The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

December 8, 1989

The Hockey News December 8, 1989

When New Jersey Devils&rsquo; defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov did not retaliate against Toronto Maple Leaf Wendel Clark&rsquo;s assault during a game Oct. 23, I expected to hear about the incident for quite some time.I expected to hear accusations of Fetisov being a wimp. But what I did not expect to hear was no reaction to referee Terry Gregson giving Fetisov a minor penalty for roughing. Fetisov did not throw a single punch and, probably thinking he was doing the right thing, did nothing that called for a penalty.A call of this kind certainly proves there is no move on the referees&rsquo; parts to limit or control fighting in the NHL.Sadly enough, if Fetisov is taking fighting lessons from Jim Kom, good for him. If he&rsquo;s going to get a penalty anyway, he may as well get in some defiant retaliation.Tami-Jo Marcotte Bronxville, N.Y.<h2>FIGHTING WORDS</h2>I just can&rsquo;t believe Stan Fischler. Fischler is supposedly a revered writer in the hockey world but his article on goalie fights (THN, Nov. 17) seems like an attempt to set the game back another 20 years.Fischler seems intent on preserving the stereotype that has turned so many potential hockey fans away in the past and continues to turn them away today&mdash;that hockey consists of a bunch of grown men trying to beat the daylights out of each other.Maybe Mr. Fischler should give up writing for THN and cover pro wrestling instead.Jeff Jotz Notre Dame, Ind.<h2>TAX REBATE</h2>Scott Morrison brings up a good point about the Jimmy Carson trade in his Guest Shot (THN, Nov. 17).The ongoing problems with the dollar exchange and taxes certainly discourage players from joining Canadian teams, but I think there is a remedy to the problem. The NHL and the players&rsquo; association could come to an agreement whereby a player traded from a U.S. to Canadian team would have his salary adjusted accordingly. For instance, a player making $300,000 per year on a U.S. team would get about $350,000 if he were traded to a Canadian team.Leonard Coudurier Madison Heights, Mich.<h2>HE&rsquo;S HUMAN</h2>I would just like to congratulate Barry Meisel for realizing his mistake in writing off the New York Rangers.Recently, he promised readers that the Rangers wouldn&rsquo;t finish better than fifth in the Patrick Division (THN, Oct. 20). But a month into the season, Barry realized that Roger Neilson has brought a new relaxed atmosphere to New York and the Rangers are winning (THN. Nov. I0).It takes a big man to admit he was wrong. You did the right thing, Barry.Christian Carino New York, N. Y.<h2>THANKS. BOB</h2>We truly appreciated Bob McKenzie&rsquo;s recent column concerning Normand Leveille&rsquo;s current state of health (THN, Sept. 27).We were living in Boston during the 1982-83 season and his tragic accident was a blow not only to the team and its fans, but it seemed to have a numbing effect on the entire city.Though he played for only a short time with the Bruins, Normand&rsquo;s energy and enthusiasm left a lasting impression. He was an exceptional athlete and he&rsquo;s apparently matured into an exceptional young man.Bobbie Williams&nbsp; Pittsburgh, Penn.Ed Williams Cary, N.C.<h2>OFF BASE</h2>We are writing in response to Neil Sheehy&rsquo;s account of his trip to the Soviet Union (THN, Oct. 6).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011993/8516622-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="562" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tanya Temnoff, above, objects to Neil Sheehy&rsquo;s comments.</figcaption></div>His pathetic criticism of Russian women who, in his opinion, are not good looking and would make a single man&rsquo;s social life unenjoyable, caused us to take great offense.We are hoping this photograph will make Neil reconsider his opinion. We are just a small minority of a very large Russian community in Canada.Gail Golin Olga Golin Tanya Temnoff Laura Temnoff Burnaby, B.C.<h2>NO REPLAYS</h2>I can&rsquo;t believe the NHL is actually considering the possibility of using instant replays in the upcoming playoffs. We already have enough problems with the length of games going past the three-hour mark.Mike Suljak Kitchener, Ont.Make your feelings known. Send your comments to:&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Eton Mills, Ont., M3B 2R2. Include home and business phone numbers. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

FETISOV ‘FIGHT SHOWS FLAWS IN OFFICIATING

<h2>Mon., Nov. 20</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01982/8518214-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="586" height="2292"></div><h2>Tue., Nov. 21</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02667/8518207-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="594" height="2307"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03530/8518200-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="602" height="2353"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04446/8518193-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="595" height="914"></div><h2>Wed., Nov. 22</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05398/8518186-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="593" height="1395"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06351/8518179-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="603" height="2300"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011068/8518172-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="587" height="1383"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02720/8518165-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="589" height="1387"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03585/8518158-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="596" height="1390"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04469/8518151-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="585" height="230"></div><h2>Thur., Nov. 23</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05372/8518144-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="592" height="1103"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06314/8518137-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="595" height="1378"></div><h2>Fri., Nov. 24</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01992/8518130-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="650" height="1022"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02644/8518123-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="654" height="1068"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03498/8518116-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="644" height="1065"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04411/8518109-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="649" height="1060"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05346/8518102-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="649" height="706"></div><h2>Sat., Nov. 25</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06294/8518095-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="650" height="269"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01687/8518088-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="580" height="2035"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02421/8518081-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="582" height="2047"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03317/8518074-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="584" height="3573"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04256/8518067-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="578" height="2490"></div><h2>Sun., Nov. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05223/8518060-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="585" height="1042"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06198/8518053-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="589" height="3570"></div> &#9632;

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NHL SUMMARIES

&ldquo;They took it off the air to put on a music video channel. All of a sudden, you need a satellite dish to watch any games&hellip;They&rsquo;ve got MTV instead. So instead of watching hockey, they&rsquo;re watching acid freaks banging drums and doing videos.&rdquo;&mdash;Gary Suter, upset his home town, Madison, Wise., dropped SportsChannel. Page 42. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

QUOTABLE

Dec. 7, 1960: Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; sniper Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion scored the 270th and 271st goals of his NHL career in a 6-2 victory over Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens. In so doing, Geoffrion passed his illustrious father-in-law, Howie Morenz, on the Canadiens&rsquo; all-time goal-scoring list.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021545/8516984-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="577" height="408"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bernie Geoffrion</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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FLASHBACK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04781/8516567-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="574" height="706"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pierre Turgeon</figcaption></div>In the Dec. 15 issue of The Hockey News, we&rsquo;ll take a close look at two members of the Adams Family&mdash;the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres. These divisional foes are building up an intense rivalry while continually upgrading their level of play to be among the best in the NHL.We&rsquo;ll also focus on each team&rsquo;s key players, including Buffalo&rsquo;s budding superstar Pierre Turgeon and Boston&rsquo;s established star Raymond Bourque. And it&rsquo;s more than a little ironic that ex-Sabre coach Ted Sator, fired in the off-season, is an assistant with the Bruins now. We&rsquo;ll address that issue, too.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05520/8516560-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="576" height="703"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Bourque</figcaption></div>In addition to that, we&rsquo;ll identify and rate the top 10 rookies in the International League and the top 10 freshmen in U.S. college hockey.Don&rsquo;t miss all that and more in next week&rsquo;s issue of The Hockey News. &#9632;

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NEXT ISSUE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021573/8516653-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="524" height="616"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB MCKENZIE</figcaption></div>The biggest dilemma in the life of Ken Dryden these days is not so much carving his niche as labeling it.With the recent release of his second book, Home Game, Hockey and Life in Canada, the Hall-of-Fame netminder has become an accomplished author. Were there any doubt, refer to the excerpt on page 9 or look back to his first effort, The Game, which sold almost 100,000 hardcover copies.The 42-year-old Torontonian can spin a yarn as well as he could stop a puck. But he hasn&rsquo;t yet become fully comfortable with the trappings of a new profession.&ldquo;My biggest dilemma is when I have to fill out a form, and there&rsquo;s a blank where you&rsquo;re supposed to put in what you do for a living,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Author? I don&rsquo;t think so. Margaret Atwood is an author. Robertson Davies is an author. Me? I feel like I&rsquo;m a guy who&rsquo;s written a couple of books.&rdquo;His modesty is unbecoming. Dryden has done for hockey what so many literati have done for baseball&mdash;write about it in a fashion that takes the sport to the level of art form.This time, though, he goes a step beyond.Home Game the book is the forerunner to Ken Dryden&rsquo;s Home Game, a six-hour made-for-television documentary that will air on the CBC network. Six one-hour shows will be shown on consecutive Sunday nights (8 p.m. EST) beginning Feb. 4.In essence, Dryden will take the game of hockey into prime time&mdash;beyond the standard episode of Hockey Night in Canada, that is&mdash;and delve into its raison d&rsquo;etre.Make no mistake, this is heady stuff. CBC current affairs usually programs only one major documentary series per year. Last year, it was Patrick Watson&rsquo;s critically-acclaimed Democracy.Dryden&rsquo;s book and TV series closely parallel each other. The book has six chapters. One is about the fierce love of hockey in Saskatchewan; another is about a 13-year-old playing elite hockey in Scarborough, Ont.; another is a detailed look at an entire game day between the visiting Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens; another is hockey as business with the focus on the Wayne Gretzky trade; another is the changing face of hockey and life in the Soviet Union; and, finally, the simple joys of playing the game.The final chapter was written by Dryden&rsquo;s friend and confidante, Roy MacGregor. The noted author and Ottawa Citizen columnist shares with Dryden a passion for playing the game and an ability to express it.Reading Home Game makes you feel good about hockey. It helps you to understand it, too. We may only surmise the TV series will do the same. For Dryden, however, the whole process of producing book and film has been an enriching, enlightening experience.&ldquo;One really wonderful day was on a huge slough in St. Denis, Saskatchewan, a little Francophone village that has somehow survived against all odds,&rdquo; says Dryden. &ldquo;There were kids playing in the middle of this vast, vast piece of land. Just watching those kids play hockey, listening to the sounds&hellip;it was a pure privilege.&ldquo;The Gretzky thing was a great pleasure, too. To explore it in detail, to put the pieces together, draw the inferences and understand how and why it happened&hellip;it was intriguing.&ldquo;In the Soviet Union, it was like watching a team in disintegration, undergoing changes and conflicts that were open and blatant. I was struck by the vision of Soviet stars wearing their western clothes&mdash;(Igor) Larionov in a Rendez-vouz sweatshirt, (Viacheslav) Fetisov wearing a baseball cap and ABC-TV Olympic jacket and climbing into his black Mercedes and driving off. Only a few years ago those all would have been considered ultimate acts of disloyalty.&rdquo;With Home Game released and the TV series production all but completed, Dryden&rsquo;s next chore will be a promotional tour. Then, when the fuss of a best-seller subsides, he&rsquo;ll return to a non-hockey writing project he pre-empted to do Home Game.The author will be back at work. &#9632;

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COLUMNS

AUTHOR, AUTHOR! DRYDEN FITS BILL

&#9632; Salary disclosure. The NHL Players&rsquo; Association has voted (469-49) in favor of dis-closure. This is good not so much because it&rsquo;s essential salaries should be made available to those who need to know (players, agents etc.), but because it illustrates the players are taking a greater interest in the business of hockey and how it affects them.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03992/8516691-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="377" height="381"></div>&#9632; New York Islander Pat LaFontaine. There have been times when it seems LaFontaine is too good to be true. As the Isles stumble along in last place overall, the slick center goes about his business with elan and enthusiasm. He&rsquo;s also on pace for a 50-plus goal season&mdash;which, given his supporting cast, is quite an achievement.&#9632; NHL president John Ziegler. It&rsquo;s been eight weeks since Ziegler said he would look into the &lsquo;trade&rsquo; that sent Pete Peeters and Keith Acton from Philadelphia to Winnipeg and then back to Philadelphia after the waiver draft. If there&rsquo;s any reason for it to take this long, doesn&rsquo;t the president at least owe an explanation?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04557/8516684-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="377" height="381"></div>&#9632; Anonymous Toronto Maple Leafs. Hey, don&rsquo;t get us wrong. We don&rsquo;t hesitate to use anonymous quotes at THN. But if four unnamed Leafs were so disgruntled with Gary Leeman and Ed Olczyk that they felt the need to be quoted in the Globe and Mail, shouldn&rsquo;t they have con fronted them and settled it in the dressing room? &#9632;

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CHEERS JEERS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021639/8516736-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="382" height="320"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031333/8516729-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="184" height="197"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011947/8516722-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="568" height="702"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Gartner</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Right winger Mike Gartner of the Minnesota North Stars, who posted 11 points (7-4-11) in four games including two power-play goals, one shorthanded and one game-winning goal, was named the Dodge Performer of the Week for the period ending Nov. 26.Gartner, Minnesota&rsquo;s leading scorer with 36 points (17-19-36) in 25 games this season, edged Philadelphia netminder Ken Wregget to capture the award.Dodge will donate $500 to the youth hockey organization of each performer&rsquo;s choice. Dodge also sponsors the Performer of the Month and Performer of the Year Awards, for which the latter receives the Dodge vehicle of his choice. In four years, Dodge has contributed more than $180,000 to youth hockey associations across North America.Gartner, a 30-year-old native of Ottawa, Ont., began the week with a three-point game (2-1-3) in a 7-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues (Nov. 21). The following night he netted two goals to lead his club to a 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs (Nov. 22). Gartner, traded to the North Stars from the Washington Capitals on March 7, 1989, registered three points (1-2-3) in a 7-6 win over the New Jersey Devils (Nov. 24), before concluding the week with two goals and an assist in a 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks (Nov. 26). The North Stars are the League&rsquo;s most improved team this season and are leading the Norris Division with a record of 16-8-1. They rank second overall in the League with 33 points.Gartner, tied for the League lead in goal scoring with 17, was the inaugural winner of the Dodge Performer of the Week award on October 20, 1980. He has received the award three times in his career, twice while with the Capitals. &#9632;

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Mike Gartner selected this week’s Dodge NHL Performer of the Week

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>One NHL insider says Jacques Demers&rsquo; problems began right after the 1988 Smythe Conference final against the Oilers, when several Detroit Red Wing players, including Petr Klima and Bob Probert, were sighted at an Edmonton bar, breaking curfew. &ldquo;Shortly thereafter,&rdquo; the source notes, &ldquo;Demers wrote an &lsquo;Open Letter&rsquo; to the fans which ran in the papers. It criticized the players and they began to get the feeling that when they lose, they&rsquo;re at fault and when they win, Jacques takes the bows. The bottom line is that they feel he won&rsquo;t throw himself on the grenade for his players.&rdquo;&hellip;Some hockey-smart Hamiltonians are taking a pessimistic view of the city&rsquo;s chances of gaining an NHL franchise. Several factors are cited including the fact that there has not been an out-front owner as spokesman and the awareness that Hamilton is an extremely tough-sell to influential American owners. The fact that Copps Coliseum is an attractive NHL-size rink no longer gives Hamilton clout.<h2>FREQUENT FLYER</h2>Orel Hershiser, now a multimillionaire pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, confesses he used to sneak into the Spectrum to see the Philadelphia Flyers when he couldn&rsquo;t get his hands on tickets. &ldquo;My dream,&rdquo; says Hershiser, &ldquo;was to skate down the wing with Bobby Clarke.&rdquo;&hellip;Tom Kurvers blames former New Jersey Devils&rsquo; coach Jim Schoenfeld for his move to Toronto. Kurvers doesn&rsquo;t even mention Schoenfeld by name, noting only, &ldquo;The former coach didn&rsquo;t think I had a good training camp.&rdquo;<h2>BOOM LEAGUE</h2>The East Coast League is enjoying a boom of sorts in its second season of operation. &ldquo;Things are better than ex-pected,&rdquo; says commissioner Pat Kelly. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re averaging over 3,200 a game and have had big crowds&mdash;including 6,203 recently in Norfolk, (Va.).&rdquo;&hellip;Goalies are notoriously superstitious and the New York Islanders&rsquo; Mark Fitzpatrick is no exception. &ldquo;I like to put everything on my left side first,&rdquo; says Fitzpatrick. &ldquo;My left skate, my left pad, my left arm pad.&rdquo; And what would happen if he should happen to start with his right side? &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be out in left field some-where.&rdquo;&hellip;Jimmy Carson has come up with several reasons for his walkout on Edmonton but the most inI teresting is his college alibi: &ldquo;If a student goes to a university and doesn&rsquo;t like it, he leaves.&rdquo;<h2>FREE ADVICE</h2>Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; director of operations Brian Burke, a former player agent, warns that a players&rsquo; union push for total free agency could hurt the NHL. &ldquo;Increased free agency would make it difficult for the Canadian teams&mdash;specifically Quebec and Winnipeg, but actually for all of them,&rdquo; says Burke. &ldquo;The problem is protecting the smaller markets. That&rsquo;s the challenge.&rdquo;&hellip;Glenn Anderson appears to have erased the funk that torpedoed his 1988-89 season. &ldquo;I made my mind up last spring while I was playing in the world championships,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The air over there (in Stockholm) changed everything and improved my thinking. I came back wanting to play. After all, my (pro hockey) time is limited&mdash;mavbe another two years.&rdquo;<h2>SOUNDS FISHY</h2>Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; defenseman Mark Howe says one of his favorite off-ice pastimes is shark-hunting. On one of his most recent expeditions he caught a 200-pound Mako. &ldquo;You have to be very careful,&rdquo; says Howe. &ldquo;I always carry a shotgun on the boat just in case but they&rsquo;re dangerous. I found that if you tailrope them and drag them backwards they don&rsquo;t get enough water in their gills nor oxygen so they don&rsquo;t move around as much.&rdquo; Howe is currently trying to tailrope the Flyers into a new contract&hellip;St. Louis defensive ace Rick Meagher is astonished every time he sees Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s name in the summaries. &ldquo;I played on a line with Guy on my first-ever NHL shift (with Montreal in 1979-80),&rdquo; says Meagher. &ldquo;It was a little intimidating, to say the least.&rdquo; Blues&rsquo; GM Ron Caron describes Laf-leur as &ldquo;the hyphen between Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky. &ldquo;&hellip;Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; rookie Bryan Fogarty shies away from any comparison to Orr, whose scoring records he broke as a junior player with the Niagara Falls Thunder. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not fair to me to be compared with Orr,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Bobby established himself as one of the best ever. All I&rsquo;ve done is have a good junior career.&rdquo;<h2>NO PRESSURE</h2>Robbie Ftorek continues to be nit-picky with newsmen over traditional questions, even in the American League, where he coaches the Halifax Citadels. When asked about pressure, Ftorek shot back, &ldquo;Until you give me a good definition of pressure then I don&rsquo;t really understand it. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a real good word. It&rsquo;s like potential. What is potential? I&rsquo;d rather talk about ability because I know what the player can and can&rsquo;t do. The other expression that gets me going is &lsquo;over your head.&rsquo; What is &lsquo;over your head?&rsquo; There&rsquo;s no such thing as &lsquo;over your head.&rsquo; Whatever you&rsquo;ve done is something you can do, and it&rsquo;s something you can do over and over again-.&rdquo;&hellip;More and more goalies are employing the poke check, which pleases Leafs&rsquo; Hall-of-Famer Johnny Bower no end. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great technique,&rdquo; says Bower. &ldquo;I was taught it by (Hall-of-Famer) Charlie Rayner in New York. He told me I had to learn to use my stick because hockey was changing&mdash;and he was right.&rdquo; &#9632;

DEMERS’ TROUBLES BEGAN IN EDMONTON

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011954/8516791-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021399/8516822-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="572" height="1198"></div><h2>KERRY HUFFMAN</h2>Born: Jan. 3, 1968, Peterborough, Ont. Height: 6-foot-2. Weight: 200 pounds. Team: Philadelphia Flyers. Position: Defense. Acquired: Philadelphia&rsquo;s first choice, 20th overall in 1986 entry draft.Career Highlight: Winning the Memorial Cup in 1986 with the Guelph Platers (OHL) and scoring first NHL goal in 1987 against Winnipeg&rsquo;s Pokey Reddick.Most Embarassing Moment: &ldquo;Last year against L.A. I was a minus-5, and on the ice for three shorthanded goals against&mdash;courtesy of Wayne Gretzky.&rdquo;Most Difficult Forward to Stop: Mario Lemieux. &ldquo;He can go both ways so well.&rdquo;Most Respected Opponent: &ldquo;Ray Bourque, for the way he plays. I&rsquo;d like to play like him.&rdquo; Drives: Chevy S-10 4x4.Favorite activity on road trips: &ldquo;I go to a lot of movies. With the guys, there&rsquo;s always a good card game going on.&rdquo;Favorite Book:&nbsp;The Dead Zone by Stephen King.Favorite Movie:&nbsp;Caddyshack.Favorite Record:&nbsp;Tunnel of Love by Bruce Springsteen.Favorite team in another sport: San Francisco 49ers (NFL) and Toronto Blue Jays (MLB).If I were NHL president for a day: &ldquo;I would shorten the regularseason schedule to 60 games.&rdquo;In a movie about my life I would like to be portrayed by: Martin Short or Pee Wee Herman. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re both kind of silly and that&rsquo;s the way I am.&rdquo; &#9632;

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PRO FILE

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div>Salary disclosure in the NHL will become a reality, likely by the end of this season, now that members of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association recently voted over 90 per cent in favor of the idea.According to the New York Daily News, NHLPA members voted 46949 in favor of disclosing salaries. Players for the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals unanimously endorsed the idea. The Montreal Canadiens, who recorded a vote of 14-12, were the only team to vote against the proposal.The voting was done on a team-by-team basis during training camp, by secret ballot.NHLPA director of operations Sam Simpson said the association will meet with the 21 player representatives during the all-star break to determine how salaries will be disclosed. Whatever method is used, Simpson said the players will benefit from the concept.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re very pleased because, the last time there was a vote, only 45 per cent were in favor,&rdquo; said Simpson. &ldquo;By doing this, we know that salaries for the average guy are bound to go up by 10 to 15 per cent.&rdquo;NHLPA vice-president Bobby Smith, who plays for the Montreal Canadiens, said many Habs don&rsquo;t feel salaries should be public information.<h2>SERIES UPDATE</h2>The NHL will be facing off against the top three teams in the Soviet Elite League when the NHL-Soviet Super-series &lsquo;89-90 gets underway Dec. 4 in Los Angeles.Khimik Voskerensk, Central Red Army, Moscow Dynamo and the Soviet Wings will participate in the series, which will see each of the 21 NHL teams play one of the four Soviet teams.After 30 games, Khimik was in first place with a record of 23-3-4. Red Army (20-6-2) and Moscow Dynamo (19-5-4) were tied for second and the Soviet Wings were in fifth place with an 11-9-8 mark. All 16 of the league&rsquo;s teams take a six-week break in the schedule Nov. 30 to take part in international competition.Coached by Vladimir Vasiliev, Khimik has the league&rsquo;s leading scorer in right winger Dmitri Kvartal-nov. The Red Army, which lost six of its starters to the NHL, has 10 players 20 or younger, several of whom are candidates for the national junior team and won&rsquo;t be available. In goal, Artur Irbe of Riga Dynamo will likely join the team for the tour.Moscow Dynamo has the most balanced attack in the league and may be its best team statistically. It is led by captain Anatoli Semenov and 34-year-old goalie Vladimir Myshkin. The Soviet Wings, who lost left winger Sergei Priakin to the Calgary Flames (and several other players to western Europe), are led by center Sergei Nemchinov, a defensive specialist who also plays for the national team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012164/8516853-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="577" height="877"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brett Hull led all goal-scorers after 20 games.</figcaption></div>Ten of the 21 games will be televised by either CTV or Radio-Canada in Canada, or SportsChannel America in the U.S. Below is the list of games and dates, with television coverage in parentheses. All times are Eastern Standard Time:Dec. 4&mdash;Khimik at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m. (SCA); Dec. 6&mdash;Khimik at Edmonton, 9:35 p.m. (CTV); Dec. 8&mdash;Khimik at Calgary, 9:35 p.m. (CTV and SCA); Dec. 11&mdash;Khimik at Detroit, 7:35 p.m.; Dec. 12&mdash;Khimik at Washington, 7:35 p.m.; Dec. 14&mdash;Khimik at St. Louis, 8:35 p.m.; Dec. 26&mdash;Soviet Wings at New York Islanders, 7:35 p.m.; Dec. 27&mdash;Soviet Wings at Hartford, 7:35 p.m. and Red Army at Winnipeg, 8:35 p.m.; Dec. 29&mdash;Red Army at Vancouver, 10:35 p.m. (CTV) and Moscow Dynamo at Pittsburgh, 7:35 p.m.; Dec. 31&mdash;Moscow Dynamo at Toronto, 7:35 p.m. (CTV) and Soviet Wings at Quebec, 7:35 p.m. (Radio-Canada); Jan. 1&mdash;Soviet Wings at New York Rangers, 7:35 p.m.; Jan. 2&mdash;Red Army at Minnesota, 8:35 p.m.; Jan. 3&mdash;Soviet Wings at Montreal, 8:05 p.m. (CTV and Radio-Canada) and Moscow Dynamo at Buffalo, 7:35 p.m.; Jan. 6&mdash;Moscow Dynamo at New Jersey, 7:35 p.m.; Jan. 7&mdash;Red Army at Chicago, 8:35 p.m. (SCA); Jan. 9&mdash;Red Army at Philadelphia, 7:35 p.m. (SCA) and Moscow Dynamo at Boston, 7:35 p.m.<h2>QUARTER POLE</h2>Looking at the statistics after the first quarter of the season, it&rsquo;s easy to see why nobody&rsquo;s laughing at the Norris Division anymore.Compared to last season, the Minnesota North Stars and Chicago Blackhawks&mdash;both Norris occupants&mdash;were the league&rsquo;s two most improved teams after 20 games. At the quarter pole, the North Stars had 25 points for an increase of 14 and the Blackhawks had 27,11 better than the same point last season. The Buffalo Sabres also had an increase of 11 points from the same time last season.The Detroit Red Wings, whose 11 points marked the league&rsquo;s biggest drop at the quarter mark, were the only Norris team to record a drop in points. After 20 games last season, the Red Wings had 35 points.Here&rsquo;s how the other 17 NHL teams did in the first quarter of this season compared to 1988-89: Hartford Whalers, plus-6; St. Louis Blues, plus-4; Boston Bruins, plus-3, Montreal Canadiens, plus-3; Vancouver Canucks, plus-3; Philadelphia Flyers, plus-2; Toronto Maple Leafs, plus-1; New Jersey Devils, even; New York Rangers, even; Pittsburgh Penguins, minus-2; Winnipeg Jets, minus-2; Quebec Nordiques, minus-3; Washington Capitals, minus-4; Calgary Flames, minus-5; New York Islanders, minus-5; Los Angeles Kings, minus-7; Edmonton Oilers, minus-9.The scoring leader at the one-qaurter mark was Wayne Gretzky, with 40 points. He was followed by Mario Lemieux (37), Mark Messier (31) and Adam Oates (31).The leader in goals was Brett Hull with 17. JoeNieuwendyk(15), Gary Roberts (15), Cam Neely (14) and Pat Verbeek (14) trailed Hull.Nieuwendyk, Roberts and Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour had the top plus-minus mark at plus-17.The top goaltender for the first 20 games was Patrick Roy, who posted a 2.16 goals-against average.<h2>STARS HELP</h2>The Minnesota North Stars are wearing the initials &ldquo;JW&rdquo; on their helmets in honor of Jacob Wetterling, an 11-year-old hockey player who was abducted at gunpoint near his home in St. Joseph, Minn.Wetterling was riding home after renting a videotape from a store the night of Oct. 22 with his brother, Trevor, and friend, Aaron Larson. A man wearing a mask got out of his car, took Wetterling and told the other boys to go home. The man has not been heard from since.The Stars have been wearing the &ldquo;JW&rdquo; since their Oct. 31 game with Toronto. Wetterling played pee wee hockey in the St. Cloud Hockey League.<h2>DATEBOOK</h2>Dec. 18: Canadian national junior team pre-competition camp in Vierumaki, Fin-land.Dec. 18: Deadline to apply for the position of assistant director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.Dec. 23: Montreal at Philadelphia. Assuming he gets the start, it will be Flyer goalie Ron Hextail&rsquo;s first game against the Montreal Canadiens since last year&rsquo;s playoffs. &#9632;

f0006-01

NHL SALARIES COULD BE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE BY END OF THIS SEASON

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL AND RAND SIMON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011965/8516884-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Pocklington hoists the Stanley Cup in 1985, after his Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; second of four championships. The Oilers have been the most successful ex-WHA club.</figcaption></div>Some called it a merger. Others expansion. Whatever&mdash;it&rsquo;s been more than 10 years since the National Hockey League last experienced growth.The 1979 admittance of the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets was the most successful &lsquo;expansion&rsquo; in league history.The Oilers legitimized it with four Stanley Cup victories in the &lsquo;80s. Finally, the NHL was a truly national league in Canada.Now, the Oilers are struggling to cope with life after Wayne Gretzky. The Whalers, Nords and Jets are aiming to bounce back after some rough times.You could write a book on each of the franchises, but space is limited.<h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2>Ten-year record: 446-250-104,.623 (1st).Best season: 1983-84, 57-18-5, and 1985-86, 56-17-7,.744.Worst season: 1979-80, 28-39-13,.383.Goals scored: 3,803 in 800 games, 4.75 per game.Goals allowed: 3,059 in 800 games, 3.82 per game.Ownership: Peter Pocklington, 1979-80 to present.GMs: Glen Sather, 1979-80 to present.Coaches: Glen Sather, 1979-80 to 1988-89; John Muckier, 1989-90.Captains: Ron Chipperfield, 1979-80; Lee Fogolin, 1980-81 to 1982-83; Wayne Gretzky, 1983-84 to 1987-88; Mark Messier, 1988-89 to present.1979-80 opening-day roster: Dave Dryden, Eddie Mio, Lee Fogolin, Kevin Lowe, Doug Hicks, Colin Campbell, Risto Siltanen, Pat Price, Ron Chipperfield, Mark Messier, Dave Hunter, Blair MacDonald, Brett Callighen, Bill Flett, Dave Lumley, Stan Weir, Peter Driscoll, Dave Semenko, Wayne Gretzky.Memorable moment: The first Stanley Cup (1984), won in a five-game final against the New York Islanders. The Oilers stopped the Islanders&rsquo; consecutive Cup string at four.Forgettable moment: Aug. 9, 1988: The day Wayne Gretzky was traded.The franchise arrived when: The Oilers defeated the Montreal Canadiens in three straight games in the preliminary round of the 1981 playoffs. The 16th-place Oilers then extended the Stanley Cup champion Islanders to six games in the quarter-final.You had to be there: During a five-game road trip in their first season, the Oilers used five different goalies&mdash;Jim Corsi, Don Cutts, Eddie Mio, Bob Dupuis and Ron Low. Low, who was ac-quired in a trade during the road trip, said after his first game that the Oilers would win the Stanley Cup within five years.<h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2>Ten-year record: 301-395-104,.441 (3rd).Best season: 1986-87, 43-30-7,.563.Worst season: 1982-83, 19-54-7,.281.Goals scored: 2,843 in 800 games, 3.55 per game.Goals allowed: 3,205 in 800 games, 4.01 per game.Ownership: Howard Baldwin, 1979-80 to 1988-89; Donald Conrad and Richard Gordon, 1988-89 to present.GMs: Jack Kelly, 1979-80 to 1981-82; Emile Francis, 1982-83 to 1988-89; Ed Johnston, 198990.Coaches: Don Blackburn, 1979-80; Blackburn and Larry Pleau, 1980-81; Larry Pleau, 1981-82; Larry Kish and Pleau, 1982-83; John Cunniff, 1983; Jack (Tex) Evans, 1983-84 to 1986-87; Evans and Pleau, 1987-88; Pleau, 1988-89; Rick Ley, 1989-90.Captains: Rick Ley, 1979-80; Mike Rogers, 1980-81, 1981-82; Russ Anderson, 1982-83; Mark Johnson, 1983-84; Ron Francis, 1984-85 to present.1979-80 opening-day roster: Rick Ley, Al Sims, Andre Lacroix, Mark Howe, Gordie Roberts, Ray Allison, Gordie Howe, Alan Hang-sleben, Jordy Douglas, Mike Antonovich, Dave Keon, Bill Bennett, Mike Rogers, Blaine Stoughton, Nick Fotiu, Jim Warner, Chuck Luksa, Terry Richardson and John Garrett.Memorable moment: Feb. 6, 1980: After an absence of two years and 19 days, the Whalers return to the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum. The Coliseum roof had collapsed under the weight of snow and ice, forcing the team to play their home games in Springfield, Mass.Forgettable moment: The 1987 playoffs. After winning the Adams Division, the Whalers were defeated 4-2 by Quebec in the first round of the playoffs.The franchise arrived when: The Whalers went 12-3-2 at the end of the 1985-86 season to make the playoffs after five non-playoff years. The Whalers swept Quebec in the first round and took Montreal to seven games in the division final before being eliminated when Claude Lemieux scored in overtime. The Whalers have made the playoffs every year since.You had to be there: May 2,1986. The city of Hartford honored the Whalers with a full-scale parade&mdash;fire trucks, floats and marching bands&mdash;three days after the Whalers lost to Montreal, in the Cup quarter-finals.<h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2>Ten-year record: 338-358-104,.488 (2nd).Best season: 1983-84, 42-28-10,.588.Worst season: 1979-80, 25-44-11, and 1988-89, 27-46-7,.381.Goals scored: 3,081 in 800 games, 3.85 per game.Goals allowed: 3,078 in 800 games, 3.85 per game.Ownership: Carling O&rsquo;Keefe Breweries, 197980 to 1988-89; Carling O&rsquo;Keefe Breweries, Metro-Richelieu, Diashowa Pulp and Paper, Le Fonds de Solidarite des Travailleurs du Quebec, Mutuelle D Assurance, La Societe Autil (Marcel Aubut and Marcel Dutil), 1988-89 to present.GMs: Maurice Filion, 1979-80 to 1987-88; Martin Madden, 1988-89 to present.Coaches: Jacques Demers, 1979-80; Maurice Filion, 1980-81; Michel Bergeron, 1981-82 to 1986-87; Andre Savard, 1987-88; Ron Lapointe, 1987-88 to 1988-89; Jean Perron, 1988-89; Bergeron, 1989-90.Captains: Marc Tardif, 1979-80 to 1980-81; Robbie Ftorek, 1981-82; Andre Dupont, 1981-82; Mario Marois, 1982-83 to 1985-86; Peter Stastny, 1985-86 to present.1979-80 opening-day roster: Goran Hogosta, Michel Dion, Wally Weir, Garry Lariviere, Gerry Hart, Dave Farrish, Pierre Lacroix, Dale Hogan-son, Robbie Ftorek, Marc Tardif, Real Cloutier, Richard Leduc, Jamie Hislop, Bob Fitchner, Pierre Plante, Curt Brackenbury, Michel Goulet, John Smrke, Serge Bernier, Gilles Bilodeau.Memorable moment: The 1981-82 playoffs. The Nordiques won the first Battle of Quebec, defeating Montreal 3-2 in the best-of-five series. The fifth and deciding game was won in OT on a goal by Dale Hunter.Forgettable moment: During a 5-0 loss to the Hartford Whalers Jan. 23, 1989, disgusted Nordique fans littered the ice with rolls of toilet paper. Referee Kerry Fraser had to stop the game for 30 minutes. The Nords responded to the situation not by playing better, but by replacing the toiletpaper dispensers with single-ply sheets.The franchise arrived when: The Stastny brothers did. Anton and Peter, stars of the Czechoslovakian national team, defected to Canada and joined the Nordiques for the 1980-81 season. Brother Marian arrived the next season. Peter, who won the Calder Trophy in 1981, has become one of the league&rsquo;s best players and is the backbone of the franchise.You had to be there: March 30, 1979. Marcel Aubut bounded off a plane at the Quebec City airport with news the Nordiques had been accepted into the NHL. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the biggest thing since the arrival of Jacques Cartier,&rdquo; he proclaimed.<h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2>Ten-year record: 294-400-106,.434 (4th).Best season: 1984-85, 43-27-10,.600.Worst season: 1982-83, 9-57-14,.200.Goals scored: 2,954 in 800 games, 3.69 per game.Goals allowed: 3,393 in 800 games, 4.24 per game.Ownership: 8 Hockey Ventures, 1979-80 to present.GMs: John Ferguson, 1979-80 to 1988-89; Mike Smith, 1988-89 to present.Coaches: Tom McVie, 1979-80; McVie and Bill Sutherland, 1980-81; Tom Watt, 1981-82 to 1982-83; Watt, Ferguson and Barry Long, 198384; Long and Ferguson, 1985-86; Dan Maloney, 1986-87 to 1987-88; Maloney and Rick Bowness, 1988-89; Bob Murdoch, 1989-90.Captains: Lars-Erik Sjoberg, 1979-80; Morris Lukowich, 1980-81; Dave Christian, 1981-82; Christian, Lucien DeBlois, 1982-83; Dale Hawer-chuk, 1984-85 to 1988-89; Hawerchuk, Thomas Steen and Randy Carlyle, 1989-90.1979-80 opening-day roster: Pierre Hamel, jylarkus Mattsson, Lindsay Middlebrook, Al Cameron, Scott Campbell, Barry Melrose, Craig Norwich, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Gord Smith, Wayne Dillon, Jude Drouin, Hillard Graves, Bobby Guin-don, Dave Hoyda, Willy Lindstrom, Morris Luko-wich, Jimmy Mann, Peter Marsh, Bill Riley, Lome Stamler, Peter Sullivan, Ron Wilson.Memorable moment: 1986-87 playoffs. The Jets upset heavily-favored Calgary four games to two in the first round. The fans provided a memorable background, too, wearing predominantly white.Forgettable moment: Oct. 19-Dec. 23, 1980: The Jets went an NHL-record 30 games without a win&mdash;23 losses and seven ties.The franchise arrived when: The Jets chose Dale Hawerchuk first overall in the 1981 entry draft. Hawerchuk helped transform a.200 team to a.500 team in one season, as the Jets improved by 48 points. Hawerchuk won the Calder Trophy-still the only NHL award ever won by a Jets&rsquo; player.You had to be there: Jan. 10, 1980, in Philadelphia: The Flyers&rsquo; record 35-game unbeaten streak had ended Jan. 7 in Minnesota and the Flyers returned home to a lengthy standing ovation from their fans. Jets&rsquo; goalie Gary Smith responded to the ovation by raising his hands in the air, which led to a chorus of boos from the crowd. The Jets had a 3-1 lead midway through the third period when their starting goalie, Pierre Hamel, was injured and replaced by Smith. The Flyers scored four times in two minutes and 50 seconds against a nervous Smith, and won the game 5-4. &#9632;

f0007-01

THE PRE-FAB FOUR

<div class="byline">BY KEN DRYDEN AND ROY MacGREGOR</div>Hall-of-Fame netminder Ken Dryden has set the standard by which hockey literature will be judged. In 1983, he gave us The Game, an introspective look at hockey that resulted in the sale of more than 95,000 hardcover copies. Now, the Montreal Canadien goalie-tumed-lawyer-tumed author appears to have done it again. In collaboration with noted author Roy MacGregor, Dryden has written Home Game: Hockey and Life in Canada (336 pages, 108 color photos, 12 black-and-white photos, McClelland & Stewart). Home Game takes a look at hockey and what it means to Canada and Canadians. Below, reprinted with permission, is an exclusive excerpt from chapter one, The Common Passion.Somewhere in our souls is a spiritual Canada. Most probably, its bedrock is of snow and ice, winter and the land. And if we were to penetrate it a little deeper, chances are we would find a game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011872/8516929-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="717" height="972"></div>On the coldest day of the year&mdash;more than forty degrees below by any measure&mdash;and in the teeth of what will be described in the morning paper as the worst blizzard to sweep down from Alaska in 100 years, the Yellowhead Highway is all but devoid of life. Cars and trucks travelling between Saskatoon and the Battleford have been aban-doned where they spun blind. Outside Radisson, within sight of the large red and white and black sign that in determined letters reads &ldquo;Town With a Future!&rdquo; there is only a rented car crawling uncertainly on black ice and, high above the slick road, a solitary black raven.Ugly and naked on the cold wind, the bird drifts oblivious to the sheets of snow that flick off the near fields. But this is the raven, renowned for its ability to survive impossible conditions, an opportunist of enormous cunning. This is Tuluguk, the wise bird who, the Inuit say, created light by flinging mica chips against the sky, the one who dared to try what no one women&mdash;have come to the Red Bull Cafe to talk, as always, about hockey. Usually, the talk is about last night&rsquo;s NHL schedule of games, especially about the Gretzky-less Edmonton Oilers if they happened to play, sometimes about the local junior team, Saskatoon&rsquo;s Blades of the Western Hockey League, just sixty kilometres down the highway. But more often now, they talk about their own hockey future. Radisson&rsquo;s old rink has been condemned as structurally unsafe. And in their voices, there is a mixture of fear for their community if they cannot raise the money necessary to build a new one, and hope that as they and their ancestors else had even imagined&mdash;and who succeeded against all odds.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021284/8516922-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="1478" height="1719"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Hajt, the pride of Radisson, Sask., played 14 years on the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; defense. His father Alphonse is still an honored guest at the town&rsquo;s Red Bull Cafe.</figcaption></div>Opposite the big sign sits the Red Bull Cafe, a combination gas station, video rental, and restaurant that serves as the Radisson &ldquo;coffee row,&rsquo;&rdquo; a highway coffee and doughnut stand that is charged, along with the elevator and arena, with the care and nurturing of the town&rsquo;s soul. &ldquo;Coffee row,&rdquo; Saskatchewan poet Stephen Scriver has written, &ldquo;this is where it&rsquo;s at&hellip;if you want to find out about your past, present, or future, here it&rsquo;ll be&hellip;&rdquo;And here, on a dangerously cold winter&rsquo;s day between harvest and seeding, local men&mdash;no have done so often before, they will somehow find a way.Radisson has &ldquo;434 people on an early Sunday morning,&rdquo; according to the local school principal. Walter Kyliuk, who stirs his coffee while his neighbors burst, stomping and wheezing, through a glass door that has been painted solid with frost. Gathering here is the team that runs a typical Saskatchewan town with a Pool elevator, a Massey Ferguson dealership, a post office, a fire hall, Co-op, Red & White, hotel, one boarded-up store, a ball diamond with local advertisers&mdash;&rdquo;Bronsch Auctions&rdquo;; &ldquo;John Gerich MLA, Working for You for a Better Tomorrow&rdquo;&mdash;providing the home-run fence and a pool hall that prefers to say &ldquo;Billiards&rdquo; over its entrance.If one thing sets Radisson off the from the hundreds of other small towns in the province, it is the nearly billboard-size sign at the turn by the farm equipment dealership, a painting of a Buffalo Sabres hockey player with the proud words &ldquo;Welcome to Radisson, Home of Bill Hajt&rdquo;&mdash;the home town honoring the local boy who went off down the Yellowhead Highway to play for the Saskatoon Blades, and from there to the National Hockey League. If there is one thing that ties Radisson to those other freckles across the face of Saskatchewan, it is that its arena&mdash;where Bill Hajt first learned to play his game&mdash;has been declared uninsurable.&ldquo;If you lose the rink,&rdquo; says Scotty Mundt, the retired power company enployee who now as a volunteer takes care of the town arena, &ldquo;people&rsquo;ll lose interest in the town and start looking other places. It&rsquo;s just as important as the elevator.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the backbone of the community,&rdquo; says Don Harris, who runs the elevator. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what draws people to the town.&rdquo;Around the tables, the coffee spoons stir and the men nod. &ldquo;We know of other towns that have lost their rinks,&rdquo; says Kyliuk. &ldquo;They die overnight. It&rsquo;s the grand central gathering place for the young and the old. The young come to skate and the older citizens come to watch. The arena is the gathering place for the winter months.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a baby-sitting place, too,&rdquo; adds Alphonse Hajt, who, as Bill&rsquo;s father, has a particular place of honour at the Red Bull Cafe, a status that remains even though his son retired from professional hockey in 1987 after fourteen seasons with the Sabres. &ldquo;Families like to leave the kids there and they&rsquo;ll do something else. And the children? They know they&rsquo;re looked after. They have a place to go.&rdquo;&ldquo;If I&rsquo;d known that when they asked me to take on the rink,&rdquo; says Mundt with a wink, &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be looking after it now.&rdquo; His friends laugh.Dave Roberts listens and nods knowingly beneath his wide cowboy hat as these men from Radisson talk about the rink&rsquo;s value to their community. Roberts comes from Fielding, the next village up the Yeliowhead Highway. &ldquo;The first thing to go was our hockey rink,&rdquo; he says finally. &ldquo;Then our curling rink went. Then our grocery stores started to go and gradually the school went and then our post office. All we have left now is a community hall which gets used once or twice a year for a stag party or a meeting&hellip;Three families live in Fielding now and the rest is all deserted empty buildings.&rdquo;Coffee row goes silent but for the ring of spoons being lazily turned. Roberts offers a vision more horrible to contemplate than the blizzard that bullies at the cafe door, daring them to come back out into a storm where even the raven must go with the prevailing winds.Sixty kilometres east of Radisson, cars and half-tons are crawling along the Yellowhead where Highway 16 connects with 12. They move so slowly it is possible to hear the knock-knock that comes from tires that have been squared frozen on one edge as they sat through a day in which the radio warns that &ldquo;exposed flesh will freeze in less than one minute.&rdquo; Thirteen deaths across the Prairies have already been attributed to the storm&rsquo;s cold and snow. A young farmer&rsquo;s truck has quit within sight of a farmhouse and yet he has frozen to death before he could walk the short distance. The radio stations have turned over their regular programming to endless lists of cancellations. No bingo this evening at the Elks club&hellip;no Brownies at All Saints&hellip;Parent-teachers meeting put off &lsquo;til next Monday&hellip;curling cancelled until the weekend. And the radio stations have filled in the spaces with incoming calls from listeners who are trapped in farmhouses and homes from Meadow Lake to Maymont. prairie people who talk about food and fuel they have on hand as proof that the elements will never beat them, no matter what. No 4-H tonight&hellip;no dart tournament&hellip;cribbage cancelled&hellip;choir practice off&hellip;But out here on the Yellowhead Highway on the northern outskirts of Saskatoon, the road is plugged with idling, blinking cars spewing exhaust smoke as thick as toothpaste. In this unlikely place on this forbidding night, the vehi-cles&rsquo; occupants are almost in reach of their evening&rsquo;s destination, Saskatchewan Place. They park in the paved field that surrounds the arena, then hurry through wind and blowing snow and air so cold nostrils lock solid on a single breath. They are going to a hockey game.Inside, they will cheer when the scoreboard flashes &ldquo;COMPLIMENTARY BOOSTS AFTER THE GAME&mdash;BRIDE CITY TOWING&rdquo; and they will cheer again&mdash;proudly&mdash;during the third period when the game&rsquo;s attendance is announced: 5,594. They have come to the brand-new SaskPlace arena on a night when &ldquo;extreme caution is advised,&rdquo; come to watch a junior hockey game featuring the third-place Saskatoon Blades and the seventh-place Regina Pats. They have come to cheer the progress of their home-town team as they go through a season-long training camp toward May&rsquo;s Memorial Cup, the Canadian championship for Junior A hockey. Saskatoon has never before been host city, the Blades, awarded an automatic berth as the host team of the championships, never before a finalist.And they have come to cheer for prairie kids with distinctly Canadian names, like Katelni-koff and Kocur, Snesar, Kuntz, Holoien, Lelacheur, Bauer, Yellowaga, Smart, and Sutton. And to wait for a nineteen-year-old named Kevin Kaminski&mdash;a young man with blue eyes and black, curling hair now skating about the warm-up with his sweater tucked big-league style into the left side of his pants&mdash;once again to strut his stuff.They have come to a $30-million state-of-the-art hockey rink where the first sod was turned by a ninety-three-year-old World War One veteran named Johnny Walker, who as a young boy skated miles along the Qu&rsquo;Appelle River with a rifle in his hand rather than a hockey stick, in search of mink not pucks. And they have come to drink Labatt&rsquo;s Blue beer in public in a city founded more than a century ago by the Temperance Colonization Society with the stated goal of creating a community where alcoholic beverages would never, ever be served. But now they have not come to remind themselves of who they are or how far they have come or how much they have changed along the way. They have come for the same reason people have in Saskatchewan have always come to arenas: to be together.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012022/8516915-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="2287" height="1516"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Saskatoon Blades, in white, put up a proud showing against the Swift Current Broncos in last May&rsquo;s Memorial Cup. The Blades hosted the junior championship tournament at the province&rsquo;s new hockey shrine, Saskatchewan Place.</figcaption></div>Saskatoon&rsquo;s Wild Bill Hunter, who would turn this building into a home for a National Hockey League team if only the gods would listen to reason, says that on any winter Friday, Saturday or Sunday night in the province of Saskatchewan&mdash;population slightly in excess of one million&mdash;more than 300,000 of those citizens are watching a live hockey game in some community, be it Saskatoon or Kevin Kaminski&rsquo;s home town of Churchbridge.And even if Hunter occasionally deals more in exuberant truths than in more earthbound literal facts, the point is the same. Here, people love this game, and once more this damnable evening they prove it.It is a mythic Canadian night. The land, the winter are everywhere. People are out where they shouldn&rsquo;t be, doing what to others seems to make no sense. But for the original prairie settlers, for Bill Hunter and Kevin Kaminski, for people of tiny Radisson, for Canadians, what did sense ever have to do with anything?Canada is such an improbable country. Just how improbable can be seen from an airplane drifting into Saskatoon&rsquo;s airport, just a few river-hockey games away from SaskPlace. The immensity of the land overwhelms. Only a few scruffs of trees and buildings distract the eye from its utter space. The land separates and disconnects, place from place, person from person. What links it all together seems so hopelessly overmatched. The broad winding rivers that brought in fur traders, the rulerstraight railway lines that brought settlers in and their grain out, the highways, the power lines, the TV antennae and TV dishes&mdash;such fragile threads to bind this far-flung land and its people. All serve to connect in some way, but these cannot create the bond. What ties us together must be a feeling that travels the waters and pavement and airwaves and steel: things we have in common, things we care about, things that help us make sense out of what we are.It is a hard-won feeling. So much about Canada sets us apart&mdash;distance, topography, climate, language. European rivalries and cultures. The country can seem so contrary to destiny and good sense that at times we ask ourselves, &ldquo;Why bother?&rdquo; Canada has never worked seriously at developing the traditional instruments of community: the icons of nationhood&mdash;flag, constitution, monument&mdash;the myths, legendary figures, events and commemorative dates. Without such evidences of nation worship, without focal points for community expression, it can seem we lack a sense of nation. It can seem that what sets us apart is stronger than what holds us together. It can make our bonds seem frail. It can make us weak when we are not.It matters little what that icon is, what the myth is about. For American nationhood, a bronze statue, the Statue of Liberty, is important, a story about a future President and a cherry tree gets passed on from generation to generation. An icon is nothing more than a symbol. It embodies and evokes what a nation feels about itself and offers its people the too-rare opportunity to express what they really feel. Canadians may seem undemonstrative and reserved, but not at a hockey game. We may seem isolated and distinct one from another, we may seem non-patriotic, but not at a hockey game. Hockey helps us express what we feel about Canada and ourselves. It is a giant point of contact, in a place, in a time, where we need every one we have&mdash;East and West, French and English, young and old, past and present. The winter, the land, the sound of children&rsquo;s voices, a frozen river, a game&mdash;all are part of our collective imaginations. Hockey makes Canada feel more Canadian. &#9632;

f0009-01

KEN DRYDEN EXAMINES CANADA’S LOVE OF HOCKEY

For Bill Hunter the wait continues. The NHL has announced its plans to expand; Hunter is ready to make his application on behalf of Saskatoon and the province. But ahead he faces a tougher fight than that his Prairie predecessors waged a century ago. Then, Saskatchewan seemed the land of opportunity. Now. in NHL minds at least, that opportunity resides in Dallas and Milwaukee, San Francisco or Seattle or San Jose.But forty miles up the Yellowhead Highway, there has been a major new development. As the rink fund crept closer to its ground-breaking goal, Radisson town council and the Saskatchewan Trappers Association held a joint press conference to announce that Radisson had been chosen as the site of a new provincial fur depot. Northern trappers would now reach their southern markets through Radisson. The volume of furs expected to be received by the new depot is estimated at between $3 million and $10 million a year. There will be need for a proper hotel. There is talk of new restaurants. The depot will need to hire staff. There will be spinoff jobs. The decision was, declared school principal Walter Kyliuk, &ldquo;the most significant news here since the railway came through.&rdquo;For the past two years, through bottle drives and box socials, banquets and billboards. Joe Tutt&rsquo;s ride and the World Mud Volleyball Championships, Radisson has been delivering its ringing message to banks, car dealers, farm equipment dealers, people in town and out of town, and finally, it turns out, to the Saskatchewan Trappers Association&mdash;we will make it. In Radisson, Saskatchewan, where its highway sign reads &ldquo;Town With A Future!&rdquo; and where the hockey-community connection always seemed literal and absolute, it has turned out just that way. &#9632;

EPILOGUE

<h2>BRUINS</h2>Ray Bourque, with 28 assists after 22 games, was on pace to tie Bobby Orr&rsquo;s NHL record for assists by a defenseman, 102 in 1970-71&hellip;Gord Kluzak&rsquo;s long struggle to make it back from left knee surgery was progressing well and he hoped he&rsquo;d be ready to play by Christmas&hellip;In just his second game back from off-season knee surgery, Michael Thelven got jumped by Toronto enforcer John Kordic. &ldquo;I guess his job is fighting,&rdquo; said Thelven. &ldquo;If he wants to prove himself in a fight with me, fine.&rdquo; Kordic hinted at further assaults on Thelven, promising him &ldquo;a Christmas present&rdquo; when the clubs meet in Boston Dec. 26&hellip;In Nevin Markwart&rsquo;s Nov. 18 left shoulder operation, surgeons discovered a fracture as well as dislocation, and the winger will miss the entire season&hellip;Left winger Bob Joyce dislocated his shoulder Nov. 23.<h2>SABRES</h2>Center Pierre Turgeon scored with 16 seconds left in regulation time to lift the Sabres past the Quebec Nordiques 3-2 Nov. 25. It was Turgeon&rsquo;s sixth game-winning goal of the season&hellip;After having a nine-game unbeaten streak stopped in Edmonton Nov. 17, the Sabres came back with a tie at Vancouver Nov. 19, and three consecutive wins&mdash;at home against the New York Rangers Nov. 22, in Quebec Nov. 25, and at home against Hartford Nov. 26&hellip;In the Ranger game, Rick Vaive picked up his 700th career point, then suffered what was believed to be a slight groin injury, a hurt that enabled right winger Ray Sheppard to get back in the lineup. Sheppard played at Quebec and against Hartford, after having not played for almost a month&hellip;Goaltender Daren Puppa went to 10-2-4 on the season in the Hartford game. Puppa has not lost since Oct. 25 at Minnesota. Clint Malarchuk was 5-1-0 in his last six decisions.<h2>CANADIENS</h2>Andrew Cassels made his NHL debut and scored the winning goal in a 3-2 victory over Calgary Nov. 20, on his only shot of the game. Cassels, who suffered a separated left shoulder in Philadelphia two nights later, made a credible showing against the Flames, winning several key faceoff-s&hellip;Bobby Smith collected his 600th career assist in the victory over Calgary&hellip;Craig Ludwig, one of the best defensive defensemen in the NHL, recorded his 100th career assist in Montreal&rsquo;s 5-3 victory over Boston Nov. 25&hellip;Canadiens&rsquo; managing director Serge Savard, who was part of the entourage when Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney visited the Soviet Union, was among about 800 oeoole in the stands to watch the Central Red Army team play a league game in Moscow. Savard also stopped off in Sweden to watch left winger Patrick Camback. Montreal&rsquo;s seventh choice and 125th overall in the 1988 entry draft&hellip;Jean-Jacques Daigneault, who was hit in the face with a puck Nov. 18 against Toronto, resumed skating one week later and was wearing a visor.<h2>WHALERS</h2>Whalers&rsquo; coach Rick Ley gave serious consideration to sitting out center Ray Ferraro for a game against the Philadelphia Flyers Nov. 25. Two nights earlier, Ferraro had taken two bad penalties in the third period of a 4-2 loss to Quebec. The second penalty resulted in Jeff Brown&rsquo;s gamewinning, power-play score. Ley decided to play Ferraro against the Fyers and he responded with a goal and a solid effort. He scored again Nov. 26 in a 4-2 loss to Buffalo. A 41-goal scorer last season, Ferraro had just six through the Whalers&rsquo; first 23 games. &ldquo;Sometimes you need a little adversity to find out if you have any character,&rdquo; Ferraro said. &ldquo;I felt I hit rock bottom with those penalties. Those are something I just don&rsquo;t do.&rdquo;&hellip;Kevin Dineen entered Buffalo Nov. 26 with a 10-game scoring streak, while the Whalers&rsquo; power play had scored in 11 consecutive games. Both streaks ended with the loss to the Sabres.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-031007/8517015-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="568" height="724"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kevin Dineen had a 10-game scoring streak end in Buffalo.</figcaption></div><h2>NORDIQUES</h2>Contract talks between Michel Petit and the Nordiques have bogged down. Petit will wait until NHL players&rsquo; salaries are published next month before resuming contract talks with the Nordiques&hellip;Marc Fortier, back with the Nordiques after a brief demotion to Halifax, was determined to stay in the NHL for the rest of the season. &ldquo;I have to go all out if I want to stay here,&rdquo; said Fortier&hellip;Defenseman Jari Gronstrand, placed on waivers by the Nordiques, was picked up the Islanders Nov. 22. Gronstrand was not well-liked by Michel Bergeron. Gronstrand had appeared in just seven games, recording only one assist&hellip;Steven Finn, in the doghouse since the beginning of the season, has started playing like he did during the 1987 playoffs. &ldquo;I have to be tough to be effective,&rdquo; said Finn&hellip;Daniel Dore will likely join Team Canada for the world junior championships in Finland later in December. &#9632;

f0012-03

THE NHL

BOURQUE CONTINUES RECORD PACE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011967/8517046-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="495" height="638"><figcaption class="caption-body">STAN FISCHLER</figcaption></div>Impertinent thoughts on pertinent subjects:&#9632; Something tells me David Poile will regret ever trading Mike Gartner to the Minnesota North Stars.&#9632; If I&rsquo;m Bernie Federko, I&rsquo;m going to work my butt off from now until April to prove I&rsquo;m not the centerpiece of the worst trade of the decade.&#9632; There is one given in the NHL every year and that is this: Even if the roof fell in on Boston Garden, somehow Harry Sinden&rsquo;s Bruins will find a way of making the playoffs.&#9632; The difference between college hockey and the NHL brand is quite simple. In the collegiate game there are no floaters.&#9632; I know 21 general managers who&rsquo;d like to get their hands on the guy who invented the multi-year contract.&#9632; Brad Marsh could stand still&mdash;which he often does&mdash;and be a better defenseman than half the backliners in captivity.&#9632; Denying the Calder Trophy because of age is a simple violation of human rights. Or civil rights. Or whatever, but it ain&rsquo;t right.&#9632; Has Bruce McNall ever stopped to think that maybe his sugar-daddying of the Kings has spoiled them rotten?&#9632; I miss the beautiful boorishness of Tiger Williams.&#9632; When Neil Smith sends out his Christmas cards he should pen a &ldquo;Thank You&rdquo; note to Craig Patrick for Tomas Sandstrom, John Van-biesbrouck, Tony Granato and Brian Leetch; and another to Phil Esposito for Bob Froese, David Shaw and John Ogrodnick. When MGM films his life story, Roger Neilson will be played by Elliott Gould.&#9632; Bet on this: the Flames definitely will not repeat as Stanley Cup champions. They&rsquo;ll never get past the Oilers.&#9632; My choices for expansion franchises: 1. San Francisco; 2. Seattle; 3. Milwaukee.&#9632; My choices for franchise owners: 1. Howard Baldwin; 2. Phil Esposito; 3. Lloyd Pettit.&#9632; Hamilton would make a good AHL city. Maybe.&#9632; If video replay for refs started tomorrow, it wouldn&rsquo;t be soon enough.&#9632; Everyone&rsquo;s missed the point on Jim Schoenfeld. The man can coach but his wings were clipped by the zebras after his bout with Don Koharski. The refs were after him from October, 1988 on and he was for to coach con-strained. Blame Koharski for the firing, nobody else.&#9632; Bet on this: the Rangers will win the 1990 Stanley Cup. They have the best goalie, best defense and will have enough up front to go the route. Besides, it&rsquo;s the 50th anniversary, which erases all known curses against the Blueshirts.&#9632; Getting Steve Kasper was one of the best moves Rogie Vachon&mdash;or was it Wayne Gretzky?&mdash;ever made.&#9632; Men who should be back working directly in the NHL: 1. Don Cherry; 2. Phil Esposito; 3. Herb Brooks; 4. Harry Neale; 5. Craig Patrick.&#9632; I hope the Blackhawks&rsquo; move out of Chicago Stadium is postponed at least until the turn of the century.&#9632; Is this Gene Ubriaco fellow any less competent than he was last spring when he merely beat the Rangers in four straight and nearly took Philly in seven?&#9632; No doubt about it: Ray Bourque is the best total player in the business. By a lot.&#9632; It&rsquo;s time for some genius among the Hockey Hall of Fame selectors to realize that a major injustice was done to Bun Cook for about two decades. The Ranger ace of two Stanley Cup years (1928 and 1933) has as much right to The Hall as brother Bill Cook and certainly much, much more than Darryl Sittler, who has no idea what it&rsquo;s like to be on a Stanley Cup-winner because he never played for one.&#9632; In a playoff game, I&rsquo;d rather have Brian Hayward than Patrick Roy between the pipes.&#9632; You think Grant Fuhr is exciting on the ice. He&rsquo;s really going to be thrilling when agent Rich Winter&mdash;the rep Fuhr dumped&mdash;gets him in court.&#9632; Steve Larmer does more and gets less ink than anyone since the John Tonelli of 1982.&#9632; Nothing cheapens a game more than those ridiculous wandering nets that have all the class of the ones we used on the streets of Astoria for roller hockey back in 1947.&#9632; If there&rsquo;s one city in North America that should have a minor-pro franchise it is Providence, Rhode Island.&#9632; The damdest thing is that the absolutely perfect successor to Al Eagleson happens to be coaching the Bruins. Which means that if the NHLPA can&rsquo;t get Mike Milbury it should lure Brian Burke out of Vancouver. Come to think of it, Mike Liut would be an interesting choice as well.&#9632; I&rsquo;ll be persuaded that Mike Vernon is one of the top three goalies only if he leads the Calgary Flames to another Stanley Cup next May. &#9632;

f0012-01

RANGERS, NOT FLAMES, WILL WIN STANLEY CUP

<div class="byline">BY STEPHEN HARRIS</div>By Cam Neely&rsquo;s own admission, the early months of the last season were a struggle.Though he finished the 1988-89 campaign as the Bruins&rsquo; top scorer with 37 goals and 38 assists, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; right winger started slowly.At the season&rsquo;s midway point, he had a modest 12 goals&mdash;a major disappointment after his 42-goal, second all-star team performance a season earlier.There were hints of friction between Neely and then-Bruins&rsquo; coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly. The big right winger, plainly trying too hard to produce offense, was no longer the physical force he&rsquo;d been.This season, as the Bruins emerged as one of the league&rsquo;s best teams&mdash;they had a nine-game unbeaten streak in November&mdash;the seven-year NHL veteran was off to his finest start.In the Bruins&rsquo; 5-3 loss to Montreal Nov. 25, Neely scored his 16th and 17th goals. Playing in his 20th game of the season, he was on pace to score an incredible 66 goals this year.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t defense him,&rdquo; said Bruins&rsquo; rookie coach Mike Milbury. &ldquo;You might get position on him, but if he wants to, he&rsquo;ll just bowl you over. He&rsquo;s just so strong. There&rsquo;s nothing you can do when he comes down the wing and wants to go to the net.&rdquo;At age 24, Neely has adjusted his mental approach to the game. Criticized for trying to shoulder too much responsibility last season, this time he&rsquo;s putting far less pressure on himself.&ldquo;I take it a game at a time,&rdquo; said Neely. &ldquo;Before, I used to look at the overall picture. I used to think about where I&rsquo;d be (in points) at the end of the season.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s probably why I used to be a streaky player. Now, I don&rsquo;t look any farther ahead than the next game or the next shift. Hopefully, it&rsquo;ll make me more consistent.&rdquo;O&rsquo;Reilly was incredibly demanding of the 6-foot-2, 205-pound winger. But Milbury has tried to convince Neely he can be an effective player even without scoring goals.&ldquo;Scoring goals means a lot to him, more than it should,&rdquo; said Milbury. &ldquo;It defines how well he&rsquo;s playing&mdash;at least to him.&rdquo;By his own definition, then, Neely was playing extremely well.Through Nov. 26, he was tied with Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; left winger Luc Robitaille for the league lead in power-play goals, with 10.Bruins&rsquo; captian Ray Bourque didn&rsquo;t need to be convinced of Neely&rsquo;s improved play.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best right winger in hockey,&rdquo; said Bourque.The Bruins&rsquo; early-season success mirrored the improved play of Neely. The loss to the Canadiens snapped a nine-game unbeaten streak and, as of Nov. 27, they were just four points behind the Adams Division-leading Buffalo Sabres, with two games in hand.&ldquo;No question, we&rsquo;ve got a great feeling in the locker room,&rdquo; said Neely. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a lot of confidence in our ability to come back from a deficit. I&rsquo;m not sure we had that feeling last year.&rdquo;Of course, this time last year, they didn&rsquo;t have the same Cam Neely.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 22: Stephane Quintal, D, assigned to Maine (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bob Carpenter, Ken Linseman, Greg Hawgood.LW&mdash;Randy Burridge, John Carter, Rob Cimetta, Bob GouldRW&mdash;Bob Sweeney, Cam Neely, Lyndon Byers, Mike Millar.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque, Garry Galley, Michael Thelven.LD&mdash;Glen Wesley, Al Pedersen, Don Sweeney, Jim Wiemer.G&mdash;Andy Moog, Reggie Lemelin.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Andy Brickley, C, strained hip flexor, day-to-day.Craig Janney, C, right groin pull, indefinite.Bob Joyce, LW, dislocated left shoulder, indefinite.Gord Kluzak, D, left knee surgery, indefinite.Nevin Markwart, RW, left shoulder surgery, out for season.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Neely, 17. A&mdash;Bourque, 28. P&mdash;Bourque. 31 PIM&mdash;Byers, 39. &#9632;

NEW SEASON, NEW OUTLOOK FOR NEELY

<div class="byline">BY JEFF JACOBS</div>Coming into the 1989-90 season, the Hartford Whalers had a lot riding on the play of their two prize rookies from 1988-89, Scott Young and Peter (El Sid) Sidor-kiewicz.In 76 games last season Young showed both promise and inexperience, scoring 19 goals and 59 points.It was Peter Sidorkiewicz, however, who beat New Jersey&rsquo;s Sean Burke to become the NHL&rsquo;s All-Rookie Team goalie and steal much of the spotlight.Now the two seem headed in opposite directions.Young scored his ninth goal Nov. 25 in a 5-2 victory over Philadelphia from the point on the power play. He followed with No. 10 the next night during a 4-2 loss in Buffalo while playing his even-strength shift on right wing.Meanwhile, &ldquo;El Sid&rdquo; had become &ldquo;El Sit.&rdquo;Sidorkiewicz, who emerged from the minors to post a 22-18-4 record and 3.03 goals-against average last season, played in only two of nine games in a recent stretch for the Whalers.Assigned two missions improbable by Whalers&rsquo; coach Rick Ley, Sidorkiewicz came out a loser both times.So Mike Liut regained his status as kingpin goalie. Sidorkiewicz, 2-6 with a 4.62 GAA, has become the kamikaze goalie.A 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins Nov. 15 came on the first night back home from a five-day, three-game road trip.And on Nov. 26, Sidorkiewicz started against a Buffalo Sabres team that had not lost all season at Memorial Auditorium.&ldquo;The fact that I&rsquo;m losing a lot more than winning, makes it even tougher,&rdquo; Sidorkiewicz said. &ldquo;It seems like I can only get that one chance and that&rsquo;s it. Nothing goes right.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m 2-6. I can&rsquo;t feel like last year. No way I can feel as confident as if I was winning.&rdquo;Against the Sabres, for example, he allowed two goals he felt he should have stopped.&ldquo;The first goal by Kevin Maguire came off the wing,&rdquo; Sidorkiewicz said. &ldquo;I went down too early and he put it over my shoulder. They should never score shortside.&ldquo;On Uwe Krupp&rsquo;s goal, he put the shot through my legs. I didn&rsquo;t get my pads down in time.&rdquo;Young, meanwhile, had 29 of his 59 points on the power play last season. He has 11 of 21 with the manadvantage this season.While the scoring ratios are similar, they hide the fact Young has become much more comfortable on the Whalers&rsquo; power-play point this season.The Whalers allowed an NHL-worst 18 shorthanded goals last season. Young was on the ice for most of them, and was the culprit on more than his share.In 25 games this season, the Whalers had allowed only three shorthanded goals.Young, a right-hand shot, and Dave Babych, a left-hand shot, switched point spots so each would be on his forehand when the puck comes around the boards. This has helped Young.&ldquo;But the difference is I&rsquo;m not crashing down from the point so much,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;I did that too much last year and (the opposition would) get a 2-on-1. I&rsquo;m a little more conservative this season &ldquo;<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ron Francis, Ray Ferraro, Dean Evason, Mike Tomlak.LW&mdash;Pat Verbeek, Jody Hull. Dave Tippett. Chris Govedaris. Mikael Andersson, Marc Laforge, Brian LawtonRW&mdash;Kevin Dineen, Paul MacDermid, Scott Young. Ed Kastelic.LD&mdash;Joel Quenneville, Grant Jennings, Steve Dykstra, Randy Ladouceur, Adam Burt.RD&mdash;Brad Shaw, Sylvain Cote, Dave Babych.G&mdash;Mike Liut, Peter Sidorkiewicz.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ulf Samuelsson, D, knee surgery, Nov. 28.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Verbeek, 16. A&mdash;Francis, 19. P&mdash;Francis, 31. PIM&mdash;Verbeek, 77. &#9632;

YOUNG GUN RIDES HIGH, BUT ‘EL SID’ SITS

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>The Montreal Canadiens thought 90 per cent of Mike McPhee was better than none of him.That&rsquo;s why the veteran Canadiens&rsquo; left winger was inserted into the lineup for a 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Nov. 22. McPhee, who played only two of the Habs&rsquo; first 25 games, was not totally healed but the consensus was that he was well enough to endure the rigors of a game.McPhee, who strained a muscle in the upper groin during a practice Oct. 10, said there were no ill effects.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just trying to get over that last 10 per cent,&rdquo; said McPhee. &ldquo;In the two games I played (against Philadephia and a 5-3 win over Boston Nov. 25), I didn&rsquo;t really feel it.&rdquo;There was some thought the native of Riviere-Bourgeois, N.S., would not get a chance to play the game against the Bruins. He complained of soreness after the outing against Philadelphia and when he did not participate in the morning skate, it was speculated he would skip the Bruins&rsquo; game.Lucky for the Canadiens he didn&rsquo;t. McPhee scored his first two goals of the season as the Canadiens beat the Bruins 5-3.&ldquo;I was going (to play) all the time,&rdquo; said McPhee. &ldquo;The coaches just told me to stay off the ice (that) morning.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011770/8517125-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="574" height="664"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike McPhee had two key goals in a win over Boston.</figcaption></div>It was orginally hoped McPhee would have been ready in early November as the Canadiens took a three-game road swing into New York, St. Louis and Los Angeles. But he suffered a slight setback during the morning skate in New York and it was decided to wait a while longer before putting-him back in the lineup.&ldquo;At that time we were trying to get it to be 100 per cent,&rdquo; McPhee said. &ldquo;I had a tough practice the day before and the groin stiffened up. At that point, the coach decided not to play me because we had decided to make sure the (healing from the) injury was 100 per cent.&ldquo;Now we have decided to go ahead and play and let it work out. We are going on the word of the trainer (Jim Murray) from Calgary. He said that (Lanny) McDonald and (Doug) Risebrough did the same thing.&rdquo;McPhee, who earned the first star in the game against the Bruins, said he wasn&rsquo;t taking too much of a risk.&ldquo;The doctors wouldn&rsquo;t let me play if it was risky,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The only real test for it is to play in a game and Philadelphia was a big test for me.&ldquo;I was nervous before the Philadelphia game because I hadn&rsquo;t played in seven or eight weeks. After going through the Philadelphia game and feeling good, I feel a lot more confident now.&rdquo;<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Guy Carbonneau, Brian Skrudland, Stephan Lebeau, Bobby Smith.LW&mdash;Jocelyn Lemieux, Mike McPhee, Shayne Corson, Mats Naslund.RW&mdash;Brent Gilchrist. Russ Courtnail, Mike Keane. Stephane Richer.LD&mdash;Craig Ludwig, Sylvain Lefebvre, Donald Dufresne.RD&mdash;Chris Chelios, Jyrki Lumme. Eric Desjardins, Jean-Jacques Daigneault.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Brian Hayward.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Andrew Cassels, C, separated right shoulder, indefinite.Claude Lemieux, RW, stomach surgery, indefinite.Petr Svoboda, D, groin injury, day-to-day.Ryan Walter, LW, broken big left toe, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Richer, 12. A&mdash;Richer, 15. P&mdash;Richer. 27. PIM&mdash;Chelios, 52. &#9632;

f0015-01

McPHEE PASSES BIG TEST AFTER RETURN TO LINEUP

Ever since Ryan Rullitis began playing hockey, he&rsquo;s had no trouble finding the net.In fact, in his first organized game ever, he scored a hat trick. This season, the five-year-old center plays for the UAW Local 444 Novice Level 3 team of the Windsor (Ont.) Minor Hockey Association.Ryan began skating at the age of 2 &frac12; and has been playing organized hockey since the age of four. Last summer he attended a hockey school run by Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; right winger Rick Tocchet. Coached by Scott Shennan and Chico LaBute, Ryan is the youngest player on his team.The 3-foot-11, 55-pounder attends Holy Family School and is in the first grade. During the summer he enjoys playing organized baseball and hockey at the Roseville Community Centre in Windsor.Ryan&rsquo;s favorite player is Russ Courtnall and his favorite team is the Montreal Canadiens. In fact, Ryan&rsquo;s bedroom is even painted in the Canadiens&rsquo; colors.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021275/8517156-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="569" height="1247"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ryan Rullitis</figcaption></div>You or someone you know can be part of the JOFA-TITAN Minor Hockey Showcase Just send a photograph (non-returnable), along with biographical information (age, height, weight, team, coach&rsquo;s name, school and grade, as well as favorite NHL team and player) to JOFA-TITAN SHOWCASE, c/o The Hockey News, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. All entries submitted will be eligible for selection as THN/JOFA-TITAN Minor Hockey Player of the Year. &#9632;

f0015-02

PLAYER OF WEEK JOFA TITAN

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div>After weeks of speculation, the Quebec Nordiques made a move to stabilize their goaltending situation.On Nov. 21, general manager Martin Madden and coach Michel Bergeron decided to return 19-year-old goal-tender Stephane Fiset to Victoriaville, his junior team in the Quebec League.Fiset, named the best junior goaltender in Canada last season, had a tremendous training camp and, despite less-than-sparkling stats, wasn&rsquo;t that bad in the few games he played.In six games, Fiset lost five, tied one and had a goals-against average of 5.96.Part of the reason for returning Fiset was so the youngster could play in a winning atmosphere. Victoriaville was 15-8-1, second in the QMJHL.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t go thinking that this is a demotion,&rdquo; said Michel Bergeron. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s say that it&rsquo;s a mutual decision, a decision that Stephane himself agreed on.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt in anyone&rsquo;s mind that Stephane will have a tremendous career in the NHL. But the time hasn&rsquo;t come yet &ldquo;Fiset was not upset about his assignment to Victoriaville. He acted more relieved than shattered to find out his NHL career had been put on hold.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really surprised,&rdquo; said Fiset. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not the first youngster to get sent down when he&rsquo;s still of junior age. It&rsquo;s not dramatic. In fact, I really think it&rsquo;s a positive move.&rdquo;With Fiset back in junior, some thought Soviet goaltender Sergei Mylnikov would be given the chance to prove himself.Instead, Mario Brunetta was recalled from the Nords&rsquo; American League farm team in Halifax the day after Fiset was returned to junior.Bergeron, one of the more conservative coaches in the NHL, was taken aback when Brunetta reported him with an earring in his left ear.But after the goalie stopped 29 shots in a 4-2 win over Hartford Nov. 22, Bergeron said he told Brunetta he could get his nose pierced if he wanted.In eight games with Halifax, Brunetta won only three and lost five, but had a 3.51 GAA.He threatened to leave for Europe when he was sent down to Halifax after training camp but, even though he had offers to play in Italy, decided to stay in Halifax.&ldquo;I knew I wasn&rsquo;t through with the NHL yet,&rdquo; said Brunetta. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m only 22 years old. When I get down, I think about guys like Clint Malarchuk and Daren Puppa. They were stuck in the minors for a long time and look at them now.&rdquo;<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 20: Stephane Fiset, G, assigned to Victoriaville (QMJHL).Nov. 21: Mario Brunetta, G, recalled from Halifax (AHL). Jari Gronstrand, D, claimed by the New York Islanders on waivers.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Stastny, Joe Sakic, Ken McRae, Claude Loiselle, Paul Gillis.LW&mdash;Michel Goulet, Jaroslav Sevcik, Jeff Jackson, lira Jarvi.RW&mdash;Jean-Marc Routhier, Lucien DeBlois. Marc Fortier.LD&mdash;Bryan Fogarty, Steven Finn, Robert Picard, Curtis Leschyshyn.RD&mdash;Joe Cirella, Jeff Brown.G&mdash;Ron Tugnutt, Mario Brunetta, Sergei Mylnikov.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Daniel Dore, RW, back spasms, day-to-day.Stephane Guerard, D, right knee sprain, indefinite.Mike Hough, LW, tendinitis in left shoulder, indefinite.Guy Lafleur, RW. bruised left ankle, day-to-day.Mario Marois, D, sprained right shoulder, indefinite.Michel Petit, D, back sprain, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Stastny, 13. A&mdash;Stastny, 18. P&mdash;Stastny, 31. PIM&mdash;McRae, 68. &#9632;

GOALTENDING SHUFFLE: FISET OUT, BRUNETTA IN

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div>Kevin Maguire and Mike Hartman have a certain reputation around the NHL.And they&rsquo;re ruining it.Known primarily as physical role players&mdash;some detractors have gone so far as to call them goons&mdash;the two Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; wingers were forcing the label-makers to come up with a new title this season: Hockey player.Maguire, who had the third-highest penalty minute total by a Sabre rookie (162) when he broke in with the team two seasons ago, scored his fifth goal of the season in a 4-2 victory over the Hartford Whalers Nov. 26 in Memorial Auditorium.Hartman, who established a team record with 316 penalty minutes last season, scored the opening goal, his sixth of the season, in a 3-2 win the previous evening at Quebec.The two victories gave the Sabres a 15-5-4 record and sole possession of first place overall. After 24 games, the Sabres had the most points (34), fewest losses (five) and best winning percentage (.700).That was all heady stuff for the Sabres, but particularly enjoyable for Maguire and Hartman. After 24 games, Maguire was 5-5-10, Hartman 6-3-9.&ldquo;Physical play is still a big part of our game,&rdquo; said Hartman, who still led the team with 81 penalty minutes. &ldquo;This is just an added element. You can&rsquo;t just do one thing out there. You have to grow and try and become a complete player. I&rsquo;ve always felt 1 had offensive abilities and this year I&rsquo;ve tried to add them to my game.&rdquo;Hartman has had some other big goals this season. He had a two-goal outing opening night against Quebec, and another two-goal game in a 5-3 win against Los Angeles Nov. 5.Maguire had only two points in his first 10 games but then had six in his next five. Maguire had one game-winning goal, Hartman two.Maguire, who had 40 penalty minutes, credited the arrival of new coach Rick Dudley for his new-found role as an offensive contributor.&ldquo;In the past we were sort of locked into roles,&rdquo; the 27-year-old said. &ldquo;This season everybody is getting a chance to contribute in a variety of ways. We&rsquo;re being used at points in the game that allow us to use our hockey skills. That&rsquo;s enabled us to develop as complete players. Everyone has certain skills that get you to the league, but you have to develop the other elements of your game if you&rsquo;re going to get better. Rick has allowed us to do that.&rdquo;Part of that stems from the fact Dudley was a player not unlike Hartman and Maguire when he arrived on the Sabres&rsquo; scene in the early 1970s. More known for his skills as a lacrosse player than a hockey player, Dudley started out as a tough guy, eventually developed into a good two-way player and later went on to become known as a scorer.&ldquo;I was in a similar role when I came to the league,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I started out as a fighter and eventually got recognition as a franchise-type player. Part of that was because I was on a good team, but if you make the best of your abilities and you&rsquo;re on a team that gets noticed, people notice you. The work pays off.&rdquo;<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 24: Bob Halkidis, D, traded to Los Angeles for Dale DeGray, D. Degray assigned to Rochester (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pierre Turgeon, Christian Ruuttu, Dave Snuggerud, Jeff Parker, John Tucker.LW&mdash;Dave Andreychuk, Scott Amiel, Rob Ray, Mike Hartman.RW&mdash;Mike Foligno, Alexander Mogil-ny. Ray Sheppard, Kevin Maguire.LD&mdash;Doug Bodger, Mike Ramsey, Grant Ledyard. Larry Playfair, Shawn AndersonRD&mdash;Phil Housley. Uwe Krupp, Dean Kennedy, Grant Ledyard.G&mdash;Daren Puppa, Clint Malarchuk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Benoit Hogue, C, broken cheekbone, indefinite.Rick Valve, RW, groin pull, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Andreychuk. 14. A&mdash;Turgeon, 28. P&mdash;Turgeon, 37 P1M&mdash;Hartman. 81 &#9632;

HARTMAN, MAGUIRE SHED GOON LABEL

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011608/8517235-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="511" height="645"><figcaption class="caption-body">BARRY MEISEL</figcaption></div>Rick Dudley doesn&rsquo;t believe a player can overachieve.Underachieve, yes. But to label somebody an overachiever is to place a limit on his potential. And that&rsquo;s something Dudley will not do.Dudley is the enlightened 40-year-old rookie coach of the very interesting Buffalo Sabres. He&rsquo;s the former Sabre who, back in the 1970s, wore a headband on the ice. That was long before the Chicago Bears&rsquo; quarterback Jim McMahon turned that into an &lsquo;80s sports fad.With the Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association in 1975, Dudley was the franchise, its star. At Buffalo, he was at different times a goal-scorer, a role player, a rookie, a veteran. At Winnipeg in 1981, he was a has-been off the waiver wire.Nine seasons and a lot of minor-league lessons later, he has his first NHL team playing like a winner. He&rsquo;s been the rudder on a yacht badly in need of direction.It&rsquo;s not only what Dudley has done for the Sabres, but what he won&rsquo;t do.He won&rsquo;t say his team is overachieving, despite its 14-5-4 start and 10-0-1 home record. He won&rsquo;t criticize a player without a constructive purpose. He won&rsquo;t project to January when there is still a December to be played. And he won&rsquo;t get too full of himself despite the fact that he is an early favorite for coach of the year.&ldquo;A very wise person once said, &lsquo;You can demotivate; but you can&rsquo;t motivate,&rsquo;&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;&lsquo;You can only remove the obstacles that demotivate.&rsquo;&rdquo;The guy has won wherever he&rsquo;s coached. In his first American League season with New Haven, the Nighthawks went 35-35-10 during the regular season, but marched to the Calder Cup finals before losing.In the six seasons before that, Dudley won three Atlantic Coast League titles with the Carolina Thunderbirds and reached the International League&rsquo;s Turner Cup finals with the Flint Spirits.And now his Sabres are putting a scare into the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; inalienable right to first place in the Adams Division. They have remodeled ancient Memorial Auditorium into a cemetery for visiting teams. The Sabres&rsquo; 10-0-1 record in Buffalo made them the league&rsquo;s only undefeated team at home.&ldquo;If you play to your potential, then you&rsquo;re achieving,&rdquo; Dudley says. &ldquo;Not overachieving. I&rsquo;ll bet you when the New York Islanders started to go in the early &lsquo;80s, people called them overachievers, said it wouldn&rsquo;t last. Then they realized their potential. They realized how good they were.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s happening to the Sabres who, in their 20th anniversary season, are trying to finish first for the first time since 1980-81 and hoping to win a playoff series for the first time since 1982-83.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s given some guys some confidence,&rdquo; says Dave Andreychuk. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s the type of guy you can talk about anything with. And he&rsquo;s always around. It&rsquo;s hard to describe. I come to the rink fairly early every game, like around 4:30. He&rsquo;s usually there when I get there, or right after.&rdquo;Last season, the Sabres endured the reign of Ted Sator, who has now coached himself out of jobs with the Rangers and Sabres because he alienates people. So why had Dudley been so successful wherever he&rsquo;s gone?&ldquo;People skills,&rdquo; he responds. &ldquo;Technically, we&rsquo;re pretty sound. Not the best, but not the worst. Pretty good. But if I have one thing, it&rsquo;s people skills. I know how to make people achieve their potential.&rdquo;Pierre Turgeon, at the age of 20 and in his third NHL season, is a budding superstar. Phil Housley, who has been around the league forever and is still only 25, is close to becoming the dominant defenseman his potential says he should be. With a strong season, Daren Puppa could join the upper echelon of goaltenders. Andreychuk is a quiet star. Alexander Mogilny is a project that Dudley intends to complete.Buffalo players occasionally make a traditional presentation to one of their own for meritorious service. It&rsquo;s a personal ceremony done with little fanfare.On their trip to Vancouver in early November, they honored Jan Ludvig, a former teammate who retired because of a knee injury. They presented Ludvig with a silk robe in Buffalo&rsquo;s gold and blue colors.The robe was inscribed: &ldquo;To The Missing Link.&rdquo;It was an inside joke, but it foreshadowed what&rsquo;s been happening around western New York. If the Sabres aren&rsquo;t overachieving now, then Foligno and friends are going to need another robe because Dudley is this emerging team&rsquo;s real missing link.Come April, he&rsquo;s going to deserve some silk. &#9632;

f0018-01

DUDLEY DOES RIGHT IN ROOKIE SEASON

Right winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1963-64 to 1974-75 and from 1977-78 to 1980-81, Ron Ellis is now president of a Brampton, Ont., sporting goods store. Ellis, 43, thinks today&rsquo;s players should concentrate more on defense. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m from the old school,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a little surprised and not overly happy at the high-scoring games I&rsquo;m seeing.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021241/8517266-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="582" height="391"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Ellis</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

THEN & NOW

<h2>MAPLE LEAFS</h2>Four unnamed teammates criticized Gary Leeman and Ed Olczyk in a Globe and Mail story Nov. 25. The four accused Olcyzk and Leeman of putting themselves before the team. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get rid of one of the two,&rdquo; said one teammate. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re making more money than anybody else and they think they&rsquo;re better than anyone else. Quite a few players are upset with their attitude.&rdquo; The players, who requested anonymity, also pointed to rumored individual bonus clauses in the contracts of Leeman and Olczyk. &ldquo;When you start doing that, players only worry about themselves.&rdquo; Olczyk and Leeman both refused to comment on the remarks of their unknown detractors, but reponded instead by combining with linemate Mark Osborne for seven points in a 7-4 win over the Rangers that night&hellip;By Dec. 7, their 30th game of the season, the Leafs will have already completed half of their road games. The club plays 19 &ldquo;twinbills&rdquo; this season, or games on successive nights&hellip;Right winger John Kordic totaled his $54,000 Corvette and bruised his left ankle when involved in a two-car collision Nov. 20 in downtown Toronto.<h2>BLUES</h2>Checking specialist Rick Meagher had two goals and two assists in three games since recovering from a strained muscle on his right side. The Blues were 3-0-1 when Meagher got a point&hellip;Meagher&rsquo;s wingers, Steve Tuttle and Dave Lowry, also turned offensive since Meagher returned from his three-game absence. Tuttle had a goal and two assists, Lowry three assists&hellip;Feisty Doug Evans, sent back to Peoria upon Meagher&rsquo;s return, took his latest demotion hard. &ldquo;The fun is kind of leaving the game for me right now,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Tony Hrkac had a goal and an assist in the Blues&rsquo; 3-3 tie against Calgary Nov. 25. The Blues were 6-2-1 in games where Hrkac got a point&hellip;Gino Cavallini scored the game-winning goal in a 5-2 victory Nov. 23 at Winnipeg, his first goal since opening night. Rookie Kelly Chase scored his first NHL goal in the Winnipeg game&hellip;Brett Hull was held scoreless by Calgary Nov. 25, only the eighth time this season he had not scored at least a point. The Blues were 1-3-4 when Hull did not score. When Hull got at least a point, they were 104.<h2>RED WINGS</h2>The fan who threw a souvenir puck onto the ice during the Red Wings&rsquo; 7-2 loss to St. Louis Nov. 16 has written the team a letter of apology. Coach Jacques Demers showed the letter to reporters on the condition they would not print the man&rsquo;s name. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to embarrass him,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;It was a classy thing to do.&rdquo; And in retrospect, Demers said the fan did the Wings a favor by adding insult to embarrassment in the waning moments of that loss. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s when we hit rock-bottom,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;And ever since, we&rsquo;ve played pretty good hockey. &ldquo;&hellip;The 21 loss to Boston Nov. 21 was Detroit&rsquo;s first in overtime at Joe Louis Arena since a season-ending 3-2 defeat to St. Louis April 5, 1987, which gave the Blues the Norris Division title over the Wings&hellip;Right winger Sheldon Kennedy was recalled from Adirondack Nov. 23. &ldquo;Well, nobody could accuse us of not trying to do the right thing,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;Wethoughthe was about a month away, but he was playing so well in Adirondack we thought we would bring him up and take a look at him.&rdquo; Kennedy, 7-1118 in 17 AHL games, replaced Joe Kocur on Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s wing, but the move may be only temporary. Kennedy was being groomed to play left wing in Adirondack.<h2>NORTH STARS</h2>Brian Bellows scored his 500th point during the 7-6 win over the Devils Nov. 24. He had two goals in that game, then scored four goals and six assists in the five games from Nov. 18-26. He needed four points to pass Bill Goldsworthy and move into third place among all-time North Stars&rsquo; scorers&hellip;The Stars were 13-1-0 in games at the Met Center with the only loss Oct. 31 against Toronto. The Stars are only four wins away from equaling last season&rsquo;s home total (17-15-8)&hellip;Mike Gartner&rsquo;s first of two goals Nov. 26 against Chicago moved him past former Philadelphia Flyer Bill Barber and into 25th place on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time goal list. Gartner&rsquo;s 421 goals ranked him sixth among active players&hellip;The North Stars were 15-1-1 when Bellows had a plusminus rating of even or better.<h2>BLACKHAWKS</h2>Defenseman Dave Manson was worried his reputation was making him a marked man in the eyes of referees around the league. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s getting real frustrating because I&rsquo;m getting penalties for not even doing anything,&rdquo; Manson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s happening on a consistent basis. They (the referees) know who have the reputations. When anything happens, they&rsquo;re the guys who are gonna get called.&rdquo;&hellip;The Hawks&rsquo; 5-3 loss at Minnesota Nov. 26 was their third in a row and extended their winless streak to five (0-4-1), both season highs. The 0-4-1 mark came on a western road trip&hellip;Doug Wilson scored his 200th career goal Nov. 22 against the Kings. Seven of Wilson&rsquo;s nine goals were on the power play&hellip;The Hawks allowed 30 or more shots on goal in the first three games of a recent five-game road trip, after giving up 30-plus in only two games previously&hellip;Al Secord got back in the lineup for three straight games (Nov. 18, 22 and 26) after not dressing the previous 18 games in a row. &#9632;

TEAMMATES RIP INTO OLCZYK, LEEMAN

<div class="byline">BY GARY OLSON</div>Mike Gartner may hold most of the cards, but the Minnesota North Stars are eager to stay in the game.One thing is certain: Gartner&rsquo;s hand isn&rsquo;t built on a bluff the way it was last summer, when he said he&rsquo;d quit hockey if the North Stars didn&rsquo;t meet his contract demands.This year, he has played his hand out where everyone can see it and admire it.Gartner scored 11 points&mdash;seven goals, four assists&mdash;in the four games from Nov. 21-26 and led the Minnesota revival with 17 goals and 36 points.He&rsquo;ll be a free agent at the end of the season.The North Stars, who gave him a one-year-plus-option contract for this season, were betting they could sign him to a long-term deal&mdash;before he turns 31 and can test the free-agent waters without the anchor of compensation, a year from this spring.The compensation this spring&mdash;two first-round draft picks, one among the first seven, and $100,000&mdash;favors the North Stars, but Gartner keeps adding to his hand.&ldquo;I think about my contract occasionally but I don&rsquo;t worry about it,&rdquo; Gartner said. &ldquo;And there&rsquo;s a big difference between thinking about something and worrying about it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve told my agent (Gus Badali of Toronto) that J don&rsquo;t even want to talk about the contract until after the season. I&rsquo;d be happy to sign with Minnesota for a long time, but the numbers have to be right.&rdquo;When the North Stars traded Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Rouse to Washington March 7 for Gartner and Larry Murphy, the only difference seemed to be that Murphy&rsquo;s offensive talent replaced Rouse&rsquo;s defensive skills.&ldquo;I really thought that it would be a good deal for us if Gartner and Murphy could make up for Dino&rsquo;s production,&rdquo; North Stars&rsquo; coach Pierre Page said. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t counting on Mike to replace Dino&rsquo;s points.&rdquo;Gartner, 30, is in his 11th season in the NHL&mdash;all but 13 games of the first 10 played for Washington&mdash;and has averaged 40 goals and 80 points a season.&ldquo;Every shift he seems to create a scoring chance or be involved in one,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s at the top of his game and I get the feeling he could be ready to have his best year.&rdquo;Gartner was skating on the right side of a line with Brian Bellows and center Neal Broten. Together, they combined for 43 goals and 97 points.Gartner started his scoring streak with two goals and an assist in a 7-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues Nov. 21, added two goals in a 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs the next night, scored a goal and two assists in a 7-6 win over the New Jersey Devils Nov. 24, and finished the six-day run with two goals and an assist in a 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks Nov. 26.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m a fairly consistent scorer over the course of a season, but when you look back you&rsquo;ll see four-or five-game pockets when I don&rsquo;t get any points and others where I seem to get a lot of points,&rdquo; Gartner said. &ldquo;When the puck starts going in the way it has recently, it gives you a lot of confidence. It makes you feel you can squeeze the puck into tighter spots so you can take a few more chances.&rdquo;<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 24: Neil Wilkinson, O, and Don Barber, LW, assigned to Kalamazoo (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Neal Broten, Mike Modano, Dave Gagner, Perry Berezan.LW&mdash;Brian Bellows, Basil McRae, Bob I Brooke. Curt Fraser, Dave Mackey.RW&mdash;Mike Gartner, Shane Churla, Stewart Gavin, Clark Donatelli, Helmut Balderis.LD&mdash;Ville Siren, Mark Tinordi, Rob Zettier, Ken Leiter, Frantisek Musil.RD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Shawn Chambers, Curt Giles.G&mdash;Jon Casey, Kari Takko.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Gaetan Duchesne, LW, sprained right knee, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Bellows, Gartner, 17, A&mdash;Broten, 22 P&mdash;Gartner. 36. PIM&mdash;Churla, 87. &#9632;

BIG CONTRACT IN THE CARDS FOR GARTNER

<div class="byline">BY KEITH GAVE</div>During the first period, he rode the exercise bike. During the second, he worked with the weights. And during the third, Bemie Federko, spectator, watched on a dressing-room television as his Detroit teammates played their best 20 minutes of hockey in a thrilling 3-2 win over Calgary Nov. 24.Winning was nice. Watching was not.In 14 seasons of a brilliant career, Federko had never been benched like this.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t even know where to go. Nobody told me. So I just stayed in here and watched it on TV,&rdquo; said Federko, putting in extra time in the weight room after a game-day skate. Later, the Red Wings would play Edmonton. Federko would be watching again. It was killing him.How had his role had changed so quickly from second-line center to part-time left winger to spectator?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still trying to find an answer.&rdquo;It was killing coach Jacques Demers, too. He was the guy who convinced general manager Jimmy Devellano to trade Adam Oates just as he was emerging into stardom (along with right winger Paul MacLean) to St. Louis for Federko and left winger Tony McKegney.The Wings, not just Federko and McKegney, got off to an awful start. The Blues, paced by Oates and MacLean on the No. 1 line, were in third place in the Norris Division and comfortably ahead of last-place Detroit.&ldquo;Considering what Bernie&rsquo;s done in his career, it&rsquo;s difficult,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;And we cannot point to Bemie Federko for the team going bad.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s always been known as a slow starter and I think that&rsquo;s the problem right now. But when things go bad, you&rsquo;ve got to look for changes. I still believe he&rsquo;ll come out of it. &ldquo;While such a point of view may be a refreshing change from the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately approach that many coaches have toward players, it hasn&rsquo;t done much for Federko.And it hasn&rsquo;t helped that the Wings are being graded so harshly for trading away two players who helped so much last season for two who have contributed so little so far this season.After 19 games, Oates was 6-21-27, which put him on a pace to finish with 119 points over an 80-game season. MacLean was 10-7-17 in 20 games, on pace to finish with 39 goals and 66 points. In Detroit, meanwhile, Federko was 3-912 in 21 games, which would produce 43 points. And McKegney, who missed 10 of the first 24 games with a groin injury, was 2-1-3 in 14 games, on pace for just 15 points.In other words, Detroit gave up two players who would combine for 185 for two who would finish with 58.&ldquo;If this trade doesn&rsquo;t work out, we have to stand up and say, &lsquo;Hey, it didn&rsquo;t work out,&rsquo;&rdquo; Demers said.Said Federko: &ldquo;Obviously, it looks like St. Louis got the best of the trade so far. Adam&rsquo;s their No. I guy there now. Mac is on the power play. And they&rsquo;re doing the job.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t exactly had the ice time to be in that spot&hellip;I&rsquo;ve averaged 12-15 minutes a game. That&rsquo;s not the kind of ice time you need to rack up a lot of numbers.&rdquo;<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 24: Sheldon Kennedy, RW, recalled from Adirondack (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Jimmy Carson, Bernie Federko, John Chabot, Marc Habscheid.LW&mdash;Gerard Gallant, Shawn Burr, Torrie RobertsonRW&mdash;Sheldon Kennedy, Brent Fedyk, Dave Barr, Joe Kocur, Jim Nill, Daniel Shank.LD&mdash;Borje Salming, Steve Chiasson, John Mokosak.RD&mdash;Rick Zombo. Lee Norwood, Mike O&rsquo;Connell.G&mdash;Greg Stefan, Sam St. Laurent.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Glen Hanlon, G, groin pull, day-to-day.Doug Houda, D, knee surgery, indefinite.Tony McKegney, LW, groin pull, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Yzerman, 12. A&mdash;Yzerman, 18. P&mdash;Yzerman, 30. PIM&mdash;Gallant, 91. &#9632;

FEDERKO HAS DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING TO NEW ROLE

<div class="byline">BY TIM SASSONE</div>There&rsquo;s not much Doug Wilson hasn&rsquo;t done during his 12 seasons in the NHL.The veteran Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; defenseman has won a Norris Trophy (1981-82), played in five all-star games and starred in the 1984 Canada Cup tournament.Despite all that, at 32 years of age, Wilson might have played the best hockey of his life during the first quarter of the season. For the first time in almost two years, Wilson was 100-per-cent healthy and it was showing in a big way.&ldquo;I think, all around, I feel I&rsquo;m playing as well as I&rsquo;ve ever played,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;A lot of it is the experience factor, but the big thing my body is healthy and I&rsquo;m doing what I want to do.&rdquo;The last two seasons took a toll on Wilson, both physically and mentally.It began with major surgery on his left shoulder in January of 1988 that took a year and a half to heal. There were more nagging injuries last season, compunded by trade rumors and his decision to play out his option with the Hawks.Wilson tested the free-agent market last summer but decided Chicago was the place for him and his family. Armed with a new three-year contract and his return to good health, Wilson started the season strongly and hasn&rsquo;t looked back. In 26 games, he had nine goals and 15 assists.It&rsquo;s no accident the strong early play by the Hawks coincided with Wilson&rsquo;s fine start. He is the Hawks&rsquo; backbone, the quarterback of the power play, the defensive anchor, the one guy the team could not do without.It&rsquo;s hard to imagine where the Hawks would have been if Wilson had decided to change teams last summer, but he said he never really came close to going elsewhere.&ldquo;I could have made more money somewhere else, but that wasn&rsquo;t enough,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;That wasn&rsquo;t enough because you&rsquo;ve got to look at the whole package. I love the lifestyle in Chicago, my wife (Kathy) is from the city and it&rsquo;s where we want to make our home. Plus, our team has improved to the point where we&rsquo;ve moved to the top echelon and we can win the Stanley Cup in Chicago.&ldquo;I looked around the league and saw what guys like Larry Robinson and (Botje) Salming were getting, and it made me stand up and take notice. But it would have taken a lot more forme to leave Chicago.&rdquo;Another reason Wilson chose to remain in Chicago was his association with the Coca-Cola company. Wilson works for Coke in the offseason and has a job waiting for him when his playing days are over.While Wilson may be thinking about his future, he has not contemplated his chances of winning a second Norris Trophy.&ldquo;You know, it&rsquo;s funny,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So many times the Norris Trophy goes to the guy with the good (offensive) numbers. Well, I think the best year I ever had was the year after I won the Norris.&rdquo;Wilson had 39 goals and 85 points when he earned the Norris in &lsquo;81-82. The next year he had 18 goals and 69 points.&ldquo;I take more pride in playing well in my own end than in the offensive end,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;I feel I&rsquo;m more than an &lsquo;offensive&rsquo; defenseman.&rdquo;Anyone who has watched Wilson closely this year can&rsquo;t argue that.<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Denis Savard, Troy Murray, Adam Creighton. Jeremy Roenick.LW&mdash;Greg Gilbert, Al Secord, Steve Thomas, Mike Hudson, Wayne Van DorpRW&mdash;Steve Larmer. Dirk Graham, Wayne Presley. Duane Sutter, Brian Noonan.LD&mdash;Doug Wilson, Steve Konroyd, Trent Yawney.RD&mdash;Dave Manson, Keith Brown, Bob McGill, Bob Murray.G&mdash;Jacques Cloutier, Alain Chevrier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Darren Pang, G, left knee surgery, out for season.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;T. Murray, 12. A&mdash;Savard. 23. P&mdash;T Murray, Savard, 31. PIM&mdash;Manson. 100. &#9632;

WILSON PLAYING ‘AS WELL AS EVER’

<div class="byline">BY MARK HARDING</div>With only two players out of action with injuries, the Toronto Maple Leafs could have been considered the envy of several teams around the NHL.But unlike most other teams, the Leafs are not blessed with a deep talent pool and have a more difficult time finding replacements when impact players go down with injuries. That was no more evident than in mid-November when Dave Hannan, Daniel Marios and Wendel Clark were knocked out of the lineup at various times.In Hannan, the Leafs were without their best checking center and penalty killer. Marois, off to a great start with 12 goals and 13 assists in 19 games, has been their most dangerous offensive threat. And Clark, out of the lineup from Nov. 4 to 22 with a knee injury, provides the Leafs with inspired play every shift.&ldquo;Anyone who thinks you can go through an entire season without suffering injuries to key personnel is wrong,&rdquo; said Leaf coach Doug Carpenter. &ldquo;When it happens, you have to improvise.&rdquo;When Clark went down with a bruised muscle above his left knee in a 7-4 loss to Philadelphia Nov. 4, he was expected to miss between a week and 10 days. The injury proved much more serious and Clark returned to the lineup only Nov. 22 for a 6-3 loss to Minnesota. He missed seven games during the stretch.The next to go down was Hannan, who had become an integral member of the Leafs since coming over from Pittsburgh in the waiver draft. The nine-year veteran strained ligaments in his knee during a 4-2 win over Detroit Nov. 11 and missed five games before returning the same night as Clark.Prior to the return of Hannan and Clark, the Leafs lost three of four games and dropped two straight on the road, prompting some observers to muse they were coming back at something less than 100-per-cent healthy because they were so badly needed.Midway through the game against the North Stars, Hannan reinjured the ligaments in his left knee and was ordered by doctors Nov. 24 to stay off his skates for at least a week.That same night, Marois suffered the shoulder injury that kept him out of the lineup for most of the month.&ldquo;I might have come back a little too soon,&rdquo; said Hannan, denying he felt pressure to return because of the Leafs&rsquo; losing skid. &ldquo;Next time I&rsquo;ll make good and sure I&rsquo;m ready.&rdquo;Clark survived his comeback but admitted he felt stiff and sore after playing his first two games in almost three weeks. Although it was assumed the rest would do his chronic back problems some good, Clark said the exact oppo-site occurred.&ldquo;Because I was favoring my left leg, the left side of my back stiffened up,&rdquo; said Clark. &ldquo;Nothing serious, but something I&rsquo;ll just have to skate out.&rdquo;The absences of Clark and Hannan were blows to the Leafs, upsetting two lines and seriously affecting their effectiveness. But the key loss was that of Marois. The Leafs were 2-6-0 after his injury.Although his status was listed as day-to-day, Marios had no idea when he would be returning to the lineup.Carpenter improvised with each of his lines, but found nothing to compare to his original combinations. Tom Fergus and Vince Damphousse weren&rsquo;t as dangerous without Marios; Damphousse had two goals and three assists in eight games and Fergus had two goals and an assist. Checkers Dave Reid and Lou Frances-chetti weren&rsquo;t as effective without Hannan.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 23: John Kordic, RW. suspended one game by NHL for third game misconduct of the season. Eligible to return Nov. 29.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ed Olczyk, Tom Fergus. Dan Daoust. John McIntyre.LW&mdash;Mark Osborne, Vincent Damphousse, Dave Reid, Scott Pearson, Wendel Clark.RW&mdash;Gary Leeman. Lou Franceschetti.LD&mdash;Brad Marsh, Brian Curran. Todd Gill, Luke Richardson, Darryl Shannon.RD&mdash;Al lafrate. Rob Ramage. Tom Kurvers.G&mdash;Allan Bester, Mark Laforest.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dave Hannan, C, strained left knee ligaments, indefinite.Daniel Marois, RW, bruised left shoulder, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Leeman, 13. A&mdash;Damphousse. 18. P&mdash;Leeman, 28. PIM&mdash;Kordic. 92. &#9632;

LACK OF DEPTH COMPOUNDS INJURY PROBLEM

<div class="byline">BY DAVE LUECKING</div>The St. Louis Blues aren&rsquo;t naive enough to think they&rsquo;re as good as the Stanley Cupchampion Calgary Flames. But during their 3-3 tie against the Flames Nov. 25, they showed they may be ready to contend in the near future.And in doing so, they took a large step toward legitimizing their success early this season. They didn&rsquo;t take a point as much as they made one.Calgary led 2-0 going into the third period and appeared to have the game in hand after Brian MacLellan&rsquo;s goal gave them a 3-1 lead with 16:57 left to play.The Blues outplayed the Flames in the final period, scoring twice in the final 4:58 to send the game into over-time. The Blues almost won it in OT&mdash;they outshot the Flames 5-1 in the extra period&mdash;only to be turned aside by former Blues&rsquo; goalie Rick Wamsley, who had an easy time until the final period.Granted, the Flames were in the midst of a nine-game winless streak and were playing some terrible hockey, but former Flame Brett Hull said the Blues showed exactly what kind of a team they are when they came back.&ldquo;We showed so much character and so much class in the third period,&rdquo; said Hull, who was traded to the Blues in 1987-88. &ldquo;It does so much for our team. It builds our confidence so much.&ldquo;It shows us that we&rsquo;re a top-notch team that can play against the tough guys.&rdquo;The tie gave the Blues an 11-7-4 record for 26 points and third place in the surprisingly competitive Norris Division. They were off to their third-best start in team history and were six points ahead of last year at the same point. It also marked the first time the team has been playing over.500 since March, 1986.Still, Hull wasn&rsquo;t ready to put his order in for a championship ring just yet.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re not an elite team until you play on par with elite teams for a season,&rdquo; Hull said, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s only 22 games into the season. We&rsquo;re right up there with Calgary in the standings, but until the end of the season comes, you can&rsquo;t say anything.&rdquo;Hull may have had the best chance to win the Calgary game in overtime, missing the net from the slot with 25 seconds left. Hull, stuck on 17 goals for four games, had six shots.&ldquo;Just like all the rest of the shots I&rsquo;ve had the last four games,&rdquo; Hull said. &ldquo;I got it, it jumped off my stick. I went to shoot it. It bobbled and I just didn&rsquo;t get any wood on it.&rdquo;&ldquo;We came back in grand style in the third period and overtime,&rdquo; Blues&rsquo; coach Brian Sutter said.The No. 1 star was reserved for goaltender Vincent Riendeau, who held the Blues in the game with save after save in the first two periods when the Blues were outshot by a total of 29-12. Overall, they were outshot 3728.&ldquo;We wanted to win it for Vinnie,&rdquo; Tony Hrkac said.Until the final period, Riendeau&rsquo;s hard work was about the only thing Blues&rsquo; fans had to cheer. Hull said, until then, the Blues may have been in awe of the Flames.&ldquo;With the team we have, a young team, it&rsquo;s so easy to get intimidated you know, Stanley Cup champions,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Just looking at their names, you can see the young guys getting intimidated. We started slow and we just came on.&rdquo;<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 21: Doug Evans, LW, assigned to Peoria (IHL). Dave Richter, D, cleared waivers and was released.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Adam Oates, Peter Zezel, Tony Hrkac, Steve Tuttle.LW&mdash;Rod Brind Amour, Sergio Momesso, Rick Meagher, Gino Cavallini.RW&mdash;Paul MacLean, Brett Hull, Dave Lowry, Kelly Chase.LD&mdash;Mike Lalor, Gordie Roberts, Tony Twist.RD&mdash;Paul Cavallini, Tom Tilley, Glen Featherstone, Randy Skarda.G&mdash;Greg Millen, Vincent Riendeau.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Todd Ewen, RW, broken bone in right hand, day-to-day.Herb Raglan, RW, broken right wnst, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Hull, 17. A&mdash;Oates, 24 P&mdash;Oates, 33. PIM&mdash;Twist, 63. &#9632;

TIE WITH CALGARY MARKS COMING OF AGE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011258/8517441-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="511" height="626"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE DRYDEN</figcaption></div>The American Thanksgiving brought to a close a period of grateful acknowledgement by all people connected to the NHL.It was a time, from Canada&rsquo;s celebration Oct. 9 to the United States&rsquo; on Nov. 23, when all gave thanks for mercies big and small. Here&rsquo;s what some acknowledged before tucking into the turkey:&#9632; Lou Nanne: Thanks for Mike Modano. After picking Modano first in the 1988 entry draft. Nanne endured much second-guessing last year&mdash;including some from his own people&mdash;when Modano held out while Trevor Linden was a standout. This year, he has been far the better of the two.&#9632; Mats Naslund: Thanks that people still care whether he goes back to Sweden, despite the way he&rsquo;s playing.&#9632; Roger Neilson: For having yet another kick at the can. The Rangers are his sixth NHL team. By the way, did anybody notice Roger&rsquo;s Rangers had the same record. 11-6-3, at the quarter mark of this season as Michel Bergeron&rsquo;s Rangers last year at the same time?&#9632; Readers of Goal magazine: That the official magazine of the NHL is still being produced, albeit in an abbreviated form. League insiders are now calling it the official pamphlet of the NHL. One calls it the official paper airplane of the NHL.&#9632; Pat LaFontaine: For common sense. Most people realize plus-minus stats have their own pluses and minuses. LaFontaine is the league&rsquo;s leading minus player.&#9632; Bob Johnson: That USA Hockey did not demand long ago for him to make a clear commitment to the national organization.&#9632; All American NHL hopefuls: For 19 of 21 NHL teams. All teams in the league but two have at least one U.S.-trained player in their lineups. The exceptions? The Edmonton Oilers and Quebec Nordiques.&#9632; Jimmy Devellano: That general managers aren&rsquo;t judged on the basis of one trade. Adam Oates and Paul MacLean for Bernie Federko and Tony McKegney? Come on.&#9632; Adams Division teams: For the Buffalo Sabres being required to play 40 games on the road. If not, the divisional race would already be over. After 11 games at the Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo was undefeated (10-0-1). The modern-day record for fewest home losses is one&mdash;set by the Montreal Canadiens in 197677.&#9632; Sergei Starikov: That Viacheslav Fetisov needed a traveling companion.&#9632; Bill Torrey and Martin Madden: For Mike Ricci. The budding star will be the first player chosen in the 1990 entry draft. He might make this season all worthwhile for the New York Islanders or Quebec Nordiques, one of whom will be finishing last and choosing first.&#9632; Clint Malarchuk: That he is alive and well after last year&rsquo;s frightening cut to the neck that could have cost him his life.&#9632; Ron Caron: For the Nordiques. Quebec had two of the first five picks in the 1988 entry draft, but wasn&rsquo;t sharp enough to pick Rod Brin-d&rsquo;Amour with one of them.&#9632; Shawn Cronin: That fighting is permitted in the NHL.&#9632; Tom Webster: For Robbie Ftorek&rsquo;s unpopularity. After 24 games last season, the Kings had a 15-9-0 record under Ftorek. Webster&rsquo;s Kings were 12-10-2 this season. If Ftorek weren&rsquo;t so widely disliked, harsher standards would be imposed on his successor.&#9632; Igor Larionov: That Don Cherry is not coach of the Vancouver Canucks.&#9632; John Cunniff: For a chance. Seldom is a coach fired when his team is at the.500 mark. Especially a team as unproven as the Devils. Yet, New Jersey general manager Lou Lamiorello dismissed Jim Schoenfeld, with the Devils &lsquo;at 6-6-2. Cunniff&rsquo;s record after nine games:.500 (4-4-1).&#9632; Jon Casey: That the North Stars never gave up on him.&#9632; Pat Verbeek: For a new start. Verbeek had 26 goals in 77 games last season. With 16 goals in 25 games this year, he was on pace for a 50-goal season.&#9632; Gary Roberts: That Sergei Makarov refuses to shoot the puck.&#9632; Jack Ferreira: For home games against anybody but the Maple Leafs. Toronto&rsquo;s first three visits attracted three of six smallest crowds of the young season. None of them attracted as many as 8,900 fans.&#9632; Rich Sutter: That twin brother Ron has not suffered a career-ending injury. On three occasions, Rich has been injured shortly after his brother, and in a similar fashion.&#9632; Mike Keenan: For Doug Wilson. He is one of the best, and most dignified, players in the game.&#9632; Luc Robitaille: That the rumors of his imminent demise in Los Angeles have been greatly exaggerated. &#9632;

f0022-01

WEBSTER FORTUNATE TO FOLLOW FTOREK

Though 16 of 21 teams make the NHL playoffs each year, the regular-season champion remains an even-money bet to win the Stanley Cup. Five of the last 10 regular-season champs (including the 1988-89 Calgary Flames) were Cup-winners, as were 10 of the last 20, and 15 of the last 30.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02929/8517472-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="710" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body">Calgary Flames</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0022-02

NUMBERS

<h2>FLYERS</h2>As anticipated, right winger Scott Mellanby made an earlier-than-announced return from surgery to his left arm. Mellanby came back Nov. 23 against Montreal, and got assists in his first three games of the season&hellip;The Flyers&rsquo; injury woes continued when veteran left winger Brian Propp required surgery Nov. 22 to alleviate a blood clot in his left hand. The intricate surgery took more than four hours. Propp was expected to be out of the lineup at least four, and possibly eight weeks&hellip;The Flyers got good news concerning right winger Tim Kerr, when surgery revealed the tear in the rotator cuff of his left shoulder was smaller than expected. A couple of chips were removed from Kerr&rsquo;s shoulder, along with scar tissue. Kerr was expected to be out four to six weeks, not the six to eight originally forecast.<h2>DEVILS</h2>Has Jim Korn outlived his usefulness as an enforcer and a grinding forward for the Devils? Seemed John Cunniff feels that way. Korn was scratched from six of Cunniff&rsquo;s first nine games as head coach and may be on his way out. &ldquo;I might very well be,&rdquo; said Korn, a favorite of ex-coach Jim Schoenfeld. &ldquo;Sure I worry about it. I&rsquo;m 32 and I&rsquo;m the oldest guy on the team. They&rsquo;re not trying to develop my skills. If they don&rsquo;t feel I can play and contribute, obviously I&rsquo;m in a lot of trouble here. Right now I have to be significantly better than a younger guy to get into the lineup-. Goalie Chris Terreri may have saved his job with the Devils when he stopped 38 shots in a 3-1 victory at Winnipeg Nov. 25. It was Terreri&rsquo;s first victory since Oct. 28. He had gone 0-2-0 with a 6.58 goals-against average, and goalie coach Bob Belle-more was dispatched to Utica (American League) on a scouting mission to watch Rollie Melanson and Craig Billington.<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>Center Bryan Trottier has been sidelined by a baffling condition which is believed to be an allergy, although tests have not been able to determine the source. The symptom is a quick fluid build-up in the tissues, which not only makes Trottier&rsquo;s face look puffy but causes tenderness in internal organs&hellip;The Islanders claimed defenseman Jari Gron-strand on waivers from Quebec. Gronstrand, 27, is from Tampere, Finland, the same hometown as Islander right winger Mikko Makela, and the two are friends. Gronstrand said he did not have any problems with coach Michel Bergeron while with the Nordiques, but was happy to join the Islanders. &ldquo;They told me I made too many mistakes there,&rdquo; said Gronstrand. &ldquo;And that they wanted to go with younger players. I&rsquo;m 27, you know.&rdquo;&hellip;Injured defenseman Rich Pilon returned to his home in St. Louis, Sask., where he will rest a week or two before returning to New York for more tests on his injured right eye.<h2>CAPITALS</h2>After 23 games, the Capitals were averaging 30 penalty minutes. Last season they averaged 23; the highest figure in the club&rsquo;s history was 24, in 1981-82. The opposition currently is averaging 32.7 minutes. In none of the previous 15 seasons has Washington been penalized more than its combined opponents&hellip;In another sharp contrast to the 1988-89 campaign, the Capitals owned a 5-2 record in the Patrick Division. A year ago, despite finishing first, Washington was below.500 (16-17-2) against divisional opponents&hellip;Center Michal Pivonka sat out the loss to Pittsburgh Nov. 24 because of a pulled muscle in his side. He returned the next night, had a goal and an assist and took over the team scoring lead with 20 points.<h2>PENGUINS</h2>Mario Lemieux upped his career record-on penalty shots to 5-for-5 when he beat Washington&rsquo;s Bob Mason during a 7-4 victory at the Capital Centre Nov. 24. The penalty shot was called after Capitals&rsquo; defenseman Scott Stevens dragged Lemieux down on a shorthanded breakaway. Lemieux was the first visitor to succeed on one at the Centre since the Penguins&rsquo; Dave Hannan beat Pat Riggin Oct. 14, 1983&hellip;Lemieux&rsquo;s subsequent goal was his&mdash;and the team&rsquo;s&mdash;first shorthanded one of the season, but he added another in a 4-1 loss to Washington in Pittsburgh the next night&hellip;Lemieux entered the last week of November with a 12-game scoring streak, longest in the league this season.<h2>RANGERS</h2>Ranger coach Roger Neilson did not appear impressed by reaching the 200-victory coaching plateau on Nov. 26. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not much&hellip;really,&rdquo; he said, following a 3-1 victory over Quebec which snapped his team&rsquo;s three-game winless streak. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of like winning your 200th faceoff or something-.&rdquo;&hellip;Neilson seemed significantly more impressed with veteran winger John Ogrodnick, who scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season in the game against Quebec, the Rangers&rsquo; 25th game of the season. Last season, Ogrodnick scored his first goal of the season in the Rangers&rsquo; 25th game, after coming back from a week&rsquo;s stay at Denver (IHL). &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really know the inside story of what happened to John here last year,&rdquo; Neilson said, &ldquo;but he has been a very good player, a very important player for us. It&rsquo;s not only his scoring; he&rsquo;s doing a good job along the boards and, defensively, you don&rsquo;t have to worry about putting him on the ice in any situation. &#9632;

MELLANBY RETURNS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div>With one of the longest injury lists in the NHL, the Philadelphia Flyers desperately required leadership.And they got it from an unlikely source in left winger Murray Craven.Craven, who missed 29 games last season with a variety of injuries, was one of only three Flyers-&mdash;Mike Bullard and Mark Howe were the other two&mdash;to play all 23 games this season. And he led the team in goals (10) and points (28).He already has more goals than all of last season, when he scored nine, the lowest total of his seven-year career.&ldquo;It was a nightmare,&rdquo; said Craven. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d just like to forget about last season. I was hurt so much. I&rsquo;d just like to think it didn&rsquo;t happen.&rdquo;&ldquo;He has been one of our most consistent forwards,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; coach Paul Holmgren, after Craven scored two goals in a 5-1 victory against the Edmonton Oilers Nov. 24.Just two days before. Craven scored two goals in a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Spectrum.In each of the games, Craven was on left wing, alongside two players who had just returned from their own bouts with injury and illness&mdash;Ron Sutter (eye injury) and Rick Tocchet (virus).In those two games, Tocchet picked up one goal and five assists. Sutter had two goals and two assists.&ldquo;I wanted to get that combination back together,&rdquo; said Holmgren, who used the line in earlier games. &ldquo;With Rick and Ron banging, I think it makes Murray play a different type of game.&ldquo;Murray is not a grinder, but with those two banging away, he also tends to play that way more, but the real advantage is his speed.&ldquo;I think people underestimate guys like Ron Sutter as an offensive player, and Murray is just so valuable. Look at all the things he can dolor us&rdquo;He&rsquo;s already played every forward position this season and was prominent on the Flyers&rsquo; power-play and penalty-killing units. Craven had two of the Flyers&rsquo; first six shorthanded goals, and assisted on two others.The reunion of Craven, Sutter and Tocchet came at the end of an 8-2-2 string, which gave the Flyers a 10-9-3 record and third place in the Patrick Division. Two nights after posting the back-to-back 5-1 wins, the Flyers lost 5-2 to the Whalers in Hartford.It was the club&rsquo;s third game in four days. Goalie Pete Peeters, yet to win this season (0-4-2), took the loss.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 18: Mark Freer, C, assigned to Hershey (AHL).Nov. 20: Claude Boivin, RW, recalled from Drummondville (QMJHL) on emergency recall.Nov. 25: Jeff Harding, RW, recalled from Hershey.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ron Sutter. Tony Horacek, Keith Acton, Don Biggs.LW&mdash;Murray Craven. Ilkka Sinisalo, Craig Berube, Doug Sulliman.RW&mdash;Rick Tocchet, Mike Bullard, Scott Mellanby, Brian Dobbin, Claude Boivin, Jeff Harding.LD&mdash;Mark Howe. Jay Wells. Terry Carkner.RD&mdash;Gord Murphy. Jeff Chychrun. Kerry Huffman.G&mdash;Ken Wregget. Pete Peeters.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Pelle Eklund, C/LW, bruised right knee, day-to-day.Ron Hextail. G, pulled hamstring, day-to-day.Tim Kerr, RW, surgery on left shoulder, Indefinite.Dave Poulin, C/LW, broken left thumb, indefinite.Brian Propp, LW, surgery to remove blood clot in left hand, indefinite.Kjell Samuelsson. D, bruised right shoulder, day-to-day.Derrick Smith, LW. sprained right ankle, Dec. 1-7.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Bullard, Tocchet. 11 A&mdash;Craven, 18. P&mdash;Craven, 28. PIM&mdash;Chychrun, 83. &#9632;

CRAVEN LEADS WAY WITH INSPIRED PLAY

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div>With a chance to make up&mdash;or lose&mdash;a lot of Patrick Division ground in little time, the Pittsburgh Penguins did neither in their Nov. 24-25 home-and-home series against Washington.They won 7-4 at the Capital Centre, then lost at home 4-1 the next night to remain locked in a fourth-place tie with the Caps.Both games ended with an ugly show of frustration by the losing team, which seemed intent on making a point even if it couldn&rsquo;t earn one.Referee Dan Marouelli handed out 58 minutes worth of penalties in the final 1:31 of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s victory, and Dave Newell gave 130 minutes worth of fighting majors and misconducts in the last 26 seconds of the Capitals&rsquo; win.Newell assessed game misconducts to four Penguins (Jock Callander, Gord Dineen, Kevin Stevens and Phil Bourque) and four Capitals (Yvon Corriveau, Nick Kypreos, Rob Murray and Neil Sheehy) for their roles in a melee with 17 seconds to play.&ldquo;I just wanted to let guys know we&rsquo;re not going to lose easy,&rdquo; Pittsburgh coach Gene Ubriaco said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to lose hard.&rdquo;Actually, the Penguins were lucky they didn&rsquo;t lose twice. Washington outshot them 50-22 in the first game and 32-18 in the second.The Penguins escaped the opener intact mostly because they scored on their first four shots against Don Beaupre. By 12:49 of the first period, the Capitals had a 12-4 edge in shots but were losing 4-1.Bob Mason replaced Beaupre&mdash;and promptly allowed two goals on the first four shots faced&mdash;but the Penguins still needed exceptional goaltending from Wendell Young to clinch the victory.&ldquo;You really can&rsquo;t say enough for the guy,&rdquo; Pittsburgh center John Cullen said. &ldquo;He was absolutely amazing.&rdquo;So was the Penguins&rsquo; performance in the next game, but in a much less positive way. They wanted to subject Beaupre, who was back in goal, to a hailstorm of pucks, but never got more than seven shots in a period.&ldquo;We should have been pounding it at the net,&rdquo; Ubriaco said.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think (Beaupre) really had to make any tough saves,&rdquo; right winger Rob Brown said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t make him play very good. We just made their whole team look good.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s not unusual for Washington to look that way when it gets a lead, and Mike Ridley put the Caps up for good with a power-play goal at 7:37 of the first period. Dave Christian, Michal Pivonka and Steve Leach also beat Young before Mario Lemieux got the Penguins&rsquo; only goal on a shorthanded breakway at 8:10 of the third.&ldquo;They put us in a hole early and we never got out of it,&rdquo; Stevens said.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s face it,&rdquo; Ubriaco said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve proven they&rsquo;re a pretty tough hockey team when they get a lead.&rdquo;<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux. Dan Quinn, John Cullen. Mark Recchi.LW&mdash;Bob Errey, Kevin Stevens, Phil Bourque, Mark Kachowski.RW&mdash;Rob Brown, Andrew McBain. Jock Callander, Jamie Leach. Jay Caufield.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Jim Johnson, Chris Dahlquist, Jim Kyte.RD&mdash;Randy Hillier, Gilbert Delorme, Gord Dineen.G&mdash;Wendell Young, Frank Pietrangelo.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tom Barrasso, G, wrist surgery, Dec. 14.Randy Gilhen, C, sprained knee, day-to-day.Troy Loney, LW, broken right hand, indefinite.Zarley Zalapski, D, broken collarbone, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Lemieux, 13. A&mdash;Lemieux, 31. P&mdash;Lemieux, 44. PIM&mdash;Stevens. Loney. 75. &#9632;

CHANCE TO MOVE UP FALLS BY WAYSIDE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011214/8517575-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"></div>True hockey fans can score big with a subscription to THE HOCKEY NEWS.For just $39.95 you&rsquo;ll receive 40 hockey-packed issues of THE HOCKEY NEWS-the premier hockey publication in the world. Plus:&bull; You&rsquo;ll save over $58 off the newsstand price.&bull; The convenience of home delivery.&bull; Your subscription will entitle you to receive our two bonus issues-Year In Photos and Draft Preview.&bull; You will be able to keep on top of all the hockey action with the most complete stats package available.You&rsquo;ll also receive our no risk guarantee: you must be completely satisfied with THE HOCKEY NEWS or we will refund your money for all unmailed issues, no questions asked!Remember just $39.95 for 40 issues of THE HOCKEY NEWS plus the two special issues-Year In Photos and Draft Preview!Don&rsquo;t miss out on any of the NHL action-subscribe today! &#9632;

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YOU CAN SCORE…EVERY WEEK

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div>No one has ever mistaken Lindy Ruff for Mario Lemieux, but now the New York Ranger grinder has something in common with the Pittsburgh Penguin superstar.With his team clinging to a 1-0 lead against the Quebec Nordiques Nov. 26, Ruff scored on the first penalty shot opportunity of his 11-year career. In doing so, he helped the Rangers end a three-game winless streak with a 3-1 triumph at Madison Square Garden.Ruff seemed only a bit surprised when informed that NHL shooters were 2-for-7 on penalty-shot attempts through the first 255 games of the 1989-90 season. Lemieux was the only other successful shooter.&ldquo;Mario and I are tied, eh?&rdquo; Ruff deadpanned after scoring his second goal of the season. &ldquo;Two players who can take a lot of pressure.&rdquo;The tensed-up Rangers seemed to need a few laughs almost as much as they needed a few points. Ruff provided both as coach Roger Neilson notched his 200th coaching victory.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not the most serious guy in the world,&rdquo; Ruff said, &ldquo;but I knew a 1-0 lead wasn&rsquo;t going to be enough and, inside, I was boiling. It&rsquo;s a cliche sometimes but this really was the most important game of the season for us. We had been skidding a bit; we needed something positive to happen.&rdquo;Ruff made it happen on his solo dash, whipping a 15-footer over the glove hand of Quebec goalie Mario Brunetta.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to be able to contribute,&rdquo; the former Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; captain said. &ldquo;A guy like me, in my role here, doesn&rsquo;t get that many chances to make an important offensive play.&rdquo;At age 29, Ruff is a part-time player, a utility man who can skate at either left wing or defense for the Rangers. He wasn&rsquo;t even included in coach Roger Neilson&rsquo;s lineup the night before at Toronto (a 7-4 loss) and appeared in only 11 of the Rangers&rsquo; first 25 games.He is not known as a goal-scorer. The 11-year veteran from Warburg, Alta., has scored 104 goals in 632 NHL games and has never produced more than 20 in a season.A hustling play by Tomas Sandstrom set the stage for Ruff&rsquo;s opportunity. The New York right winger outraced Brunetta to a loose puck inside the right circle, knocking it loose with the net vacated. As Ruff hurried into the circle to attempt a shot into the empty net, Brunetta threw his stick.&ldquo;It was the right call (by referee Dave Newell). It was definitely a penalty shot,&rdquo; Ruff said. &ldquo;I was in for a backhander into an empty net and the goal stick came flying by and knocked the puck away.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bit of a shock, though, when the referee says you&rsquo;re the one who is going to shoot. I kept asking him (Newell) &lsquo;Are you sure it was me?&rsquo; &ldquo;Ruff skated in quickly and didn&rsquo;t make even the slightest fake before firing the puck.&ldquo;I knew what I was going to do from the second he (Newell) called the penalty shot,&rdquo; Ruff said. &ldquo;I like to angle in from the right and then, if the goalie comes out, I can cut all the way across to the left. But he left me a lot of room&hellip;so I didn&rsquo;t have to go to Plan B.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 20: Corey Mi&rsquo;lon. C, assigned to Flint (IHL)<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kelly Kis&raquo;o. Darren Turcotte. Mark Janssens. Dave ArchibaldLW&mdash;John Ogrodnick. Kris King, Jan Enxon. Troy Mallette, Lindy Ruff.RW&mdash;Brian Mullen, Tony Granato, Tomas Sandstrom. UN Dahlen.LD&mdash;Mark Hardy, Ron Grescpner, Miloslav HoravaRD&mdash;Brian Leetch. James Patrick. Randy MollerG&mdash;John Vanthestxouck, Bob Froese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Paul Cyr, C, knee surgery, indefiniteChris Milan, RW, fractured nght forearm. indefinite.Normand Rochefort, D. knee surgery. Dec. 13.David Shaw, D. bruised right shoulder. Dec. 1.Carey Wilson, C. sprained left knee, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Ogrodnick. 15. A&mdash;Patrick. 15 P&mdash;Sandstrom, 24 PtM-Moller. 67. &#9632;

RUFF LOOKS SMOOTH ON PENALTY SHOT

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div>It has been 12 months since New Jersey Devils&rsquo; defenseman Bruce Driver was carried out of the Meadowlands Arena on a stretcher, wondering if his NHL career had ended.On Dec. 7, 1988, Driver&rsquo;s right leg was broken in three places just above the ankle when Lou Franceschetti (then with the Washington Capitals, now with the Toronto Maple Leafs) delivered a clean but devastating open-ice hit. In the following weeks. Driver underwent surgery. A plate was inserted to keep the bones from drifting apart.&ldquo;I was told that I probably wouldn&rsquo;t be 100 per cent for a year, but the leg doesn&rsquo;t bother me,&rdquo; said Driver, 27.Driver, the team&rsquo;s best defenseman in every phase of the game, has come back more than 100 per cent.During a four-game stretch between Nov. 17 and 24, Driver scored a goal and eight assists, giving him 18 points (3-15) in his last 10 games.With 19 assists and 23 points for the season, Driver may take aim on former defense partner Tom Kurvers&rsquo; club records of 50 and 66. He will soon pass Joe Cirella as the Devils&rsquo; all-time scoring leader for defensemen. Cirella had 43-147-190 totals in seven seasons, Driver 38-142-180 early in his sixth campaign.It was Driver, not either of European point men Viacheslav Fetisov or Reijo Ruotsalainen. who assumed the role of quarterback on the power-play unit.&ldquo;My job is to shoot the puck on the power play,&rdquo; said Driver, who tied his career high by collecting four assists in one game on Nov. 22 in Pittsburgh.Offense has been only a part of Driver&rsquo;s contribution this season. He has been so valuable defensively that both Jim Schoenfeld and his successor, John Cunniff, paired Driver with virtually every other defenseman on the team. Fetisov, Ruotsalainen and Tommy Albelin have all played their best hockey as Driver&rsquo;s partner.&ldquo;You like to try to get balance,&rdquo; said Cunniff, whose best defense combination has been Driver and Albelin. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like the Bruins do with Ray Bourque. He plays with everybody. Then when they want a powerful pairing they put Bourque and Glen Wesley together.&rdquo;Driver is not the dominant type of player Bourque is for the Bruins, yet he has remained with Bourque and Calgary&rsquo;s Al Maclnnis among the league&rsquo;s defenseman assist leaders.&ldquo;Two years ago I was paired the whole season with Joey Lirella and we usually faced the other team&rsquo;s top line, so I was more defensive,&rdquo; Driver recalled. &ldquo;Then I hurt my ankle (a sprained left ankle) and when I came back I was paired with Tom Kurvers and was usually on the ice with Kirk Muller&rsquo;s line, so we were more offensive.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to physically move people out from in front of the goal because there are a lot of guys in the league bigger than me. My game is finesse and getting the puck out of our end.&rdquo;<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Patrik Sundstrom. Mark Johnson, Aaron Broten. Dave Maley. Neil Brady.LW&mdash;Brendan Shanahan, Kirk Muller, Walt Poddubny, Peter Sundstrom, Jim KornRW&mdash;John MacLean. Sylvain Turgeon. Doug Brown, Janne OjanenLD&mdash;Tommy Albelin, Randy Velischek, Sergei Starikov.RD&mdash;Ken Daneyko. Bruce Driver, Craig Wolanin, Rei|o Ruotsalainen.G&mdash;Sean Burke, Chris Terreri.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Viacheslav Fetisov, D, strained left knee, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;MacLean, Turgeon, 12. A&mdash;Driver, 19. P&mdash;Shanahan, Patnk Sundstrom, 24. PIM&mdash;Maley, 67. &#9632;

INJURED DEFENSEMAN BACK IN DRIVER’S SEAT

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>The Washington Capitals put the notorious Soviet preseason trip behind them late in November, and adhered to their customary rigorous practice regimen. It paid off with three straight strong efforts against Patrick Division foes.The Capitals outshot the opposition 123-69 in those three games, one against the New York Islanders and two against Pittsburgh. Only a sudden goaltending breakdown prevented a sweep.On Nov. 24&mdash;in what the Penguins&rsquo; Mario Lemieux called &ldquo;a weird game&rdquo;&mdash;the Capitals, for the first time in their history lost a game in which they recorded 50 or more shots.Piling up a 50-22 margin, Washington was beaten 7-4, because starting goalie Don Beaupre failed to stop any of the four shots aimed his way. But Beaupre was not even assessed the defeat, because Bob Mason, who replaced him at 12:49 of the first period, gave up two goals&mdash;including the game-winner&mdash;in the first four shots he faced.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t win if you give up six goals in eight shots.&rdquo; said coach Bryan Murray, able to joke with reporters afterward because all the other signs were good. &ldquo;But our level of work has moved up dramatically. This team has come a long way.&rdquo;Sure enough, the Capitals dominated the Penguins 4-1 the next night in Pittsburgh, and it seemed likely that the doldrums were behind them.Although many critics blamed the Soviet trip in September for the early-season woes of both Washington and Calgary, Murray tried to put it in perspective.&ldquo;We did have a fairly intense period and we did back off because of that,&rdquo; Murray said.Right winger Alan May, who produced the game-winner in the 5-3 victory over the Islanders Nov. 22, certainly felt that was the case.&ldquo;I finally got my legs back,&rdquo; May said. &ldquo;We had a lot of tight-checking games and not much skating in practice and I couldn&rsquo;t get my legs going. Mentally, I just wasn&rsquo;t there.&ldquo;But the last week or so, we were skating no matter what and I need that. The more work I get, the better I feel, and I think a lot of other guys look at it the same way.&rdquo;Mike Ridley, the Capitals&rsquo; leading scorer of last season, responded to the increased workload with four goals in the three games, making him the team&rsquo;s first player to reach double figures.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gone through more than a quarter of the season and that&rsquo;s a pretty good chunk to be going the way we were,&rdquo; Ridley said. &ldquo;We were heading nowhere and we were fortunate that most of the other teams in the division weren&rsquo;t winning, either.&ldquo;We were up for the Russian games and I think being away from home like that, with so much intense play and travel, burned some guys out. When the season started, it was tough in a lot of cases to get ready as a team for a lot of games. Some guys were ready one night, some guys another, but never all 20 the same night. Now we&rsquo;re finally getting to that stage.&rdquo;<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 26: Jim Hrivnak, G, recalled from Baltimore (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mike Ridley, Dale Hunter, Michal Pivonka. Rob Murray.LW&mdash;Kelly Miller. Yvon Corriveau, Geoff Courtnail. Nick Kypreos. Deug Wickenheiser.RW&mdash;Dino Ciccarelli, Steve Leach, Dave Christian. Alan May.LD&mdash;Scott Stevens, Rod Langway, Calle Johansson, Bill Houlder.RD&mdash;Bob Rouse, Neil Sheehy. Kevin Hatcher.G&mdash;Bob Mason, Jim Hrivnak.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Don Beaupre, G, groin pull, day-to-day.Scot Kleinendorst, D. lorn ligament in left knee, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Ridley, 10. A&mdash;Stevens, 14. P&mdash;Pivonka, 20. PIM&mdash;Sheehy, 98. &#9632;

FINALLY, SOVIET TRIP IS OVERCOME

<div class="byline">BY SHERRY ROSS</div>Pat LaFontaine and a helicopter have a lot in common: Both can fly without wings.Propelled by a quick start, LaFontaine was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal season. He was scoring and soaring high this season, an almost unbelievable accomplishment since his Islander team was grounded in 21st place overall.Through the opening 25 games of the season, LaFontaine had 17 goals, which tied him with four other players for the league lead in that category. His 10 assists gave him 27 points, tops on the Islanders.The downside of all the playing time he&rsquo;s been getting, however, was his NHL-worst plus-minus of minus-21.Despite the difficulties the Islanders experienced in the first quarter of the season, LaFontaine is the sunshine kid, always upbeat and loathe to criticize his teammates.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always tried to be a person who learns from experience.&rdquo; LaFontaine said. &ldquo;There are situations where there is adversity&mdash;we went through that last season&mdash;and if you let the game get to you mentally can affect every part of your life.&ldquo;Losing i$ still disappointing and frustrating, but when you shut the door on the rink, you shut the door. I have a wife (Marybeth) and a home and a couple of dogs (Fred and Barney), and when I leave I want to enjoy my life,&rdquo; said LaFontaine.LaFontaine, bom in St. Louis, was raised in the Detroit area but played his last year of junior with Verdun in the Quebec League. After being drafted in a year which included Steve Yzerman, Cam Neely, John MacLean, and Tom Barrasso, LaFontaine went into the U.S. Olympic program and joined the Islanders in 1984.LaFontaine has been such a fixture on the Islanders that it&rsquo;s hard to remember he&rsquo;s only 24.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a young veteran.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have young players in this room who are looking for leadership from the more experienced players. I feel I have to stay upbeat and optimistic not just for myself, but for them. But it has to be honest and genuine.&rdquo;LaFontaine is a mere 5-foot-10 and 177 pounds, and on the ice tries to act like a human bowling ball. Against some of the big defensemen around the NHL, he more often plays the role of the pin, but LaFontaine never stops rolling towards the net.LaFontaine scored 45 goals last season, despite suffering from both a bad wrist and a broken nose. The nose problem affected his breathing, but was surgically corrected after his stint with Team USA in the World Championships.&ldquo;I had to go to Sweden and represent my country and I was very proud to do it,&rdquo; LaFontaine said. &ldquo;But I would have been much more proud to represent the Islanders in the playoffs.&rdquo;The Islanders missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 1973-74, and will almost certainly duplicate the feat this season. Even if LaFontaine hits the 50-goal mark for the first time in his career this season&mdash;he was on pace to score 54&mdash;it would mean little if the Islanders miss again.&ldquo;Scoring all the goals is nice,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but it means much more when you can contribute in any way to a win.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. ISLES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 21: Jan Gronstrand, D, acquired from Quebec on waivers. Marc Bergevin, D, and Dale Kushner, RW, recalled from Springfield (AHL).Nov. 24: Dale Henry, LW, and Kushner assigned to SpringfieldNov. 25: Derek King, LW. and Gilles Thibaudeau, C, recalled from Springfield.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Brent Sutter, Pat LaFontaine, Gilles Thibaudeau, Mikko Makela.LW&mdash;David Volek, Brad Lauer. Derek King. Don Maloney, David Chyzowski.RW&mdash;Patrick Flatley, Randy Wood, Alan Kerr, Mick Vukota.LD&mdash;Gary Nylund, Jeff Norton, Jari Gronstrand.RD&mdash;Doug Crossman, Gerald Diduck, Chris Pryor.G&mdash;Mark Fitzpatrick, Glenn Healy.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Marc Bergevin, D, bruised ribs, day-to-day.Dean Chynoweth, D. sprained left ankle, Dec. 12-16.Rob DiMaio, C, strained clavicle, Dec. 7.Rich Pilon, D, contusion and laceration in right eye. indefinite.Joe Reekie, D, right knee sprain, indefinite.Bryan Trottier, C, allergic reaction, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;LaFontaine. 17. A&mdash;Norton, 16. P&mdash;LaFontaine. 27 PIM&mdash;Vukota. 76 &#9632;

SUNSHINE KID SHINES FOR CELLAR-DWELLARS

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011217/8517702-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Todd Krygier is one of the veterans Ed Johnston would like to get more production from at Binghamton. Krygier had just one goal in his seven games with the Whalers.</figcaption></div>There were few survivors on the Binghamton Whalers when new Hartford general manager Eddie Johnston made up his hit list last June.Wielding an unmerciful axe, Johnston chopped away at what he called the &ldquo;dead wood&rdquo; from the organization.&ldquo;I think it showed that Eddie meant business,&rdquo; says Binghamton co-owner Tom Mitchell. &ldquo;I think it got everybody&rsquo;s attention in this community. Here comes a new boss and he&rsquo;s going to clean house and do something.&rdquo;More than a dozen players were cut loose from a Binghamton team which finished in last place and missed the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. Veterans Lindsay Carson, Mark Reeds and Charlie Bourgeois, who were on oneway NHL contracts, had the Whaler crest ripped from their chests. So did Gary Callaghan, Ted Fauss, Roger Kortko, Mark LaVarre, Brent Regan, Dave Rowbotham, Larry Trader, Mike Vellucci and Brian Verbeek. Another three from Hartford&mdash;Jim Pavese, Don Maloney and Brent Peterson&mdash;were sent packing. Later on, John Anderson was released.Their replacements in Binghamton came primarily from the 1989 NHL entry draft. Hartford picked 10 juniors who would have been overage this season, after selecting Czechoslavakian Robert Holik in the first round.&ldquo;It was like a surgical removal of a large part of the body,&rdquo; Mitchell says. &ldquo;And they replaced them with kids.&rdquo;Five of those picks, and 22-year-old free agent Chris Lindberg from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, are playing in Binghamton this year.The Whalers, having dedicated the draft to stocking Binghamton with players, decided to draft only players who were eligible to come out of junior. When it came time for their 11th-round pick, Johnston had no names left on his list of more than 200 juniors bom in 1969. So, one source claims, he selected John Battice, solely as a favor to the player&rsquo;s agent, Rick Curran.&ldquo;I would have been more concerned if (Johnston) hung on to the other guys,&rdquo; Mitchell says. &ldquo;Obviously they&rsquo;ve got to replace them. It couldn&rsquo;t be any worse.&rdquo;Yet, it has been. The youth movement has gotten off to a slow start in Broome County. After 20 games, the Whalers were in last place in the Southern Division with a 3-15-2 record under strict first-year coach Doug McKay.Last season, with the more lenient Claude Larose, the Whalers were in fifth place in the Southern with an 8-11-1 mark. Larose was relieved of his coaching duties after the season and joined the organization&rsquo;s scouting staff.Still, everyone in command maintains there has been progress, despite the poorer record.&ldquo;The thing that really bothered me with the situation last year was some of the older players weren&rsquo;t putting out and they were bad examples for our younger players,&rdquo; says Johnston, who was assistant GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins last Season.&ldquo;I looked at the situation there and we weren&rsquo;t going any place,&rdquo; Johnston says. &ldquo;It looked like the inmates were trying to run the asylum down there. They were trying to run the hockey club.&rdquo;Mitchell says the change was not too drastic. It was desperately needed.&ldquo;Maybe you could look at the record and say (in the) short term, maybe, we were better off last year,&rdquo; Mitchell says. &ldquo;But down the road, there is a hell of a lot more promise here now than there was then.&rdquo;The progress has yet to be seen in the standings or at the box office where attendance is down slightly. Last season&rsquo;s Whalers drew an average of 3,736 fans a game while this season the average is 3,373.But some players have provided a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak situation.Center James Black, chosen in the fifth round last June, had just three points in his first 10 games. In the next 10 he had 13. Rookie defenseman Corey Beaulieu, a sixth-round pick in the 1988 draft who missed the first eight games after being sent home for training camp because he was too fat, has played solidly since returning in late October.The Whalers can only hope such improvement becomes contagious.<blockquote class="pullQuote">JOHNSTON LAID DOWN THE LAW: THE COACH IS THE BOSS.</blockquote>&ldquo;For the most part I can look out there and see they are trying,&rdquo; Mitchell says. &ldquo;I can empathize with the frustration they are going through.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re never happy with a loser, but I like to look at things realistically too. If people are doing the best they can do, you can&rsquo;t ask more than that.&rdquo;Two veterans who weren&rsquo;t giving their best were traded in the first month of the season&mdash;defenseman Norm Maciver to Cape Breton for defenseman Jim Ennis, and right winger Jim Thomson to Utica for Chris Cichocki.Then, after a 10-3 blowout in Rochester Oct. 29, there were rumors of a player revolt. Johnston made a special trip to Binghamton on the way back from Pittsburgh to talk with his team and coach. The message: The coach is in charge, and he&rsquo;ll be around longer than some of the players if the trouble persists.The Whalers won only once in nine games since Johnston&rsquo;s visit, but the effort has improved.Then, after a heartbreaking 5-4 home loss in overtime to Maine Nov. 18, a fan reportedly threw something at McKay as the coach left the ice. McKay started toward the stands, but stopped before a confrontation occurred.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what went on here last year,&rdquo; says McKay, an assistant with the New Jersey Devils last season. &ldquo;I came in this year and I know we&rsquo;ve got a big job ahead of us to teach and to prepare these players for the Hartford Whalers. When you get effort, you get results.&ldquo;We fall short&mdash;not from the lack of effort, it&rsquo;s the breakdowns in coverage. This league is very skilled and, when you have a breakdown, a lot of times it (the puck) ends up in our net. We&rsquo;re in almost every hockey game. We&rsquo;re competitive and our kids are improving.&rdquo;Even games in which they dominate the opposition, the Whalers find ways to lose. In Newmarket Nov. 7, the Whalers outshot the Saints 32-16 but lost 4-1 as the recently demoted Kay Whitmore let in three soft goals and Saints&rsquo; goalie Peter Ing was outstanding in his professional debut.Johnston would like to see more production from his experienced players. Martin had just three goals in his first 14 games, second-year center Terry Yake&mdash;a 39-goal, 95-point producer as a rookie&mdash;had just nine points in 20 games, Bob Bodak had just five goals in 20 games and Todd Krygier had one goal in seven games.&ldquo;I hope our more experienced players will start to turn it up a notch,&rdquo; Johnston says. &ldquo;I think there is nothing better than to have your minor-league club winning. It really helps the kids get their confidence, but it also puts a lot of pressure on some of the players in the big leagues.&ldquo;The competition gets better and better when you&rsquo;re winning.&rdquo;When will that happen in Binghamton?&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll take us a couple of years to get it turned around,&rdquo; says Johnston, whose agreement with Binghamton expires after the season.Mitchell says the two parties have talked about next season. The top priority now, though, is this season. Yet it is last season which seems most talked about.&ldquo;When I think of last year,&rdquo; Mitchell says, &ldquo;one word enters my mind constantly as a description of that whole team&mdash;lethargic. Certainly there were players who came to play every game, but this year we&rsquo;ve got four times that many.&ldquo;The high-priced veterans going through the motions last season was sickening. We had sporadic effort by a lot of players. This year virtually everyone is working.&rdquo;So far, they have little to show for it. &#9632;

f0028-01

CLEAN SWEEP IN BROOME COUNTY

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>It hasn&rsquo;t taken long for the Hershey Bears to realize a sizeable return on their investment in Ross Fitzpatrick.The 29-year-old left winger spent most of the summer wondering whether he would receive a new contract to play for the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; American League affiliate. Once that was settled, though, he devoted his time in the first quarter of the season to piling up points for the Bears.Through 19 games, Fitzpatrick was second to Kim Issel of Cape Breton in league scoring with 11 goals and 31 points. Included in those totals was a 12-game scoring streak, in which he scored nine goals and 25 points.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen Ross play any better than he&rsquo;s played this year, and I played with him when he had that 50-goal season (in 1985-86),&rdquo; said Hershey&rsquo;s rookie coach Kevin McCarthy. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just his offense, it&rsquo;s his whole game without the puck&mdash;and his strength.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of scary to see. You don&rsquo;t expect that from a guy his age. Usually when a guy is 20 or 21 you can see it but, to me, his game is better now than it ever has been.&rdquo;McCarthy, assistant coach Al Hill and former Hershey coach John Paddock, now the Flyers&rsquo; assistant GM, lobbied hard to get Fitzpatrick a new contract. The Flyers were at the 50-man roster limit, so Fitzpatrick, who scored 50 goals in 1985-86 and 45 the next season, received an AHL contract with the Bears.Fitzpatrick, in the Flyers&rsquo; organization since 1982, spent most of last season in Vienna, Austria. He returned to Hershey to play 11 regularseason games and nine in the playoffs.&ldquo;I wanted to have a real good camp because Kato (McCarthy) and Hilly really pushed hard for me to get me signed,&rdquo; Fitzpatrick said. &ldquo;All along they told me not to go and sign anywhere else. It was tough because I didn&rsquo;t get signed until the middle of August. I wanted to have a good camp because I didn&rsquo;t want them to end up in a bad situation.&ldquo;I did it for myself and those two guys.&rdquo;The Bears have benefited, as well. Though ravaged by injuries and recalls, the club has sfayed near.500 and in the tight Southern Division race.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011080/8517733-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="722" height="748"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adirondack rookie right winger Sheldon Kennedy was recalled by Detroit.</figcaption></div><h2>HOME SWEET HOME</h2>Adirondack continued its uncanny success at the Glens Falls Civic Center and stayed unbeaten at home with a pair of late comebacks.Glenn Merkosky scored with 2:50 remaining to lift the Wings into a 2-2 tie with Maine Nov. 17. Dennis Holland provided the heroics Nov. 22. He scored the tying goal with 3:48 to play, and assisted on Mike Gober&rsquo;s game-winner with 1:51 left in a 6-5 win over Springfield.The Wings were 4-3-2 in games in which they trailed after two periods.Goaltender Sam St. Laurent and right winger Sheldon Kennedy were recalled by Detroit. Kennedy, a rookie, had seven goals and 11 assists in 18 games.<h2>LACK OF SUPPORT</h2>Utica veteran Rollie Melanson has been playing some of the best hockey of his career, but has a losing record to show for it. Melanson was 4-5-1 and, in one stretch, lost three straight games, even though he only gave up eight goal-s&hellip;Through Nov. 23, Utica was the only AHL club that had not made a single player move with its parent club&hellip;Baltimore center Alfie Turcotte returned to the lineup Nov. 19 after missing five games with an ankle injury, and picked up a goal and an assist in a 4-1 victory over Adirondack. &#9632;

f0029-01

FITZPATRICK PAYING OFF FOR BEARS

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAM0WITZ</div>Greg Johnston&rsquo;s calculated gamble did not work.In early October, the right winger went home to Barrie, Ont., rather than accept the Boston Bruins&rsquo; assignment to Maine. Johnston requested a trade.The Bruins didn&rsquo;t budge on Johnston&rsquo;s demand, suspended him and let him sit at home without pay for more than a month.Johnston finally reported to the American League team Nov. 19 and played his first game three nights later. He had a third-period assist in an 8-5 Mariners&rsquo; victory over Utica.&ldquo;What changed my mind?&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;Basically, I have to start playing again.&rdquo;Johnston, a sixth-year pro, last played for the Bruins in early October. After their first three games, he was assigned to Maine.&ldquo;When I signed my contract at the start of last season,&rdquo; Johnston said, &ldquo;it was under the agreement that I wouldn&rsquo;t play in the minors for Boston again. I either made the Bruins or I was moved.&rdquo;Johnston wound up in Maine last January, but stayed there for about three weeks before being recalled. This time, he voiced his displeasure about being demoted.&ldquo;Quite frankly I don&rsquo;t deserve to be in the minors,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m willing to prove that to another team.&rdquo;While home, Johnston worked out with several local teams. He also played a weekly pick-up game with his old high school teachers.&ldquo;(Returning) was a decision my agent (Don Meehan) and I made,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;But I still feel the same way.&ldquo;Hockey is my career. My stand didn&rsquo;t work the way I felt it would, but I don&rsquo;t regret my decision.&ldquo;I just had to sit back and make another decision. But I still expect to be traded,&rdquo;<h2>CHECK THE VIDEO</h2>Cape Breton&rsquo;s Kim Issel, the league&rsquo;s top scorer, had some help from the videotape to extend his point streak to 13 games in a 5-4 win at Newmarket Nov. 14.On the official scoresheet, Issel was shut out. But the next morning, Cape Breton GM Dave Andrews and Newmarket coach Paul Gardner reviewed the tape and agreed Issel deserved an assist on Dan Currie&rsquo;s first-period goal. One call to league vice president Gord Anziano made the switch official.Issel had three assists two nights later in a 5-3 win at Springfield, then scored two goals Nov. 17 in a 4-2 win at Binghamton.Issel&rsquo;s streak ended at 15 Nov. 18 in a 9-7 loss at Springfield. It was the Oilers&rsquo; seventh road game in nine nights. They were 4-2-1 on the trip, losing the first and last games.<h2>NINE IS ENOUGH</h2>New Haven&rsquo;s losing streak ended Nov. 22 at nine games, three short of the team record, when the Nighthawks won 5-2 at Hershey. Gordie Walker led the way with a hat trick.The Nighthawks lost their ninth straight, 4-0 at home to Utica, Nov. 19. Adding insult to injury, the Devils&rsquo; goalie was Rollie Melanson, who carried the Nighthawks into the Calder Cup finals last season.&ldquo;I look at it this way,&rdquo; said Melanson, signed by New Jersey as a free agent during the summer. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather be with New Jersey and play in Utica than be with Los Angeles and play with 3-18 New Haven.&rdquo;<h2>LONG NIGHTS</h2>Moncton goalie Tom Draper can always expect to be busy when he faces the Halifax Citadels. In his first start since being sent down by Winnipeg. Draper made 59 saves in a 5-1 loss at Halifax Nov. 16. The next night in Moncton, Draper made 38 saves in beating the Citadels 7-5. Last season, in a 3-2 loss at Halifax, Draper made 52 saves&hellip;In a 9-7 win over Cape Breton, 13 of the 16 Springfield players got points. Oddly, one of the players to be blanked was high-scoring center Gilles Thibaudeau, who had 10 points in his first three games with the Indians. &#9632;

GAMBLE FAILS, JOHNSTON RETURNS

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT AND RAND SIMON</div>With the worst offense in the league, the Phoenix Roadrunners were waiting for someone to start scoring. That someone wound up being a player who had only one point, an assist, in his first 10 games.Right winger Jim McGeough exploded with an eight-point week to earn International League player-of-the-week honors for the period ending Nov. 19. McGeough continued his scoring surge with two assists in a 5-4 win over Flint Nov. 21.&ldquo;I went 10 games without scoring,&rdquo; said McGeough, who had four goals in a 7-6 victory over Peoria Nov. 19. &ldquo;I had some chances but just wasn&rsquo;t putting it on the net. I&rsquo;m not doing much different, just more or less waiting for the goalie to make the first move. I&rsquo;m trying to be more patient.&rdquo;McGeough&rsquo;s sudden offensive explosion helped the Roadrunners match their longest winning streak of the season&mdash;two.&ldquo;I think this team can do a little better,&rdquo; said McGeough, back in the IHL after two seasons in Austria. In 1986-87, his last IHL season, he played 18 games for Muskegon, scoring 13 goals and 28 points in 15 regular-season games. He added 14 goals in 15 playoff games.Lately, McGeough (6-5-11) has been playing with team scoring leader Bruce Boudreau (816-24) and Robbie Nichols (5-8-13).&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done some juggling,&rdquo; McGeough said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had players coming and going. That makes it tough to put some wins together. We need some momentum, the best we&rsquo;ve been able to do is win two straight.&rdquo;Before McGeough went on his scoring tear, the Roadrunners were averaging just 2.94 goals a game. Including the win over Peoria, the Roadrunners were up to 3.32 goals a game.<h2>SHOOTOUT STARS</h2>When it comes to shootouts, the Fort Wayne Komets are a ball of fire.The hottest of the shooting stars has been Bob Lakso. While the Komets struggled to a 9-10 record through their first 19 games, they were a perfect 4-0 in games that went to a shootout.Lakso scored shootout goals in three of those games&mdash;Oct. 6 at Indianapolis, Nov. 15 vs. Muskegon and Nov. 18 vs. Phoenix. The Komets were 16-2 in their past 18 shootout games.If teams are scoreless after the five-minute overtime period, a shootout is held.In the shootout, each team gets five penalty shots on the other team&rsquo;s goalie. The team with the most goals wins the game. If the teams are still tied, a sudden-death shootout is held. The visiting team shoots first; if it scores in suddendeath, the home team gets a chance to tie. No player may take more than one shot during the shootout and the goals do not count in the player&rsquo;s statistics.Eleven of the first 19 IHL games that went into overtime had to be decided by shootout. In a recent stretch of 13 games, five went into overtime, and four were decided by shootouts.The Komets were the league&rsquo;s best shootout club, and the West Division-leading Peoria Rivermen the worst, at 1-3. The Rivermen also lost one game in overtime.IHL commissioner Tom Berry said the number of close games has helped increase attendance.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great for the league,&rdquo; Berry said. &ldquo;Attendance is up this season. Some clubs are showing 40 per cent above last year&rsquo;s figures at this time.&rdquo;<h2>ON A ROLL</h2>Indianapolis netminder Jimmy Waite continued to hold the hot hand in goal, leading the ice to wins over Salt Lake (2-1 Nov. 17) and Peoria (4-3 Nov. 18 and 6-1 Nov. 22). The Ice was on a six-game winning streak, and Waite had the best goals-against average in the league by more than half a goal over Salt Lake&rsquo;s Steve Guenette&hellip;Through games of Nov. 19, the Flint Spirits had the league&rsquo;s top power play at 31.5 per cent. The best penalty killers were the Ice, successful 92.3 per cent of the time. &#9632;

McGEOUGH GETS PHOENIX OFF AND RUNNING

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011216/8517812-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Northern Michigan goalie Bill Pye, shown here fending off Lowell&rsquo;s Randy LeBrasseur in a 1988-89 contest, has struggled to regain the form he showed that season.</figcaption></div>In the time it took for the ink of two signatures to dry last summer, the life and times of Northern Michigan goaltender Bill Pye changed drastically.Robb Stauber of Minnesota and Curtis Joseph of Wisconsin opted to forego their remaining seasons of collegiate eligibility to join NHL teams in June.Stauber, the 1988 Hobey Baker Award winner as the nation&rsquo;s best college player, signed with the Los Angeles Kings after his junior season.Joseph, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association player of the year in 1988-89, signed a free-agent contract with the St. Louis Blues following his freshman campaign.The two were the WCHA&rsquo;s marquee goalies last season, even though Pye emerged to lead the Wildcats to the league playoff title and win the tournament&rsquo;s most valuable player award. Their sudden (but hardly unexpected) departures opened up space on the billboard this year for Pye.He showed he deserved the attention, playing extremely well for a U.S. Select team that finished sixth at the Pravda Cup in Leningrad this past April, and at the Olympic Sports Festival in July held in Oklahoma City, Okla.But two months into the college season, Pye was not living up to his billing.In his first 11 starts for the Wildcats, he compiled a 5-5-1 record, 4.81 goals against average and.851 save percentage&mdash;not the kind of numbers the Buffalo Sabres expected when they chose him in the sixth round of the 1989 entry draft.But Sabres&rsquo; scout Rudy Migay, who followed Pye closely last season, says there&rsquo;s no concern in the organization about the goaltender&rsquo;s slow start.&ldquo;The season&rsquo;s just started,&rdquo; says Migay. &ldquo;He really looks like he&rsquo;s going to be a good goaltender. Fundementally he&rsquo;s sound and he&rsquo;s got lots of time to develop. All we can do is wait.&rdquo;Pye isn&rsquo;t as patient.&ldquo;You look at the stats right now and I&rsquo;m not there,&rdquo; says Pye.Two huge factors figure in Pye&rsquo;s up-and-down start, according to Northern Michigan coach Rick Comley: High expectations and injuries to his teammates.&ldquo;There has been a lot of pressure put on him,&rdquo; says Comley. &ldquo;Last year, he just came out of the woodwork. Joseph and Stauber got all the attention. Now he&rsquo;s being called the leading candidate to be the Olympic goaltender in 1992.&rdquo;Pye, a5-foot-10, 172-pound junior from Canton, Mich., admits the pressure has been building ever since Northern Michigan was tabbed as one of the pre-season title favorites in the WCHA.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s in your head and you think you have to go out there every night and do good,&rdquo; he says.The heat was turned up in late October when a series of injuries hit the Wildcats defensive corps. Four veteran blue liners&mdash;Phil Soukoroff and Pete Podrasky one week, Brad Werenka and Phil Neururer the next&mdash;sustained knee injuries. As a result, Comley was forced to use center Phil Brown and right winger Eric LeMarque on defense. As of Nov. 18, only Podrasky and Neururer had returned to the lineup.&ldquo;He (Pye) just hasn&rsquo;t had a very good team in front of him the last three weeks,&rdquo; Comley says. &ldquo;No one is playing really well. And he knows not only does he have to play good, he has to play great for us to have a chance.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like last year when I had all that help,&rdquo; says Pye. &ldquo;This year it&rsquo;s tough with all the injuries we&rsquo;ve had. Guys are still working hard, but we&rsquo;re not going to win pretty sometimes.&ldquo;Guys played well in front of me (last season). Most of the time I just had to make that one save. I didn&rsquo;t have to make that pass over or whatever. This year it&rsquo;s different. I&rsquo;m not getting as many shots, maybe, as last year, but it seems like they&rsquo;re all quality shots. It&rsquo;s tough and it&rsquo;s something I have to adjust to until our team gets healthy again.&rdquo;Consequently, Pye, 20, has tried to do too much. Comley says if he had a completely healthy backup&mdash;sophomore backup Willie Mitchell has a bad back and freshman Rob Kruhlak broke a big toe in practice&mdash;he would use him more to take some of the weight off Pye&rsquo;s shoulders. That is because the added pressure has produced inconsistency.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen the ability to play very well one day and not the next,&rdquo; says Comley. For example, Nov. 10-11 against Minnesota: Pye almost singlehandedly lifted the Wildcats to a 5-5 tie with the defending WCHA champions the first night, then pulled himself the following evening in the third period of an 11-4 loss.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s had the same consistency as the rest of the team&mdash;spurts here and there, (but) we haven&rsquo;t put together 60 solid minutes,&rdquo; says NMU center Dean Antos. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no knock on him. It&rsquo;s just that the whole team has been that lax. When a team is lax in front of you, you can&rsquo;t stop everything.&rdquo;A lot of WCHA teams got the impression Pye could stop everything last season when he compiled a 26-15-2 record, 3.15 goals-against average and, .904 save percentage as Northern Michigan earned a berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.Wisconsin&rsquo;s Jeff Sauer, who directed the U.S. team to a 1-3-0 record in the Pravda Cup, says Pye is a more fun-damentally sound goaltender than Joseph.&ldquo;He really kept us in a lot of games over there,&rdquo; says Sauer.Comley believes Pye will work himself out of his current difficulties. Getting Werenka, one of the WCHA&rsquo;s best defensemen, and Soukoroff back would help immensely. But Pye knows he must do his part, too.&ldquo;I know deep inside I got to where I am right now by working hard,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I have to do this year. This is a new year. All you can do is go out there and try.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0030-01

PYE IN THE SKY

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Andy Baggot</div>Bill Pye is by no means a certainty to take one of two goaltending jobs on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team.The list of candidates to tend goal in Albertville, France, is at 13 and growing, says Bob Johnson, executive director of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States.At the amateur level, Johnson says, there are the eight collegians who took part in the Olympic Sports Festival in Oklahoma City this past July.That group includes Pye, Matt DeiGuidice of Maine, Dave DePinto of Illinois-Chicago, Chad Erickson of Minnesota-Duluth, Les Kuntar of St. Lawrence, Tom Newman and Jeff Stolp of Minnesota, and Damian Rhodes of Michigan Tech.Another candidate is Chuckie Hughes of Harvard, who will pair with Stolp on the U.S. team that will take part in the World Junior Championships, Dec. 26-Jan. 4 in Helsinki, Finland.Johnson says Bryan Schoen of Denver University and Scott LaGrand of Boston College are two other collegians who merit consideration.&ldquo;All these guys are candidates,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;Right now it&rsquo;s just a matter of who develops.&ldquo;Unless someone comes out of the woodwork, two of those guys will be on the Olympic team. Goalies are the hardest guys in the world to scout. You have to watch them over a long period of time.&rdquo;On the professional level, former Hobey Baker Award winner Robb Stauber, now in the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; organization, might be considered. So. too, might New York Rangers&rsquo; farmhand Mike Richter, one of three Team USA goalies at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary.The top Americans playing in the NHL include John Vanbiesbrouck of the New York Rangers, Jon Casey of Minnesota and Tom Barrasso of Pittsburgh. NHLers are eligible to take part in the games, but Johnson said it is unlikely any of the three would be available. &#9632;

WHO WILL MIND NET FOR ’92 OLYMPIANS?

<div class="byline">BY LARRY MAHONEY</div>Defense has become the trademark of Maine&rsquo;s hockey program&mdash;and it has stayed that way, despite the graduation of three top plus-minus players.Defensemen Bob Beers (plus-23) and Vince Guidotti (plus-16), and right winger Dave Capuano (plus-21) are gone, but the 1989-90 Black Bears haven&rsquo;t missed a beat.Through their first eight games, they allowed just 16 goals, and no team had scored more than three against them in a game.In 1986-87 (3.66) and &lsquo;87-88 (3.46), the Bears had the best goals-against average in Hockey East. Last season only Boston College&rsquo;s 3.23 topped Maine&rsquo;s 3.73 GAA.The Bears accomplishments this season came with 13 underclassmen in the lineup as regulars. Six of the forwards in the 5-1 win over Merrimack Nov. 20 were first-year players.So why have the Bears been so good on defense?&ldquo;First of all, we&rsquo;ve had great goaltending (from Scott King and Matt DelGuidice),&rdquo; said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. &ldquo;Our first-year defensemen (Christian Lalonde, Brian Straub and Lan Murphy) have given us an unexpected boost and the forwards have really worked hard defensively.&ldquo;Every year it&rsquo;s the same story. People expect us to be weak on defense and then we go out and don&rsquo;t give up a lot of goals. I&rsquo;ve also got to give credit to the videotape breakdowns. If you make a mistake defensively, it&rsquo;s pointed out in front of the whole team.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011121/8517867-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="566" height="728"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Cole was undefeated in the Huskies&rsquo; net after five games.</figcaption></div>Several players had their own theory on the early-season defensive success.&ldquo;Team defense has become a tradition at Maine,&rdquo; said King, a senior. &ldquo;You either play good defense or you don&rsquo;t play.&ldquo;Even in the NHL, where you normally don&rsquo;t have a large turnover of players, the early-season games are usually high-scoring. But everybody has been reacting and everybody knows what his role is. Everybody knows what he has to do to play,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;The forwards have been coming back well and that&rsquo;s made our jobs a lot easier,&rdquo; said Burke. &ldquo;Christian (Lalonde) has helped us out a lot. He has given us a lot more depth.&rdquo;Lalonde said the Bears may be young up front, &ldquo;but there&rsquo;s a lot of talent and a lot of competition for spots. The (forwards) know they have to be at the tops of their games if they&rsquo;re going to play. They&rsquo;re also intelligent players and that has sped up their progress.&rdquo;<h2>COLE HOT</h2>Northeastern sophomore goalie Tom Cole remained unbeaten following a 39-save 5-3 win over Boston College Nov. 21.That gave Cole a 5-0 record in Hockey East games, a 2.60 goals-against average and a.918 save percentage for the upstart Huskies, who were 5-1 in league play.The loss dropped the Ealges&rsquo; league record to 1-3. BC, the coaches pre-season choice to win the Hockey East championship, scored just 12 goals in its first four league games.<h2>SUPER LINE</h2>The Merrimack line of center Andy Heinze, left winger Agostino Casale and right winger Howie Rosenblatt combined for 12 of Merrimack&rsquo;s 22 goals through its first eight games.Casale had four goals and five assists during a three-game stretch (Northeastern Nov. 11, Lowell Nov. 17, and Maine Nov. 20). &#9632;

f0031-01

BEARS TAKE PRIDE IN TEAM DEFENSE

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>It&rsquo;s not unusual to see Colgate sitting on top of the Eastern College Athletic Conference standings. What is unusual is that the 4-0 Red Raiders have been winning with defense.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re just not making mistakes back there,&rdquo; said Colgate coach Terry Slater. &ldquo;The three guys we lost (Mike Bishop, Scott Young and Todd Wolf) were all good hockey players, but those guys liked to go with the puck and become forwards and, at times, leave no one back. The freshmen are a little afraid of making the rush and they&rsquo;re staying back on defense.&rdquo;Captain Karl Clauss, a senior, and juniors Steve Poapst and Gregg Wolf provide experience. They&rsquo;re ably helped by three rookies&mdash;Troy Mohns, Bob Haddock and Allen Brown&mdash;who came to the fore in pre-season practice.All three came to Colgate from Ontario&rsquo;s Central Junior League. Mohns, of Petawawa, Ont., had nine goals and 37 assists in 56 games, in his third season with the Pembroke Lumber Kings. Haddock, of Pierre-fonds, Que., picked up 60 points (951) in 50 games for the Hawkesbury Hawks last season and Brown of Ottawa, who played for the Nepean Raiders, was voted the most valuable defenseman in the Central Junior League&rsquo;s all-star game.But the man most responsible for Colgate&rsquo;s quick start was junior goalie Dave Gagnon. After the first four league games, he had a leagueleading 1.25 goals-against average.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s one of the best goalies in college hockey,&rdquo; said Slater. &ldquo;He can handle the puck, he knows how to maneuver and control the puck. He&rsquo;s also a lot like (Ron) Hextall. He has a great shot. I really think he could try to score a goal, if he wanted to. He has a lot of velocity on his shot.&rdquo;Gagnon, a junior from Essex, Ont. started 28 of 31 games in 1988-89, compiling a 3.77 goals-against average. He also broke the Colgate record for consecutive wins by a goalie last season with 10.<h2>STREAKS OVER</h2>Two streaks came to an end Friday, Nov. 17.Brown, in winning 3-0 over Vermont broke its 27-game winless streak. That game also marked the first career shutout in 70 games for Brown senior goalie Chris Harvey.Harvard saw its 16-game home-ice win streak snapped the same night, as Army stunned the Crimson 4-3 at Bright Arena. The night started with the raising of Harvard&rsquo;s NCAA Division I national championship banner, but ended with Army&rsquo;s first win against the Crimson since 1964-65.Senior center Rich Sheridan scored the game-winner for the Cadets at 11:39 of the third period.<h2>DONATO OUT</h2>Harvard has lost junior left winger Ted Donato until after Christmas. Donato, who had scored two goals and two assists in Harvard&rsquo;s first four games, suffered a broken bone in his shoulder in a 9-6 win over Princeton Nov. 18&hellip;RPI junior left winger Mick LeBlanc has a knack of being in the right place at the right time. In the first six games of the season, LeBlanc had three goals, two of them gamewinners. Of his 13 career goals, five were game-winners&hellip;Clarkson junior center Mike Casselman has made the most of the Golden Knights&rsquo; powerplay opportunities. Of his first eight goals of the year, seven came on power plays. Those eight goals, in seven games, were more than he scored in his first two years (seven goals in 55 games) with the Knights. &#9632;

RAIDERS GO 4-0—WITH DEFENSE

<div class="byline">BY MATT CARLSON</div>Hockey skills are hereditary in the Roberts family of Detroit.Michigan senior defenseman Alex Roberts and his cousin. Wolverine freshman center/left winger David Roberts, both sprout from a bountiful family tree of collegiate skaters.Alex&rsquo;s father, Jack, played for Michigan State and was captain of the Spartans in 1960. David&rsquo;s father, Doug, also skated with MSU in the 1960&rsquo;s. Doug went on to play 10 seasons in the NHL with Detroit, Oakland and Boston. Another uncle, Dave, also skated for Michigan State, but did not advance to the NHL.And Gordie, an 11-year NHL veteran now with St. Louis, is an uncle to both Alex and David. Gordie, 32, opted to play for the Victoria Cougars of the Western League instead of taking the college hockey route.&ldquo;I think I was bom wearing a pair of skates,&rdquo; said Alex. &ldquo;I started skating when I was 18 months old. 1 was just bom into the game. Anyone with the name Roberts was a hockey player.&rdquo;Alex, a 6-foot-1,185-pounder, was chosen by Chicago in the 1989 NHL supplemental draft. David was the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; fifth pick in the 1989 NHL entry draft.<h2>CHARITABLE TEAM</h2>Western Michigan coach Bill Wilkinson said he likes to see his players get involved with local charities in their spare time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011193/8517922-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="559" height="677"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lee Cannon faced 63 shots in a 6-3 loss to Western Michigan.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;They try to do something within the community,&rdquo; said Wilkinson. &ldquo;They do it as a team. I think it&rsquo;s good that people give something back to the community.&rdquo;Since 1985-86, WMU players have concentrated on the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes for dying children. This season, the Bronco skaters are also assisting a local effort called KIDAP&mdash;Kids in Domestic Assault Program. Housed in Kalamazoo&rsquo;s WMCA, the program provides shelter to abused and battered women and their children.Players visit the children, ranging from infancy to age 14, for at least one hour a week.&ldquo;These are normal kids who are just in tough situations,&rdquo; said WMU sports information assistant Cindy Paavola. &ldquo;They need good male role models.&rdquo;Senior center Paul Polillo is the Broncos&rsquo; player co-ordinator for the program.<h2>CANNON FODDER</h2>Miami sophomore goaltender Lee Cannon now knows what it&rsquo;s like to be on the other end of the gun as the target of rapid fire.In his first collegiate start, Nov. 18 at Western Michigan, the 5-foot-8, 160-pound Holland, N.Y., native faced a school-record 63 shots in the Redskins&rsquo; 6-3 loss. Previously, the most ever allowed by a Miami team was 61, in a 15-0 drubbing at Bowling Green, Oct. 27, 1978.Cannon also set Miami records for most saves in a game (57) and most saves in a period (24, the first).The Redskins&rsquo; third-string netminder, behind Mark Michaud and Vito Mazzoli, Cannon had played just 8:17 this season prior to his shootinggallery start. He allowed no goals on seven shots in 7-2 Miami loss to Lake Superior State Oct. 20. Last season, Cannon played only one period, allowing four goals on 10 shots against Michigan State.&ldquo;He was just great&hellip;phenomenal,&rdquo; said Miami coach George Gwoz-decky. &ldquo;I just wanted to see how he could play.&rdquo;Although Miami was outshot 51-9 after two periods, the Redskins trailed only 5-2. They scored at the start of the third to make it 5-3.&ldquo;Because of him, we were still in the game,&rdquo; said Gwozdecky. &ldquo;And most of his saves were tough saves on shots from the grade A scoring area. I don&rsquo;t know many goaltenders who can make 57 saves every night.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0032-01

HOCKEY GENE RUNS IN ROBERTS FAMILY

<div class="byline">BY ANDY BAGGOT</div>The Northern Michigan Wildcats could be excused for feeling Badgered to death Nov. 18.After dropping Wisconsin 11-5 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series opener at Marquette, the Wildcats were ahead 5-2, with 4:13 remaining in the second game. But Wisconsin pulled within one with 1:38 remaining, then tied it 5-5 on a goal by defenseman Sean Hill with two seconds left. Both goals came after Badger goaltender Jon Michelizzi had been pulled.Freshman Badger defenseman Barry Richter scored the game-winner 1:09 into the extra session.Wisconsin killed off 11 of 12 Northern Michigan power plays, in-eluding four 5-on-3 situations and a five-minute man-advantage.<h2>GOALIES HURT</h2>Colorado College ended a 20-game losing streak against Minnesota Nov. 17, when it rallied for a 7-4 victory over the Golden Gophers in Colorado Springs.The victory did not come cheaply, however. Both goaltenders&mdash;freshman Denis Casey and backup Jon Gustafson&mdash;were injured. Casey sustained a severely pulled groin muscle and Gustafson developed a hip flexor problem.Casey was expected to miss three weeks of action and Gustafson possibly two.That left freshman Paul Babalich as the Tigers&rsquo; starting goalie. Babalich was credited with 40 saves during CC&rsquo;s 3-2 overtime loss the following night and was named the game&rsquo;s first star.Despite the overtime loss, Colorado coach Brad Buetow was pleased with his team&rsquo;s play.&ldquo;It was a game that could have gone either way,&rdquo; said Buetow. &ldquo;This series (split) shows you the parity of this league. Minnesota was picked to finish first and we were picked to finish last.&rdquo;The loss for the Tigers was their first home defeat of the season, after seven consecutive wins. Last season Colorado was 4-12-1 at the Broadmoor World Arena.<h2>GOAL DROUGHT</h2>One of the reasons Michigan Tech got off to such a slow start (2-10 overall, 2-8 in the WCHA as of Nov. 22) was the lack of scoring by center Shawn Harrison. In his first 10 games, Harrison did not have a goal (0-7-7).The senior, from Victoria, B.C., was a first-team all-WCHA choice last season after leading the league in scoring with 16 goals and 30 assists.<h2>DUCK!</h2>During the Nov. 18 game at Northern Michigan, Wisconsin defenseman Rob Andringa lost his helmet during a scrum in the slot. He had just picked it up when teammate Hill&rsquo;s shot from the point hit him in the forehead. Seventeen stitches were required to close the wound&hellip;Equipment manager Bill Blohm of Northern Michigan didn&rsquo;t waste any of his own time meeting terms of a new NCAA regulation, which restricts insignias on game pants to 1 &frac12; inches square. He made the alterations on the team bus, during an eight-hour ride from Marquette to Minneapolis. &#9632;

BADGER COMEBACK STIFLES WILDCATS

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011077/8517977-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Voltiguers&rsquo; center Steve Chartrand helped the team out of its 14-game losing streak by scoring seven goals in one game. And he&rsquo;s been leading the team ever since.</figcaption></div>Steve Chartrand and the Drummondville Voltigeurs share a common goal: They&rsquo;re both trying to prove they belong.Chartrand, a slick, offensive center with the Volts, is trying to convince the Toronto Maple Leafs that he deserves a spot somewhere in their organization.Selected in the 12th and final round (234th overall) of the NHL entry draft last June, Chartrand evidently didn&rsquo;t make much of an impact during his first training camp. He lasted only one week with the Leafs before being dispatched to the Leafs&rsquo; American League farm team, the Newmarket Saints.The Saints then returned him to the Quebec League team as an overage junior Oct. 6, without so much as a contract offer.But the fun was just beginning for the 5-foot-9, 160-pound native of Verdun. By the time Chartrand returned, the Volts were already 0-60. Not long after, the team eclipsed the league record for losses to start the season&mdash;the mark of 10 was set by Cornwall in 1970-71 and tied by the same franchise in 1977-78&mdash;and lost 14 straight before they picked up their first win.But in the team&rsquo;s first win of the season, a 9-1 triumph over Victoriaville Oct. 27, Chartrand scored seven goals. And he&rsquo;s been leading the Volts back to respectability ever since.&ldquo;I can say that, if we were going to win, I felt like I had to do it because I&rsquo;m 20,&rdquo; said Chartrand. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m there to help the team. I felt like it was time to win that game (against Victoriaville) and I did something about it.&rdquo;<h2>QMJHL</h2>Although they were still in last place in midNovember with a 7-19-1 record, they had a respectable 7-5-1 mark after the losing streak.But duplicating last year&rsquo;s 37-28-5 record will be impossible. A more realistic goal for this year&rsquo;s team is a playoff berth.In the midst of the losing streak, Gervais Rioux&rsquo; job as head coach appeared to be in jeopardy. At one point, it was reportedly suggested the 37-year-old Rioux had until the end of October to turn the team&rsquo;s fortunes around or he would be fired.Although Rioux said he had the support of the team&rsquo;s board of directors, he admitted he did spend some sleepness nights worrying about his future.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure all the coaches in this situation would think the same,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Mentally, I had to remain tough.&rdquo;Chartrand has also tried to remain mentally tough, despite an uncertain future. If Toronto isn&rsquo;t interested, he hopes to be able to prove his worth elsewhere.&ldquo;I have no idea where I stand with them and that bothers me. Maybe it&rsquo;s because of my size.&rdquo;And maybe it&rsquo;s just a lack of communication. Leafs&rsquo; general manager Floyd Smith said Chartrand had an impressive camp but, since the Leafs had an overabundance of young talent, they decided to give him another season of junior hockey.&ldquo;We really like Steve and we thought he was one of our better players in camp,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;In fact, we&rsquo;ll have to get up there to talk to him soon.&rdquo;The QMJHL&rsquo;s rich got richer, and poor got poorer.On Nov. 20, the Quebec Nordiques returned 19-year-old goalie Stephane Fiset to the first-place Victoriaville Tigres. Hours later, the lastplace Drummondville Voltigeurs lost 19-year-old left winger Claude Boivin to the Philadelphia Flyers on an emergency recall.Fiset, Quebec&rsquo;s third choice (24th overall) in 1988, appeared in six games with the Nordiques, posting an 0-5-1 record and a 5.96 goals-against average.Fiset, who led the league last season with a 3.45 GAA and was named the Canadian League&rsquo;s outstanding goalie for his efforts, agreed with the Nordiques&rsquo; decision.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not very surprised,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I knew I would come back to junior this year. I just didn&rsquo;t know when.&rdquo;Under NHL rules, Boivin can stay with the Flyers as long as there are fewer than 12 healthy forwards on the active roster.&mdash;Herb Zurkowsky<h2>OHL</h2>The Cornwall Royals suspended three veteran players, including the Ontario League&rsquo;s leading scorer, after a car accident in downtown Cornwall resulted in criminal charges against one Royals&rsquo; player.Paul Cain, a 20-year-old center with the Royals, was charged by Cornwall police Nov. 22 with care and control of a vehicle while impaired, having a blood-alcohol level exceeding.08 per cent, and failing to remain at the scene of an accident after the car he was driving struck a parked car early that morning.Cain was suspended indefinitely and sent to his home in Scarborough. He is to appear in Cornwall Provincial Court Dec. 16. There were no occupants in the other vehicle and there were no injuries.Right winger Mike Jackson, 20, and center Darcy Cahill, 19, were with Cain at the time but neither was charged. The Royals sent Jackson home to Mississauga and Cahill to Kingston. Both were suspended indefinitely.All three players had violated the team&rsquo;s 11 p.m. curfew.Cahill was leading the league in scoring at the time of the incident with 16-36-52 totals in 23 games. Cain had 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points, and Jackson, recently acquired in a trade with the Dukes of Hamilton, had 10 goals and 14 assists in 17 games. In two games with the Royals, he had two goals and two assists.Royals&rsquo; coach Marc Crawford said he had difficulty suspending three of his best four forwards, but he felt it was the best thing to do under the circumstances.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re certainly not hanging these kids out to dry,&rdquo; said Crawford. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re kids and kids make mistakes. This was a situation that warranted strong action by our team while we evaluate the situation.&ldquo;We have a very young team, with 12 first-year players. And we thought it was important that they (the other players) got the message.&rdquo;&mdash;Ken Campbell<h2>WHL</h2>Criminal charges against two Tri-City American players were stayed by the Saskatchewan Department of Justice Nov. 21.Brian Sakic and Wade Smith, both 18, were charged with sexual assault Oct. 16 while members of the Swift Current Broncos. They were traded to the Americans Oct. 18, at their own request.The charges against the two players haven&rsquo;t been dropped, but it appears as though their legal problems are behind them. The charges can be reinstated within one year, but only by the provincial Minister of Justice.&ldquo;The matter is basically finished as far as we&rsquo;re concerned,&rdquo; said Swift Current&rsquo;s Frank MacBean, legal counsel for both players. &ldquo;There would have to be extremely unusual circumstances for the charges to be reinstated. It&rsquo;s almost unheard of.&rdquo;Swift Current police also laid mischief charges against the 17-year-old girl who made the complaint. Her name can&rsquo;t be released under the terms of Canada&rsquo;s Young Offenders&rsquo; Act.The incident caused great anguish for Sakic and Smith, who were traded to the Americans for defensemen Murray Duval and Jason Smith. The Broncos had a 7-1-0 record before the trade and were 7-9-0 after it. Neither Sakic nor Smith would comment on the matter.&ldquo;It has had a very negative effect on the players and their careers, their families and on the Swift Current hockey team,&rdquo; said Mac-Bean. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve had to endure quite a bit. When they played in Medicine Hat (with the Americans Nov. 14) the crowd was yelling &lsquo;Rapist, rapist&rsquo; every time they stepped on the ice.&rdquo;Rick Brodsky resigned as chairman of the Western League&rsquo;s Board of Governors Nov. 20 after a dispute at a meeting erupted over the renewal of president Ed Chynoweth&rsquo;s contract.It is believed Brodsky, president of the Saskatoon Blades, grew disenchanted with a small faction of governors who opposed the return of Chynoweth for another term.Chynoweth, who could not be reached for comment, has been president of the WHL for the past 17 years.Brian Shaw, general manager of the Portland Winter Hawks and vice-president of the board, replaced Brodsky as chairman immediately following the meeting.&mdash;Vance Oliver &#9632;

f0033-01

CHARGED-UP VOLT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011212/8518022-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011129/8518015-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="3146" height="3266"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011101/8518008-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="3087" height="3599"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01583/8518245-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0041-01

SCOREBOARD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01596/8518276-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="469" height="645"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE MOLINARI</figcaption></div>You&rsquo;ve heard a lot in recent years about how Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are in a class by themselves, and how Steve Yzerman enrolled in that most elite group last season.You certainly could get that impression from the Hart Trophy voting last spring and maybe you&rsquo;ve even read it in this rectangle from time to time.A lot of folks still feel that way, including the rather peculiar-looking creature pictured above, but if you want to take the events of the first quarter of this season seriously, the class is failing. Badly.Consider:&#9632; Gretzky&rsquo;s team, Los Angeles, was supposed to challenge Calgary for the Smythe Division championship. After 20 games, fighting off Edmonton and Winnipeg, and catching up to Vancouver, were more pressing concerns for the Kings.&#9632; Pittsburgh, spurred by Lemieux, was expected to dominate the Patrick Division. When the first quarter ended, the Penguins had no more than a tenuous grip on fourth place and were straining to put some distance between themselves and the fearsome New York Islanders.&#9632; As for Detroit, where Yzerman works&hellip;Suffice to say this hockey season was shaping as the worst thing to hit Michigan since somebody in Tokyo got the idea that making cars wouldn&rsquo;t be a bad idea. It was tough to like the odds on a third straight Norris Division title for the Red Wings when Detroit was in mortal combat with Quebec for the right to draft Mike Ricci next June.Naturally, it is unfair to attribute a team&rsquo;s troubles to the performance of one player, but Gretzky, Lemieux and Yzerman are not just one of the boys on their respective teams.All are pulling down somewhere around $2 million per season, which puts them in a salary neighborhood most of their teammates aren&rsquo;t even allowed to drive through. They&rsquo;re making major money because they put bodies in the building, and because they&rsquo;re expected to lead their teams to the promised land.No one questions their ability to sell seats, but it looked like they were mostly leading their teams in circles through mid-November.Through his first 20 games, Gretzky had 10 goals and 30 assists to lead the NHL in scoring. Pretty nice, albeit not overwhelming, numbers. And it&rsquo;s not exactly unprecedented to see Gretzky&rsquo;s name on top of the points list. But there is the nagging matter of his plus-minus rating, which actually was neither. Gretzky checked in at zero.And the statistic that matters most&mdash;the won-lost record&mdash;was even less impressive. The Kings were a game under.500.The really scary part is that the numbers put up by Gretzky and the Kings were the best the Big Three could manage.Lemieux had 11 goals and 26 assists in his first 20 games. He was also a minus-2 as the Penguins staggered to an 8-10-2 start&mdash;with precisely two of those victories against teams that had a winning record after the first quarter.Yzerman had nine goals and 18 assists in his first 20 games&mdash;and a minus-6, the same as Doug Houda.Now, there are some obvious perils with reading too much into statistics, especially ones compiled in the first quarter of a season. Put too much emphasis on what they say, and you might get the idea Viacheslav Fetisov used to be known as the &ldquo;Bobby Stumpf of Soviet hockey,&rdquo; or that Gary Roberts is the greatest offensive force ever to play left wing.Both notions, of course, are outrageous. Fetisov actually was called the &ldquo;Fred Saskamoosc of Soviet hockey&rdquo; before he joined New Jersey, and the consensus choice for the most prolific scorer the left side has produced probably would be Gary Rissling.And lest anyone read too much into the events of the first quarter, there were indications the Big Three was getting over its unseemly bout with mortality.The Kings opened the second quarter with a victory that pulled them back to.500, and the Red Wings served notice that Ricci didn&rsquo;t fit into their plans, when they went into Le Colisee for Game No. 21 and beat the Nordiques by a touchdown. The trail of befuddled defensemen Lemieux left behind in the past few weeks suggests it might be a bit premature to begin engraving, say, Joe Nieuwendyk&rsquo;s name on the Hart Trophy.Remember, there still are about four months left in the regular season. It might just be a little too early to dismiss the class. &#9632;

f0042-01

BIG THREE: 20 GAMES DOES NOT A SEASON MAKE

&hellip;when Jason Miller was selected 18th overall by New Jersey in the 1989 NHL entry draft, it marked the fourth straight year a Medicine Hat Tigers&rsquo; player was picked in the first round? No other team&mdash;major junior, college or other&mdash;has a current first-round placement streak of more than one year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02364/8518307-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="994" height="543"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jason Miller</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0042-02

DID YOU KNOW…

<h2>FLAMES</h2>Add Flames&rsquo; defenseman Gary Suter to the growing list of Americans sour about the NHL&rsquo;s television deal with SportsChannel America. Now in the second year of a three-year deal, SportsChannel still provides limited access to U.S. television audiences. In Suter&rsquo;s hometown of Madison, Wisc., they had SportsChannel until just recently. &ldquo;They took it off the air to put on a music video channel,&rdquo; said Suter. &ldquo;All of a sudden, you need a satellite dish to watch any games. They came out with last month&rsquo;s program guide and now they&rsquo;ve got MTV instead. So instead of watching hockey, they&rsquo;re watching acid freaks banging drums and doing videos.&rdquo;&hellip;Center Theoren Fleury received his second high-sticking major of the season, for clipping Montreal&rsquo;s Bobby Smith inside Smith&rsquo;s mouth Nov. 20. However, because referee Kerry Fraser ruled the cut accidental, Fleury did not have to serve a one-game suspension.<h2>OILERS</h2>Normand Lacombe sat 12 straight games in the press box, then followed with his first career hat trick, as the Oilers beat the New York Islanders 7-2 Nov. 25. &ldquo;1 was angry, I felt I deserved chances to play, but I had all kinds of personal problems that needed to be straightened out,&rdquo; Lacombe said. The right winger&rsquo;s mother died before the 1988-89 regular season was over, but the effect on him was delayed. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t sink in during the playoffs, but when I came to camp, I found it difficult to concentrate. Now things are better with me. It (his concern) was mostly my dad, but he&rsquo;s a lot better now.&rdquo;&hellip;Accident-prone Oilers&rsquo; goalie Grant Fuhr was the butt of team jokes for his three-way collision with Vancouver&rsquo;s Daryl Stanley and teammate Dave Brown. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve gotta learn to get out of the way,&rdquo; said Brown, lecturing Fuhr in a kibitzing fashion. &ldquo;He (Stanley) wasn&rsquo;t going to score anyhow. I pushed the net off (its mooring). Trouble is, you were in it. When you were laying there, I was waiting for you to get up. Then I thought you were waiting for the penalty to be called.&rdquo; How did Fuhr view the mishap? &ldquo;I remember watching the puck and then I saw somebody coming. The next thing I remember was talking to (therapist) Kenny Lowe,&rdquo; said Fuhr, who had his head bounce off the crossbar and left the 4-3 win 4:04 into the second period.<h2>JETS</h2>After winning three and tying one on a five-game road trip, the Jets returned home Nov. 23, losing 5-2 to St. Louis and 3-1 to New Jersey two nights later, despite 76 shots in two games. In their last four games, the Jets had 155 shots and only 10 goals. &ldquo;It&rsquo;d be a different situation if we were getting 15, 16 shots a game, but we&rsquo;re getting 30. 35,&rdquo; said Dave McLlwain, the only Jet to score in the New Jersey game. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re making every goaltender in this league look good.&rdquo; Jets&rsquo; coach Bob Murdoch said his players need to make it simple. &ldquo;Right now, we miss too many of our scoring opportunities by overhandling the puck or by missing the target or by trying to make the perfect play,&rdquo; said Murdoch&hellip;Daniel Berthiaume&rsquo;s hot streak came to an end Nov. 23. After losing only twice in nine starts and giving up just 23 goals in the process, Winnipeg&rsquo;s No. 1 goaltender was humbled against St. Louis. The Blues beat him three times on seven shots and Berthiaume was pulled at 12:19 of the first period&mdash;the first time this year a Jets&rsquo; goaltender has failed to go the distance.<h2>KINGS</h2>On the strength of a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) the Kings moved within two points of the first-place Calgary Flames. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of neat to be within striking distance,&rdquo; Wayne Gretzky said after the Kings tied the Vancouver Canucks 3-3 Nov. 25. &ldquo;We had sort of hit bottom, then (coach) Tommy (Webster) got real mad at us and we&rsquo;ve responded real well,&rdquo; said goalie Kelly Hrudey. &ldquo;All the guys are playing like they have something to prove.&rdquo;&hellip;Defenseman Barry Beck returned to the lineup in a 6-3 win over Chicago Nov. 22 after missing four games with a broken right thumb, but right winger Bob Kudelski broke the fourth knuckle on his left hand in a second-period fight with Wayne Van Dorp and was expected to be sidelined for four weeks.<h2>CANUCKS</h2>While coach Bob McCammon&rsquo;s frustration with underachieving Vladimir Krutov mounted, the 29-year-old Soviet left winger got a vote of confidence from the man who is writing the checks. Arthur Griffiths, the Canucks&rsquo; assistant to the chairman, said he wasn&rsquo;t disappointed in Krutov&rsquo;s productivity and apparent lack of hustle. &ldquo;Krutov isn&rsquo;t skating like he can, but he isn&rsquo;t different than any other European,&rdquo; Griffiths said. &ldquo;Petri Skriko went though an adjustment period and so did (former Canuck) Ivan Hlinka. I think waiting until after Christmas with Krutov is the proper thing to do.&rdquo;&hellip;Rich Sutter received a bad cut over his eyelid when the puck glanced off Steve Weeks&rsquo; blocker and hit Sutter in the face during a pre-game warmup. The cut took several stitches to close. Sutter played wearing a shield, but said he will probably take it off when the injury heals. &ldquo;It (the shield) takes away from my game,&rdquo; he said-&hellip;Brian Burke, the Canucks&rsquo; director of hockey operations, returned from a scouting trip to Finland and Sweden where he checked out Leif Rohlin, the Canucks&rsquo; second pick in the &lsquo;88 draft. &#9632;

SUTER’S SINGING THE MADISON BLUES

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BEAMISH</div>Trade winds may soon start blowing in Vancouver.Frustrated after only one win in nine games, Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; coach Bob McCammon was getting antsy.&ldquo;We have too many of the same kind of players,&rdquo; McCammon lamented, after the Canucks blew a 3-1 lead and allowed the Los Angeles Kings to escape with a 3-3 overtime tie Nov. 26 at Pacific Coliseum.With a 1-5-3 record in their last nine games, and a 2-6-2 divisional record that dropped the Canucks to last place in the Smythe. McCammon hinted strongly at a shakeup.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s the trade avenue,&rdquo; McCammon said. &ldquo;If not a trade, then maybe Milwaukee (the Admirals, where the Canucks&rsquo; International League farm team is located). Some of our kids are playing pretty well in the minors and we&rsquo;re going to give them a look.&rdquo;For that to happen, general manager Pat Quinn would need a change of heart.Earlier, Quinn said he had no intention of shaking up the roster with a quick-fix trade or a promotion from Milwaukee.&ldquo;I would choose to think we can handle things with the guys we have in the room right now,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;Our play hasn&rsquo;t been that bad. We&rsquo;re just not getting the points.&rdquo;True enough, Quinn has a point. It&rsquo;s not the hustle. The Canucks are certainly trying hard. And it&rsquo;s not a lack of scoring chances. The Canucks managed 39 shots on goal in three of four games, ending Nov. 26. And it wasn&rsquo;t an unwillingness to mix it up. Quinn&rsquo;s team answered every challenge whenever the Kings tried to intimidate them in their weekend back-to-back series which only produced one point for the Canucks, as they dropped a 7-4 decision Nov. 25 to go along with the tie.But something was missing. McCammon suggested maybe the mix wasn&rsquo;t right, or maybe his team was trvine to be too cute with its style of play.&ldquo;Injuries haven&rsquo;t helped, but we&rsquo;re not alone in that regard,&rdquo; McCammon said. &ldquo;You can score goals with pretty plays and I think we have enough of that type of player. The other way is to go to the net, create havoc and score on rebounds.Of all the five Smythe Division teams, the Canucks made the fewest moves in the off-season.Quinn added only two newcomers&mdash;Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov&mdash;both small forwards who don&rsquo;t play a physical game. He added Rod Buskas in October to a defense whose youngest player turns 27 this season.Krutov continued to be an enigma. He was minus-3 in a 4-3 defeat to the Oilers in Edmonton Nov. 21, prompting McCammon, who had been patient beyond belief&mdash;giving the Soviet an unwarranted amount of ice time to lose patience.&ldquo;C&rsquo;mon Krufz, get into the game,&rdquo; McCammon said to the lethargic left winger from the Canuck bench in a show of frustration that was heard by all at Northlands Coliseum.&ldquo;Everybody regards him (Krutov) as one of the top wingers in hockey but his results haven&rsquo;t measured up yet,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;You have to live with people and hope the adjustments are made. If we remain competitive in our division, then we can buy some time&rdquo;<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Igor Larionov, Brian Bradley, Trevor Linden, Steve Bozek, Craig Coxe.LW&mdash;Rich Sutter, Greg Adams, Petri Skriko, Vladimir Krutov. Daryl Stanley.RW&mdash;Tony Tanti, Jim Sandlak, Stan Smyl, Doug Smith.LD&mdash;Larry Melnyk. Jim Benning, Harold Snepsts.RD&mdash;Garth Butcher, Doug Lidster, Robert Nordmark, Kevan Guy, Rod Buskas.G&mdash;Kirk McLean, Steve Weeks.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Barry Pederson, C, dislocated thumb, indefinite.Paul Reinhart, D, sprained ankle, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Adams, 14. A&mdash;Reinhart, Skriko, 16. P&mdash;Skriko, 22. PIM&mdash;Butcher. 56 &#9632;

TRADES MAY BE COMING AS FRUSTRATION GROWS

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>The team that spent last season learning how to win has found new and innovative ways to lose.A miserable four-game road trip, which saw the Calgary Flames finish with two ties and two one-goal losses, sent them home winless in nine and clinging to a miniscule lead in the Smythe Division.The slump in review:&#9632; Lost 3-2 to Montreal Canadiens Nov. 20 on two goals in a 43-second span of the second period.&#9632; Were tied 4-4 by Quebec Nordi-quesNov. 21 on Joe Sakic&rsquo;s goal with 1:26 remaining in regulation. Defenseman Gary Suter allowed the puck to slip under his stick in the Flames&rsquo; zone, setting up Sakic.&#9632; Lost 3-2 to Detroit Red Wings Nov. 24 on two goals in the final 1:02 of play. Defenseman Al Maclnnis let the Red Wings back in it by setting up Detroit&rsquo;s Steve Yzerman in the slot for the tying goal.&#9632; Were tied 3-3 by St. Louis Blues Nov. 25 on Tony Hrkac&rsquo; goal, off Ric Nattress&rsquo;s shin pad, with 1:45 remaining in regulation.Coach Terry Crisp, usually the first to fly off the handle, was trying&mdash;with difficulty&mdash;to keep his anger under control as the team&rsquo;s winless streak stretched into its third week.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been preaching composure,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;so we as coaches have to practise it, too.&rdquo;Following the St. Louis tie, in which the Blues scored two goals from behind Calgary&rsquo;s goal line. Crisp was asked if he thought the breaks would eventually even out.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe that any more,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m reserving judgment on that. I&rsquo;m going to scratch that one from my book of cliches.&rdquo;Equally perplexed were the Flames&rsquo; players. Suddenly, without warning, they&rsquo;d gone from the league&rsquo;s elite team to only a game above.500. The games against the Red Wings and Nordiques should have provided excellent chances to snap their losing ways. Instead, the Flames were in tight games that they eventually found ways to blow.For the past two years, the Flames were the league&rsquo;s premier road team. Last year, they went 22-13-5, a.613 winning percentage. In 16 road games this year, they lost eight (and tied four), the third-highest road loss total in the league.With only three league games scheduled in a 14-day span, there was a real possibility they could drop into the Smythe Division cellar.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s nerves or what, but we want to get back to that defensive pride that you hear being kicked around here all the time,&rdquo; said Suter. &ldquo;When we had a one-goal lead last year, it was pretty much a win. Maybe it is nerves or being jittery. The biggest thing, though, is sitting back trying to protect a lead rather than just playing.&rdquo;Defensively, the Flames were pretty good on the road&hellip;except for the final minutes of play. But their league-leading offense sputtered along, with only 11 goals in four games.Center Joe Nieuwendyk&rsquo;s line finally cooled off after a red-hot start and nobody else was coming to the forefront to pick up the slack. Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts were shut out on the road.As a result, close wins were turning into narrow losses. Of their nine defeats, seven were by one goal and the eighth, by two goals, included an empty-netter. Only once then were they really out of a game, a 5-2 loss to Edmonton Nov. 3.<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour, Theoren Fleury. Jiri Hrdina.LW&mdash;Gary Roberts. Colin Patterson. Paul Ranheim, Brian MacLellan, Sergei Priakin.RW&mdash;Sergei Makarov, Joe Mullen, Tim Hunter, Jiri Hrdina, Jonas Bergqvist.LD&mdash;Gary Suter. Jamie Macoun, Dana Murzyn, Roger JohanssonRD&mdash;Brad McCrimmon. Al Maclnnis, Ric Nattress.G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Rick Wamsley.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mark Hunter, RW, strained knee, day-to-day.Joel Otto, C. bruised ribs, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Nieuwendyk, 17. A&mdash;Makarov, 27. P&mdash;Nieuwendyk, 34. PIM&mdash;Fleury. Murzyn. 66. &#9632;

EVEN CHAMPIONS SUFFER FROM SLUMPS

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>Frustrated by a gimpy right knee that prevented him from playing on a full-time basis, Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; right winger Jim Fox announced his retirement Nov. 25.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed, but I always knew it might not work out,&rdquo; said Fox. 29. &ldquo;I gave it a good shot. I guess it just wasn&rsquo;t meant to be.&rdquo;Fox, who was on a termination contract that is worth $210,000. will receive his full salary. He will work in the Kings&rsquo; public-and communityrelations departments for the remainder of this season, an arrangement that could continue in the future. He worked in the department while sitting out last season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d 1ike to think of it as making the best of a bad situation,&rdquo; said Fox, who will file for disability insurance through the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.The fifth-leading scorer in Kings&rsquo; history with 479 points (186-293 in 578 games), the 5-foot-8, 185-pound Fox missed all of last season while recovering from surgery to both of his knees.But it was his right knee that gave him the most trouble. He underwent surgery on it in June, 1988, to scrape bones that were rubbing together and causing him pain. A similar operation was performed five months later, when bone chips and other debris had to be removed.Fox went to training camp this September confident the knee would hold up, and to some extent it did because he made the team. But he dressed for only 11 of the Kings&rsquo; first 22 games. In what turned out to be his final game, a 2-2 tie against the Edmonton Oilers Nov. 15, Fox skated one shift. He had a goal and an assist this season.Told by coach Tom Webster he would not play very much the rest of the season, Fox asked general manager Rogie Vachon to place him on waivers in the hope he could catch on with another team.When he cleared waivers Nov. 22, Fox figured his situation was hopeless. He met with Vachon that night, following the Kings&rsquo; 6-3 win over Chicago at the Forum.&ldquo;He told me he wanted to retire, that he wanted to claim disability,&rdquo; Vachon said. &ldquo;Nobody took him (on waivers) and I guess he feels it&rsquo;s because of his knees.&rdquo;Fox notified the NHLPA he intends to put in a claim for disability insurance through its carrier, Lloyd&rsquo;s of London. If Fox proves his knee injury was disabling, he will receive a tax-free, one-time payment of $120,000 within a year.&ldquo;He was a regular when he got hurt,&rdquo; said Fox&rsquo;s agent, Ron Salcer. &ldquo;This injury definitely ended his career.&rdquo;At least he won&rsquo;t have to go through the painful and timeconsuming ritual of preparing his right knee for skating anymore.Fox needed what he described as a &ldquo;deep-tissue massage&rdquo; on his right leg twice a day before games and once a day before practices. He also regularity had electrical currents sent through the knee for joint stimulation.That was followed by taping &ldquo;to hold the knee cap in place,&rdquo; said Fox, who needed to keep ice packs on both of his knees after every game and practice. He was also taking antiinflammatory medication twice a day.The Kings&rsquo; first round pick in 1980, Fox has been with the team since the 1980-81 season, when he scored 18 goals and added 25 assists in 71 games.<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 25: Jim Fox, RW, announced retirement.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Bernie Nicholls. Steve Kasper. Hubie McDonough.LW&mdash;Mike Krushelnyski, Luc Robitaille, John Tonelli, Jay Miller.RW&mdash;Mike Allison, Dave Taylor, Keith CrowderLD&mdash;Tom Laidlaw. Brian Benning. Barry Beck, Ken Baumgartner.RD&mdash;Steve Duchesne. Larry Robinson. Marty McSorley. Tim Watters, Petr Prajsler.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, Mario Gosselin.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bob Kudelski, RW, broken knuckle on left hand, Dec. 20.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Robitaille. 17. A&mdash;Gretzky, 39. P&mdash;Gretzky. 50. PIM&mdash;Miller, 76. &#9632;

KNEE INJURY ENDS 10-YEAR CAREER OF FOX

<div class="byline">BY GRANT McGINNIS</div>Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; coach Bob Murdoch wasn&rsquo;t about to complain about having eight healthy defensemen on his roster.But Brad Berry and Peter Tag-lianetti couldn&rsquo;t have been too thrilled about it, because they were the ones who stood to lose the most when Randy Carlyle came back from a bruised knee. Carlyle, 33, returned Nov. 25 in a 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils after missing nine games. Berry and Taglianetti were not dressed.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen. If he&rsquo;s going to sit two guys out each night and just keep rotating or what,&rdquo; Taglianetti said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to say.&rdquo;&ldquo;Very simply,&rdquo; said Murdoch, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ll dress the six defensemen we feel will best contribute to win that game on any particular night. I don&rsquo;t have any problem at all having six, seven, eight defensemen. I don&rsquo;t.&ldquo;AH of them are important, all of them have the ability to play in the National Hockey League. It&rsquo;s just a matter of trying to select the correct ones given the game conditions.&rdquo;There are some givens, though. Dave Ellett and Fredrik Olausson aren&rsquo;t going to sit. Ail offense begins with them. Shawn Cronin&rsquo;s value as an enforcer is simply too great to pass up. And Carlyle&rsquo;s poise is a necessary ingredient.Moe Mantha has moved the puck extremely well and Teppo Num-minen, despite a poor start, was coming on strong in November.Then there are Taglianetti, 26, and Berry, 24.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01397/8518434-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="565" height="1017"><figcaption class="caption-body">Randy Carlyle returned Nov. 25 after missing nine games.</figcaption></div>Berry is the better skater and puckhandler but his confidence doesn&rsquo;t match his skill level. With 479 career penalty minutes, Taglianetti lacks polish but is mean and aggressive.In 12 games this season, Berry was 1-2-3 with six penalty minutes. Taglianetti had no points and 11 penalty minutes in six games.&ldquo;I can only play my game and do whatever I can,&rdquo; said Berry. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll try and play as well as I can and the rest is up to them (the Jets).&rdquo;After returning from a pre-season knee injury Nov. 8. Taglianetti was slow to regain his timing, but his grit is welcome. Berry was playing his best hockey in three years.&ldquo;After just six games I really can&rsquo;t go out there and jump right into the flow of the game.&rdquo; said Taglianetti. a product of Providence College. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying. It&rsquo;s just something I have to work on.&rdquo;&ldquo;I think I came in and played as well as I can,&rdquo; said Berry, a former star at the University of North Dakota. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to contribute. During some games, there were points where I was flat but I think for the most part I was all right.&rdquo;Neither would care to think of a demotion to the Jets&rsquo; American League affiliate at Moncton. Taglianetti&rsquo;s wife Allison was expecting twins so the timing, which is never wonderful, couldn&rsquo;t be worse. But in reality, one of the two defensemen was bound to go.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t even addressed that,&rdquo; said Murdoch, &ldquo;but 1 know for a fact we will not be keeping 23 hockey players around.&rdquo;<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Thomas Steen. Dale Hawerchuk, Dave McLIwain. Laurie Boschman.RW&mdash;Pat Elynuik. Greg Paslawski, Paul Fenton, Mark Kumpel. Gord Donnelly.LW&mdash;Doug Smail, Brent Ashton, Randy Cunneyworth, Brent Hughes.LD&mdash;Dave Ellett. Randy Carlyle. Shawn Cronin, Peter TaglianettiRD&mdash;Fredrik Olausson. Teppo Num-minen, Moe Mantha. Brad Berry.G&mdash;Daniel Berthiaume, Bob Essensa.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Elynuik. 10. A&mdash;Steen. 17. P&mdash;I Steen, 22. PIM&mdash;Donnelly. 86. &#9632;

f0046-01

EIGHT MORE THAN ENOUGH ON BLUE-LINE BRIGADE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01408/8518465-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="327" height="492"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE SIMMONS</figcaption></div>Buried in the bylaws of the National Hockey League is a clause that pertains to discrimination.It should be renamed the Sergei Priakin clause.Because it protects him. And others like him who don&rsquo;t belong.Sergei Priakin was a pawn in a financial game, who is now taking up space on the confused roster of the Calgary Flames. He is an NHL player in name only, and an NHL player only because the Soviets decided they needed someone to experiment with before allowing their marquee members to be sold to North America for cold, hard, capitalist cash.There are people in the hockey business who are convinced Priakin was sent to the Flames strictly to size up life in the NHL. And at the same time, the NHL sized him up.Priakin is part of the Soviet-NHL problem: He was handed a job without ever earning one, awarded a major league salary without ever being worthy of one.And this practice, unfortunately, was prevalent in three of the NHL cities that dealt with Soviet newcomers in this experimental season.On each of the three teams involved, Soviet players were handed spots on the rosters without ever earning them.In the minds of the New Jersey Devils, Tom Kurvers was replaced by Viacheslav Fetisov and Sergei Starikov before training camp ever began.So what if Starikov can&rsquo;t play?So what if Fetisov has had difficulty adjusting to NHL life?It&rsquo;s insignificant to the overall picture. Whatever that might be.Kurvers had to go. And the Devils are no better in the interim.The Stanley Cup champion Flames were supposedly getting the plum of the Soviet crop in right winger Sergei Makarov. And from afar, his contribution on a line with Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts cannot be dismissed.But as the NFL would say&mdash;upon further review&mdash;the picture differs.Makarov is guilty of a crime not uncommon to NHL newcomers. He&rsquo;s an ice-time hog. He takes longer shifts than his teammates. And he&rsquo;s cutting into some people&rsquo;s time.Particularly Joey Mullen, struggling superstar.Now, Mullen has been the Flames&rsquo; bread-and-butter scorer since they stole him from St. Louis a few years back. Were it not for Mullen&rsquo;s contribution there is little doubt the Flames would have won one Stanley Cup, played for another, and lead the league in standings the past two seasons.That&rsquo;s all he&rsquo;s done.He didn&rsquo;t lose his power-play time. It was taken from him.And if you&rsquo;ve checked the standings, you&rsquo;ll see the Flames are no better for it.By adding Makarov to their lineup, all they&rsquo;ve managed to do is injure-inside the player who has been most valuable to them in recent seasons.Does this make sense? Of course not.But Calgary is not unique in its plight.In an earlier game this season, I watched the Vancouver Canucks. On one line, Igor Larionov was centering Vladimir Krutov and Petri Striko. On another line, Steve Bozek was centering Jim Sandlak and Trevor Linden.Now what in the name of Helmut Balderis was Linden doing playing on a line with plumber and plumbee?Has Bob McCammon lost it?Now, we are not saying Soviets do not belong in the NHL, the same way, we are not saying Swedes or Czechoslovakians or Finns don&rsquo;t belong. But the parameters have to remain equal. And the discrimination that doesn&rsquo;t exist because of protectionism from NHL bylaws perhaps should exist.Soviet players, like North Americans, should have to prove they belongs before they are truly given their due in the NHL.That&rsquo;s the way the game works.Steve Simmons is a feature writer/columnist for the Toronto Sun and appears in this space monthly. &#9632;

f0047-01

SOVIETS HAVE YET TO PROVE WORTH

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02272/8518496-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chicago right winger Eric Nesterenko is all determination, but Toronto goalie Johnny Bower foils his scoring attempt in this 1965-66 contest at Chicago Stadium. Keeping a careful eye on the play are Leaf defenseman Marcel Pronovost, at left, and Blackhawk left winger Dennis Hull.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0047-02

WAY WE WERE

<div class="byline">BY MURRAY TOWNSEND AND RAND SIMON</div>This season in the NHL, good luck has not come in threes.Last season, NHL players scored three or more goals in a game 119 times. As of Nov. 20 this season, with the regular-season more than one-quarter complete, there were only 16.Wayne Gretzky holds the record for the most three-or-more goal games in a season with 10, which he accom-plished in both 1981-82 and 1983-84 with the Edmonton Oilers. Below is a list of the active leaders in three-or-more goal games:<h2>THREE&rsquo;S COMPANY</h2>Career 3-or-more-goal games<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-03216/8518548-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="916" height="586"></div><h2>DRY SPELL</h2>Some forwards go through their entire careers without experiencing a hat trick.Listed below are the active forwards in the NHL who have gone the most games without a three-goal game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-04163/8518541-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="912" height="130"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-05126/8518534-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg" title="f0047-05" width="924" height="464"></div><h2>WHAT YOU SEE&hellip;</h2>Consistency is something most NHL players strive for during their careers. Listed below are those NHL players whose point totals over the last three seasons have fallen within a 10-point range.At the 1989-90 quarter-pole, however, few of these players were on a pace to stay within the 10-point range they had set for themselves.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-06103/8518527-1-eng-US/f0047-062.jpg" title="f0047-06" width="932" height="750"></div> &#9632;

f0047-03

MEN WITHOUT HAT TRICKS

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; general manager Glen Sather once said Mark Messier in full flight reminded him of &ldquo;a thoroughbred galloping in the wind.&rdquo;That was during the 1988 Campbell Conference finals, when the Oilers were in the midst of disposing of the Detroit Red Wings, en route to their fourth Stanley Cups in five years.Sather&rsquo;s comments would fit the Messier of this season, too. The pugnacious center has been on track since Game 1, scoring 16 goals and 39 points in 25 games.But the statistics tell only part of the Oiler captain&rsquo;s story.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s off to the best year of his career,&rdquo; said Glenn Anderson, Messier&rsquo;s right winger for most of his 10year tour of NHL duty. &ldquo;Not only has he shown a lot in the area of point production, but he&rsquo;s shown all sorts of character&mdash;on and off the ice. He&rsquo;s among the elite of the world.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the dressing-room leader day in and day out, and he constantly carries this attitude onto the ice with performances of 110 per cent. But, now he&rsquo;s also taking care of the new guys on our team. He&rsquo;s always having team functions, taking guys out for a couple of beers or dinners. He&rsquo;s doing everything to help guys feel more comfortable with the idea in mind of making the team a winner.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been carrying us,&rdquo; added Craig MacTavish, who has benefited by Messier passes for two of his three NHL-leading shorthanded goals.There&rsquo;s also the other side of Messier.&ldquo;Jimmy Carson (traded to Detroit) is no longer with us because he couldn&rsquo;t stand the heat from Kevin (Lowe) and Mark,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t like Messier always saying he&rsquo;d beat the s- - -out of him if he didn&rsquo;t backcheck.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s long been the Messier philosophy.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s always talked about the entire picture, how we&rsquo;re doing as a team,&rdquo; said defenseman Charlie Huddy. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way he is.&rdquo;Messier&rsquo;s statistics have been raising eyebrows this season, however.&ldquo;The best I&rsquo;ve seen Mark play was when he won the Conn Smythe (Trophy as 1984 playoff MVP),&rdquo; said coach John Muckier. &ldquo;That was pretty special, but also a short period of time. There&rsquo;s always a point in a player&rsquo;s life when he&rsquo;s going to have the best year of his career. Maybe this is the one&mdash;not that Mark&rsquo;s ever had a poor year.&rdquo;Messier was on a pace to easily better his best season (111 points in 1987-88) as he rubbed shoulders with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux atop the NHL scoring standings.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s not get carried away, said Messier. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m never going to be in the category of those guys as a scorer. I&rsquo;m never going to score 200 points, probably not 150. I don&rsquo;t think numbers are that important to me anyhow.&ldquo;Twenty-five games into the season is too premature to get excited about anything,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;Sure, things have been going well, but our focal point is to get everybody into a system.&ldquo;The only way to get press and clippings is to win the Stanley Cup&hellip;and that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re going for.&rdquo;Messier&rsquo;s second of three goals in a 4-3 win Nov. 21 against Vancouver was the 350th of his career.&ldquo;Was it? I don&rsquo;t know, I never keep track of those things,&rdquo; he shrugged.<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mark Messier, Craig MacTavish, Adam Graves. Mark Lamb.LW&mdash;Craig Simpson, Esa Tikkanen, Petr Klima. Peter Eriksson, Kelly Buch-berger, Martin Gelinas.RW&mdash;Jari Kurd. Glenn Anderson, Joe Murphy, Dave Brown, Normand Lacombe.LD&mdash;Kevin Lowe, Steve Smith, Geoff Smith.RD&mdash;Craig Muni, Charlie Buddy, Randy Gregg, Jeff Beukeboom.G&mdash;Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jeff Sharpies, D, separated shoulder. Dec 10.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Messier. 16. A&mdash;Messier, 23. P&mdash;Messier, 39. PIM&mdash;Buchberger, 62. &#9632;

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December 8, 1989

FETISOV ‘FIGHT SHOWS FLAWS IN OFFICIATING

NHL SUMMARIES

QUOTABLE

FLASHBACK