Mark Phenow. &ldquo;I had to do something,&rdquo; said Booth of the Antz&rsquo; anemic goal production. &ldquo;(Jacksonville coach) Ron Duguay was going to give me three guys and they were three of Jacksonville&rsquo;s top scorers,&rdquo; Booth said. &ldquo;In order to get a lot, you have to give up a lot.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0019-07

<div class="byline">BY NEIL HODGE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011357/8379247-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="269" height="268"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Halifax Mooseheads delivered a blunt message to their players and followers when coach Shawn Mackenzie was fired despite a winning record.</p><p>&ldquo;Junior hockey is not just about your won-loss record,&rdquo; said Bobby Smith, majority owner of the Quebec League club, which was sitting at 18-10-6-2 at the time of the mid-January dismissal. &ldquo;We certainly feel Shawn did a good job coaching our team, but we felt the team could be better.</p><p>&ldquo;We did not have a lot of optimism that the team was going to be successful in the playoffs&hellip;We have to pay serious attention to the development of our players and the type of game we play.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Al MacAdam,</b> a 52-year-old from P.E.I., was hired as Halifax&rsquo;s new coach. He and Smith were teammates with the Minnesota North Stars for six NHL seasons beginning in 1978-79.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02984/8379240-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="283" height="691"></div><p>&ldquo;Al was my linemate when I broke into the NHL,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a lot of respect for him as a person and his ability as a coach. We felt that with the opportunity to bring Al in it would be an excellent move both short- and long-term.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anybody can call themselves the class of the league. I think we&rsquo;re in that group of six teams that could win the championship.&rdquo;</p><p>MacAdam played 12 NHL seasons for Minnesota, California, Cleveland and Vancouver. He coached St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B., for 11 years and St. John&rsquo;s of the American League for three seasons. He spent the past four years as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks.</p><p>Halifax went on a six-game winning streak after the coaching change.</p><p>&ldquo;I really can&rsquo;t comment on that because I never saw the team play before,&rdquo; MacAdam said. &ldquo;All I can say is the team is responding to the way we want them to play.&rdquo;</p><p><b>LAPERRIERE WALKS PLANK</b> Baie-Comeau was second-last in the league when it relieved coach <b>Martin Laperriere</b> in midJanuary. Assistant <b>Eric Dubois</b> was named interim coach.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a young team, but we feel we should be higher in the standings,&rdquo; said GM <b>Pierre Parent</b> of the 15-21-3-2 club. &ldquo;We think we should be around ninth in the (16-team) league. I want to see how the players react to this coaching change.&rdquo;</p><p><b>SIX-SHOOTER</b> Rimouski phenom <b>Sidney Crosby</b>, 17, scored twice and added four assists in an 8-4 win over Halifax Jan. 15. It was the fourth six-point game of the sophomore&rsquo;s career.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

Hot record can’t save Halifax’s Mackenzie

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03713/8379285-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="272" height="215"></div><p>The Ontario League&rsquo;s London Knights are the hottest team in North America, on and off the ice.</p><p>The Knights, who began the year with a record 31-game unbeaten streak, were averaging 9,027 fans through 24 home games, the top draw among major junior and minor pro teams.</p><p>The top average attendances, by league, as of Jan. 14: London Knights (OHL), 9,024; Manchester Monarchs (AHL), 8,874; Calgary Hitmen (WHL), 8,771; Oklahoma City Blazers (CHL), 7,716; Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL), 7,435; Fort Wayne Komets (UHL), 7,279; Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL), 6,285; Fayetteville FireAntz (SPHL), 3,117.</p><p>There are 151 teams in the eight leagues.</p><p>&ldquo;This illustrates for a lot of people who really don&rsquo;t know us, but what we&rsquo;ve known for a long time, is some of the great markets we have in the OHL and CHL,&rdquo; said OHL commissioner and Canadian Hockey League president <b>David Branch</b>. &ldquo;This is also a real positive statement about the efforts of the city to develop the John Labatt Centre and put that with the work <b>Mark</b> and <b>Dale Hunter</b> have done in putting together an outstanding product.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04497/8379278-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="278" height="685"></div><p>CHL attendance has increased every year for the past decade, but Branch said that while some teams playing in NHL markets may be benefitting from the lockout, that&rsquo;s not the reason for the increase in other cities.</p><p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s happened in London would have happened with or without the lockout,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>London, in its 40th year of major junior, will host the Memorial Cup in May. It will mark the first appearance by the Knights.</p><p><b>CHARGE LAID Marty Abrams</b>, fired in October as coach of Sault Ste. Marie, was charged with fraud following a two-year investigation by Ontario Provincial Police.</p><p>The charge, filed in a Kingston, Ont., court, accuses Abrams of buying a $52,500 cottage in April of 2001 with money that was raised at charity bingos for youth work.</p><p>When Abrams was fired by the Greyhounds, GM <b>Dave Torrie</b> said it had nothing to do with the ongoing investigation.</p><p><b>BAD CHECK</b> Guelph left winger <b>Mark O&rsquo;Leary</b> was suspended 12 games for checking Mississauga defenseman <b>Adam Abraham</b> into the boards from behind.</p><p>Commissioner David Branch believed the hit wasn&rsquo;t intentional, but the severity of the blow warranted the suspension.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-03

Knights’ attendance leads hockey world

<div class="byline">BY ROB VANSTONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05299/8379323-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="269" height="263"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Prince Albert Raiders were a popular pre-season pick to finish atop the Western League&rsquo;s East Division. Contrary to expectations, the Raiders have been below. 500.</p><p>&ldquo;To be honest with you, I think it was convenient for everybody to concede us first place in September,&rdquo; said Raiders coach <b>Peter Anholt</b>. &ldquo;It deflected attention from them. You look at Brandon or Saskatoon or Moose Jaw or Regina and right away it deflected everything on to us, and that&rsquo;s fine.</p><p>&ldquo;I never really felt our depth was quite what everybody thought. I think we felt our team was going to be OK, but we needed some help from our depth to attain that.&rdquo;</p><p>The Raiders&rsquo; depth has been tested due to a rash of injuries to elite players. Right winger <b>Jeremy Colliton</b>, who injured a knee while playing for Canada&rsquo;s gold medal-winning team at the World Junior Championship, was set to return in late January.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06243/8379316-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="279" height="688"></div><p>Center <b>Kyle Chipchura&rsquo;s</b> hopes of receiving an invitation to Canada&rsquo;s WJC camp were dashed in early December when he suffered a severed Achilles&rsquo; tendon during a freak accident in practice.</p><p>&ldquo;Everybody says maybe he&rsquo;ll be back at the end of February, but I&rsquo;m not counting on him,&rdquo; said Anholt of Chipchura, whom Montreal chose 18th overall in 2004.</p><p>&ldquo;We have to plan accordingly without him and then if he does come back, then I guess we&rsquo;re adding a pretty good player.&rdquo;</p><p><b>OLD COLLEGE TRI</b> Tri-City has lost center Jonathan Toews - the first overall selection in the 2003 WHL bantam draft - to the University of North Dakota.</p><p>Toews, 16, is playing this season with Shattuck-St. Mary&rsquo;s, a prep school in Faribault, Minn. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder had 26 goals and 58 points through 35 games.</p><p>The Winnipeg native, who was MVP at the world under-17 challenge in Lethbridge, Alta., made a verbal commitment to North Dakota. He plans to sign a letter of intent in April.</p><p>Toews is rated fifth among prospects for the 2006 NHL draft by International Scouting Services.</p><p><b>FEHR FACTOR</b> Brandon right winger Eric Fehr tied a WHL single-season record when he scored his fourth overtime goal.</p><p>Fehr, whom Washington drafted 18th overall in 2003, shares the record with <b>Frank Kovacs</b>, who had four OT winners with Regina in 1990-91.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-05

Raiders’ depth woes sink their potential

<div class="byline">&#x2013;PAUL SHAHEEN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07204/8379354-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="372" height="114"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>wo college coaching legends lead the United States League all-stars into the league&rsquo;s annual showcase event at North Dakota&rsquo;s Ralph Engelstad Arena.</p><p>Both <b>Mike Sertich</b> and <b>Jeff Sauer</b> had distinguished NCAA coaching careers: Sertich spent 21 seasons with Minnesota-Duluth and Michigan Tech, while Sauer led Wisconsin to NCAA titles in 1983 and 1990 during 20 seasons with the Badgers.</p><p>Collectively, the two will coach 40 players at the Feb. 8 event, nearly all of whom have made NCAA commitments.</p><p>Eighteen all-stars were recognized by NHL Central Scouting&rsquo;s mid-term rankings: Cedar Rapids forward <b>Justin Abdelkader</b> (29th among North American skaters); Sioux Falls blueliner <b>Joe Finley</b> (33rd); TriCity forward <b>Christian Hanson</b> (52nd); Sioux City blueliner <b>Chris Butler</b> (57th) and forward <b>Nick Kemp</b> (111th); Green Bay forward <b>John Mitchell</b> (117th); and, Lincoln&rsquo;s <b>Jordan Pearce</b> (ninth amongst goalies) and Waterloo&rsquo;s <b>Drew O&rsquo;Connell</b> (18th).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-07

UNITED STATES LEAGUE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-08145/8379399-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="294" height="214"></div><p><b>Arena</b> Moncton Coliseum <b>Capacity</b> 6,450 <b>GM</b> Bill Schurman <b>Coach</b> Christian La Rue</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-09106/8379392-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="153" height="136"></div><p><b>10th SEASON IN QMJHL BEST</b> 46-21-3 in 2003-04</p><p><b>ACTIVE NHL DRAFT PICKS</b></p><p>Steve Bernier, 16th, SJ, &rsquo;03</p><p>Adam Pineault, 46th, Clb, &rsquo;04</p><p>Bruce Graham, 51st, NYR, &rsquo;04</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1080/8379385-1-eng-US/f0020-102.jpg" title="f0020-10" width="453" height="252"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0020-08

MONCTON WILDCATS

<div class="byline">BY PHILIP COLVIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011098/8379451-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="267" height="218"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>olstered by the success of a pre-season directive to officials to cut down on obstruction, the six Div. I conferences and the NCAA have expressed continued support for the rules initiative.</p><p>CCHA teams have adapted well to the new rules enforcement standard after an early season adjustment period that included a spike in penalties.</p><p>&ldquo;We want to make it clear that the standard will be kept up through the end of the season,&rdquo; said Enrico Blasi, Miami coach and chair of the NCAA ice hockey rules committee.</p><p>The commissioners of the six conferences stressed the directive has helped to curtail clutching and grabbing and increased speed, creativity and scoring chances.</p><p>&ldquo;Coaches, players, officials and fans have made every effort to adjust, and as a result, we are seeing a better quality game,&rdquo; said CCHA commissioner <b>Tom Anastos</b>. &ldquo;The most important part now is to stay the course.&rdquo;</p><p><b>DRAFT WATCH 2005</b> After being coached by Walter Gretzky while growing up in Brantford, Ont., it&rsquo;s no surprise Western Michigan sophomore <b>Paul Szczechura</b> leads the CCHA with 21 assists.</p><p>A smart two-way center with terrific vision, Szczechura is also the Broncos&rsquo; top faceoff man and is ranked 158th in the Central Scouting Service&rsquo;s mid-term report for the 2005 draft.</p><p>After getting pushed around a bit as a freshman, Szczechura credits a summer spent in the weight room for his improved play.</p><p>&ldquo;The added strength has helped in the corners and in front of the net, battling for loose pucks,&rdquo; Szczechura said.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Michigan State sophomore Dominic Vicari posted the 10th shutout of his career in a 4-0 win over Miami Jan. 7. He&rsquo;s third on the Spartans&rsquo; alltime list, two behind Chad Alban, but 16 behind NCAA all-time leader Ryan Miller, who had 26&hellip;After returning to the lineup for one game, Notre Dame hard-luck sopho-more forward Matt Williams-Kovacs is sidelined for the season after breaking his right wrist at Lake Superior State Jan. 7. Earlier this season, Williams-Kovacs sustained a broken right ankle and missed 14 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02707/8379444-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="275" height="291"></div><p><b>Top Player</b></p><p>Ben Walter</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03457/8379437-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="189" height="70"></div><p><b>UMASS-LOWELL</b></p><p>RIVER HAWKS</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04344/8379430-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="179" height="67"></div><p>Lowell, Mass.</p><p><b>Arena</b> Tsongas (6,496)</p><p><b>Coach</b> Blaise MacDonald, 4th yr.</p><p><b>NCAA Tournaments</b> Three</p><p><b>2004-05 roster breakdown</b></p><p>U.S.-born 20 (10 Mass, 3 N.H.)</p><p>Cdn.-born 8 (3 B.C., 2 Alta.)</p><p><b>Highest NHL draft picks</b></p><p>Ron Hainsey, 13th, Mtl, &rsquo;00</p><p>Mark Kumpel, 108th, Que, &rsquo;80</p><p>Craig MacTavish, 153rd, Boi, &rsquo;78<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

NCAA pledges to keep curbing obstruction

<div class="byline">BY LARRY MAHONEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05239/8379482-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="273" height="232"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>errimack bench boss <b>Chris Serino</b> has coached teams that have been plagued by injuries before. But nothing like this season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just crazy; I&rsquo;ve never seen anything like it,&rdquo; Serino said.</p><p>Just five players have played in all of the Warriors&rsquo; games, through mid-January.</p><p>The injury bug first struck in pre-season when left winger <b>Derek Kilduff</b> was lost for the year with a concussion.</p><p>Center <b>Brent Gough</b>, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer last year, missed 14 games with a broken arm; right winger <b>Jeff Royston</b> appeared in just three games before sustaining a seasonending wrist injury; and left winger Nick Pomponio broke his ankle in early January and will miss the rest of the season.</p><p>Six other players were playing with either a sprained ankle or injured shoulder in midJanuary.</p><p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to give them credit,&rdquo; said Serino whose last-place Warriors were struggling to score with just 33 even-strength goals in 26 games. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re hanging tough. Guys are coming back from injuries early because they care about what&rsquo;s going on. I&rsquo;m proud of them.</p><p>&ldquo;The silver lining is guys who weren&rsquo;t expected to play a lot are getting plenty of experience and nobody, except Kilduff, has a career-threatening injury. It should help us in the end.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NHL PROSPECT WATCH</b> Boston University junior right winger <b>John Laliberte</b>, drafted 114th overall by Vancouver in 2002, has seven goals and 18 points, a career high, in 22 games.</p><p>&ldquo;He is the prototype power forward,&rdquo; said UMass-Lowell coach <b>Blaise MacDonald</b>. &ldquo;He has a big body (6-foot-1, 195 pounds) that he uses effectively. He also has some tight-area skills.</p><p>&ldquo;He has quick, soft hands. He creates a lot of scoring opportunities on goals he never gets points for by screening or going to the net hard and taking two defensemen with him.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> New Hampshire scored 16 goals in back-to-back games, though one was a 9-8 loss to Dartmouth Jan. 12&hellip;UMass-Lowell freshman goalie <b>Peter Vetri</b> was 8-0-2 with a 1.77 goals-against average and. 927 save percentage to lead an 11-game unbeaten streak (9-02) for the River Hawks.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-05

Serino praises ailing Warriors for resilience

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-06185/8379534-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="254" height="217"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he only sure things in life are supposed to be death and taxes, but you can another item to that list: anyone playing Cornell is going to face sophomore goalie David McKee.</p><p>Since arriving in Ithaca, N.Y., last season, McKee has been the Big Red&rsquo;s No. 1 netminder. The only time opposing coaches see another Cornell goalie is during the pre-game skate.</p><p>McKee, a native of Irving, Texas., made his 49th consecutive start Jan. 15 against RPI. Cornell&rsquo;s <b>Laing Kennedy</b> set the school record of 56 straight starts in the early sixties.</p><p>Coach Mike Schafer has thought about giving McKee a rest, but has chosen not to.</p><p>&ldquo;Every game is so important,&rdquo; Schafer said. &ldquo;Even if you lose to a good team in your league, you can drop from second to seventh in the league, and from eighth to 14th in the power rankings in one night.&rdquo;</p><p>Actually, there&rsquo;s no reason to give McKee a night off. His record in mid-January was 11-42, with a goals-against average of 1.53, second in the nation, and a. 930 save percentage.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like he&rsquo;s overworked, by any means,&rdquo; Schafer said. &ldquo;During a weekend, he&rsquo;s probably facing only 40 shots or so. I&rsquo;d love to get (freshman) Troy Davenport some experience, but there&rsquo;s no reason to bring David out.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NHL PROSPECT WATCH</b> Sophomore defenseman Dylan Reese is another of the Harvard players who has adapted nicely to the coaching philosophies of rookie coach Ted Donato.</p><p>The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Reese, a seventhround draft pick of the Rangers in 2003 who was hampered by a back injury last season, has become an integral part of the Crimson power play this year.</p><p>After scoring just five points in 21 games last year, Reese is now Harvard&rsquo;s top-scoring defenseman, with 10 points through 17 games.</p><p><b>NOTEBOOK:</b> Vermont recorded the first back-to-back shutouts in school history Jan. 7-8 when the Catamounts blanked Union 4-0 and RPI 3-0 on the road. Freshman Joe Fallon made 15 saves against Union for his fourth shutout of the year while junior Travis Russell, who lost his No. 1 job to Fallon, came up with 16 saves to get his first shutout of the year against the Engineers.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-07156/8379527-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="275" height="290"></div><p><b>Top Player</b></p><p>David Backes</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-08118/8379520-1-eng-US/f0021-082.jpg" title="f0021-08" width="184" height="63"></div><p><b>MINNESOTA ST.</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0994/8379513-1-eng-US/f0021-092.jpg" title="f0021-09" width="183" height="67"></div><p>MAVERICKS</p><p>Mankato, Minn.</p><p><b>Arena</b> Midwest Wireless (4,832)</p><p><b>Coach</b> Troy Jutting, 5th yr.</p><p><b>NCAA Tournaments</b> One</p><p><b>2004-05 roster breakdown</b></p><p>U.S.-born 16 (15 Minn, 1 Calif.)</p><p>Cdn.-born 12 (6 B.C., 5 Alta.)</p><p><b>Highest NHL draft picks</b></p><p>Tim Jackman, 38th, Clb, &rsquo;01</p><p>Travis Morin, 263rd, Wsh, &rsquo;04<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-06

Facing McKee a scary certainty for Cornell foes

<div class="byline">BY ANDY BAGGOT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1073/8379565-1-eng-US/f0021-102.jpg" title="f0021-10" width="265" height="195"></div><p>Despite the fact the WCHA regular season was entering its final weeks, it was still too early to guess how things would shake out.</p><p>But Alaska-Anchorage coach John Hill took a crack anyway.</p><p>He has seen most of the contenders up-close and researched the stretch-run schedules for each. He pulled out a double-edged sword and plunged it into Wisconsin.</p><p>&ldquo;I think Wisconsin&rsquo;s got the most difficult schedule,&rdquo; Hill said, &ldquo;but, to me, they&rsquo;re the strongest team in every facet.&rdquo;</p><p>The Badgers had sole possession of first place Jan. 17 heading into a two-week break from WCHA play. Second-place Colorado College was two points back. Third-place Minnesota was six points back and fifth-place Denver nine points back. Both were also in a position to close ranks.</p><p>Wisconsin had six of its last 10 games on the road, but the home series were not easy: Minnesota Feb. 4 and 5 and Colorado College Feb. 18-19.</p><p>The Tigers were to scheduled to play seven of its last 10 on the road, including a seasonending home-and-home series with Denver.</p><p>&ldquo;I think Colorado College or Wisconsin will win the league,&rdquo; Hill said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s my guess. I probably shouldn&rsquo;t spout, but I do believe that.&rdquo; &lsquo;</p><p>Hill offered one caveat. The Seawolves have faced Minnesota and Colorado College, but not Denver. That was set for Jan. 28-29 and Hill reserves the right to change his mind.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;ll talk some different trash,&rdquo; he said.</p><p><b>DRAFT WATCH 2005</b> Denver center <b>Paul Stastny,</b> ranked 90th among North American skaters by Central Scouting for the 2005 draft, has done quite well with an old-school approach to scoring.</p><p>Stastny, a freshman, had 18 points in 20 games using the same kind of wood stick popularized by his Hall of Fame father, <b>Peter.</b> &ldquo;The classics always work,&rdquo; Paul told the Denver <i>Post.</i></p><p><b>NOTEBOOK</b> Ten Colorado College players have at least one game-winner this season&hellip;Wisconsin right winger <b>Ryan MacMurchy</b> scored a career-high four goals against St. Cloud State Jan. 8.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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February 1, 2005

Getting roster completed would be challenge for B’s

WHERE TO GET YOUR HOCKEY FIX

Alfredsson finally relents, signs deal tn play at home

AMERICAN LEAGUE STATISTICS