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July 1, 1991
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.
CHEERS JEERS
Video replay. Finally. After studying its merits for seven long and frustrating years, the NHL is at last giving video replay a chance. Sure, there will be bugs but the benefits will prove to far outweigh the negatives. Hall of Fame inductees. Islander legends Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy, along with ex-Maple Leaf Bob Pulford and former Ranger-Blackhawk Clint Smith are the newest members of the NHL’s most exclusive club, the Hall of Fame. Each possessed unique talents and contributed to the betterment of hockey. Congratulations. Expansion mess. Some would say the NHL is getting its just desserts; that in all its greed it overlooked the best candidates when it granted conditional franchises to Tampa Bay and Ottawa. Others lay the blame at the feet of the two new clubs…
PATRICK’S TOUGH TASK IS MOLDING TEAM USA
Craig Patrick’s Cup runneth over. Patrick spent so much time winning the Stanley Cup that he has had almost no time to prepare for the Canada Cup. Team USA’s general manager said at the NHL draft in Buffalo he needed a few more days to finalize a roster that is expected to contend for the gold medal. “I don’t know if we are going to be one of the favorites, but we will certainly be competitive,” Patrick said. Nothing will signal USA’s improvement more than the injured egos that will occur when Patrick announces a training camp roster of about 40 and when Pittsburgh coach Bob Johnson pares the team down to 23. “The competition will make us a betterteam,” said Johnson, who will coach USA for the fourth time. At center, USA could have…
FIRST-ROUND PICK? JUST CALL HIM ‘ASSASSIN’
All the words used to describe Aaron Ward are none of the words used to describe the 1990-91 Winnipeg Jets. So it’s not a stretch to see why the Jets claimed the University of Michigan Wolverine defenseman fifth overall in the NHL’s entry draft at Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo. Strong, aggressive, brash, enthusiastic, abrasive, heart, muscle, assassin. Sounds like a commercial, not any of the 40 regular-season games at Winnipeg Arena last winter. But they are the adjectives used for the right-shooting 18-year-old, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound product of Gloucester, Ont. In his first college season with the Wolverines, he scored eight goals and 19 points with 126 penalty minutes in 46 games. The freshman blueliner earned the nickname “The Assassin,” for his bent-on-bashing style. “People say I’m an over-enthusiastic player on the ice,” Ward said.…
STAOIS NO STAY-AT-HOME ON DEFENSE
Although the St. Louis Blues had set their sights on scoring wingers entering the NHL entry draft, they went on the defensive instead with their first pick, 27th overall. The Blues selected defenseman Steve Staios of the Niagara Falls Thunder of the Ontario League with their top pick, five into the second round. The Blues’ first-round pick was given to Washington as part of the compensation for signing ffee-agent Scott Stevens last season. “We wanted forwards, but with a top defenseman open early, we went for him,” Blues’ general manager Ron Caron said. Staios, 17, is a 6-foot, 183-pound defenseman likened by some scouts to Chicago’s Chris Chelios, with offensive skill and a feisty disposition. He has a lot of the same tools as a young Chelios, with one difference. “I asked him if…
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