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.

October 8, 1993

The Hockey News October 8, 1993

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden</div>Fans are going to like what they see of the wild, wild east.The Eastern Conference should provide first-rate entertainment-more than the Western Conference-with a star-studded lineup capable of providing plenty of glitz and hits.One man&rsquo;s subjective rating says there are not just more teams, but more stars in the eastern galaxy than western world:There are four megastar skaters in each of the conferences: Wayne Gretzky, Chris Chelios, Brett Hull and Doug Gilmour in the west, Mario Lemieux, Pat LaFontaine, Ray Bourque and Eric Lindros in the east.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-0136/8635954-1-eng-US/f0090-012.jpg" title="f0090-01" width="595" height="1008"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Capitals and Canadiens in the playoffs? It could have happened.</figcaption></div>But there are eight Tier II star skaters in the West and 13 in the east: Theoren Fleury, Gary Roberts, Al Maclnnis, Pavel Bure, Luc Robitaille, Jeremy Roenick, Steve Yzerman and Teemu Selanne in the West; Adam Oates, Cam Neely, Alexander Mogilny, Kirk Muller, Kevin Stevens, Rick Tocchet, Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Pierre Turgeon, Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Mark Recchi and Kevin Hatcher in the East.The Detroit Red Wings led the league in goals last season, but there is greater across-the-board scoring in the East.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-0212/8635947-1-eng-US/f0090-022.jpg" title="f0090-02" width="636" height="1403"><figcaption class="caption-body">Quebec would have finished third in the east under the new system.</figcaption></div>All-Star Games are beyond meaningless, but the eastern Wales did clobber the western Campbells 16-6 last season.Add the NHL&rsquo;s most passionate team and individual rivalries (Montreal Canadiens vs. Quebec Nordiques and Lemieux vs. Lindros) and it&rsquo;s hard to dispute eastern superiority in fan value.That carries with it no Cup guarantees, but a Northeast team-the Pittsburgh Pen-guins-enters this season as pre-season favorite.Lemieux is the league&rsquo;s best player. He could break Gretzky records for points (215) and margin of victory in the scoring race (79) if chronic back problems don&rsquo;t rob him of the opportunity.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-036/8635940-1-eng-US/f0090-032.jpg" title="f0090-03" width="637" height="990"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vancouver&rsquo;s Pavel Bure is one of the western world&rsquo;s top-ranked stars.</figcaption></div>The Penguins have an assortment of top forwards and an experienced defense, but it doesn&rsquo;t have much mobility, one of the crucial elements in Montreal&rsquo;s championship drive.Repeating as Cup winners, though, will not be easy. The Canadiens broke some of the rules last season when they won the title without a dominant forward or defenseman.Their victory was proof of how far grit and goaltending can take you during the playoffs-the time when all the truly great stars come out to play.<h2>EASTERN CONFERENCE</h2>Here&rsquo;s how the 1992-93 standings would have appeared, based on the new conference alignment and playoff system. Prospective first-round playoff match-ups are denoted by numbers1 through4.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-044/8635933-1-eng-US/f0090-042.jpg" title="f0090-04" width="642" height="547"></div> &#9632;

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FEATURES

STARS RISE IN EAST

The NHL&rsquo;s weaker teams face the toughest schedules this season for one very good reason: they don&rsquo;t get to play themselves.The opponents of each of the San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers averaged at least 82 points last season. Those teams play one another (and the Tampa Bay Lightning) 12 or 13 times.By contrast, the Vancouver Canucks, the team with the easiest schedule, faces the expansion teams a league-high 18 times.Below is a team-by-team, conference-by-conference breakdown of 1993-94 schedule strength, from toughest to weakest. Information includes average points of opponents and number of games against the five recent expansion teams.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0136/8636016-1-eng-US/f0093-012.jpg" title="f0093-01" width="505" height="828"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scott Niedermayer New Jersey Devils</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0215/8636009-1-eng-US/f0093-022.jpg" title="f0093-02" width="1168" height="797"></div> &#9632;

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DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: ANALYZING SCHEDULES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0095-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0095-0137/8636047-1-eng-US/f0095-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

1992-93: FLASHBACK

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Tim Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01421/8635091-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="541" height="2712"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02279/8635084-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="1593" height="2676"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEITH TKACHUK (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01279/8635077-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="253" height="211"></div><h2>Moving to new neighborhood</h2>It&rsquo;s not like the Winnipeg Jets couldn&rsquo;t go lower.It&rsquo;s just that when you&rsquo;ve been such a non-factor for so long at the time of year it matters most in the NHL, there appears to be only one direction to go.The Jets have made modest steps in their bid for respectability, having changed their team almost completely the past three seasons.It will never be considered a major accomplishment to have posted consecutive seasons of one game above.500, then three, as happened last winter. But for the Jets&rsquo; organization, it was a major psychological barrier that is now being touted as the springboard to becoming a seriously capable team.The Jets had a brief fall last year, getting out of the gate at 4-11-0 and losing their first eight road games. In hindsight, it was blamed on having so much new talent that needed so much adjustment.The club sported five rookies and four of them made important contributions. Calder Trophy winner Teemu Selanne led the charge with 76 goals and 132 points, but the baptisms of Alexei Zhamnov (25 goals), Keith Tkachuk (28 goals) and defensemen Sergei Bautin were no less important to the team.Once the early fall was corrected, the club played its share of quality hockey to finish 40-37-7, but when another new season began-the playoffs-it was the same growing pains all over again in a six-game, first-round loss to the Vancouver Canucks.Though what eventually happens to holdout free-agent defenseman Phil Housley will be crucial to the future, the team&rsquo;s major core change is out of the way.In the early analysis, the only other tinkering to the lineup will be the introduction of right winger Yan Kaminsky, 22, and a fifth or sixth defenseman, who is very likely to be a European.Some believe a bigger factor for the Jets this season will be a neighborhood change, going from the former Smythe (Pacific) Division to the Central (formerly Norris) to join the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues.It&rsquo;s likely to make for more games with tighter quarters and there will be an increased demand for grit, especially since the Central is the only division without a recent expansion team.Trying to pinpoint the extent of that style change is difficult.There are now only six games against each divisional opponent and the Jets would like to think they&rsquo;re at a stage where they might just have something to say about tempo and style.Winnipeg boasts a quality lot of skilled forwards, led by the Finnish Flash. Selanne. It&rsquo;s not carved in stone, but the immensely-talented Zhamnov and the bull, Tkachuk, should be his linemates.Veteran Thomas Steen, left winger Darrin Shannon and slick right winger Paul Yse-baert, acquired from the Detroit Red Wings in the off-season, will likely begin as the second unit.In support come the likes of Kaminsky, Stu Barnes, Kris King, Tie Domi and Mike Eagles.The team&rsquo;s goalscoring woes of two years ago should no longer be a factor. Preventing goals, however, will be the challenge. Goaltender Bob Essensa, a proven steady performer, can expect to see the bulk of the load, but he must see less rubber than one year ago, when Winnipeg was 18th in goals against.How the veteran Essensa fares with an intriguing mix of defensemen in the Jets new era is key.Mike Lalor has not returned and Randy Carlyle has retired, so when camp began, the only North American regular defenseman was veteran and captain Dean Kennedy.The Housley card had yet to be played, but the group is rounded out with Europe-ans-the ever-cool Teppo Numminen, Fredrik Olausson, Bautin and possibly Igor Ulanov, if he can find lost consistency.Barring a massive sophomore jinx, the Jets don&rsquo;t have worries up front. Their forward group should score and it has its share of grit with King, Domi and Eagles.Essensa can provide the stability in goal, but the Jets&rsquo; defense will make or break the team&rsquo;s further improvement.<h2>TEAM TEEMU?</h2>The Winnipeg Jets finished first last season in goals by rookies with 162. That was largely thanks to Teemu Selanne, who set a rookie goal-scoring record with 76.But the Jets&rsquo; first-year class was more than just Selanne. Alexei Zhamnov, Keith Tkachuk and Evgeny Davydov each reached the 25-goal plateau.The Jets&rsquo; rookies were so good that they would have had more goals than any other team&rsquo;s without Selanne&rsquo;s 76. Here&rsquo;s a list of the 1992-93 teams with the top rookie goal production.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02178/8635070-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="598" height="299"></div> &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS & STATISTICS

WINNIPEG JETS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012016/8634178-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Michael DiGirolamo/BBS)</figcaption></div><h2>NHL puzzle coming togethe</h2>The NHL season lies ahead, shimmering with questions.Will Eric Lindros&hellip;a) score 60 goals?b) collect 120 points?c) hit someone hard enough to hurt his whole family?d) all of the above?Will Mike Gartner finally get his due? Will Scotty Bowman again get it done?Can the Montreal Canadiens go back-to-back or will all talk of backs center around Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky?Can Jacques Lemaire exorcise the demons out of the new Jersey Devils? Will the Lightning strike just once or twice a game?These questions and many more will be answered; some in the pages of this magazine and others over 1,092 NHL games.Enjoy. &#9632;

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THN ’93-94 INSIDE THE NHL

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011968/8634209-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Some of Al lafrate&rsquo;s best shots have been verbal: &ldquo;You (can&rsquo;t) get into too much trouble when you speak from the heart.&rdquo; (Scott Levy/BBS)</figcaption></div>Al Iafrate, you&rsquo;ve just been elected captain of THN&rsquo;s all-interview team. How do you feel?&ldquo;Cool man, I&rsquo;ve never been captain of anything before.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s precisely the kind of response that has made the Washington Capital a favorite among quote-hungry reporters. The motorcycle-driving, cigarettesmoking, tattoo-sporting Wild Thing was the obvious choice to lead our team.Some of his greatest quips include:&#9633; On the strength of his shot: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a genetic thing. My parents love each other. I&rsquo;m a love child.&rdquo;&#9633; On empty-net goals: &ldquo;They&rsquo;re for (sissies).&rdquo;&#9633; On taking only two sticks to last season&rsquo;s All-Star Game? &ldquo;If you bring too many, the sticks you use later get jealous and then they won&rsquo;t perform.&rdquo;Ironically, Iafrate says he usually takes his meetings with the media seriously-it just doesn&rsquo;t always seem that way.&ldquo;Sometimes when I mean for something to be serious,&rdquo; Iafrate says, &ldquo;people think I&rsquo;m trying to be funny and they laugh.&rdquo;Joining off-the-wall Iafrate on defense is steady-as-she-goes Kevin Lowe of the New York Rangers. At center is Ray Ferraro of the New York Islanders. He&rsquo;s not the funniest or most controversial pivot, but he has never met a microphone he didn&rsquo;t like.Kevin Stevens is our left winger. Known as Mr. Media to his Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; teammates, he talks about anything and everything. Likewise for right winger Tie Domi of the Winnipeg Jets. He blurted out the classic, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to fight him with verbal words&rdquo; after learning Detroit Red Wing Bob Probert bad-mouthed him.Thoughtful Andy Moog of the Dallas Stars, never afraid to speak his mind, is the starting goalie.As for how to earn a berth on the all-interview team, Iafrate has this advice: &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t give the classic, routine quotes. Let it all out. I figure you can never really get into too much trouble when you speak from the heart.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Club captain Al media’s best pal

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>The Montreal Canadiens used it to dismantle the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup final. The Pittsburgh Penguins turned to it to quell opponents en route to their 1992 Cup win.It has gone by many names, including a one-man contain forecheck and a one-man steer. These days it&rsquo;s usually called a neutral-zone trap and many of the same people who use it worry it may choke the life out of hockey.U.S. Olympic coach Tim Taylor has seen the play creep over from the European game into North America. &ldquo;You can rack your brain to find a way to beat it, but you can&rsquo;t disagree with its effectiveness,&rdquo; Taylor says. &ldquo;It works.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s how: On a traditional dump and chase, one or two body-banging forecheckers attack the puck carrier, trying to create a turnover. In the neutral zone trap, a single forechecker or two forecheckers don&rsquo;t venture deep into the attacking zone. Instead, they angle the puckhandler along the boards until he runs into a roadblock just over his own blueline. By peeling back and covering the passing lanes, defenders entice the puck-carrier to advance from his zone into the heart of the trap.As the offensive player advances, he&rsquo;s left with a dwindling number of low percentage passes that can be intercepted and turned into counter-attacks. The play is rooted in basketball strategy and found a home in the NHL when the league changed its delayed offside rule in 1986.That s when the league determined only the offside player need re-cross the blueline-not the entire team-to keep play going. Teams thus have more time and better position to execute the trap.The play is so effective, some coaches have talked of a need to ban it, the way the NBA has outlawed zone defense. That likely won&rsquo;t happen. And while the results are eye-opening, the trap means little body contact, little skating and even less fun. Unless, of course, the Stanley Cup is on the line. &#9632;

Forechecking tactic death trap

<div class="byline">-Steve Dryden and Brian Costello</div>It should come as no surprise that the only right-hand shot to ever win the Norris Trophy has left learnings.Chris Chelios was named the NHL&rsquo;s top defenseman last season. It was the second time he earned the honor.How uncommon were his selections in 1989 and 1993? None of the 15 other winners in the 40-year history of the award shot right.Chelios, himself, also shoots left, except on the ice where he has emerged as the game&rsquo;s most dynamic defenseman.&ldquo;When I play street hockey, I always shoot left,&rdquo; Chelios says. &ldquo;For some reason, I feel very uncomfortable shooting right in street hockey.&ldquo;On the ice, it&rsquo;s different because you can&rsquo;t set your feet as firmly as with shoes on. It&rsquo;s more comfortable shooting right on skates.&rdquo;Chelios has one of the league&rsquo;s better shots from the point-with 108 career goals in 643 games-but insists he can shoot as hard from the left as right.Occasionally, he switches hands for shots on goals and has scored three goals as a lefty, including one in the 1991 All-Star Game.So why does he shoot from the right?&ldquo;When I started playing hockey I shot left,&rdquo; Chelios says. &ldquo;When I was eight, my dad bought me a right stick by mistake.&ldquo;He got such a good deal on a couple of dozen of them, he said there was no way he was taking them back. That&rsquo;s when I started shooting right. 1 had no choice in the matter.&rdquo;Chelios may be the only right shot to win the Norris, but there are several others of all-star calibre-most notably Al Maclnnis, Kevin Hatcher, Larry Murphy, Eric Desjardins and Rob Blake.Right-shooting rearguards are scarce. However, NHL general manager say it&rsquo;s not a matter of concern.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012190/8634271-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="936" height="1601"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; flame thrower Chris Chelios says he shoots as hard from the left as the right. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Of course, Calgary Eames&rsquo; GM Doug Risebrough once had an entirely different problem. He was teaching at a hockey school in Huntsville, Ala., several years ago and was trying to put together a defense corps.He couldn&rsquo;t find a single left shot.Risebrough says the players were all new to the game and guessed that if they wrote with their right hand or hit from the right side of the plate-as most people do-they ought to shoot right.Easton must be selling a lot of sticks in the Deep South. The American stick manufacturer says 55 per cent of sticks slated for U.S. distribution are right shots. The Easton ratio is 55 percent left for Canada and 75 percent left for Europe.Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; GM Nick Beverley was intrigued to hear Chelios holds the odd distinction of being hockey&rsquo;s only rightshooting Norris winner.&ldquo;I knew there was a reason why I didn&rsquo;t win it all those years,&rdquo; Beverley says.A right shot, Beverley played eight years in the NHL, and shared the blueline with Bobby On and Brad Park during parts of his career.The fact Orr usually scored more points in one season than Beverley did during his entire career (112) was also a factor in the GM&rsquo;s failure to win the Norris.Beverley played the left side with both Orr and Park.Orr, the game&rsquo;s best defenseman ever, shot left, but played right defense. By playing the opposite side, defensemen face the play rather than the boards.Park was another gifted offensive player customarily stationed on the right. He used it to his advantage in defensive situations, going to the backhand and hooking opponents trying to break through the neutral zone.A left shot has problems in the defensive zone when he plays the right side because it&rsquo;s more difficult to carom the puck off the boards and out of the zone.A third all-time Bruin great, four-time Norris winner Ray Bourque, also shoots left and plays the right side.<h2>THE BEST DEFENSE</h2>Here are all the Norris winners, the number of trophies they have won and teams.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021431/8634264-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="480" height="641"></div> &#9632;

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Chelios stands up for rights

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Michael Ulmer</div>Scotty Bowman is talking about one of his few passions that doesn&rsquo;t involve hockey.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a 1950 Chrysler. Two door. Hard top,&rdquo; Bowman says proudly. &ldquo;There are only 63 of that model around.&rdquo;Not 62, not 64. Sixty-three.After a nomadic 21-year trek across the NHL, Scotty Bowman will earn $1 million coaching the Detroit Red Wings this season.Owner Mike Ilitch says the selection process was easy. &ldquo;The same people win over and over,&rdquo; Ilitch says. &ldquo;So when I was looking for a coach, I went looking for somebody who has won, somebody who knows how to win.&rdquo;That list begins with Bowman because Bowman knows exactly how many cars similar to his are on the market. Or what defenseman may be a little slow of foot late in a game. Or what teams deliberately lose draws to set up a forecheck. And what time the opposition&rsquo;s plane arrives.There is very little going on in hockey Bowman doesn&rsquo;t know about and even less he doesn&rsquo;t care about.Bowman has won six Stanley Cups and posted 21 winning seasons with the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins because he is consumed by the details of winning.&ldquo;I remember one time, he noticed I put water on the tape of my stick, just to make it a little shinier,&rdquo; says Danny Gare, a Bowman captain with the Buffalo Sabres. &ldquo;He just had to know why I did that.&rdquo;After 834 victories, curiosity and the drive for control still consumes the NHL&rsquo;s winningest coach. While they will visit through the season, Suella Bowman and the couple&rsquo;s five children will remain stationed in Buffalo. Bowman tinkers with model trains during the summer, but during the season, he has no hobbies or diversions from hockey.&ldquo;My hobby,&rdquo; Bowman says, &ldquo;is watching hockey games.&rdquo;And talking hockey, and thinking about hockey. The image of Bowman walking through a corridor, jaw jutted straight out as he looks right through a player is part of the Bowman image. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t acknowledge you and you think he&rsquo;s being cold,&rdquo; Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; defenseman Larry Murphy says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not being cold, he&rsquo;s thinking about hockey.&rdquo;There are constants on Bowman teams. They are conscientious defensively, the best players are rewarded with an unusually high amount of ice time and they are prepared.Bowman will run over players, large and small. &ldquo;There were players in Buffalo&rdquo; Gare says, &ldquo;who just couldn&rsquo;t get used to playing for him. They never came back from that.&rdquo;Bowman is video junkie and his pipeline offormer assistants and contacts means information is just phone call away. Being off side is major breach in Bowman practice. Being late is unthinkable.In addition to being the best coach in the NHL, Bowman has an unrivalled mental catalogue of players and tendencies. But Bowman wins because he makes his teams do what he wants them to. And he does that by constantly keeping his players on edge. He builds teams by controlling and even creating stress.&ldquo;Detroit players better get used to expecting to leave the rink at certain time and find out they re leaving a lot later, broadcaster Harry Neale says. &ldquo;Everything is by design.&rdquo;Including Bowman&rsquo;s trademark indifference toward players&rsquo; egos. The only thing rarer than a Bowman team underachieving is a quote from a player crediting Bowman with helping win the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;Scotty realized early on that players don&rsquo;t perform any better if you keep them happy, only if you keep them ready,&rdquo; Neale says.And he does that. Players miss shifts without explanation. Any position shift, no matter how wild, is imposed with little regard for the player&rsquo;s ego. In Pittsburgh, Bowman shuttled Paul Coffey, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, to forward when he could no longer live with his defensive inconsistencies.Bowman left the Penguins after the defending Stanley Cup champions were upset in the second round of the playoffs. Contract problems and mounting player dissatisfaction were key reasons for his departure.He left one Cup contender for another. Detroit enters the season as consensus second choice to the powerful Penguins.Bowman&rsquo;s hunger for an edge is legendary.When his Sabres were involved in a playoff series with the Quebec Nordiques, they were subjected to a long hassle at customs. When the Nordiques returned to Buffalo, they were treated like a troupe of visiting drug dealers by immigration officials.&ldquo;Scotty had a friend at customs,&rdquo; says an acquaintance.Some Buffalo players were convinced he used local police to keep tabs on their nighttime habits. In St. Louis, Bowman once gave a hotel night clerk a hockey stick with instructions to garner as many autographs as he could from players coming in, but only after curfew. The stick was a ready-made list of partygoers.&ldquo;Scotty is a tyrant the same way Mike Keenan is a tyrant,&rdquo; Neale says. &ldquo;He wants to control everything, from what time the bus leaves to how many pucks are used at practice. Players would be amazed to hear this, but Scotty has a very good sense of humor. He&rsquo;s a very good, very loyal friend.&rdquo;At 59, Bowman insists he has mellowed. Losses don&rsquo;t pain him as much. What hasn&rsquo;t changed, though, is his desire to win.&ldquo;Players today need a lot more individual stroking,&rdquo; Bowman says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve changed my philosophy, but I haven&rsquo;t changed my standards.&rdquo;<h2>GREAT SCOTT TOPS &rsquo;EM ALL</h2>Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s winning percentage of. 658 is first among active or retired coaches with at least 600 NHL games. Here&rsquo;s look at how the rest of this year&rsquo;s crop of coaches stacks up against Bowman. Coaches are listed in order of winning percentage.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012079/8634309-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="636" height="1061"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011893/8634302-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="1992" height="2520"><figcaption class="caption-body">Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom dipped from 60 points in his rookie year to 41 last season. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Bowman still has the drive

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Michael Ulmer</div>The real Florida panther proved its resilience by battling back from near extinction. The first Florida Panther was chosen for his survival skills as well.John Vanbiesbrouck arrives in Miami a 30-year-old goaltender who has to prove his best years aren&rsquo;t behind him.He was an NHLer at 18, a first-team All-Star and Vezina Trophy winner at 23.Vanbiesbrouck has posted a winning record in six of nine NHL seasons. While he was no longer viewed as a franchise goalie in New York, his save percentage of.900 was still the fifth best among goalies with more than 10 games.Now he is the first expansion draft choice of the Panthers, the last line of defense on what promises to be an excruciatingly bad team.Once the toast of Broadway, Vanbiesbrouck was traded by the Rangers to the Vancouver Canucks June 20. The deal was made so the Canucks could protect Kay Whitmore in the expansion draft.Florida drafted Vanbiesbrouck from Vancouver.As the most recognizable member of a fledgling team, Vanbiesbrouck has explained the game at team-sponsored information sessions. And he&rsquo;s loving it.&ldquo;Coming here is a great opportunity for me,&rdquo; Vanbiesbrouck says. &ldquo;Every night, we&rsquo;re going to be in the bailgame.&rdquo;And most nights they will lose, although the defensive priority expected to be installed by Florida coach Roger Neilson should at least make the scores respectable.It&rsquo;s his ability to come back from disappointment that made Vanbiesbrouck so attractive to Neilson.&ldquo;I coached John for three-and-a-half years in New York,&rdquo; Neilson says, &ldquo;and the one thing about him is he comes back strong, from a bad goal, a bad game or a bad season,&rdquo; Neilson said.&ldquo;To us, that made him the No. 1 goaltender available in the draft.&rdquo;&ldquo;I know I don&rsquo;t have the talent of a (Grant) Fuhr or a Pat Roy,&rdquo; Vanbiesbrouck says, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve learned how to scratch and claw back.&rdquo;No situation has been more difficult to come back from than the one Vanbiesbrouck has faced since April.Frank Vanbiesbrouck, John&rsquo;s 36-year-old brother and athletic mentor, killed himself April 7 in Mt. Clemens, Mich.Frank was disconsolate over a divorce and battling depression that sapped his will to live.The last time he saw his brother alive, Vanbiesbrouck sensed the desperation, but was powerless to help. When his mother called to tell him of Frank&rsquo;s death, Vanbiesbrouck knew what she would say when he heard her cry.Now, the highs and lows of competition wear a little less on John Vanbiesbrouck.&ldquo;I never thought I would experience this, to see a healthy and talented person devastated by this disease.&ldquo;I believe in living and fighting another day. Never give in, there&rsquo;s always chances around the comer.&rdquo; &#9632;

Vanbiesbrouck learns to survive

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Michael Ulmer</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011993/8634364-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="955" height="1541"><figcaption class="caption-body">Now that he has retired, Doug Wilson won&rsquo;t be wearing the Sharks&rsquo; jersey much anymore, but plenty of fans will. (John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div>While the real games start Oct. 5, the NHL&rsquo;s merchandizing marathon has already begun.Ottawa Senators&rsquo; rookie Alexandre Daigle moved into his role as a part-time pitchman for the NHL team before shooting a puck in anger for them.Daigle, who will earn a portion of his $1.95 million annual salary by making public appearances, is looking forward to slowing his schedule down with the regular season starting.He has guested as a videojockey, pressed flesh at a hot air bal-loon festival, appeared at softball games and card shows in Pitts-burgh, Chicago and Toronto, and done photo shoots for the Senators&rsquo; merchandise catalogue. Most of all he has done inter-views; lots and lots of interviews.If Daigle is tiring, he doesn&rsquo;t let on. &ldquo;This is what I wanted to do,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I wanted to be in the spotlight.&rdquo;The NHL&rsquo;s two newest teams have done their best to capture attention, too. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers have emerged as the top two properties for NHL merchandise sales.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re hot as a pistol,&rdquo; says Fred Scalera, vice-president of licensing for NHL Enterprises.The Ducks and Panthers are expected to help boost the sale of NHL licensed products from last year&rsquo;s $800,000 to more than $1 billion. Major League Baseball and the National Football League sold more than $2.5 billion worth of merchandise in their last fiscal year. The NBA moved about $1.75 billion worth of merchandise last year.And while the presence of dashing players like Daigle is a factor, novelty, colors and design mean a lot more than on-ice per-formance in the eyes of con-sumers. Here&rsquo;s a list of last sea-son&rsquo;s top 10 teams with the hottest selling merchandise. Their overall finish in the 1992-93 standings is in parentheses.1. San Jose (23). 2. Los Angeles (11). 3. Chicago (3). 4. Pittsburgh (1). 5. Tampa Bay (22). 6. Boston (2). 7. Detroit (5). 8. Montreal (6). 9. Rangers (19). 10. Ottawa (24). &#9632;

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Alexandre is great away from rink, too

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Mike Brophy</div>J.R. Superstar has scored 50 goals twice, earned 100 points twice and reached the Stanley Cup finals once.But Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; center Jeremy Roenick has much left to accomplish.The 23-year-old once said he wanted to be the best player in the NHL. Given Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s dominance that will be an insurmountable challenge in the short term.But many other things are occupying his mind. He addressed several issues on the eve of the new season:&#9633; On defenseman Chris Chelios&rsquo; contract hassle: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the most important member of our team; if he&rsquo;s not happy or sits out, we&rsquo;re in deep trouble.&rdquo;&#9633; On Steve Larmer&rsquo;s absence: &ldquo;He asked to be traded the day after the season ended. They had two months to make a move. He has done a lot for this team; he deserves better treatment.&rdquo;&#9633; On the team&rsquo;s defensive approach: &ldquo;Certainly it would benefit my game if we played a more wide-open style but we don&rsquo;t have enough scorers to do that. Maybe someday we will.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s also his own contract. Roenick has two years, plus an option, remaining on the five-year deal he signed in 1991. He&rsquo;ll be paid $1 million this season, far below what other players of his stature earn.He won&rsquo;t ask for his contract to be renegotiated and doubts the Hawks will offer to do so.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s fine,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a chance they&rsquo;re willing to take. If the marketplace explodes, it could hurt them in the long run.&rdquo;Roenick has improved his points total in each of his four full seasons and is considered one of the hardest-working centers in the league.Despite the fact the Blackhawks are one of the league&rsquo;s older teams, Roenick feels they can still win. And, he expects to take on more of a leadership role this season.&ldquo;When you first get here, you sit back and listen,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like to overstep my bounds. But, more and more I&rsquo;m opening up and getting my two cents worth in.&rdquo; &#9632;

Roenick ready; are his Hawks

The expectations of Ottawa Sen-ators&rsquo; rookie Alexandre Daigle in his first season are about as astro-nomical as the multi-million dollar contract he signed after being selected first overall in the 1993 entry draft.But if recent history is any indication, Daigle&rsquo;s teammate Alexei Yashin stands a better chance of copping rookie-of-the-year honors.The past six winners of the Calder Trophy have either played their developmental hockey in Europe or American colleges. The last Canadian Hockey League-trained rookie of the year was Luc Robitaille. He won the Calder in 1987.If Yashin and Daigle live up to advance billing, they will compete for the first-year award. But it figures to be a wide-open race.Ironically, the best storyline in this year&rsquo;s Calder competition may be who doesn&rsquo;t win it; that is, who would have won it were they in the NHL.Peter Forsberg of Sweden (Quebec Nordiques) and Paul Kariya of Canada (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) will not be at the starting line when the race begins.Plus, Viktor Kozlov of Russia has first-contract woes with the San Jose Sharks. That&rsquo;s good news for this year&rsquo;s rookie crop; bad news for next season&rsquo;s freshmen.Forsberg will remain in Europe, Kozlov&rsquo;s status is uncertain and Kariya is returning for a second season with the University of Maine and plans to play for Canada at the 1994 Olympics.Drafted sixth overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1991 and traded to Quebec in the Eric Lin-dros deal, Forsberg was widely regarded as the best player not playing in the NHL last season.If a Euronean is named tonburgh Penguins. Aggressive and strong on the puck, the 5-foot-1 1,175-pound right winger made a favorable impression last season. He led all Penguins&rsquo; scorers in a training camp tournament.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011968/8634419-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="942" height="1751"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexandre Daigle is shooting to become the first major junior-trained Calder Trophy winner in seven years. (Marco Campanelli/BBS)</figcaption></div>Naslund, 20, followed that up by placing sixth in Swedish Elite league scoring with 22 goals and 39 points in 39 games.2. Alexei Yashin, Ottawa Senators. The 6-foot-2,200-nound center nossesses bi 2-pivot and will be given every opportunity to star.3. Roman Oksiuta, Edmonton Oilers. Oksiuta, a 23-year-old Russian, loves to score but hates to play defense. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound right winger notched 26 goals and 52 points with Cape Breton in the American League last season.4. Mikael Renberg, Philadel-phia Flyers. He&rsquo;s big, strong and can&rsquo;t be intimidated. Sound like if he plays alongside Eric Lindros.5. Yan Kaminsky. Winnipeg Jets. Kaminsky, 22. led Moscow Dynamo in scoring last year. The 6-foot-2,180-pound left winger is expected to make an immediate impact.Darkhorse: Alexander Cher-bayev, LW, San Jose Sharks.If a North American emerges, it could be:1. Alexandre Daigle, Ottawa Senators. While Daigle matches Yashin in potential, he lacks similar high-calibre experience. The 6-foot, 175-pound center demonstrated equal amounts of charisma and spunk last season.2. Chris Pronger, Hartford Whalers. The rangy 6-foot-6, 200-pound defenseman will be given plenty of opportunity with the Whalers to prove a point-that he should have been the real No. 1 pick in the 1993 draft.3 Jason Arnott, Edmonton Oilers. Although he&rsquo;s just 18, the 6-foot-3,195-pounder could be the No. 1 center with the Oilers. If he makes a quick adjustment, the offensively-inclined pivot might find himself playing an awful lot.4. Rob Niedermayer, Florida Panthers. In three years of junior, the speedy 6-foot-2, 200-pound center established himself as a solid offensive player. No doubt he&rsquo;ll get a crash course in the fine art of defensive play from veteran coach Roger Neilson.5. Pat Peake, Washington Capitals. Although Peake was a center in junior, the Capitals plan to shift him to right wing to take advantage of his goal-scoring potential. Skating could be a problem. It didn&rsquo;t help he sustained a broken foot early in training camp and was expected to miss two-to-four weeks, but his offensive instincts should carrv him. &#9632;

f0014-01

Race for Calder wide open

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Mike Brophy</div>General managers looking to hit a home run might not be interested in this list, but those looking to punch out a single, take note.We asked an NHL pro scout to compose a list of 26 quiet, good players-the kind most of us don&rsquo;t know much about, but are competent players-whom he would be interested in getting in a trade.Everybody knows and covets the big-name players, but there&rsquo;s a real need for depth and up-and-coming second-rank players.Here are 26 such guys-one from each team:Terry Yake, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim: Center made his mark-in fifth year as pro-in Hartford last season. Can score 60-70 points and be effective.Stephen Heinze, Boston Bruins: Right winger is young (23), intelligent and has decent size at 5-foot-l 1,195-pounds. Scored 18 goals last season.Gord Donnelly, Buffalo Sabres: Veteran who can play defense and wing could be lowercase Marty McSorley. Could help contending team.Paul Kruse, Calgary Flames: Left winger known for toughness (read fighting), but hasn&rsquo;t had chance to show stuff in three pro years with Flames.Cam Russell, Chicago Blackhawks: Good fifth or sixth defenseman. Known primarily for toughness, dependable in own zone.Jim Johnson, Dallas Stars: Bom in New Hope, Minn., veteran defenseman could be somebody&rsquo;s old hopeful. Offers valuable leadership.Sheldon Kennedy, Detroit Red Wings: Right winger remains project given his off-season problems. If he turns things around, could have 30-goal season.Geoff Smith, Edmonton Oilers: Solid defensive defenseman easily overlooked when he&rsquo;s in lineup, but missed by team when he&rsquo;s out.Dave Lowry, Florida Pan thers: Rugged left winger turned career around in St. Louis. Works hard, leads by example, scores occasional goal.Nick Kypreos, Hartford Whalers: Primarily an enforcer with Washington, tough winger showed he can score with additional playing time.Dan Currie, Los Angeles Kings: Couldn&rsquo;t crack Edmonton lineup, but was minor-league star. Good size, big-time shot, works comers.Pierre Sevigny, Montreal Canadiens: John Tonelli-like winger gets in faces of opposition. Goals come as result of hard work.Dave Barr, New Jersey Devils: Veteran forward does little things well. Valuable leader, good penalty killer with decent scoring potential.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011748/8634450-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="948" height="1577"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nick Kypreos of the Hartford Whalers can score big goals and big hits, two commodities every NHL team wants. (Jean-Yves Michaud/BBS)</figcaption></div>Marty McInnis, New York Islanders: Solid two-way center willing to take hit to make play. Has above average speed, but is also gritty.Paul Broten, New York Rangers: Good team player who does what it takes to win. Center doesn&rsquo;t score many goals, but scores key goals.Bob Kudelski, Ottawa Senators: Has scored at least 22 goals each of last four seasons. First-liner with Ottawa, solid third-liner anywhere else.Claude Boivin, Philadelphia Flyers: Hurt most of last season, tough left winger likes physical game and can be effective role player.Jeff Daniels, Pittsburgh Penguins: Left winger gained confidence in last season&rsquo;s playoffs. Solid skater with a hard shot, now ready for prime time.Scott Young, Quebec Nordiques: One of NHL&rsquo;s best-kept secrets; scored 30 goals playing behind Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin and Mike Ricci.Kevin Miller, St. Louis Blues: Quietly effective, can play all three forward positions. Expect 20-25 goals per season. Coaches love his type.Ed Courtenay, San Jose Sharks: Knock on 6-foot-4, 216-pound center is he&rsquo;s soft. Still potential 25-30-goal man with lots of upside.Rob DiMaio, Tampa Bay Lighting: Has small frame-5-foot-10, 190pounds-butbig heart. Center displays toughness and grit.Mike Eastwood, Toronto Maple Leafs: Speedy center showed signs of belonging in last season&rsquo;s playoffs. Given chance, could be scorer.Robert Dirk, Vancouver Canucks: Hard-nosed role player has good size, loads of toughness. Makes up for lack of speed with solid work ethic.Keith Jones, Washington Capitals: Effective third-or fourth-line right winger plays body well. Should develop into consistent 20-goal scorer.Mike Eagles, Winnipeg Jets: Gritty center-left winger outworks opponents. Satisfied just doing his job, shows up prepared every game. &#9632;

f0016-01

Would you trade for these guys?

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Mike Brophy and Michael Ulmer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011494/8634481-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The big picture: Vladimir Malakhov&rsquo;s New York Islanders are one of several teams looking for more experience in goal. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>The new season means a new challenge for every NHL team. Here are the most pressing of them:Anaheim: Earn 25 points. The Ducks will be happy to top the Ottawa Senators&rsquo; mark of 24.Boston: Find a second scoring line. Bryan Smolinski may be the key.Buffalo: Win now. An aging core means the Stanley Cup window is closing.Calgary: Integrate new for-wards into the lineup. It figures to be a slow adjustment.Chicago: Improve special teams. They were among the league&rsquo;s worst last year.Dallas: Get steady goaltending. A return to form by new comer Andy Moog is required.Detroit: Replace Gerard Gallant. Seriously. He was a big influence in the dressing room.Edmonton: Convince the NHL to go for revenue-sharing. Budget problems persist.Florida: Score. Scott Mel-lanby is the only Panther ever to have a 20-goal season.Hartford: Play defense. Zar-ley Zalapski was minus-34 last season. Enough said.Los Angeles: Solidify the goaltending. Kelly Hrudey must also be a regular-season hero.Montreal: Get bigger. Prospects Turner Stevenson and Brent Bilodeau could help.New Jersey: Get along. Jacques Lemaire&rsquo;s Devils need to achieve sweet harmony.Islanders: Find a backup goalie. The understudies have six games NHL experience.Rangers: Reach expectations. The THN Yearbook predated they will win the Cup.Ottawa: Be patient. Transitions of Alexandre Daigle and Alexei Yashin must be smooth.Philadelphia: Build a defense around Dimitri Yushke-vich. He is a future star.Pittsburgh: Find a comfortable pace. They must save their best games for the playoffs.Quebec: Get gritty on the wings. There&rsquo;s a reason why they want Trevor Linden.St. Louis: Find a center for Brett Hull. He hasn&rsquo;t clicked with playmaker Craig Janney.San Jose: Recover, The Sharks were preyed upon-on and off the ice-like few before them.Tampa Bay: Avoid a slide. Denis Savard and Petr Klima should protect against that.Toronto: Infuse youth into the lineup. Prospects are few and far between.Vancouver: Obtain a big center who weighs more than 185. They&rsquo;re soft in the middle.Washington: Find a gritty winger. There&rsquo;s lots of skill, but not enough strength.Winnipeg: Get a hard-nosed rearguard. The Jets have some-body like Dave Manson in mind. &#9632;

f0019-01

Looking to meet new challenges

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Robyn Norwood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011133/8634526-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="513" height="2713"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02733/8634519-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="1560" height="2572"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVEN KING (John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011277/8634512-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="248" height="205"></div><h2>Don&rsquo;t say the dreaded &lsquo;E&rsquo; word</h2>The word expansion, with all the misery it suggests, isn&rsquo;t being uttered often in Anaheim.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re not using the word expansion,&rdquo; said defenseman David Williams, a former San Jose Shark. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just our first year playing together.&rdquo;Starting at the top with general manager Jack Ferreira, the Mighty Ducks have enough veterans of &ldquo;first-year teams&rdquo; to know a team can easily get sucked under by negativity.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t use the word but it begins with an E,&rdquo; said Ferreira, whose first E-word experience was in San Jose, where he was fired in a front-office shakeup after a modest first season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to be honest, there&rsquo;s a little bit bigger flame going to get this off on the right track.&rdquo;Ferreira and coach Ron Wilson are trying to put a positive spin on the year without being pollyannas about it. The nightmare 24-point seasons turned in by the Ottawa Senators and San Jose are marks to avoid, but Wilson focuses on the other end of the spectrum.&ldquo;You set your sights on Tampa Bay (Lightning, 53-points), or even more,&rdquo; Wilson said.To get through the first year, Ferreira adopted a strategy that centers on size. The training camp roster of 45 included 17 players over six feet and 200 pounds.Such players as Stu Grimson, Troy Loney and Todd Ewen (acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens) are supposed to set a physical tone that will help free up smaller skilled players.The Ducks desperately need good years from their two proven scorers, Terry Yake, 24, who had 22 goals for the Hartford Whalers last season, and Anatoli Semenov, 31, who had 49 points with two teams and who Wilson says made a substantial contribution to Pavel Bure&rsquo;s success in Vancouver. Those two might play together on a line with Grimson.Beyond those two, the team must hope for breakthroughs from players who have had much of their scoring success in the minors, such as expansion picks Tim Sweeney and Steven King or free-agent signees Shaun Van Allen and Peter Douris.One of the team&rsquo;s projected scorers, third-round entry draft pick Valeri Karpov, didn&rsquo;t reach contract terms with the Ducks before camp began and might spend the season in Russia.The bright light of the future is Paul Kar-iya, the No. 4 overall pick in June&rsquo;s entry draft, who will join the team either shortly after the Olympics or next season.The defense looks solid, led by Alexei Kasatonov, 33. Former Hartford captain Randy Ladouceur could become one of the team leaders and former Canadien Sean Hill, 23, was one of the prizes in the expansion draft. Bill Houlder was the top defenseman in the International League with the powerhouse San Diego Gulls last season and Bobby Dollas has a good dose of NHL experience.The goaltending job-usually a big task on an expansion team-probably will be shared by Guy Hebert and Ron Tugnutt.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t plan on having just a No. 1 goalie,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important to get both involved because of the travel difficulty and the fact we&rsquo;ll be under pressure. They&rsquo;ll face a lot of shots and they&rsquo;ll need plenty of time to recuperate.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s a glimpse of pragmatism, but for the most part, this team is taking a positive approach to the long year ahead.Grimson explains the philosophy: &ldquo;The coaching staff mentioned they want us to prepare ourselves to win each game. Obviously, that&rsquo;s not going to happen and true, it&rsquo;s not going to happen for anyone in this league. But we have to give ourselves an opportunity to win by being physically, mentally and emotionally prepared for each game in order to give ourselves a chance to win, because it&rsquo;s going to be difficult to compete at this level.&rdquo;With a lot of third-and fourth-liners suddenly playing on the first and second lines, it&rsquo;s going to be mighty tough to be mighty in Year 1. Ferreira and Wilson are hoping size will be the equalizer.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ll surprise a lot of people,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t predict how many games we&rsquo;ll win, but I think we&rsquo;ll be very competitive because we&rsquo;re so big. I think the players see the commitment of the organization to make this go right off the bat.&rdquo;<h2>MIGHTY STRANGE</h2>Some NHL fans still haven&rsquo;t gotten used to the idea of Mighty Ducks on skates. And, granted, it is one of the-more extraordinary nicknames in the history of the league.But it doesn&rsquo;t stand alone in the sport-&rsquo; ing world. Several American colleges have monikers that are just as daffy, if not goofier, than The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. For instance, just what is a Zip and what is it doing in Akron?Here are some of the more bizarre nicknames among the U.S. colleges: Akron ZipsCampbell Fighting CamelsDelaware Blue HensMarshall Thundering HerdMissouri-KC KangaroosMuhlenberg MulesOhio Wesleyan Battling BishopsRichmond SpidersStetson HattersTCU Horned Frogs &#9632;

f0021-01

ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011146/8634571-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="514" height="2715"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02806/8634564-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="1518" height="2674"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE VERNON (Brian Winkler/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011236/8634557-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="265" height="211"></div><h2>Minor touch-ups not enough</h2>On the evidence of the Calgary Flames&rsquo; offseason moves-many in number, few of sig-nificance-the temptation is to say they&rsquo;ll finish in the same place as last season.The Flames produced a respectable 97 points-23 more than the season before when they missed the playoffs. That was the good news. The bad news was they were out of the playoffs in the first round.Coach Dave King discussed the need for significant change. Unfortunately, the ones made were mainly cosmetic. Ten players on the team&rsquo;s periphery were moved; every member of the team&rsquo;s core stayed.Up front, the two most-watched players in camp were a pair of centers, 34-year-old Kelly Kisio and 22-year-old Ted Drury.Kisio possesses a commodity the Flames lacked for much of last season: a center who is a playmaker first, a goalscorer second.That could make Kisio an important addition on the power play, which slumped to 14th overall after years at the top.Drury, potentially the best prospect to come along since Robert Reichel, is a versatile player, with a strong competitive streak, a quality King wants to inject into his team.The real test will be to see how the core forwards play. Theo Fleury had his second 100-point season in the past three, but his goal-scoring totals are way down from where they were two years ago.Gary Roberts was on his way to his second consecutive 50-goal season when a thigh injury knocked him out for two months. He was in the lineup for the playoffs, but playing well below par.Joe Nieuwendyk improved to 38 goals last season, bettering the 22 he produced the year before. The Flames believe a healthy Al Maclnnis could translate into more power-play goals for Nieuenwedyk.Maclnnis missed three months recovering from a dislocated hip. Over the years, the combination of his blistering slapshot and soft passes led to a lot of Nieuwendyk goals from that five-foot area around the crease.Robert Reichel, only 22 but already in his fourth season, achieved some of the promise he showed in Czechoslovakia when he won the scoring title as an 18-year-old. A gifted shooter, Reichel developed into a better allround player last season, under King&rsquo;s insistence that everybody on the team put a reasonable amount of effort into the checking game.Defense represents a curious question. With Maclnnis and Gary Suter, the Flames have two of the best pure offensive threats from the blueline in the game. From three to six, however, there&rsquo;s not much to choose from among Trent Yawney, Frank Musil, Chris Dahlquist and Kevin Dahl.All are competent NHL defensemen. None really provides a physical threat in front of the goal, a commodity that has been lacking here for going on a decade now.The most interesting position remains goal. In Mike Vernon, the Flames have a bona fide starter, one of the top 10 in the league. However, they are determined to look at all of their kids-Trevor Kidd, Jason Muzzatti and Andrei Trefilov.As King said before camp began: The only way the Flames can learn if there&rsquo;s a Felix Potvin among them is to give them a chance to play at the NHL level.So in the end it comes down to this: The Flames will not be one of the NHL&rsquo;s elite teams, but they are not candidates for the bottom third either.In a 26-team NHL, only a handful of teams can survive injuries to key players without a significant dropoff in the overall level of play.The Flames are not one of them. Provided they avoid the injuries to key players that exposed their lack of depth last season, they could be in that 95-to 100-point range.If one or more key players go down, they could drop perilously close to the.500 mark.This is a team that has had the same basic core of players since 1989. Back then, they were all young stars. Now, age is creeping up on Maclnnis, Suter, Vernon and Joel Otto. It shouldn&rsquo;t make much of a difference this year. It may not even make much of a difference next year.After that? If they cannot begin to develop talented players, then they could be in for a freefall down the NHL standings.This year, it isn&rsquo;t an issue. At least it shouldn&rsquo;t be.<h2>OH, WHAT A NIGHT</h2>Feb. 10, 1993 will go down as one of the most memorable dates in Calgary Flames&rsquo; history.That night, the Flames humbled the San Jose Sharks 13-1 at the Saddledome. The team set a number of NHL &rsquo; records in the process, including:&#9633; Fastest three goals from the start of a period. Gary Suter (0:17), Chris Lindberg (0:40), and Ronnie Stern (0:53) each scored for Calgary by the &lsquo;: 53-second mark of the third period.&#9633; Highest plus-minus by a player in one game. Theoren Fleury was on the ice for nine more of his team&rsquo;s goals f than Sharks&rsquo; goals. That broke the record of plus-8 shared by Paul Coffey, 5 t Mike Forbes and Wayne Gretzky.&#9633; Most assists in a game by a goaltender. Jeff Reese was awarded three helpers in the blowout. &#9632;

f0023-01

CALGARY FLAMES

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011108/8634623-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="455" height="2676"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02762/8634616-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="1494" height="2614"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL RANFORD (Steve Reyes/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011244/8634609-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="229" height="211"></div><h2>Talk about youth movement</h2>The Edmonton Oilers want their fans to think fast. Think youth and speed. Think future. Think Jason Arnott, Ralph Intranuovo, Tyler Wright, Dean McAmmond. Think Steven Rice and Louie DeBrusk.It has been the focus of their 1993 training camp. And for awhile it has stolen the spotlight from their ongoing Coliseum lease dispute with Edmonton Northlands.And that&rsquo;s a step in the right direction.But take time to think about the season and reality rears its ugly head. The Oilers have no proven NHL scorers. They sport an average defense corps led by players-Dave Manson and Igor Kravchuk-who must rebound from sub-par years. It appears they will enter the season with a backup goalie, Wayne Cowley, who hasn&rsquo;t played an NHL game.Unless they are prepared to make Bill Ranford a rich man before the end of his option year, they&rsquo;ll be looking for another starting goalie.And they are going to be young and inexperienced up front at every position.In two, maybe three seasons, if they can afford to keep a nucleus of young talent together, the Oilers may well be a great team again. But as much as they have preached speed as their buzzword this fall, they will not get there in a hurry.Kids need time to mature. If Wright, McAmmond, Arnott, Intranuovo, Vladimir Vujtek, Doug Weight and others arrive at the same time, the future is bright.McAmmond and Intranuovo are probably the quickest. Vujtek may be the slickest with the puck. Rice, Weight and Arnott are rugged. DeBrusk is already regarded as a proven enforcer.But the future is not now. Not every kid they have in camp will make this team. But every kid who does is going to make mistakes. Some will cost goals, some will cost games.And for the Oilers to make the playoffs may be too much to ask of a team undergoing such drastic reconstruction.Consider the hurdles they must overcome. The Oilers have 11 Europeans in camp, five of them new to North America. How many will stick? How will they adapt?With the addition of Kravchuk late last year, the Oilers&rsquo; European ranks swelled to three. That could rise significantly as defenseman Ilya Byakin, left wingers Alexander Kerch and Juha Riihijarvi and right winger Roman Oksiuta seem intent on making an impact.Kerch and Byakin speak little or no English. Oksiuta spent a season in Cape Breton last year and knows the word &lsquo;backcheck&rsquo; when he hears it. It&rsquo;s just that it doesn&rsquo;t always has an effect on him.Then there&rsquo;s the offensive shortage.General manager Glen Sather doesn&rsquo;t know from where the goalscoring will come. He hopes the offensive abilities of players such as Oksiuta, Riihijarvi and Kerch will transfer from their respective European leagues into the NHL. If not&hellip;Weight, Todd Elik, Shayne Corson and Zdeno Ciger have to score more. They will all have to break loose to lead the Oilers out of last year&rsquo;s offensive doldrums.It&rsquo;s just another maybe in a long list.Before last season had ended, but after it became obvious the team was going nowhere, Sather unloaded Bernie Nicholls to the New Jersey Devils for Ciger and Kevin Todd. And he sent holdout Joe Murphy to the Chicago Blackhawks, acquiring Kravchuk and McAmmond.Almost every move he has made since last February has given the Oilers a younger, quicker look. To say nothing of cheaper, which is almost always a determining factor in Edmonton.Sather has a plan. There is little doubting the man has a vision.&ldquo;We have a big, tough, aggressive, fast team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You want to play here, you&rsquo;ve got to play like that.&rdquo;There are enough players who want to be here and that in itself is a switch. At the end of their tenure in Edmonton, players such as Glenn Anderson, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey and even Kevin Lowe were not happy here, mostly for financial reasons.But the Oilers have drafted and traded for young players who just want to be in the NHL. They are a gung-ho group building camaraderie.They will make Oilers&rsquo; fans think fast, all right. But it may take awhile.<h2>OFFENSE RESTS</h2>The Edmonton Oilers have a storied history. Last year&rsquo;s chapter, however, &rsquo; read more like a nightmare.One of their biggest problems was a lack of scoring. Petr Klima led the Oilers with 48 points. That&rsquo;s the lowest total for a team leader of any club since &rsquo; Edmonton entered the NHL in 1979.Here are the players who have won their team&rsquo;s scoring race with the: fewest points since 1979.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02885/8634602-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="593" height="418"></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Edmonton Oilers

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Rick Sadowski</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011191/8634675-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="508" height="2683"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02813/8634668-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="1554" height="2566"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROB BLAKE (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011231/8634661-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="271" height="211"></div><h2>Don&rsquo;t look for run at first place</h2>Whether the Los Angeles Kings are better or worse in 1993-94 than they were last year could very well depend on your perspective.If improvement requires winning the Stanley Cup one season after their unexpected trip to the final, then the Kings likely are in for a disappointment.And while realignment has made it impossible for the Kings to defend their Smythe Division and Campbell Conference championships, they should be better than the 39-35-10 record they posted in the regular season for three reasons:&#9633; Wayne Gretzky will be in the lineup at the start of the season.&#9633; Young defensemen Darryl Sydor and Alexei Zhitnik have a full year of experience behind them.&#9633; An easier schedule includes six games with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.But the Kings will judge themselves and be judged based on what they accomplish in the playoffs. Coach Barry Melrose is more concerned with what happens in the spring, so don&rsquo;t look for the Kings to make a run for first place in the division.While realignment will improve the regular-season record, the new conference playoff format will make it tougher to advance beyond the second round for the second time in franchise history.The Kings could be stuck dealing with Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings or Toronto Maple Leafs as well as the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks now.The Kings will miss the presence of defenseman Marty McSorley, whose ice time in the playoffs rivaled Gretzky&rsquo;s. A Group III free agent, McSorley signed a five-year, $10-million offer sheet with St. Louis in the off-season. Mindful of an already swelled payroll, the Kings matched the offer, then dispatched McSorley to the Pittsburgh Penguins for center Shawn McEachern.With McSorley gone, the Kings must intimidate by committee, turning to left winger Warren Rychel, defenseman Brent Thompson and Jeff Chychrun and right winger Marc Potvin.Thompson, 22, is being counted on to add toughness to the young, mobile defense corps that eventually will be the backbone of the team.Sydor and Zhitnik, both 21, flourished as rookies in the grind and glare of the playoffs and Rob Blake, 24, could be a Norris Trophy candidate. Charlie Huddy is 34, but adds stability to the blueline.Continued improvement by the defense would take some of the load off a rapidly-aging group of forwards that may include one player under age 25. McEachern, 24, had 28 goals as a rookie.The Kings traded center Corey Millen to the New Jersey Devils on draft day to make room for Guy Leveque, 21. But the deal for McEachern and Melrose&rsquo;s plan to play Kurri at center creates a logjam in the middle that also affects Jimmy Carson, a Group II free agent who was unsigned when camp opened. Carson, benched for six playoff games, could be trade bait unless Kurri and/or McEachern wind up on the wing.The Kings could use help on the left side-McEachem&rsquo;s position a year ago-and are hoping rookie Keith Redmond can supply it, with Luc Robitaille, Mike Donnelly and Warren Rychel the incumbents.Unless he has completely lost his scoring touch, free-agent signee John Druce, 27, could add size and depth on the right side, joining Tony Granato, Potvin, Tomas Sandstrom, Dave Taylor and Gary Shuchuk.Naturally, Gretzky&rsquo;s presence from the beginning is a major plus. He was the Kings&rsquo; best post-season player after missing half the regular season with a career-threatening back injury. A Robitaille-Gretzky-Sandstrom line could do some serious damage, providing Sandstrom can stay healthy for a change-he has missed 71 games the past two years due to injuries.As usual, the goaltending will come under heavy scrutiny. Kelly Hrudey-who is better than he&rsquo;s given credit for-and Robb Stauber were erratic in the regular season when the Kings gave up 340 goals.Hrudey begins his fifth L.A. season as the No. 1 guy. He&rsquo;s coming off his only losing record (18-21-6, 3.86 goal-against average) since his February, 1989 acquisition from the New York Islanders.Hrudey was exceptional in the final two playoff rounds and was at his best when Melrose made it clear he would stick with him, no matter what.<div class="sidebar"><h2>JOB INSECURITY</h2>It seems as though the Los Angeles Kings have been dissatisfied with their goaltending forever. Or at least since Rogie Vachon tended their net on a regular basis.Even current Kings&rsquo; netminder Kelly Hrudey, who is third on the team&rsquo;s all-time games played list, has faced his share of criticism.The 33-year-old veteran, however, offered some hope with his heroics in the playoffs last spring.The Kings have had 33 goalies in their 26-year history. Here are the ones who lasted the longest.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02853/8634654-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="590" height="254"></div> &#9632;</div>

f0027-01

LOS ANGELES KINGS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Mike Weaver</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011092/8634727-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="503" height="2687"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02733/8634720-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="1548" height="2644"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG ZMOLEK (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011235/8634713-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="283" height="217"></div><h2>Nowhere to move but ahead</h2>In the wake of an 11-71-2 season, regression for the San Jose Sharks would be virtually impossible and treading water is simply unacceptable. This team has no choice but to make progress.And on paper the Sharks seem headed in that direction. New coach Kevin Constantine promises to keep the intensity level up and the Sharks have made upgrades in several areas. It remains to be seen whether the Sharks will be a force, but no team made more of an effort to improve itself in the off-season than San Jose did.The improvement should be most apparent on special teams, where the Sharks ranked 22nd in both power-play efficiency and penalty killing last season. And a better power play should help the Sharks compensate for an overall lack of size.The Sharks paid for being small because opponents typically had no reason to be afraid of roughing them up.But newcomers Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov and Jeff Norton could comprise the nucleus of a potentially effective power play.The addition of Norton is a key for the Sharks because he&rsquo;s a defenseman who can move the puck out of the defensive zone and quarterback the power play.And if the Sharks can make opponents pay for abusing them by scoring power-play goals, they&rsquo;ll quickly send a message to anyone planning to bully them into submission: &ldquo;If you want to be an idiot and go around taking runs at people, that&rsquo;s fine,&rdquo; director of hockey operations Dean Lombardi said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m going to put five guys on the ice who will make your head spin.&rdquo;The Sharks also added some muscle to their roster by obtaining tough defenseman Shawn Cronin and his presence should be another deterrent to any opposition intimidation tactics.The addition of Larionov, Gaetan Duchesne and Bob Errey should allow the Sharks to improve their penalty killing.A promising corps of young defenseman has been a strong suit for the Sharks from the time the franchise was put together in 1991.The Sharks will miss retired veteran Doug Wilson, the team&rsquo;s captain the past two seasons, but the defense has been bolstered by the addition of veterans Norton and Mike Lalor.Defense prospects Mike Rathje, the third player chosen in the 1992 draft, and Michal Sykora, a sixth round pick in 1992, also are on the verge of cracking the major-league roster.Although Makarov, Errey and Duchesne represent an upgrade on the wings over departed players such as Mark Pederson, Robin Bawa, Perry Berezan, John Carter, Michel Picard and Larry DePalma, the Sharks have holes to fill at center because of the loss of Kelly Kisio and Dean Evason. Kisio, the team&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer, left the Sharks when he signed with the Calgary Flames as a free agent and Evason was traded to the Dallas Stars in June.Larionov will help plug the hole up the middle, but behind him, the Sharks are thin. Jamie Baker and Mike Sullivan were penciled in as regulars.Goaltending should be a strength for the Sharks, who have a promising trio in Arturs Irbe, Jimmy Waite and Wade Flaherty.Supporting the goalies with some offense will be a big challenge. The Sharks ranked 23rd with 218 goals last season and still don&rsquo;t have a proven 40-goal scorer.But they were hurt last season by injuries that sidelined Pat Falloon and defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh for virtually the entire second half of the season, and having those players healthy gives the offense a boost.Prospects such as Alexander Cherbayev, Dave Capuano and J.F. Quintin are others with a chance to contribute offensively, but the Sharks are hurt by the absence of unsigned first-round draft picks Viktor Kozlov and Andrei Nazarov.Kozlov, the sixth player taken in the 1993 entry draft, and Nazarov, the 10th player chosen in the 1992 draft, were still in their native Russia when the Sharks opened training camp.Winger Jan Caloun, a 1992 draft pick who led the Czech League in goals last season with 47, also was a no-show for camp.Diligent off-season upgrading can do nothing but help the team. The steps will be small ones, though.<h2>TWO STEPS BACK</h2>The San Jose Sharks&rsquo; embarrassing backslide last season was disappointing for the organization and its fans.The Sharks&rsquo; fall was set up by their success in their first season.Expansion teams have a history of doing worse their second year. Three &rsquo; of the past six expansion clubs (not s including the World Hockey Association additions) fared better in Year 1 than they did in Year 2.The following is a listing of those two teams, their points totals in their first two years and the difference.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02824/8634706-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="601" height="303"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

SAN JOSE SHARKS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Elliott Pap</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011138/8634779-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="520" height="2725"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02749/8634772-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="1560" height="2626"><figcaption class="caption-body">TREVOR LINDEN (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011212/8634765-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="265" height="187"></div><h2>More trouble with middle men</h2>Addition through subtraction seems to be the unstated war cry in the camp of the Vancouver Canucks.Pat Quinn, the commander-in-chief, made no moves of significance over the summer, despite his team&rsquo;s ouster in the second round of the playoffs.So how are the Canucks supposed to be better without much change in the core?For one thing, they don&rsquo;t have to be better in the new Pacific Division, which is shaping up as the NHL&rsquo;s weak sister.The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers can&rsquo;t be considered a threat, the Los Angeles Kings have lost Marty McSorley and the Calgary Flames&rsquo; big move was the signing of 34-year-old center Kelly Kisio.Quinn&rsquo;s only whopping headache is up the middle.The coach-general manager has never been happy with his mix here, but at least he has always had a number of soft centers who could play.When training camp opened, Cliff Ron-ning and Murray Craven were the only experienced pivots on hand.Group I free agent Petr Nedved remained unsigned in a high-profile salary dispute, while Anatoli Semenov was lost to Anaheim in the expansion draft.It seems inevitable Quinn will make a move, either upping the ante to get Nedved under contract-and then possibly trading his problem child-or dealing some of his surplus defensemen and left wingers for an established checker or hard-nosed center.Quinn has steadfastly maintained that center is any team&rsquo;s key position after goaltending.His alternative, until he finds the right deal, is to move left winger Greg Adams to the middle. Adams began his NHL career as a center and seems to work well with the speedy Pavel Bure.If Adams stays on left wing and Nedved doesn&rsquo;t return, the void will be filled by any number of combinations that include Ottawa 67&rsquo;s junior Mike Peca, 1992 first-round pick Libor Polasek, top minor-leaguer Stephane Morin and old warhorse Laurie Boschman.Here&rsquo;s how the rest of Vancouver&rsquo;s solid lineup stacks up:In goal, it&rsquo;s difficult to find a team with a better combination. Kirk McLean has established himself as one of the league&rsquo;s best goalies, while Kay Whitmore emerged as an extremely reliable No. 2 man last season.On the blueline, the organization has never had a stud defenseman such as Raymond Bourque, Chris Chelios or Brian Leetch and this year will be no exception. But Vancouver does have depth at that position.Dave Babych, Jyrki Lumme, Gerald Diduck, Dana Murzyn and Robert Dirk provide a solid mix of strength, savvy and toughness with Babych and Lumme adding modest offensive totals in the 40-50 point range.The mystery and potential excitement comes from second-year man Jiri Slegr and rookie Dan Ratushny.Bure and Trevor Linden are the envy of most teams on right wing, but there is precious little behind them.Jim Sandlak and Robert Kron moved to the Hartford Whalers in the Craven deal, leaving converted left winger Garry Valk the prime candidate for third-line duty. Sergio Momesso can also play right wing while Gino Odjick and Tim Hunter are available for the fourth line.Quinn has an embarrassment of riches at left wing. Adams, Geoff Courtnall, Dixon Ward, Momesso, Valk and Odjick form the basis of Vancouver&rsquo;s strongest forward position. There is speed, scoring, finesse and toughness, so much so that one or two may be deployed elsewhere up front.Judging by their lineup, Vancouver will spend the season like a distressed boater, treading water. Quinn&rsquo;s inability to solve his center dilemma means another regular season in the 95-100 point range.It&rsquo;s a figure most coaches would gladly accept and Quinn will, too. His stated goal is to improve throughout the 84-game schedule so that things are humming come playoff time.He is obviously willing to experiment with a younger defense and at center, and these growing pains should preclude any sort of leap into 110-point territory.<h2>GETTING EVEN</h2>As most Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; observers are aware, there was nothing special about the club&rsquo;s special teams last season.The power play was successful just 17.3 per cent of the time, which ranked it 21st overall in the NHL. The penalty killing wasn&rsquo;t much better. It killed off 78.5 per cent of the opposition&rsquo;s chances and finished 17th overall.The Canucks did their real damage at even strength. No NHL team last season had a better plus/minus in even-handed situations. Here are the top 1992-93 plus/minus teams.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02804/8634758-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="591" height="223"></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Tim Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011148/8634831-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="506" height="2742"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02797/8634824-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="1566" height="2590"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRENT SUTTE</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011120/8634817-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="271" height="211"></div><h2>Finding playoff success vital</h2>Many good things happened to the Chicago Blackhawks last season. They finished with 106 points, played the best defense in the NHL and saw Chris Chelios earn the Norris Trophy and Ed Belfour the Vezina.Sadly in Chicago, those accomplishments were lost in the rubble after the Hawks crashed and burned in the first round of the playoffs, swept by the St. Louis Blues.The second such playoff flop in three seasons forced management to do serious offseason soul searching about the direction of the club, specifically its age.Both coach Darryl Sutter and general manager Bob Pulford spoke after the playoff fiasco of how the Hawks needed to get fresher legs, but heading into the new year Sutter was uncertain how many prospects would be able to make the big jump.The Hawks may let rookies like right winger Sergei Krivokrasov and center Jeff Shantz learn on the job in Chicago and hope they can become regulars by April.The Hawks think Krivokrasov can eventually be a star. The first-round draft pick in 1992 scored 36 goals for the Indianapolis Ice of the International League last season.However management decides to play it, there&rsquo;s every reason to believe the Hawks will see a drop-off in their regular-season performance, especially in the competitive Central Division where there no longer is the Tampa Bay Lightning to beat up on.But youth movement or no youth movement, the drop-off in points shouldn&rsquo;t be too great. After ail, the Hawks still have one of the best nucleus groups in the league, led by Chelios, Belfour, Jeremy Roenick, Steve Smith, Brent Sutter, Dirk Graham, Bryan Marchment and Joe Murphy.Chelios, Belfour and Smith anchor a defense that once again figures to be one of the league&rsquo;s best. But the defense has to be well above average since the offense will be a troubled area once again.The Hawks were able to get by with a pop-gun offense (3.2 goals a game) during the season thanks to stingy defense, but it was another story in the playoffs when they scored just six goals in the four games against the Blues and goalie Curtis Joseph.Murphy, a late acquisition from the Edmonton Oilers, was scoreless in the playoffs.There&rsquo;s pressure on him, especially with the expected departure of Steve Larmer.Murphy will open the season as Roenick&rsquo;s right winger, but Sutter was searching for someone to play the left side. Michel Goulet is 33. Stephane Matteau would seem to be the logical candidate, but he hasn&rsquo;t been consistent.Sutter is hoping Roenick and Murphy can combine for at least 100 goals. After that forwards such as Brent Sutter (20), Brian Noonan (16), Christian Ruuttu (17% Matteau (15), Goulet (23) and Jocelyn Lemieux (10) all must boost their goal totals to help make up for Larmer&rsquo;s lost 35 goals.Goulet is one of the veterans, along with Keith Brown, Dave Christian and Troy Murray who appeared to be on the outs, but all were on hand for the start of camp.As hurting as the Hawks are at left wing, just the opposite is true on defense where there were nine players with NHL experience on the training camp roster.Sutter had already penciled in Chelios, Smith, Marchment and newcomer Neil Wilkinson as his top four blueliners with Brown, Craig Muni, Cam Russell, Frank Kucera and Adam Bennett to battle it out for the remaining jobs.The addition of Wilkinson made a rough-and-tumble defense tougher. Marchment came on strong last season.Chelios and Smith will continue to get most of the ice time as perhaps the top 1-2 tandem in the NHL. Sutter split up the veterans much of last season thanks to the development of Marchment.There is no controversy whatsoever in goal where Belfour and the newly acquired Jeff Hackett will try to win another Jennings Trophy.Winning his second Vezina Trophy in three years solidified Belfour&rsquo;s place among the NHL&rsquo;s elite goaltenders, but his postseason record still leaves some critics skeptical.Belfour appeared in 71 games last season, which was far too many for his own good. He played in 74 games in 1990-91 when the Hawks flopped in the first round of the playoffs against the Minnesota North Stars. Coincidence?<h2>FIRST WORST</h2>The Chicago Blackhawks expect to have some talented rookies this season, including right winger Igor Krivokrasov and center Jeff Shantz.Whether either of them will challenge for the Calder Trophy remains to be seen, but it&rsquo;s a safe bet they&rsquo;ll fare better than last season&rsquo;s Hawks&rsquo; rookies. As a group, the 1992-93 bunch combined for zero goals.Chicago was the only team in the NHL not to get any goals from first-year players. Here are the worst teams in that category.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02729/8634810-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="604" height="311"></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Terry Egan</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01999/8634883-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="508" height="2712"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02677/8634876-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="1518" height="2536"><figcaption class="caption-body">RUSS COURTNALL (John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011083/8634869-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="259" height="175"></div><h2>Texas will be desert for goals</h2>NHL hockey has finally arrived in Texas, but fans of the Dallas Stars shouldn&rsquo;t expect a lot of fireworks.The Stars were one of the league&rsquo;s lowest scoring teams a year ago and coach-general manager Bob Gainey did little to bolster the offense in the off-season.Only the Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators scored fewer goals than the Stars&rsquo; 272.Gainey did some fine-tuning in the summer, adding some role players, but the cupboard is bare when it comes to scoring.Center Mike Modano, who had 33 goals and 90 points last season, still makes the offense go, but the Stars desperately need more production from him.Right winger Russ Courtnall (36 goals, 79 points), center Dave Gagner (33 goals, 76 points) and winger Ulf Dahlen (35 goals, 74 points) are good for 30-plus goals a season, but after that, there&rsquo;s a large drop-off.With an inactive summer free-agent market and the Stars&rsquo; reluctance to let go young talent in trades, Gainey was handcuffed in what he could do to bring in another big goalscorer.Instead, he picked up role players Dean Evason from the San Jose Sharks and Dave Barr from the New Jersey Devils.The Stars&rsquo; coach-GM is also giving what could be a last chance to Rob Brown, who will make the team if he can rediscover his scoring touch and show he is capable of playing at least a modicum of defense.Gainey is banking on several youngsters to take the next step in their development. Right winger Mike Craig, who had 15 goals and 38 points a year ago, and Trent Klatt (4-19-23), will be counted on for more offensive production.While the Stars&rsquo; offense remains thin, the defense is sound. Gainey spent much of the summer searching for ways to solidify a defense that allowed a respectable 293 goals last season.The Stars had nine NHL-calibre defensemen in camp and at least 10 more who will be fighting for a starting spot.The Stars gave up rugged Enrico Ciccone to get Paul Cavallini from the Washington Capitals and they signed free agent Grant Ledyard, a former Buffalo Sabre.The Stars&rsquo; signed Derian Hatcher to a multi-year contract during training camp and are hoping their leader of the future can rebound from a poor showing last season.Now the Stars now have just one defender under 6-foot-l, and that&rsquo;s power-play specialist Tommy Sjodin, who is at 5-foot-11.The Stars feel they have solidified their goaltending situation with the addition of veteran Andy Moog. Inconsistent Jon Casey was traded to the Boston Bruins for the 33-year-old Moog who, in the Stars&rsquo; judgement, brings a more stabilizing influence.Gainey maintains that Moog is one of the best in the league at making the first save and shouldn&rsquo;t have to worry about too many rebounds with the Stars&rsquo; large defense corps. Moog is coming off his best NHL sea-son-37-14-3, 3.16 goals-against average-including a 17-1-0 finish in his last 18 regular-season games. However, he struggled in the playoffs as the Bruins fell four straight to the Buffalo Sabres in the first round.Apart from a stronger defense and better goaltending, the Stars have an important intangible working in their favor-playing in a new city with new fans.When rumors hit last season that the North Stars would move from Minnesota to Dallas, their place in the standings went south as fast as owner Norm Green. But the Stars should be happy in Dallas, and can expect a honeymoon period from a new fanbase that is still learning the game.This works in their favor. Realignment does not.The Stars maintain that with the new conference playoff format, it is possible five teams will make the playoffs from the Central Division. With Tampa Bay out and the Winnipeg Jets in, six teams will be fighting to make the playoffs.Another problem is a difficult end to the schedule, which sends the Stars on two east coast road trips late in the season. It&rsquo;s a good bet that when the Stars meet the St. Louis Blues in the next to last game of the season, it will have the same importance their late-season meetings had in 1993.St. Louis won in 1993, grabbing the last playoff spot.<h2>OVERTIME BLAHS</h2>The Stars are no stars in overtime. In fact, they aren&rsquo;t much of anything.As the Minnesota North Stars last season, the team went 0-0-10 in overtime. It was the highest number of OT games played by a team in a season without a win or loss since the NHL instituted the five-minute extra period in 1984-85.The overtime blahs are nothing new to the Stars. The last time they won a regular season game in OT was Dec. 31,1989. Below is a list of teams who have played the most overtime games in a season without getting a &lsquo;W&rsquo;.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02726/8634862-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="624" height="270"></div> &#9632;

f0037-01

DALLAS STARS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Keith Gave</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011010/8634935-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="516" height="2724"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02652/8634928-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="1530" height="2626"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE YZERMAN (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01701/8634921-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="289" height="181"></div><h2>Can Bowman build a winner?</h2>Call it Great Expectations, The Sequel.Only this time, the Detroit Red Wings have hired the best in the business to author a happier ending. Frustrated by futile efforts in the playoffs that have cost them millions in gate receipts over the past two springs, owners Mike and Marian Ilitch spent nearly $2 million to bring coach Scotty Bowman to Detroit for at least two seasons.But despite the impressive rebuilding effort general manager Bryan Murray has orchestrated over the past three years, Bowman has his work cut out for him in 1993-94.Like last season, the Wings begin the season with a deeply talented lineup that ranks them the best team in the west, ready again to challenge the Pittsburgh Penguins or whoever in the Stanley Cup-a trophy that has eluded them since 1955.There is pressure, from team ownership to the legion of devoted fans running out of patience. Unlike last year, however, this team begins the season with more questions about its preparedness to win it all, than answers. Notable among them:&#9633; How does this team replace its leader, Gerard Gallant, the most respected player in the dressing room?&#9633; Is Tim Cheveldae the goaltender to lead Detroit all the way?&#9633; Is the defense as set as it appears?&#9633; Will Keith Primeau finally emerge as an assertive, consistent force in the Wings&rsquo; lineup?&#9633; Will this team, despite all its talent, measure up to Bowman&rsquo;s lofty standards?&#9633; Can the NHL&rsquo;s best offense last season play enough defense to satisfy the coach?Though much will be made in training camp of young players challenging veterans for jobs up front, the real competition is for the top positions. Which is why Primeau&rsquo;s progress will be monitored carefully by the Detroit management.He prefers to play center, his natural position, and the Wings have him penciled in as the No. 3 pivot behind Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov. With both expected to play upwards of 25 minutes a game, that doesn&rsquo;t leave much time for Primeau and precious little for a fourth center.This suggests Primeau will remain flexible. He began showing an inclination towards playing the wing on Fedorov&rsquo;s left flank down the stretch last season and he could wind up there again.But who plays on Yzerman&rsquo;s left side after Gallant left as a free agent for a better offer from the Tampa Bay Lightning?The Wings hope Bob Probert can turn his game around and fill that spot. But they hoped that last year, when he slipped to 14 goals and 43 points with a team-leading 292 penalty minutes.Dallas Drake was the team&rsquo;s top-scoring left winger with 18 goals and 44 points and played with the kind of aggressiveness that most coaches appreciate. He could see time with Yzerman and Dino Ciccarelli.But if the Wings were to acquire Steve Larmer from the Chicago Blackhawks, or someone like him, that would enable them to try Ray Sheppard on his off wing.The defense appears set, but Murray still sees a hole to fill.He covets a big defenseman that he has been seeking for two seasons. Until then, the Wings enter the season with the defense they ended with last spring. The pairings: Paul Coffey and Nicklas Lidstrom; Steve Chiasson and Vladimir Konstantinov; and Mark Howe and Yves Racine.Detroit&rsquo;s goaltending isn&rsquo;t nearly the concern to Bowman as it is to fans and others around the NHL. Cheveldae, the workhorse who ranked among NHL leaders in games and victories the past three seasons, has achieved a lot at 25, though he didn&rsquo;t come through when it counted most.Bowman compares Cheveldae to Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Tom Barrasso, among others, who had to overcome adversity early in their careers before achieving success. But the coach also adheres to a strict commitment to team defense that should help the goalies.Bowman said he feels pressure to win not only from the team&rsquo;s generous owners, but wherever he goes around Detroit.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s something about wearing the jersey of some teams. Detroit is a very vibrant hockey city,&rdquo; he said.One with high expectations and desperate for a happy ending.<h2>TOWER OF POWER</h2>The 1992-93 Detroit Red Wings came within eight goals of setting an NHL record for most power-play goals in a season.Led by sniper Dino Ciccarelli, who scored 21 times on the power play, the Wings&rsquo; 113 man-advantage goals led I the league.The Wings fell seven goals short of the league record set by the Pittsburgh, Penguins in 1988-89.Below are the top-ranked NHL. power plays of all-time. Information includes team, season and number of man-advantage goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02429/8634914-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="595" height="266"></div> &#9632;

f0039-01

DETROIT RED WINGS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01605/8634987-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="505" height="2699"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02398/8634980-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="1548" height="2476"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRENDAN SHANAHAN (Steve Reyes/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01495/8634973-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="289" height="205"></div><h2>Team hopes to get offensive</h2>Things will be status quo for the St. Louis Blues again this season, which actually isn&rsquo;t bad. It would be an improvement over last season when they nearly drowned.They swallowed a lot of water early and coach Bob Plager bailed out less than a month into the season. New coach Bob Berry rescued the Blues and with a life preserver named Curtis Joseph, was able to get St. Louis safely into the playoffs.The Blues shouldn&rsquo;t have to scramble to make the playoffs this season. They could finish fifth in the revamped Central Division and still make the playoffs thanks to the conference-based playoff system.Veterans Ron Wilson, Lee Norwood, Curt Giles and Dave Lowry, and backup goalie Guy Hebert are gone. Blues&rsquo; retreads Tony Hrkac and Tom Tilley have been added, along with free agent collegian Jim Montgomery, prospect Ian Laperriere and goalie Jim Hrivnak.Other than those moves, it&rsquo;s the same cast of characters, a strong nucleus backed up by a mishmash of veterans, checkers, enigmatic youngsters, questionable Europeans and inexperienced prospects.At least the nucleus is solid. Joseph established himself as one of the NHL&rsquo;s elite goalies last season, leading the league with a.911 save percentage while facing a record 2,202 shots.The Blues&rsquo; sixth-place ranking in team defense had everything to do with Joseph and little to do with the defensive scheme, which regularly allowed 40 to 50 shots a night.Center Craig Janney and wingers Brendan Shanahan and Nelson Emerson had career years playing on the team&rsquo;s No. 1 line. Janney was one of the league&rsquo;s top playmakers with 82 assists. He led St. Louis with 106 points.Shanahan established himself as one of the NHL&rsquo;s top power forwards and scored 51 goals. Emerson had a career-best 73 points.Defenseman Jeff Brown also had a career year, setting a team record for rearguards with 25 goals and 78 points. Winger Brett Hull dipped to a four-season low of 54 goals, but that&rsquo;s a career year for many players.The Blues finished 18th in scoring with 282 goals and their defensemen were 18th in points with 138. The Blues want to see improvement in both categories, and it&rsquo;ll be up to Berry to take care of that.Unlike last season, when he had to scramble to rescue the team, Berry will be in charge from Day 1 of training camp. Ted Sator is his handpicked assistant, returning to the NHL after two seasons in Italy.The Blues hope Sator&rsquo;s experience in Europe and his reputation as a tactician will enable them to improve a woeful transition game, cut down the shots against Joseph and generate more offense.Whether the Blues&rsquo; defenseman are up to the challenge remains to be seen. After Brown, Doug Crossman was the top scoring blueliner with 38 points, but he had only nine with the Blues and is expected to be little more than a bit player on this team.After that, Garth Butcher and Rick Zom-bo had 15 points apiece. Stephane Quintal had 11, Bret Hedican eight and Murray Baron four.So, there&rsquo;s ample room to grow, but it&rsquo;s uncertain whether this group can do so or if the Blues have anyone who can. Minor leaguers Jason Marshall and Dan Laperriere have shown promise, but that&rsquo;s all.At forward, the Blues are thin. They hoped winger Denny Felsner would blossom this season, but he&rsquo;ll miss the start of the season with a broken leg.Ron Sutter, penciled in as a third-line center, will also miss the start of the regular season after abdominal surgery this summer.So where will the offense come from? Checkers Rich Sutter and Bob Bassen and tough guys Kelly Chase and Basil McRae provide plenty of grit, but little offense.The Blues hope to get more scoring from Russians Igor Korolev and Vitali Prokhorov and Frenchman Philippe Bozon, whom they expect Sator to help integrate into the scheme. The Europeans were a bust last year.Veteran prospect Kevin Miehm and Hrkac, former Maine star Montgomery, promising Nathan Lafayette and Ian Laperriere will have good opportunities to make the team at the start of camp. The Blues would like to develop some young players.<h2>DRAFT DODGERS</h2>When the How to Build a Successful Team Through the Draft book gets written, don&rsquo;t expect Ron Caron&rsquo;s picture to appear on the cover.The St. Louis Blues&rsquo; general manager&rsquo;s preferred mode of acquiring players is via trades.On last year&rsquo;s Blues&rsquo; team, for example, almost 60 per cent of the players who appeared in 40 or more games were obtained in swaps. Just three of the players were Blues&rsquo; draft picks-Nelson Emerson, Igor Korolev and Bret Hedican.Here&rsquo;s the make-up of the 1992-93 F Blues (based on a minimum 40 of games).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02278/8634966-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="591" height="188"></div> &#9632;

f0043-01

ST. LOUIS BLUES

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01422/8635039-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="463" height="2662"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02251/8635032-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="1572" height="2644"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAMIE MACOUN (Brian Winkler/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01412/8635025-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="235" height="217"></div><h2>Trying to repeat Dream season</h2>To assess the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; chances this season, it&rsquo;s imperative to answer one important question: Was last season a fluke?If so, it would make sense to project the Leafs would join the long line of teams who have made major improvement in one sea-son-32 points to 99 last year-only to slide back to mediocrity the next.So which was it? Fluke or fact? Well, given the club&rsquo;s level of talent, it goes without saying some good luck factored into a strong regular season and surprising playoff.But when you examine the club&rsquo;s recent history, it&rsquo;s clear the watershed moment was Jan. 2, 1992, when Doug Gilmour and four others were acquired from the Calgary Flames. The Leafs ended that season as one of the better NHL clubs and nearly overtook the Minnesota North Stars for the final Norris Division playoff spot.The Leafs struggled out of the gate and then came on strongly from January on, powered by the best year of Gilmour&rsquo;s nine-year career, astute management and sparkling goaltending.None of those three factors should change this season, which is why the Leafs should at least make the playoffs and could challenge for first or second in the Central Division.Gilmour is 30, but has undergone a personal renaissance. While another 127-point season may be asking a bit much, his value to the Leafs is equally measured in his tenacity and defensive prowess as it is in his point total.The Leafs would be damaged if Gilmour was lost to injury, but then again he has only missed 30 games in nine seasons.Another offensive threat would help. The Leafs are hopeful that one or both of Alexei Kudashov or Tomas Kucharcik may step forward or that John Cullen will make a full recovery from neck problems.On the wings, the Leafs have size, experience and grit, but are limited in terms of scoring punch and speed. If Dave Andreychuk can&rsquo;t repeat his 54 goal effort-including 25 in 31 games with Toronto and another 12 in the playoffs-the Leafs will need to find those goals elsewhere.Wendel Clark had 10 goals in the postseason and 30 goals from him would be a major plus. Glenn Anderson is capable of more if he&rsquo;s interested and this could be the season Rob Pearson shows whether he&rsquo;s a scorer or just a plugger.On defense, Todd Gill and Bob Rouse ended up as the club&rsquo;s most able rearguards. Sylvain Lefebvre is rock-solid defensively and Jamie Macoun is a proven veteran.The concerns this year come with Dave Ellett, Dmitri Mironov and Drake Berehow-sky. Ellett sustained a separated right shoulder in the second half of the season and still has numbness in his forearm. He&rsquo;s a better player than he showed, but it&rsquo;s unclear whether he will be healthy enough to contribute offensively.Mironov was barely adequate in the regular season and dreadful in the playoffs. Leaf general manager Cliff Fletcher still has faith the Russian can be a big-time player, but others in the organization aren&rsquo;t so sure.Berehowsky is coming off knee surgery and has now had operations on both knees. He won&rsquo;t be available until Nov. 1 and it remains to be seen whether his skills will be compromised by limited mobility.In goal, a series of events has transformed what was the club&rsquo;s deepest area last fall to its thinnest.Felix Potvin was brilliant all of last season, but he still doesn&rsquo;t have a full campaign under his belt. A salary dispute that could carry over into the season won&rsquo;t help, but there&rsquo;s no reason to believe Potvin isn&rsquo;t already one of the top five goalies.Damian Rhodes is expected to be the backup, but he has only played one NHL game in three pro seasons.Aside from Gilmour, the Leafs&rsquo; greatest strength lies in their management team of Fletcher and coach Pat Bums. Fletcher has managed to improve the team more quickly than most believed possible by swinging some extraordinary deals and Burns is among the game&rsquo;s best coaches.Assuming the health of their best players is good-and that&rsquo;s an assumption every team has to make-the Leafs should be as good or better this year during the season as last. They were one game away from the Stanley Cup final and discipline, revitalized team tradition and quality management should make them a contender.<h2>FOR THE RECORD</h2>Last season was the best in many years for the Toronto Maple Leafs.They reached the conference finals for the first time and had their first regular-season major award winner since Brit Selby copped the Calder Trophy in 1966.Doug Gilmour was honored with the Selke Trophy as the league&rsquo;s best defensive forward.Here are some of the club records Gilmour and his teammates set last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02249/8635018-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="595" height="353"></div> &#9632;

f0045-01

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01233/8635143-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="504" height="2728"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-02164/8635136-1-eng-US/f0051-022.jpg" title="f0051-02" width="1494" height="2620"><figcaption class="caption-body">ADAM OATES (Dan Hamilton)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01222/8635129-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="235" height="211"></div><h2>Turnabout means only fair play</h2>The story was the same for years.The Boston Bruins took excellent defense and goaltending into the season, but had to overcome spotty offense to nail down home ice in the first round of the playoffs. Though last season was the first since 1986-87 in which the Bruins scored more than 300 goals, they&rsquo;ve finished first or second in their division six years running.That started to change last year, when the Bruins caught fire in the season&rsquo;s last six weeks to finish first in the division and second in the NHL under coach Brian Sutter. Boston rode Adam Oates (45 goals, 142 points), Joe Juneau (32 goals, 102 points) and a checking line that produced 54 goals, to a 332-goal season, the best since a 336-goal campaign in 1983-84.Dave Poulin and Vladimir Ruzicka left via free agency, but Boston still figures to improve on offense. Even if Cam Neely can&rsquo;t play every game, the Bruins expect more from Ted Donato and Steve Heinze, both coming off solid rookie seasons, hope to coax consistency from Dmitri Kvartalnov and think one or two players from a potent American League club in Providence-namely Glen Murray, Grigori Panteleev, Sergei Zholtok-make a successful jump to the big league.The question is, will improved offense improve the Bruins?The answer, at least last year, was no. Great regular-season record or not, the Bruins still fell in four straight first-round games to the Buffalo Sabres. This year? The offense had better be at least as good, because for the first time in years the Bruins have concerns on defense and goal.Ray Bourque is seeking a reported $3.25 million in salary arbitration. If the case gets to arbitration and Bourque gets all or most of what he wants, Boston says it&rsquo;ll consider trading him.Then there&rsquo;s Glen Wesley, a first-round draft choice in 1987 who followed two excellent seasons with three so-so years and is coming off a terrible one (career-low 33 points). He is playing out his option, stung by a contract offer $225,000 less than he made last year, and appears to prefer leaving the team if that&rsquo;s what the Bruins think of him.If either is traded, the Bruins will seek defensemen in return. There would still be substance in gutsy Don Sweeney and David Shaw, plus the stage presence of 36-year-old Gord Roberts, but that&rsquo;s not what Boston wants protecting its new No. 1 goalie.Andy Moog, No. 1 for five seasons in Boston, but at odds with Sutter last year, was traded to the Dallas Stars for Jon Casey. If he plays behind a defense led by Bourque and a happy, top-of-his game Wesley, Casey could have the year of his life. If not, he may think he&rsquo;s still with the Stars.When Boston moved to correct problems this season, it concentrated on goaltending, defense and toughness.Toughness is enhanced by Neely and Glen Featherstone. The Bruins also added cantankerous left winger Cam Stewart, who gave up his senior year at Michigan.Moves to perk the offense came long ago and are long shots. Boston picked up onetime scorer Daniel Marois in March (he had back surgery in April) and are giving him a chance as a left winger. They were prepared to expose Kvartalnov to the expansion draft, avoided it on a technicality, and will try to make him more of a two-way left winger.If either pans out, the Bruins can move Juneau, a center who was Oates&rsquo; season-long left winger in 1992-93, back to the middle. With Juneau at center, the Bruins have a chance to develop a second scoring line and make up for the departure of Poulin. Donato has the best chance to win that checking-line position.Though pre-occupied by Bourque&rsquo;s arbitration request and three others playing out options (Wesley, Neely, Steve Leach), general manager Harry Sinden liked what he saw as Boston opened camp.&ldquo;If we can get this (contract) stuff out of the way,&rdquo; Sinden said, &ldquo;and have those players in the lineup, we could have ourselves one good team.&rdquo;The key word, however, is if. It shows Sinden, like many others, isn&rsquo;t sure how things will shake themselves out.That said, the best Boston can expect in 1993-94 is to tread water. With enough wrong answers to their many questions, the Bruins seemed a better bet to drop below the surface than to rise above it.<h2>THE HOT 100</h2>The Boston Bruins&rsquo; 26 consecutive winning seasons is unrivaled in North American professional sports-and they&rsquo;ve had more than 100 points in 15 of those years. Below is a ranking of 100-point NHL teams since 1971-72.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02127/8635122-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="581" height="634"></div> &#9632;

f0051-01

BOSTON BRUINS

<div class="byline">-Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01206/8635195-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="451" height="2650"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02131/8635188-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="1458" height="2530"><figcaption class="caption-body">GRANT FUHR (Dan Hamilton)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01214/8635181-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="205" height="181"></div><h2>Time now to make some noise</h2>It&rsquo;s logical to assume a team with the likes of Pat LaFontaine, Dale Hawerchuk, Alexander Mogilny, Doug Bodger, Petr Svoboda, Grant Fuhr and Craig Simpson would be more than mediocre.The Buffalo Sabres think so and that&rsquo;s why they expect to improve this season.The Sabres finished fourth in the Adams Division with a 38-36-10 record a year ago and beat the Boston Bruins in the first playoff round.But they were trounced in the Adams final by the Montreal Canadiens, losing in four straight games.Sabres&rsquo; management expects bigger and better things this season and it should happen, but it won&rsquo;t be easy.The Sabres play in a tougher division this year (Northeast), one that includes the powerful Pittsburgh Penguins. They&rsquo;re also in a tough conference, one that includes many of the good NHL teams and a handful of clubs on the rise.With the exception of the 23-year-old Mogilny, the core of the team is at its peak and in goaltender Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s case, maybe past it.To go from perennial also-ran to Stanley Cup contender, the Sabres must get good fastThat&rsquo;s part of the reason coach-general manager John Muckier reached back to his successful Edmonton roots to pluck Simpson away from the Oilers.The rugged left winger is expected to add to and diversify a potent, but extremely concentrated attack. Simpson has also played on a Stanley Cup winner, to which most Sabres can&rsquo;t relate.&ldquo;In order to make our team better we must surround the core with more talent,&rdquo; Muckier said. &ldquo;The key is to improve the team, to add to the core. We have to get better without giving up core players.&rdquo;To get Simpson, the Sabres surrendered skilled Czech left winger Jozef Ciemy, a player who could have helped this season.But by adding Simpson, the Sabres have one of the most potent first-line combinations in the league in Simpson, center LaFontaine and right winger Mogilny. Add in defensemen Bodger and Svoboda and the Sabres&rsquo; could have one of the best power play units in the NHL.The Sabres have sufficient depth behind their top unit, starting with second-line center Hawerchuk and youngster Brad May. Hawerchuk was the team&rsquo;s best playoff performer and needs to rebound from a somewhat disappointing goal-scoring season in 1992-93 when he scored just 16 goals in 81 games. But he did have 96 points.May showed signs of becoming the power forward the Sabres had hoped when they made him their first choice overall in the 1990 entry draft.The Sabres have a load of experienced forwards on their third and fourth lines in Randy Wood, Yuri Khmylev, Donald Au-dette, Wayne Presley, Bob Sweeney and Dave Hannan.Other young forwards who will vie for spots include Jason Dawe, Matthew Barnaby, former Moscow Dynamo standout Sergei Petrenko, U.S. Olympic center Derek Plante, Rochester Americans&rsquo; right winger Scott Thomas and Europeans Mikhail Volkov or Richard Safarik.The Sabres were meek on the blueline last season and must get tougher to improve this year. Even so, Muckier is happy with his top four rearguards-Bodger, Svoboda, Ken Sutton and last season&rsquo;s rookie find Czech Richard Smehlik.Svoboda, back from a mid-season knee injury, has improved his upper body strength, Sutton developed well in the playoffs and Smehlik has familiarized himself, with the North American lifestyle.Blueline prospects David Copper and Philippe Boucher are likely not ready to make the jump to the NHL.Muckier must also find a way to replace the departed Grant Ledyard, a free agent who signed with the Dallas Stars, and upgrades to complement-and perhaps replace-veterans such as Gord Donnelly and Randy Moller.As good as the Sabres are offensively, their final position will be determined by the play of goaltender Fuhr. The 32-year-old veteran was brilliant at times last season and mediocre at others.If he is the Fuhr of old and the youth makes a contribution, this is a Sabres&rsquo; team that could get beyond the second round for the first time in years.<h2>WORLD BEATERS</h2>The Buffalo Sabres were an international success last year. Not only did Pat LaFontaine set an NHL record for most points by an American-born player, but Alexander Mogilny set the, NHL mark (tied with Teemu Selanne) for most goals by a European.Here are the American top five in points in a season and the European. top five in goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02117/8635174-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="593" height="464"></div> &#9632;

f0053-01

BUFFALO SABRES

<div class="byline">-Jeff Jacobs</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01203/8635247-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="457" height="2686"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-02133/8635240-1-eng-US/f0055-022.jpg" title="f0055-02" width="1506" height="2614"><figcaption class="caption-body">ZARLEY ZALAPSKI (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-01163/8635233-1-eng-US/f0056-012.jpg" title="f0056-01" width="229" height="211"></div><h2>Holmgren relies on kiddie corps</h2>When the Hartford Whalers lined up for individual photographs to start training camp, Paul Holmgren said he pictured a 15-to 20-point improvement this season.Holmgren didn&rsquo;t promise a playoff berth, but he does expect to stay in the hunt longer than Christmas Eve.With enough kiddie talent for an appearance on Sesame Street, the Whalers, after a poor 58-point season, are a team on the rise.So why the long faces and looks of concern Sept. 1? Because everybody was braving the unknown hockey wilderness without their bombastic pathfinder.After a rift with Whalers&rsquo; owner Richard Gordon over non-hockey issues, Brian Burke quit as president-general manager after only 15 months to become the NHL senior vice-president and director of hockey operations.When Gordon hired Burke, he put the 38-year-old dynamo in charge of everything. And Burke wanted to run the company. The problem was, Gordon reserved the right as owner to final approval. So they fought over everything. But mostly it was a fight over control. It was a crash of egos. And in the end, the Whalers came out the loser.It was the stability and high profile Burke brought to Hartford that made him so popular. In Connecticut, he was more prominent than any player. He had a plan.And now, Whalers&rsquo; fans are wondering if Gordon has any more vision than to bring in a new scoreboard, complete with bells, whistles and instant replay, and an experiment with bringing back Brass Bonanza. Burke had banned the old Whalers&rsquo; theme song as minor league.Coach Paul Holmgren, 37, takes over as GM. He has five years of NHL coaching experience, but none as a GM. Can he do it? Fortunately, he will have plenty of help on hand.A triumvirate was put in place. Pierre McGuire was promoted from assistant coach to assistant GM. He will scout, run the front office and work on contracts after Burke officially leaves in early October. Kevin Maxwell was promoted from director of pro scouting to director of player personnel. His job is to evaluate talent and assess potential trades.Holmgren will look after on-ice matters and concentrate on developing a talented young team.At center, Andrew Cassels, 24, was considered a Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; castoff before last season. His all-around playmaking, point-a-game pace and versatility made Murray Craven expendable for trade.But it is Michael Nylander, 21 on Oct. 3, who can lift people out of their seats with nifty moves. When he first arrived last year, he played like an undernourished Craig Janney. He hung onto the puck too long and not on to his fork long enough.The Whalers still need another center, but the long-term need should be filled by Robert Petrovicky, 19. He did not enjoy a good season last year as a rookie and, although Petrovicky has oodles of talent, Holmgren has totally laid off putting pressure on the Slovak, picked No. 9 in the 1992 draft. He could start the season with the Whalers&rsquo; American League affiliate in Springfield.With Geoff Sanderson 21, and Patrick Poulin, 20, the Whalers should be set for the next decade on the left side. Sanderson amassed 46 goals last year-more than anybody from the 1990 draft that included Owen Nolan, Mike Ricci and Jaromir Jagr. Poulin had his ups and downs in a 20-goal rookie season, but is considered a thoroughbred.The right side is not nearly as deep, but captain Pat Verbeek, 29, has re-established his scoring touch (39 goals) and is a leader.Rearguard Zarley Zalapski, the skating enigma at 25, has the tools to be a star and averaged more than 26 minutes per game-a team high. But he has been the sultan of inconsistency.Pronger, 18, is one of the most heralded defensemen to enter the NHL in years. But Burke insists it will be a mistake to expect him to star his first season.Even if Barry Richter joins the Whalers after the U.S. Olympic experience, this leaves the Whalers with one of the weakest blueline corps in the NHL for 1993-94.Burke is convinced his namesake, Sean Burke, is the answer in goal. And he did trade Bobby Holik to get him. Burke&rsquo;s play was spotty last season and there is a slight bulge of a disc in his back. He is fine to play, but it still makes management uneasy.<h2>JUST A FAN-TASY</h2>The Hartford Whalers&rsquo; best season in terms of attendance was in 1987-88, the year after they won their only Adams Division regular-season title.Here are the Whalers&rsquo; average attendance figures since they entered the NHL in 1979-80.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-02109/8635226-1-eng-US/f0056-022.jpg" title="f0056-02" width="588" height="566"></div> &#9632;

f0055-01

HARTFORD WHALERS

<div class="byline">-Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-01140/8635299-1-eng-US/f0059-012.jpg" title="f0059-01" width="486" height="2676"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0291/8635292-1-eng-US/f0059-022.jpg" title="f0059-02" width="1440" height="2506"><figcaption class="caption-body">KIRK MULLER (Brian Winkler/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-01130/8635285-1-eng-US/f0060-012.jpg" title="f0060-01" width="277" height="163"></div><h2>Can this team win again?</h2>The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup last year when they weren&rsquo;t expected to. Expectations are not high they&rsquo;ll repeat the feat, either.Especially with the Canadiens in what is generally regarded to be the NHL&rsquo;s toughest division in the NHL-the Northeast. Their rivals include the Pittsburgh Penguins, Quebec Nordiques. Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins.In that regard, the Canadiens&rsquo; season is doomed to fail even before it begins.The Canadiens&rsquo; obvious problem heading into the new year appears to be a lack of depth, along with a lack of big forwards. Gone from last year&rsquo;s team are centers Denis Savard and Jesse Belanger, defensemen Donald Dufresne and Sean Hill, and right winger Todd Ewen.While it&rsquo;s true none of the five was a major component of Montreal&rsquo;s attack, they were more experienced than any player that might replace them.The only off-season addition made by the Canadiens was the signing of 37-year-old free-agent center Ron Wilson, a defensive specialist and penalty killer.Wilson will spell captain Guy Carbon-neau, especially if Carbonneau&rsquo;s aching knees act up. The veteran center missed 20 games last season due to tendinitis in his left knee and underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees over the summer.Even if Carbonneau is physically sound, Canadiens&rsquo; management figured it needed to improve its penalty killing.At the very least, Wilson&rsquo;s addition will mean that players such as center Kirk Muller and left winger Vincent Damphousse can concentrate more on producing offense. Both of those players were utilized liberally last season during shorthanded situations.There&rsquo;s no denying the Canadiens can score. Right winger Brian Bellows led Montreal with 40 goals and 88 points in 82 games. Damphousse had 39 goals and 97 points in 84 games, while Muller had 37 goals and 94 points in 80 games.Several others had career-high seasons. Center Stephan Lebeau had 31 goals and 80 points in 71 games, despite ankle and knee problems. If he remains healthy another 30-goal season seems likely.Left winger John LeClair had a modest total of 19 goals and 44 points in 72 games, but his playoff performance indicated he might be ready to reach his potential. LeClair had four goals and 10 points in 20 post-season games, including the overtime winners in two consecutive games against the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup final.Right winger Mike Keane scored 15 goals, the most he has produced since his rookie season in 1988-89, and left winger Gilbert Dionne had 20 in 75 games. That total was disappointing, since Dionne scored 21 in 39 games the year before when he was a rookie and hungrier. Dionne became complacent last year and fell into some bad habits, but the Canadiens remain confident he can rediscover his touch around the net.The Canadiens would like to add a veteran center to their roster, but don&rsquo;t appear to be too serious in their search.Defensively, the Canadiens remain sound. While they continue to lack toughness along the blueline-except for Lyle Odelein-there&rsquo;s no denying that Montreal&rsquo;s starting six rearguards are as strong as any team&rsquo;s.The quarterback remains Mathieu Schneider, who was en route to a career season before missing 24 games in February and March due to injury.The Canadiens will be looking for more consistency from veteran Eric Desjardins. Jean-Jacques Daigneault gets surprisingly better with each season, while Kevin Haller and Patrice Brisebois appear ready to blossom.Veteran Rob Ramage, 34, acquired late last season from the Tampa Bay Lightning, provides experience and leadership, but will have a limited role on the Canadiens&rsquo; defense corps.Goaltender Patrick Roy remains one of the game&rsquo;s best. Although he had an inconsistent season by his standards (3.20 goals-against average and two shutouts in 62 games) he erased those memories in the playoffs by capturing the Conn Smythe Trophy, shaving his GAA by one goal per game while winning 16 of 20. Dependable Andre Racicot is the backup.<h2>WINNERS&rsquo; WINNER</h2>With their Stanley Cup win last spring, the Montreal Canadiens have won more titles than any team in North American major professional sports.The Canadiens&rsquo; five-game triumph over the Los Angeles Kings earned them their 23rd Cup. That&rsquo;s one more title than Major League Baseball&rsquo;s New York Yankees own.Below are the winningest franchises in the four major pro leagues: the NHL, MLB, National Football League and National Basketball Association.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0280/8635278-1-eng-US/f0060-022.jpg" title="f0060-02" width="636" height="348"></div> &#9632;

f0059-01

MONTREAL CANADIENS

<div class="byline">-Chris Stevenson</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-01131/8635351-1-eng-US/f0061-012.jpg" title="f0061-01" width="451" height="2662"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0291/8635344-1-eng-US/f0061-022.jpg" title="f0061-02" width="1518" height="2620"><figcaption class="caption-body">NORM MACIVER (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-01131/8635337-1-eng-US/f0062-012.jpg" title="f0062-01" width="259" height="187"></div><h2>Hoping for catch-24 situation</h2>The Ottawa Senators have changed many of the hands on board, but their ship is almost certain to remain on the rocky shore of last place in the Northeast Division.As training camp opened, only nine players remained from the roster which opened the club&rsquo;s first season last fall. It remains to be seen whether the changes, which for the most part incorporated younger players such as Alexandre Daigle and Alexei Yashin, will yield immediate positive results.While it&rsquo;s difficult to imagine a team being worse than the Senators-who managed just 24 points-it&rsquo;s not out of the question the 1993-94 Senators could wind up with less to show in the win column.&ldquo;We might improve and still only get 24 points,&rdquo; coach Rick Bowness said. &ldquo;Everyone is going to measure the improvement of the club in points, but I&rsquo;m not.&rdquo;Just how much the Senators improve-if at all-rests with the performance of the Alexes.&ldquo;Nobody knows how Daigle is going to do,&rdquo; Bowness said. &ldquo;Nobody knows how Yashin is going to do. Any kids who show they&rsquo;re ready to play will play. We&rsquo;re going to live with their mistakes and if they cost us games, they cost us games.&rdquo;Daigle personifies the qualities the Senators so sadly lacked last season: youth, speed and scoring. The Senators finished last in offense, scoring an average of fewer than 2.5 goals per game.The signing of free agent winger Vladimir Ruzicka, if he can recapture his 39-goal form of two years ago, should help.&ldquo;I want to give the Alexes as much help as I can and not put the onus on them to put points on the board,&rdquo; said Bowness, who once coached Ruzicka. &ldquo;That should be spread around among the vets.&rdquo;Wingers Robert Burakowski, 26, and Jar-mo Kekalainen, 27, were also signed as free agents to bolster Ottawa&rsquo;s scoring.Burakowski, a right winger, has had a checkered career in Sweden which included winning a scoring title while on a workrelease program. That stemmed from an incident in which he was convicted for assault after a fighting incident at a fast-food outlet in 1989. Kekalainen spent parts of the 1989-90 and &rsquo;90-91 seasons with the Boston Bruins before returning to Finland.Wingers Chad Penney, the club&rsquo;s second-round pick in &lsquo;92, and Claude Savoie, a ninth-rounder who went on to score 70 goals as Daigle&rsquo;s linemate with the Victori-aville Tigres last season, have excellent chances to join the youth movement.Left winger Sylvain Turgeon, last year&rsquo;s leading goalscorer with 25, showed up for camp in terrible shape and was assigned to work out with the club&rsquo;s farm team. Bob Kudelski, who has scored at least 22 goals for four straight seasons, is playing out his option and will be looking to have a good year to boost his bargaining position.Norm Maciver, the only defenseman to lead his team in scoring last year, returns along with veteran Brad Shaw to anchor the blueline. Both can handle a 35-minute per game workload. Darren Rumble will be looking to build on his strong finish last season which saw him become the club&rsquo;s best two-way defenseman.The key acquisitions are Dmitri Filimonov a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder who was one of Yashin&rsquo;s teammates with Moscow Dynamo and Dennis Vial, a pickup in Phase II of the expansion draft who should give the team some of the toughness it lacked last season.The Senators will have a new No. 1 goalie this season with the acquisition of Craig Billington in a deal with the New Jersey Devils that saw last year&rsquo;s frontliner, Peter Sidorkiewicz, depart. Billington is three years younger than Sidorkiewicz, but it remains to be seen if he&rsquo;ll be capable of handling the strain of tending goal for an expansion team as well as Sidorkiewicz did.Daniel Berthiaume, who played competently after being signed at Christmas out of Austria, and Darrin Madeley, who had a solid first year with a bad American League team in New Haven last year, are battling it out for the backup&rsquo;s job.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be younger, quicker and more physical,&rdquo; said Senators&rsquo; president and general manager Randy Sexton. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re capable of scoring five or six goals in a game now and last year that would have been tough slugging.&ldquo;Will I be disappointed if we have fewer than 24 points? I&rsquo;ll be disappointed if we&rsquo;re less competitive. I think the steps we&rsquo;ve taken make us more competitive.&rdquo;<h2>WELCOME GUESTS</h2>As it turned out, black was the perfect choice for the Ottawa Senators&rsquo; road jerseys last season. That way they were already wearing the appropriate color to mourn yet another loss.The Senators didn&rsquo;t win on the road until April when they beat the New York Islanders for their only victory all season.Here are the teams the Senators tied and beat out for the honor of worst road team in NHL history.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0271/8635330-1-eng-US/f0062-022.jpg" title="f0062-02" width="636" height="384"></div> &#9632;

f0061-01

OTTAWA SENATORS

<div class="byline">-Dave Molinari</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-01113/8635403-1-eng-US/f0063-012.jpg" title="f0063-01" width="451" height="2626"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0272/8635396-1-eng-US/f0063-022.jpg" title="f0063-02" width="1524" height="2560"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM BARRASSO (John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-01115/8635389-1-eng-US/f0064-012.jpg" title="f0064-01" width="235" height="205"></div><h2>The best team money can buy</h2>The Pittsburgh Penguins won the President&rsquo;s Trophy last season, obliterated the franchise record for points in a season and finished with a 26-point cushion in the Patrick Division.When you piece together a 56-21-7 record and make NHL history by winning 17 games in a row, there&rsquo;s not much room for improvement.Not during the regular season, anyway. There is, however, little question the Penguins are intent on upgrading their performance in the playoffs.They won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992, but were upset by the New York Islanders in seven games during the second round last spring. Suddenly, all the talk of an impending dynasty in Pittsburgh became nothing more than a whisper.The discussion centered not on how the Penguins compared to some of the great teams in recent history, but whether Howard Baldwin and his fellow owners would have the resources-or the inclination-to keep hockey&rsquo;s most expensive team intact.Baldwin answered those questions in the affirmative and raised the stakes even more during the off-season. He approved the decisions to acquire high-priced defenseman Marty McSorley, to sign free agent Markus Naslund and rework the contract of all-star left winger Kevin Stevens.All of which means Baldwin has several million more reasons to hope his team will again contend for a championship.The early evidence suggests Pittsburgh will retain its place among the league&rsquo;s elite, especially if budgetary concerns do not prompt management to make any major personnel moves as the season unfolds.The Penguins enter the season with no apparent weaknesses, although there are a few areas of concern. None is more significant than the health of center Mario Lemieux. The Penguins&rsquo; star center, who underwent minor back surgery in the offseason, was kept off the ice during the early part of training camp. He targeted the regular-season opener Oct. 5 in Philadelphia for his return and the Penguins were cautiously optimistic about having him back by then.Lemieux&rsquo;s importance, of course, cannot be overstated. He is widely regarded as the dominant player in the league and won his fourth NHL scoring championship in 1992-93 by piling up 160 points in 60 games.His spectacular comeback after being sidelined by Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease in January was testimony to his competitive instincts. The Penguins&rsquo; 11-11-2 record when he was out tells all anyone needs to know about his value to the Penguins.When Lemieux is healthy, Pittsburgh has hockey&rsquo;s most potent offense. The Penguins can send out two-plus lines stacked with big scorers, and added yet another when Naslund signed the day before camp began.He was the linemate of highly regarded center Peter Forsberg with MoDo in the Swedish Elite League and seems certain to assume a high-profile role in Pittsburgh. If nothing else, he can compensate for the offense lost when forward Shawn McEachern was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for McSorley in late August.That deal added another hefty salary to Pittsburgh&rsquo;s bloated payroll-McSorley&rsquo;s package is projected to be worth about $10.6 million over five years-but it also added another physical force to one of hockey&rsquo;s biggest teams.With defensemen such as McSorley and Ulf Samuelsson to contend with, few opponents are likely to hang around in front of goalie Tom Barrasso.Bryan Trottier, who spent 15 years with the Islanders before playing on both of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Cup winners, ended his one-year retirement to rejoin Pittsburgh as a playerassistant coach.He could be an asset, even if he plays only 50 or so games, and the Penguins made another notable transaction in September when they invited free agent Doug Brown to training camp. Brown was a nemesis while playing for the New Jersey Devils and is the type of role player the Penguins need to complement their stars.The Penguins&rsquo; glut of talent on the right side-Rick Tocchet, Jaromir Jagr, Joe Mullen and Mike Needham-and on defense is part of the reason Pittsburgh will be satisfied with nothing less than another run at the Stanley Cup.And why that objective seems entirely realistic.<h2>FREAKY STREAK</h2>One of the reasons used to explain the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; early playoff exit is that they peaked too early.Some, including captain Mario Lemieux, said the team may have put too much energy into their 18-game unbeaten streak down the stretch. It&rsquo;s a good thing they didn&rsquo;t come close to the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; NHL record 35-game unbeaten string or they may have been eliminated from the postseason even earlier.Still, the Penguins did manage to set. a league high during the streak with 17 consecutive wins. Here are the longest winning streaks in NHL history.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-0272/8635382-1-eng-US/f0064-022.jpg" title="f0064-02" width="580" height="225"></div> &#9632;

f0063-01

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

<div class="byline">-Kevin Johnston</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-01127/8635455-1-eng-US/f0065-012.jpg" title="f0065-01" width="487" height="2668"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-0292/8635448-1-eng-US/f0065-022.jpg" title="f0065-02" width="1524" height="2578"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE SAKIC (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-01113/8635441-1-eng-US/f0066-012.jpg" title="f0066-01" width="265" height="205"></div><h2>All-out offensive for Stanley Cup</h2>The Quebec Nordiques will be a better team in 1993-94, but likely won&rsquo;t finish with as many points as they did a year ago.The Nordiques improved from 52 to 104 points-the greatest one-season turnaround in NHL history-but more regular-season improvement is unlikely.So just how can a team improve and still lose ground?When that team is included in the Northeast Division and must battle five strong opponents, including the powerful Pittsburgh Penguins.The NHL&rsquo;s new balanced schedule will make for entertaining games-and a much more interesting divisional race and playoff structure-but it will most certainly cut down on the number of 100-plus-point teams.A diminishing point total isn&rsquo;t the most important consideration for Quebec, though. The Nordiques&rsquo; main focus will be having more success in the playoffs.Quebec&rsquo;s loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens in the Adams Division semifinal was a huge disappointment, yet it served as an important character builder-at least that&rsquo;s what coachgeneral manager Pierre Page is hoping.One of the reasons the Nordiques will likely fall back is the departure of goalten-der-and dressing room leader-Ron Hextail.The Nordiques were faced with the prospect of keeping the 29-year-old Brandon, Man., native or 23-year-old Stephane Fiset before the NHL expansion draft and they opted for Fiset.Hextall was traded to the New York Islanders, which means Fiset will finally get his shot as the team&rsquo;s No. 1 man.The Montreal native was very adept as the backup last season, recording an 18-9-4 record and 3.40 goals-against average.But can he handle a full schedule in the competition Northeast?Jacques Cloutier is penciled in as Fiset&rsquo;s backup, but he is 33 and played just three games a year ago.Fiset likely won&rsquo;t get a lot of help from his defensemen. The Nordiques allowed 300 goals, the most by an Adams Division playoff team. Quebec has never had a particularly strong defense corps and Page has done nothing to strengthen it.Adam Foote and Curtis Leschyshyn had breakthrough years last season, and Craig Wolanin and Alexei Gusarov are dependable. but offensive catalyst Steve Duchesne has threatened to hold out over a contract dispute. It marks the second straight season the 28-year-old blueliner has been embroiled in a contract squabble. He led Nordiques&rsquo; blueliners last season with 20 goals and 82 points in 82 games.Page had hoped to bolster the defense corps by signing 6-foot, 180-pound Janne Laukkanen-the team&rsquo;s eighth choice in the 1991 entry draft-but the 23-year-old Finn decided to stay at home and play in the Finnish Elite League.While the Nordiques&rsquo; defense is somewhat suspect, their offense is a tower of power.Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Owen Nolan, Mike Ricci, Scott Young, Martin Gelinas, Andrei Kovalenko and a stable of other young players should match or exceed last year&rsquo;s total of 351 goals.A healthy Valeri Kamensky, who has immense potential, but has been injured for much of the past two seasons, could give the Nordiques another 40-goal, 80-point man.Quebec had hoped to have Swedish center Peter Forsberg in the lineup, but the 20-year-old free agent decided to return to MoDo of the Swedish Elite League for another season.The Nordiques also have an accomplished crop of role players, led by diminutive center Claude Lapointe and newcomer Paul MacDermid.Lapointe was the team&rsquo;s top player in the playoffs last season (two goals, six points in six games) and chipped in with 10 goals and 36 points during the regular season, mostly in a defensive capacity.If the divisions had remained the same, the Nordiques would be a sure bet to improve on their 104-point total and capture their first regular-season division crown since 1985-86.As it is, the Nordiques will likely drop back in the regular season but make a stronger playoff run and mount more of a challenge for their ultimate goal-the Stanley Cup.<h2>QUANTUM LEAP</h2>For years, Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; fans were waiting for their team to take a step forward.Well it finally happened last year, and in Neil Armstrong proportions.Quebec took the giant step from 52 points to 104 in 1991-92. The 52-point increase was the biggest in NHL history.The old quantum leap record was i held by the Winnipeg Jets who improved by 48 points in 1981-82.Listed below are the teams that showed the most improvement in points last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-0268/8635434-1-eng-US/f0066-022.jpg" title="f0066-02" width="594" height="282"></div> &#9632;

f0065-01

QUEBEC NORDIQUES

<div class="byline">-Craig Dolch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0174/8635507-1-eng-US/f0069-012.jpg" title="f0069-01" width="445" height="2644"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0243/8635500-1-eng-US/f0069-022.jpg" title="f0069-02" width="1524" height="2626"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN SKRUDLAND (Steve DiPace)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0168/8635493-1-eng-US/f0070-012.jpg" title="f0070-01" width="235" height="148"></div><h2>A Goals would make Miami nice</h2>The Florida Panthers don&rsquo;t have to look far to see contrasting styles on how-and how not-to build an expansion franchise.All they have to do is look back to last season when the Tampa Bay Lightning became competitive, while the Ottawa Senators seemed more concerned with other matters than winning games.Securing the first draft pick won&rsquo;t be an on-ice concern since the Panthers have already won the right to choose first overall in 1994.So the big question being asked the Panthers is an obvious one: Will they be as good as the Lighting or as bad as the Senators?&ldquo;Obviously, you try to go the way of Tampa,&rdquo; said general manager Bob Clarke. &ldquo;But then you try to be better than that.&rdquo;Clarke made that point clear during his first team meeting when he said the club&rsquo;s aim is to become as competitive as possible. He doesn&rsquo;t want the players to adopt an attitude that they&rsquo;re supposed to lose just because this is an expansion club.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have patience because we have players developing,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;We understand the game, but it&rsquo;s not our intent to get our rear ends kicked.&rdquo;Clarke showed strong commitment during the expansion draft when he didn&rsquo;t flinch at taking goalie John Vanbiesbrouck and his $1.15-million contract. The club also drafted several costly high-priced veterans in Brian Skrudland, Joe Cirella, Scott Mellanby, Dave Lowry, Mike Hough, Randy Gilhen and Mark Fitzpatrick.The Panthers didn&rsquo;t sit on the sideline in the free-agent market either, signing defenseman Brian Benning to a three-year deal worth $1.3 million. Clearly, this is not an organization trying to save money before it moves into its new home in three years.With Benning and Cirella expected to start on the blueline and Vanbiesbrouck and Fitzpatrick in goal, the Panthers have a credible defense.Still, the Panthers will be hard-pressed to match Tampa Bay&rsquo;s 9-8-2 start last season. In their first 19 games, the Lightning came within one victory of matching Ottawa&rsquo;s season total before finishing with a 23-54-7 mark.But veterans such as Skrudland don&rsquo;t want to get into a guessing game on measuring where the Panthers will finish. He&rsquo;s more interested in style, not substance. Playing hard is almost as important as playing well.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to say we&rsquo;ll be as good as Tampa Bay or as bad as Ottawa,&rdquo; Skrudland said. &ldquo;But I know we&rsquo;ll be as competitive as any other 20 players. Maybe there are nights when will be outfinessed. But we should never be outworked.&rdquo;Of course, Skrudland knows it&rsquo;s easier to show this determination at the start of camp than it will be when the losses start to mount in December.&ldquo;We shouldn&rsquo;t kid ourselves,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a hard year for us. We&rsquo;re going to have to go above and beyond the call of duty every night just to be competitive. That&rsquo;s not a fantasy.&rdquo;The team&rsquo;s biggest weakness is its scoring. With Mellanby the only player who has scored 20 goals in the NHL, the Panthers&rsquo; goal might be to first surpass the NHL-low 202 goals scored by Ottawa last season.But if young players such as Jesse Belanger, Tom Fitzgerald, Scott Levins, Bill Lindsay, Patrick Lebeau and No. 1 pick Rob Niedermayer develop into 15-to 20-goal scorers, the Panthers should get their wish of being competitive most nights.Discipline and belief are points coach Roger Neilson has been trying to hammer home since the start of camp. He has a history of getting the most out of teams with a lack of talent and that&rsquo;s the case here.But the Panthers also know what happens in the standings this season is secondary to the development of the franchise. That&rsquo;s why young defensemen such as Milan Tichy and Paul Laus also have to get plenty of ice time.The Panthers may not be able to catch the Lightning&rsquo;s formula in a bottle. But if intentions translate into results, they certainly won&rsquo;t be as bad as the Senators. But then again, even that would be tough.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Montreal Canadiens right now,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;But we do expect to battle and fight and scratch and do what&rsquo;s necessary to try and win. We&rsquo;re a NHL team now.&rdquo;<h2>AGAINST ALL ODDS</h2>With Roger Neilson as coach and Bob Clarke as General Manager, the Florida Panthers have winning experience.Still, history says they aren&rsquo;t likely to have a winning season.Here are the first-year records of the nine teams the NHL has added since 1970. Not included are the four teams-the Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets-that joined the league from the World Hockey Association in 1979.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0233/8635486-1-eng-US/f0070-022.jpg" title="f0070-02" width="598" height="380"></div> &#9632;

f0069-01

FLORIDA PANTHERS

<div class="byline">-Rich Chere</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-0175/8635559-1-eng-US/f0071-012.jpg" title="f0071-01" width="451" height="2632"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-0236/8635552-1-eng-US/f0071-022.jpg" title="f0071-02" width="1488" height="2596"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLAUDE LEMIEUX (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0169/8635545-1-eng-US/f0072-012.jpg" title="f0072-01" width="247" height="205"></div><h2>New digs, coach excite team</h2>It was a bold move that immediately made the New Jersey Devils a better team and improved their chances of getting past the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 1988.Did general manager Lou Lamoriello finally pull the trigger on a deal for center Steve Yzerman?No.Did owner John McMullen begin throwing his money around so that the Devils could lure a top free agent?Hardly.The move which will make the Devils a better club under Jacques Lemaire than they were under Herb Brooks, Tom Me Vie or John Cunniff was the NHL&rsquo;s decision to move the Pittsburgh Penguins out of the Atlantic Division while bringing in the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning to what used to be the Patrick Division.Just as important as an easier schedule is the attitude Lemaire brings to a team which has not had faith in its head coach since Jim Schoenfeld a half-decade ago.A Hall of Fame center and former administrator for the Montreal Canadiens, Lemaire immediately commanded respect and displayed his own self-confidence by promising to give the organization&rsquo;s rookies a fair chance to make the team rather than playing it safe with veterans.The Devils&rsquo; chief problem for several seasons is that they have had talented players on their roster, but a poor blend of players.Lemaire will take steps to correct that problem at two key positions: Center and defense.Although the Devils appear to be vulnerable at center, they will actually be better at that spot than they were last season.Alexander Semak has a 37-goal season under his belt and he feels comfortable living in a new country and playing in a new league. The Devils believe he will pick up on the offensive front where he left off last season.Bemie Nicholls is also more settled and is hopeful of avoiding the injuries which cut his production last season after being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers. Nicholls, 32, reported to camp 100 per-cent healthy after struggling with a broken foot last season.Peter Stastny, who had reached the end of the line after a distinguished career, is gone and that will be addition by subtraction. The acquisition of Corey Millen from the Los Angeles Kings will add quickness to a position that had slowed almost to a crawl last season.But perhaps the biggest key will be rookie Brian Rolston, who guaranteed himself a spot on the U.S. Olympic team if he fails to earn a spot with the Devils. Lemaire is counting on the product of Lake Superior State University to give the Devils a much-needed infusion of speed and youthful optimism.The same can be said for defenseman Jason Smith, who is waiting in the wings for a chance to rejuvenate the club&rsquo;s defense corps along with Scott Niedermayer.After his first full season in the NHL, Niedermayer could emerge as a star with the ability to lift people out of their seats during his end-to-end rushes.Smith, not yet 20, will not be rushed. Last season&rsquo;s top defenseman in the Western League may start the season with the Albany River Rats of the American League, but when he is ready the Devils will welcome his physical play.Beyond the two kids, the Devils have a corps of veterans as reliable as any in the game. They include Stevens, Bruce Driver, Ken Daneyko, Tommy Albelin and Viach-eslav Fetisov.Lemaire has one advantage that Brooks did not have a year ago. Right winger John MacLean, a 45-goal scorer in 1990-91 is healthy and has fully recovered from November, 1991 knee surgery.But perhaps most important to Lemaire&rsquo;s success will be his relationship with French Canadian forwards Stephane Richer and Claude Lemieux. It&rsquo;s expected the new coach will get the most out of both.It will be one of Lemaire&rsquo;s projects to see that Richer does not have off-ice problems this year and the Devils took an important step when they signed Richer to a multiyear contract.As for Lemieux, he is anxious to prove to Lemaire just how important he is to the Devils. He is also out to prove that he wants to stay in New Jersey.<h2>SWEET 16?</h2>New Jersey Devils&rsquo; coach Jacques Lemaire has the most difficult position to hold in the NHL.Lemaire is the 16th man to gingerly step behind the franchise&rsquo;s bench since it entered the NHL as the Kansas City Scouts in 1974-75.Here are the NHL teams with the most number of coaches since 1974-75. The figures do not include men who have coached the same team on more than one occasion.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0233/8635538-1-eng-US/f0072-022.jpg" title="f0072-02" width="624" height="384"></div> &#9632;

f0071-01

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

<div class="byline">-Jeff Williams</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0176/8635611-1-eng-US/f0073-012.jpg" title="f0073-01" width="463" height="2650"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0243/8635604-1-eng-US/f0073-022.jpg" title="f0073-02" width="1494" height="2614"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE TURGEON (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-0165/8635597-1-eng-US/f0074-012.jpg" title="f0074-01" width="235" height="211"></div><h2>Home of greater expectations</h2>The New York Islanders&rsquo; surprise run to the Stanley Cup semifinals last season will be difficult to match. But it is a possibility.The Islanders have sights set higher than last season, when making the playoffs was good enough. This year the team is thinking Stanley Cup, not just playoffs.These high expectations require a better overall standard of play, which will tough to fulfill. The team shouldn&rsquo;t realistically look to go farther than last year.&ldquo;Our challenge is to make ourselves better,&rdquo; said coach Al Arbour. &ldquo;When you achieve what we did last season you give yourself a goal and that&rsquo;s to be better.&rdquo;The only significant addition is goalie Ron Hextali, obtained from the Quebec Nordiques before the expansion draft for goalie Mark Fitzpatrick and a swap of first-round draft choices. Despite Glenn Healy&rsquo;s strong playoff performance, the Islanders figure to be better off with Hextail. He gives them a clear No. 1 goalie for the first time in eight years.But Healy&rsquo;s gone now, too, having been taken in the expansion draft and then traded to the rival New York Rangers. There are three goalies who have a chance to be No. 2. The contenders are Danny Lorenz and Jamie McLennan, who shared duties for the Capital District Islanders last season. A surprise may be Milan Hnlicka from the Czech Republic, who played for the Swift Current Broncos in the Western League last year.General manager Don Maloney said he will be patient with the goalies, letting them battle it out in the pre-season for the No. 2 slot. He squirms slightly at the thought. &ldquo;In all candor we&rsquo;re not all that comfortable with (our backup goalie situation) right now,&rdquo; he said.While the No. 2 goaltender is the No. 1 question, there are other positions to fill. The Islanders are looking for defensive forwards to take the place of Tom Fitzgerald, taken by the Florida Panthers in the expansion draft, and Brian Mullen, who is out for the season after a mild stroke in August.The first three lines are nearly a lock. Pierre Turgeon will center Derek King and Steve Thomas; Ray Ferraro will center Benoit Hogue and Pat Flatley; and Travis Green will center Brad Dalgamo and Marty McInnis.These aren&rsquo;t engraved in stone, but you can bet that that is how the Islanders will start the season.David Volek is likely to be a fourth-line forward, despite his playoff heroics. If he can accept this, he could be effective. He can play either wing, in either an offensive or defensive role, and is likely to be called upon to kill penalties this year.Claude Loiselle is the likely candidate as a defensive center. The other spot is what the whole pre-season is about for Arbour.&ldquo;We have to find some players to step in and fill the roles of Mullen and Fitzgerald,&rdquo; Arbour said. &ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t have them in our organization, we&rsquo;ll have to go elsewhere.&rdquo;The Islanders gave a tryout to Dan Quinn, the veteran center released by the Minnesota North Stars last season. Quinn was released by the Stars last November for violating curfew.If Quinn could be more adaptable to a defensive role, he could find a spot on the team. Who the other forward would be on the fourth line is an open question, since it doesn&rsquo;t seem likely Mick Vukota will see a lot of ice time.One area where the Islanders will be stronger is at defense. The Islanders may have one of the best young defensive corps in the league.Darius Kasparaitis, Vladimir Malakhov and Scott Lachance all have a season of experiences. Rich Pilon improved last season, rounding out his game to go along with his rough and tough posture. Uwe Krupp was steady and saw as much ice time as any defender. Dennis Vaske emerged from Capital District to be a consistent performer. And Wayne McBean, who missed the last year and half because of knee problems, looked sharp in camp.The Islanders are counting on McBean to be healthy. If he is, Maloney will be deep enough on defense to trade someone for a backup goalie or a big forward.Will the Islanders be better than last season? A lot of things will have to go right for that to happen. They might only tread water this season. Yet they raised the water level considerably last year. They are swimming with the big boys now and that isn&rsquo;t half bad.<h2>ROAD SWEET ROAD</h2>The New York Islanders were full of surprises last season. Most notable was their upset of the Pittsburgh Penguins.Another eye-opener was their record in one-goal games. A team would be expected to have an edge at home and be at a disadvantage on the road in close games. The Islanders were the other way around. Here are the 1992-93 teams with the worst home and best road records in one-goal games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-0224/8635590-1-eng-US/f0074-022.jpg" title="f0074-02" width="594" height="450"></div> &#9632;

f0073-01

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

<div class="byline">-Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-0165/8635663-1-eng-US/f0077-012.jpg" title="f0077-01" width="457" height="2656"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-0232/8635656-1-eng-US/f0077-022.jpg" title="f0077-02" width="1494" height="2602"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK MESSIER (Dan Hamilton)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-0151/8635649-1-eng-US/f0078-012.jpg" title="f0078-01" width="241" height="211"></div><h2>First-to-worst-to-first possible</h2>If it were as simple as comparing the cast of characters from the end of one season to the beginning of the next, the New York Rangers would be looking at another long season.Their roster hasn&rsquo;t changed much from last year&rsquo;s dreadful season, with two notable exceptions. They lost their best goalie from a year ago, John Vanbiesbrouck, in a preexpansion draft trade; and their best defensive forward, Jan Erixon, retired.A repeat performance? Yeah, there&rsquo;s a chance it will be another bad one.Yet there are several reasons why the Rangers, under new coach Mike Keenan, are expected to bounce back toward the top of their division, if not the league. Those reasons are in the determination of several key players who had miserable experiences in &lsquo;92-93, and who plan on doing whatever it takes to turn it around this year.For example:&#9633; Keenan. Success has followed Keenan wherever he has gone and he&rsquo;ll command respect and hard work from his players.&#9633; Mark Messier. Embarrassed and hurt by his first non-playoff season and blamed for the mutiny of coach Roger Neilson, Messier looks like a man on a mission. Despite his problems, despite wrist, back and rib injuries, and despite the absence of a potent power play, Messier still racked up 91 points in 75 games last year. It will be interesting to watch him try to regain the MVP status he earned in 1989-90 and &lsquo;91-92.&#9633; Brian Leetch. He isn&rsquo;t 100 per cent, but even at 90 per cent Leetch is better offensively than most defensemen. Leetch&rsquo;s recovering shoulder will allow him to do the things that made him a Norris Trophy winner in 1991-92 and his broken ankle is healed. Remember, the Rangers were seven games over.500 with Leetch last year, and 12 games under.500 without him.&#9633; Mike Richter. Hurt by a loss of confidence and embarrassed by a benching and a minor-league stint last season, Richter didn&rsquo;t come close to the 56-30-14, 3.09 goals-against average numbers he put up in his first three seasons. Now, with Vanbiesbrouck gone, he is being given the opportunity to be a No. 1 goalie for a coach who likes to stay with one goalie and Richter seems focused on proving he deserves it.&#9633; Esa Tikkanen. Brought in just before the trade deadline, Tikkanen was supposed to be the Tick in the side of the division&rsquo;s big boys-Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros and Pierre Turgeon. Instead, Tikkanen was lit up to the tune of minus-13 in 15 games. If he&rsquo;s healthy and back to form, Tikkanen can essentially replace Erixon&rsquo;s defensive role while scoring 20-30 goals.&#9633; Alexei Kovalev. His rookie season was one of flash and failure. Kovalev was brilliant with the puck, but often forgot about teammates. His work ethic in practice and his inability to play the team game resulted in American League visits to Binghamton. Under Keenan, Kovalev will be pushed to do things the right way.&#9633; Kevin Lowe. The Rangers looked to him for leadership and he provided it. Unfortunately, Lowe wasn&rsquo;t able to handle the workload piled upon him when key injuries hit the defense and he crumbled. Lowe&rsquo;s ice time should return to a reasonable level and so should his effectiveness.That&rsquo;s just for starters, because there are a lot of stories of disappointment when a team goes from No. 1 in the league to last place in its division in the course of a season.So where is this team now?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s somewhere between the bottomplace team that was reality at the end of last year and the top-place team that was reality the year before,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;Everything has changed since then. If you asked me if this team could win the Stanley Cup right now, that would be a difficult assignment.&rdquo;The Keenan factor shouldn&rsquo;t be taken lightly, either.&ldquo;It will be a different team, but I think we can be as successful (as 1991-92),&rdquo; Leetch said. &ldquo;If we aren&rsquo;t, there will be changes made so we are. A lot of what went wrong last year was with our team chemistry and with the team not being really together.&rdquo;The roster looks very similar to that of last season&rsquo;s empty finish, but this Rangers team can look a lot different.Add in the arrival of two expansion teams to the new Atlantic Division and subtract the steamroller Pittsburgh Penguins and the Rangers might complete the most unusual round trip imaginable: First-to-worst-to-first.<h2>FALLING DOWN</h2>Expansion and an extra four regular-season games meant happy days for most of the NHL&rsquo;s teams in 1992-93.In fact, just five clubs experienced a points decrease from the previous season. Unfortunately for the New York Rangers and their long-suffering fans, their team was one of them&hellip;and how!After finishing first overall in 1991-92 and capturing the President&rsquo;s Trophy with 105 points, the Rangers had just 79 points last year. The 26-point difference was the biggest drop off.Here are those five teams, listed t with their 1991-92 and 1992-93 points totals and the difference.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-0217/8635642-1-eng-US/f0078-022.jpg" title="f0078-02" width="624" height="240"></div> &#9632;

f0077-01

NEW YORK RANGERS

<div class="byline">-Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-0153/8635715-1-eng-US/f0079-012.jpg" title="f0079-01" width="463" height="2668"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-0220/8635708-1-eng-US/f0079-022.jpg" title="f0079-02" width="1542" height="2620"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK RECCHI (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0140/8635701-1-eng-US/f0080-012.jpg" title="f0080-01" width="259" height="205"></div><h2>Healthy Lindros spells success</h2>The Philadelphia Flyers have been down so long, there really is no place to go but up.Last season marked the fourth straight time the Flyers missed post-season action, making them the only established NHL team to miss the playoffs in the 1990s.But the end of last season offered a glimmer of hope. With star center Eric Lindros and goaltender Tommy Soderstrom healthy and everyone playing a more disciplined, defensive style, the Flyers finished with an eight-game winning streak.Although the Flyers will be the first to admit those games mean little toward this season&rsquo;s outlook, the way in which they won them does.The Flyers believe with a new coach, Terry Simpson, and a system that encourages more discipline, better special teams play and an aggressive forechecking scheme, they have the tools to rejoin the chase for the Stanley Cup.Simpson comes aboard with a mandate to get more out of the Flyers&rsquo; talent. Outgoing coach Bill Dineen was, in the eyes of some, a little too close to his players. As one player put it, Dineen coached like he didn&rsquo;t want to hurt anyone&rsquo;s feelings.That shouldn&rsquo;t be the problem under this regime. Simpson comes in with a reputation as a taskmaster-certainly no threat to Mike Keenan-but a coach who demands a lot from his players. The players know this and would prefer to produce, rather than receive a demonstration.The Flyers will make progress this season if Lindros manages to stay away from injuries and Soderstrom has no problems with an abnormal heartbeat condition.But they must also find a way to cover up the deficiency of a so-so defense, cut down on their goals against and make it tougher for teams to win at the Spectrum. If they don&rsquo;t, it will be another long season.Lindros holds the key to the Flyers&rsquo; hopes. A tumultuous first year is behind him and he&rsquo;s ready to pick up where he left off at the end of last season when he began to exert himself more as a leader.He still wears a brace on his left knee, a reminder of the sprain that forced him to miss 23 games last year, but don&rsquo;t look for him to be any less aggressive. It isn&rsquo;t his style and he refuses to play more passively. It&rsquo;s safe to say the Flyers need a 100-point year out of Lindros to make the playoffs.Every indication is that Soderstrom will be healthy and he looks to build on a fine rookie season that saw him record five shutouts (second in the NHL and the most by a Flyer since 1986) in just 44 games.General manager Russ Farwell hopes a solid third line will give the team the depth it needs to win tight-checking games.Farwell is counting on Swede Mikael Renberg (second-round pick in 1.990) to have an immediate impact, left winger Claude Boivin to make a successful recovery from last season&rsquo;s knee operation and Josef Beranek to continue to develop into a power forward.Although Farwell hasn&rsquo;t made a trade for a front-line defenseman, competition for jobs in camp has been spirited.Farwell signed free agent Jeff Finney and Czech import Milos Holan. Rookie Jason Bowen showed promise last year and Dan Kordic hopes to rebound from knee surgery.For the Flyers to move up in the ranks, they need repeat performances from their No. 1 defense pairing of Garry Galley and Dimitri Yushkevich. Galley enjoyed a career year and Yushkevich was one of the NHL&rsquo;s top rookies.Soderstrom and Dominic Roussel should continue their friendly, but competitive rivalry for time in goal.Simpson&rsquo;s mission is to mold this talent into a team that produces on a consistent basis. Special teams will be emphasized throughout the season. No team with Lindros, Mark Recchi, Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, Kevin Dineen and Galley should finish 18th in the league on the power play as the Flyers did last year.Simpson vows his team will be aggressive chasing the puck and will maintain a high work ethic. Unlike Flyer teams of the past few years, this one appears to have enough depth for Simpson to juggle his lineup and bench a player or two if necessary.The Flyers plan to get off to a quick start for a change this season and see what it&rsquo;s like to play with the big boys. Indications are they can handle it.<h2>NYET IN NET</h2>Late Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; goalie Pelle Lindbergh is still the NHL games played leader among European goalies.The Flyers&rsquo; Tommy Soderstrom is i another European climbing the chart.Here is a listing of all European goalies to play in the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0220/8635694-1-eng-US/f0080-022.jpg" title="f0080-02" width="588" height="597"></div> &#9632;

f0079-01

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

<div class="byline">-Roy Cummings</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0159/8635767-1-eng-US/f0081-012.jpg" title="f0081-01" width="463" height="2644"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0237/8635760-1-eng-US/f0081-022.jpg" title="f0081-02" width="1506" height="2608"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN BRADLEY (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-0138/8635753-1-eng-US/f0082-012.jpg" title="f0082-01" width="271" height="205"></div><h2>This team has scores to settle</h2>When Tampa Bay Lightning coach Terry Crisp needed a goal last season, he looked down his bench and saw an arsenal that consisted of only one weapon: Brian Bradley.Bradley scored more goals last season than any player ever on an expansion team and had 15 more than any player who wore a lightning bolt across his chest. Although the Lightning didn&rsquo;t exactly go out and get Murderer&rsquo;s Row in the off-season, Bradley shouldn&rsquo;t be the lone gunman in 1993-94.Former 40-goal man Denis Savard, who scored 16 for the Montreal Canadiens last season, was acquired as a free agent. So was Gerard Gallant, a former 30-goal man who got only 10 for the Detroit Red Wings in 1992-93. Petr Klima, who led the Edmonton Oilers with 32 goals last season, was acquired for future considerations.Possibly add Chris Gratton-who scored 54 goals for the Ontario League&rsquo;s Kingston Fron-tenacs-into the mix, and the Lightning should improve on its meagre 245-goal output.But will the team improve on its impressive 23-victory, 53-point NHL debut?That will depend on how it adapts to life in the re-aligned Atlantic Division.Actually, things may be easier for the Lightning since the Central Division figures to be the toughest in the league this season. But there has been some concern that the Lightning may not be fast enough or tough enough to hold its own in the Atlantic.By adding Klima and Savard, the Lightning figures to be much faster and capable of keeping pace with teams such as the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. And with the addition of tough guys Rudy Poeschek and defenseman Chris LiPuma, the team likely won&rsquo;t be easily intimidated.One thing is for sure, though. Unlike a year ago, the Lightning can send out two scoring lines against its opponents and that should at least make it a lot tougher to deal with.A year ago, all anyone had to do to stop the Lightning was shut down Brian Bradley. This year, Bradley will have offensive alternatives all around him.Bradley will likely have 31-year-old Gallant on his left and John Tucker on his right. The second unit will be comprised of Klima, Savard and Mikael Andersson. The Lighting hopes Gallant and Savard can score at least 20 goals each and is expecting a minimum of 30 goals from the enigmatic Klima.Although he has spent most of his career as a checker, Andersson has averaged 17 goals the past two seasons and he figures to benefit from playing alongside Savard and Klima.Another beneficiary of the addition of Savard and Klima, albeit indirectly, could be the Lightning defense. With those players spreading out more of the scoring, the Lightning will now be able to put players such as Rob DiMaio, Marc Bureau and Danton Cole in roles that take better advantage of their strengths.That should help the team cut down on its goals against, an area in which the Lightning finished 18th last season when it gave up 332 goals.The addition of Daren Puppa should help more, though. His numbers of a year ago (17-7-4, 2.65 goals-against average with the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs) are a strong indication that he has recovered from the broken arm that limited his effectiveness two seasons ago, and the Lightning is counting on him to come up with the big save that seemed so often to be missing last year.Puppa&rsquo;s presence means last year&rsquo;s starters, Wendell Young and Pat Jablonski, will be fighting for backup duties.There won&rsquo;t be much of a fight for roster spots among the defensemen. Although this unit allowed a few more goals against than the team would have liked, it will return pretty much intact with Joe Reekie, Marc Bergevin, Roman Hamrlik and Shawn Chambers holding down the top four spots. Former Canadien Donald Dufresne should grab another spot and the sixth and seventh will go to either LiPuma, Bob Beers, Eric Charron or Bryan Fogarty.It is a group that seems to have some balance among defensive and offensive minded players, but some, particularly Hamrlik, need to settle on a style.The Lightning, meanwhile, needs to settle on some power-play units and again, the addition of Klima and Savard should help.The penalty killing may be a different story. The Lightning had the worst penalty killers in the league last year, and not much has been done to improve that group.<h2>HIGH-FLYIN&rsquo; BRIAN</h2>When Brian Bradley was a struggling. part-timer in Toronto, the only records he was in danger of breaking were ones for futility.Now he&rsquo;s the proud owner of an, expansion scoring mark. Bradley, who scored just 10 goals and 31 points for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1991-92, collected 86 points last season for the Tampa Bay Lightning. That&rsquo;s the most ever for a player on an expansion team, excluding the six 1967-68 and four 1979 WHA entries.Here are the all-time top point-getters for expansion teams in their first season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-0215/8635746-1-eng-US/f0082-022.jpg" title="f0082-02" width="584" height="222"></div> &#9632;

f0081-01

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

<div class="byline">-Dave Sell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-0145/8635819-1-eng-US/f0083-012.jpg" title="f0083-01" width="517" height="2724"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-0220/8635812-1-eng-US/f0083-022.jpg" title="f0083-02" width="1524" height="2572"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON BEAUPRE (Scott Levy/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0134/8635805-1-eng-US/f0084-012.jpg" title="f0084-01" width="259" height="145"></div><h2>Lots of &lsquo;ifs&rsquo; and &lsquo;maybes&rsquo; here</h2>Most Washington Capital fans won&rsquo;t be surprised if the team&rsquo;s 20th season isn&rsquo;t radically different than the past 10 or so.That means a solid-perhaps even spectacular-regular season and a disappointing spring.It&rsquo;s entirely possible the Capitals could win the Stanley Cup. In ways, they&rsquo;ve been on the fringe the past two seasons. If the Capitals could have found one more breath and one more victory in 1992, they would have denied the Pittsburgh Penguins a second straight Cup. If, if, if, if&hellip;The Capitals&rsquo; string of 11 straight playoff appearances is the fifth-longest in the league, but that has not meant playoff success. In seven of the 11 years, the Capitals were eliminated by teams that finished below them in the standings. Last season&rsquo;s opening round loss to the New York Islanders was the latest example.The 1993-94 team has some of the same strengths and weaknesses as the preceding team. The defense is talented, with two Norris Trophy candidates. The forwards are a good crew, but they lack the star element.The Montreal Canadiens won the Cup without a 100-point player and without anyone scoring more than 40 goals, so the Capitals can take solace in not having an established scoring star. But the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, in part, because they had timely scoring. They also had goalie Patrick Roy.The Capitals&rsquo; scoring was patchy and the Islanders slipped through the gaps. Though it will be a footnote to history because of his post-whistle check on Pierre Turgeon, Dale Hunter had a great series. Hunter had seven goals while all the other Capital forwards combined had eight.Peter Bondra led team in goals (37) and points (85) during the season, and did dish out six assists, but he had no goals in the playoffs. Michal Pivonka had just two assists and no goals, but did collect frank public criticism from general manager David Poile.Defenseman Al Iafrate had six goals (including a rare hat trick), but fellow blueliner Kevin Hatcher was held to just one assist after setting a personal high for points in the regular season.Relying on defensemen to be the focal point of an offensive attack has inherent risks and unless something changes, that is going to continue this season.Maybe Bondra, 25, can take the next step and become a consistent scorer when defenses are concentrating on him. Dimitri Khristich, 24, had 31 goals in 64 games and maybe he can also increase the output.Poile is in the final season of his contract and treading water might not be enough to continue. Owner Abe Pollin said he had rejected sale offers and would become more involved in the team.Both Poile and Pollin spoke of Poile&rsquo;s attempts to swing a trade at the June entry draft. He tried to get Dave Manson from the Edmonton Oilers and Joe Sakic or Mike Ricci from the Quebec Nordiques. Perhaps if he had gotten Manson, he could have gotten Sakic by sending a defenseman to Quebec. But Poile was only offering draft picks, which the Nordiques and Oilers already had. The next step will be to offer bodies.Coach Terry Murray talked about enlarging one comfort zone, that being a sense of physical safety for scorers. That&rsquo;s why Craig Berube and Enrico Ciccone were brought in to help enforcer Alan May.With Hunter suspended for the first 21 games, Keith Acton will fill the role of pest. But they are also hoping he imparts a little hockey wisdom. He will be the only Capital with a Stanley Cup ring. So it&rsquo;s no accident his locker is next to that of Khristich.Dave Poulin, 34, might have been captain in Boston if not for Ray Bourque. Now in Washington, Poulin might not even wear an &lsquo;A&rsquo; (Hunter and Kelly Miller do now) but leadership is still expected. Kevin Hatcher replaced Rod Langway as captain.Goaltending is the other spot with questions. With defensemen jumping into the play, Rick Tabaracci or Don Beaupre will need to be better in order to cut the goals-against average for the team.&ldquo;There will be tremendous competition for jobs,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;There will be more decisions to be made than all the other training camps since I&rsquo;ve been here (as coach).&rdquo;If this season is like last season and similar to the ones before, Washington will do no worse then tread water.<h2>CAPITAL DEFENSE</h2>The Washington Capitals have enjoyed moderate success over the years despite never possessing a true super-star forward. That was the case again last year when the team finished 10th overall without even a 40-goal scorer.So it wasn&rsquo;t a surprise when the Capitals finally did set a league offensive record it was done by the defense.Kevin Hatcher (34), Al Iafrate (25) and Sylvain Cote (21) were the first three defensemen on the same team to score 20 or more goals in the same season.Naturally, the Capitals led the NHL in goals by defensemen. Here are the top 1992-93 teams in that category.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0213/8635798-1-eng-US/f0084-022.jpg" title="f0084-02" width="593" height="220"></div> &#9632;

f0083-01

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

<div class="byline">By Jason Kay and Matt Nicholls</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-0135/8635864-1-eng-US/f0086-012.jpg" title="f0086-01" width="361" height="343"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-0213/8635857-1-eng-US/f0086-022.jpg" title="f0086-02" width="2064" height="2458"><figcaption class="caption-body">Robert Reichel Czechs in as one of the Calgary Flames&rsquo; top scorers. He broke through with 40 goal-season in 1992-93. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Like most myths, the European legend is grounded in fact.The first overseas NHL invaders were below average in toughness but above in ability. Players such as Inge Ham-marstrom, Boije Salming and Lars Sj oberg were imported from Europe primarily for their skill.The image was cultivated because NHL teams were filling a need that couldn&rsquo;t be met at home. Even if the intimidating forward or stay-at-home defenseman existed in Europe, why bring him over when there was already a great supply in North America?Because of the high cost of importing European players, they were expected to make an immediate impact.And so a stereotype was bom.It has been perpetuated by such offensive whiz kids as Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny, the NHL&rsquo;s leading goal scorers in 1992-93, but the likes of Frantisek Kucera and Johan Garpenlov have muddied the picture.Just who is your typical European NHLer now? While there is no easy answer, statistics suggest he&rsquo;s a lot closer to Wayne Presley than Wayne Gretzky.One would think, given the image of the skilled European, players from overseas would contribute a greater percentage of goals than peers from North American major junior and college teams. That&rsquo;s not the case.Europeans represented 16 per cent of NHLers who played at least 20 games last season and scored 19 per cent of the league&rsquo;s goals. By comparison, major junior grads made up 57 per cent of players and scored 55 per cent of goals while U.S. collegians represented 26 per cent of the league&rsquo;s players and scored 24 per cent of goals.There are no comparable stats from previous seasons, but it&rsquo;s fair to assume there is greater equality between inter-continental players than in the past. A number of factors have contributed to parity:&#9633; Expansion: With so many new jobs available, the search for talent has intensified around the globe. As a result of the increased volume, more mediocre or role-playing Europeans have entered the NHL.&#9633; Open mindedness: Xenophobia is on the decline. Even flag-waving Canadian Don Cherry has uttered compliments to Europeans recently.&ldquo;The league has become an equal-opportunity employer,&rdquo; says David Conte, the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; director of player personnel. &ldquo;The bottom line is teams are just trying to get the best players available. There was a time when some teams blocked out Europeans. That isn&rsquo;t the case anymore.&rdquo;So when a rugged defenseman such as Darius Kasparaitis or Ulf Samuelsson becomes available, teams are eager to acquire him, regardless of nationality.&#9633; Changing styles: The 1972 Summit Series taught North Americans they had some ground to make up in terms of skill. But Europeans have also learned lessons from North Americans in international tournaments.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question they&rsquo;ve become tougher over the years,&rdquo; Conte says. &ldquo;The two styles have converged.&rdquo;The consequence is fewer goals are being scored than one would expect from Europeans, who have become more rugged.&#9633; Positions: Europe is supplying proportionately more defensemen than forwards to the NHL.What makes that significant is defensemen accounted for just 15 per cent of goals last season.Europeans represented 16 per cent of the NHL population last season and 18 per cent of the league&rsquo;s defensemen.Major junior, which has a reputation for producing defensemen, made up 57 per cent of the whole and 53 per cent of defensemen. U.S. colleges accounted for 26 per cent of major leaguers, 28 per cent of defensemen.The trends aren&rsquo;t earth-shattering, but are revealing. If nothing else, they show how much the hockey world has evolved and that players on either side of the ocean aren&rsquo;t so different after all.<h2>PLAYING PERCENTAGES: SCORING DISTRIBUTION</h2>We set out to prove what everybody says: European hockey players are more talented than their North American peers. Well, they may be in skills competitions, but we couldn&rsquo;t find significant statistical evidence of it in the NHL.There is no better measure of skill than ability to score goals and we assumed Europeans scored a disproportionately high number of them in 1992-93. Well, they did last season-but not by as large an amount as we expected.Consider that Europeans comprised 16 per cent of the 551 players who appeared in at least 20 games and scored 19 per cent of goals by that group. A plus rating for sure, but not all that spectacular when you consider most grit and all goon positions are still filled by North Americans.The following table shows where last year&rsquo;s NHLers received their basic training and how many goals each group scored. Group totals are listed in the first column in parentheses. The goal-scoring leader (and number of goals he scored) in each system is listed in the second column.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0140/8635850-1-eng-US/f0087-012.jpg" title="f0087-01" width="1014" height="343"></div> &#9632;

f0086-01

THE BRAND NEW EQUALITY

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0088-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-0143/8635902-1-eng-US/f0088-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Can Barry Melrose take his team to the same heights it reached last season? (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>The Detroit Red Wings led the NHL in mosts last season: most goals, most money, most fans and most disappointing.Their loss in the first round of the 1993 playoffs represented the spring&rsquo;s biggest collapse, surpassing even the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; setback one round later.Detroit stands poised for a more substantial run at the Stanley Cup this season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re right there,&rdquo; says Red Wings&rsquo; assistant general manager Doug MacLean. &ldquo;The whole thing hinges on one name-Mario Lemieux.&rdquo;Is there any reason to believe the Red Wings will be better this seasdn?They still don&rsquo;t have a first-rate stopper; Tim Cheveldae is not all-flop, but he&rsquo;s also not all-stop.They still don&rsquo;t have a leader who has proven he will deliver in the clutch; Steve Yzerman was soundly outplayed by Doug Gilmour last year.They still don&rsquo;t have a big-time bodybanger on defense; that is problematic when the opposition can fill the slot with big forwards.But they have the winningest coach in hockey history (Scotty Bowman), evidence that skilled defensemen who rely on brains more than brawn can excel (Stanley Cupchampion Montreal Canadiens), and the possibility they won&rsquo;t have to face Central Division rivals in the playoffs (the playoff system is designed along conference lines).The newly aligned division (add Winnipeg Jets, subtract Tampa Bay Lightning) may be the best grouping in the league. It is the most productive and balanced based on last year&rsquo;s statistics.Central teams averaged 94 points last season, eight more than those, in the Northeast. No Central club earned fewer than 82 points.There are no soft touches among the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets.Five of the six should make the playoffs.Detroit is very good, but it hardly has a free ride to the Stanley Cup final, where the Pittsburgh Penguins are destined to appear again.Other top Western contenders are:&#9633; The Los Angeles Kings, who have scoring strength but, like the Red Wings, need a true power forward on the wing.&#9633; The Winnipeg Jets, who have a remarkable blend of talent, none of it Cana-dian-born, apart from goalie Bob Essensa.&#9633; The Chicago Blackhawks, who have professional sport&rsquo;s hardest-hitting defense since the Chicago Bears.&#9633; The Vancouver Canucks, who have maximum strength on the wings and mini-mum strength at center.More uncertain than Los Angeles, Win-nipeg, Chicago and Vancouver, are the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames.Leafs&rsquo; coach Pat Burns may have squeezed the maximum out of Toronto last year.Flames&rsquo; coach Dave King, too, may have got the most from his team and may need general manager Doug Risebrough to bring in new players.<h2>WESTERN CONFERENCE</h2>Here&rsquo;s how the 1992-93 standings would have appeared, based on the new conference alignment and playoff system. Prospective first-round playoff match-ups are denoted by numbers1 through4.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-0212/8635895-1-eng-US/f0088-022.jpg" title="f0088-02" width="648" height="487"></div> &#9632;

f0088-01

Detroit ready to make Cup run

<div class="byline">By Murray Townsend and Jason Kay</div>The Vancouver Canucks have done their share of griping the past few seasons about their schedule and their criticisms may be justified.A hectic travel timetable and fewer games against tired teams-squads at the tail end of a road trip-doesn&rsquo;t work in their favor.But the schedule provides them one break this season: The Canucks face the weakest opponents of any team in the NHL. Well, at least the prospective weakest teams.The clubs Vancouver meets this season averaged 76.7 points in 1992-93. The St. Louis Blues&rsquo; opponents, by comparison, averaged 80.8 points.Those 4.1 points may not seem like much, but consider that the Canucks&rsquo; opponents accumulated 340 fewer total points than those of the Blues.We determined how tough a team&rsquo;s schedule is by tallying the 1992-93 points of their 1993-94 opponents and then dividing by 84 games.For example, Vancouver meets the San Jose Sharks six times this season. The Sharks earned 24 points last year, so we multiplied 24 by six to get 144. That total was added to the other totals of the Canucks&rsquo; opponents to get 6,451. That averages 76.7 over 84 games.Since it was impossible to attach a point total to the expansion Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, we averaged the point total of last year&rsquo;s expansion entries-the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning-as well as the Sharks.The result was rounded off to 34 points.Granted, this statistic isn&rsquo;t perfect. But if you think a slightly more difficult schedule means little, think again.The Minnesota North Stars and Philadelphia Flyers missed qualifying for the post-season last year by three and four points, respectively. An easier schedule-say the one the Canucks have this season-would have probably landed them in the playoffs.How does it apply to this year&rsquo;s schedule?In the Western Conference, the three teams with the easiest schedules are the Canucks, Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings-all Pacific Division clubs. Naturally, their load is lessened by the fact they play six games each against San Jose and Anaheim. That figures to give them an edge over their Central Division rivals, who play the two weak sisters four times.The pattern isn&rsquo;t as distinct in the Eastern Conference. Both divisions contain two relatively weak clubs-Ottawa and Hartford Whalers in the Northeast; Tampa Bay and Florida in the Atlantic. Each of the stronger teams face the weaker ones in their division five times.To compensate for the fact Central Division teams play expansion teams two or three fewer times, they are matched with weak opponents for their two neutral-site games.Central Division teams face two of San Jose, Anaheim. Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Hartford.As we mentioned, there are glitches in our system. Top teams don&rsquo;t have their own points included in the mix, so their schedules are bound to be easier. The opposite is true for weaker teams.And the schedule is subject to other variables. The number of games during a critical road trip, the distances teams travel and the vagaries of time zone changes all make a scheduling analysis a difficult endeavor.The other big variable is the change in team strength from one season to the next. There is no objective means to projecting how much a team may improve or slide. &#9632;

What does 1993-94 sked hold?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0096-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0096-0140/8636106-1-eng-US/f0096-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">It will be a challenge for Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; star Teemu Selanne to match his incredible rookie season. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0131/8636099-1-eng-US/f0099-012.jpg" title="f0099-01" width="2447" height="3249"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Pearson led Toronto with 211 penalty minutes, but still managed to score 23 goals in his second full season. (Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0130/8636092-1-eng-US/f0100-012.jpg" title="f0100-01" width="2382" height="3243"><figcaption class="caption-body">Detroit defenseman Mark Howe enters his 15th NHL season needing eight goals to reach the 200 mark. (John Johnson/BBS)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0103-0129/8636085-1-eng-US/f0103-012.jpg" title="f0103-01" width="2464" height="3266"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0104-0131/8636078-1-eng-US/f0104-012.jpg" title="f0104-01" width="2464" height="3266"><figcaption class="caption-body">After contemplating retirement in the off-season, Wayne Gretzky decided to return to the Los Angeles Kings. (Scott Levy/BBS)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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October 8, 1993

STARS RISE IN EAST

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: ANALYZING SCHEDULES

1992-93: FLASHBACK

WINNIPEG JETS