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.

March 29, 2005

The Hockey News March 29, 2005

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IN THIS ISSUE

The Hockey News

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div>With speedy, versatile forwards, a deep, veteran defense and a star-in-the-making goaltender, there was little doubt the Rochester Americans would be a dominating force in the AHL&rsquo;s Western Conference.Little doubt until six games had been played and the Amerks still hadn&rsquo;t won. The fears soon disappeared and the team began playing with amazing consistency and suddenly the race for the North title was a one-horse walkover.Unable to win in the first six games, the Amerks didn&rsquo;t lose six games between Dec. 17 and March 10 and were challenging the AHL&rsquo;s all-time records for victories (57) and points (124) set by the 1992-93 Binghamton Rangers.But regular season greatness doesn&rsquo;t bring the Calder Cup to town. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t rest on what we&rsquo;ve done,&rdquo; said coach Randy Cunneyworth. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t coast into the playoffs.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011880/8203504-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="741" height="608"></div>The true test comes in the playoffs, where it takes 16 more victories to win the Cup. The top four teams in each division qualify for best-of-seven play. Here&rsquo;s a glance at team aspirations down the stretch. Teams are listed according to standings entering the final month. The regular season ends April 17.NORTH DIVISION1. ROCHESTER AMERICANS The trick for the Amerks will be maintaining the level of play they&rsquo;ve been at the past two months without burning out. Besides goalie Ryan Miller, they likely don&rsquo;t have an all-star, so their success is based on an entire unit buying to the system.2. MANITOBA MOOSE After winning 27 of 40 games, the Moose entered the stretch drive with just eight wins in 23 games. Not enough scoring, coupled with an inability to prevent timely goals, turned the Moose from strong contenders into a pretender.3. ST. JOHN&rsquo;S MAPLE LEAFS Kyle Wellwood dazzles and David Ling can drive the puck through the net or bodies through the boards, whichever he prefers. Jean-Sebastien Aubin was a steal as an off-the-scrap-heap signee. If Matt Stajan could regain the form he displayed in Toronto, the Leafs could do playoff damage in their farewell to the Rock.4. SYRACUSE CRUNCH The question of where a No. 2 line would come from was answered with the addition of Nathan Robinson (from Grand Rapids), who joined Greg Mauldin and Peter Ferraro. The trio takes pressure off the unit of Mark Hartigan, Brad Moran and Joe Motzko. But goalies Karl Goehring and Andrew Penner haven&rsquo;t won in the playoffs and the Crunch needs defenseman Aaron Johnson to regain his NHL form.5. EDMONTON ROAD RUNNERS The big guns need to do more if the Road Runners expect to hold on to the fourth and final playoff spot in the North. Tony Salmelainen, Raffi Torres, Jarret Stoll and Toby Petersen should be closer to a point a game than one every other game.6. HAMILTON BULLDOGS The addition of center Steve Begin (locked out for four months) and defenseman Mike Komisarek (offseason hip surgery) bolster an improved lineup, but they must catch up quickly and one of the young goalies, Yann Danis and Dan Ellis, must prove he can be No. 1.7. CLEVELAND BARONS When Roy Sommer stops coaching, he should open a deh. He continues to make amazing chicken salad out of mostly chicken feathers. Still, with the Barons lack of firepower, scoring enough to produce the necessary stretch-drive winning streak will be difficult. And with rumors swirling about a franchise relocation, Cleveland may indeed be barren next season when it comes to hockey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021427/8203497-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="785" height="1318"><figcaption class="caption-body">KYLE WANVIG HOUSTON AEROS</figcaption></div>WEST DIVISION1. MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS The defending champions haven&rsquo;t reached the juggernaut level they hit last season, but the roster is overflowing with talent. The pressure will be on goalieBrian Finley to match what playoff MVP Wade Flaherty did last spring. The heat&rsquo;s also on the team to do what only one team-the 1990 and &rsquo;91 Springfield Indians-has done in 26 years: repeat as Calder Cup champs.2. CHICAGO WOLVES The Wolves have gone two seasons without a title and they&rsquo;re not happy. Thus, the addition of Stephen Weiss-and Jay Bouwmeester from San Antonio, and the signing of locked-out rearguard Joe Corvo. The key: hoping chemistry hasn&rsquo;t been upset. &ldquo;When you make major roles you&rsquo;re taking a gamble,&rdquo; said GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. &ldquo;People have to adapt and take on different roles.&rdquo;3. CINCINNATI MIGHTY DUCKS The youthful Ducks are great at home and so-so on the road, in large part because they don&rsquo;t score a lot. To win in the playoffs, they&rsquo;ll need more production from left winger Stanislav Chistov and center Alexei Smirnov, who aren&rsquo;t playing like the NHLers they&rsquo;d be if there was an NHL.4. HOUSTON AEROS This has been a showcasing of young Minnesota Wild talent, and goalie Josh Harding and center Mikko Koivu head the list. Their continued stellar play will be critical, as will Kyle Wanvig&rsquo;s rebound from a dreadful first half. A few more goals from Pierre-Marc Bouchard would be nice, too, considering his10 in mid-March were just three more than he scored as a rookie in 2002-03.5. GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS They&rsquo;re in the unusual position of chasing a playoff spot instead of a division title. But they&rsquo;ve played a more consistent game since February and, if youngster Jiri Hudler can team with oldie-but-goodie Kip Miller to carry the offense, the post-season is possible.6. SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE Considering nearly anyone who was any good was given away, winning more than once or twice-and maintaining sanity and a love of the game-will be all this far-from-competitive roster can hope to achieve.7. UTAH GRIZZLIES The good thing is, when the final game is played, the bags and U-Hauls will already be packed. This season was over by Christmas. But if nothing else, the development of sec-ond-year goalie David LeNeveu was enhanced by facing an abundance of quality chances. &#9632;

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Surging Amerks on record pace

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03579/8204275-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011164/8204289-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="130" height="119"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02824/8204282-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="135" height="133"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011045/8204268-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="3108" height="3021"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011177/8204261-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="3096" height="3003"></div> &#9632;

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AMERICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS AND STATISTICS

<h2>WHO AM I?</h2>I began my junior career with the Quebec League&rsquo;s Hull Olympiques in 1994 and have since accumulated more than 1500 penalty minutes in almost 400 NHL games. And I&rsquo;m not Andreas Lilja. Who am I?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06223/8204510-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="270" height="393"></div>The &ldquo;Give Peace a Chance&rdquo; TrophyGoes to the feuding National Women&rsquo;s League and Western Women&rsquo;s League. Because if the women&rsquo;s game is to thrive, a merger seems to be a must.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-07181/8204503-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="202" height="510"></div><h2>TRIVIA</h2>Of the NHL&rsquo;s all-time top 10 penalty minute leaders, who has played the fewest career games?a. Chris Nilan c. Dave Schultzb. Rob Ray d. Tiger Williams &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

ON THE FLY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021578/8203079-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="291" height="316"><figcaption class="caption-body">EDITOR&rsquo;S NOTEBOOK Jason Kay Editor</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011877/8203086-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="78" height="79"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re finished changing, you&rsquo;re finished.&rdquo;-Benjamin Franklin&ldquo;Change in all things is sweet.&rdquo;Aristotle&ldquo;Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.&rdquo;-UnknownThe Roman Empire, the Hindenburg, the Berlin Wall, Humpty Dumpty and now, The Hockey News NHL team reports.OK, so our decision to shelve what has been a staple component of our publication doesn&rsquo;t exacdy rank with history&rsquo;s all-time great falls, but it is significant change for us and our regular readers.Now that the cancelation of the season has taken root, circumstances dictate we go in a new direction. That means, until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, we intend to significantly shift the focus of our editorial content, starting with the suspension of oifr team stories. In lieu of separate reports on each of the 30 franchises, we&rsquo;ll devote a small notebook to cover off happenings around the league. In this issue, that notebook appears on pg. 23.This allows us to concentrate on-and devote more space to-additional relevant and unique content. New regular elements to watch for include:&bull; expanded coverage of the AHL: we&rsquo;re adding two new pages per issue to focus on the best hockey in North America (pgs. 14-15).&bull; Inside Edges: Senior writer Mark Brender gets his own regular space to inform, analyze and entertain (pg. 12).&bull; Proteau Type: Staff writer Adam Proteau&rsquo;s wit and colorful opinions will shine through in his recurring column. We&rsquo;ve added it at the back of the book in an enhanced Last Minute of Play section (pg. 30).&bull; Brian Costello&rsquo;s Future Watch: Our senior editor and resident prospect expert will do some regular horizon-gazing. Fittingly, that feature will commence in the future.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031281/8203072-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="1824" height="674"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-041039/8203065-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="1247" height="319"></div><h2>LAME DUCK IDEA?</h2>Just 20per cent ofrespondents are to our on-line survey are vehemently opposed to the concept of using replacement players&bull; Pro Tips: As a service to players and coaches, we&rsquo;ll turn to an expert each issue to provide advice on how to improve your game, what drills to run in practice, conditioning techniques, how to get the most out of players, etc. (pg. 28).Many of these changes come as a direct response to the feedback we&rsquo;ve received from readers. And don&rsquo;t fret: we plan to reintroduce NHL team reports when, well, there&rsquo;s something relevant to report. We hope you enjoy our slightly altered course and welcome more of your thoughts.Now a few other selective thoughts of our own:&bull; If a replacement league were a bird, what kind of bird would it be? A turkey? A lame duck? An albatross? An ostrich-one that will never get off the ground? How about an owl-a bit of a hoot? Seems visitors to our website, <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a>, project it more as the latter, a bird of prey; an effective if somewhat gruesome alternative. An on-line poll we conducted asked users the following: Are you prepared to watch replacement players in the NHL next season? We received in excess of 3,000 responses and roughly two-thirds of the voters selected, &ldquo;Yes. If it&rsquo;s the only way I&rsquo;ll see my NHL team, I&rsquo;ll watch.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s unclear how long they&rsquo;d watch for and how much they&rsquo;d be willing to spend to attend a replacement-player game, but it&rsquo;s clear a majority of the voters are willing to take a flyer. (See accompanying graphic for complete results).&bull; The Hockey News has learned players who have said they can&rsquo;t be in shape in time to play in the World Championship&mdash;such as Mats Sundin and Nicklas Lidstrom&mdash;have been misquoted and/or taken out of context. What they really meant to say was, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t be ready to play&hellip;if I&rsquo;m not getting paid.&rdquo; Think about it. Had there been a deal done to save the NHL season (and their paychecks), these guys would have been ready to play in an elevated heartbeat. We&rsquo;re not criticizing their decision to stay away from Austria-that&rsquo;s a personal choice-but we&rsquo;re not buying their rationale.&bull; Warner Brothers has picked up the film rights to Ballad of the Whiskey Robber, one of the best hockey-related reads you&rsquo;ll ever come across. For those not familiar, Whiskey Robber is the true life tale of Attila Ambrus, a Transylvanian-Romanian by birth who flees his oppressed homeland for a better life in Hungary. He tries his hand at a slew of legitimate jobs, including tending goal for a Budapest pro team, before becoming the nation&rsquo;s most notorious-and well loved-bank thief. The saga, written by Julian Rubinstein, has also been named the Borders 2004 Non-Fiction Book of the Year. Rubinstein reports Johnny Depp has been cast as the roguish-yet-compiex Ambrus. No word on how well Depp can skate, but based on tales that Ambrus was one of the worst pro goalies ever, that won&rsquo;t matter much.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05844/8203058-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="460" height="236"></div> &#9632;

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Coming in to pinch-hit…

<div class="byline">-MARK BRENDER</div>Plummeting goal totals couldn&rsquo;t get the NHL to push the excitement envelope, but the fear of tumbling revenues after a year of no hockey just might do the trick.Heading into a meeting of NHL GMs April 7-8 in Detroit, suddenly no idea is too nutty for discussion. The shootout is a virtual lock when NHL hockey returns (see pg. 8). Removing the red line for two-line passes isn&rsquo;t such a sure thing, but it has a better chance of passing than when it was overwhelmingly rejected by GMs last year.Don Cherry has been pushing for notouch icing for years; now it looks as if it may find favor in the NHL, but with the added twist that play be allowed to continue, Olympic-style, for intended offensive plays that didn&rsquo;t work out.Detroit GM Ken Holland is among those advocating an end to free icing when a team is killing a penalty. Others such as former Vancouver GM Brian Burke are talking about one-minute penalties in regular season overtime, as recommended by Brendan Shanahan&rsquo;s panel several months back.The Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; American League farm team, the Rochester Americans, planned to take part in two &lsquo;blue ice&rsquo; games at HSBC Arena March 20 and April 3. The thinking is that blue ice is friendlier on the eyes than high-glare white.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011881/8203176-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="712" height="864"><figcaption class="caption-body">The NHL could try to improve flow with a modified icing rule; others say Olympic-style no-touch icing is the way to go.</figcaption></div>The Boston Bruins, meanwhile, oversaw some funky experimentation of their own during a Providence Bruins practice scrimmage. They moved the bluelines closer to the goals and eliminated all icing and offsides once a team has exited its own defensive zone.&ldquo;What it turned into was hockey&rsquo;s version of fast-break basketball,&rdquo; Boston GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell told the Boston Globe. &ldquo;It was only one session, only about 25 minutes, but we saw a lot of things we liked. Lots of speed. Lots of passing. Plenty of opportunity for physical play. I can&rsquo;t say there was a lot more scoring, but there were definitely many more scoring chances.&rdquo;While nobody is suggesting such radical changes are in the offing, people are at least willing to talk seriously about new ideas.&ldquo;I have a strong belief that whatever rule it is, it passes the smell test and that is reward excellence, punish cheating and don&rsquo;t reward mediocrity,&rdquo; said San Jose GM Doug Wilson.Wilson believes the game could be improved by calling obstruction and illegal use of the stick as they appear in the rulebook at all times of the game. &ldquo;Why in the world would you ever enforce the rule the least when it matters most?&rdquo; he asked.<h2>PLUS Best of the hockey World</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021332/8203169-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="269" height="403"><figcaption class="caption-body">TREVOR KOENIG</figcaption></div>SAVES AND GOALS Atlantic City&rsquo;s Trevor Koenig becomes the eighth goalie in ECHL to score a goal, potting an empty-netter against Wheeling.SAVING THE GAME Heading into April t meetings, NHL GMs finally seem convinced of the I need to make the game more fan- and TV-friendly.A NOBLE ACT Massachusetts center Peter Trovato establishes charitable fund to defray school expenses for children of fallen soldiers.<h2>MINUS&nbsp;the Hockey World</h2>WOLF TRAPPED Kip Brennan of the Chicago Wolves is suspended the rest of the season (15 games) for his role in a pre-game fight.CHAMPS BERNED David Aebischer and his first-place Lugano teammates are dumped in the first round of playoffs by eighth-seed Bern.AH, RATS New Jersey&rsquo;s top farm team, the Albany River Rats, miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03860/8203162-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="278" height="409"><figcaption class="caption-body">KIP BRENNAN</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04536/8203155-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="904" height="611"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05335/8203148-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="171" height="141"></div><h2>SNAPSHOTS</h2>From around the NHL&bull; March 15, 2005 came and went with a newNHL record-zero trades on deadline day. Word is Isles GM Mike Milbury took the battery out of his cell phone to stop himself from doing something rash and spent the rest of the day in mourning.&bull; Rearrange the letters in Bob and Gary and you get, among other anagrams, &ldquo;gob and bray.&rdquo; And isn&rsquo;t that precisely what the lost season was all about-spittle and donkey talk? &bull;&bull; Scotty Bowman may not be at the GM&rsquo;s meeting in Detroit, but rest assured many of the ideas presented by Detroit&rsquo;s Ken Holland will have originated in the brilliant mind of the game&rsquo;s greatest all-time coach. For one thing, Bowman doesn&rsquo;t think nets necessarily have to be bigger, but players would have more room to score if the posts were made thinner.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-06205/8203141-1-eng-US/f0005-062.jpg" title="f0005-06" width="311" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body">SCOTTY BOWMAN</figcaption></div>&bull; With the NHL being reinvented, how about adding some bright colors back into uniforms? Many NHL uniforms have too much black in them, so much so, they all start to look the same. Bring back the baby blue with black and white trim in Pittsburgh, the yellow and purple in Los Angeles, the blue and yellow in Buffalo.&bull; Kudos to Flyers captain Keith Primeau for saying on a Toronto radio station that the NHLPA has to stop blocking NHL initiatives to reduce the size of goal equipment. &#9632;

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Times, they are a-changin’

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021397/8203207-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012092/8203214-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="151" height="79"></div>The Hockey NewsFROM THE EDITORSfew words of advice to players hopeful that North American alternatives to the NHL will suddenly burst onto the scene, like flowers in springtime: Don&rsquo;t believe the hype.If a new league were easy to pull together it would have been done a year ago at this time, before fans became thoroughly disgusted with NHL players and owners alike. That it didn&rsquo;t happen wasn&rsquo;t due to a lack of effort.The reborn World Hockey Association tried to get off the ground last October. It failed. The Original Stars League had the more modest goal of providing NHLers with a place to play as long as the lockout lasted. It failed. Another Canada-based start-up attempt with an intended start in the fall of 2003, putatively named the Federal Hockey League, never got beyond a mailing address before it disappeared from the radar screen.So as for the much-publicized WHA spring tournament, being touted as a momentum builder for a full WHA start-up in the fall of 2005, the best that can be said is that 1) it has an impressive list of NHL players on board; and 2) it hasn&rsquo;t yet failed.We don&rsquo;t blame individual players for feeling that something approximating two weeks of semi-competitive play is better than the nothing that is the NHL. After all, when organizers are willing to put up $2 million in prize money in addition to a guaranteed $20,000 per player, and are apparently prepared to cover insurance as well, there&rsquo;s not a lot of risk involved for the players.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Profitable television contracts and sponsorships only appear after a league has proven itself.</blockquote>But if players are ever led to believe the WHA or any other start-up league in the foreseeable future will pay anything close to the kind of money the NHL can pay over the long haul, that&rsquo;s another story. Anyone who is trying to sell them on such an idea isn&rsquo;t looking out for the players&rsquo; best interests. There are good reasons why no start-up league in any major North American sport has ever overtaken the incumbent.A successful league requires solid ownership, modern places to play and a fan base, just for starters. But this is where any new venture runs into problems: A start-up league can&rsquo;t get any of these things without the credibility that comes from having elite players first buy in to what the league is selling. For that to happen, the league needs to show&rsquo;em the money up front-with no guarantees they&rsquo;ll ever see it back Profitable television contracts and corporate sponsorships only appear after a league has proven itself. So unless there are potential owners out there willing to lose hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in the short term on a hunch that might not pay off, don&rsquo;t hold your breath. The WHA spring tournament is already pushing $4 million in player costs; is there any hope organizers can even break even?While it is prudent to explore alternatives, the best alternative to a locked-out NHL is an NHL with a new CBA agreed to by the players and the owners. Getting the NHL back on the ice is where energies on all sides should remain focussed. &#9632;

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Top option to NHL lockout is NHL back on the ice

<h2>PAY-PER-BOO?</h2>To help fans get through their days without the NHL, I think the league should put their labor negotiations with the players&rsquo; union on pay-per-view TV.That way, we would be able to truly understand the situation, who is truthful and who the antagonist really is.Boring, you say? You know you and every other hockey fan wants the real story. You know you&rsquo;d watch it!Mike Greaves, Ignace, Ont.<h2>WIRTZ&rsquo;S WOES: INSOMNIA OR GUILT?</h2>I saw that Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz has laid off 45 per cent of his staff, claims he can&rsquo;t sleep at night because of it, and further implies the players union doesn&rsquo;t care (THN, March 15).I&rsquo;m no doctor, but I think it is quite possible Mr. Wirtz is losing sleep because of the subconscious guilt he has over driving a once proud Original Six franchise completely into the ground.Brian Ahem, Sandwich, Mass.<h2>COLLEGE GAME WHERE IT&rsquo;S AT</h2>I recently attended a University of Wisconsin game and the crowd was incredible. More than 15,000 fans were at the Kohl Center; they were on pins and needles the whole time.This was one of the best hockey atmospheres I have had the privilege to experience. I&rsquo;ve never been to a NHL game, but I&rsquo;m not sure it could have the same effect on me.Tim Lindorff, Madison, Wise.<h2>THE TEAM&rsquo;S THE THING</h2>I keep hearing that &ldquo;NHL players are the show&rdquo;. But what about the jersey?I go to Maple Leafs games to see my team compete. Past greats like Bobby Baun, Dave Keon, Borje Salming and Darryl Sittier are as much the reason why I go as the modern players.What makes the Leafs and other teams great aren&rsquo;t the big-money players, but the guys who played their hearts out for the logo.Dennis Payne, Peterborough, Ont.<h2>REPLACEMENTS A BAD OPTION</h2>I miss hockey as much as anyone, but I won&rsquo;t watch replacement hockey. Putting a bunch of guys in NHL sweaters doesn&rsquo;t make them NHLers.Replacement players aren&rsquo;t going to have NHL talent. I&rsquo;m sure they&rsquo;re good players and I&rsquo;d love to watch them-at minor league rinks.Owners, you&rsquo;ve insulted the fens enough. Open the season with real NHLers.At best, replacement players would divide fens. At worst, we leave and your revenues go where this year&rsquo;s went: back into our own pockets.Daniel Lee, Wakefield, Mass.<h2>KEEP ADS OUT OF NHL</h2>Your Opening Faceoff picture of Prague&rsquo;s Sazka Arena was the most frightening and disgusting thing I have ever seen in The Hockey News. (THN, March 15)Corporate overkill has crippled my passion for other sports and it is now rearing its ugly head in the AHL. If NHL owners think they can put up billboard-style sheets of ice while charging $80 a ticket, they&rsquo;re more insane than I thought.Chris Sutherland, West Haven, Conn.<h2>LETTER OF THE WEEK</h2>It is time Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow stepped down!That said, I blame the players first and foremost. They are greedy and either blind or brainwashed to the financial situation, which they&rsquo;ve reaped from handsomely over the last 10 years.And they killed any credibility they may have had by fleeing to Europe and the minors, taking jobs from other hockey players.L missed most of last season because I was serving in Iraq-care to guess what I got paid?-and I&rsquo;ll now miss this season due to greedy NHLers who forgot where they came from. I probably will be back in Iraq and miss next season (if there is one). So thanks, NHL-but most of all, thanks NHLers!Bring on the replacement players. I&rsquo;ll respect each one that crosses the picket line.As for the diehard NHLPA guys, you can all get bent.Maj. Brad Arnett, San Antonio, Tex.<h2>Got something to say?</h2>Canada: Letters, The Hockey News, 25 Sheppard Ave.W., Suite 100,Toronto, Ont., M2N6S7E-mail: <a href="mailto:aproteau@thehockeynews.com">aproteau@thehockeynews.com</a> or visit <a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">www.thehockeynews.com</a> Include name, hometown, province/state and phone number.Submissions will be edited. &#9632;

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

When the lockout ends, they are going to be playing before only The Friends of Gary Bettman, on ESPN 3, with wider lines, shootouts, and ankle bracelets alerting parole officers when goalies leave the net.Next, the league will go to steroid pucks or, steroid players, seeing as it is the only league that doesn&rsquo;t test for drugs-or its fans for intelligence, as has become devastatingly obvious.The simplest solution, to keep your product out there through financial adjustments the players have proved willing to address, never dawned on the radicals. And once their Pyrrhic victory is won, neither will it occur to them how much more effective would be one simple rules fix that could take the game forward again, mostly by taking it back.Never mind any other tinkering. Just remove one player off each roster, down to 17 skaters (plus two goalies), so coaches aren&rsquo;t able to roll four lines anymore. Force them, unless they want to risk playing five defensemen, to use their best forwards more often in shifts of greater than a minute, just like in the good old days when the players people paid to see were given a better chance to be worth watching.<h2>BRING BACK FATIGUE</h2>Let players become fatigued, because we&rsquo;retired of watching the stars go off the ice when they should be staying on to prey on laborers who can&rsquo;t process oxygen as efficiently. Allow mediocrity to get worn down, as we have been by the endless debate and crackdowns over obstruction, which will never be resolved to any populist satisfaction.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011892/8203276-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="299" height="481"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg Columnist</figcaption></div>Calling it loose, or tight (and the referee a dirty name) is part of the fabric of the game, a reasonable standard of enforcement being all in the eye of the beholder and, frankly, something fans love to complain about anyway.Obstruction is about 25 per cent of why scoring has plummeted, oversized goalie equipment is another 10 per cent and the growing size of the players another five per cent of a problem that could be largely fixed by giving big-time talents more ice time in which to come up big.Obstruction from behind the benches (&ldquo;Short shifts, boys, don&rsquo;t run out of gas!&rdquo;) holds skill back more than any clutch of any shoulder or stick between the legs. So let&rsquo;em play, not just with more whistles that theoretically inspire fear of penalties, but by simply letting&rsquo;em play, meaning your skilled players together on recognizable lines.Talent has been so thinned by over-expansion, most coaches can&rsquo;t put two scoring units together, so they mix their skilled guys over four with sluggos whose job is to hit somebody and get back to the bench as soon as possible.The whole game is about not getting caught, not catching the other guys when they are tired or simply not very good. The coach&rsquo;s essential task has become masking talent shortcomings, the result being generic hockey. And all this sameness is only going to be embellished when the NHL resumes with 30 teams spending the approximate same amount on players.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021254/8203269-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="2111" height="1435"></div>Bob Hartley, who gets to coach Ilya Kovalchuk in Atlanta, seems to be the only one who gets it, playing him 27-28 minutes a game, just like Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur used to do it.Penalty killing has become so good in a game drearily over-coached, scorers aren&rsquo;t scoring enough even on the power play. Besides, you shouldn&rsquo;t need to take one player off the ice like they&rsquo;ve done in overtime to open up the game; you just have to leave good players out more often against bad players.Sending the 18th skater, your worst and lowest paid forward to the American League, only will save teams $400,000 a season. But multiplied by 30, that&rsquo;s about $12 million a year, hardly an insignificant amount. Plus, it&rsquo;s not a significant issue the NHL Players&rsquo; Association would consider a deal-breaker if its elite players can score more and make more, meaning money for themselves and the owners.A LITTLE OFF THE BOTTOM The lowest-paid player on each of the 30 NHL teams in 2003-04 made an average of $401,833 (the high being Aaron Downey of Dallas and Darren Langdon of Montreal at $500,000 and the low being Dave Lowry of Calgary at $250,000). Eliminate this so-called &lsquo;extra man&rsquo; from the 23-man roster (20 players dressed) and it represents a saving of more than $12 million in total player costs. &#9632;

f0007-01

Hey NHL: Shed weight

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy Senior Writer </div><div class="byline">-MARK BRENDER</div>When the NHL returns from its darkest hour, you can bet we will be greeted by numerous changes to the game designed to drive up the entertainment value.One thing that is almost certain to be part of the package is the use of shootouts to decide tied games during the regular season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011977/8203335-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="798" height="493"></div>Asked if the shootout will be part of the new-look NHL, senior vice-president Colin Campbell offered: &ldquo;Probably. We&rsquo;re at the stage where there are some things you have to give to the fans for entertainment value.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021478/8203328-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="4697" height="2874"></div>Every argument against introducing the shootout has been heard a million times. Hockey is a team game and the shootout comes down to individuals&hellip; you wouldn&rsquo;t end a football game with a field goal kicking contest&hellip; a golf tournament wouldn&rsquo;t be decided with a longest drive competition&hellip; it gives teams with skilled players an unfair advantage&hellip; blah, blah, blah.The reality is shootouts are exciting. Go ahead, try to resist watching one when it&rsquo;s on.A member of-The Hockey News editorial staff claims he hates the shootout. But when Team Canada and Davos went to a shootout in a Spengler Cup game this season, guess whose nose was pressed up against the TV in the newsroom?&ldquo;I used to say the same thing about the shootout six years ago when my son was playing Junior B in St. Thomas,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t big on it. I didn&rsquo;t like the idea of ending a game that way. But I was right up there watching to see what happened whenever the game went to a shootout. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s up to the players or coaches or managers to decide if they like it. It&rsquo;s up to the people watching the games. After a year they&rsquo;ll tell us whether or not they like it and the only way we&rsquo;ll know is if we do it in our league.&rdquo;The shootout is already a reality in the American League and ECHL. While some AHL coaches were dead-set against it at the start of the season, many have learned to live with it.&ldquo;I like most of it,&rdquo; said Syracuse coach Gary Agnew, whose Crunch was 8-3 in its first 11 shootouts. &ldquo;I like when I win at home. I like when I win on the road. I can handle when I lose on the road because you get a point, but I don&rsquo;t like losing at home. The problem is, when you lose, it feels like a loss for the fans even though you got the point for the regulation tie.&ldquo;That said, our fans love it. When we get to overtime, my nine-year-old daughter, Lindsay, is praying that nobody scores so she&rsquo;ll get to see the shootout. She&rsquo;s disappointed when somebody scores in overtime. As soon as overtime ends, the fans are on their feet screaming. They love it.&rdquo;Agnew is the first to admit his team&rsquo;s success in shootouts affects his opinion of it. &ldquo;If I was 3-8,1 might have a different opinion,&rdquo; he said.Geoff Ward&rsquo;s Edmonton Road Runners were just that-3-8 in their first 11 shootouts-and not surprisingly, he isn&rsquo;t crazy about the idea.&ldquo;The way that it stands now, I&rsquo;m not a big proponent of it,&rdquo; Ward said. &ldquo;I understand the excitement of it and how great it is for the fans, but potentially you could lose a playoff spot because of the shootout.&rdquo;That is only partially true. Teams that don&rsquo;t fare well in the shootout must face the reality that they had three 20-minute periods plus a five-minute overtime session to win the game. Perhaps when it is introduced in the NHL, some teams will try just a little bit harder to score in regulation time.&ldquo;What I would like to see, if they are going to use the shootout, is for the NHL to go to the three-two-one point system that they use in Germany,&rdquo; Ward suggested. &ldquo;If your team is able to win in regulation, you get the extra point for the win. You get three points for a regulation win and then the rest of it breaks down the same-two points for an overtime or shootout win and one point for making it into overtime.&ldquo;The concept itself of the shootout from an entertainment standpoint is great, but the three-two-one points system might make teams play harder in regulation time to try to get the three points. Take a team like New Jersey, for instance. If you have the three-two-one and they are fighting for a playoff spot, would it force them to play a more wide-open style in regulation to try to get that extra point?&rdquo;When the shootout hits the NHL, don&rsquo;t expect the league&rsquo;s top stars to do all the scoring if AHL results this season are any indication. The free breakaway competition has stymied some of the league&rsquo;s biggest names&mdash;including Stephen Weiss (O-for-6), Eric Staal (2-for-12), Jason King (2-for-7) and the league&rsquo;s leading scorer Jason Spezza (2-for-8). Kyle Wellwood of St. John&rsquo;s was the sharpest shooter, going 8-for-13, while Michel Ouellet of Wilkes-Barre was 8-for-15.Goalies appear to have a clear advantage in the shootout. Through 897 games, of which 202 went to overtime and 115 to the shootout, goalies stopped 845 of 1,237 shots, an average of 68.3 per cent.Syracuse goalie Karl Goehring has made a mockery of the entire exercise, winning all six of his shootout games and stopping 30 of 33 attempts. He said he has no secret for his success.&ldquo;I try to do the things I have been taught on the way up,&rdquo; Goehring said. &ldquo;Basically challenge the shooter and back in and try to close the gap so I don&rsquo;t leave too much to shoot at.&rdquo;In the first 829 ECHL games this season, 189 went into overtime and 125 advanced to the shootout. Once there, goalies stopped 928 of 1,277 shots (72.7 per cent). Shaun Sutter of Fresno has the ECHL eagle eye, scoring on six of nine attempts.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Some say the penalty shot is the most exciting time in game. Now you get 10 most excitingplays. -COLIN CAMPBELL</blockquote>Colin Campbell, who has spent time during the lockout taking about possible changes and has canvassed minor league coaches for their opinion of the shootout, said ultimately it won&rsquo;t come down to what coaches feel.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not going to matter if the coaches like it or not,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;If they don&rsquo;t like it it&rsquo;s probably because they can&rsquo;t do anything about it. It just happens. They can&rsquo;t control it, they can&rsquo;t coach it. The only coaching they do is to pick the players. Some people say the penalty shot is the most exciting time in a game. Now you get 10 most exciting plays if it goes the distance.&rdquo;Lowell coach Tom Rowe said the shootout has added new life to games and practices.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not the best at it,&rdquo; said Rowe, whose Lock Monsters were 6-5 in 11 attempts, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s exciting. I didn&rsquo;t like it at the beginning because when you didn&rsquo;t win the shootout, it felt like a loss. But I noticed how excited our players got and our fans love it My wife, who is not into sports at all, has been to a half-dozen games of which three went to the shootout She loves it.&rdquo;Don&rsquo;t worry Bernice Rowe, come next year, you won&rsquo;t be alone.<h2>Shootouts shameful</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011949/8203321-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="2244" height="1052"></div>As if the NHL lockout weren&rsquo;t bad enough, the league&rsquo;s return at some future date is bound to bring further disaster.Welcome to the shootout.Could anything be a bigger white flag, an unconditional surrender, an utter resignation that hockey has failed completely to be entertaining? Already in the AHL, forcing tied games to penalty shot contests is a horrible admission that the game is so mismanaged, so boring, that a gimmick is required to trick fans into thinking the night of tedious systems and overcoaching was worthwhile because it ended with a bunch of breakaways.Has anyone stopped to consider why the NBA doesn&rsquo;t decide ties with free throws, or why the NFL doesn&rsquo;t break its deadlocks with five rounds of field-goal kicking, or why baseball doesn&rsquo;t Just bring its sluggers to the plate for five pitches each at the end of nine equal innings? The word cheap comes to mind.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021414/8203314-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="291" height="378"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Campbell Guest Columnist</figcaption></div>Hockey is a team game of tactics and strategy. Even with the neutral zone trap, there is at least some team accomplishment in executing it properly.Shootout proponents live on the misconception that it&rsquo;s good for the game because fans like it. Fans like fighting and verbally abusing officials, too.Even AHL president and CEO David Andrews sounds Less than convinced it&rsquo;s the savior so many want it to be. &ldquo;Our business/marketing people like it,&rdquo; Andrews has said. &ldquo;They think it&rsquo;s great for the fans. It&rsquo;ll be interesting to be in a building and see how much the fans love it when the home team loses.&rdquo;The very last hockey game at Winnipeg Arena in November should have been mandatory viewing for shootout proponents. An absolutely magical evening, complete with history, nostalgia, living legends and a wonderful performance by the Manitoba Moose took place in a sold-out building. It was a 65-minutes of one-sided action forced to penalty shots by a hot Utah Grizzlies goalie, and then the event was fairly ruined by an unjust result on the evening&rsquo;s play. Thanks for that memory.How do you think an NHL GM is going to feel when his team misses the playoffs by a point? Hopefully, that will happen via shootout on the last weekend of the season, underscoring how many millions of dollars of playoff revenue were flushed down the drain due to the wisdom of penalty shots.If it&rsquo;s got to be something, then why not skating races for the two points? If fans&rsquo; glee is so essential, how about a couple of refereeshaped pinatas and let&rsquo;s have the teams take five swings each and whichever knocks out the most whistles gets the &ldquo;win.&rdquo; The potential for such stupidity is endless, but it&rsquo;s no worse a mockery than the shootout. We need to refocus on fixing the game in a respectable, honest, manner.-Tim Campbell covers the AHL&rsquo;s Manitoba Moose for the Winnipeg Free Press<h2>Doing it soccer style</h2>Hockey isn&rsquo;t the only professional sport that has grappled with trying to find a better way to end tied games.In 1996, Major League Soccer introduced a tiebreaking penalty shootout format that had been unprecedented in the sport. Starting from the 35-yard line, five shooters took turns moving in on the goalkeeper. They had five seconds to shoot. The winning team received two points for a win and the loser nothing. Not all observers were impressed.&ldquo;It was like, &rsquo;What are we doing?&rsquo; &ldquo;recalls Canadian national team coach Frank Yallop, who was coaching in MLS at the time. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;ve gone into a real tough place to play and you got it done and got a point, to Lose in a shootout, it just didn&rsquo;t sit well with a lot of people.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011726/8203307-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="291" height="285"></div>In the end, MLS decided the resulting controversy was worse than what it had before. The innovation was put to a merciful end after 1999.In North America and Europe, tied games after extra time remain the norm for league play, but tournament games that must determine a winner rely on penalty kicks from the 12-yard line. That wasn&rsquo;t always the case. For World Cups prior to 1982, for example, matches were replayed if extra time didn&rsquo;t determine a winner.The introduction of penalty kicks hasn&rsquo;t won over everybody, but the shootout is now an accepted part of the international game. It has provided some of the most memorable moments in soccer history, chief among them the 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy, when a last-shot Roberto Baggio miss cost Italy a chance at the title.Perhaps surprisingly, some countries (Germany in particular) have proved more adept penalty kicks than others (England and Italy, for instance) even at the game&rsquo;s highest levels.&rsquo;The drama of the shodtout and penalty kicks, there&rsquo;s nothing to beat that drama,&rdquo; said Canadian soccer analyst Dick Howard. &ldquo;It makes for good television.&rdquo;In the regular season, at least, that&rsquo;s exactly what the NHL is hoping for. There has been no suggestion the NHL would ever consider using shootouts in playoff games. &#9632;

f0008-01

WHAT A MOVE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021493/8203380-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="292" height="371"><figcaption class="caption-body">Senior Writer</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011899/8203387-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="108" height="119"></div>For the first time, The Bigs are going to have to share money to make money. Forgive them if it comes as a shock.Mark Brender</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>In the past, large-market teams spent oodles for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because they could. They believed spending would help them do well, or at least convince fans winning was their goal. Spending could help, for a little while, to overcome shortfalls in management. It could help related businesses. But spending to prop up their rivals to actually make money for themselves? Never&hellip; until now.They can&rsquo;t make money if they&rsquo;re not playing with NHL players and unless the NHL steps up on revenue sharing, the NHL players aren&rsquo;t going to be playing.It&rsquo;s often overlooked that big-market bottom lines would benefit most from a $42.5-million hard cap. The payroll the Bigs would not be allowed to spend-in the case of, say, Colorado or Detroit or Toronto, between $15-$25 million annually for the life of the new deal-goes directly into the &lsquo;profit&rsquo; column. Over a six-year deal, that&rsquo;s a $120-million benefit.Because of that-and because the Bigs aren&rsquo;t being asked to kick significant revenue sharing cash for the overall good of the league-they weren&rsquo;t overly upset about losing a good chunk of 2004-05. When the whole season was lost, the grumbling started in earnest. If they lose part of another or worse, those big-market revenues disappear and grumbling turns to fury.So go to Bettman, Bigs, and tell him you&rsquo;ve discovered philanthropy. It&rsquo;s in your interest.The NHL won&rsquo;t comment on its final revenue sharing proposal, but Bob Goodenow has told players and agents it was predicated on getting all teams to a $34-million payroll. If 54 per cent of a team&rsquo;s hockey-related revenue is equal to less than $34 million, the revenue sharing pool would in most cases make up the difference to a maximum of $9 million per team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03969/8203373-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="705" height="613"></div>The total revenue sharing pool needed to accomplish the stated goal would be just $89 million. Of that, $46 million would come from playoff gate revenues and $43 million from the regular season-and most of that through payroll luxury tax payments. And these guys call themselves partners?<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04573/8203366-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="1555" height="1134"><figcaption class="caption-body">HEALTH & WELFARE&nbsp;Big-money teams such as Colorado could help broker a new deal if they sweetened their revenue sharing.</figcaption></div>For Goodenow, this is ammunition. Sure looks like these guys are talking chump change, doesn&rsquo;t it? But wait, he says, there&rsquo;s more. Once you factor in the $60-million annual decrease in TV revenue and another $5.5 million annually pulled out from the scrapped Canadian assistance plan, NHL revenue sharing moves from 11 per cent to&hellip; 12 per cent. Some increase, eh boys? And it gets better. Assuming a five per cent annual growth in revenues, the revenue sharing pool would shrink to a $24.6million pittance by year six of a new CBA. Boys, they&rsquo;re going backwards!Really, if not for Goodenow&rsquo;s brilliance behind closed doors, the players would have had his butt out the door the day after the season was canceled. Instead, Goodenow rallies the troops, again and again, and comes off each time like the second coming of Che Guevara. He even got agent Ritch Winter to praise him for his &ldquo;brilliant negotiating strategy&rdquo; when said strategy cost the players $1.4 billion.Go figure. If there&rsquo;s one thing Goodenow has proven, it&rsquo;s circling the wagons, not negotiating, is his forte. There&rsquo;s no other explanation why there hasn&rsquo;t already been a palace coup and why there probably won&rsquo;t be one.If Goodenow can keep attacking the Bigs&rsquo; failure to kick in on revenue sharing, it strengthens his position-especially because on this one issue, he&rsquo;s right.The Flyers and Leafs and other Bigs growing more frustrated with the NHL&rsquo;s stance would have more credibility if they offered some of those lost riches-no, make that additional riches-that have them pining to come back. They should consider it a sound investment.Of course, there is the replacement option. Makes revenue sharing sound like a grand idea, don&rsquo;t you think? &#9632;

f0012-02

Rich teams must embrace sharing

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011733/8203418-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="109" height="152"></div>The NHL says it is only a matter of weeks before linkage is the players&rsquo; only remaining option to reach a negotiated CBA settlement. The NHL put two offers on the table during a brief bargaining session with the NHL Players&rsquo; Association March 17. One was a &ldquo;delinked&rdquo; salary cap framework, which the NHL said would be removed if no deal was reached &ldquo;within the next several weeks.&rdquo; Initial reports said the salary cap was set at $37.5 million. The other offer was a proposal linking player salaries to league revenues, reportedly at 54 per cent. The NHL Players&rsquo; Association rejected both pitches.&ldquo;We will be determining our next steps and responding at the appropriate time,&rdquo; union leader Bob Goodenow said in a statement.The NHL also scheduled a board of governors meeting for April 20, at which time it is expected to narrow down options for moving forward.At an earlier governors meeting on March 1, teams were asked to consider six options heading into next fall and to report back on which they find most favorable. According to reports, two of the choices include holding 82- and 60-game seasons with replacement players. Under this scenario, no collective bargaining agreement would be required and NHLPA members would not be allowed to play in the &lsquo;replacement&rsquo; league even if they wanted to.The league also asked teams to consider an impasse-and-implemen-tation strategy that would re-open the NHL for any players, including union members who wished to cross a picket line, also with 82-game and 60-game options.Another possibility was a &ldquo;selective&rdquo; lockout under which only NHLPA players earning a million dollars or less could join replacement players. This would expand the pool of players and potentially increase the talent level, but it would also be fraught with legal challenges.The league also asked teams for feedback on the idea of keeping arenas dark until a negotiated CBA is reached&mdash;this despite the NHL&rsquo;s public insistence that there will be hockey next season. &#9632;</div>

f0013-01

NHL makes offer

<div class="byline">BY ADAM PROTEAU</div>The Toronto Aeros won their second consecutive title at a Canadian women&rsquo;s championship tournament that had more controversy than organizers would have liked.Jennifer Botterill&rsquo;s goal with 1:14 remaining was the difference in a 2-1 win over the Brampton Thunder in Sarnia March 13.As host province, Ontario was per-mitted to ice two teams in the tournament, which got off to a rocky start when big-name players expressed unhappiness over its format.Deriding the event as little more than &ldquo;a beer-drinking party,&rdquo; national team captain Cassie Campbell told the Toronto Star she was disappointed in organizers&rsquo; unwillingness to address player concerns about competitive balance. The tournament features strong club teams playing against less talented &ldquo;all-star&rdquo; teams.&ldquo;It is unfortunate, but we want to make a point,&rdquo; said Campbell, who also plays for the Calgary Oval Extreme, one of two teams that broke away from the NWHL this season to form the upstart Western Women&rsquo;s League. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d love to play in a competitive tournament, but right now the (nationals are) not competitive.&rdquo;The Oval X-treme, which also features national stars such as Hayley Wickenheiser and Dana Antal, did not compete after a disagreement with Hockey Alberta over the makeup of the province&rsquo;s entry.Hockey Canada&rsquo;s director of female hockey Julie Healy was disappointed the dissent sullied the event.&ldquo;Negative headlines always seem to get more attention&hellip; and that&rsquo;s a shame,&rdquo; Healy said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s always room for improvement, but we&rsquo;re happy with the state of our program.&rdquo;Aeros captain Cheryl Pounder was MVP of the five-day tournament, while Aeros goalie Sami-Jo Small was player of the game in the final. &#9632;

Aeros defend title

<h2>CROSBY OPTIONS</h2>Unsure about his future in an NHL that is locking out its players, Sidney Crosby can take comfort in knowing he&rsquo;s financially secure. The 17-year-old hockey phenom signed an equipment endorsement deal with Reebok valued at $2 to $2.5 million over five years. The question now is, where will Crosby be wearing his Reebok gear. A shoo-in to be selected first overall in the next NHL draft, Crosby knows there won&rsquo;t be a draft unless there is a CBA signed between the NHL and the union. Crosby says he doesn&rsquo;t want to spend a third year with Rimouski of the Quebec League and observers are aware he has proved himself at the major junior level. That suggests Crosby may consider playing in the fledgling World Hockey Association or Europe. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t play in the replacement league,&rdquo; Crosby said. The NHL is the NHL for a reason and it&rsquo;s the best league in the world. With replacement players, I wouldn&rsquo;t be in the best league in the world. The NHL with real players is where I want to be.&rdquo;<h2>MELEE WITH FANS</h2>Police investigated a brawl in Amherst, N.S. in which fans threw objects and insults at visiting players who responded by hurling water bottles and sticks into the stands. The Maritime Junior League game was between Amherst and Yarmouth.<h2>EX-NHLER JAILED</h2>Former NHLer Rudy Poeschek has been jailed in Tampa Bay as an habitual traffic offender after allegedly crashing into trees and mailboxes while his five-year-old daughter was in the car. Poeschek, 38, flattened two tires on his SUV, then hid in a garage. He fled when police arrived looking for him and was taken into custody after receiving a jolt from a taser gun. Now a mortgage broker, Poeschek was charged on five counts including driving with a child not wearing a seatbelt. He played 364 games in 12 seasons for four teams, retiring in 2000.<h2>ESPN STILL INTERESTED</h2>ESPN said it had no plans to walk away from broadcasting hockey next season even though ratings for lower-priced programming has been successful. ESPN has an option on picking up NHL games at $70 million each of the next two seasons. &#9632;

HOCKEY WORLD IN BRIEF

<div class="byline">BY ROBIN SHORT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011713/8203549-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="240" height="230"></div>Not a lot separates the contenders in the American League&rsquo;s Eastern Conference as teams round the final turn for the back-stretch and a sprint to the Calder Cup playoffs.Parity is the order of the day in the East which will see at least four of the eight playoffbound teams collect 90 or more points.The top four teams in each division qualify for best-of-seven play. Here&rsquo;s a glance at team aspirations down the stretch. Teams are listed according to standings heading into the final month. The regular season ends April 17.ATLANTIC DIVISION1. MANCHESTER MONARCHS The team which started the season with an eyebrow-raising 20-1-0-0 record has a nice complement of offense and defense. Mike Cammalleri, who tops all AHL goal-scorers, leads a high-octane offense that has potted the most goals in the AHL. Mathieu Garon, who would be in Los Angeles if not for the lockout, is one of the AHL&rsquo;s elite puckstoppers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021225/8203542-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="744" height="595"></div>2. HARTFORD WOLF PACK Despite the fact this team has been bombarded with injuries (almost 300 man-games missed), somehow coach Ryan McGill has his charges in the hunt for first overall in the East. The goaltending duo of Jason LaBarbera and Steve Valiquette has been the league&rsquo;s best. They&rsquo;ll have to be, though, as the Wolf Pack&rsquo;s defense is thin.3. LOWELL LOCK MONSTERS Can one line carry an entire team? The Monsters hope so. The trio of Chuck Kobasew, Eric Staal and Colin Forbes is the best in the league and Brent Krahn and Cam Ward are an effective goaltending duo. Krahn, the ninth overall pick in 2000, has re-emerged as a Calgary Flames prospect and Ward is a rookie of the year candidate.4. WORCESTER ICECATS The IceCats are chasing a playoff berth with heavy hearts as coach Don Granato is home in Chicago receiving treatment for Hodgkin&rsquo;s Lymphoma. Former MVP Eric Boguniecki, who has been average since joining Worcester, has to be the IceCats&rsquo; best player if they&rsquo;re to make a Calder Cup run.5. PROVIDENCE BRUINS The Bruins playoff hopes rest on the young shoulders of Brad Boyes and Patrice Bergeron, although fourth-year veteran Andy Hilbert is quietly having a career season. But the real key to the P-Bruins is workhorse goalie Hannu Toivonen, who the organization had penciled in to back up Andrew Raycroft in Boston this season.6. PORTLAND PIRATES Tim Army is one of hockey&rsquo;s bright young coaches, but he&rsquo;ll be hard-pressed to guide the Pirates into the playoffs. One reason for the poor play? Defense. Virtually every regular is in minus figures.7. SPRINGFIELD FALCONS So much for the belief veterans will lead a team to the playoffs. The disappointing Falcons loaded up on old guys over the summer, but got rid of three&mdash;Jarrod Skalde, Terry Virtue and Jamie Storr-by the all-star break. Another, Darren Rumble, retired. Shane Willis, Craig Darby and Jim Campbell remain, but this team will have to soar to epic heights to reach the playoffs.EAST DIVISION1. BINGHAMTON SENATORS Jason Spezza is the league&rsquo;s leading scorer, to no one&rsquo;s surprise, Denis Hamel will near 40 goals and Brandon Bochenski is a rookie of the year favorite. Still, the Sens leave you with the feeling there&rsquo;s more to give. Goaltending could be an issue as Ottawa prospect Ray Emery has struggled. No. 2 man Billy Thompson has been steady which leaves co-coaches Dave Cameron and John Paddock with a tough decision.2. PHILADELPHIA PHANTOMS There are no big stars here, only a team comprised of several very good players. The defense, anchored by veteran John Slaney, promising Joni Pitkanen and steady Dennis Seidenberg, is one of the best in the league and goalie Antero Niittymaki is among the AHL&rsquo;s elite. R.J. Umberger is another fine-looking rookie. The Phantoms earlier this season put together an AHL-record 17-game win streak.3. NORFOLK ADMIRALS Outside of Marty Wilford, the Admirals boast a young defense that took a hit when veteran Jim Vandermeer, who has NHL experience with Chicago and Philadelphia, was lost for the season with a hip injury. What&rsquo;s more, Norfolk&rsquo;s best forward this season has been rookie Rene Bourque.4. INILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS It&rsquo;s not looking good. Kris Beech, one of the team&rsquo;s best players, is out of the lineup until mid-April with a broken leg and top scorer Michel Ouellet languished through a lengthy scoring drought that started at the all-star break. On the upside, Marc-Andre Fleury has shown glimpses that prompted Pittsburgh to make him the top pick in 2003 and coach Michel Therrien has playoff experience, having coached the Canadiens in the Montreal pressure cooker.5. HERSHEY BEARS When he&rsquo;s on, Eric Perrin is one of the best in the league. Likewise for veteran rearguard Jamie Rivers. Question is, can the Bears offer a supporting staff to Perrin and Rivers? Not a bad team, but a slow start might come back and haunt the Bears.6. BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS Like the Wolf Pack, Bridgeport was hit hard by injuries, losing 210 man games. Unlike Hartford, though, the Sound Tigers never did rebound. Losing stars Justin Mapletoft and Justin Papineau (20 games each) hurt their cause, but a nine-game losing streak dating to December and January might have sealed their fate.7. ALBANY RIVER RATS Outside of splendid rookie Zach Parise, there&rsquo;s not a whole it to get excited about in the New York state capital. The Rats are on their way to finishing out of the playoffs for the fifth straight year.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03859/8203535-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="1063" height="1022"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARC-ANDRE FLEURY WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

Battles wage on as bell lap sounds

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div>When Tommi Santala got hot, stringing together a 13-game point streak with the Chicago Wolves, folks in the AHL took notice. Santala, however, merely figured he was finally producing the way he ought to.After all, in his last two seasons with HPK Hameenlinna in the Finnish Elite League, the Helsinki native was scoring at better than a point a game. In 2002-03, he scored 13 goals and 51 points in 50 games, then kept pace in the playoffs with six goals and 12 points in 13 games.So when his name started to appear on the AHL scoresheet every night, Santala didn&rsquo;t understand the fuss.&ldquo;Of course I can play better, I can play a lot better,&rdquo; said the 6-foot-3,215-pound center/left winger, who had seven goals and 34 points in 49 games. Broken bones first in his foot, then his jaw, kept him out of 20 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011677/8203580-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="250" height="362"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOMMI SANTALA</figcaption></div>Santala was a virtual afterthought in the 1999 draft, selected 245th overall by Atlanta. Now in his second season in North America, he has blossomed at age 25.&ldquo;He has an NHL body,&rdquo; said Wolves GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a pounding player, but has the size and ruggedness to play over here.&rdquo;Santala also can skate.&ldquo;He can get caught in a game where he maybe slows down and looks to make a play like they do in Europe, but he has the ability to turn on the jets,&rdquo; Cheveldayoff said.Santala played 33 NHL games with Atlanta last season, collecting one goal and three points. He had 15 goals and 37 points in 50 AHL games for the Wolves.&ldquo;He has a great, great shot,&rdquo; Cheveldayoff said.&ldquo;But he likes to pick corners so a lot of shots go high or wide.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-01

Wolves Santala streaks into spotlight

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div>Like a dog owner with an unwanted litter of puppies, the San Antonio Rampage in essence put a sign on their dressing room door that said: &rsquo;Players-Free To A Good Home.&rsquo;Playoff-bound opponents scooped them up like they were purebreds.The Rampage conducted one of the greatest fire sales in AHL history, gutting their roster of talented prospects and quality veterans with more than a month remaining in the season.The dismantling began when center Stephen Weiss and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, both first round picks of the parent Florida Panthers, were loaned to the Chicago Wolves. Weiss and Bouwmeester will surely bump Atlanta Thrashers prospects down the depth chart.Three days later, veteran defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski was shipped to the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs, who in return gave the Rampage unused winger Robb Palahnuk. Kwiatkowski spent the past two seasons in the NHL and gives the Leafs experience on the blueline they desperately need.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021309/8203618-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="240" height="230"></div><h2>AHL WEST NOTEBOOK</h2>The next day, winger Paul Healey, a former 40-goal scorer, was given to the Edmonton Road Runners. That night, the roster-ravaged Rampage lost 8-0 at Houston.Moving veterans such as Kwiatkowski and Healey is a common practice as the AHL&rsquo;s ros-ter-freeze deadline (March 17) draws near. But rarely are prospects loaned out.&ldquo;What message are they sending these kids-that they&rsquo;re not wanted by their organization,&rdquo; said one dismayed scout.Panthers GM Mike Keenan reasoned that since the Rampage weren&rsquo;t going to reach the playoffs, the Wolves would provide Weiss and Bouwmeester with pro playoff experience.CRUNCH ADD SPEED Center Nathan Robinson, who fell out of favor in Grand Rapids, was off to a good start with Syracuse following the trade that sent him to the Crunch for winger Jeremy Reich. In his first three games in Syracuse, Robinson had four points after collecting 24 in 50 games with the Griffins.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s so dynamic and brings so much to the team with his speed,&rdquo; said Crunch coach Gary Agnew.SUSPENDED Chicago winger Kip Brennan was suspended 15 games for leaving the dressing room to help teammate Derek MacKenzie fight Manitoba defenseman Johnathan Aitken March 13. Manitoba winger Jason Lehoux was suspended four games for his part in the pregame din, which started when a puck was shot into the empty net of the opposition.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03989/8203611-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="996" height="1416"><figcaption class="caption-body">Now in Chicago, center Stephen Weiss was leading San Antonio with 15 goals and 38 points in 62 games at the time of his trade.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0016-02

Young stars get shuffled in minors

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05544/8203649-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="540" height="259"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04747/8203656-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="149" height="140"></div>The International Ice Hockey Federation is the world&rsquo;s governing body for hockey. In each issue this season, we profile one of 63 national association members.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>NETHERLANDSMember of IIHF since 1935Pop. of country 16,318,199Registered players 2,622No. of ice facilities 19Major league (nine teams)Super League2004 champion Amsterdam2003-04 top scorersAndrew Williamson, AmsterdamDave Hoogsteen, AmsterdamJosh Oort, AmsterdamAssociation website<a href="http://www.nijb.nl">www.nijb.nl</a>Head office Amsterdam2005 world ranking No. 23Best world rank No. (1953) &#9632;

f0016-05

HOCKEY NATION AT A GLANCE

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MASTOVICH</div>Carl Mallette didn&rsquo;t expect to be involved in a blockbuster trade this season. The 23-year-old center had no idea he&rsquo;d be part of one of the biggest deals in recent ECHL history.He never envisioned a seven-player transaction that put him in Toledo. Not after Mallette began the season as Greenville&rsquo;s top scorer and the league&rsquo;s No. 2 point man overall.&ldquo;I was shocked, but I knew something needed to happen in Greenville,&rdquo; Mallette said. &ldquo;With the season I was having, I didn&rsquo;t expect my name to come up.&rdquo;The ECHL all-star had 24 goals and 65 points with Greenville when he was shipped to Toledo with friend Kevin Bergin and defenseman Joey Martin.The Grrrowl got three of Toledo&rsquo;s top four scoring forwards-Sam Paolini, Tyler Knight and Maris Ziedins-as well as defenseman Jason Jozsa.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06449/8203687-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="220" height="204"></div><h2>NOTEBOOK</h2>&ldquo;It was a big trade, a good trade for both teams,&rdquo; said Mallette, who rejoined former coach Todd MacCaulay, now a Toledo assistant to Nick Vitucci.Mallette had a four-goal game in a 6-1 Storm win over Peoria, and in three games, collected seven points as Toledo moved into the North Division&rsquo;s fourth playoff spot.&ldquo;I got traded with my best friend and it turned out well for me and my hockey career,&rdquo; said Mallette, who had 143 points in 131 ECHL games through nearly three seasons.&rdquo; FAMILY REUNION The Slap Shot Hanson Brothers returned to their roots in front of a sellout crowd at Johnstown&rsquo;s Cambria County War Memorial Arena.The Hansons-made up of Johnstown Jets Dave Hanson and Steve and Jeff Carlson-were part of Johnstown&rsquo;s 1974-75 championship team in the old North American League.GOALIE SCORES Atlantic City&rsquo;s Trevor Koenig became the eight ECHL goalie-and third in three seasons-to score a goal. He was trying to clear the puck when it carried into Wheeling&rsquo;s empty net during a 4-1 win March 2. &#9632;

f0016-06

Storm brewing with kingpin Mallette

<div class="byline">BY ROBIN SHORT</div>Ajay Baines has overcome odds to become captain of the AHL&rsquo;s Norfolk Admirals, but there was a time when he considered pursuing soccer over hockey back in his native B.C.&ldquo;I was big into soccer,&rdquo; Baines said. &ldquo;It was probably my first love.&rdquo;Baines is of East Indian descent, one of the very few players with that heritage in pro hockey. Baines&rsquo;s mother and father were born in India, though they met in Canada, and his grandfather was a member of India&rsquo;s national team.So it&rsquo;s easy to see where Baines got his motivation to play what&rsquo;s known globally as the &ldquo;beautiful game.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011498/8203718-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="247" height="365"><figcaption class="caption-body">AJAY BAINES</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Pretty much my whole minor hock ey team switched to soccer in the summer,&rdquo; said the 27-year-old product of Kamloops, B.C. &ldquo;I played midfield. I was pretty good, I guess.&ldquo;But the big thing in Canada is hockey. You watched it every Saturday night. I used to watch the World Cup (of soccer) too, but hockey is so much more popular. That definitely influenced me.&ldquo;So when I started junior, I had a decision to make: hockey or soccer.&rdquo;Baines played four years with the Kamloops Blazers. After a year in the ECHL, he signed a free agent contract with Chicago and is in his fifth year with the Admirals.An undrafted free agent, Baines in not only on the smallish side at 5-foot-lO and 175 pounds, he&rsquo;s also a diabetic.&ldquo;He works hard,&rdquo; said Manitoba defenseman Nolan Baumgartner, an ex-teammate. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s smart. He gets the most out of his talent.&rdquo;Which may be why the Admirals gave Baines the &lsquo;C&rsquo; at the ripe old age of 24.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great honor, especially when you have guys here like Marty Wilford and Jason Morgan and Jimmy Vandermeer who are leaders.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-01

Baines not bad in the midfield, either

<div class="byline">BY ROBIN SHORT</div>Steve Pleau wanted to be an AmericanLeague coach, but the circumstances leading to his promotion with the Worcester IceCats undoubtedly could have been better.Pleau will lead the IceCats through the stretch drive in place of Don Granato, who is home in Chicago getting treatment at the Loyola University health facility for Hodgkin&rsquo;s Lymphoma.Granato, the IceCats&rsquo; coach the past five years, was diagnosed with the form of cancer following a battery of tests at UMass Hospital in Worcester. It&rsquo;s the same type of cancer Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with in 1993.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very tough situation,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough on the players, coaches and the front office people. He&rsquo;s in our hearts. He has been our leader for five years. But you have to make the most of it, and our play will hopefully help him keep his mind on other things.&rdquo;Pleau, who was Granato&rsquo;s assistant for all five seasons, will be assisted by St. Louis Blues coach Mike Kitchen.SPIT HAPPENS Pennsylvania cities Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Philadelphia have a spirited inter-state rivalry going.Following a 4-3 Phantoms win over the Penguins in Wilkes-Barre in early March, Philly coach John Stevens accused the Pens Ramzi Abid of spitting on Josh Gratton, who retaliated by picking up 27 minutes in penalties.Abid denied the charge: &ldquo;Gratton came out of nowhere and suckered me.&rdquo;Said Pens tough guy Mike Sgroi: &ldquo;The Phantoms are a very undisciplined team.&rdquo;Added Stevens: &ldquo;They knew they couldn&rsquo;t play with us, but sometimes we&rsquo;re too brave. We can&rsquo;t walk away from this stuff. We should have laughed and skated away.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021167/8203784-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="240" height="230"></div><h2>AHL EAST NOTEBOOK</h2>NOTEBOOK Wilkes-Barre center and top scorer Kris Beech broke his left tibia and will be out until late April. He sustained the injury on a clean hit by Hershey&rsquo;s Dean Arsene&hellip; Chicago&rsquo;s addition of young Florida players Jay Bouwmeester and Stephen Weiss raised the ire of a few AHL officials-except Norfolk coach Trent Yawney. &ldquo;This league is all about development and (Florida GM) Mike Keenan was a little ahead of the curve on this one,&rdquo; Yawney told The Virginian-Pilot...With Michael Leighton scratched because of a groin problem, Adam Munro started two games for Norfolk in mid-March. In a 3-2 loss to the Pens, he allowed two goals on his first three shots and gave up two goals on the first two shots in a 5-3 loss to Hershey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03848/8203777-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="992" height="1431"><figcaption class="caption-body">With 17power play goals in 66 games, skilled center Brad Boyes needed just one more to set new Providence franchise record</figcaption></div><h2>EYE ON EUROPE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04623/8203770-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="439" height="167"></div>Future and former NHLers are playing in Europe this season. Here are four such players with NHL rights in parentheses:&bull; Ziggy Palffy, 32, RW (free agent). Unsigned six-time 30-goal scorer in the NHL had 21 goals and 40 points with Slavia Prague in 41 games, then five goals and seven points through four playoff games.&bull; Mikhail Grabovsky, 21, C (Montreal). Belarusian pivot, drafted 150th overall in 2004, Was top scorer of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk in the Russian league with 15 goals and 35 points in 58 games.&bull; Dan Boyle, 28, D (Tampa Bay). Locked-out NHLer had nine goals and 18 points in 32 games with Djurgarden in the Swedish league and three points in four playoff games.&bull; Hannes Hyvonen, 29, RW (Columbus). Led Ilves Tampere in scoring and was ninth overall in the Finnish league despite missing 19 games due to injury. He had 27 goals and 45 points in 36 games.&mdash;PAVEL BARTA<h2>NOTEBOOK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05435/8203763-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="186" height="96"></div>After three years in Port Huron, owners Ken and Kristen Dixon are pulling the plug on the Beacons. Citing financial losses approaching $1.5 million since 2002-03, the Dixons will either move the team to Roanoke, Va., take a year off before relocating in 2006-07 or get out of the business. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not feasible for Kenny and I to do this another year,&rdquo; Kristen Dixon told the Port Huron Times-Herald. The Dixons brought the Beacons as an expansion franchise when the UHL&rsquo;s Border Cats folded in 2002 after six years in Port Huron. Average attendance of 1,688 ranked 13th among 14 teams&hellip; After falling into last place, the Elmira Jackals fired coach Todd Brost and replaced him with former NHL tough guy Dave Schultz, whose previous jobs included coaching the defunct Madison Monsters.-BRENDAN SAVAGE<h2>NOTEBOOK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06336/8203756-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="164" height="89"></div>The Central League announces finalists for its awards before the post-season, but the winners of such prestigious honors as &ldquo;most annoying fans&rdquo; and &ldquo;best fighter&rdquo; are official. The CHL&rsquo;s &lsquo;best of the best&rsquo; poll consists of 38 categories, voted by players, coaches and front office staff. Noteworthy selections are: Best overall player: Greg Pankewicz, RW, Colorado; Smartest player: Don Parsons, RW, Memphis; Best fighter: Shawn Legault, RW, New Mexico; Most annoying fans: Wichita&hellip; The Colorado Eagles clinched the Bud Poile Governor&rsquo;s Cup championship as regular season champions&hellip; The New Mexico Scorpions retired the jersey of winger Peter Ambroziak, who retired after a concussion in January. Ambroziak is the team&rsquo;s career leader in games, goals, assists and points.-DAVID HENRY<h2>NOTEBOOK</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07271/8203749-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="146" height="110"></div>The Macon Trax have clinched a playoff berth and have the inside track on second place despite reports of the franchise&rsquo;s demise. The cash-strapped team began downsizing in January when media relations director/radio broadcaster Adam Minnick was let go along with community relations director Tammy Brown. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t look good (for next season),&rdquo; coach Tommy Stewart said. It&rsquo;s believed several of the league&rsquo;s owners banded together and agreed to operate the franchise through the end of the season. GM Joe Suk, who owns 10 per cent of the team as does Stewart, did not refute the notion, but said David Waronker remains majority owner. Attendance has dipped below 2,000 and reportedly paid turnout is half that. Suk said the team continues to pursue local investors.-NICK GATES &#9632;</div>

f0017-02

Worcester’s Granato has touah battle

<div class="byline">BY NEIL HODGE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03866/8203815-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="276" height="676"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011558/8203829-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="209" height="109"></div>Real Paiement has been through a real-life soap opera. The expansion St. John&rsquo;s Fog Devils rehired him as coach-GM in. early March. The Quebec League club relieved him of his duties two weeks earlier when the franchise was suspended for next season because it couldn&rsquo;t work out a lease agreement with city-owned Mile One Stadium.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021195/8203822-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="221" height="199"><figcaption class="caption-body">QUEBEC LEAGUE</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a strange road as far as being employed, not employed and then employed again,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;For the family, it&rsquo;s been the same thing. We&rsquo;re moving. We&rsquo;re staying. Now, we&rsquo;re moving.&ldquo;I was extremely surprised when I got the call saying we have a rink deal and we&rsquo;re back in for next season. The great part is this deal will allow us to operate the type of first-class franchise we had envisioned.&rdquo; The addition of Newfoundland&rsquo;s capital means there will be major junior in all 10 Canadian provinces next season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a start-up team, but we&rsquo;re also doing the start-up of a region for major junior and that&rsquo;s fun,&rdquo; Paiement said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a responsibility we have in Newfoundland and Labrador and we&rsquo;ve got to do things right.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get involved in minor hockey by doing mini camps and loaning our players to associations in order to help promote the game. We want to do our part to help develop local hockey players.&rdquo;The QMJHL will have 18 teams next season. The other expansion franchise in Saint John, N.B. won a coin toss and will have the first pick in the 2005 QMJHL draft June 4.TOP STOPPER The most winning goaltender in NHL history didn&rsquo;t hesitate when asked who&rsquo;s the best puckstopper in the QMJHL this season.&ldquo;I think everybody agrees Corey Crawford is the best goalie in our league,&rdquo; said Quebec Remparts GM Patrick Roy. &ldquo;I mean he&rsquo;s having a very solid season and the future looks bright for him.&rdquo;Crawford, who plays for the Moncton Wildcats, was drafted 52nd overall by Chicago in 2003. The only goaltender taken ahead of him in that year&rsquo;s draft was Marc-Andre Fleury, who went first overall to the Pittsburgh Penguins.NOTEBOOK The QMJHL is expected to announce in early April the host of the 2006 Memorial Cup. Moncton submitted the only bid so there doesn&rsquo;t seem to be much suspense&hellip; With two weeks remaining, QMJHL goalies had combined to post a league record 58 shutouts. The old record was 53 in 2002-03. &#9632;

f0018-03

Lease deal in place, Fog Devils moving in

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div>No sophomore jinx for Bobby Ryan. The 17-year-old Owen Sound Attack right winger has done everything that was expected of him, and more.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04579/8203867-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="266" height="93"><figcaption class="caption-body">ONTARIO LEAGUE</figcaption></div>In the top 10 in scoring, Ryan is considered a top-five pick for the next NHL draft, whenever that might be. International Scouting Services has him rated No. 5 in its March report.&ldquo;They (NHL owners and union) have to get everything squared away with the players who are already there and (draft prospects) are at the bottom of the list,&rdquo; Ryan.A family friendship with Philadelphia reinstated Mississauga IceDogs left winger Daniel Carcillo for the playoffs. He was suspended for the balance of the regular season-amounting to 23 games-for cross-checking Sudbury Wolves defenseman Adam McQuaid in the face Jan. 14.The Pittsburgh third-rounder served a 15-game suspension earlier this season for a similar incident. His second suspension provided an opportunity for an application of reinstatement.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05390/8203860-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="285" height="675"></div>TEMPLETON HONORED The late Bert Templeton was awarded the Bill Long Award for his distinguished service to the Ontario League.Templeton, the second-winningest coach in CHL history, died Dec. 5, 2003, after battling cancer. He was 63.Flyers GM Bob Clarke landed the 6-foot-2,224-pounder with the Attack. Ryan&rsquo;s father got to know Clarke while working out at the same gym in Cherryhill, N.J.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d heard he was going to go to the U.S. under-18 team and Bob thought it was better for him to get up here where he would play a lot of games,&rdquo; said Flyers scout Dennis Patterson. &ldquo;I heard there was problems with USA Hockey, but Bob said, &lsquo;Well, I played in the Western League,&rsquo; so he thought it was the right decision for the kid.&rdquo;Some people feel Ryan&rsquo;s choice was the reason he wasn&rsquo;t on this year&rsquo;s U.S. national junior team.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how USA Hockey runs its program, but he definitely should have been on that team,&rdquo; Patterson said.Patterson said Ryan&rsquo;s qualities include &ldquo;being so big and strong on the puck and from the blueline in he can finish.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got it all, really and when you look at his size and strength and those hands, he&rsquo;s built for the pro game.&rdquo;REPRIEVE Commissioner David Branch reinstated Mississauga IceDogs left winger Daniel Carcillo for the playoffs. He was suspended for the balance ofthe regular season amounting to 23 games-for cross-checking Sudbury Wolves defenseman Adam McQuaid in the face Jan. 14.The Pittsburgh third-rounder served a 15-game suspension earlier this season for a similar incident. His second suspension provided an opportunity for an application of reinstatement.TEMPLETON HONORED The late Bert Templeton was awarded the Bill Long Award for his distinguished service to the Ontario League.Templeton, the second-winningest coach in CHL history, died Dec. 5, 2003, after battling cancer. He was 63. &#9632;

f0018-04

Power winger Ryan ready when NHL is

<div class="byline">BY ROB VANSTONE</div>Scoring 50 goals is old hat for Eric Fehr. The Brandon Wheat Kings right winger hit the half-century mark a second consecutive Western League season. In each year, his milestone goal has been part of a hat trick.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06305/8203905-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="258" height="190"><figcaption class="caption-body">WESTERN LEAGUE</figcaption></div>&ldquo;As I get closer, I get more excited about it,&rdquo; said Fehr, the WHL&rsquo;s runaway goal-scoring leader.Until the late 1990s, 50-goal men were commonplace in the WHL. However, the style of play has quickly changed. Scoring in the WHL is at an all-time low.&ldquo;It definitely means a lot more to me, knowing how difficult it is and how few goals there are in the league,&rdquo; said Fehr, 19, selected 18th overall by Washington in 2003. &ldquo;It can get pretty tough, especially when there are guys out there who are trying to prevent you from scoring a lot.&rdquo;GROWTH AT PENGROWTH The Calgary Hitmen shattered the WHL&rsquo;s single-season attendance record. They eclipsed the previous standard of 315,763, set by the 1995-96 Portland Winter Hawks, with three weeks remaining in the regular season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07252/8203898-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="281" height="680"></div>Calgary has also set a franchise singlegame attendance mark (16,388).&ldquo;When (NHL) hockey comes back, I don&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;m going to do if I can&rsquo;t have 16,000 people in the building,&rdquo; said Kip Reghenas, the Hitmen&rsquo;s director of business operations. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting spoiled.&rdquo;The Hitmen are averaging about 9,500 customers at the Pengrowth Saddledome, which seats 17,139. The Hitmen are owned by the NHL&rsquo;s Calgary Flames. Reghenas attributes the attendance increase to the lockout, the Hitmen&rsquo;s marketing efforts and improved game-day presentation.&ldquo;(The lockout) didn&rsquo;t really affect us right away,&rdquo; Reghenas said. &ldquo;And then when the people started realizing it, we did get some Flames season-ticket holders moving over and buying flex-packs where you can go to certain games.&ldquo;We also had people who weren&rsquo;t Flames season-ticket holders coming to the game for the first time. I think it created people saying, &lsquo;If we want to see hockey, we&rsquo;ll go see the Hitmen.&rsquo; Once they started seeing the value-we have a pretty good club and it&rsquo;s pretty entertaining-they started coming back.&rdquo;SORELY MISSED Kelowna Rockets defenseman Shea Weber is expected to miss at least the first round of the playoffs with a knee injury. Weber, 19, was a member of the gold medal-winning Canadian team at the 2005 World Junior Championship. &#9632;

f0018-06

50-goal King Fehr part of rare species

<div class="byline">-PAUL SHAHEEN</div>The USHL is doing its part to help 2004 Frozen Four finalist Minnesota-Duluth get back there as soon as possible.The Bulldogs nabbed two of the USHL&rsquo;s more talented forwards in Jared Boll (Lincoln) and Matt Greer (Des Moines).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-08187/8203943-1-eng-US/f0018-082.jpg" title="f0018-08" width="370" height="112"></div>As he loves playing before big crowds-and he usually does with Lincoln drawing nearly 5,000 fans per night-Boll got a kick out of his recruiting visit to Duluth.&rsquo;The student section was wild,&rdquo; said Boll, ranked 212th by Central Scouting for the 2005 draft. &ldquo;What a neat atmosphere.&rdquo;Duluth usually fills its 5,000-seat building, the Convention Center. Boll had20 goals and 41 points in 51 games. He&rsquo;ll be joined by Greer, a small power forward drafted 233rd by Columbus in 2004. Greer had 12 goals and 24 points in 51 games.Other USHLers committed to Duluth for 2005-006 are forwards Andrew Carroll (Sioux Falls) and Nick Kemp (Sioux City) plus defensemen Josh Meyers (Sioux City) and Jim Jensen (Waterloo).<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-09154/8203936-1-eng-US/f0018-092.jpg" title="f0018-09" width="1001" height="503"></div> &#9632;

f0018-08

UNITED STATES LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY PHILIP COLVIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-021079/8203988-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="264" height="95"><figcaption class="caption-body">CENTRAL COLLEGIATE</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011429/8203995-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="89" height="85"></div>Western Michigan junior Mike Erickson&rsquo;s trip to the CCHA was a long one.The Eden Prairie, Mirm. native&rsquo;s career started like a dream: he scored in his college debut with Minnesota in 2001, was a member of the Golden Gophers national title squad that season and was drafted 72nd overall by Minnesota in 2002.But a broken ankle halfway through his freshman season set Erickson back and he had trouble cracking the lineup his sophomore year.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>&ldquo;I was living a Minnesota kid&rsquo;s dream,&rdquo; Erickson said. &ldquo;Things were going well until I got hurt. Minnesota has such great depth and I didn&rsquo;t like sitting on the bench. I knew I could be a Division I player so 1 went back to junior and started the recruiting process again.&rdquo;After a year with Des Moines (USHL), Erickson joined the Broncos this season. A big power winger with a long reach and great hands, he was an alternate captain and finished with 13 goals and 24 points in 34 games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a perfect fit and I wouldn&rsquo;t want to be anywhere else,&rdquo; Erickson said.NHL PROSPECT WATCH What a difference a year makes. After an outstanding freshman season when he was named CCHA rookie of the year and made the NCAA West all-America second team, Michigan State sophomore defenseman A.J. Thelen was dismissed from the Spartans team by coach Rick Comley.The 12th overall pick by Minnesota in 2004, Thelen struggled on the ice (no goals and 11 assists in 33 games), but the decision had nothing to do with how he was playing.&ldquo;A.J. did not meet the expectations for a student-athlete,&rdquo; Comley said.Thelen had 11 goals and 29 points in 41 games as a freshman in 2003-04. He was rated ninth among Minnesota Wild prospects in Future Watch.NOTEBOOK After finishing 12th in the CCHA last season and being picked by both the coaches and the media to end up there again this year, Nebraska-Omaha surprised everyone by finishing fourth. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something nobody expected,&rdquo; Mavericks coach Mike Kemp told the Omaha World-Herald. &ldquo;We earned that over the course of the season. We persevered. This is a tremendous accomplishment.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03747/8203981-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="260" height="205"></div>Alaska-Fairbanks NANOOKSFairbanks, AlaskaArena Carlson Center (4,324)Coach Tavis MacMillan, 1st yr.NCAA Tournaments None2004-05 roster breakdownU.S.-born (3 Alaska, Calif.)Cdn.-bom 19 (11 Alta., B.C.)Highest NHL draft picksW. Klippenstein, 232nd, Que, &rsquo;90Chris O&rsquo;Rourke, 245th, Tor, &rsquo;91Top playerCurtis FraserGP G A PT34 17 13 30<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04572/8203974-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="179" height="65"></div> &#9632;

f0019-02

Second debut a sweet one for Bronco Erickson

<div class="byline">BY LARRY MAHONEY</div>Massachusetts senior center l*eter Trovato is a special person.In addition to balancing hockey and studies, Trovato has established and runs the Massa chusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund, a charitable endowment to help defray college education expenses for sons and daughters of soldiers who have lost their lives in the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05422/8204026-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="269" height="121"><figcaption class="caption-body">NOCKEY EAST</figcaption></div>It was officially established Dec. 1 and Trovato has raised $50,000 so far.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to raise one to two million dollars,&rdquo; Trovato said. &ldquo;These soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. My vision is to develop the biggest statewide fund for fallen soldiers (in the country).&rdquo;Thirty Massachusetts natives have been killed in fighting and left behind more than 20 children.One of five finalists for college&rsquo;s Hockey Humanitarian Award, Trovato came up with the idea while serving a legislative internship for State Rep. Michael F. Rush D-Boston last summer. One of his jobs was to read the local papers to help Rush keep abreast of the news. There were always stories involving Massachusetts soldiers who died in the war.&ldquo;I felt one of the best ways to honor the troops was to raise money so their children could go to school,&rdquo; Trovato said.The fund is one of several community service projects Trovato is involved in. He is also part of the Big Brother/Big Sister program, is a tutor and prepares meals at a homeless shelter in nearby Northampton, Mass, with his teammates monthly.&ldquo;It gives you a good feeling,&rdquo; Trovato said.NHL PROSPECT WATCH Boston College right winger Brian O&rsquo;Hanley, a ninth round draft pick of San Jose, enjoyed a productive freshman season, even if it&rsquo;s not apparent in his stats.A good skater with great hands and offensive instincts, O&rsquo;Hanley has earned power play time on the point for a national contender. The Quincy, Mass., native had two goals and 11 points in 31 games.NOTEBOOK The ice surface at Boston University&rsquo;s new Agganis Arena has been named the Jack Parker Rink after the current coach, who is in his 32nd year at his alma mater. &#9632;

f0019-05

Humanitarian Trovato scoring a noble assist

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>If Nick Johnson is the future of Dartmouth hockey, the program is in good hands. The 6-foot, 190-pound right winger from Calgary finished with 18 goals and 35 points in &ldquo;Nick was so consistent,&rdquo; said coach Bob Gaudet. &ldquo;He plays like a veteran. He does so many subtle things away from the puck that don&rsquo;t always show up on the scoresheet. But he doesn&rsquo;t have to have the puck to be effective.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-06312/8204071-1-eng-US/f0019-062.jpg" title="f0019-06" width="240" height="100"><figcaption class="caption-body">EASTERN COLLEGE</figcaption></div>&ldquo;He drives to the net, gets in someone&rsquo;s way. He opens things up and creates for other guys.&rdquo;A third round pick of Pittsburgh in 2004, Johnson was moved to the Big Green&rsquo;s top line when Jessiman went down and fit right in with junior center Mike Ouellette and senior left winger Lee Stempniak. That combination accounted for 47 of Dartmouth&rsquo;s 120 goals.&ldquo;A lot of times after the holiday tournament,&rdquo; Gaudet said, &ldquo;freshmen start to make strides and play like veterans, but Nick did it much earlier.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s only natural Johnson, 19, would succeed in Hanover, N.H., as both of his parents and grandfather attended Dartmouth. His father, Kevin, was the leading scorer for the Big Green in 1976-77, and his mother was a member of the college&rsquo;s alpine ski team.NHL PROSPECT WATCH Clarkson freshman Shawn Weller, a third round pick of Ottawa last summer, had a frustrating rookie season.After missing the first six games because of an eligibility issue, Weller, a left winger, scored two goals in his first appearance in a Clarkson uniform. He then went 29 games before he scored another goal, and accumulated 72 penalty minutes, leading the team in that category.He finished with three goals and 14 points in 33 games.NOTEBOOK It&rsquo;s official. Mike McKenna is the ironman of St. Lawrence goalies. The St. Louis native, selected by Nashville in the 2002 entry draft, finished with 95 games, 5,235 minutes and 2,224 saves, all career records. Despite a sub-.5OO 33-44-8 career record, he finished with a 2.85 goals-against average and.907 save percentage.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-07267/8204064-1-eng-US/f0019-072.jpg" title="f0019-07" width="256" height="203"></div>DARTMOUTH BIG GREENHanover, N.H.Arena Thompson (4,500)Coach Bob Gaudet, 8th yr.NCAA Tournaments Two2004-05 roster breakdownU.S.-born 12 (2 Conn., N.H.)Cdn.-born 12 (4 Alta., Ont.)Highest NHL draft picksHugh Jessiman, 12th, NYR, &rsquo;03Grant Lewis, 40th, Atl, &rsquo;04Carey Wilson, 67th, Chi, &rsquo;80Top playerCurtis FraserGP G A PT35 14 29 43<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-08233/8204057-1-eng-US/f0019-082.jpg" title="f0019-08" width="183" height="66"></div> &#9632;

f0019-06

Like mom, dad, Johnson makes Big Green team

<div class="byline">BY ANDY BAGGOT</div>Denver and Colorado College are separated by 75 miles of Interstate 25, but they may as well be joined at the hip this season.The WCHA rivals finished the regular season tied for first place, the fourth dead-heat for the MacNaughton Cup since the league was formed in 1959-60. The schools son, but Denver earned the higher seed in the playoffs by virtue of goal-differential (11-10).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-09195/8204102-1-eng-US/f0019-092.jpg" title="f0019-09" width="255" height="57"><figcaption class="caption-body">WESTERN COLLEGIATE</figcaption></div>Colorado College and the Pioneers continued their close relationship at the start of the post-season. After both swept first-round playoff series-Denver over Michigan Tech and Tigers over St. Cloud State-the teams agreed to share a charter flight to the WCHA Final Five March 17 to 19 in St. Paul, Minn.After joking about steel cage matches in the airport and the rink, Denver coach George Gwozdecky told the Rocky Mountain News he hoped an all-Colorado final would materialize.&ldquo;That&rsquo;ll be fun,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;CC and DU should be in the championship game and we&rsquo;re hoping it is (the case). It should be a heck of a battle and a heck of a plane ride home.&rdquo;It remains to be seen which, if either, of the schools will be affected by the recent MacNaughton Cup jinx. Since 1997, the team that wins the sterling silver trophy is 2-13 in post-season championship games, including the WCHA Final Five, NCAA regional and NCAA title games.NHL PROSPECT WATCH Wisconsin center Joe Pavelslci is vying to become the third freshman in school history to lead the team in scoring.His 16 goals and 44 points in 39 games was two points better than linemate Robbie Earl. The last rookie to top the Badgers in scoring was current coach Mike Eaves, who had 17-37-54 totals in 1974-75.Pavelski was drafted 205th overall by San Jose in 2003.NOTEBOOK Colorado College teammates Marty Sertich and Curtis McEUtin-ney won the WCHA scoring and goaltending races, respectively. Sertich, a junior center, had 17 goals and 42 points in 28 games. McElhinney, a senior, topped the league with a 2.09 goals-against average and.931 save percentage while compiling a 12-2-1 record. &#9632;

f0019-09

Pioneers, Tigers equal in battle; truce on plane

<div class="byline">BY MATTHEW WUEST</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02956/8204140-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="615" height="748"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011327/8204147-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="87" height="88"></div>Quiet by nature, Phil Kessel would prefer to keep a low profile. Problem is, his hockey talents keep getting in the way.Since bursting onto the scene at Christmas with an electrifying performance at the World JuniorChampionship in Grand Forks, N.D., the 17-year-old Madison, Wise., native has had more tape recorders shoved in his face than he would care to count.The attention reached its peak in February while he was making his decision to attend the University of Minnesota next season.On Feb. 19, Kessel and the U.S. national team development program rolled into Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis for a game against the Golden Gophers. Fans courted the prized recruit with banners stating &lsquo;Kessel the Gopher&rsquo; and choruses of &lsquo;We want Kessel.&rsquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>For Kessel, the instant celebrity status can be unnerving.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not the kind of person that likes all the hoopla,&rdquo; said Kessel, who led the under-18 team with 66 points in 33 games, including 13 goals and six assists in 11 games against Division I college competition. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like all the signs and chants and that kind of thing. I just like to keep it more low-key.&rdquo;The 6-foot, 185-pound center dazzled at the WJC with his game-breaking speed and ability to beat older, stronger defensemen with his 1-on-l ability. He has since been touted as a potential No. 1 overall pick in 2006 and been compared to players such as Mike Modano and Sidnev Crosbv.&ldquo;Sid&rsquo;s the best player in the world right now and Modano and all those other players have been playing in the NHL for a long time,&rdquo; said Kessel, whose father, Phil Sr., was a football quarterback with the CFL&rsquo;s Calgary Stampeders and a draft choice of the NFL&rsquo;s Washington Redskins.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievable being mentioned in the same category as those people.&rdquo;Kessel&rsquo;s decision to commit to Minnesota had such national interest the national team development program held an unprecedented conference call from Ann Arbor, Mich., March 4.During the 15-minute session, Kessel fielded more than 40 rapid-fire questions from dozens of reporters. He kept his answers brief, shied away from talking about himself and reiterated that Minnesota and college hockey were &ldquo;the best fit&rdquo; for him.&ldquo;You can tell he doesn&rsquo;t love doing interviews,&rdquo; said Scott Monaghan, the program&rsquo;s director of operations. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a little overwhelmed with the billions of phone calls he gets, but he&rsquo;s been really good about it. He&rsquo;s pretty humble about where he&rsquo;s at.&rsquo;True to form, Kessel doesn&rsquo;t have much to say about draft predictions. He says his only focus is on winning gold at the world under-18 championship, which starts April 14 in the Czech Republic.&ldquo;For any prospect, it&rsquo;s still potential,&rdquo; said under-18 coach Ron Rolston, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s one of the best American-born players to come along in a while. He&rsquo;s got the tools, skills and potential to be a great one down the road.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03687/8204133-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="1066" height="1524"></div> &#9632;

f0020-02

Kessel can’t avoid spotlight

<div class="byline">BY LAURA SULLIVAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02679/8204185-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Buffalo&rsquo;s dynamic center Daniel Briere has paid huge dividendsfor HC Bern.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011070/8204192-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="115" height="75"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>Daniel Briere feels a tad guilty about the roller coaster he and his fellow NHLers put their HC Bern teammates through this season. &ldquo;Not knowing if (the NHL players) were staying or leaving, that was really tough on the players,&rdquo; Briere says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it was fair for them. I don&rsquo;t know if they&rsquo;d be willing to go through that again.&rdquo;Now that Bern has made history as an eighth-seeded team overtaking top seed Lugano in the first round of the Swiss playoffs, however, Briere&rsquo;s teammates are surely satisfied having him around was worth it. Briere led the team during the regular season with 17 goals and 46 points in 36 games.&ldquo;It was a struggle just to make it into the playoffs,&rdquo; Briere notes, especially since so much more was expected of last year&rsquo;s champion. &ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s been a good thing facing the adversity.&rdquo;Other NHL players with Bern are fellow Buffalo Sabres J-P Dumont and Henrik Tallinder. Tallinder, like the other two Team Sweden players who lost their spots on Swedish dubs after the scandal that preceded the Sweden Hockey Games in February, found a position in Switzerland, where the only concern is the quality of his play on ice.&ldquo;The rest is questions for the lawyers,&rdquo; a Bern representative says.Tallinder seems relieved to just be playing hockey again and has made a smooth transition to the Swiss game.&ldquo;There are good guys on the team,&rdquo; Tallinder says. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve tried to make it as comfortable as possible for me. Of course it&rsquo;s hard when you show up just before the playoffs, but everyone has been adjusting well.&rdquo; The end for Lugano also meant the end to Colorado goalie David Aebischer&rsquo;s trip home. Aebischer said that if the NHL doesn&rsquo;t start up on time next season, he&rsquo;ll likely look at playing options in Sweden or Russia.<h2>HEARTY IN HUNGARY</h2>When cousins Rob Niedermayer and Jason Strudwick stepped off the plane in Budapest a few months ago, they were met with an unexpected onslaught of television cameras and hundreds of screaming fans. Although hockey may still be developing after a 50 years of stunted growth during the communist regime, supporters of FTC, for which the two NHLers play, were happy to have them.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something you have to see,&rdquo; Niedermayer says.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never forget it,&rdquo; adds Strudwick.The rowdy (and unprintable) chants even lead players to taunt the opposition crowds from the ice. To say FTC fans take their games seriously would be an understatement; they beat up their own FTC soccer team after it lost the championship.Neither Niedermayer nor Strudwick, however, needed be too concerned given their reputations as hard-hitters. The day after a check broke both collarbones of a opposition player, &ldquo;Niedermayer&rdquo; had become a Hungarian adjective for aggressive play in any sport.The two reckoned themselves ambassadors rather than tough guys, though, as they took in historical sites and enjoyed new friends and food. &ldquo;I eat goulash twice a day,&rdquo; Strudwick joked.In a country where hockey is still a fringe sport, they hope to leave having drawn in more fans and players, and to take home a greater appreciation for a different culture.&ldquo;Something as easy as going to get a phone card is a challenging experience, and I enjoy that,&rdquo; Strudwick said. &ldquo;There is a lot bigger world outside my hometown in Alberta.&rdquo;<h2>HUNGARIAN LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03430/8204178-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="558" height="442"></div>ESTABLISHED 1936SEASON late-Sept. to late-FebTEAMS SixGAMES PER TEAM 302004 CHAMPION Alba Volan FevitaNOTABLE LOCKOUT PLAYERSRob Niedermayer, Jason Strudwick &#9632;

f0021-02

Bern’s Briere earns his keep

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02757/8204223-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NO MATS Toronto Maple Leafs center Mats Sundin won&rsquo;t play at the 2005 World Championship.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011091/8204230-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="80" height="80"></div>NHL TEAM REPORTS In the wake of the cancellation of the NHL season, we&rsquo;ve condensed our NHL team reports into an extended notebook. As such, not all 30 teams will be represented each issue.OK, so not every big star from the NHL will play at the World Championship. But there will still be more than enough of them there to light up the sky.Maple Leafs center Mats Sundin, Red Wings&rsquo; defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, Stars right winger Bill Guerin, Blues left winger Keith Tkachuk and Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer are among those who said they would sit out the tournament, which runs April 30-May 15 in Austria. But young stars such as the Thrashers&rsquo; Dany Heatley, the Lightning&rsquo;s Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St-Louis and the Canadiens&rsquo; Jose Theodore should be present.Many of the NHL&rsquo;s top stars haven&rsquo;t played a single game at any competitive level this season, which is a major factor in players&rsquo; decisions to decline invitations to play.&ldquo;(Sundin) believes he can&rsquo;t get in shape for the Worlds,&rdquo; said Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, Team Sweden&rsquo;s coach. &ldquo;I can understand that.&rdquo;Meanwhile, another barnstorming tour of locked-out NHLers is being discussed for the 2005-06 season.International Management Group, which cosponsored a similar tour around Europe in December, is considering a series of exhibition games next season which would see games played in Europe and North America.&ldquo;If we go down the path of losing another t year,&rdquo; said J.P. Barry, co-managing director of S IMG Hockey, &ldquo;players are going to have to play.&rdquo;FROM BUFFALO The Sabres&rsquo; AHL affiliate in g Rochester will serve as the guinea pig for the S league&rsquo;s experiment with a blue ice surface and orange &ldquo;bluelines.&rdquo; The Amerks&rsquo; March 20 and April 3 games at Buffalo&rsquo;s HSBC Arena will provide the setting for the change, designed to reduce glare off the ice.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>FROM COLORADO The career of center Peter Forsberg, who was recently cross-checked into the boards in a Swedish league game, is not in jeopardy. Kent Forsberg believed his son might never play again after the hit, but tests revealed he has a minor concussion that may only keep him sidelined until the World Championship.From Detroit Red Wings owners Mike and Marian Ilitch made it clear they weren&rsquo;t happy Salo, who was playing for MoDo in the Swedish league this season, is expected to retire. The 34-year-old played for the Islanders, Edmonton and Colorado during his 10-year NHL career, amassing a 210-225-73 regular season record.FROM NASHVILLE The Predators have extended their affiliation with the American League&rsquo;s Milwaukee Admirals for two more seasons. The defending AHL-champion Admirals have helped develop many current Predators, including left winger Martin Erat.FROM THE RANGERS Goalie Dan Blackburn, attempting a comeback with the Victoria Salmon Kings (ECHL), requested and was given his release from the team. Blackburn, who suffered nerve damage in his left shoulder in 2003, played 12 games for Victoria. He was eyeing a jump to Hartford (AHL) for their playoff run, but Rangers officials weren&rsquo;t prepared for his decision. &ldquo;We were a little surprised,&rdquo; Rangers assistant GM Don Maloney told the New York Daily News. &ldquo;There has been no discussion whatsoever about him playing in Hartford.&rdquo;FROM PHOENIX Right winger Brett Hull, signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Coyotes last summer, admitted that, even if the 2004-05 season had been saved, he was in no shape to play. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t skated one bit,&rdquo; Hull told the Arizona Republic, adding that he isn&rsquo;t pining for the game&rsquo;s return, either. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what really scares me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t miss it one bit.&rdquo;FROM VANCOUVER The NHL&rsquo;s board of governors has approved the purchase of 50 per cent of the Canucks by Vancouver businessman Francesco Aquilini. The league did not make public a purchase price for the sale, but a Forbes magazine article estimated the team&rsquo;s worth at approximately $148 million (U.S.).FROM WASHINGTON Capitals coach Glen Hanlon has been tabbed to lead Team Belarus at the 2005 World Championship. Hanlon, hired as Caps coach in 2003, was an assistant coach for Canada at the 1998 World Championship. &#9632;

f0023-02

Rosters for Worlds still not clear

<div class="byline">BY SCOTT SILLS</div>Losing in the first round of the playoffs is never easy for an NHLer to cope with, but the two most memorable moments of Paul Ysebaert&rsquo;s career come from the disappointment of an early playoff exit.&ldquo;First rounds are always the toughest,&rdquo; Ysebaert said, referring to the famous battle between the Maple Leafs and Red Wings in the 1992-93 playoffs. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the bounces of the puck really. We had the players to win.&rdquo;The Red Wings, who had Steve Yzerman and Dino Ciccarelli in the prime of their careers, were heavily favored to beat Toronto. They held a 3-1 series lead before Toronto stormed back and won it on Nikolai Borchevsky&rsquo;s overtime goal in Game 7.Ysebaert said falling into a defensive mode at the end of the series hurt Detroit&rsquo;s chances.&ldquo;They kept coming after us,&rdquo; he said, recalling that the Leafs were double shifting Doug Gilmour. &ldquo;We liked rolling four fines.&rdquo;Born in Sarnia, Ont, Ysebaert took the NCAA path to the NHL, beginning his college career with Bowling Green in 1984-85. Although drafted into the Ontario League by Sudbury, Ysebaert decided on college when he was told he would only get limited ice time in the OHL.Selected by New Jersey 74th overall in 1984, Ysebaert moved on to the American League in 1987-88 and played for the Utica Devils until 1989-1990. In his final AHL season, he won the Les Cunningham Award as league MVP and the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the league&rsquo;s top point getter.For Ysebaert, the awardwinning season provided him with the opportunity he needed to be a regular NHLer.&ldquo;It may have opened some eyes, even mine, that I could make the next level,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That was my last kick at the can for making the NHL.&rdquo;Ysebaert signed a new contract with the Devils that summer and was subsequently dealt to DetroitHis NHL days included stops in Winnipeg, Chicago and Tampa Bay, where he played the last five seasons of his 11-year career. It was in Tampa where Ysebaert participated in a thrilling six-game playoff series loss to Philadelphia in 1996-Tampa&rsquo;s first playoff appearance.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011124/8204327-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="604" height="756"></div>The move from a contender to an expansion team was a big change for Ysebaert.&ldquo;The players we had enhanced everyone,&rdquo; he said of his years as a Red Wing. &ldquo;When you go to an expansion team that&rsquo;s rebuilding the game plan changes. You have to do so much more off the ice.&rdquo;During his years in Tampa, Ysebaert witnessed the development of players who have gone on to be some of the league&rsquo;s elite, including Vincent Lecavalier and Roman Hamrlik.I He says playing for an expansion team comes with one t unique challenge: creating an identity for the franchise and marketing the sport. Where big market teams like the Red Wings are deep in history, expansion teams like the Lightning &ldquo;have to create their own history.&rdquo; After his final NHL season in 1998-99, Ysebaert spent a year in Switzerland before retiring. Since then, he has spent much of his time in Florida working in real estate and also has pursued an interest in horse racing and breeding.He got into the horse breeding business in 1990, dedicating more time to it once his playing days were over. From 2000 to 2001, a horse named Electrical Art earned Ysebaert and his partners $1 million in prize money.Ultimately, Ysebaert said, adaptability was crucial to his NHL career.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02755/8204320-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="772" height="1045"></div>&ldquo;(Being a) team player is an old cliche,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I always played for the team and the jersey. I&rsquo;m kind of a chameleon in every situation.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0027-01

Ysebaert recalls first round pain

<div class="byline">BY SCOTT SILLS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02805/8204358-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="796" height="1086"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE MODANO DALLAS STARS</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011163/8204365-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="105" height="93"></div>Skating is one of hockey&rsquo;s most fundamental skills. In a fast-paced, end-to-end game, players must be able to quickly make the transition from offense to defense. That means they must be able to change directions at full stride.Mike Sirant, coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons, insists changing directions at top speed is one of the most vital skating skills. Especially key is a player&rsquo;s ability to maintain balance while turning. That means keeping a low center of gravity.&ldquo;You have to have good flexion in the hips and the knees,&rdquo; Sirant says. &ldquo;You need a low center of gravity to get good balance and execute a tight turn at top speed.&rdquo;After bending at the hips and knees, the next step-is for the player to turn his head and shoulders in the direction he wants to move. The rest of the body will then start to move in that direction. The shoulders should be level.Sirant says many players err by lifting the toe of their lead skate when changing directions at top speed.&ldquo;You have to put your body weight on both skates,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want to be doing these turns on just one skate. That puts you in an unbalanced position.&rdquo;Players also must identify the correct direction to turn and should be equally adept at turning left and right.&ldquo;You want to be turning into the play rather than turning away from where the puck is,&rdquo; Sirant says. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re losing awareness of where the puck is.&rdquo;Sirant says one of the common mistakes players make on a tight turn is not keeping their stick on the ice.&ldquo;Your stick should be on the ice so it can lead you through the turn,&rdquo; Sirant says. &ldquo;And you&rsquo;ve always got to have your stick on the ice to be prepared to receive the puck.&rdquo;To improve the ability to change directions at top speed, Sirant suggests a drill where players line up along the goal line and take alternate turns skating hard to the red line, turning around and skating back to the blueline, then turning around again and skating hard down the rest of the ice.For physical conditioning, Sirant recommends working out with an exercise ball, which will help to develop middle body strength-a key to achieving peak performance in any skating skill.&ldquo;You need strong leg muscles, a strong abdomen, and a strong lower back,&rdquo; Sirant says.</div><div style="clear: both;"> &#9632;</div>

f0028-02

How to turn the corner

<div class="byline">-ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011032/8204403-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="392" height="579"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02690/8204396-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="278" height="235"></div>JENNIFER BOTTERILLStart the clock&hellip;What&rsquo;s your all-time favorite movie?&ldquo;Love Actually would have to be one of them. And I really enjoyed How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, too. I&rsquo;m a big romantic comedy fan.&rdquo;You graduated from Harvard; what&rsquo;s the biggest misconception about that place? &ldquo;Probably that they&rsquo;re all nerds. Once you&rsquo;re there, you realize Harvard has as many quality, well-rounded people as any other school.&rdquo; If you could make one change to the women&rsquo;s game, what would you do?&ldquo;Qualified referees would be a priority for me, not just for the NWHL, but for all levels. Sometimes our games can get a little chippy and if we really want to stress the skill and athleticism of the game rather than the violence of it, I think we need our officials to be strong.&rdquo;If you could have dinner with three famous people, who would you pick?&ldquo;Oprah, Tiger Woods and Julia Roberts.&rdquo; Funniest thing you&rsquo;ve seen during a game? &ldquo;At the 1997 World Championship, one of our girls stumbled over someone in the crease just as time expired and we started celebrating. Hockey Canada still uses that clip in their highlight reel and it makes me laugh each time I see it.&rdquo; Time&rsquo;s up! &#9632;

f0029-01

TWO MINUTES IN THE BOX

<div class="byline">By Larry Humber</div><h2>ACROSS</h2>1 &lsquo;The Great One&rsquo;s&rsquo; first NHL club4 A minor sends a player to the box for four minutes9 Legendary coach &lsquo;The Cat&rsquo;10 Undeserved goal11 All goalies wear protector:12 Georges is a great fighter13 Dallas player15 Unmarked18 Ron helped the Leafs win three Cups in the 1960s21 Number retired by the Bruins23 Line up24 Jittery25 Beginners are said to skate on them26 Cup awarded in Canada based on three-star selections<h2>DOWN</h2>1 A team&rsquo;s executives are its front2 Retire3 Ex-Rangers&rsquo; goalie Mike5 Bid6 He wore 77 in Boston7 &lsquo;Mess&rsquo;s 1 number8 United States Hockey League: abbr.14 Pictured, was in goal for the Soviets in 197215 The 0 in OHL16 An OHL city17 Al was Caps&rsquo; netminder in the 1980s19 60s Ranger Brown20 The other Esposito22 Shares lodgings with a teammate, with<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03475/8204434-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="990" height="943"></div> &#9632;

f0029-03

CROSSWORD

Have you spotted these two personalities in the same room at the same time? Submitted by Scott Johnston from London, England.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04339/8204472-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="302" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">SCOTT NICHOL</figcaption></div>Blackhawks center uses cup in hopes of protecting groin area<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05279/8204465-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="311" height="461"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE-0</figcaption></div>Jackass star always seen drinking cup of alcohol; willingly hurts own groin &#9632;

f0029-04

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011165/8204555-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="267" height="145"></div>In the B.C.C. (Before CostCertainty) era, you could always count on the NHL playoff pool as a dual source of amusement and ego gratification.For example, The Hockey News art director Jamie Hodgson and yours truly took on all comers-and most of the Tampa Bay Lightning roster-to claim not only victory, but a cool grand in one particular draft last year. (However, if you&rsquo;re reading this during a break from your duties collecting Canadian taxes, the grand in question was paid out in &ldquo;for recreational purposes only&rdquo; money.)But the payoff isn&rsquo;t what makes playoff pools so much fun. The fun is the draft itself, where you&rsquo;re liable to wet yourself cackling at the often-clueless antics of your fellow drafters.Who among us doesn&rsquo;t get their kicks watching half-wits inquire as to the availability of Joe Sakic in the eighth round? Who doesn&rsquo;t quietly giggle with glee when a bidding war erupts over a player who has been out for the season since February? Sure, the natural urge is to repeatedly taser the meatheads for turning what should be an hour-long draft process into a three-day ordeal, but we prefer laughing at them, rather than with them in the ambulance.Unfortunately, pools are just one of the many things Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow have robbed us of this non-season.That is, unless you&rsquo;re willing to get creative. And since creativity is one of our few marketable skills, we fleshed out some proposals for pools that don&rsquo;t require the NHL to be in operation to provide you with some springtime fun.THE &lsquo;SCAB&rsquo; POOL Picking from all 30 team rosters, choose a full team (23 players) of NHLers you believe will cross the union&rsquo;s invisible picket line when the league tries to use replacements come September. Points are awarded based on the player&rsquo;s NHL salary. If he makes less than seven digits and crosses, you get five points. If he&rsquo;s a millionaire who makes less than the $1.8-million average salary, you get 10. If he&rsquo;s above the average, you get 15 points. And if your man is on the union&rsquo;s executive committee, that&rsquo;s the equivalent of a goalie shutout, so you get 25 points.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02785/8204548-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="1271" height="993"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03561/8204541-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="290" height="370"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Proteau Staff Writer</figcaption></div>THE &lsquo;RETRACTION&rsquo; POOL That&rsquo;s retraction, not contraction. Here, you get five points for every anti-union statement uttered by one of your guys. Then, if he denies he said it, or plays the &ldquo;I was-quoted-out-of-con-text&rdquo; card, you get an additional five points. But if he stands by his words, 10 more points are coming your way.Also, remember how you used to exclude Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux from your pool because they were in a class of their own? In the retraction draft, Brett Hull, Mike Modano and Jeremy Roenick are similarly off limits.THE &lsquo;LARGE AND IN CHARGE&rsquo; POOL This pool rewards drafters who can best predict which NHLers will put on the most weight by the time the league returns to action. For every pound each of your players gain, you gain one point. Hull isn&rsquo;t available for this pool, either.BETTER FRED THAN DEAD&nbsp;Tampa Bay&rsquo;s Fredrik Modiri helped THN&rsquo;s Adam Proteau and Jamie Hodgson win their playoff pooLTHE &lsquo;VANISHING CAREER&rsquo; POOLWhich NHLers have played their last big league game and don&rsquo;t know it yet? That&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;re guessing at here. You get five points for every guy you correctly identify as an about-to-be has-been, but there&rsquo;s a catch: of the 23 players you select, only five can be older than 35. That means everyone will have their share of sure things (i.e. Al Maclnnis, Ron Francis), but the pool will be won or lost on the strength of your younger also-rans.THE &lsquo;XENOPHOBE&rsquo;S DREAM&rsquo; POOLThis draft is all about picking the European-born NHLers who won&rsquo;t earn enough under a new labor deal to make leaving their Alpenhoms and fjords worth the while. Super Swedes Markus Naslund and Peter Forsberg are the easy choices here, but don&rsquo;t forget about Alexander Ovechkin, who probably could make double in Europe what he would under an even more restrictive rookie salary cap.THE &ldquo;FIRST TO BE FIRED&rdquo; POOL Gary or Bob. That&rsquo;s it. Pick away. &#9632;

f0030-01

Do you feel draft?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011072/8204593-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="516" height="2026"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Brophy Senior Writer</figcaption></div><h2>AGE GAUGE</h2>The average age of NHLers may be coming down after a modern-era high of 28.1 in 2002-03.I can&rsquo;t help but wonder, when the dust settles, how many players who played in 2003-04 will never take part in another big-league game.The list of obvious candidates for retirement has been mentioned numerous times during the lockout-veteran players such as Ron Francis, Steve Yzerman, Luc Robitaille, Mark Messier and company.But the reality is there will be many more. It is often said there is a change of roughly 100 players a year in the NHL. That&rsquo;s slightly more than three players per team. So if 100 from the 2003-04 season were history and you take into account another 100 from this year, that&rsquo;s a huge turnover. And it won&rsquo;t be just old players, either.In fact, one GM told his staff he estimates more than 250 players from 2003-04 will never again play in the NHL. And with each passing day, he surmises, the number will grow.<h2>WHAT GOES IN&hellip;</h2>Where do these numbers come from? Not out of the blue. Our records show 128 players made their NHL debuts in 2002-03, then another 160 in 2003-40. So, like the human body reminds us everyday, please budget for both intake and outtake.Wonder how those guys will feel about this long fight when it eventually ends?Many of those who do return will find themselves playing for a fraction of what they did prior to the lockout. And if they don&rsquo;t like it, they can find somewhere else to play.The days of the Matt Cullens of the world being paid $1.75 million a season to score six goals in 56 games (just an average player earning an average NHL salary) are over.&ldquo;Things are going to be different,&rdquo; said an NHL pro scout. &ldquo;With no NHL games, GMs have spent a lot of time watching games in Europe and have discovered a lot of North American players there who would gladly play in the NHL on a third or fourth line for a fraction of what we were paying third- and fourth-liners.&ldquo;Players such as Stacy Roest and Yves Sarault have demonstrated in Europe they can be effective players in certain roles. So why are we paying guys $1 million to play on the third and fourth line when these guys will do it for $300,000 or $400,000?&rdquo;<h2>GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY</h2>Roest is a 5-foot-10, 19-pound center who had 28 goals and 76 points in 244 NHL games with Minnesota and Detroit before fleeing to Europe in 2003-04. He had 17 goals and 55 points in 41 games with Rapperswil, Switz., this season.Sarault managed 10 goals and 20 points in 106 NHL games with Montreal, Calgary, Colorado, Ottawa, Atlanta and Nashville, but the 6-foot-1, 200-pound left winger has made a name for himself as an agitating scorer who managed 11 goals and 32 points with 118 penalty minutes playing in Bern, Switz., this season.The pro scout also suggested smaller, skilled players will have a better chance of playing in the &lsquo;new&rsquo; NHL because the rules are going to be enforced more stringently to bring offense back into the game.&ldquo;The NHL is going to try to open things up,&rdquo; the scout said. &ldquo;When you consider one of the smallest players in the league (Tampa Bay&rsquo;s Martin St-Louis) led the league in scoring last year, I think you can see it was already headed in that direction.&rdquo;Clearly salaries are going to dictate more than ever what a team&rsquo;s roster looks like because of a salary cap. The day of the $10-million player is dead. Sense and sensibility will defeat cents and stupidity going forward.There will still be players who get rich off the game. 8 The most talented players will always be handsomely rewarded. The likes of Joe Sakic, Nicklas Lidstrom and &rsquo; Jarome Iginla have been worth every penny their teams have spent on them.But the lower-end players are going to take the big hit. And coaches who once chimed they are worth at least as much as a fourth-liner will think twice before uttering that statement.It may even get to the point where it will be more fruitful for some Europeans to play at home rather than ply their trade in the yH NHL.NHLers have been mostly united in their fight with commissioner Gary Bettman and the owners. But having given in on accepting a salary cap, you have to wonder: how many players who disappear during the lockout will regret not pushing for a similar stance a lot earlier?A couple hundred, at least.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02711/8204586-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="1504" height="2115"></div> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

March 29, 2005

The Hockey News

Surging Amerks on record pace

AMERICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS AND STATISTICS

ON THE FLY