The Hockey News

That Retro Issue

The local TV breakfast show hosts were engaged in their typically cheery banter about the news of the day when one of them pointed out the story of the NHL considering bigger nets. His colleague bristled and said, “Why can’t they just leave hockey alone.” After receiving the last issue of The Hockey News in which we hail the imminent arrival of the shootout, a loyal reader fired off an angry email, bemoaning our stance as a personal affront, suggesting we no longer care about the fans. At the ensuing morning departmental meeting, one THN staffer said perhaps it’s time for us to write an editorial advising the NHL that while considering change is good, it shouldn’t go too far, too fast. GETTING DIZZY YET? Bigger nets. Blue ice. Orange bluelines. Shootouts. Removal of…

Will bigger nets work?

Is bigger better? NHL GMs will be asked to consider the possibility when they gather for two days of “improve the game” meetings April 8-9 in Detroit. At the summit, GMs will be introduced to two prototypes for bigger nets. The new-look nets are not drastically larger than the traditional 4-by-6-foot design, but they could go a long way toward injecting more scoring into the product when NHL hockey does return. NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell told The Hockey News one net features pegs that remain six feet apart at the base, but has bars that curve out at the sides to make the goal larger. The second net is two inches bigger all around in height and width. It was later reported the league had a third prototype. “When we were talking…

Wanted: Organ donors to improve in-game fun

The Hockey News FROM THE EDITORS Those of us who have been chirping for years about the NHL’s excitement-depleted product were thrilled to see the league finally acknowledge change could be a good thing. However, we don’t believe the progressive mindset that’s a must to improve the game is always ideal for off-ice changes that are overdue. Instead, we favor a return to some of the things that made attending an NHL game such a pleasure, before the onset of massive JumboTrons somehow persuaded fans that waving at themselves while 17,000 strangers looked on wasn’t altogether ludicrous. These days, the NHL’s idea of fun has become so rote, so paint-by-numbers, that it deserves almost as much of a makeover as the game itself. Specifically, we’re talking about the league’s in-game entertainment-or as most teams approach it,…

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

BRING ON THE SHOOTOUT! The shootout is a great way to add excitement to the NHL’s humdrum regular season brand of hockey. (THN, March 29) The playoffs can stay the way they are, but the regular season needs an infusion of excitement. The game must continue to evolve as it has over the last century. There have been many rule changes and modifications since the game began, so the shootout should be given a chance to succeed. Mike Kavanagh, Little Neck, N.Y. SHOOTOUTS STINK The Hockey News’ support of the shootout as a method of settling ties in the NHL simply astounds me. I have an even better idea: Why not just skip the hockey game and have 60 minutes of shootouts? Wouldn’t that be much more exciting than a dull old hockey game?…

Labels for a lifetime

What’s in a name? For a boy in Brooklyn, the moniker was magic I was a Toronto Maple Leafs fan when nobody wore helmets, stick-blades were pancake flat, the slapshot was non-existent and no team ever had won more than two Stanley Cups in a row. For my money, the 1940s were the best years to be a hockey fan and the Leafs were the finest team for which to root. At least for me they were, but rooting was done differently back then. For starters, I’m from Brooklyn, which meant that “listening” to Foster Hewitt’s Saturday Hockey Night In Canada radio broadcasts was an electronic adventure. (Hey, there was no television in those days). The games were broadcast on CBL (Toronto), which was 750 on my AM dial,-located directly between 710 (WOR) and 770…

Making the Cut

Gary, we shrunk your league. We shrunk you out of Carolina and Florida and Phoenix and a dozen other fairweather hotspots that 40 years ago didn’t know a hockey puck from a Hooters girl, and were evidently no worse off for their ignorance. We shrunk you out of Philly and Edmonton and Vancouver and Buffalo, too, nice places and fine hockey towns all-but to be included in this exercise, you’ve got to be an Original. That Retro Issue If you can make it in this league, you can make it anywhere We shrunk the league back to the days of six teams and three lines and two-minute shifts, to an era of straight sticks and gap-toothed goalie grins. And we’ve got dispiriting news for a few of today’s would-be superstars who were unmasked in…

Golden Bears rally for championship

Ben Thomson scored the tying and winning goals to lead the Alberta Golden Bears to a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Canadian University final. The top-ranked Golden Bears trailed the Huskies 3-1 in the third period before rallying for their 11th national title. After Richard Hamula scored to narrow the gap to one goal, Thomson blasted a 46-foot slapshot past Saskatchewan goalie Thomas Vicars with 23 seconds remaining. Thomson was again the hero in overtime with a goal at the 5:27 mark. “We could have given up in the third period, but we stayed with it,” Thomson told the Globe and Mail. “It breaks your heart,” said Saskatchewan coach Dave Adolph. “He found a square inch that was just a little bigger than the puck with 23 seconds remaining.” CANADIAN WOMEN…

NLRB reviewing NHL claim

The NHL Players’ Association is violating labor law by insisting union members who choose to become replacement players give back their lockout pay, according to a prominent labormanagement relations analyst. The NHL was well within its rights to file an unfair labor practices charge with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board over the policy and has a good chance of winning, says Bill Adams, a Kentuckybased NLRB expert. “They can’t do that, they can’t restrain their players,” Adams said. “I don’t think they can get that (return payment) enforced. It all depends on what their constitution and bylaws say.” It would be unusual if the union’s constitution allowed it to make such a demand of its members, Adams said. The union has been giving its members “lockout pay” believed to be between $5,000 and…

IIHF’s Fasel issues warnina

Concerned about escalating violence in European leagues, I nternational Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel is calling for players to exhibit restraint before another Todd Bertuzzi-like incident occurs-or worse. In a recent editorial on the IIHF website, Fasel says he believes the sport’s image is taking a beating because of nearly daily occurrences of violence and “sickening incidents” that are leading to severe injuries. “The atmosphere around the playoffs is starting to resemble the one at a wildwest saloon where unshaved men are exercising frontier justice,” Fasel writes. “Instead of going to their best players to make them score or execute the perfect play, many coaches give unwarranted ice time to the so-called ‘character guys’ whose only objective is to take out the skilful player.” IIHF media relations manager Szymon Szemberg says his…

My NHL includes…

In our Feb. 1 issue, we asked fans and hockey personalities to complete the sentence “My NHL includes…” Here is a submission from long-time NHL referee Kerry Fraser. My NHL includes a Smithsonian of memories compiled over 1,551 regular season and 252 Stanley Cup playoff games. One game, however, stands alone and exemplifies how the NHL can brighten the darkest hour, even as the curtain of life is being drawn closed. It was a bleak, frigid morning on Feb. 8,2001 as I shivered outside the Marriott Hotel along the icy Detroit River, awaiting the arrival of the Krumholtz family from Corunna, Ont. The prior evening, Gary Krumholtz advised me he wasn’t sure if his cancer-stricken wife, Margaret, was strong enough to make the trip and participate in the wish she had for…

Playoffs excite Swedish fans

Peter Forsberg may have left early, but playoff hockey in Sweden is still some of the most entertaining around. Frolunda, the best team all season, is neatly dispatching of its opponents, backed by NHLer-to-be Henrik Lundqvist and powered by an all-NHL line of Daniel Alfredsson, P. J. Axelsson, Samuel Pahlsson, Sami Salo and Christian Backman. “When a guy like Alfredsson is out there, I am aware of where he is because I know how well he plays,” said goalie Jose Theodore, whose Djurgarden team met Frolunda in the semifinal. “But they are not just one line, they are a complete team.” Indeed, the Frolunda lineup includes several former NHL players such as Niklas Andersson and two Team Finlad players, Tomi Kallio and Antti-Jussi Niemi. It was Theodore for Djurgarden, however, who singlehandedly stymied…

Money can’t buy Ak Bars Kazan success

With a $65-million budget to sign players, the Russian Superleague club Ak Bars Kazan was nicknamed the ‘New York Rangers East.’ In the first round of the playoffs, the Kazan club, with 12 locked-out NHL players in uniform, lived up to the Rangers’ reputation for post-season failure by falling 3-1 in a best-of-five series with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, center Vincent Lecavalier and winger Brad Richards of the 2004 Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning signed lucrative contracts to play for Ak Bars (Snow Leopards) this season. Although Richards did not dress in the playoffs because of an injury, the club also had goaltender Fred Brathwaite, defensemen Darius Kasparaitis, Alexei Zhitnik and Ruslan Salei, and forwards Ilya Kovalchuk, Dany Heatley, Alexei Kovalev, Alexey Morozov, Slava Kozlov and Denis Arkhipov in uniform. Two…

AHL reel to real: believe It or not

The standings tell one story about the season, but behind the wins and losses are the tales that truly make a season memorable. The AHL campaign is no exception. Like on Oct. 30 when Kyle Wellwood of St. John’s scored five goals in an 8-3 win over Cleveland, the first indication the Baby Leafs were determined to make the final year on the Rock special. Like Bridgeport winger Sean Bergenheim needing a reminder of why he plays hockey and not soccer. Kicking a soccer ball around with teammates as a means to stretch and warm up, he sprained his ankle and missed six games. Here’s a sampling of the good, bad and the ugly from a 2004-05 AHL regular season: DON’T HOLD BACK When Wilkes-Barre squandered a 2-0 third period lead and lost 4-2…

Great ‘Gabby’ still scoring

The stars appeared to be aligned for Bruce Boudreau’s return to Toronto, but this former junior scoring wizard and Maple Leaf prefers to follow the bright lights of the Hollywood sign back to the NHL. “I love the Los Angeles Kings organization,” says Boudreau, a veteran minor league coach. “(GM) Dave Taylor is one of the classiest guys in hockey and (coach) Andy Murray has helped me immensely. I’m loyal to them and the Los Angeles Kings.” The Toronto Maple Leafs announced in March their AHL farm club will be known as the Marlies when it moves to Toronto next season after 14 winters in St. John’s, Nfld. The Marlies, or Marlboros, filled old Maple Leaf Gardens for junior hockey from 1951 to 1989 and there was no bigger star in the 1970s…

Barons’ Clowe diamond in the rough

Put a puck along the boards and send Cleveland winger Ryane Clowe after it and this much is certain: either the puck’s going with him when he leaves, or it’s not going anywhere. Now send the puck toward the net and see who gets to the rebound, the defenseman of your choosing or the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Clowe. The smart money is on Clowe. “He’s probably the best power forward in the league,” Barons coach Roy Sommer said glowingly. “He’s us. He’s everything for us.” Clowe also is the most unheralded go-to player in the AHL. He led the light-scoring Barons with 24 goals and 54 points in 64 games. More impressive was his rating of plus-15, which was nine better than any teammate. “You try to find things they need to work on and…

Midwest taking off with Omaha

The American League will have a very midAmerican flavor next year with the addition of yet another franchise in the heartland. The Calgary Flames will activate their dormant franchise and send their prospects to Omaha. The Nebraska city hasn’t had pro hockey since 1975, when the Omaha Knights of the Central League relocated to Tulsa, Okla. There certainly is hockey tradition in Omaha. It’s the only city in the world for which Gordie Howe played minor league hockey. Howe was 17 when he scored 22 goals and 48 points in 51 USHL games in 1945-46, his only year in the minors. The Flames have shared an AHL affiliation the past two seasons after shutting down operations in Saint John, N.B., after 2002-03. “We intend on building a hockey club in Omaha that resembles…

Bullies’ Mather can taste post-season

shawn Mather thought his chance to participate in an ECHL playoff run had eluded him for one more frustrating season. Forgive the high-scoring center from Chatham, Ont., for feeling snake-bit when it comes to the post-season. Three years ago in his first pro season, Mather and the New Orleans Brass dropped a one-game play-in to Jackson. In his second season, Mather joined the Johnstown Chiefs, who missed the playoffs. Last year, the Chiefs had a team record 97 points, only to finish fourth in the North Division. The Chiefs lost a one-game play-in against fifth-place Reading, a team 13 points behind Johnstown. The Chiefs fell out of contention down the stretch this year and Mather was destined for another early spring, but that changed when Atlantic City acquired him for future considerations March…

’Suitcase’ Ulmer grins and Bears it

When Jeff Ulmer decides to hang up his skates, chances are there’s a job waiting for him in the travel industry. The Hershey Bears forward has been all over the world and the AHL map since his college days at the University of North Dakota. After graduating from the Fighting Sioux, the Regina native joined Canada’s national team and played hockey in 17 countries including the U.S., Switzerland, Italy, Russia and Japan. “That was an awesome experience,” Ulmer said. “Some of my favorite places were Japan, Sweden and England.” Ulmer returned to North America in March of 1999 and signed a free agent contract with the Houston Aeros, then a member of the International League. And while he was back in North America, Ulmer’s travels didn’t end in Texas. He has since played in Hartford,…

A year later, Lombardi back on ice

Calgary Flames center Matthew Lombardi made a successful return in late March, scoring for the Lowell Lock Monsters in his first game since sustaining a serious concussion in last year’s NHL playoffs. Lombardi was sidelined almost 11 months after taking an elbow from Detroit’s Derian Hatcher during a playoff game May 3. The hit was a painful end to a fine season in which the young center from Montreal scored 16 goals as an NHL rookie. “This summer was the lowest point,” Lombardi told the Lowell Sun. “I thought after the season I would be good. But then I just never got better.’ Lombardi’s first outing, an AHL game against the Springfield Falcons, came March 20, two days after his 23rd birthday. Led by Calgary teammate Chuck Kobasew, Eric Staal of Carolina and Colin…

Saint John opts for ‘fierce’ Sea Dog

New Brunswick’s expansion team in the Quebec League finally has a name-the Saint John Sea Dogs. “A sea dog is a seal,” said Wayne Long, president of the ownership group. “We certainly wanted something that represented the region. With us being on the Bay of Fundy on the Atlantic Ocean, obviously seals are well known around this whole region. “Our logo is outstanding. It represents a sea dog that’s fierce, fast and determined as it’s streaming through the water. It’s kind of Saint John had a name-the-team contest that featured 7,000 entries. Sea Dogs was the most popular choice and the team colors are blue, grey and black. “It was fascinating to see the variety of names submitted,” Long said. “We had ballots and interest from people 90 years old and from kids…

League is hesitant to draft 14-year-olds

The OHL did a quick about face after its proposal to draft exceptional 14-year-olds got a thumbs down from the public. The board of governors didn’t even vote March 23, instead sending the issue back to the competition committee. The league is looking to keeD 14-vear-old John Tavares of Toronto in the OHL, rather than see him go to a rival league, such as the USHL. Commissioner David Branch and the competition committee suggested allowing the four non-playoff teams to each draft one player born in 1990. The current policy that no one under 15 is eligible was maintained. “It’s clear the governors were not comfortable with the image a draft of 14-year-olds conjured up,” Branch said during a hastily called media conference call. This comes as a Hockey Canada special committee is looking into the…

Ice hope playoffs go as smooth as Glass

The glass is half full for Jeff Glass. The Kootenay Ice goalie already owns a World Junior Championship gold medal after backstopping Canada to the title in Grand Forks, N.D. Now he would like to go 2-for-2 by helping the Western League’s Ice win the Memorial Cup. “We’ve talked about that a few times,” Glass said of conversations with Ice and national junior teammate Nigel Dawes. “It would probably be one of the most unbelievable years if we did accomplish that.” The Ice has already surpassed expectations. Despite being picked by The Hockey News to finish 11th overall in the 20-team WHL, Kootenay has enjoyed a strong season. “This year has been awesome,” Glass said. “If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that I’d have a gold medal and…

UNITED STATES LEAGUE

As the USHL turned the page from regular season to post-season, the Chicago Steel led the league with 16 players committed to Division 1 college next season. They were on display March 19 when the team drew a respectable 3,167 fans for a game at the United Center, home to the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago won the game 5-4 over Des Moines, but just as important, the Steel and the Hawks agreed to hold another game at the United Center next year, whether there’s NHL hockey or not. Most notable from the college-bound group is 6-foot-5 right winger Nathan Perkovich, a New Jersey draft pick (250th overall) in 2004. “He is the definition of raw,” said Steel coach Wil Nichol. “But he has awesome hands and a great shot.“ NOTEBOOK The USHL eclipsed the one million…

Buckeyes’ band making beautiful music together

Because a college player’s schedule is filled with classes, practice, high-pressure games and late night study sessions, finding a way to relax away from the rink is important. So four Ohio State players started a band, called ‘Shorthanded with the Special Teams,’ to get away from the grind of a season. “It’s a little refresher to get your mind off of hockey and school,” said Buckeyes senior forward JB Bittner, one of the guitarists. “We’re having fun with it.” Other members include freshman defenseman Johann Kroll, who sings and plays guitar, freshman forward John Dingle on drums and sophomore defenseman Tyson Strachan on bass. The band came together a month after the freshmen arrived on campus and found time to practice a couple times a week. “We just got together to have fun at first,”…

Nine-year tenure over as Huskies axe Crowder

Bruce Crowder is ready to move after he didn’t have his contract renewed as coach at Northeastern. “I’ll be fine. Things happen for a reason,” said Crowder who had a 120-170-36 record in nine years at Northeastern. He said he’d like to stay in college coaching or get a job as an assistant in the NHL. “It would be nice to be able to just coach (in the NHL) instead of having to do all the other things required as a coach at the college level,” said the 48-year-old Crowder, who had a 243-game NHL career with Boston and Pittsburgh. Crowder, who had just two winning seasons at Northeastern, said he was “disappointed” about his firing. “I thought we made some nice gains this year,” said Crowder, whose Huskies were sixth with a…

Final ultimatum makes Cook a shooting star

When Cornell coach Mike Schafer threatened, Charlie Cook listened. Schafer told Cook, a senior defenseman, that if he wanted to stay on the Big Red power play, he had to start shooting more. So Cook did. His biggest night came in the ECAC championship game, when he scored two power play goals to carry the Big Red to a 3-1 victory over rival Harvard, giving Cornell its 11th league title. “He laid it on the line,” Cook said of, Schafer’s inspirational speech. “He said if I wasn’t going to shoot the puck, I wasn’t going to be on the power play.” “He worked hard on shooting the puck this summer,” Schafer said. “He’s probably the most detail-oriented player I’ve ever coached.” A 6-foot, 195-pounder from Port Huron, Mich., Cook scored just seven goals in his…

Frozen Four sweep a glorious claim for WCHA

For once, there will be no debate as to which major U.S. college hockey league is the best. For the first time in the history of the NCAA tournament, which began in 1948, all four semifinalists are from the same league. WCHA members Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota and North Dakota form the field for the Frozen Four April 7 and 9 in Columbus, Ohio. Three schools from the same conference advanced to the Frozen Four in 1999 (Boston College, Maine and New Hampshire from Hockey East) and 1992 (Lake Superior State, Michigan and Michigan State from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association). The first-ever sweep generated a predictable response from WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod. “We don’t want to come across as gloating, but we feel this is the way it should’ve worked out,” he…

Coyotes draft gamble wheels along

Could a teenager ask for more than to lead a normal life? Not really, but when you’re a high school senior who has already been chosen in the first round of the NHL draft, life, by nature, moves in ways more complicated than the norm. So it is for 18 year-old Minnesota-born Blake Wheeler, whose acclaim rose rapidly last year when the 6-foot-5,205 pound right winger scored 45 goals and 100 points in 30 games to lead Breck High School to the Minnesota class-A state title. As a result, many observers had an inkling he’d sneak into the first round of last summer’s draft. But fifth overall to Phoenix? “It’s still hard to believe,” said Wheeler, skating for the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers in advance of his arrival at the University of Minnesota next…

Stimulants an issue?

NHL TEAM REPORTS in the wake of the cancelation of the NHL season, we’ve condensed our NHL team reports into an extended notebook. As such, not all 30 teams will be represented each issue. To hear Los Angeles defenseman Stephane Quintal tell it, the NHL has more than just steroids to worry about its players abusing. Quintal claims 40 per cent of NHLers use stimulants such as Sudafed, Ultimate Orange and Ripped Fuel on a regular basis in an attempt to get a leg up on their foes. “You take Ripped Fuel before a match, you’re super-excited,” Quintal said. “And when the match is over, you have to take other pills to sleep, otherwise you stay awake until five in the morning. The pills are there, within reach of everybody.” Quintal made the comments…

SCOREBOARD

Final Sunday, March 27: Denver 4, New Hampshire 2. FROZEN FOUR SCHEDULE (at Columbus, OH) Semifinals Thursday, April 7: Colorado College vs. Denver, 2 pm, ET; North Dakota vs. Minnesota, 7 pm ET. Final Saturday, April 9: Winner Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Semifinal 2, 7 pm ET. RUSSIAN LEAGUE FIRST ROUND PLAYOFFS (Best of five) Dynamo vs Neftekhimik Friday, March 18: Dynamo 2, Neftekhimik 0. Saturday, March 19: Dynamo 4, Neftekhimik 2. Monday, March 21: Dynamo 2, Neftekhimik 1. (Dynamo wins series 3-0) Lokomotiv vs AK Bars Friday, March 18: Lokomotiv 2, AK Bars 1. Saturday, March 19: Lokomotiv 4, AK Bars 3. Monday, March 21: AK Bars 1, Lokomotiv 0 (SH). Tuesday, March 22: Lokomotiv 2, AK Bars 1. (Lokomotiv wins series 3-1) Lada vs Mettalurg Nk Friday, March 18: Lada 3, Metallurg Nk 0. Saturday, March 19: Metallurg Nk 2, Lada 1 (SH). Monday, March…

European career fine fit for Manno

For many NHLers, the chance to play in Europe this season wasn’t quite what they’d envisioned. Some returned to North America almost as quickly as they left. They should have talked to Bob Manno, who parlayed an up-and-down NHL career into a sue-cessful stay overseas. “Some guys adjust J better than others to Europe,” said Manno, who played for Vancouver, Toronto and Detroit during his eight-year NHL stint. “I found players from higher levels had a harder time adjusting than other guys. Players who were just happy to have a job playing hockey did well, but the players who came in expecting the golden treatment they’d received (in North America) had a tougher go of it” Born in Niagara Falls, Ont., Manno was drafted 26th overall by Vancouver in 1976 after a junior…

One-timer an artful weapon

To create diverse scoring chances, a simple wrist shot or slapshot can be supplemented by a one-timer for a more creative option. Tim Whitehead, coach of the Maine Black Bears, says one-timers are effective because of the element of surprise confronting the goalie. “The goaltender has less time to get set,” Whitehead said. “In the end, no matter how hard your shot is, if the goalie is set it’s very hard to score.” The first step in executing a one-timer is to be aware of the net. Picking a corner, however, is overrated. “It’s not so much about picking a spot as getting it on net so it might trickle through or generate a rebound,” Whitehead said. “If he’s not set, the goalie may have difficulty controlling the rebound.” Also important is the player…

Following Leafs wasn’t always fun

We’re glad Stan Fischler has such fond memories of growing up as a Toronto Maple Leafs fan in the 1940s. Same goes for those who got to watch Stanley Cup parades down Yonge Street in the 1950s and 60s. However, some of us weren’t so fortunate. Some of us grew up in the 1970s and ’80s, when the Blue & White were to winning as Anna Nicole Smith is to good taste. Back then, the Leafs weren’t the hockey purgatory many make them out to be. Hockey’s very own Bizarro World was what they were, featuring self-immolating heroes, a meddling, commie-huntin’, rip-snortin’ runaway train of an owner, and trades so heartbreakingly awful, Sally Struthers offered to host charity telethons for them. In almost every measure of a franchise-from drafts to deals to alumni…

TWO MINUTES IN THE BOX

DAVE SCHULTZ Start the clock… What’s the funniest practical joke you’ve seen? “I was with L.A., and as one of my teammates was reading the newspaper on the bus, another guy snuck up on him and lit the thing on fire. The bus driver was less than pleased with us.” Worst motivational line a coach used on you? “One coach used to tell the guys, ‘Go up hard, come down harder.’ What that was supposed to do for us, I’m still not sure.” Best trash talk you’ve heard over the years? “My old teammate Andre Dupont had some classics. One time, he told Butch Deadmarsh, ‘You’re dead, marsh.’ I liked that one.” Your hockey hero growing up? “Dave Keon. Believe it or not, I used to have offensive skills; Dave was the type of player I wanted to be.” Funniest…

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

Have you spotted these two personalities in the same room at the same time? Submitted by Matt Krogmeier. Former Red Wings goalie survived NHL lockout in 2004-05 season Former Survivor contestant on 2005 season a self-admitted ‘redneck’ Submit ideas for Separated at Birth to jhodgson@thehockeynews.com…

ON THE FLY

WHO AM I? A native Montrealer, I’ve been a Maple Leaf, Oiler, Canadien and Shark during my 18-year NHL career. I also happen to know Bob Goodenow and the NHLPA executive committee very well. Who am I? The ‘Soap In The Mouth’ Award Goes to 20-year-old Daniel Carcillo of the OHL’s Mississauga Ice Dogs, for a profanity-laden rant after a recent game. Sailor mouths aren’t cool, Dan. TRIVIA Who was named the Canadian Hockey League’s player of the year in 1992-93? a. Jason Allison c. David Ling b. Charles Poulin d. Pat Peake The correct answer to the Trivia/Who Am I questions will appear in next week’s issue of The Hockey News and at thehockeynews.com Last issue’s Trivia: A. Chris Nilan. Last issue’s Who Am I: Florida Panthers enforcer Peter Worrell.…

No ‘Juice’ for Espo

Let me play month and if do well, leave me alone about my weight.-PHIL ESPOSITO He was the greatest scorer of his era, an individual who singlehandedly took the sport to the next level—and he never once dreamed of taking steroids. A beer and a burger, perhaps, but no artificial stimulants entered the temple that was Phil Esposito’s often 10-pounds overweight body. “Nope, never,” Esposito says. “Wouldn’t even know what they look like.” In Espo’s day, Bobby Hull might have had the body of a Greek god, but he was in a huge minority. NHLers played hockey in the winter and worked for additional income during the summers. Even a rising star like Esposito would head home to Sault Ste. Marie to work in the steel mill. Did it until he was 31.…