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 4, 2005

The Hockey News October 4, 2005

<div class="byline">BY ROB TYCHKOWSKI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-13" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-1327/8752800-1-eng-US/f0006-132.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>GARTH SNOW</b></p><p>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</p></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>hen we last saw the NHL, the big dogs were eating, the small dogs were starving and fans were staying away in droves as every team was clutching and grabbing.</p><p>The league believes it has better days ahead, in large part because of the following changes:</p><p><b>NEW RULES</b> There will be no more Garth Snow-style marshmallow-shaped goalies. Leg pads have been reduced in width by one inch; other goalie gear has been reduced in size and tapered to the body. Goalies will receive delay of game penalties for freezing the puck unnecessarily or playing the puck behind the goal line outside of a trapezoid-shaped area behind the net.</p><p>Two-line passes are now permitted. The offensive zone has been expanded, with the goal line two feet closer to the boards and each blueline two feet closer to the center red line. The offside tag-up rule returns.</p><p>A team that ices the puck cannot make a line change prior to the ensuing faceoff. Regular season games that remain tied after overtime will go to a shootout, with each team taking three penalty shots, followed (if necessary) by single penalty shots until a winner is decided.</p><p>All players, not just goalies, will be given a delay-of-game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass in the defensive zone.</p><p>T<b>HE SALARY CAP AND CBA</b> The payroll range for 2005-06 is a $21.5-million minimum and a $39-million maximum, including all salaries and bonuses. The only exemptions will be for long-term injuries (10 games and 24 days). In such cases, a replacement player can be signed for an equal salary that will not count against the cap. Upon return of the injured player, the team must come into immediate compliance with the cap. Teams may not pay more than 20 per cent of the salary cap to any one player ($7.8 million in 2005-06).</p><p>The cap is based on players earning 54 per cent of league revenues. That percentage can increase from year to year if revenues rise past certain levels. A percentage of player salaries, to be determined during each season, will be held back in escrow. If, at the end of the year, the league&rsquo;s overall payroll exceeds 54 per cent of revenue, that money is repaid to the league.</p><p>For the first time, teams have the right to take players salary arbitration, but can only do so for those earning more than $1.5 million.</p><p><b>STANDINGS</b> Say goodbye to ties. Teams get two points for a win, one point for an overtime loss and one point for a shootout loss. The standings will read GP-W-L-OT-PTS. If the score is 2-2 after overtime, the final score will read 3-2 regardless of how many goals are scored in the shootout. No individual stats will be awarded from the shootout. Goalies will not be charged with losses for overtime or shootout games; the figures will appear in the &lsquo;OT&rsquo; column.</p><p><b>OBSTRUCTION CRACKDOWN</b> There is no touching players without the puck, no chopping at the puck carrier, no crosschecking forwards in the slot, no pinning forwards against the boards after they&rsquo;ve moved the puck, no hooking, no holding, no putting a free arm on an opponent in any way, shape or form. No kidding.</p><p><b>OLYMPICS</b> The NHL breaks from Feb. 13-28. There is no All-Star Game.</p><p><b>CRITICAL DATES</b> The season starts Oct. 5 and ends April 18. Restricted free agents who do not sign contracts by Dec. 1 are ineligible to play in the NHL that season. The trade deadline is March 10.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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IN THIS ISSUE

NHL’s new look

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0554/8754947-1-eng-US/f0052-052.jpg" title="f0052-05" width="925" height="923"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Rick DiPietro is the only lock, but three other recent first round picks &ndash; Sean Bergenheim, Robert Nilsson and Petteri Nokelainen &ndash; have a chance to make the team.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01229/8754961-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>here have been 10 teams to qualify for the Stanley Cup tournament in each of the past three NHL seasons that were not obliterated by labor strife. The New York Islanders are one of those 10 teams, but aside from the Boston Bruins, only the Isles have failed to win at least one playoff series.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02134/8754954-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Peter Botte</p><p>N.Y. Islanders</p></figcaption></div><p>Just being there &ndash; and taking Toronto to seven games &ndash; was enough in 2002 after a seven-year absence from the playoffs. Late-season dogfights just to earn the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s No. 8 seed lowered post-season expectations in each of the next two years.</p><p>&ldquo;Gotta be in it to win it&rdquo; once was a catchy slogan for the New York Lottery. But simply being invited to dance no longer can be considered enough of a payoff for an organization that hasn&rsquo;t won a playoff series since Bill Clinton&rsquo;s first term in office. The Isles made an unexpected run to the Wales Conference final in 1993.</p><p>Mid-payroll teams such as Carolina, Anaheim, Calgary and 2004 champion Tampa Bay all have advanced to the Stanley Cup final in recent springs, and the Islanders have no more convenient excuses with the financial playing field more level than ever.</p><p>GM-for-life Mike Milbury is back for his 10th season, while star-crossed center Alexei Yashin returns to a largely altered supporting cast after the Isles decided against buying out the remainder of his albatross contract.</p><p>More than ever, New York will be Yashin&rsquo;s team &ndash; and we can&rsquo;t think of a higher risk/reward decision that was made in the league this summer. Will Yashin &ndash; who was named Isles captain in late September &ndash; along with the aid of imported goal hound Miroslav Satan, finally become a point-per-game player able and willing to carry the team after three mediocre and/or injury-plagued seasons on Long Island? Or will he crumble under the weight of responsibility left by the departure of captain Michael Peca and lieutenants Adrian Aucoin, Kenny Jonsson and Dave Scatchard, and continue to be one of the biggest contractual busts of all-time? Either way, the Isles primarily sneaked into the playoffs last season without much contribution from No. 79, who missed nearly three months with a sliced wrist tendon.</p><p>Satan gives them their best scoring option on the wing since Ziggy Palffy left &ndash; and should finally make Yashin happy after his linemates were changed more often than Milbury has switched coaches. Versatile center Mike York provides another upgrade over Peca, who never truly regained his gritty form after the beaten-to-death Darcy Tucker incident in the 2002 playoffs. And the returning cast &ndash; Mark Parrish, Jason Blake, Oleg Kvasha, Trent Hunter, etc. &ndash; should give second-year coach Steve Stirling enough options up front for the Isles to remain one of the league&rsquo;s most balanced teams.</p><p>Rick DiPietro appears primed to build on his breakout year in goal, which included his emergence as a No. 1 both for the Isles and Team USA for the upcoming Olympics.</p><p>The heavy minutes provided by Aucoin (Chicago), Jonsson (Sweden) and Roman Hamrlik (Calgary) will not be easily replaced. Only Janne Niinimaa returns among the Fab Four, and puck-moving newcomers Alexei Zhitnik, Brent Sopel and Brad Lukowich still look like a downgrade over the departed threesome.</p><p>Will it all be enough to equal a fourth straight playoff berth? Probably, but at this point, that no longer can be considered sufficient for the Islanders.</p><p><i>&ndash; Peter Botte covers the Islanders for the New York Daily News</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0388/8754940-1-eng-US/f0052-032.jpg" title="f0052-03" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>MIROSLAV SATAN</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0475/8754933-1-eng-US/f0052-042.jpg" title="f0052-04" width="83" height="81"></div><p><b>RW</b></p><p>Nobody on the Isles&rsquo; first line flank has hit it off with Yashin, but the longtime Sabres sniper has averaged 32 goals over his past six seasons.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is New York&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0646/8754926-1-eng-US/f0052-062.jpg" title="f0052-06" width="718" height="1832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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30 NHL TEAM COLUMNS

Strong playoff required

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-058/8755839-1-eng-US/f0068-052.jpg" title="f0068-05" width="283" height="458"></div><h2><b>GLENN HEALY</b></h2><p>Bagpiper, NHL analyst once played goal for New Haven Nighthawks</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-065/8755832-1-eng-US/f0068-062.jpg" title="f0068-06" width="284" height="459"></div><h2><b>DON HENLEY</b></h2><p>Singer, environmental activist plays drums for the Eagles</p><p><i>Submit ideas for Separated at Birth to</i>&nbsp;<b><i><a href="mailto:jhodgson@thehockeynews.com">jhodgson@thehockeynews.com</a></i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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2005-06 NHL SEASON OPENER

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

<div class="byline">BY ROB TYCHKOWSKI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006A-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006a-01/8752838-1-eng-US/f0006a-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ERIC STALLED <i>Carolina&rsquo;s Eric Staal pulls away from a couple of Capitals in a pre-season game, despite some suspicious-looking stickwork.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006a-02/8752845-1-eng-US/f0006a-022.jpg" title="f0006A-02" width="82" height="93"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>hen we last saw the NHL, it had been slowed to a crawl by all the clutching, grabbing and inflated goaltending equipment. Small market clubs that couldn&rsquo;t match offenses with free-spending opponents had to smother the game to survive. The big dogs were eating, the small dogs were starving and fans were staying away in droves.</p><p>The league needed fixing. After a bitter 18-month lockout, the NHL believes it has better days ahead, in large part because of the following changes.</p><p>Here they are, you be the judge.</p><p><b>NEW RULES</b> There are many, all of them designed to increase flow and offense.</p><p>There will be no more Garth Snow-style marshmallow-shaped goalies. Leg pads have been reduced in width by one inch; other goalie gear has been reduced in size and tapered to the body. Goaltenders will receive delay of game penalties for freezing the puck unnecessarily or playing the puck behind the goal line outside of a trapezoid-shaped area behind the net.</p><p>Two-line passes are now permitted over the center ice red line, allowing for long, breakaway feeds. The offensive zone has been expanded, with the goal line two feet closer to the boards and each blueline two feet closer to the center red line. The offside tag-up rule returns.</p><p>A team that ices the puck cannot make a line change prior to the ensuing faceoff. Regular season games that remain tied after overtime will go to a shootout, with each team taking three penalty shots, followed (if necessary) by single penalty shots until a winner is decided.</p><p>All players, not just the goalies, will be given a delay-of-game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass in the defensive zone.</p><p><b>THE SALARY CAP & CBA</b> The payroll range for 2005-06 is a $21.5-million minimum and a $39-million maximum, including all salaries and bonuses. The only exemptions will be for long-term injuries (that exceed 10 games and/or 24 days). In such cases, a replacement player can be signed for an equal salary that will not count against the cap. Upon return of the injured player, the team must come into immediate compliance with the cap. Teams may not pay more than 20 per cent of the salary cap to any one player ($7.8 million in 2005-06).</p><p>The cap is based on players earning 54 per cent of league revenues. That percentage can increase from year to year if revenues rise past certain levels. A percentage of player salaries, to be determined during each season, will be held back in an escrow fund. If, at the end of the year, the league&rsquo;s overall payroll exceeds 54 per cent of revenue, that money is repaid to the league.</p><p>For the first time, teams have the right to take players to salary arbitration, but only can do so to those earning more than $1.5 million. Teams are no longer required to give automatic 10 per-cent raises in qualifying offers to players earning more than $1 million a year.</p><p><b>STANDINGS</b> Say goodbye to ties. Teams get two points for a win, one point for an overtime loss and one point for a shootout loss. The standings will read GP-W-L-OT-PTS. If the score is 2-2 after overtime, the final score will read 3-2 regardless of how many goals are scored in the shootout. No individual stats will be awarded from the shootout. Goaltenders will not be charged with losses for overtime or shootout games; the figures will appear in the &lsquo;OT&rsquo; column.</p><p>Interesting side note No. 1: 14 per cent of NHL regular season games in 2003-04 ended in a tie.</p><p>Interesting side note No. 2: NHLers scored on 32 per cent of their penalty shots in 2003-04 (18 goals on 57 attempts).</p><p><b>OBSTRUCTION CRACKDOWN</b> There is no touching players without the puck, no chopping at the puck carrier, no cross-checking forwards in the slot, no pinning forwards against the boards after they&rsquo;ve moved the puck, no hooking, no holding, no putting a free arm on an opponent in any way, shape or form. No kidding.</p><p>Every year the NHL swears its obstruction crackdown will last all year and every year the players win the battle of wills by Christmas. This time, they swear, it&rsquo;s different. This time the NHL says the obstruction crackdown will last all year &ndash; and through to the end of the playoffs, too.</p><p><b>OLYMPIC PARTICIPATION</b> The NHL has committed to the next two Winter Olympic Games: 2006 in Turin, Italy, and 2010 in Vancouver. For this season, that means the NHL will take a 15-day break from Feb. 13-28.</p><p>Countries had to send preliminary rosters (maximum 60 players) to the International Ice Hockey Federation by October and submit final rosters (20 skaters and three goalies) 24 hours before the tournament (Feb. 15).</p><p>As part of the new collective bargaining agreement, the NHL will not hold All-Star Games in Olympic years.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012004/8752831-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="1125" height="1582"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WHO, ME? <i>Isles goalie Garth Snow is one of many NHL netminders who have been called out for wearing oversized pads in recent years.</i></b><span class="photo-credit">(STAAL: STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES; SNOW: CHARLES LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>CRITICAL DATES</b> The regular season starts Oct. 5 and ends April 18. Restricted free agents who do not sign contracts by Dec. 1 are ineligible to play in the NHL this season. The trade deadline, switched from 26 days before the end of the regular season to 40 days, falls on March 10. The latest possible date the Stanley Cup will be awarded is June 19.</p><p><b>SCHEDULE TWEAKS</b> NHL teams will play 32 of 82 regular season games within their division &ndash; eight times against each divisional opponent. Clubs also will play the other 10 teams in their conference four times each. Finally, teams will play 10 games against clubs in the other conference: five home games against one divison, five away games against another division &ndash; and zero games against the final division. Divisional assignments will rotate annually.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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What’s new in ’05-06

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012029/8752661-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>READY, SET&hellip;</b></p><p><b><i>Islanders winger Miro Satan and Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist lock eyes at long distance in a pre-shootout staredown during pre-season play in New York.</i></b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(COVER: BARRY GOSSAGE CONTENTS: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Opening Faceoff

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021454/8752762-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="578" height="1044"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>KEITH</b></p><p>PRIMEAU</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-1422/8752769-1-eng-US/f0006-142.jpg" title="f0006-14" width="82" height="93"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span></b>n paper, the new NHL is supposed to be more open, more offensive and more balanced. We polled our 30 NHL correspondents to get their predictions on who will fare the best in the league&rsquo;s new order. Starting at the top, the Philadelphia Flyers were the choice of 11 voters to take home the Stanley Cup, followed by the Calgary Flames (8) and Ottawa Senators (7).</p><p>Listed are the polling winners in 11 team and individual categories, along with the number of votes received. The Hart Trophy goes to NHL regular season MVP; Vezina to top goalie; Norris to top defenseman; Calder to top rookie; Rocket Richard to the player with the most regular season goals; and, Art Ross to the top regular season scorer.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>STANLEY CUP</b></h2><p><b>Philadelphia Flyers (11/30)</b></p><p>A bumper crop of free agents, a wealth of hot young prospects and solid coaching point to the first Flyers&rsquo; Cup since 1975.</p><p><b>2nd</b> Calgary Flames (8)</p><p><b>3rd</b> Ottawa Senators (7)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03851/8752755-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="204" height="293"></div><h2><b>CHAMPION</b></h2><p>(Playoffs)</p><p><b>East</b> Philadelphia (16/30)</p><p><b>West</b> Calgary (13/30)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04522/8752748-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="204" height="293"></div><h2><b>CALDER TROPHY</b></h2><p>S. Crosby (Pit) 20/30</p><p><b>2nd</b> A. Ovechkin (Wsh) 5</p><p><b>3rd</b> J. Carter (Phi) 2</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05410/8752741-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="205" height="293"></div><h2><b>CHAMPION</b></h2><p>(Regular Season)</p><p><b>East</b> Philadelphia (13/30)</p><p><b>West</b> Vancouver (10/30)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-06285/8752734-1-eng-US/f0006-062.jpg" title="f0006-06" width="204" height="293"></div><h2><b>ROCKET RICHARD</b></h2><p>J. Iginla (Cgy) 10/30</p><p><b>2nd</b> Rick Nash (Clb) 7</p><p><b>3rd</b> Marian Hossa (Atl) 4</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-07168/8752727-1-eng-US/f0006-072.jpg" title="f0006-07" width="204" height="293"></div><h2><b>HART TROPHY</b></h2><p>J. Iginla (Cgy) 14/30</p><p><b>2nd</b> P. Forsberg (Phi) 6</p><p><b>3rd</b> J. Thornton (Bos) 3</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-08103/8752720-1-eng-US/f0006-082.jpg" title="f0006-08" width="204" height="293"></div><h2><b>ART ROSS TROPHY</b></h2><p>M. Naslund (Van) 6/30</p><p><b>2nd</b> M. Lemieux (Pit) 3</p><p>M. St-Louis (TB) 3</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-0972/8752713-1-eng-US/f0006-092.jpg" title="f0006-09" width="204" height="293"></div><h2><b>VEZINA TROPHY</b></h2><p>M.Kiprusoff (Cgy) 7/30</p><p><b>2nd</b> M. Brodeur (NJ) 6</p><p><b>3rd</b> R. Luongo (Fla) 4</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-1052/8752706-1-eng-US/f0006-102.jpg" title="f0006-10" width="204" height="293"></div><h2><b>COMEBACK PLAYER</b></h2><p>J. Allison (Tor) 6/30</p><p><b>2nd</b> D. Hasek (Ott) 4</p><p>M. Lemieux (Pit) 4</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-1145/8752699-1-eng-US/f0006-112.jpg" title="f0006-11" width="204" height="293"></div><h2><b>NORRIS TROPHY</b></h2><p>C. Pronger (Edm) 11/30</p><p><b>2nd</b> S. Gonchar (Pit) 4</p><p><b>3rd</b> S. Niedermayer (Ana) 3</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-1237/8752692-1-eng-US/f0006-122.jpg" title="f0006-12" width="204" height="293"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SNOW: CHARLES LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES; PRIMEAU: DOUG PENSINGER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>COACHING MOVES</b></h2><p><b>1st Fired</b> Murray (LA), &laquo;Ruff (Buf), Gallant (Clb), 4</p><p><b>1st Hired</b> D. Lewis (5), B. Sutter (4), P. Maurice (3)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Picks of the glitter

<div class="byline">Mark Brender </div><div class="byline">Senior Writer</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021570/8752904-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="331" height="554"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-05409/8752897-1-eng-US/f0008-052.jpg" title="f0008-05" width="96" height="112"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012104/8752890-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="1082" height="1585"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>PENALTY</b></p><p><b>FREE MATS <i>Toronto&rsquo;s Mats Sundin won&rsquo;t have to put up with this nonsense anymore.</i></b></p></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>N</span></b>ot long ago, Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock was asked if he had any worries about the footspeed of incoming Flyers defenseman Derian Hatcher in the new NHL. He surely was aware of the theory suggesting that because Hatcher (a) didn&rsquo;t play last season, back when he was only 32; and (b) played just 27 combined regular season and playoff games the season before due to a torn right ACL; and (c) didn&rsquo;t look particularly mobile in any of them; that he (d) might struggle when is no longer allowed to stick or paw his prey before decking them.</p><p>Hitchcock, however, snorted at the thought, and muttered something about needing someone like Hatcher to kill all those penalties.</p><p>In 2003-04, teams averaged seven minutes per game on the penalty kill. That figure might jump to 12 minutes in the early going this season. If Hatcher were to play 10 of those minutes &ndash; naturally, he&rsquo;s in the box for the other two &ndash; that&rsquo;s half his nightly ice time right there. (Which all begs the question of what happens when it&rsquo;s Hatcher taking the penalties. Guess that&rsquo;s what Mike Rathje is for.)</p><p>It&rsquo;s tough to know if such PK fatalism qualifies as outside- or inside-the-box thinking, given that inside-the-box is where all players, not just Hatcher, will be spending plenty of time. What we do know is it stands in marked contrast to the attitude out of Edmonton, where GM Kevin Lowe and coach Craig MacTavish are heading into the season with a no-nonsense attitude toward on-ice no-nos. &ldquo;Guys who take penalties,&rdquo; he thundered, &ldquo;will not play on our team.&rdquo;</p><p>Aside from the practical matter of the Oilers not having any players left by November, we are left to consider if the Lowe Doctrine really is the right way to go. In other words, is it better to take some good penalties and kill them, or take none at all and risk giving up good goals?</p><p>The answer depends on whether coaches still believe the trap-age adage that there&rsquo;s a mistake made on every goal. A mistake implies somebody didn&rsquo;t do the right thing on defense. Yet the new rules are intended to ensure there are times when the game&rsquo;s top players can&rsquo;t be stopped legally by anyone, save the goalie.</p><p><b>MANY CHANGES IN STORE</b> We know the new rules will put an end to the rush-crushing hook-and-slash stickwork from would-be backcheckers on the puck carrier. It will also put an end to fouls from behind the play on the late-charging forward or defenseman trying to create a 2-on-1 or 3-on-2. (And say goodbye also to the telltale sign of an NHL hockey game in progress &ndash; the sound of aluminum stick thwacking on molded plastic).</p><p>Coaches will be left to decide if they defend against odd-man rushes by backing up the trap to their own blueline &ndash; at great cost to their own offense &ndash; or accept their inevitability and pray their goalie will bail them out.</p><p>It&rsquo;s just as complicated in the defensive zone. Suppose Jaromir Jagr or Peter Forsberg have the puck down low. They&rsquo;re protecting it as they look for a play, always keeping their body between the puck and the defender. Or picture Martin St-Louis or Sergei Samsonov coming out of the corner, shifty like nobody&rsquo;s business. Should the D-man run at the puck-carrier and pin him to the boards? Could be holding. Use the stick to make the front of the net a no-go zone? Sounds like cross-checking or hooking. (For the full TMO list &ndash; Tactics of Mass Obstruction &ndash; log onto <a href="http://NHL.com">NHL.com</a> and watch the eight-minute video. It&rsquo;s shorter that way).</p><p>The point is, forwards are going to learn how to excel within the new rules as well. Where they once never dreamed of attacking, they&rsquo;ll learn to charge forward, knowing a penalty or a scoring chance is a likely result. The lumbering defenseman&rsquo;s only real options are to knock the puck away with a quick stick, or hold his ground and be big until help arrives.</p><p>Among the new defensive catch phrases, &ldquo;good body position&rdquo; will be the most common. Expect defensive zone coverage to turn into a lacrosse-style 5-on-5 version of the penalty kill, where the offense holds the puck for a great scoring opportunity and the defense identifies &ldquo;jump points&rdquo; on the ice where they will double-team to force a pass.</p><p>Still, multiple times a game defensemen will be faced with the question, as the jitterbug dances by, whether to haul him down. Sometimes it will be worth it. Even with smaller goalie equipment, even with an offensive zone four feet larger, penalty-killing and goaltenders are simply too good for teams not to take their chances at 5-on-4 rather than 1-on-nobody.</p><p>The premise behind the crackdown is that players will learn and adjust. But it&rsquo;s possible they&rsquo;ll learn a different lesson &ndash; that there are benefits to taking seven or eight minor penalties a game, given the abandon-your-keeper alternative.</p><p>There is one way to force the issue: by introducing a game misconduct after a player&rsquo;s third interference-related minor penalty in the same game. It&rsquo;s radical to be sure, but no more so than what the NHL is insisting will be the revolutionary and much-anticipated new status quo.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031099/8752883-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="178" height="300"></div><h2><b>OBSTRUCTION AWARD</b></h2><p><b><i>The NHL might not use the word &lsquo;obstruction&rsquo; the way it did in 2003-04, but there will be plenty of penalties called.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04584/8752876-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="765" height="715"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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About these rules

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011911/8752942-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="840" height="1483"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>KEITH</b></p><p>PRIMEAU</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-03798/8752949-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="82" height="93"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span></b>n paper, the new NHL is supposed to be more open, more offensive and more balanced. We polled our 30 NHL correspondents to get their predictions on who will fare the best in the league&rsquo;s new order. Starting at the top, the Philadelphia Flyers were the choice of 11 voters to take home the Stanley Cup, followed by the Calgary Flames (8) and Ottawa Senators (7).</p><p>Listed are the polling winners in 11 team and individual categories, along with the number of votes received. The Hart Trophy goes to NHL regular season MVP; Vezina to top goalie; Norris to top defenseman; Calder to top rookie; Rocket Richard to the player with the most regular season goals; and, Art Ross to the top regular season scorer.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>STANLEY CUP</b></h2><p><b>Philadelphia Flyers</b></p><p><b>11/30 votes</b></p><p>A bumper crop of free agents, a wealth of hot young prospects and solid coaching point to the first Flyers&rsquo; Cup since 1975.</p><p><b>2nd</b> Calgary Flames (8 votes)</p><p><b>3rd</b> Ottawa Senators (7 votes)</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021312/8752935-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="1474" height="3170"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PRIMEAU: DOUG PENSINGER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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<div class="byline">by Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021492/8753078-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="658" height="996"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-07257/8753085-1-eng-US/f0010-072.jpg" title="f0010-07" width="82" height="93"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03932/8753071-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="642" height="996"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04640/8753064-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="658" height="996"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-05467/8753057-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="642" height="996"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-06359/8753050-1-eng-US/f0010-062.jpg" title="f0010-06" width="658" height="996"></div><p>So one year off because of a stupid, ill-timed lockout will kill NHL hockey, will it?</p><p>Doesn&rsquo;t seem to have turned out that way.</p><p>Judging by the interest in the upcoming 2005-06 season, the NHL never has been healthier. A new collective bargaining agreement that limits the amount teams can spend on player salaries has given small market teams the best shot at winning the Stanley Cup they&rsquo;ve had in decades. That alone has fans in places such as Nashville, Edmonton, Columbus and Phoenix licking their chops.</p><p>New rules, plenty of player movement and an influx of super-skilled kids have fans sitting on the edges of their seats waiting for the regular season to begin.</p><p>Here are 50 reasons to love the fact the NHL is back:</p><p><b>1. SUPER MARIO</b> After years of making those around him better, Mario Lemieux now has talented teammates &ndash; Sidney Crosby, Ziggy Palffy, Mark Recchi and Sergei Gonchar &ndash; who will do likewise for him. Sounds like No. 66 has the potential for at least one more 50-goal season.</p><p><b>2. RED LIGHT FEVER</b> A crackdown on fouls promises to open the game up and allow the league&rsquo;s best players to go to town. Stephen Walkom, the NHL&rsquo;s new director of officiating, insists a high standard for calls will be maintained from Day 1 of the regular season right through to the end of the playoffs.</p><p><b>3. NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK</b> The league&rsquo;s two newest stars, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, square off for the first time as NHLers when Washington visits Pittsburgh Nov. 22. The dynamic duo will collide seven more times in the regular season, assuming Ovechkin&rsquo;s back doesn&rsquo;t give out from carrying his entire team.</p><p><b>4. TWO-LINE PASS</b> With the removal of the center red line for passing purposes, expect goaltenders like Martin Brodeur and Rick DiPietro to pile up assists by tossing long-bomb clearing passes up to their teammates. Somewhere out there, Ron Hextall is thinking he was born in the wrong era.</p><p><b>5. STEVIE WONDER</b> Injuries and age have slowed him down, but watching the passion in Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s game is as inspiring as it is marveling. Next stop? The Hockey Hall of Fame.</p><p><b>6. TWO TIMES IN TAMPA?</b> After a year off, the high-flying Lightning get the chance to defend their Stanley Cup championship. And once again, the road to the Cup final runs through Philadelphia.</p><p><b>7. CHERRY PICKING</b> Saturday nights return to normal with Don Cherry on <i>Hockey Night in Canada&rsquo;s</i> Coach&rsquo;s Corner, ranting as only he can. His sidekick, sometime movie host Ron MacLean, translates what Cherry says into English for the viewing audience.</p><p><b>8. THE SHOOTOUT</b> No matter what you think of it, there will be nothing more compelling than watching Crosby, Lemieux and Palffy facing off against Martin St-Louis, Vinny Lecavalier and Brad Richards in a shootout to decide a tied game. Or, Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison challenging Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Martin Havlat. Bring it on!</p><p><b>9. A HITCH IN TIME</b> Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said during the lockout that offensive hockey is the way of the future. Well, now he has the guns, from Peter Forsberg to Keith Primeau to Simon Gagne. Let&rsquo;s see if he was serious or just blowing smoke.</p><p><b>10. MAY DAY, MAY DAY</b> What happens Oct. 22 when Brad May, now with Colorado, faces off against his old bounty hunter pal Todd Bertuzzi of the Canucks? Perhaps then Colorado fans will stop booing him.</p><p><b>11. BRING ON TURIN</b> The NHL will shut down for two weeks, but don&rsquo;t worry, you&rsquo;ll still get your hockey fix when the best players in the world compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy.</p><p><b>12. IN THE NIK OF TIME</b> Chicago has a goalie in Nikolai Khabibulin who can singlehandedly win enough games to get the Blackhawks into the playoffs. Landing defensive workhorse Adrian Aucoin doesn&rsquo;t hurt, either.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021312/8753043-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="658" height="993"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03879/8753036-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="642" height="987"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011825/8753029-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="1982" height="3364"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CHERRY: CBC; ALL OTHERS: GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>13. AT LONG LAST LEHTONEN</b> After two years of being the The Hockey News&rsquo; top prospect, goalie Kari Lehtonen finally takes over as No. 1 in Atlanta. Expectations for the Thrashers are justifiably high this season.</p><p><b>14. RUFF DAYS AHEAD?</b> The arrival of Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller spells the dawn of a new era in Buffalo. But if the Sabres falter early, coach Lindy Ruff and/or GM Darcy Regier will pay the price.</p><p><b>15. DISCOVERING COLUMBUS</b> The Blue Jackets have all kinds of skill and youth, but any advances the team makes this year will be led by veteran defenseman Adam Foote, who will help the kids grow and make them accountable.</p><p><b>16. J.R. MEETS HOLLYWOOD</b> Talk about a marriage made in heaven. Jeremy Roenick is tailor made for Tinseltown. Move over Jay Leno, <i>Heeeeeere&rsquo;s J.R.</i></p><p><b>17. MADE IN NASHVILLE</b> His career stalled, speedy Paul Kariya hopes to get back on track through the anonymity of playing in Nashville. The betting is he&rsquo;ll come back with a vengeance.</p><p><b>18. THE IMPALER II</b> A year after being named top defenseman in the American League, Niklas Kronwall will make an immediate impact in Motown. He&rsquo;ll also spark memories of Vladimir Konstantinov in Detroit&rsquo;s faithful.</p><p><b>19. EYES ON MIKE</b> After a dreadful 2003-04 season in which he scored just 14 goals and 44 points in 76 games, Dallas captain Mike Modano is looking to regain his superstar status.</p><p><b>20. WILD AND CRAZY GUY</b> Coach Jacques Lemaire has done a splendid job teaching defense in Minnesota, but can he mine offense from a goalless well?</p><p><b>21. YOUNG AMERICANS</b> A number of American-born stars are long in the tooth and reaching the end of fruitful careers, but with kids such as Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Dustin Brown, Ryan Kesler, Patrick Eaves, Keith Ballard, Eric Nystrom and Chris Higgins (not to mention 2006 draft gem Phil Kessel) on the way, the U.S.&rsquo;s international future looks bright.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021582/8753022-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="655" height="993"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-031025/8753015-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="642" height="993"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04617/8753008-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="658" height="993"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05441/8753001-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="649" height="993"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-06359/8752994-1-eng-US/f0012-062.jpg" title="f0012-06" width="658" height="993"></div><p><b>22. DANY WHO?</b> You think Atlanta gunner Marian Hossa was terrific in Ottawa&rsquo;s defense-first scheme, just wait until he is sprung free under fun-and-gun Bob Hartley in Atlanta.</p><p><b>23. TROUBLED TIMES</b> Which of three New York-area teams &ndash; the Rangers, Islanders or Devils &ndash; will emerge as the best of the bunch? It&rsquo;s not looking good for any of them at this point, though with Martin Brodeur in net, you have to give the Devils the edge.</p><p><b>24. MORE CHELLY, PLEASE</b> Love him or hate him, you can&rsquo;t help but be impressed with soon-to-be 44-year-old Chris Chelios&rsquo;s energy and passion for the game. Here&rsquo;s hoping Chelios plays until he&rsquo;s 50.</p><p><b>25. HEADS UP, ERIC</b> Scott Stevens, the NHL&rsquo;s hardest and most feared hitter, retires. But Calgary adds &ldquo;Scott Stevens Jr.&rdquo;, better known as Dion Phaneuf.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012018/8752987-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="1580" height="1938"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ALL: GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>26. STAAL &rsquo;EM</b> Not much to be excited about in Carolina, except flashy sophomore Eric Staal, who has been passed the torch by Ron Francis and will be tutored by captain Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour.</p><p><b>27. TUOMO TIME</b> After a great second half in his rookie season and a solid World Cup, Chicago&rsquo;s Tuomo Ruutu is ready to take his place among the greats who have passed through the Windy City. No. 15 could one day be as famous as No. 9 and No. 21.</p><p><b>28. OH, CANADA</b> After years of losing their best free agents to larger market clubs, Canadian-based smaller market teams such as Edmonton (Chris Pronger, Michael Peca), Calgary (Roman Hamrlik, Tony Amonte) and Montreal (Alexei Kovalev) are able to sign or keep top stars. Winnipeg, where are you now?</p><p><b>29. SPEAKING OF&hellip;</b>With six goals and 10 points in 11 playoff games in 2004, Alexei Kovalev showed he can still light it up when it counts. The Habs need him to strut his stuff regularly.</p><p><b>30. JAGR'S EDGE</b> He played with passion in Europe, but will Jaromir Jagr do the same when he&rsquo;s back on North American ice? And what the heck are the Rangers thinking, asking this guy to be captain? With Yashin wearing the &lsquo;C&rsquo; on Long Island this season, it must be a New York thing.</p><p><b>31. DOMINATOR OR DOMINATED?</b> Because he has played just 14 games in three years, the Ottawa Senators are really rolling the dice on Dominik Hasek as their starter with untested Ray Emery as his backup. Luckily, the Senators have one of the league&rsquo;s best defenses, including a top-four that&rsquo;s as good as any in the league.</p><p><b>32. WE&rsquo;LL SEE ABOUT THAT</b> Everyone says they are on board with the way referees will call games this year, but let&rsquo;s see if that holds true once teams start receiving a boatload of penalties.</p><p><b>33. GREAT COACH</b> Never in the history of the NHL will so much attention be paid to who is standing behind the bench than in Phoenix, where the game&rsquo;s greatest player, Wayne Gretzky, takes over as coach. Let&rsquo;s see, 82 games&hellip;82 hairstyles?</p><p><b>34. WEIGHT PROBLEM</b> The Blues have no problems with center Doug Weight, but left winger Keith Tkachuk &ndash; who apparently spent a good portion of the lockout keeping Sizzler in business &ndash; is a different story. The Blues may be advised to hang on to a few of those old oversized goalie jerseys.</p><p><b>35. SHARK BITE</b> After seven good seasons with San Jose, is 26-year-old Patrick Marleau capable of producing a great year? With his wheels, there&rsquo;s no reason to think he won&rsquo;t&hellip;if he wants it bad enough.</p><p><b>36. IN CREASE</b> His strong play prompted the Sharks to trade Miikka Kiprusoff, so now can netminder Evgeni Nabokov be a difference-maker as San Jose tries to duplicate Calgary&rsquo;s success? He&rsquo;s worth keeping an eye on.</p><p><b>37. HE&rsquo;S NO JORDAN, BUT&hellip;</b> Vinny Lecavalier proved in the 2004 final against Calgary, and again in the World Cup last fall, he has the jam to be one of the best players in the NHL. One day he&rsquo;ll thank John Tortorella. One day. Any minute now&hellip;</p><p><b>38. THE REAL DEAL</b> Tampa Bay&rsquo;s Martin St-Louis sets out to prove he&rsquo;s no one-year wonder and that there is a place in big-league hockey for the little guy.</p><p><b>39. FOURTH AND GOAL</b> The clampdown on hooking, holding, interference, etc., could spell the end of the fourth line as we know it. Instead of grinders, coaches may want to have a third power play unit available to them.</p><p><b>40. IS BETTMAN SAFE?</b> NHL commissioner Gary Bettman scored a huge CBA victory, but is it enough for him to keep his job after a decade of questionable decisions and a decidedly unpopular lockout?</p><p><b>41. THE JOE & ROBBIE SHOW</b> Veterans Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts are just what the doctor ordered in Florida to show a bunch of talented Panthers youngsters what it means to be a pro hockey player.</p><p><b>42. PLAYER FRIENDLY</b> Because of increased access for the broadcast media, fans will get to see more of what goes on behind closed doors in the dressing room. Newspaper reporters, however, are still unwelcome in some NHL cities.</p><p><b>43. PLAYOFF PRESSURE</b> Everybody feels it, but perhaps no two players any more than Dan Cloutier in Vancouver and Marty Turco in Dallas.</p><p><b>44. BERT&rsquo;S BACK</b> Will Vancouver&rsquo;s Todd Bertuzzi be welcomed back by the fans with open arms, or will he get the Rafael Palmeiro razz treatment? We&rsquo;ll give you three guesses.</p><p><b>45. SEE SERGEI FLY</b> With quarterback Scott Niedermayer tossing him long bombs from the blueline, Sergei Fedorov is bound to return to glory in Anaheim. Add Teemu Selanne to the mix and the Ducks have a scary power play unit.</p><p><b>46. GM ACCOUNTABILITY</b> In the NHL, will it be the GMs who pay the price for bad decisions instead of coaches? How do you fire Glen Hanlon in Washington or Mike Kitchen in St. Louis for not making chicken salad out of chicken doo-doo?</p><p><b>47. HEY, WHAT&rsquo;S THAT CAGE BEHIND THE GOALIE?</b> With smaller goalie equipment this season, longtime hockey fans will be reintroduced to the net.</p><p><b>48. MEET MCGRATTAN</b> If you are an NHL fighter and you don&rsquo;t know the name Brian McGrattan, you soon will. The wannabe Ottawa Senators enforcer racked up a record 551 penalty minutes in the AHL last season, and he&rsquo;s looking for some new dance partners.</p><p><b>49. TORONTO MAPLE IFS</b> If Ed Belfour&rsquo;s back holds out&hellip;if Eric Lindros stays concussion-free&hellip; if Jason Allison makes a successful return after nearly three years off&hellip;Toronto just might be OK.</p><p><b>50. RETURN OF THE RED MILE</b> The &lsquo;03-04 Stanley Cup final introduced the world to hockey&rsquo;s favorite party strip (<i>sic</i>), and you best believe it will be up and running again in Calgary this season.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011830/8752980-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="1670" height="1500"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(50: DAVE BUSTON/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0010-02

COVER STORY

50 reasons to celebrate the return of the NHL

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021385/8753179-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06468/8753186-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="82" height="93"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>G</span></b>oalie Martin Brodeur, defenseman Chris Pronger, left winger Ilya Kovalchuk, center Peter Forsberg and right winger Jarome Iginla. These stars are not merely great players; The Hockey News believes they&rsquo;ll be the best at their positions in 2005-06. Our annual Top 20 player rankings consider players&rsquo; accomplishments over their careers and their play in recent seasons to help predict how they&rsquo;ll perform this year. 2003-04 rankings are in parentheses.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>GOALIES</b></h2><h3><b>Top 20 Goaltenders</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04790/8753172-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="1653" height="973"></div><p><b>Goalies who fell off list, with &rsquo;03-04 rank</b> Dominik Hasek (2), Roman Cechmanek (9), Curtis Joseph (15), Jocelyn Thibault (16), Mike Dunham (19), Chris Osgood (20).</p><h2><b>DEFENSE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-031042/8753165-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="982" height="769"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRODEUR: EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES; PRONGER: ANDREAS SCHWABE/OILERS)</span></figcaption></div><h3><b>Top 20 Defensemen</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05571/8753158-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="1653" height="973"></div><p><b>Defensemen who fell off list, with &rsquo;03-04 rank</b> Derian Hatcher (8), Al MacInnis (10), Scott Stevens (11), Eric Brewer (15), Derek Morris (16), Sandis Ozolinsh (17), Eric Desjardins (18), Chris Chelios (19).</p><h2><b>LEFT WINGERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011654/8753151-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="643" height="1034"></div><h3><b>Top 20 Left Wingers</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021273/8753144-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="1086" height="972"></div><p><b>Left wingers who fell off list, with &rsquo;03-04 rank</b> Adam Deadmarsh (9), Eric Daze (11), John LeClair (12), Richard Zednik (13), Ray Whitney (14), Slava Kozlov (15), Marco Sturm (17), Vinny Prospal (18), Eric Cole (19).</p><h2><b>CENTERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03928/8753137-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="803" height="1292"></div><h3><b>Top 20 Centers</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04631/8753130-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="1087" height="972"></div><p><b>Centers who fell off list, with &rsquo;03-04 rank</b> Jason Allison (8), Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour (10), John Madden (11), Doug Weight (12), Mike Peca (13), Eric Lindros (15), Alexei Yashin (18), Steve Rucchin (20).</p><h2><b>RIGHT WINGERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05431/8753123-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="641" height="1034"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KOVALCHUK: DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES; FORSBERG: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES; IGINLA: JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h3><b>Top 20 Right Wingers</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06338/8753116-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="1087" height="972"></div><p><b>Right wingers who fell off list, with &rsquo;03-04 rank</b> Brett Hull (15), Owen Nolan (16), Jamie Langenbrunner (17), Teemu Selanne (18). Alexei Kovalev plays left wing.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-02

Top 20 by position

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021036/8753336-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>ROBERT</b></p><p>ESCHE</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011419/8753343-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="108" height="91"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span></b>idney Crosby will taste the NHL playoffs for the first time, while Peter Forsberg will taste champagne for the third. Here&rsquo;s how we see things shaking down in the highly competitive Eastern Conference this season:</p><h2><b>NORTHEAST DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>1. Ottawa Senators</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Ray Emery, Dominik Hasek, Dany Heatley, Andrei Mezsaros.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Peter Bondra, Radek Bonk, Greg de Vries, Marian Hossa, Patrick Lalime, Curtis Leschyshyn, Martin Prusek, Todd White.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> No goalie as old as Hasek (41.3 years) has ever led a team to the Cup.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can Heatley escape his demons in Canada&rsquo;s capital?</p><h3><b>2. Boston Bruins</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Brad Boyes, Tom Fitzgerald, Brad Isbister, Brian Leetch, Shawn McEachern, Dave Scatchard, Alexei Zhamnov.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Ted Donato, Sergei Gonchar, Mike Knuble, Martin Lapointe, Dan McGillis, Michael Nylander, Sean O&rsquo;Donnell, Felix Potvin, Brian Rolston, Rob Zamuner.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Bruins have advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs just once since 1994.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i>Will Boston ever parlay its solid regular seasons into a decent playoff?</p><h3><b>3. Toronto Maple Leafs</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Jason Allison, Carlo Colaiacovo, Alexander Khavanov, Eric Lindros, Jeff O&rsquo;Neill, Alexander Steen, Mikael Tellqvist.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Tom Fitzgerald, Ron Francis, Trevor Kidd, Brian Leetch, Alexander Mogilny, Joe Nieuwendyk, Owen Nolan, Robert Reichel, Mikael Renberg, Gary Roberts.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> In successive playoffs, goalie Ed Belfour has been outplayed by Roman Cechmanek and Robert Esche.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can Lindros, O&rsquo;Neill and Allison find happiness in their hometown?</p><h3><b>4.Montreal Canadiens</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Radek Bonk, Mathieu Dandenault, Cristobal Huet.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Patrice Brisebois, Jim Dowd, Mathieu Garon, Joe Juneau, Yanic Perreault, Stephane Quintal, Jason Ward.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Habs&rsquo; longest Cup drought is 12 years; Montreal hasn&rsquo;t won since 1993.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can the Canadiens make the next step to being a legitimate contender?</p><h3><b>5. Buffalo Sabres</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Toni Lydman, Ryan Miller, Teppo Numinen, Thomas Vanek.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Miroslav Satan, Alexei Zhitnik.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> Jochen Hecht was plus-17 in 2003-04.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can these guys get their revenue-sharing check before the season starts?</p><h2><b>ATLANTIC DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>1. Philadelphia Flyers</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Jeff Carter, Peter Forsberg, Derian Hatcher, Antero Niittymaki, Mike Rathje, Mike Richards, Turner Stevenson, Chris Therien.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Tony Amonte, Sean Burke, Todd Fedoruk, John LeClair, Vladimir Malakhov, Danny Markov, Marcus Ragnarsson, Mark Recchi, Jeremy Roenick, Alexei Zhamnov.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Flyers&rsquo; top three centers &ndash; Forsberg, Keith Primeau and Michal Handzus &ndash; total 18-foot-10 and 642 pounds.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i>Will the Flyers&rsquo; bold extreme makeover finally lead to a Stanley Cup?</p><h3><b>2. New Jersey Devils</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Vladimir Malakhov, Richard Matvichuk, Dan McGillis, Alexander Mogilny, Zach Parise.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Igor Larionov, Scott Niedermayer, Scott Stevens, Turner Stevenson.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The last time Larry Robinson was forced to coach, the Devils won the Cup.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> How bad is this new CBA if a player with a bad hip (Mogilny) gets $7 million for two years?</p><h3><b>3. Pittsburgh Penguins</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Sidney Crosby, Sergei Gonchar, John LeClair, Ziggy Palffy, Mark Recchi, Andre Roy, Jocelyn Thibault, Ryan Whitney.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Kelly Buchberger, Mike Eastwood, Steve McKenna, Aleksey Morozov, Michal Roszival.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> No team in the NHL will benefit more from the crackdown on obstruction.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can Crosby withstand the pressure of being the savior and No. 1 center?</p><h3><b>4. New York Islanders</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Brad Lukowich, Miroslav Satan, Brent Sopel, Mike York, Alexei Zhitnik.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Adrian Aucoin, Eric Cairns, Roman Hamrlik, Kenny Jonsson, Alexander Karpovtsev, Michael Peca, Dave Scatchard.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> All but four Islanders played elsewhere during the lockout.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Alexei Yashin, captain?</p><h3><b>5. New York Rangers</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Marek Malik, Ville Nieminen, Michael Nylander, Martin Rucinsky, Martin Straka, Jason Ward, Kevin Weekes.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Mike Dunham, Bobby Holik, Jan Hlavac, Eric Lindros, Sandy McCarthy, Mark Messier, Boris Mironov, Karel Rachunek.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> At seven years, the Rangers have the NHL&rsquo;s longest current playoff drought.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> OK, we give up. How does GM Glen Sather keep his job?</p><h2><b>SOUTHEAST DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>1. Tampa Bay Lightning</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Sean Burke, Rob DiMaio, Vaclav Prospal.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Jassen Cullimore, Nikolai Khabibulin, Andre Roy, Cory Stillman.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> Pavel Kubina led all NHL defenseman with 17 goals in 2003-04.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Will the players stay hungry after winning the Cup?</p><h3><b>2. Atlanta Thrashers</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Braydon Coburn, Mike Dunham, Niclas Havelid, Shane Hnidy, Bobby Holik, Marian Hossa, Kari Lehtonen, Scott Mellanby, Jaroslav Modry.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Byron Dafoe, Frantisek Kaberle, Shawn McEachern, Pasi Nurminen, Yannik Tremblay.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> At press time, Rocket Richard winner Ilya Kovalchuk had not signed.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can Lehtonen lead the explosive Thrashers to the playoffs?</p><h3><b>3. Florida Panthers</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Eric Cairns, Martin Gelinas, Chris Gratton, Sean Hill, Alexander Karpovtsev, Joe Nieuwendyk, Gary Roberts, Anthony Stewart.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Donald Audette, Mathieu Biron, Matt Cullen, Andreas Lilja, Lyle Odelein, Steve Shields, Pavel Trnka.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> GM Mike Keenan added eight players aged 30-and-over during the off-season.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can coach Jacques Martin make the Panthers an elite team?</p><h3><b>4. Carolina Hurricanes</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Mike Commodore, Matt Cullen, Frantisek Kaberle, Cory Stillman, Oleg Tverdovsky, Ray Whitney.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Sean Hill, Arturs Irbe, Jeff O&rsquo;Neill, Jaroslav Svoboda, Kevin Weekes.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Canes have been at the bottom in goals scored the past two seasons.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> How will fans react to a third straight non-playoff season?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011301/8753329-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="800" height="840"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>BRIAN</b></p><p>LEETCH</p> <span class="photo-credit">(LEETCH: STEVE BABINEAU/SPORTS ACTION)</span></figcaption></div><h3><b>5.Washington Capitals</b></h3><p><i>Key additions:</i> Mathieu Biron, Andrew Cassels, Ivan Majesky, Alexander Ovechkin.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Bates Battaglia, Jason Doig, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, Joel Kwiatkowski, Kip Miller, Brad Norton.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Caps&rsquo; top three centers &ndash; Dainius Zubrus, Cassels and Jeff Halpern &ndash; averaged just 12 goals each in &rsquo;03-04.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Who&rsquo;s the No. 1 prospect for the 2006 entry draft?</p><p><i>&ndash; Ken Campbell covers the Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL for The Toronto Star</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03755/8753322-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="536" height="454"></div><h2><b>PROJECTED STANDINGS</b></h2><p><b><i>Philadelphia&rsquo;s additions of Peter Forsberg up front and three hulking D-men on the blueline bodes well for a club that was already stacked.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04530/8753315-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>1. Philadelphia</b></p><p><b>FLYERS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05327/8753308-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="227" height="132"></div><p><b>2. Tampa Bay</b></p><p><b>LIGHTNING</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06267/8753301-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>3. Ottawa</b></p><p><b>SENATORS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07225/8753294-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="227" height="132"></div><p><b>4. Boston</b></p><p><b>BRUINS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-08164/8753287-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>5. New Jersey</b></p><p><b>DEVILS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-09119/8753280-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="227" height="132"></div><p><b>6. Pittsburgh</b></p><p><b>PENGUINS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1089/8753273-1-eng-US/f0020-102.jpg" title="f0020-10" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>7. Atlanta</b></p><p><b>THRASHERS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1169/8753266-1-eng-US/f0020-112.jpg" title="f0020-11" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>8. Toronto</b></p><p><b>MAPLE LEAFS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1253/8753259-1-eng-US/f0020-122.jpg" title="f0020-12" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>9. Florida</b></p><p><b>PANTHERS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1339/8753252-1-eng-US/f0020-132.jpg" title="f0020-13" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>10. Montreal</b></p><p><b>CANADIENS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1435/8753245-1-eng-US/f0020-142.jpg" title="f0020-14" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>11. New York</b></p><p><b>ISLANDERS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1530/8753238-1-eng-US/f0020-152.jpg" title="f0020-15" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>12. New York</b></p><p><b>RANGERS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1625/8753231-1-eng-US/f0020-162.jpg" title="f0020-16" width="227" height="132"></div><p><b>13. Buffalo</b></p><p><b>SABRES</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1720/8753224-1-eng-US/f0020-172.jpg" title="f0020-17" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>14. Carolina</b></p><p><b>HURRICANES</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1818/8753217-1-eng-US/f0020-182.jpg" title="f0020-18" width="227" height="132"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>15. Washington</b></p><p><b>CAPITALS</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-02

Flyers look good

<div class="byline">BY TIM SASSONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1844/8753500-1-eng-US/f0024-182.jpg" title="f0024-18" width="536" height="455"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011263/8753493-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="2517" height="1390"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>MIIKKA</b></p><p>KIPRUSOFF</p></figcaption></div><p><b>T</b>he fallout from the lockout and new CBA appears to have created more questions than answers in the Western Conference.</p><p>Perennial Stanley Cup contenders &ndash; and former free spenders &ndash; Detroit and Colorado suffered key losses because of the salary cap, which could lead to a shift in power in the conference.</p><p>The Avalanche couldn&rsquo;t keep Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote, robbing the team of much of its grit. The Red Wings were forced to buy out Derian Hatcher, Darren McCarty and Ray Whitney in order to afford young stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Meanwhile, much of the West has upgraded. Chicago added Nikolai Khabubulin and Adrian Aucoin; Nashville signed Paul Kariya; and, Edmonton traded for Michael Peca and Chris Pronger.</p><h2><b>CENTRAL DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>1. Detroit Red Wings</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Andy Delmore, Chris Osgood.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Mathieu Dandenault, Dominik Hasek, Derian Hatcher, Curtis Joseph, Darren McCarty, Ray Whitney.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The pressure to win is enormous for new coach Mike Babcock.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Will Osgood and Manny Legace provide good enough goaltending?</p><h3><b>2. Chicago Blackhawks</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Adrian Aucoin, Matthew Barnaby, Curtis Brown, Jassen Cullimore, Jim Dowd, Nikolai Khabibulin, Martin Lapointe, Jaroslav Spacek.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Bryan Berard, Scott Nichol, Stephane Robidas, Jocelyn Thibault.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> With Khabibulin, the Hawks feel they have a chance to win every night.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Is there enough depth on defense to make it into the playoffs?</p><h3><b>3. Columbus Blue Jackets</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Bryan Berard, Adam Foote, Jan Hrdina, Martin Prusek, Radoslav Suchy.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Andrew Cassels, Anders Eriksson, Scott Lachance.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> Foote&rsquo;s leadership and history of winning should help the young Jackets.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Does Columbus have adequate depth up front to make the franchise&rsquo;s first run at a playoff berth?</p><h3><b>4. Nashville Predators</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Darcy Hordichuk, Paul Kariya, Danny Markov, Scott Nichol, Randy Robitaille.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Denis Arkhipov, Shane Hnidy.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> A solid group of young defensemen gets better with the arrival of 2003 first-rounder Ryan Suter.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can Kariya return to his former star status?</p><h3><b>5. St. Louis Blues</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Eric Brewer, Aaron Downey, Patrick Lalime, Dean McAmmond, Scott Young.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Pavol Demitra, Alexander Khavanov, Al MacInnis, Scott Mellanby, Chris Osgood, Chris Pronger.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> With a defense minus Pronger, Lalime will need to be the Blues&rsquo; best player.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Did the Blues make the wrong choice getting rid of Pronger?</p><h2><b>PACIFIC DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>1.Mighty Ducks of Anaheim</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Todd Fedoruk, Ryan Getzlaf, Jason Marshall, Scott Niedermayer, Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Stanislav Chistov, Niclas Havelid, Mike Leclerc, Vaclav Prospal, Steve Rucchin, Martin Skoula.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Ducks have new owners, a new GM and a new coach.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can Jean-Sebastien Giguere return to form in smaller pads?</p><h3><b>2. San Jose Sharks</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Marcel Goc, Milan Michalek.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Curtis Brown, Vincent Damphousse, Todd Harvey, Alex Korolyuk, Mike Rathje, Mike Ricci.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> GM Doug Wilson&rsquo;s inactivity shows the confidence he has in his young team.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Will the lack of that one big scorer hurt the Sharks in the long run?</p><h3><b>3. Los Angeles Kings</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Valeri Bure, Craig Conroy, Pavol Demitra, Mathieu Garon, Denis Grebeshkov, Jason LaBarbera, Jeremy Roenick.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Jason Allison, Anson Carter, Cristobal Huet, Trent Klatt, Ian Laperriere, Ziggy Palffy, Martin Straka, Jozef Stumpel.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Kings are banking on Alexander Frolov stepping up his game.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Is Garon ready to be No. 1?</p><h3><b>4. Dallas Stars</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Johan Hedberg, Stephane Robidas, Martin Skoula, Jaroslav Svoboda.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Valeri Bure, Aaron Downey, Rob DiMaio, Teppo Numminen, Chris Therien, Pierre Turgeon, Scott Young.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Stars should remain competitive, but the true Western Conference contenders have passed them by.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> With a suspect defense, can Marty Turco carry the team night after night?</p><h3><b>5. Phoenix Coyotes</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Jason Chimera, Denis Gauthier, Brett Hull, Curtis Joseph, Mike Leclerc, Petr Nedved, Sean O&rsquo;Donnell, Mike Ricci, Oleg Saprykin.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Brent Johnson, Daymond Langkow, Andrei Nazarov, Radoslav Suchy.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Coyotes have assembled a solid group of veterans to help lead the kids.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can Wayne Gretzky coach?</p><h2><b>NORTHWEST DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>1. Calgary Flames</b></h3><p><i>Key additions:</i> Tony Amonte, Roman Hamrlik, Daymond Langkow, Darren McCarty, Dion Phaneuf, Philippe Sauve, Jason Wiemer.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Chris Clark, Mike Commodore, Craig Conroy, Denis Gauthier, Martin Gelinas, Toni Lydman, Dean McAmmond, Ville Nieminen, Roman Turek.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> A return to offensive form by Amonte would be a huge plus for the Flames.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Are the players the Flames picked up better than the ones they let go?</p><h3><b>2. Colorado Avalanche</b></h3><p><i>Key additions:</i> Patrice Brisebois, Andrew Brunette, Ian Laperriere, Antti Laaksonen, Curtis Leschyshyn, Brad May, Pierre Turgeon.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Adam Foote, Peter Forsberg, Chris Gratton, Paul Kariya, Philippe Sauve, Teemu Selanne.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Avs expect Turgeon to fill many of the holes left by Forsberg&rsquo;s departure.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can this team compete without Forsberg and Foote?</p><h3><b>3. Vancouver Canucks</b></h3><p><i>Key additions:</i> Anson Carter, Josh Green, Brent Johnson, Steve McCarthy, Richard Park.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Johan Hedberg, Marek Malik, Brad May, Martin Rucinsky, Brent Sopel.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> Losing Sopel and Malik from the blueline will hurt more than the Canucks think.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> It&rsquo;s the usual one: can Dan Cloutier get the Canucks through the playoffs?</p><h3><b>4. Edmonton Oilers</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Todd Harvey, Michael Peca, Chris Pronger.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Eric Brewer, Jason Chimera, Scott Ferguson, Brad Isbister, Mike York.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> Pronger could lift the Oilers to new heights with a return to MVP form.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i> Can Ales Hemsky be an elite NHL scorer?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011268/8753486-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="800" height="840"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>STEVE</b></p><p>YZERMAN</p> <span class="photo-credit">(YZERMAN: BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h3><b>5. Minnesota Wild</b></h3><p><i>Key arrivals:</i> Scott Ferguson, Andrei Nazarov, Brian Rolston, Todd White.</p><p><i>Key departures:</i> Andrew Brunette, Eric Chouinard, Antti Laaksonen, Richard Park.</p><p><i>Need to know:</i> The Northwest is loaded, so a schedule that sees teams play an increased number of divisional games won&rsquo;t help the Wild.</p><p><i>Burning question:</i>Who, beyond Rolston and the oh-so-sublime Marian Gaborik, will score all the goals?</p><p><i>&ndash; Tim Sassone covers the Blackhawks and NHL for the Arlington Heights Daily Herald</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02899/8753479-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="536" height="455"></div><h2><b>PROJECTED STANDINGS</b></h2><p><b><i>Calgary added several key players &ndash; Tony Amonte and Roman Hamrlik, for starters &ndash; to a roster that made it to the Stanley Cup final in 2004.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03643/8753472-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>1. Calgary</b></p><p><b>FLAMES</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04457/8753465-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="227" height="132"></div><p><b>2. Detroit</b></p><p><b>RED WINGS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05323/8753458-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>3. Anaheim</b></p><p><b>MIGHTY DUCKS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06257/8753451-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="227" height="132"></div><p><b>4. San Jose</b></p><p><b>SHARKS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07213/8753444-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>5. Colorado</b></p><p><b>AVALANCHE</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-08173/8753437-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="227" height="132"></div><p><b>6. Vancouver</b></p><p><b>CANUCKS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-09146/8753430-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>7. Los Angeles</b></p><p><b>KINGS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-10122/8753423-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>8. Edmonton</b></p><p><b>OILERS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-11106/8753416-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>9. Dallas</b></p><p><b>STARS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1295/8753409-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>10. Phoenix</b></p><p><b>COYOTES</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1380/8753402-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>11. Chicago</b></p><p><b>BLACKHAWKS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1472/8753395-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>12. Columbus</b></p><p><b>BLUE JACKETS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1562/8753388-1-eng-US/f0024-152.jpg" title="f0024-15" width="227" height="132"></div><p><b>13. Nashville</b></p><p><b>PREDATORS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1656/8753381-1-eng-US/f0024-162.jpg" title="f0024-16" width="227" height="133"></div><p><b>14. St. Louis</b></p><p><b>BLUES</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1750/8753374-1-eng-US/f0024-172.jpg" title="f0024-17" width="227" height="132"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>15. Minnesota</b></p><p><b>WILD</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-18

Flames in front

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02907/8753531-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="536" height="455"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f a hockey player is out of the game for even a second, it can change the final outcome drastically. The Stick Rack is designed to get a stick to a player fast.</p><h2><b>GOES WHERE THE PLAYERS GO</b></h2><p>It folds together and clasps solidly. It is then fitted with a snap-on durable cover with a zipper close. Made of lightweight, rust resistant aluminum it can easily take the abuse of the cold, wet and salty winters. Supported by easy roll castors, it can simply be pulled on and off planes and buses (fits perfectly in coach bus luggage compartments) and to and from the bench.</p><h2><b>HOLDS ANY AMOUNT OF STICKS</b></h2><p>The Stick Rack is currently available in a 44 or 66 player stick capacities plus each model holds 6 goalie sticks. It can also be custom made.</p><h2><b>B&D MANUFACTURING</b></h2><p>B&D Manufacturing located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada developed the Stick Rack as the result of a request from a local hockey team. Since 1980, B&D Manufacturing has been designing and manufacturing innovative and unique products for resource industries and recreational activities all over the world.</p><h2><b>ORDER YOUR TEAM&rsquo;S STICK RACK TODAY.</b></h2><p><b>1-800-668-0324</b></p><p>Toll-free in Canada and the U.S.</p><p>Phone from other countries: 705-566-7429</p><p>Email: <a href="mailto:stickrack@bdmfg.com">stickrack@bdmfg.com</a></p><p>568 Falconbridge Road, Unit 6 Sudbury, ON, Canada, P3A 4S4<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-02

Without a stick – a player can’t score.

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02875/8753562-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>GLEN</b></p><p>SATHER</p> <span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03653/8753569-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="82" height="93"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>e tried to read the palms of Jeremy Jacobs and Jim Dolan, but they proved too filled with bills, thanks to the new salary cap. Next, we looked to the Stars, but Mike Modano didn&rsquo;t recognize anyone around him, so how can we?</p><p>To forecast the 2005-06 season, we finally went to the tea Leafs, where fortunately, Eric Lindros winding up in a Toronto uniform always has been entirely predictable:</p><p><b>Oct. 5</b> Jubilant at NHL&rsquo;s return, crowds 15-deep line the sidewalks for opening day parades in Edmonton and Vancouver, cheering players routed by the owners in collective bargaining. At rally outside GM Place, one sign says: &ldquo;Thanks for turning on each other! Got your back, backstabbers&rdquo;! Says Todd Bertuzzi: &ldquo;The support means a lot to me.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Oct. 7</b> Rusted turnstiles prevent long backups of 39 fans from entering the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, causing cancellation of opener with Boston. When only 2,984 show up for Atlanta&rsquo;s game in Washington, 110 of Caps&rsquo; remaining 287 season-ticket holders polled say they forgot.</p><p><b>Nov. 17</b> The Kings, trying to boost an average attendance of 458, declare game against Vancouver as &ldquo;Kiss Jeremy Roenick&rsquo;s Butt Night.&rdquo; The LAPD vice squad raids Staples Center and the event is cancelled.</p><p><b>Nov. 26</b> With Rangers off to a 3-4-17 start and fans chanting &ldquo;Glen Sather sucks even worse than Potvin ever did!,&rdquo; the GM defiantly sticks with the team&rsquo;s youth movement, announcing signings of Tim Young, Trevor Kidd and former Flames star &lsquo;Laddy&rsquo; MacDonald. The deals, which include a trade for Atlanta prospect Stephen Baby, lift New York&rsquo;s payroll to $50 million, a violation of the salary cap and a minimum $1 million fine. &ldquo;What cap?&rdquo; asks Sather.</p><p><b>Dec. 10</b> Bob Goodenow is found under a false floorboard at Mellon Arena, captured by owners who acted on an anonymous tip from Brendan Shanahan. &ldquo;I am ready to negotiate,&rdquo; the former NHLPA boss says while being led away.</p><p><b>Dec. 21</b> Bettman concedes the new regulations requiring goalies to wear old newspapers instead of pads, plus blockers that are squarer and smaller than Eric Godard&rsquo;s head, may not be having much effect. &ldquo;We may have to go to the shootout first, then break ties with a hockey game,&rdquo; Bettman says.</p><p><b>Jan. 5</b> Wayne Gretzky quits as coach of the Coyotes, despite the team&rsquo;s 0-0-40 record. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t handle today&rsquo;s players,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;All they&rsquo;ve been trained to do is check, check, check. Nobody wants to score.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Jan. 14</b> Sidney Crosby, leading the NHL with 55 points in 40 games, has lived up to advance billing, but NHL attendance continues to lag 28 per cent behind pre-lockout levels. Asked if a schedule that has the Penguins not playing in one-third of NHL cities might be mitigating the impact of its next great star, Bettman shakes his head: &ldquo;The last thing we want to do is overexpose him,&rdquo; says Bettman.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><b>Jan. 27</b> With the latest crackdown on obstruction ebbing just like the last 462 times the NHL tried it, NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkom orders referees to practice &ldquo;zero tolerance&rdquo; on skating, shooting and passing.</p><p><b>Feb. 26</b> Sweden wins the Olympic shootout contest, 1-0 over Canada, on a goal by Markus Naslund. The international shootout rule requiring the next turn be taken within 12 seconds is instantly adopted by NHL. &ldquo;Turner says it can fit in a game during one commercial break of a <i>Judging Amy</i> re-run,&rdquo; Bettman says.</p><p><b>March 9</b> As the salary cap severely limits teams&rsquo; options at the trade deadline, only the 4-8-48 Rangers make moves, acquiring Chris Chelios and Brett Hull. Their payroll is now at $80 million and league fines are $180 million. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not done yet,&rdquo; says Sather, who deals for Serge Payer and signs him to a 13-year contract.</p><p><b>April 18</b> When every team in the league but the Rangers finishes at exactly .500, shootouts are held to decide which 16 make the playoffs. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want this to happen again,&rdquo; says Bettman, announcing expanded playoffs in 2006-07 for 34 teams, though there are only 30 in the NHL.</p><p><b>June 16</b> Calgary suffers a bitter Game 7 defeat in the Stanley Cup final for the second straight year, losing to Philadelphia, 1-0, on a shootout goal by Peter Forsberg. &ldquo;What else would you expect?&rdquo; asks Flames CEO Ken King. &ldquo;The Flyers have the max payroll of $39 million. Ours is $33 million. We need a new CBA or we can&rsquo;t survive.&rdquo;</p><p><b>July 8</b> With ratings registering an average of only eight households &ndash; counting the Bettman household &ndash; OLN opts out of its contract to televise NHL games. The league signs a new deal exclusively with Comedy Central, except for <i>The Todd Bertuzzi Show</i> which will run on Animal Planet.</p><p><b>Aug. 1</b> Citing poor attendance, the NHL announces Nashville is relocating to Winnipeg, Columbus to Quebec City and Carolina to Hartford. &ldquo;This CBA works,&rdquo; says Bettman. &ldquo;We just need to be in more viable markets.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-02

Shootouts & tea Leafs

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011261/8753600-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="709" height="1218"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BYNG MATERIAL? <i>Perhaps Todd Bertuzzi got in touch with his softer side during his time off.</i></b> <span class="photo-credit">(PHOTO MANIPULATION BY MATT FILION)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02845/8753607-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="82" height="93"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>t&rsquo;s all well and good to predict what we <i>expect</i> to happen in the NHL this year, but what about those stories that come out of the blue? Our 30 NHL correspondents get bold with this season&rsquo;s wacky predictions:</p><p><b>99 DOGS IT</b> Finding out that he&rsquo;s not really cut out for it, Wayne Gretzky will step away from coaching before the end of the season.</p><p><b>99 DIGS IT</b> Gretzky will be so enamored with the no-clutch, no-grab NHL that he&rsquo;ll decide to be a player-coach for one game.</p><p><b>CAPITAL LOSS</b> The only thing that will prevent Washington from challenging the NHL record for worst season is Olaf Kolzig in shootouts.</p><p><b>TWO MINUTES</b> Referees will suffer rotator cuff injuries from constantly raising their arms to signal penalties.</p><p><b>SABRES SIGN HULL</b> Buffalo will hire Ted Nolan midway through the year, acquire Dominik Hasek from Ottawa &ndash; and win the Stanley Cup.</p><p><b>WHAT A NICE YOUNG FELLA</b> Todd Bertuzzi will collect only 12 penalty minutes and the Lady Byng Trophy.</p><p><b>WHAT&rsquo;S A CUP COST?</b> After all the talk about how payrolls have no connection to success, the four teams in the conference finals will have a combined payroll of about $148 million.</p><p><b>ALMOST FAMOUS</b> Jeremy Roenick will go Hollywood, literally, retiring to become a regular on <i>The O.C.</i></p><p><b>LESS IS MORE</b> In the face of soaring attendance and increased TV ratings, the NHL will announce plans to shut down once every five years.</p><p><b>OVER AND OUT</b> Dominik Hasek will lead the Senators to the No. 1 seed in the East&hellip;but retire the day before the playoffs start.</p><p><b>SHOOT!</b> Shootouts will be so popular with fans that the league will eliminate overtime in the regular season.</p><p><b>NO SHORT SHIFTS</b> Because of the new rule that forbids a line change if you ice the puck, Minnesota will play an entire game with the same five skaters on the ice.</p><p><b>GRANDPA GOALIE</b> Hasek will need a walker to exit the Corel Centre after at least one game.</p><p><b>NO PRESSURE</b> The final playoff spot in one of the conferences will be decided on the last day of the season, in a shootout.</p><p><b>THE CHICAGO WAY</b> After his upstart team clinches their division title, Hawks owner Bill Wirtz will televise all playoff games &ndash; on pay-per-view.</p><p><b>PAPA PENGUIN</b> With Sidney Crosby resurrecting Pittsburgh&rsquo;s franchise, owner/star Mario Lemieux will decide to adopt the 18-year-old.</p><p><b>NO KIDDING</b> Mario and his pocket Penguins overwhelmingly will be the NHL&rsquo;s most improved team.</p><p><b>TOUCHDOWN, PITTSBURGH!</b> The Penguins also will make a mid-season trade to acquire Jaromir Jagr in an attempt to win every game 8-7.</p><p><b>FACE THE FUTURE</b> The NHL will lose yet another icon when protesters force the Chicago Blackhawks to change their popular logo.</p><p><b>NO FAIR!</b> Big market teams will dominate in Year 1 of the cap, so small market owners will lobby for a return to the good ol&rsquo; days of wild spending.</p><p><b>HAPPY HALLOWEEN</b> The first time Brian Burke explodes will be Oct. 31, with his Ducks going nowhere.</p><p><b>BOBBY CLARKE DID IT</b> Hours before Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, a malfunctioning compressor at the Wachovia Center will force the Flyers-Flames contest across the parking lot to the old Spectrum where the ghosts of &rsquo;74 and &rsquo;75 tilt the outcome in favor of the home team.</p><p><b>BIG ZERO</b> Brian Boucher will break his own record with six straight shutouts, but still finish under .500.</p><p><b>OVERT OFFENSE</b> Too many goals will be scored, prompting a league committee to argue for wider goalie pads, re-institution of the red line, smaller nets and increased obstruction.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><b>ARE THEY BITING?</b> The start of a game on OLN will be delayed when a bass fishing tournament runs long.</p><p><b>TWO IRON, PLEASE</b> Playoff fixtures Toronto, Detroit, Colorado, Dallas and St. Louis all will miss the post-season.</p><p><b>PP GOAL</b> Sidney Crosby will be able to go to the washroom once without anybody following him. In Nashville.</p><p><b>WILD START, WILD FINISH</b> Minnesota will surprise and make the playoffs by using perfect defensive positioning to roar out of the gate.</p><p><b>WHAT CRACKDOWN?</b> Oct. 5, the season opens. Oct. 10, the last interference penalty will be called.</p><p><b>WHICH ONE&rsquo;S ALI?</b> Gretzky will come out of retirement to be a player-coach &ndash; and then he&rsquo;ll suspend himself for getting in a dressing room brawl with Brett Hull.</p><p>Then again&hellip;maybe not.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-01

Gretzky back on ice? Anything is possible

<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011240/8753638-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="118" height="168"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>LADIES FIRST</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>G</span>overnor-General Adrienne Clarkson announced the creation of a trophy in her name for Canadian women&rsquo;s hockey supremacy. During the NHL lockout, Clarkson suggested the Stanley Cup be handed out to a women&rsquo;s team for 2004-05. When the idea wasn&rsquo;t well received by the female hockey community, the idea of a separate, independent women&rsquo;s trophy was born. Clarkson made it her duty to establish the trophy before her term ended Sept. 27.</p><h2><b>MCMULLEN DIES</b></h2><p>Former New Jersey Devils owner Dr. John J. McMullen died Sept. 16 at 87. McMullen brought NHL hockey to New Jersey after acquiring the Colorado Rockies in 1982. He won two Stanley Cups as owner before selling the team in 2000 for $175 million. McMullen also owned the Houston Astros from 1979 to 1992.</p><h2><b>BURKE WINS RULING</b></h2><p>Anaheim GM Brian Burke can proceed with a defamation lawsuit against New York <i>Post</i> columnist Larry Brooks, the Supreme Court of B.C. ruled. Brooks wrote in a Feb. 27 article the former Vancouver GM played a role in Todd Bertuzzi's onice attack of Colorado&rsquo;s Steve Moore. The court rejected the newspaper&rsquo;s attempt to have the lawsuit thrown out on the argument the Canadian province was not the proper jurisdiction.</p><h2><b>OSCAR FOR RICCI?</b></h2><p>Phoenix&rsquo;s Mike Ricci has trimmed that long, dark mane that has been his trademark for a decade. The reason? A movie. Ricci appears in the film about Canadiens legend Maurice &lsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard. Ricci plays Richard&rsquo;s center, Elmer Lach. Ricci wasn&rsquo;t the only NHLer to have a role; Sean Avery, Ian Laperriere, Stephane Quintal and Vincent Lecavalier also appear.</p><h2><b>THE SKINNY ON KEITH</b></h2><p>The NHL Players&rsquo; Association filed a grievance on behalf of Keith Tkachuk over the former 50-goal scorer's suspension from the St. Louis Blues. Tkachuk was suspended Sept. 16 for failing his team physical. Blues GM Larry Pleau maintained Tkachuk couldn&rsquo;t return until he passed his physical. Tkachuk was set to make $7.6 million in 2005-06, second-highest in the league.</p><h2><b>THEIR FAVORITE CHECK</b></h2><p>Christmas came early for Hockey Canada as it received a $500,000 gift to help Canada&rsquo;s national women&rsquo;s team. Santa Claus, played by longtime supporter Dan O&rsquo;Neill, a retired Molson executive, made the announcement Sept. 20. The money will provide financial support to women representing Canada at major international championships through the 2010 Olympics.</p><h2><b>COLD WAR CONTINUES</b></h2><p>The 2005 ADT Canada/Russia Challenge six-game exhibition begins Nov. 21 in Drummondville. It also makes stops in Moncton, Regina, Kitchener, Peterborough and Saskatoon. This is the third year for the Canada-Russia Challenge.</p><h2><b>IMPOSTER ARRESTED</b></h2><p>A man posing as a former NHL player is accused of defrauded the family of a paralyzed 12-year-old girl. The girl was receiving treatment at Toronto&rsquo;s Hospital for Sick Children when the man approached the family. He said he was collecting money in exchange for NHL paraphernalia and the opportunity for the girl to attend hockey games. According to the girl's father, $40 was lost. The police indicate they received similar complaints. Christopher John Richer, 39, was arrested Sept. 18.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

HOCKEY WORLD IN BRIEF

<div class="byline">BY MARK BRENDER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011118/8753669-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="255" height="410"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>TED</p><p><b>SASKIN</b></p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03594/8753676-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="118" height="168"></div><p>The coronation of Ted Saskin as executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association will have to wait a little longer.</p><p>Under pressure to respond to player discontent over his hiring process, Saskin agreed in mid-September to let the union executive board vote again on his leadership, this time by secret ballot as is required by the NHLPA constitution.</p><p>All members of the union executive committee, made up of president Trevor Linden and six vice-presidents, plus team union reps from the 30 NHL clubs, were due to receive ballots.</p><p>According to a report in the Toronto <i>Star</i>, union reps from some teams were planning to hold onto their ballots for weeks or even months in an attempt to slow down the process.</p><p>While there is a general consensus Saskin will emerge as the union&rsquo;s head at the end of the process, the episode has revealed a union membership not entirely at peace with itself after the lost season and contentious labor negotiations.</p><p>A group of players led by Trent Klatt, a now retired member of the NHL executive committee, had raised question about the process that led to Saskin&rsquo;s hiring and a controversial late-night phone call Aug. 31 that ultimately resulted in a 31-6 vote in favor of Saskin&rsquo;s deal. Earlier in the call, union reps were split on whether to proceed without further input from the membership, but the vote went ahead anyway.</p><p>The extent of Klatt&rsquo;s dissatisfaction is revealed in separate e-mail correspondences between Klatt and Saskin, and between Klatt and Linden, as first reported in the <i>Star</i> and later leaked to other members of the media.</p><p>Linden is Saskin&rsquo;s biggest backer and, according to Klatt&rsquo;s e-mails, it was Linden who negotiated Saskin&rsquo;s five-year contract, plus two option years, &ldquo;without meaningful input from members of the executive board.&rdquo;</p><p>Klatt also wondered why Saskin is immediately receiving a contract worth roughly $2 million annually, which works out to the same salary as Goodenow minus the same 24 percent rollback players took under the new CBA.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>In a letter to Linden, Klatt wrote: &ldquo;Bob worked his ass off and it took him 15 years or so to get what he got. Along the way he put millions upon millions of dollars into our pockets&hellip;(How) can we compare Ted to Bob when Ted&rsquo;s been on the job for one month?&rdquo;</p><p>Klatt suggests that perhaps Saskin&rsquo;s compensation should be tied to growth in hockey-related revenues, since revenue growth will determine how quickly player salaries rise under the new CBA.</p><p>Just as the NHLPA routinely uses outside consultants, Klatt argued it is only prudent for players to seek outside counsel in the hiring process, as he has done by consulting with New York labor lawyer and former basketball union counsel Bob Lanza.</p><p>&ldquo;I do not like being bullied and the conference call&hellip;is evidence of why I am standing up and educating the players,&rdquo; Klatt wrote.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0033-01

Saskin fiasco not over yet

<div class="byline">BY BRIAN COSTELLO</div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he September retirements of Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis and Scott Stevens all but made it a certainty the four will enter the shrine together in two years.</p><p>The announcement won&rsquo;t be made until June of 2007, but the 18-member selection committee will never have an easier decision. Each of the four had a star-studded career, full of individual awards, Stanley Cup titles and mind-boggling statistics.</p><p>A maximum of four players may be inducted in each class and a player has to be at least three years removed from his last pro game. Although Messier, Francis, MacInnis and Stevens didn&rsquo;t retire until 2005, their final games were played in 2003-04.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been asked whether these gentlemen will be part of the 2007 or 2008 class because of what happened in 2004-05 with no NHL hockey played,&rdquo; said Jim Gregory, chairman of the Hall of Fame selection committee. &ldquo;As it stands now, they last played in 2003-04, so they&rsquo;ll be eligible in 2007. The board will discuss this when it gets together (in November).&rdquo;</p><p>If 2007 remains the induction class for these four, at least two other solid candidates face getting bumped. Igor Larionov and Adam Oates retired after 2003-04 and brandish Hall credentials, but not to the extent of the Super Four. Claude Lemieux and Vince Damp-housse are other 2007 candidates.</p><p>The 2006 induction class is shaping up to be one of the most scrutinized in years. At least six worthy candidates retired &ndash; or were forced into retirement &ndash; after 2002-03. Patrick Roy is an automatic. The other three openings will be filled from this group: Doug Gilmour, Mike Richter, Pavel Bure, Phil Housley and Tom Barrasso. The two who don&rsquo;t make it will have to wait at least two more years because 2007 is such a loaded field.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02756/8753707-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="187" height="301"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>RON</p><p><b>FRANCIS</b></p></figcaption></div><p>With strong classes on the horizon &ndash; Chris Chelios, Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Dominik Hasek, Ed Belfour, Luc Robitaille, Dave Andreychuk and Joe Nieuwendyk will retire in the next year or two &ndash; Gregory was asked if the Hall would consider increasing its limit per year to five.</p><p>&ldquo;We did just increase it from three to four a number of years ago so we&rsquo;re not about to increase it again,&rdquo; Gregory said. &ldquo;That just means some guys have to wait till the next year.&rdquo;</p><p>Cam Neely and Valery Kharlamov are inductees for 2005. They will be honored at a Nov. 7 ceremony.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0033-02

Hall class of 2007 all set

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05432/8753759-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="980" height="1002"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>The plan calls for the Ducks&rsquo; top prospects to play in the AHL at Portland, but former junior stars Ryan Getzlaf (pictured) and Corey Perry might make the big club.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011255/8753773-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="118" height="118"></div><p><b>O</b>nce the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim get to know each other, they might just have a pretty good hockey team.</p><p>If nothing else, Anaheim is bound to be more interesting and fun to watch now that colorful GM Brian Burke is calling the shots.</p><p>The choice of new Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli, who purchased the club from the Walt Disney Co., Burke needed little more than two months to put his indelible stamp on a team that often has toiled in near anonymity.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02846/8753766-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="213" height="288"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Dan Wood</p><p>Anaheim</p></figcaption></div><p>Burke hired a new coach in former NHL defenseman and Manitoba Moose boss Randy Carlyle; brought in arguably the summer&rsquo;s biggest free agent prize in former New Jersey Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer; and, orchestrated the return of fan favorite Teemu Selanne. Burke already has succeeded in breathing life into a classic non-traditional hockey market, despite fallout from the lockout.</p><p>Scott Niedermayer, Selanne and a collection of more physical role players imported by Burke join a holdover cast that includes centers Sergei Fedorov and Rob Niedermayer, winger Petr Sykora, defensemen Sandis Ozolinsh, Keith Carney and Ruslan Salei and goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. On paper at least, Anaheim has the talent not only to compete in the Western Conference, but to win it.</p><p>The league&rsquo;s new rules and commitment to opening up the offensive side of the game appear to be heaven-sent for Burke &ndash; who will demand the same wide-open attacking style his Vancouver Canucks teams employed &ndash; and skilled players such as Fedorov, Selanne, Ozolinsh and Scott Niedermayer.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in the entertainment business,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;I think this game should be great to watch. That&rsquo;s one thing I have delivered on in the past and I will again here.&rdquo;</p><p>Such promises are music to the ears of Ducks fans, who have had precious little to get really excited about since the club entered the NHL in 1993. Other than the high-flying Selanne-Paul Kariya act in the late 1990s and an unexpected run to Game 7 of the 2003 Stanley Cup final, Anaheim has wallowed in mediocrity.</p><p>Making sure that pattern doesn&rsquo;t continue will be up to Carlyle and the players, perhaps no one more than Giguere. The 2003 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, who put together one of the most amazing playoff runs ever by a goaltender, fell hard in 2003-04. He must rediscover his game while wearing the smaller equipment mandated by the NHL and almost certainly while facing more quality scoring chances in the league&rsquo;s supposed new offensive era.</p><p>Giguere is just one of the question marks. Among the other larger ones are Fedorov and Selanne, both 35. Fedorov, who led Anaheim with 31 goals and 65 points in 2003-04 but was not the dominant force former GM Bryan Murray had expected, must prove he still has the passion to be a difference-maker. Selanne, meanwhile, is coming off major knee surgery, leaving uncertain his ability to be an impact player.</p><p>With longtime captain Steve Rucchin traded to the New York Rangers, it also is uncertain who will assume the official leadership role. Scott Niedermayer, a three-time Stanley Cup champion who served as New Jersey&rsquo;s captain during much of the 2003-04 campaign because of injuries to Scott Stevens, is a pretty good bet.</p><p>Like a lot of other NHL teams, the Mighty Ducks are hard to peg. Thankfully, they&rsquo;ll play the games this season and reveal their true selves.</p><p><i>&ndash; Dan Wood covers the Mighty Ducks for the Orange County Register</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03668/8753752-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="211" height="412"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>SCOTT NIEDERMAYER</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04530/8753745-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="96" height="88"></div><p><b>D</b></p><p>Sublime skater and proven winner at every level, he&rsquo;s capable of creating offense from the back end&hellip;exactly what this team needs.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Anaheim&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06387/8753738-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="802" height="2023"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ROBERT LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-05

Ducks all lined up

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03669/8753832-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="245" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>John Manasso</p><p>Atlanta</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011173/8753839-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="118" height="118"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>his is the season Thrashers fans have looked forward to for seven years. The lineup bears little resemblance to any the team has iced in the past. Just look at a few of the new names: Holik, Hossa, Bondra, Lehtonen. However, one familiar name &ndash; Kovalchuk &ndash; was absent through the first week of training camp. If the 22-year-old left winger, who tied for the league lead in goals in 2003-04 and finished second in points, is not signed by Oct. 5, he likely will play in Russia for the entire season. He has already signed a contract with Khimik of the Russian Superleague.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>While the Thrashers could very well be a playoff team without him, they certainly will have a much harder time maximizing their potential that way. Thrashers GM Don Waddell has said the team&rsquo;s payroll will be $10 million higher than at any point in the franchise&rsquo;s history, which is ironic in the first year of a cap system.</p><p>When the Thrashers traded Dany Heatley to Ottawa for Marian Hossa and Greg de Vries, they took on a net gain of $2.78 million and $7.28 million overall. With the addition of Peter Bondra on the eve of training camp in an incentive-laden deal, Atlanta could very well exceed the cap if Kovalchuk is signed at the big number he is said to be demanding. (The collective bargaining agreement allows teams to exceed the cap, which then counts against a team&rsquo;s cap for the following season, in the case of incentive packages of less than $3.2 million).</p><p>Assuming Kovalchuk is signed, there is no reason Atlanta should not compete for a division title in a group that includes defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay. Even if the Thrashers do not win the division, a top-five finish in the conference would not be unexpected.</p><p>Coach Bob Hartley talks about the difference between having good players and having players who know how to win. The Thrashers finally have that &ndash; Bobby Holik, Slava Kozlov, de Vries and Mike Dunham (albeit as Martin Brodeur's backup) &ndash; have all won the Cup, and Scott Mellanby, Bondra and Niclas Havelid have all played in the final.</p><p>The retooling of the Thrashers' roster also has given them veteran depth, which they lacked in the past. That is particularly so on defense, where they ranked 25th in goals against in 2003-04.</p><p>Only two players remain from that unit &ndash; Andy Sutton and Garnet Exelby. The newcomers include Jaroslav Modry, Havelid, de Vries, big and mobile rookie Braydon Coburn and gritty Shane Hnidy.</p><p>In all, it will make for a much more stable and stingy defense. Behind it, highly touted rookie Kari Lehtonen must perform. He has shown no reason why he won&rsquo;t, but if he falters, the Thrashers signed Dunham in the hope that he can carry them.</p><p>Pasi Nurminen, Atlanta&rsquo;s No. 1 netminder in 2003-04, suffered a career-ending injury while playing in Finland.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06413/8753825-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="981" height="998"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Highly touted rookie goalie Kari Lehtonen injured his groin in an intrasquad scrimmage, keeping him out of the Thrashers&rsquo; first two pre-season games.</i></b></figcaption></div><p>What is not questioned about the Thrashers will be their ability to score.</p><p>Before they were beset by injuries in &rsquo;03-04, they ranked among the league leaders in goals. With their additions and a healthy Marc Savard, there is no reason why they should not rank up there again.</p><p>In short, missing the playoffs would represent a major failure &ndash; the franchise's greatest to date &ndash; but it seems the surest way to risk that would be to miss Kovalchuk for an entire season.</p><p><i>&ndash; John Manasso covers the Thrashers for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04542/8753818-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="211" height="412"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>MARIAN HOSSA</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05456/8753811-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="101" height="85"></div><p><b>RW</b></p><p>Third in NHL goals over past two seasons &ndash; and that at less than 19 minutes per game. Minutes should go up, production should follow.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Atlanta&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02815/8753804-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="802" height="2027"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0035-03

Thrashers now a threat

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02743/8753898-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="245" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Mike Loftus</p><p>Boston</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011142/8753905-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="118" height="118"></div><p><b>T</b>hey didn&rsquo;t always get the man they pursued, but the Bruins still brought in a lot of new faces in the dizzying days of early August.</p><p>Certainly, they had to, after making sure they had less than a handful of players under contract in anticipation of a salary-capped NHL. But the fretting over free agents lost (Sergei Gonchar, Mike Knuble, Martin Lapointe, Dan McGillis, Michael Nylander, Sean O&rsquo;Donnell, Brian Rolston) was outweighed by the additions of Brian Leetch, Alexei Zhamnov, Dave Scatchard, Brad Isbister and Shawn McEachern. Re-signing top dogs Joe Thornton and Glen Murray to big-bucks, multi-year deals also impressed fans and players alike.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>With Sergei Samsonov and Patrice Bergeron also in the mix at forward, the Bruins appear better stacked offensively than they have been in a generation.</p><p>However, there&rsquo;s a &lsquo;but:&rsquo; The Bruins headed into 2005-2006 with far less experience on the back end than up front, and as if anyone hadn&rsquo;t heard, the NHL plans for goalies and defenseman to spend the coming season under siege.</p><p>Behind 2003-2004 Calder Trophy-winning goalie Andrew Raycroft, the Bruins were to take hot prospect Hannu Toivonen, 21, or 31-year-old career minor-leaguer/Euro standout Tim Thomas into &rsquo;05-06. The backups have combined for just four NHL games (all belonging to Thomas) while Raycroft, it shouldn&rsquo;t be forgotten, has played only one full NHL season and didn&rsquo;t tend much goal last year: His status as an unrestricted free agent made it difficult to work in Europe, and he played only 11 games in Finland.</p><p>Including emerging star Nick Boynton (the team&rsquo;s lone high-profile holdout after a week of training camp), Boston can claim five experienced NHL defensemen &ndash; all but Boynton in the final year of a contract, and headed for unrestricted free agency.</p><p>Though Boston considers itself rich in players waiting in the wings to take over on the back end, it also expects to contend immediately for the Stanley Cup. Second-year coach Mike Sullivan, then, must devise a system to negate whatever defensive inexperience the Bruins might take into the season, while not completely ignoring the offensive tools on which GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell spent nearly all the team&rsquo;s cap money.</p><p>And that scoring potential could make a goal-starved public drool: Another season of the Thornton-Murray combo&hellip;Samsonov on the receiving end of Zhamnov&rsquo;s passes&hellip;a Scatchard-led third line with pop. Imagine a power play with Thornton, Leetch, Zhamnov, and Murray and even defenseman Hal Gill (546 games, 19 goals) might pot a few. And there would still be Samsonov, Bergeron and perhaps even talented rookie Brad Boyes waiting to zip the puck around the expanded offensive zone.</p><p>As a franchise, the Bruins have much to prove. Losers of three straight first-round playoff series &ndash; twice after first-place divisional finishes &ndash; they&rsquo;ve won only one playoff round (1999) since 1993-94. Attendance, understandably, has thinned, and the team considered it a key not just to lure Thornton back with $20 million over three years, but to involve him in the construction of the new B&rsquo;s.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05402/8753891-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="995" height="1001"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Milan Jurcina (pictured) and Kevin Dallman, along with recent collegians Andrew Alberts, Mark Stuart and Jonathan Sigalet battled for berths on the blueline.</i></b></figcaption></div><p>Beantown has loved Jumbo Joe since he arrived in town, grinning, as the No. 1 overall pick of 1997. The city is now more than ready to see Boston&rsquo;s captain lead a potent team not only in scoring, but also into the land of the league&rsquo;s true Cup contenders.</p><p><i>&ndash; Mike Loftus covers the Bruins for the Patriot Ledger</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03615/8753884-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="210" height="412"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>BRIAN LEETCH</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04476/8753877-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="87" height="86"></div><p><b>D</b></p><p>His two-way game and power play expertise might make fans forget Sergei Gonchar was ever in town at the bitter end of 2003-04.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Boston&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06350/8753870-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="802" height="2024"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0036-02

Bruins loaded up front

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03550/8753964-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="245" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Tim Graham</p><p>Buffalo</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011018/8753971-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="118" height="118"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>N</span></b>ever has a team so shaky been so stable. The Sabres haven&rsquo;t made the playoffs since they traded Dominik Hasek in 2001, finishing last in the Northeast Division three straight seasons. Along the way their owners were handcuffed, they filed for bankruptcy and they were purchased by a benevolent billionaire.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>And through all that upheaval there have remained two constants: GM Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff, the NHL&rsquo;s longest-running such duo. This is their team and they&rsquo;ve kept it that way.</p><p>Regier molded his team to be ready for the new CBA and management cringed when Gary Bettman officially scrubbed the 2004-05 season. The Sabres were coming off a winning season and, despite Ruff&rsquo;s reputation as a defense-first coach, they finished 10th in scoring as several key players had career years.</p><p>&ldquo;There was a lot of excitement the way we finished two years ago,&rdquo; said center Daniel Briere. &ldquo;So we wanted to get back on the ice right away and show people that it wasn&rsquo;t a fluke, that we really do have a good team.&rdquo;</p><p>Buffalo is twice as pumped now, even with the losses of top goal-scorer Miroslav Satan and ice monger Alexei Zhitnik. The Sabres were so happy with their roster they made only two offseason acquisitions: defensemen Teppo Numminen and Toni Lydman.</p><p>The Sabres&rsquo; core averages about 27 years old. They believe players such as Briere, Chris Drury, Jochen Hecht, J-P Dumont, Dmitri Kalinin and Lydman are about to peak. The grout players &ndash; Mike Grier, Adam Mair, Jay McKee, Rory Fitzpatrick, Numminen &ndash; are in place.</p><p>Then there are the will-they-or-won&rsquo;t-they hopefuls, those lads who could add an intangible spark if they come through. Sabres fans can&rsquo;t wait to see rookie Thomas Vanek in action. They also would love to see something out of oft-spotty performers Tim Connolly, Taylor Pyatt, Maxim Afinogenov, Brian Campbell and Jeff Jillson.</p><p>And now this column has broken the Sabres preview record for most paragraphs written without mentioning the goalie controversy. That&rsquo;s because we wanted to save the most volatile situation for last.</p><p>All of Buffalo&rsquo;s optimism could come crashing down if the goaltending doesn&rsquo;t hold up. Regier and Ruff must choose &ndash; and pray they choose wisely &ndash; from Martin Biron, Mika Noronen and Ryan Miller. The team&rsquo;s playoff chances &ndash; and the futures of Regier and Ruff &ndash; could hinge on the decision.</p><p>&ldquo;If we have three goaltenders in Buffalo it won&rsquo;t be for an extended period of time,&rdquo; Regier said. &ldquo;If there&rsquo;s one thing, over time, that&rsquo;s somewhat accepted in the National Hockey League it&rsquo;s that it&rsquo;s unhealthy to have three goaltenders competing for an extended period of time.&rdquo;</p><p>Biron has the most experience, but he also comes with the highest price tag ($2.128 million). Noronen is best value ($665,000) and many think he could be the most talented if given an opportunity to play as the true No. 1, like countryman Miikka Kiprusoff had the chance to do in Calgary.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06359/8753957-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="996" height="1002"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Chris Drury (pictured) and Daniel Briere will alternate as captains from game to game. Winger Patrick Kaleta impressed before being returned to junior.</i></b></figcaption></div><p>Miller, a candidate to make the U.S. Olympic squad, long has been considered Buffalo&rsquo;s goalie of the future. His salary is only $779,000 and he&rsquo;s the only one of the three who doesn&rsquo;t need to clear waivers to be sent to the minors.</p><p>If their goaltending doesn&rsquo;t come through, the NHL&rsquo;s most stable organization will miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season. And that will demand change.</p><p><i>&ndash; Tim Graham covers the Sabres for the Buffalo News</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04460/8753950-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="210" height="411"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>TONI LYDMAN</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05411/8753943-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="94" height="79"></div><p><b>D</b></p><p>Only two newbies to choose from, but this smooth-skating Finn has the potential to lead all Sabres defensemen in scoring.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Buffalo&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02690/8753936-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="802" height="2025"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RICK STEWART/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0037-03

Sabres follow Ruff rules

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02736/8754030-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="245" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Randy Sportak</p><p>Calgary</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011107/8754037-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="118" height="118"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>E</span></b>qual parts past success and forward tinkering have created great expectations in the Stampede City. The time finally has come to see if the Flames will re-ignite or flicker beneath those hopes.</p><p>Their Cinderella run of 2004 in the past, but burned into the game&rsquo;s lore, the Flames head into the new campaign considered a Stanley Cup favorite, not only by themselves and their fans but the whole hockey world.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>The cornerstone is the game&rsquo;s best all-around player in right winger Jarome Iginla, who is raring to go having fully healed during the league&rsquo;s prolonged hiatus.</p><p>&ldquo;Really excited about the season,&rdquo; said Iginla upon returning to the city for training camp. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been way too long.&rdquo;</p><p>Unlike seasons past, however, the Flames are no longer a one-man show &ndash; the exact reason for the team&rsquo;s realistic championship dreams.</p><p>Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff came from seemingly nowhere to become one of the league&rsquo;s best in 2003-04 and built on that season by backstopping Finland to the World Cup of Hockey championship final and then posting a stellar season in Sweden during the lockout.</p><p>Helping him keep the puck out of the net is a defense corps considered among the top collections in the NHL, starting with Roman Hamrlik and carrying through with Robyn Regehr, Jordan Leopold and hot-shot rookie Dion Phaneuf. All in all, they provide a healthy blend of toughness, size, grit and youthful exuberance.</p><p>Where the Flames have improved most, though, is up front, a development that has been a long time coming. No longer will Iginla, co-winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2003-04 (41 goals) and a former Art Ross Trophy winner, be forced to carry the offensive burden on his own.</p><p>The supporting cast can also put the biscuit in the basket. Tony Amonte&rsquo;s best days are behind him, but the veteran winger &ndash; signed after being bought out by Philadelphia &ndash; should provide yet another 20-plus goal season. Topline center Daymond Langkow is looking for a career season with his passing touch and grit a perfect complement to Iginla&rsquo;s game.</p><p>Best of all for the club that&rsquo;s been at the bottom in offense for seemingly an eternity, the scoring help won&rsquo;t end there. Right winger Chuck Kobasew had an outstanding season with Lowell in the American League last winter and is targeting the 20-goal plateau, while bruising Chris Simon and two-way standout Marcus Nilson are consistent double-digit scorers and Shean Donovan is coming off a career season of his own.</p><p>Throw in the moxie provided by checking center Stephane Yelle, the skill of youngster Matthew Lombardi and grit of Darren McCarty and Jason Wiemer and there&rsquo;s a depth that hasn&rsquo;t been seen in the Flames dressing room for a decade.</p><p>&ldquo;To me, it&rsquo;s a lot deeper team than we&rsquo;ve had since I&rsquo;ve been here,&rdquo; Iginla said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s more talent, all the way through our defense. It&rsquo;s well-rounded, not just talent and speed, but also great checkers who aren&rsquo;t fun to play against and tough guys. It&rsquo;s fun to look at the roster and be a part of that team.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05381/8754023-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="984" height="1002"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Daymond Langkow and Tony Amonte have the inside track to play with Jarome Iginla on the top line, while Steve Reinprecht (pictured) will center the No. 2 unit.</i></b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re all very excited about what we can do as a group. Last time we played, we had some success, but we&rsquo;re also a young team that should be getting better and growing more and more.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be fun.&rdquo;</p><p><i>&ndash; Randy Sportak covers the Flames for the Calgary Sun</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03597/8754016-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="211" height="411"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>TONY AMONTE</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04481/8754009-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="103" height="87"></div><p><b>LW</b></p><p>Veteran sniper is expected to take some of the heat off Jarome Iginla by providing scoring punch, leadership &ndash; and a little speed.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Calgary&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06321/8754002-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="802" height="2024"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-02

‘Favorite’ tag finally fits

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03513/8754096-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="244" height="409"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Luke DeCock</p><p>Carolina</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011024/8754103-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="115" height="115"></div><p><b>T</b>he Carolina Hurricanes don&rsquo;t care that the oddsmakers and prognosticators think the only worse NHL team plays up the road in Washington.</p><p>They&rsquo;re convinced that, not only are they a better team than they used to be, they&rsquo;re also good enough to make the playoffs.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>If the Canes are right about everything, they may find themselves feeling vindicated when April rolls around. But if they&rsquo;re wrong about anything, they may find themselves with far fewer fans.</p><p>There&rsquo;s too much on the line to be wrong.</p><p>Shut the league down for a year and nothing changes. New system or not, the Canes are in the same position they were always in &ndash; with no margin for error. Pick a quadrant of the roster and you&rsquo;ll find what the Canes consider a strength &ndash; but could easily be a weakness.</p><p>The Canes traded for goaltender Martin Gerber last summer based on his performances as Jean-Sebastien Giguere&rsquo;s backup with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. He outplayed Giguere for much of the 2003-04 season and earned a chance at the No. 1 spot here.</p><p>If new coach Peter Laviolette&rsquo;s puck-possession-and-pursuit system can generate more offense than Paul Maurice&rsquo;s famed-and-reviled neutral zone trap, the Canes may end their streak of having the NHL&rsquo;s worst offense two years running, personnel considerations aside.</p><p>If Cory Stillman, Ray Whitney and Oleg Tverdovsky can produce the way they did when they were surrounded by more talent, the often-dismal power play should get a substantial boost.</p><p>If Erik Cole, Eric Staal, Justin Williams and Josef Vasicek are ready to become the players the Canes think they&rsquo;re capable of becoming, Carolina will be even more dangerous on offense not only this season, but down the road as well.</p><p>If the additions of Tverdovsky, Frantisek Kaberle and Andrew Hutchinson bolster Carolina&rsquo;s puck-moving potential, and the new rules allow them to use their skating ability to overcome any defensive deficiencies, the Canes&rsquo; blueline will add a new dimension to the team&rsquo;s overall game.</p><p>But if Gerber, who has never played more than 50 games in an NHL or European season, can&rsquo;t handle the load; if Laviolette finds himself saddled with the same persistent problems Maurice had; if the Canes&rsquo; new players can&rsquo;t score like they used to and the young ones can&rsquo;t score the way they someday might; if Carolina&rsquo;s rebuilt offensive defense can&rsquo;t actually play defense &ndash; if any of those worst-case scenarios come true, the Canes could really be in trouble.</p><p>And there&rsquo;s far more on the line here than a playoff berth. If the Canes don&rsquo;t win &ndash; and win right away &ndash; they may lose a fan base that exploded during the 2002 playoffs and has steadily faded since.</p><p>This is a great sports town with the potential, still, to be a great hockey market. It won&rsquo;t be if the Canes return after a year off and remind fans why they stopped going in 2003 and 2004.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06299/8754089-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="990" height="1003"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Coach Peter Laviolette has introduced more off-ice activities designed to pull the team together. He also has launched his puck-possession-and-pursuit style.</i></b></figcaption></div><p>There&rsquo;s nothing new about this. The Canes enter every season walking a fine line between underestimated and undertalented. Before, they could at least cry financial distress. Now, a solid $10 million below the salary cap, they have put this team together by choice.</p><p>They&rsquo;re convinced they&rsquo;re better off with the players they have than any bigger names or bigger salaries. And they may be right.</p><p>For their sake, they better be.</p><p><i>&ndash; Luke DeCock covers the Hurricanes for the Raleigh News & Observer</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04421/8754082-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="210" height="411"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>MARTIN GERBER</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05352/8754075-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="102" height="62"></div><p><b>G</b></p><p>Based on his sharp performance as Anaheim&rsquo;s backup and in Sweden last season, Carolina is counting on him to carry the load in goal.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Carolina&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02661/8754068-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="802" height="2024"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MITCHELL LAYTON/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0039-03

Canes vow to be able

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02438/8754162-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="245" height="409"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Tim Sassone</p><p>Chicago</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01723/8754169-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="118" height="118"></div><p><b>I</b>t&rsquo;s hard not to be optimistic about the Blackhawks.</p><p>Heck, there&rsquo;s actually a buzz of excitement about the Hawks in a once great hockey town that had almost forgotten there was a team other than the Bulls playing in the United Center.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>This is a franchise that has been drowning in negativity since the mid-1990s when the Hawks, led by Chris Chelios, Jeremy Roenick, Steve Smith and Ed Belfour, were feared and respected.</p><p>As the losses mounted and Chicago became a team not worth watching, many fans jumped ship. During the 2003-04 season the Hawks played most of their home games in front of fewer than 10,000 fans.</p><p>There was one poor management decision made after another. Mike Smith didn&rsquo;t work out as GM and Alpo Suhonen, a Smith hire, was even worse as coach.</p><p>Signing Theo Fleury as a free agent while he was still dependent on drugs and alcohol embarrassed the franchise and turned fans off even further.</p><p>The Hawks became a joke.</p><p>But it appears better days are coming. There have been only positive vibes surrounding the team since Dale Tallon was hired as GM and went about the task of waking the dead.</p><p>Tallon removed the old-school Brian Sutter as coach and replaced him with the progressive-thinking Trent Yawney, who developed many of Chicago&rsquo;s top young players during his five years coaching Norfolk in the AHL.</p><p>The Hawks came out of the lockout well prepared financially and Tallon opened up owner Bill Wirtz&rsquo;s checkbook to bring in top-end free agents such as goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and defenseman Adrian Aucoin, along with winger Martin Lapointe, defenseman Jaroslav Spacek and center Jim Dowd.</p><p>&ldquo;The whole outlook of the team has changed,&rdquo; said center Mark Bell. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve addressed issues that needed to be addressed and brought in some quality guys and quality people. It&rsquo;s a good atmosphere now.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;This is the first time since I&rsquo;ve been here that people are excited about the Hawks,&rdquo; added center Tyler Arnason. &ldquo;I think a lot of people want to like the Hawks, but they were frustrated the last few years because we weren&rsquo;t winning. I think there are a lot of dormant fans out there that are going to be coming out.&rdquo;</p><p>Young Hawks Arnason, Bell, Kyle Calder and Tuomo Ruutu are keys. Good players before the lockout, they&rsquo;re 18 months older now and have the potential to be impact forwards. Ruutu demonstrated in the last World Cup he has superstar potential.</p><p>Tallon also brought in character people to surround his young core.</p><p>Khabibulin, defenseman Jassen Cullimore and Lapointe have won Stanley Cups. Aucoin and center Curtis Brown are stable and respected leaders.</p><p>The mix of youth and experience, plus Khabibulin in goal, could make the Hawks a Central Division favorite and a contender in the West at a time when nobody really knows how some teams are going to look post-lockout. Will the Red Wings still be formidable? How much will the Blues miss Chris Pronger and Pavol Demitra? Are the Avs still the Avs?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05230/8754155-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="997" height="996"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Mark Bell (pictured) welcomes newcomers including Nikolai Khabibulin, Adrian Aucoin and Martin Lapointe, and hopes they win a Central Division championship.</i></b></figcaption></div><p>If nothing else, the Hawks will be interesting again. They figure to be just the kind of team Chicago hockey fans like &ndash; tough. Ruutu, Lapointe, Matthew Barnaby, Jim Vandermeer and Todd Simpson will make sure of that.</p><p><i>&ndash; Tim Sassone covers the Blackhawks for the Arlington Heights Daily Herald</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03332/8754148-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="211" height="414"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04267/8754141-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="95" height="84"></div><p><b>G</b></p><p>The Blackhawks are counting heavily on the 2003-04 Stanley Cup champion to lead them back from the scrap heap.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Chicago&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06204/8754134-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="802" height="2024"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BARRY GOSSAGE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0040-02

Hawks ready to rock

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03300/8754228-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="245" height="410"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Adrian Dater</p><p>Colorado</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01609/8754235-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="118" height="118"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he Avalanche lost Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote, and some of its best remaining players are getting up in years. There may not be a Stanley Cup in Denver this season.</p><p>Where&rsquo;s the sympathy, world?</p><p>OK, so maybe the Avs and their loyalists don&rsquo;t deserve sympathy. These are people, after all, who had a Stanley Cup team dropped in their laps 10 years ago, a team that had its own loyal, but Cup-less fan base all 23 years of its existence in Quebec.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>For those in Denver who expected condolences from the hockey world this summer, that sound you hear is the world&rsquo;s smallest violin playing. The loss of Forsberg and Foote gave Avalanche fans a tiny hint of the pain Nordiques fans felt, and it didn&rsquo;t feel so good.</p><p>Since then, however, the stages of recovery have taken root and anger has changed to acceptance. There is even some optimism creeping back among the faithful, after a solid 2005 draft and a great showing in training camp by left winger Wojtek Wolski, a first round pick in 2004.</p><p>A top-notch new coach is in place in Joel Quenneville and Joe Sakic now says the lockout makes him want to play until age of 40.</p><p>But let&rsquo;s get real here: if the Avs are to win a third Stanley Cup this season, they&rsquo;ll need big years from two centers (Sakic and newcomer Pierre Turgeon), who both are 36 years old.</p><p>Sakic, in the right light, still looks young enough to warrant closer inspection of his ID in a bar. But the fact is, he&rsquo;s old enough to have played with Peter Stastny in Quebec and might yet play with his son, Avs prospect Paul Stastny. Turgeon was a rookie in the NHL when Ronald Reagan was president.</p><p>The prevailing attitude of Avalanche management &ndash; or &ldquo;spin,&rdquo; as some might call it &ndash; is the most recent Avs were something akin to a Tom Cruise flick &ndash; good-looking on the surface, fun to watch for a while, but lacking character and depth in the right spots. The new Avs, the company line suggests, are a team that may lack the star quality of the past, but is deeper. More like a Paul Giamatti flick.</p><p>Quenneville wants the hardest working team in the NHL. Some may wonder if he has taken a good look at his roster. Foote&rsquo;s replacement, Patrice Brisebois, once left the Canadiens in the middle of a season for a mental breather in France. And Turgeon didn&rsquo;t win a lot of friends in Dallas with his play for the Stars over three seasons.</p><p>But like Quenneville, Brisebois and Turgeon say they feel rejuvenation in the Rocky Mountain air. All are anxious for career resurgence and there are some good pieces in place for them to mix with. Milan Hejduk &ndash; who was knocked out of the lineup for the first month of the year after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery &ndash; and Alex Tanguay still are darned good, and David Aebischer is one of the NHL&rsquo;s better young goalies.</p><p>Some fans were outraged when the team signed former Vancouver left winger Brad May after May put a verbal bulls-eye on Steve Moore&rsquo;s back, leading to the Todd Bertuzzi attack that put Moore&rsquo;s NHL career in jeopardy. May adds some toughness to the lineup, but could create friction in the dressing room.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06210/8754221-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="990" height="1002"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>The Avs like the looks of some recent draftees, such as Wojtek Wolski. But there is nervousness over the loss of two major stars, Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote.</i></b></figcaption></div><p>The bottom line is Avs fans are a spoiled lot. A good, hard-working team might sell in the Twin Cities or Columbus right now, but if it ain&rsquo;t silver and have lots of little names etched on it, Avalanche fans will spit into that cup, not drink from it.</p><p><i>&ndash; Adrian Dater covers the Avalanche for the Denver Post</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04257/8754214-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="210" height="412"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>PIERRE TURGEON</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05233/8754207-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="96" height="77"></div><p><b>C</b></p><p>He&rsquo;s 36 and hasn&rsquo;t scored more than 15 goals since 2001. But he&rsquo;s back at his natural center spot after three years of misuse at left wing in Dallas.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Colorado&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02376/8754200-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="802" height="2024"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0041-03

Avalanche warning

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02383/8754294-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="245" height="409"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Aaron Portzline</p><p>Columbus</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01633/8754301-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="117" height="118"></div><p><b>R</b>ick Nash looked confident, like a man who just signed a five-year, $27-million contract.</p><p>Here was Nash&rsquo;s boss, Columbus GM Doug MacLean, taking a playful jab at him during a news conference to announce the signing, saying Nash&rsquo;s minus-35 rating in 2003-04 would have to be better under his new contract.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>MacLean drew chuckles.</p><p>Nash, now 21 and increasingly sure of himself in front of cameras and microphones, waited for the chuckles to fade. Then he fired back.</p><p>&ldquo;I think having Adam Foote here will help that a little bit,&rdquo; said Nash, drawing roars from the crowd, including MacLean.</p><p>The message was clear, though it was hardly news to MacLean. Nash is a darn fine hockey player, perhaps one of the five or 10 best in the NHL. But his 41 goals in 2003-04 &ndash; a whopping 23 per cent of the Jackets&rsquo; total &ndash; couldn&rsquo;t get them any higher than 14th in the Western Conference.</p><p>So, in the wake of the new CBA, MacLean grabbed owner John H.McConnell&rsquo;s checkbook and went free agent hunting. Make that big-game free agent hunting.</p><p>One day into free agency, MacLean landed Foote, a mean, grizzled defenseman who is the toughest man yet to wear a Columbus jersey. A day later, another top-tier blueliner, Bryan Berard, signed. Then came Jan Hrdina, a crafty Czech who will center for Nash. Then goaltender Martin Prusek&hellip;finally, somebody to give Marc Denis a break, and a push.</p><p>&ldquo;First off, it was an exciting time for hockey, with guys signing everywhere, big names moving all over the place,&rdquo; Nash said. &ldquo;And it was exciting to see the Blue Jackets in there, signing these guys right along with everybody else.&rdquo;</p><p>In the meantime, several of the Blue Jackets&rsquo; young players came back from the lockout looking like professional athletes, not precocious kids. Nash is huge, having grown into his puppy-dog paws. Nikolai Zherdev is taller and thicker. Dan Fritsche can grow a full beard.</p><p>The Blue Jackets are, without question, more talented &ndash; more legitimate, if you will &ndash; than they&rsquo;ve ever been.</p><p>But that&rsquo;s how it should be for an expansion team heading into its fifth season, right?</p><p>How talented? A strong case could be made that Columbus is playoff-ready, especially since the Central Division appears to have undergone a seismic shift.</p><p>Here goes: Nash and Zherdev make the offense dynamic. Talented David Vyborny is one of the NHL&rsquo;s best-kept secrets. If on-again, off-again Geoff Sanderson is on, and if Todd Marchant can again become a two-way force, the Jackets could score with regularity. Both vets are capable of being key contributors to a team looking to make its first appearance in the playoffs.</p><p>Foote and Berard are a good start on defense. Is this the year Rostislav Klesla plays like a regular NHLer? Can Luke Richardson be the physical force he was in Philadelphia?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05208/8754287-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="983" height="1002"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Rostislav Klesla (pictured) has bulked up. Rick Nash is huge. Dan Fritsche can grow a beard. The team&rsquo;s youngsters left for the lockout as boys and returned as men.</i></b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;No doubt we have to win this year,&rdquo; MacLean said, adding a little urgency to the mix.</p><p>It has been reported MacLean has targeted 40 wins as a goal, quite a reach for a team that has been around only since 2000-01 and has never been above .500.</p><p>We&rsquo;ll make a prediction before the training camp Kool-Aid kicks in: 36 wins and a slew of meaningful games in March.</p><p>Oh, and Nash&rsquo;s plus-minus? We&rsquo;ll go with plus-4.</p><p><i>&ndash; Aaron Portzline covers the Blue Jackets for the Columbus Dispatch</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03301/8754280-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="211" height="412"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>ADAM FOOTE</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04240/8754273-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="105" height="81"></div><p><b>D</b></p><p>Can a 33-year-old be fresh? New? Foote, signed as a free agent, brings his chiseled looks, grizzled style and experience to the Blue Jackets.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Columbus&rsquo; 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-06191/8754266-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="802" height="2025"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0042-02

Jackets bag big game

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03347/8754360-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="245" height="409"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Mike Heika</p><p>Dallas</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01625/8754367-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="118" height="118"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span></b>arty Turco must prove himself in the playoffs. Mike Modano must have a fantastic comeback season. A revamped defense must find the right chemistry.</p><p>If these three things happen, the Dallas Stars could be the best team in the Western Conference once again.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>That sounds like an extremely optimistic opinion, but the pieces are in place to make it happen.</p><p>And that&rsquo;s why it seems so strange nobody else thinks the Stars will be a power in the West. Yes, they&rsquo;ve seen their payroll cut from $67 million to $37 million in one season, but the reason for that is the team and the organization had grown fat and lazy.</p><p>Instead of building with draft picks and clever trades, they feasted at the trough of free agency.</p><p>Instead of trying to get younger, they added more and more age, more and more free agents, more and more trade pickups who were available only because of fat contracts.</p><p>So you have to look back and wonder if they lost all that much in cutting the payroll. Gone are Pierre Turgeon, Scott Young, Richard Matvichuk, Don Sweeney, Chris Therien, Valeri Bure and Shayne Corson. They all played significant roles in 2003-04, but their contributions aren&rsquo;t irreplaceable.</p><p>While Turgeon is by no means done, he was a horrible fit in Dallas and carried a millstone contract that seemed to prevent him from ever fitting in. Young&rsquo;s time was over. Same with Sweeney. Matvichuk will be missed, but a decision had to be made.</p><p>As for the rest, they were simply band-aids added at the last minute.</p><p>And now the Stars will attempt to go forward and really solve their problems. While young veterans such as Martin Skoula, 25, and Stephane Robidas, 28, should bring the average age down, the real news is Dallas will give players such as Trevor Daley, 22, John Erskine, 25, and Antti Miettinen, 25, genuine opportunities to play.</p><p>Niko Kapanen, 27, and Steve Ott, 23, will be asked to do more. As well, any or all of Loui Eriksson, 20, Jussi Jokkinen, 22, or Shawn Belle, 20, could be on the roster before the year is over.</p><p>That&rsquo;s probably one of the reasons for the trepidation of the experts in putting any faith in the Stars, but remember, the youth will have plenty of support. Modano will be joined in the top six by Jason Arnott, Bill Guerin, Brenden Morrow and Jere Lehtinen. Sergei Zubov, Philippe Boucher and Jon Klemm still form the heart of the defense.</p><p>And Turco has a career 1.91 goals-against average in 185 games &ndash; making him quite possibly the best regular season goalie in the league.</p><p>If Turco or Modano flop, the Stars are sunk. But Modano appears motivated to come back from the worst season of his career and Turco has the carrot of unrestricted free agency hanging in front of him.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-06178/8754353-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="991" height="1000"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>For the first time in 10 years, three to four forward positions are wide open, and younger returnees such as Niko Kapanen are being asked to step up.</i></b></figcaption></div><p>If Modano, who managed just 14 goals and 44 points in 76 games in 2003-04, returns to form, he makes everyone around him better. If Turco simply puts up a normal season, the Stars have one of the five lowest GAAs in the league.</p><p>And that seems to be a winning combination in anyone&rsquo;s book.</p><p>The bottom line: Dallas has as few holes as anyone in the West to start the season. If you think they&rsquo;ve taken a step back, you&rsquo;re not looking closely enough.</p><p><i>&ndash; Mike Heika covers the Stars for the Dallas Morning News</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04255/8754346-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="211" height="411"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>MARTIN SKOULA</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-05217/8754339-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="97" height="61"></div><p><b>D</b></p><p>The Stars are planning to give Skoula a ton of minutes on defense. But why did Anaheim and Colorado let him go so easily?</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Dallas&rsquo; 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02414/8754332-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="802" height="2025"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0043-03

Don’t dismiss Mo & Co.

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03226/8754419-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="924" height="929"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Wings coach Mike Babcock conducted fast-paced, up-tempo practices stressing speed and movement to prepare his team for the new, freewheeling NHL.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01515/8754433-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p><b>T</b>he new CBA wasn&rsquo;t created to help clubs like the Detroit Red Wings.</p><p>This formerly free-spending team watched its payroll shrink dramatically, from an estimated $60 million during the canceled 2004-05 season to less than $39 million this season.</p><p>The Red Wings were forced to buy out the contracts of a trio of veterans (Derian Hatcher, Darren McCarty, Ray Whitney) to get under the salary cap. They weren&rsquo;t able to make their usual big splash in the free agent market because they had little money left after resigning their own players. Budding star Pavel Datsyuk threatened to remain in Russia, but was expected to return to Detroit and accept the Wings&rsquo; offer of two years for $3.8 million a season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02294/8754426-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Ansar Khan</p><p>Detroit</p></figcaption></div><p>Their fourth line is no longer as strong as the second or third line on many teams. They won&rsquo;t have the luxury of being able to roll four lines. They don&rsquo;t have an $8-million-a-year goaltender anymore.</p><p>It&rsquo;s not exactly a warm welcome to the new NHL for a franchise that flourished for 10 years under the old labor agreement. But while the economic system has changed, their expectations remain the same: maintain their status as one of the league&rsquo;s elite teams and compete for the Stanley Cup.</p><p>To do that, new coach Mike Babcock must get more production out of less talent and depth.</p><p>The Wings excelled in the regular season under former coach Dave Lewis, but for some reason, players didn&rsquo;t display the same intensity in the playoffs, losing in the second round in 2004 and the first round in 2003.</p><p>Red Wings management believes Babcock can squeeze one last championship run out of an accomplished core of veterans while accelerating the growth of younger players.</p><p>In Anaheim, Babcock preferred to play a gritty, defensive brand of hockey. In Detroit, the Red Wings still have enough skilled players to continue playing an entertaining, puck-possession style.</p><p>Their strength is a deep, mobile and versatile defense, led by three-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom, that can move the puck. Mathieu Schneider excelled in 2003-04 and young Niklas Kronwall looks like a future star. Jiri Fischer, Andreas Lilja and Chris Chelios provide some abrasiveness.</p><p>The Red Wings no longer have a high-priced goalie such as Dominik Hasek or Curtis Joseph, but the position is in capable hands with Chris Osgood and Manny Legace.</p><p>The main issue, even with Datsyuk back on board, is offense &ndash; particularly from the forwards. Beyond the likes of Robert Lang, Brendan Shanahan, Henrik Zetterberg and Steve Yzerman, it remains to be seen who&rsquo;ll score. Kris Draper provided an unexpected lift with 24 goals in &rsquo;03-04. More players (Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby, Jason Williams) will need to contribute more goals this season.</p><p>It&rsquo;ll help, of course, if the crackdown on obstruction is enforced as strictly as the league has promised. In anticipation of the new rules, Babcock stressed skating and a high tempo during training camp.</p><p>The Red Wings could start the season with as many as 18 players who played in Detroit before the lockout. They still have a strong nucleus, but don&rsquo;t expect the Red Wings to enjoy another 109-point season.</p><p>That&rsquo;s fine. They&rsquo;ll sacrifice points during the regular season for better results in the playoffs, where a new coach, new attitude and new rules could make the difference.</p><p><i>&ndash; Ansar Khan covers the Red Wings for Booth News</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-04178/8754412-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>CHRIS OSGOOD</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-05153/8754405-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="95" height="73"></div><p><b>G</b></p><p>The Red Wings aren&rsquo;t as deep or as talented as in past years, so a huge season from their new No. 1 netminder would help.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Detroit&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-06132/8754398-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="718" height="1830"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GREGORY SHAMUS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0044-03

Wings won’t dominate

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-06141/8754485-1-eng-US/f0045-062.jpg" title="f0045-06" width="924" height="929"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>To get a jump on the new-look NHL, coach Craig MacTavish all but picked his team on Day 1 and went right to work on rule changes, systems and special teams.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01438/8754499-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="107" height="106"></div><p><b>O</b>n paper, the new-look NHL is everything the Edmonton Oilers and their fans could have asked for.</p><p>It&rsquo;s what they&rsquo;ve been dreaming about, begging for, for decades. A chance to keep their top players. A chance to bolster their lineup with free agents. A chance to compete evenly on a playing field that has been slanted against them since Wayne Gretzky left. A chance to dart and dash and play Oilers hockey without an army of &ldquo;defensive specialists&rdquo; turning the neutral zone into one big tar pit.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-03217/8754492-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Rob Tychkowski</p><p>Edmonton</p></figcaption></div><p>So with all of that in place, plus Norris Trophy winner Chris Pronger on their blueline as tangible evidence hockey&rsquo;s landscape finally has changed, there&rsquo;s a level of anticipation in Edmonton that hasn&rsquo;t been seen since Glen Sather had a winning season.</p><p>A lot of it is simply the giddy optimism all teams begin the fall with &ndash; before they begin to fall &ndash; but for a town that started most of the past 15 seasons believing eighth place and a valiant first round playoff defeat were as good as it was going to get, this is weird, wild stuff.</p><p>&ldquo;I think with the salary cap, the fans really, really believe they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup,&rsquo;&rsquo; said Pronger, who would have been a near-impossible acquisition under the league&rsquo;s previous economic system.</p><p>&ldquo;In the past they didn&rsquo;t feel that way. Now there&rsquo;s the thrill that you might have the opportunity to hold the Cup, and your team is going to do everything possible to try and do that.&rsquo;&rsquo;</p><p>A Stanley Cup championship is a pretty big stretch for a ninth place team that hasn&rsquo;t won a playoff round in seven years, but it&rsquo;s not a stretch to say the days of leaning at the tape for the final playoff spot only to bow out to Dallas in the first round are over.</p><p>It&rsquo;s more than just the addition of Pronger and Mike Peca that have the Oiler faithful in an optimistic mood.</p><p>After years of &lsquo;waiting till next year&rsquo;, the Oilers finally saw some of their potential reach the surface in 2003-04 when they finished the season on an incredible run. Down the stretch Edmonton was the best team in hockey, earning points in 24 of its final 29 games (16-5-4-4) and going 12-0-1-3 in its final 16 home starts.</p><p>All they&rsquo;ve done to that team is add to their experience, grit and special teams with Pronger and Peca, and watch young Ales Hemsky win Czech League playoff MVP honors and a World Championship gold medal.</p><p>And, still $7 million under the $39-million salary cap, the Oilers have room to stock the shelf even more.</p><p>So there&rsquo;s no doubt the Oilers are stronger than when the NHL was last in operation. Just as important, the big-budget Western Conference teams that left them in the dust all those years are weaker, having been forced to move or lose the likes of Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote and Pronger in order to meet the league-imposed budget.</p><p>Welcome to Edmonton&rsquo;s old nightmare.</p><p>&ldquo;There are no powerhouses anymore,&rsquo;&rsquo; said center Shawn Horcoff.</p><p>Now it&rsquo;s about second, third and fourth-line depth, team speed and a willingness to pay the price. All of those things have been Oilers&rsquo; calling cards during the lean years.</p><p>There&rsquo;s not enough here to consider Edmonton a Stanley Cup contender just yet, but the new world order has provided the franchise and the city it plays in something they&rsquo;ve both been dearly missing for a long, long time.</p><p>Hope.</p><p><i>&ndash; Rob Tychkowski covers the Oilers for the Edmonton Sun</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-04187/8754478-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>CHRIS PRONGER</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-05165/8754471-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="83" height="83"></div><p><b>D</b></p><p>Will play 28 minutes a night and dramatically improve Edmonton&rsquo;s special teams &ndash; an essential element to the Oilers&rsquo; success this season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Edmonton&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02266/8754464-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="720" height="1832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0045-06

It’s Oilers’ time to shine

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-04160/8754551-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="925" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>The Panthers are hoping to lock up two of their key players &ndash; center Olli Jokinen (pictured) and franchise goalie Roberto Luongo &ndash; to long-term contracts.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-06108/8754565-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="106" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span></b>ajority owner Alan Cohen had GM Mike Keenan cut every financial corner possible this summer, signing players to a slew of one-year contracts while backing off a few free agents that might have made a significant difference in the team&rsquo;s goal output.</p><p>As baseball&rsquo;s Tampa Bay Devil Rays can attest, such fiscal frugality rarely puts a team in a position to succeed.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01428/8754558-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Brian Biggane</p><p>Florida</p></figcaption></div><p>It&rsquo;s difficult to put the blame on Cohen. His team has been bleeding red ink for years &ndash; he has said revenues for the 2003-04 season were less than $20 million &ndash; and there&rsquo;s no sense that South Florida fans were ready to come streaming through the turnstiles after the year-long lockout.</p><p>Still, one wonders what difference an extra, say, million or two a year for an Alexander Mogilny might have meant to a team that, thanks to some excellent veteran off-season additions by Keenan, has a decent shot to end a playoff drought that stretches back to 2000.</p><p>As it is, years of on-ice futility combined with savvy drafting have given Florida a deep supply of youthful prospects, who figure to get better playing alongside wizened vets like Joe Nieuwendyk, Gary Roberts, Sean Hill and Martin Gelinas.</p><p>The hope is the Panthers won&rsquo;t have to lean quite so heavily on the abundant skills of Roberto Luongo &ndash; and no one is more hopeful of that than Luongo himself. Exposed on a nightly basis in 2003-04 by a patchwork defense that allowed opponents to send an NHLrecord 2,475 shots his way, Luongo said his reluctance to sign a long-term contract this summer was due in large part to his desire to someday play for a winner.</p><p>Luongo should like the blueliners in front of him a lot more this year. Hill is a huge upgrade on Lyle Odelein, who filled the role of Jay Bouwmeester&rsquo;s mentor last time around. Bouwmeester, now a fourth-year pro, should be ready to approach his potential and trim his horrendous plus-minus numbers. Mike Van Ryn and Branislav Mezei are solid young pros. And Eric Cairns and Alexander Karpovtsev are improvements over the departed Pavel Trnka, Andreas Lilja and Mathieu Biron.</p><p>It&rsquo;s fair to say never will more be asked of a pair of 39-year-old free agents than the assignment facing Roberts and Nieuwendyk. Keenan scored a coup when he signed the pair away from Toronto within moments of the start of the free agent period Aug. 1.</p><p>Both will play on the top line, possibly with Olli Jokinen, who could line up at right wing for the first time in his career. Both will be asked to lead. Roberts will provide needed muscle and goals, Nieuwendyk will be asked to win faceoffs and, as much as Luongo in the past, be the face of the team.</p><p>Let&rsquo;s just say Keenan will get a lot in return for the $2.25 million he&rsquo;ll be shelling out for each guy.</p><p>Still, Florida will go only as far as its young talent can take it. The onus will be on Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, Kristian Huselius, Niklas Hagman and possibly 2004 first-rounder Rostislav Olesz to produce the way they have at other levels.</p><p>The task of putting all the pieces together falls to Jacques Martin, who certainly did a great job of that in Ottawa, reaching the playoffs eight times in his eight full seasons there. Doing it just once in Florida would make Martin a hero &ndash; and might start the Panthers down the road to future success.</p><p><i>&ndash; Brian Biggane covers the Panthers for the Palm Beach Post</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02261/8754544-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>GARY ROBERTS</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-03193/8754537-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="88" height="88"></div><p><b>LW</b></p><p>Roberts brings so many things the Panthers have lacked in recent years: toughness, determination, leadership, and yes, goal-scoring.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Florida&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-05124/8754530-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="719" height="1832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0046-04

Aid package for Luongo

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-06106/8754617-1-eng-US/f0047-062.jpg" title="f0047-06" width="925" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>The seven goaltenders the Kings brought to training camp have a combined total of 48 games of NHL experience, 43 of which belong to Mathieu Garon.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01426/8754631-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="107" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>L</span></b>ittle did Mathieu Garon know how important a single game could be. On March 6, 2004, Garon stopped 46 of 48 shots to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a victory over the Los Angeles Kings.</p><p>So impressed were the Kings that now, 18 months later, they have made him one of the most important pieces of their team.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-03224/8754624-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Rich Hammond</p><p>Los Angeles</p></figcaption></div><p>The Kings didn&rsquo;t trade for Garon based solely on that performance, but it did open their eyes to what they think he could become. So they took the plunge and have handed the everyday goaltending job to a 27-year-old who amassed only 43 games of NHL experience playing behind Jose Theodore over four seasons in Montreal.</p><p>Stroke of genius or recipe for disaster? That remains to be seen, but the answer will go a long way to determining whether the Kings make the playoffs &ndash; or miss them for a third consecutive season.</p><p>For now the Kings are talking a good game and not just because they traded for Jeremy Roenick and his super-sized personality. Luc Robitaille calls this the most talented Kings team since the one that made the Stanley Cup final in 1993, a sentiment echoed by team CEO Tim Leiweke, whose opinion really matters.</p><p>That puts some pressure on coach Andy Murray, whose loyalty, tireless preparation and work ethic have endeared him to upper management, but who nevertheless bears the responsibility of making this team a winner.</p><p>This is Murray&rsquo;s sixth season, and the Kings&rsquo; win totals have fallen from 40 to 33 to 28 in the past three seasons. Murray carries only a small amount of blame for that; massive injuries and mediocre rosters have played much bigger roles.</p><p>This season, though, anything short of a playoff berth might put Murray on the hot seat. By all indications he&rsquo;ll have a fair shot at success.</p><p>Ziggy Palffy, the team&rsquo;s most dynamic player for the past five seasons, has moved on to Pittsburgh; the Kings chose to replace his output not with a single superstar, but with a squadron of solid contributors. As a result, this will be far and away the deepest and most talented group of forwards Murray has ever had.</p><p>GM Dave Taylor said the Kings have nine potential 20-goal scorers &ndash; a bit of a reach in most observers&rsquo; eyes &ndash; but they do have three legitimate scoring lines and a great mix of veterans and talented youth.</p><p>Roenick carries perhaps the biggest burden. Not only will he be counted on for offense, but Murray seems prepared to enter the season with Roenick centering a line with Alexander Frolov and Michael Cammalleri. Frolov led the Kings in goals with 24 in 2003-04, but is only 23 years old. Cammalleri, a prospect who has yet to make an NHL breakthrough, is just 23 as well.</p><p>Roenick&rsquo;s play and inspiration will be the key to getting the kids going. If that line is successful, it will make the rest of the forward corps, including Robitaille, Pavol Demitra, Craig Conroy and Valeri Bure, all the more dangerous.</p><p>Aaron Miller, Mattias Norstrom and Lubomir Visnovsky return on defense, and the Kings will be counting on rookie Denis Grebeshkov to help fill the void left by the loss of Jaroslav Modry. And then there&rsquo;s Garon.</p><p>If that 46-save game was more than an aberration, that loss to the Canadiens will turn out to be a huge long-term victory.</p><p><i>&ndash; Rich Hammond covers the Kings for the Los Angeles Daily News</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-04171/8754610-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>JEREMY ROENICK</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-05131/8754603-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg" title="f0047-05" width="104" height="88"></div><p><b>C</b></p><p>On the day he arrived via trade, instantly became the Kings&rsquo; top center and most dynamic personality since Wayne Gretzky left town.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here&rsquo;s Los Angeles&rsquo; 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02283/8754596-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="719" height="1834"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(NOAH GRAHAM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0047-06

All eyes on goalie Garon

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0584/8754683-1-eng-US/f0048-052.jpg" title="f0048-05" width="925" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Larger offensive zones are forcing goalies to check angles. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get the retractor out, the compass set out and start making arcs on the ice,&rdquo; said Dwayne Roloson.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01286/8754697-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p><b>M</b>innesota Wild fans have been more patient with their expectations than a kindergarten teacher on the first day of class.</p><p>Show me another franchise whose fans camped outside the ticket office two full days before single-game seats went on sale. This for a team that froze ticket prices, despite practically printing money in the bowels of the perpetually sold-out Xcel Energy Center, and one that easily could miss the playoffs for the fourth time in its five-year existence.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02182/8754690-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Brian Murphy</p><p>Minnesota</p></figcaption></div><p>Some of the franchise&rsquo;s undying popularity is a credit to the downtown St. Paul arena. Aesthetically, it might be the best building in the league in which to watch a game. Its cozy confines double as a neighborhood bar, where folks can share a brat and a beer with a buddy between periods of another scoreless game.</p><p>Yet as this post-lockout era dawns in Minnesota, the club finds itself at a crossroads. The Wild is straddling the line between being a hard-working novelty act in a busy sports market and one expected to deliver on its pledge to ice a long-term contender.</p><p>Nobody expects the 16,500-person season-ticket base to shrivel if the Wild fails to make the playoffs. But one senses throughout the so-called State of Hockey that a successful season hinges on the team producing more offensively to become relevant in the perennially tough Western Conference.</p><p>GM Doug Risebrough&rsquo;s commitment to a five-year plan of drafting and developing a dynasty eschewed temptation to seal that blueprint in Tupperware and chase the busload of high-profile free agents on last summer&rsquo;s market &ndash; any one of which would have turned the Wild into instant contenders much like Chicago, Columbus or Pittsburgh.</p><p>Risebrough had the flexibility, with his team expected to top off about $15 million below the cap. In jettisoning fan favorite Andrew Brunette and rejecting former North Star idol Mike Modano&rsquo;s free-agent overture, Risebrough raised the ire of the faithful, some of whom blitzed talk radio and message boards with penny-pinching criticism.</p><p>For the record, Risebrough spent $9.4 million pre-lockout dollars to acquire versatile center Brian Rolston from the Boston Bruins for three years.</p><p>With 16 players in the final year of their contracts, the club is prepared to spend more on next year&rsquo;s bumper free agent crop and invest money on its own players when they mature into prime earning years later.</p><p>That means the fate of this team will be determined by how much responsibility can be absorbed by, and production squeezed from, maturing draft picks such as rookie center Mikko Koivu, and wingers Stephane Veilleux and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.</p><p>Fourth-year pro Nick Schultz must emerge as a scoring threat to complement his steady presence on an offensively-challenged blueline. Converted winger Brent Burns is the most talented defenseman on the team, but NHL forwards could turn his transition into a nightmare. He is, after all, just 20 years old.</p><p>And then there&rsquo;s Marian Gaborik, whose Jekyll and Hyde performances the past two seasons make this a defining moment in his young career. The Wild needs a 30-goal, 70-point season from its greyhound in order to challenge for a playoff spot.</p><p>Otherwise, the highlights will be limited to the spectacular one-goal losses posted by goalies Dwayne Roloson and Manny Fernandez.</p><p><i>&ndash; Brian Murphy covers the Wild for the St. Paul Pioneer Press</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-03135/8754676-1-eng-US/f0048-032.jpg" title="f0048-03" width="191" height="375"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>BRIAN ROLSTON</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-04111/8754669-1-eng-US/f0048-042.jpg" title="f0048-04" width="95" height="62"></div><p><b>C</b></p><p>A versatile player, quiet leader and Jacques Lemaire protege who finally gives Minnesota a bona fide No. 1 center to rely on.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Minnesota&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0669/8754662-1-eng-US/f0048-062.jpg" title="f0048-06" width="719" height="1834"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DOUG BENC/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0048-05

Time for Wild to attack

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0657/8754749-1-eng-US/f0049-062.jpg" title="f0049-06" width="924" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>The Habs have up to three openings at forward and one on defense. And Cristobal Huet has a knee injury, so someone is needed to back up Jose Theodore (pictured).</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01253/8754763-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p><b>I</b>t&rsquo;s times like this we think back to the immortal Yogi Berra, who once said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s deja vu all over again.&rdquo;</p><p>The Montreal Canadiens snuck up on a lot of teams four seasons ago, ending a three-year playoff drought and upsetting Boston in the opening round of the playoffs before losing the Eastern Conference semifinal to Carolina. But the Canadiens failed to build on their momentum, missing post-season play in 2002-03. In 2003-04, the last time the Stanley Cup was contested, Montreal again overachieved, surprisingly making the playoffs and upsetting the Bruins in the opening round, this time overcoming a 3-1 deficit in games before being swept by Tampa Bay.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-03121/8754756-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Herb Zurkowsky</p><p>Montreal</p></figcaption></div><p>So what happens now? Do the Canadiens take the next step, move further through the playoffs in their pursuit of their first championship since 1993? Or are they doomed to repeat history, missing the post-season in what figures to be a highly competitive Eastern Division?</p><p>Anything is possible following a year-long lockout. The landscape has changed &ndash; in Montreal and most other cities. There have been numerous departures and arrivals. But what effect will a year away from NHL play have? Not even the players are certain.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of new faces, so it&rsquo;s too early to tell how we&rsquo;ll end up or what kind of team we&rsquo;ll have,&rdquo; captain Saku Koivu said on the eve of training camp. &ldquo;But there are young guys who showed two years ago they can do a lot of positive things.&rdquo;</p><p>Even the team&rsquo;s architect, GM Bob Gainey, has mixed feelings. &ldquo;With our forwards, we probably have a little more offensive strength than we&rsquo;ve had in recent years,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;And a little less defensively. There are some questions on defense and we need players to come together as a unit.&rdquo;</p><p>There are several factors that could work against the Canadiens, mainly lack of size and depth on the blueline. However, if the referees call games closely &ndash; as the league has vowed, yet again &ndash; this team should be able to compete during 5-on-5 situations and could draw penalties with its speed.</p><p>But the Habs&rsquo; special teams are questionable and they don&rsquo;t have a legitimate faceoff presence. Also, other than newcomer Radek Bonk, they don&rsquo;t have a legitimate big man at center.</p><p>Defensively the team will miss veteran Patrice Brisebois, who became the first victim of the salary cap, received a buyout and signed with Colorado; and Stephane Quintal, who retired after his trade to Los Angeles.</p><p>Potential abounds on offense, especially with the re-signing of winger Alex Kovalev, arguably the team&rsquo;s most-talented player, along with the return of scoring leader Richard Zednik. On the other hand, both Mike Ribeiro, who led Montreal in points with 65, and Michael Ryder, who scored 25 goals as a rookie, must prove they aren&rsquo;t one-year wonders.</p><p>The defensemen must also chip in. Sheldon Souray needs to, at least, duplicate his career season (2003-04) of 15 goals and 35 points.</p><p>Right winger Alexander Perezhogin, the best of the prospects who boasts plenty of speed, could land a job on the third line.</p><p>Any team that has Jose Theodore in goal will remain competitive. Theodore has proven he can keep this team close; he&rsquo;s that good. But should he sustain an injury, especially early in the season, the Habs might not be able to give tickets away to the Bell Centre.</p><p><i>&ndash; Herb Zurkowsky covers the Canadiens for the Montreal Gazette</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-04105/8754742-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>RADEK BONK</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0572/8754735-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="91" height="63"></div><p><b>C</b></p><p>Has size and skill to be big, defensive center the Habs crave, but also has displayed offensive tendencies, making him a two-way threat.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here&rsquo;s Montreal&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02170/8754728-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="718" height="1831"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CHARLES LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0049-06

Step up or step back?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0485/8754815-1-eng-US/f0050-042.jpg" title="f0050-04" width="925" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Marek Zidlicky (pictured) has shown he can complete the long outlet pass that is now legal. Goalie Chris Mason, always a warrior, is in the best shape of his professional life.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0647/8754829-1-eng-US/f0050-062.jpg" title="f0050-06" width="106" height="106"></div><p><b>A</b>s the Predators enter what they have dubbed their &ldquo;competitive era,&rdquo; it seems reasonable to take a look at the roots of this franchise.</p><p>Given the financial restraints that are a reality in one of the league&rsquo;s smallest markets, a lot of emphasis has been placed on the entry draft and development of the players selected.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01247/8754822-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>David Boclair</p><p>Nashville</p></figcaption></div><p>In many ways, though, the 1998 expansion draft has been just as important to the team&rsquo;s evolution. Three players remain from that selection process and hardly can be considered leftovers.</p><p>Greg Johnson is the team captain. Scott Walker is top returning goal scorer. Tomas Vokoun is the No. 1 goalie and rapidly earning a reputation as one of the best in the world.</p><p>Together they have forged a common destiny and identity for the Predators. Individually, they could not have been more different when they came together.</p><p>Johnson was an established NHL player to the degree that he had been a full-time player in the league for five seasons. What he needed was to be needed. Despite respectable numbers &ndash; he had at least 10 goals in three of the previous four campaigns &ndash; he was a player teams always felt they could live without. Philadelphia, Detroit and Pittsburgh all traded him, the last two within a span of 10 months.</p><p>Walker was someone looking for a bona fide opportunity. The season before the expansion draft was the first in which he played exclusively in the NHL, but Predators coaches like to joke that they regularly scouted him through press box conversations on the nights he was scratched.</p><p>Vokoun was a complete unknown, as low as fifth on Montreal&rsquo;s organizational depth chart at goalie. Nashville selected him as part of a trade agreement in which they also got another player from the Canadiens in return for not taking someone else.</p><p>Now they are the pillars on which this franchise stands as tall and proud as it ever has, and whether or not the team lives up to its own, newfound lofty expectations hinges largely on their performances.</p><p>For the first time there will be legitimate pressure to perform, from start to finish &ndash; and rightfully so. Still, this is a team built largely on youth and it will be up to Johnson to make sure the players handle things &ndash; good and bad &ndash; properly.</p><p>Walker&rsquo;s play must be as complete as ever. He&rsquo;s either going to have Paul Kariya or Steve Sullivan &ndash; or both &ndash; as linemates, which means he must be ready to move or receive the puck in a heartbeat. He will also have to take care of those guys and make sure they are protected.</p><p>Vokoun&rsquo;s position speaks for itself. He has shown he can handle the physical demands of a No. 1 goalie when he played 73 games in 2003-04 and played well, but with the rules changes and vast player movement this off-season he cannot afford to slip even a little.</p><p>Now the No. 1 netminder for the Czech national team, Vokoun is certain to play in the 2006 Olympics in February. But he must keep his focus on NHL duty before and after the Games.</p><p>Free-agent signee Danny Markov will add toughness to a blueline brigade led by powerplay specialists Kimmo Timonen and Marek Zidlicky.</p><p>Johnson, Walker and Vokoun have been through it all with Nashville. In many ways, though, the hard part starts now.</p><p><i>&ndash; David Boclair covers the Predators for The Daily News</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02161/8754808-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>PAUL KARIYA</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0399/8754801-1-eng-US/f0050-032.jpg" title="f0050-03" width="96" height="59"></div><p><b>LW</b></p><p>The presence of a bona fide star immediately raises the level of expectation and the standard of conduct for all Predators.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Nashville&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0557/8754794-1-eng-US/f0050-052.jpg" title="f0050-05" width="718" height="1832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0050-04

Preds hungry for wins

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0657/8754881-1-eng-US/f0051-062.jpg" title="f0051-06" width="926" height="927"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>New Jersey is looking for a new captain, but may go into the regular season without one. Patrik Elias, a potential team leader, is out until he recovers from hepatitis A.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01240/8754895-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span></b>cott Niedermayer, the NHL&rsquo;s reigning Norris Trophy winner, has fled to the West Coast. Scott Stevens, a sure-fire Hall of Famer, has retired. And the league has changed some rules in an effort to add more offense to the game.</p><p>So how is it possible Devils GM Lou Lamoriello and coach Larry Robinson both believe the team&rsquo;s defense will be better than it was during the last hockey season of 2003-04?</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-03118/8754888-1-eng-US/f0051-032.jpg" title="f0051-03" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Rich Chere</p><p>New Jersey</p></figcaption></div><p>It sounds so crazy you want to suggest that if they traded Vezina Trophy goalie Martin Brodeur, the Devils might boast the greatest defense in NHL history.</p><p>The fact is, the Devils will not drop out of the list of contenders just because they lost the two Scotts. While it is hard to believe New Jersey&rsquo;s defense is better, the franchise&rsquo;s defensive success always has hinged on help from its forwards.</p><p>The Devils&rsquo; style is built on a system that creates turnovers and, if the current roster of forwards still can play that way, there is no reason to doubt blueline newcomers Vladimir Malakhov, Dan McGillis and Richard Matvichuk will have some success.</p><p>Malakhov, who has played in Europe without a red line, predicts there will be tighter games with the elimination of the red line and that the league&rsquo;s attempt to create more offense will fail.</p><p>&ldquo;There will be like four guys on the blueline waiting for the attack,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I may be wrong, but that&rsquo;s what I think.&rdquo;</p><p>Now that sounds like Devils hockey.</p><p>According to Robinson, 24-year-old Paul Martin eventually will be able to do a lot of what Niedermayer did. Martin can skate and handle the puck well. In the meantime, Robinson is hoping the combination of Martin and Brian Rafalski can replace Niedermayer&rsquo;s contributions and make the three-time Stanley Cup winner&rsquo;s departure less painful.</p><p>Robinson&rsquo;s return behind the bench also should have a positive impact. The players love him and they feel they owe him something after he was fired during the 2001-02 season.</p><p>&ldquo;We learned to appreciate what we had when we lost it,&rdquo; Brodeur says.</p><p>Offensively, the Devils&rsquo; primary concern should be waiting for Patrik Elias to recover from Hepatitis A. The team&rsquo;s leading scorer in each of the past five seasons, Elias will miss at least the first 10 games of the regular season. Once he does return, there is no way of knowing whether he&rsquo;ll need an entire season to regain his past form.</p><p>If Elias is himself by November, the Devils could be a better offensive team than they were in 2003-04. First and foremost, they&rsquo;ve got Alexander Mogilny and his offensive flair back in the fold. After that, everyone is anxious to see what rookie center Zach Parise can do at this level.</p><p>Giant-sized center Viktor Kozlov, who never has lived up to his billing as a first round pick by San Jose in 1993, had a good year in the Russian Superleague and could improve significantly on his numbers. Scott Gomez, who tied for the league lead in assists in 2003-04, and hard-working John Madden, a shorthanded goals specialist, are ahead of Kozlov on the depth chart at the pivot spot.</p><p>But it seems a stretch to suggest that the Devils&rsquo; defense is better. Malakhov, after all, is sure to end his career without a Norris Trophy, and neither McGillis nor Matvichuk are heading for the Hall of Fame.</p><p><i>&ndash; Rich Chere covers the Devils for the Newark Star-Ledger</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0493/8754874-1-eng-US/f0051-042.jpg" title="f0051-04" width="188" height="372"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>VLADIMIR MALAKHOV</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0566/8754867-1-eng-US/f0051-052.jpg" title="f0051-05" width="75" height="79"></div><p><b>D</b></p><p>After losing the Scotts &ndash; Stevens and Niedermayer &ndash; in the same offseason, someone has to fill the hole. Malakhov has the skill to do it.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is New Jersey&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-02170/8754860-1-eng-US/f0051-022.jpg" title="f0051-02" width="719" height="1829"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0051-06

‘Better D’ claim is daffy

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0482/8755013-1-eng-US/f0053-042.jpg" title="f0053-04" width="925" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Vets like Jaromir Jagr still hold the primary roles, but for the first time in years the Rangers camp is filled with youngsters making decisions difficult for management types.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01213/8755027-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="107" height="106"></div><p><b>N</b>ot even U.S. President George W. Bush would suggest the 2005-06 Rangers have been created through Intelligent Design.</p><p>Yes, the Rangers will go into the season somewhat younger than usual, but heaping credit on GM Glen Sather for bringing down the team&rsquo;s average age after failing so spectacularly in trying to buy eighth place his first four years on Broadway is tantamount to praising a man for being sensible enough to run out of a burning building.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0394/8755020-1-eng-US/f0053-032.jpg" title="f0053-03" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Larry Brooks</p><p>N.Y. Rangers</p></figcaption></div><p>The problem is, even while amassing a complement of reasonable youngsters through the last handful of drafts and in deals made during the 2004 trade deadline purge, Sather still acquired too many veterans on the wrong side of the career curve to fill primary roles both up front and on defense. This has created a situation where the kids are fighting one another for the handful of support roles open on the roster.</p><p>Given the opportunity to divest the organization of a three-year, $9.6-million commitment to blueliner Darius Kasparaitis by means of the compliance buyout, the Rangers chose to retain the 33-year-old. It&rsquo;s as if they signed him to a new deal.</p><p>What&rsquo;s more, apparently not satisfied to take an annual $3.2-million cap hit on a defenseman who should be on a competitive team&rsquo;s third pairing, the Blueshirts decided to sign the marginal Marik Malik to a three-year, $7.5-million free-agent contract.</p><p>If you&rsquo;re counting &ndash; and that&rsquo;s kind of the idea of the cap, isn&rsquo;t it? &ndash; that&rsquo;s $5.8 million committed to a pair of third-string defensemen for each of the next three years, or only about $1 million less than Scott Niedermayer costs the Mighty Ducks.</p><p>It appears there is no system under which the Rangers don&rsquo;t overpay people to come to Broadway. Or, in the case of 34-year-old left winger Martin Rucinsky, come back to Broadway for a third time. Somehow, Sather decided Rucinsky was worth $3-million for one season, even though he had been paid $1.65-million for the 2003-04 season and no other team had credible interest in signing him.</p><p>Again, if you&rsquo;re counting, Rucinsky actually received a 239 per-cent increase (incorporating the rollback impact) off a 2003-04 in which he scored 13 goals in 69 games for the Rangers (two in his last 28) before going at the deadline to the Vancouver Canucks, where he had little impact.</p><p>Sather over the summer promised to leave spots open for &ldquo;10 rookies.&rdquo; Soon after that he acquired 34-year-old Steve Rucchin from Anaheim to clog the middle and reduce meaningful opportunities for any young pivot. Rucchin, who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, was available primarily because the Mighty Ducks were in cap trouble.</p><p>But rather than exploiting Ducks GM Brian Burke&rsquo;s headache, Sather not only failed to pry a prospect away from Anaheim as cost of helping out his managerial pal, but somehow surrendered a fourth round draft pick that actually becomes a third if the Rangers sign Rucchin to a new contract.</p><p>For the first time, the Rangers go into a season without a single member of the 1994 Stanley Cup championship team.</p><p>For the first time in the longest time, the Rangers go into a season without any independent expectation of success.</p><p>That could be good.</p><p>Unless, of course, that expectation is met.</p><p><i>&ndash; Larry Brooks covers the Rangers for the New York Post</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0559/8755006-1-eng-US/f0053-052.jpg" title="f0053-05" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>KEVIN WEEKES</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0650/8754999-1-eng-US/f0053-062.jpg" title="f0053-06" width="88" height="83"></div><p><b>G</b></p><p>Two goalies &ndash; veteran Kevin Weekes and North American neophyte Henrik Lundqvist &ndash; will compete for the Rangers&rsquo; No. 1 job.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here&rsquo;s New York&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02137/8754992-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="720" height="1832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0053-04

What is Sather up to?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0382/8755079-1-eng-US/f0054-032.jpg" title="f0054-03" width="925" height="931"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Zdeno Chara is most certainly safe, but there are two openings on the blueline and one at left wing for a team that brought 26 players to its main training camp.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01219/8755093-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>t&rsquo;s now or never for the Ottawa Senators. Yes, talk has turned out to be cheap for the Senators in the spring, but if they&rsquo;re ever going to win a Stanley Cup this might be the team&rsquo;s best chance before the current group of players is ripped apart.</p><p>GM John Muckler already has sent shock waves through the franchise by making huge changes since Ottawa was eliminated from the playoffs by the Toronto Maple Leafs in April, 2004. More could be be coming if there&rsquo;s no glory this spring.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02121/8755086-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Bruce Garrioch</p><p>Ottawa</p></figcaption></div><p>Though they&rsquo;re applauding the new collective bargaining agreement in places like Edmonton, Senators management wasn&rsquo;t giving anybody a standing ovation when the new rules for unrestricted free agency were drawn up. That&rsquo;s because they don&rsquo;t help the team one bit.</p><p>The Senators always have been a franchise that builds from the ground up. They draft well, spend wisely and keep the core players together. That&rsquo;s not going to be possible anymore with players set to become unrestricted as early as 25 under the new CBA.</p><p>What it means is this could be the last year key defensemen Zdeno Chara and Wade Redden suit up for the Senators together if they aren&rsquo;t signed to extensions. Exiting not far behind them could be blueliner Chris Phillips and winger Martin Havlat, both eligible for unrestricted free agency after 2006-07.</p><p>&ldquo;This is all about winning the Stanley Cup this year,&rdquo; said Muckler at the start of training camp. &ldquo;Because under a cap system you never know if you&rsquo;re going to be able to keep all your players.</p><p>&ldquo;The reality is you&rsquo;re probably not going to be able to. That means there are going to be changes. That&rsquo;s the reality.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s why Muckler is hopeful the changes he made after another humiliating spring loss to the Leafs will pay off. Gone is longtime coach Jacques Martin, along with whipping boy Radek Bonk, talented winger Marian Hossa, goalie Patrick Lalime and Ottawa native Todd White.</p><p>In are coach Bryan Murray, goalie Dominik Hasek, winger Dany Heatley and flashy center Jason Spezza with an elevated role as the No. 1 man in the middle. There are plenty of questions surrounding the team, but many are convinced the Senators will prove their critics wrong.</p><p>There is no question that, after eight years with Martin at the helm, Ottawa needed a new voice behind the bench. Murray isn&rsquo;t going to pull any punches. He will be demanding and he&rsquo;s not going to put up with players making mistakes.</p><p>The bottom line, though, is this team will go as far as Hasek can take it. He&rsquo;ll have to prove to everybody he can return to the form that won him a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002.</p><p>The 40-year-old netminder has played only 14 NHL games in three years and is coming off surgery to repair a chronic groin problem that took place just about the same time the Senators were shaking hands with the Leafs the last time we saw them.</p><p>Heatley, meanwhile, appears to be fully recovered from serious knee and eye injuries and should be able to help shoulder some of the offensive load. The club still has offensive weapons such as Daniel Alfredsson, Havlat and Spezza.</p><p>The Senators and their fans have suffered enough post-season heartbreak. It&rsquo;s a Stanley Cup or bust in Ottawa.</p><p>Because there might not be any tomorrow.</p><p><i>&ndash; Bruce Garrioch covers the Senators for the Ottawa Sun</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0462/8755072-1-eng-US/f0054-042.jpg" title="f0054-04" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>DOMINIK HASEK</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0547/8755065-1-eng-US/f0054-052.jpg" title="f0054-05" width="94" height="76"></div><p><b>G</b></p><p>If Hasek returns to form, he could carry Ottawa to playoff glory. If he doesn&rsquo;t, it may be time to tear the Senators apart and start over.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Ottawa&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0633/8755058-1-eng-US/f0054-062.jpg" title="f0054-06" width="802" height="2024"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0054-03

Now or never for Sens

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0466/8755145-1-eng-US/f0055-042.jpg" title="f0055-04" width="924" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Jeff Carter (pictured) and Mike Richards, a pair of rookie pivots fresh out of junior, are showing the talent and energy to crack Philadelphia&rsquo;s lineup.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01206/8755159-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="107" height="106"></div><p><b>T</b>hirty years. The big 3-0.</p><p>But who&rsquo;s counting? Just everyone in Philadelphia who knows a puck is round. The semi-serious fan can tell you it&rsquo;s been 11,170 days, give or take a leap year date, since a gap-toothed kid named Clarke last lifted Lord Stanley&rsquo;s silverware heavenward. The guy who paints his face orange-and-black and has held season tickets since Lou Angotti roamed the Spectrum has a clock with 15,940,800 minutes running in his head.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0393/8755152-1-eng-US/f0055-032.jpg" title="f0055-03" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Wayne Fish</p><p>Philadelphia</p></figcaption></div><p>You get the idea. Flyers fans are starved for a championship. Many of them think this could be their year. Of course, they had that same feeling late in May, 1980, going into the infamous Leon Stickle Game on Long Island, and, likewise, seven years later when perhaps the greatest of the five Oiler championship teams needed a late third period goal to finally put away a Game 7 victory in Edmonton.</p><p>But this season the stars finally might be aligning properly for the Brotherly Love Gang.</p><p>Peter Forsberg is a Flyer. Derian Hatcher also has signed on. A whole bunch of Calder Cup-winning Phantom graduates are eager to go. Ken Hitchcock is at the controls. If they&rsquo;re ever going to win it again, this might be as good as opportunity gets.</p><p>Of course, this goes beyond hockey. Philadelphia hasn&rsquo;t won a major professional sports championship since 1983, easily the longest dry spell of any four-sport city.</p><p>The Eagles, narrow losers in last year&rsquo;s Super Bowl, draw most of the attention in this town and rightly so. The Flyers&rsquo; string of near misses has made them just the sort of tragic figures with which a long-suffering fan base can readily identify.</p><p>What little time is left over from psycho-analyzing Terrell Owens is spent psycho-analyzing Philly&rsquo;s other enigma, Allen Iverson. By the time the local sports talk radio gets around to hockey, it&rsquo;s usually about 2 o&rsquo;clock in the morning and even if Donald Brashear came on and announced he was taking over as head of NASA, it would be met with a gigantic collective yawn. So even in a year with very high expectations, the Flyers are flying somewhat under the radar.</p><p>Which might not be bad.</p><p>Still, the 19,523 faithful &ndash; who have been disdainfully referred to as &ldquo;Stepford&rsquo;&rsquo; fans by some media types &ndash; will file in each night looking for great things.</p><p>And why shouldn&rsquo;t they? GM Bob Clarke seems to have made all the right moves, addressing the size of his depleted defense corps with three giants (Hatcher, Mike Rathje, Chris Therien) and renovating his front lines (Forsberg, Mike Knuble, Turner Stevenson, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards in; Jeremy Roenick, John LeClair, Mark Recchi, Tony Amonte out). In goal, Robert Esche will get a push from rookie Antero Niittymaki.</p><p>On paper, the Flyers have made more impact improvements than any NHL team. Hitchcock is the sort of teaching coach who will relish the challenge of getting his players &ldquo;ahead of the curve&rdquo; learning the NHL&rsquo;s new free-flow game.</p><p>And remember, it was his third full season in Dallas when things suddenly clicked and the Stars went on to win the 1999 Stanley Cup.</p><p>This is Hitchcock&rsquo;s third season as the head chef in Philadelphia. He appears to have a lot of the right ingredients.</p><p>Now all he has to do is break a city&rsquo;s monumental tradition of losing.</p><p><i>&ndash; Wayne Fish covers the Flyers for the Bucks County Courier Times</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0544/8755138-1-eng-US/f0055-052.jpg" title="f0055-05" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>PETER FORSBERG</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0632/8755131-1-eng-US/f0055-062.jpg" title="f0055-06" width="91" height="68"></div><p><b>C</b></p><p>The go-to guy that&rsquo;s been missing from this team since the Eric Lindros of the mid-&lsquo;90s. A rare type who makes those around him better.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is the Flyers&rsquo; 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-02136/8755124-1-eng-US/f0055-022.jpg" title="f0055-02" width="722" height="1834"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0055-04

Philly hungry for winner

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0534/8755211-1-eng-US/f0056-052.jpg" title="f0056-05" width="924" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Rookie defenseman Keith Ballard joins what is the Coyotes&rsquo; deepest blueline since moving to Phoenix. They might even be able to trade a defender for help elsewhere.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-01167/8755225-1-eng-US/f0056-012.jpg" title="f0056-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>hey are hoping to squeeze a few more miles out of Brett Hull and Mike Ricci. They are banking that the offensive magic of centers Petr Nedved and Mike Comrie will bloom again in the desert. They are crossing their fingers the tandem of Curtis Joseph and Brian Boucher will be the answer in goal.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-02112/8755218-1-eng-US/f0056-022.jpg" title="f0056-02" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Jerry Brown</p><p>Phoenix</p></figcaption></div><p>But here&rsquo;s the rock-solid reason the Coyotes, who won only 22 games in 2003-04 and finished the year with a roster that would have been hard-pressed to win a Calder Cup, are bound to improve: Wayne Gretzky has put his name and reputation on the line as the the new coach.</p><p>And if Gretzky didn&rsquo;t think the Coyotes could win, he wouldn&rsquo;t have left the safety of the owners&rsquo; box for a job that comes with a bull&rsquo;s-eye.</p><p>Gretzky thinks the Coyotes are good. He likes the speed. He likes the depth. He likes the prospect of a new NHL that will look more like the game he dominated early in his playing career. And he likes the fact that, for a franchise that hasn&rsquo;t been past the first round of the playoffs since Ronald Reagan was president and gasoline was a dollar a gallon, there is nowhere to go but up.</p><p>The Coyotes do look good on paper. The defense features skill (Derek Morris, David Tanabe, Paul Mara) and size (Sean O&rsquo;Donnell, Cale Hulse, Denis Gauthier) and is the best unit since the old Winnipeg Jets landed in Arizona. Up front, Nedved and Comrie have talented wingers such as Shane Doan, Ladislav Nagy, Mike Johnson, Mike LeClerc and Hull.</p><p>Phoenix has both speed (Jason Chimera, Oleg Saprykin, Boyd Devereaux) and grit (Ricci, Mike Rupp, Tyson Nash) on its depth chart. The glaring weaknesses normally associated with the Coyotes have been patched &ndash; unless, of course, Joseph and Boucher both flop between the pipes.</p><p>If that happens, Phoenix will either have to trade for a netminder or start using David LeNeveu, a Cornell University grad who won only 11 games with the last-place Utah Grizzlies of the American League last season.</p><p>But you also can understand why projections for this team range anywhere from knocking on the door of top-four in the Western Conference to struggling to stay out of the conference basement.</p><p>Is there enough scoring, especially if 41-year-old Hull is out of gas? Will the crackdown on obstruction force O&rsquo;Donnell, Hulse and Gauthier to spend enough time in the penalty box to establish residency? Are those who were supposed to become prime-time players &ndash; Krys Kolanos, Jeff Taffe, Fredrik Sjostrom and Matthew Spiller &ndash; ever going to produce consistently at the highest level?</p><p>For all the unknowns, here&rsquo;s what Coyotes fans have this going for them: The Great One will be given every opportunity to succeed. The team is paying three assistant coaches (Barry Smith, Rick Bowness and Rick Tocchet) even while former coach Bob Francis is still on the payroll for one more year. If Gretzky needs another scorer or more beef, owner Steve Ellman and GM Mike Barnett will provide it. The payroll has to stay within reason &ndash; after all, the coach owns almost one-fifth of the team &ndash; but the days of trying to skate by with marginal pros and not-ready-for-prime-time prospects have been iced.</p><p>Look for Phoenix to return to the playoffs and to make some of the necessary changes during the season to give them a fighting chance to advance.</p><p><i>&ndash; Jerry Brown covers the Coyotes for the Mesa Tribune</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0366/8755204-1-eng-US/f0056-032.jpg" title="f0056-03" width="188" height="372"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>CURTIS JOSEPH</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0452/8755197-1-eng-US/f0056-042.jpg" title="f0056-04" width="80" height="83"></div><p><b>G</b></p><p>The Coyotes return to the playoffs if Cujo, 38, can still play like a caged animal. If he&rsquo;s an old dog out of tricks, things get a lot tougher.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Phoenix&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0627/8755190-1-eng-US/f0056-062.jpg" title="f0056-06" width="723" height="1832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DARREN ABATE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0056-05

Great reasons for hope

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0376/8755277-1-eng-US/f0057-032.jpg" title="f0057-03" width="924" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Dick Tarnstrom (pictured) felt like a lone wolf until the arrival of Ric Jackman last season. Now Sergei Gonchar has been added to further bolster the blueline.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0628/8755291-1-eng-US/f0057-062.jpg" title="f0057-06" width="88" height="83"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>L</span></b>et&rsquo;s start with the power play because, quite frankly, that&rsquo;s all you need. At least it might be all the Pittsburgh Penguins need to get off to a fast start and point themselves toward their first playoff berth since 2001.</p><p>Seriously, if the league follows through on its latest crackdown on obstruction, you will see a parade to the penalty box &ndash; and a parade to the penalty box will lead to a whole lot of queasy goaltenders when Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Sergei Gonchar, Ziggy Palffy and Mark Recchi launch into their Harlem Globetrotters&rsquo; routine with the man advantage.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-02108/8755284-1-eng-US/f0057-022.jpg" title="f0057-02" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Joe Starkey</p><p>Pittsburgh</p></figcaption></div><p>Let those five names roll off your tongue again. Lemieux, Crosby, Gonchar, Palffy, Recchi.</p><p>Don&rsquo;t want Recchi on the point? Okay, throw in Dick Tarnstrom or Ric Jackman, who manned the points in 2003-04 when the Penguins had the league&rsquo;s best power play over the final few months.</p><p>Want more toughness and screen-ability in front of the net? How about John LeClair?</p><p>Want another goal-scorer, just for the heck of it? Ryan Malone, front and center.</p><p>If I wasn&rsquo;t munching stale popcorn in the pressbox, I&rsquo;d pay to see any combination the Penguins put together &ndash; and I&rsquo;m guessing folks around North America feel the same way, at least when it comes to the prospect of shelling out hard cash to catch the Lemieux-Crosby show.</p><p>Tickets will be snapped up in many cities on the night the Penguins come to town. This might not be a Stanley Cup team, but it&rsquo;s easily the league&rsquo;s top traveling road show.</p><p>Remember when the New Jersey Devils helped to ruin hockey in the mid-1990s with a suffocating trap that every team wanted to copy? Well, perhaps the Penguins can help resuscitate the sport by reminding us how much fun firewagon hockey is to watch.</p><p>It&rsquo;s not that coach Eddie Olczyk will forbid his players from skating backwards. It&rsquo;s just that the Penguins can&rsquo;t help but be wildly entertaining &ndash; especially with the man advantage.</p><p>Lemieux believes this team has more talent than the Pens&rsquo; Stanley Cup teams of 1991 and &rsquo;92. That&rsquo;s debatable, considering those clubs had Lemieux in his prime, Ron Francis, Larry Murphy, Tom Barrasso, Jaromir Jagr, Joe Mullen, Kevin Stevens, Ulf Samuelsson and either Recchi or Rick Tocchet.</p><p>There is the question of whether Lemieux can stay healthy enough to play even half the season. There are plenty of other question marks, as well, beginning with quality depth on defense.</p><p>But Pittsburgh has more competent, non-star players than people realize, and more good, young ones, too. Guys like Konstantin Koltsov, Lasse Pirjeta, Colby Armstrong and Ryan Whitney could have a major impact.</p><p>If it&rsquo;s fun you&rsquo;re looking for when you watch a hockey game &ndash; as opposed to 60 minutes of cycling and pokechecks &ndash; Pittsburgh&rsquo;s the place. Again. And that is as it should be.</p><p>It&rsquo;s amazing how this former steel town, this football-obsessed metropolis, has become a haven for hockey greatness. Names such as Lemieux, Bowman, Jagr, Badger Bob, Brooks, Trottier, Mullen, Coffey, Barrasso, Francis, Stevens, Patrick and Murphy. They&rsquo;ve all strolled through. And now El Sid, too.</p><p>Enjoy the show and look forward to the arrival of Russian phenom Evgeni Malkin in the fall of 2006.</p><p><i>&ndash; Joe Starkey covers the Penguins for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0462/8755270-1-eng-US/f0057-042.jpg" title="f0057-04" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>SIDNEY CROSBY</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0538/8755263-1-eng-US/f0057-052.jpg" title="f0057-05" width="88" height="83"></div><p><b>C</b></p><p>He dropped jaws in his first scrimmage. Mario has such confidence in The Kid he&rsquo;s willing to lose $7 million to make a run at the Cup.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here&rsquo;s Pittsburgh&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01152/8755256-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="719" height="1834"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0057-03

Lot of power to play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0364/8755343-1-eng-US/f0058-032.jpg" title="f0058-03" width="921" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Newly named captain Dallas Drake believes a full team effort will be crucial to any Blues success. &ldquo;A lot of us have to have big years for us to compete,&rdquo; he said.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-01164/8755357-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p><b>C</b>hris Pronger is gone. Al MacInnis is gone. Pavol Demitra, Scott Mellanby, Chris Osgood. Gone, gone, gone.</p><p>Gone also may be the Blues&rsquo; streak of 25 consecutive playoff appearances, the longest active run of success in North American pro sports. With Columbus, Nashville and Chicago all making significant roster improvements, the Blues stand out in the Central Division for standing still, and finishing high in this group won&rsquo;t be easy. Their subtractions far outweigh their limited additions.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-02107/8755350-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg" title="f0058-02" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Tom Timmerman</p><p>St. Louis</p></figcaption></div><p>Soon to be gone is team owner Bill Laurie, who after losing a whopping $60 million over the past two years decided enough was enough, regardless of the league&rsquo;s new CBA. (Actually, $60 million may not be whopping by Laurie&rsquo;s standards, considering his wife&rsquo;s net worth is estimated at $2.8 billion. Still, it&rsquo;s a big number.)</p><p>The search for new ownership is having an impact. The company handling the Blues&rsquo; sale told management to keep big, long-term contracts off the books to make the team appealing to buyers. That led them to deal Pronger, who had been their heart and soul for nine seasons.</p><p>The sale also kept the Blues from going after big-name free agents and no doubt scared off even low-priced free agents who felt it was wise to steer clear of a sinking ship.</p><p>The biggest uncertainty is who will score. Once you get past Doug Weight and Keith Tkachuk &ndash; who was suspended by the Blues in mid-September for coming to training camp out of shape and overweight &ndash; the scoring options are limited.</p><p>Even figuring out who is the right winger on the team&rsquo;s top line is a struggle. One candidate, Eric Boguniecki, will likely miss the first month of the season after shoulder surgery.</p><p>Outside of the center position, the forward corps is well stocked with unproven youngsters or players who have spent their careers on the third and fourth lines. Somebody is going to get the chance to play some serious minutes in an offensive role, so maybe someone has a breakout season.</p><p>Who that might be is anyone&rsquo;s guess. The Blues expect to use a lot of kids this season, shuttling them back and forth from their American League team, now conveniently located some three hours up the road in Peoria, Ill.</p><p>In case the kids don&rsquo;t work out, the Blues dipped into the free agent market and found old friend Scott Young, who will be 38 on opening night and is coming off a season where he had eight goals and 16 points in 58 games with Dallas.</p><p>Even with the departure of Pronger and MacInnis, whose retirement came as no surprise, the blueline should be strong. Eric Brewer, who came over in the Pronger deal, is an excellent player, though by everyone&rsquo;s admission he&rsquo;s no Pronger. Barret Jackman has fully healed the shoulder injury that short-circuited his sophomore year. Bryce Salvador, Eric Weinrich and Christian Backman are all solid in a supporting role. And in goal, the Blues feel they have upgraded by replacing Osgood with Patrick Lalime.</p><p>But until a new owner appears, the team will be in limbo, which in the fast-paced world of the new NHL translates to watching everyone else run ahead. The Blues&rsquo; season is built on hope &ndash; hope that someone turns into a scoring star, and hope the new rule changes benefit players exactly like the ones they employ.</p><p>It&rsquo;s a precarious base on which to build a season.</p><p><i>&ndash; Tom Timmerman covers the Blues for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0450/8755336-1-eng-US/f0058-042.jpg" title="f0058-04" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>PATRICK LALIME</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0533/8755329-1-eng-US/f0058-052.jpg" title="f0058-05" width="104" height="80"></div><p><b>G</b></p><p>New goalie Patrick Lalime is under pressure to improve on his sub-par playoff showings in Ottawa. But will St. Louis make it that far?</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is St. Louis&rsquo; 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0625/8755322-1-eng-US/f0058-062.jpg" title="f0058-06" width="722" height="1832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0058-03

Blues face tough year

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0629/8755409-1-eng-US/f0059-062.jpg" title="f0059-06" width="924" height="931"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Coach Ron Wilson surprised Marco Sturm (pictured) and the Sharks on the first day of camp by assembling four lines that easily could be the same on opening night.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-01143/8755423-1-eng-US/f0059-012.jpg" title="f0059-01" width="107" height="106"></div><p><b>A</b> lot of it was planned. Some of it was luck. In the end, San Jose should find the new-world NHL very much to its liking.</p><p>And the new NHL just might like the Sharks.</p><p>If what appears on a sheet of paper translates to a sheet of ice &ndash; a blend of homegrown talent, speed and plenty of room under the salary cap &ndash; the hockey world will soon know the way to San Jose.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0365/8755416-1-eng-US/f0059-032.jpg" title="f0059-03" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Ross McKeon</p><p>San Jose</p></figcaption></div><p>Or more to the point, San Jose might soon know the way to the Stanley Cup.</p><p>Now you&rsquo;re probably thinking, &ldquo;Wait&hellip;stop right there. Isn&rsquo;t this the same organization that, after losing Game 6 of the Western Conference final, watched as seven veterans departed one-by-one? And every one of them &ndash; Vincent Damphousse, Mike Ricci, Mike Rathje, Alexander Korolyuk, Todd Harvey, Curtis Brown and Jason Marshall &ndash; dressed in that final game.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s true. And so is this: the Sharks are the lone NHL franchise &ndash; the <i>only</i> team out of 30 &ndash; that didn&rsquo;t add one face from outside the organization by the start of training camp. More than 200 NHLers got new addresses in the past couple months. San Jose&rsquo;s four division rivals added 32 players &ndash; an average of eight apiece &ndash; yet the Sharks added no one.</p><p>San Jose is better off, though, and here&rsquo;s why.</p><p>The core of this team is almost exclusively San Jose-drafted players. Evgeni Nabokov, Patrick Marleau, Marco Sturm, Jonathan Cheechoo, Scott Hannan, Brad Stuart, Vesa Toskala, Christian Ehrhoff, Marcel Goc, Milan Michalek, Niko Dimitrakos and Mark Smith were all selected, developed and promoted to the NHL by the Sharks.</p><p>Veterans were brought in from other organizations &ndash; older players targeted because of character and track record &ndash; to provide examples for the youth. In time, the torch was passed and the aforementioned young Sharks not only sprinted with the baton, but accepted the mantle of winning in the process.</p><p>All this happened, however, before any of them reaped the hefty financial benefits of the old CBA. Talk about good timing, the Sharks management has had it.</p><p>GM Doug Wilson had the foresight to see where the game was going and deftly pulled together a group that could play a puck-possession style and maximize their speed advantage &ndash; and do it with a budget that made virtually every other team green with envy. (And don&rsquo;t forget former Sharks GM Dean Lombardi in this equation. Most of San Jose&rsquo;s core players were drafted under his watch.)</p><p>The Sharks didn&rsquo;t add players from the outside because there are answers within. Sturm returns from a broken leg; Michalek from multiple knee surgeries; and, Ehrhoff, Goc and unheralded rookie power forward Ryan Clowe enjoyed an uninterrupted season in the minors. And, others are on the way.</p><p>Wilson&rsquo;s 2005-06 payroll was just over $25 million when training camp started, more than only four other teams &ndash; Florida, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Washington.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s why the Sharks will contend. The players really do believe. If that wasn&rsquo;t so, why would Kyle McLaren sacrifice three years of unrestricted status to sign a long-term extension? Others followed suit, including Wayne Primeau, Nils Ekman, Tom Preissing, Marleau and Sturm, thereby forfeiting impending UFA status. Wilson also was in negotiations with Alyn McCauley and Nabokov. If successful, San Jose will have no unrestricted free agents of any consequence after the season. On and off the ice, it looks like a promising year in San Jose.</p><p>&ndash; <i>Ross McKeon covers the Sharks for the San Francisco Chronicle</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0454/8755402-1-eng-US/f0059-042.jpg" title="f0059-04" width="188" height="372"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0537/8755395-1-eng-US/f0059-052.jpg" title="f0059-05" width="85" height="83"></div><p><b>D</b></p><p>The only NHL team not to add a new established face, the Sharks will turn to Ehrhoff and the rookie&rsquo;s booming shot to kick-start the power play.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is San Jose&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0293/8755388-1-eng-US/f0059-022.jpg" title="f0059-02" width="716" height="1830"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0059-06

Master plan continues

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0354/8755475-1-eng-US/f0060-032.jpg" title="f0060-03" width="923" height="931"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Seventeen players return from the 2004 Stanley Cup title team. Coach John Tortorella will work his players hard to wipe out any of the hangover from the Cup win.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-01134/8755489-1-eng-US/f0060-012.jpg" title="f0060-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he season had not even started. Heck, the pre-season had not even begun &ndash; it was a news conference to talk about training camp &ndash; and coach John Tortorella already laid down the law.</p><p>He doesn&rsquo;t want to talk about the players who aren&rsquo;t in Tampa Bay anymore (read: Nikolai Khabibulin) and he doesn&rsquo;t want to talk about anything that happened the last time hockey was played (read: the Lightning won the Stanley Cup).</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0283/8755482-1-eng-US/f0060-022.jpg" title="f0060-02" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Tom Jones</p><p>Tampa Bay</p></figcaption></div><p>But how the Lightning handles the loss of Khabibulin and how it reacts to its new success will determine what kind of season the team will have. Replacing Khabibulin is a tricky task.</p><p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s face it,&rdquo; Tortorella said, &ldquo;Nik Khabibulin is a world-class goalie. Do John Grahame and Sean Burke combine to be a world-class goalie? Probably not. But they are good and there are plenty of ways to win hockey games.&rdquo;</p><p>Those ways include league MVP Martin St-Louis, World Cup MVP Vinny Lecavalier and playoff MVP Brad Richards. This Lightning offense was never a problem and if the league is serious about cracking down on obstruction, Tampa Bay should outscore any team.</p><p>Besides the big three, the Lightning can turn to Fredrik Modin, Vinny Prospal, Ruslan Fedotenko and, yes, Dave Andreychuk who, even at 42, can still be a 20-goal scorer.</p><p>The defense lost a couple of depth guys (Jassen Cullimore, Brad Lukowich) to free agency, but is good enough to be considered Cup-worthy.</p><p>The question keeps coming back to goaltending. Is Grahame ready to shed his big, bad reputation and dedicate himself enough to become a dependable No. 1? Can Burke stay healthy to fill in 25 or 30 times? If the answers are yes and yes, the Lightning might not be a one-hit wonder.</p><p>And speaking of that one hit, the Lightning is trying not to think about it. &ldquo;What has happened in the past is truly ancient history,&rdquo; said Lightning GM Jay Feaster. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t afford to get caught up in the hype. It&rsquo;s about having to do it again. You can&rsquo;t rely on what you did 18 months ago.&rdquo;</p><p>What the Lightning did in June of 2004 remains hard to fathom. Not long removed from being the sorriest team in, perhaps, all of professional sports, the Lightning (!) won the Stanley Cup. Tortorella admits the run at a Cup came a year or two before he expected. And that&rsquo;s what has him walking the floors at night.</p><p>On one hand, his team might not be as good as they think. And he&rsquo;s worried they think they are the best thing to happen to hockey since ice. That&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s not going to change.</p><p>Tortorella can be brutally honest on a good day and one mean son of a gun on a bad day. He charged into camp like a pit bull with a toothache just to make sure his players weren&rsquo;t still drunk over their Stanley Cup win.</p><p>The big difference is, players who once listened to Tortorella with one ear and a sour look are now ready to follow him through the fire. His way worked and they all now have their name on the Cup.</p><p>And, well, Tortorella does seem to have a new respect for his players.</p><p>He&rsquo;ll still be hard on them. There might even be a few shouting matches. But at the end of the day, Tortorella trusts his players &ndash; and now they trust him.</p><p>Of course, that won&rsquo;t mean a thing if no one can stop the puck. And Tampa Bay doesn&rsquo;t have Nikolai Khabibulin to talk about anymore.</p><p><i>&ndash; Tom Jones covers the Lightning for the St. Petersburg Times</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0626/8755468-1-eng-US/f0060-062.jpg" title="f0060-06" width="203" height="404"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>SEAN BURKE</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0442/8755461-1-eng-US/f0060-042.jpg" title="f0060-04" width="85" height="83"></div><p><b>G</b></p><p>With Nikolai Khabibulin gone, the veteran netminder should provide leadership and reliable backup play to new No. 1 John Grahame.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Tampa&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0532/8755454-1-eng-US/f0060-052.jpg" title="f0060-05" width="719" height="1832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MITCHELL LAYTON/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0060-03

Cup champs try for two

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0452/8755541-1-eng-US/f0061-042.jpg" title="f0061-04" width="924" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Rookie Alexander Steen could start the season playing with Mats Sundin (pictured). Jeff O&rsquo;Neill was the best player on the ice in early training camp scrimmages.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-01135/8755555-1-eng-US/f0061-012.jpg" title="f0061-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>f the Maple Leafs fall into the pack of mediocrity this season &ndash; and it says here they will &ndash; it won&rsquo;t be because of Ed Belfour&rsquo;s back, Eric Lindros&rsquo;s head or Aki Berg being among their top six defensemen.</p><p>It will be because during a crucial period late in the last century, the Maple Leafs&rsquo; scouting staff did less with more at the draft than almost any team in the league. In the four entry drafts between 1996 and 1999, only four teams had more draft picks than the 41 the Maple Leafs had. But because they traded their first round pick twice and hit into a triple play in 1999, they have just four NHL players &ndash; Tomas Kaberle, Adam Mair (traded), Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky &ndash; to show for their drafting efforts.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0363/8755548-1-eng-US/f0061-032.jpg" title="f0061-03" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Ken Campbell</p><p>Toronto</p></figcaption></div><p>For those of you keeping score at home, that gives the Leafs a 9.8 per-cent success rate, fourth-worst in the NHL behind the Calgary Flames (7.5 per cent),Washington Capitals (7.7 per cent) and Detroit Red Wings (8.8 per cent). At least the Wings can take some solace that of the three players who turned out for them, two were Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, and Jiri Fischer is so big that he should count as two.</p><p>With a few notable exceptions, the Maple Leafs have made a cottage industry of screwing up the draft ever since expansion, which partly explains why they haven&rsquo;t been in the Stanley Cup final since, well, expansion.</p><p>For the Leafs hindsight is not only 20-20, it also carries a big club. The 1996 and &rsquo;97 drafts were particularly painful for what could have been. In &rsquo;96, the Leafs traded away their first and second round picks in a deal that brought them Dmitri Yushkevich. The Philadelphia Flyers selected Dainius Zubrus 15th overall with that pick and gave the Leafs the 57th overall pick in exchange for their second-rounder. One pick before the Leafs took Jeff Farkas, the New York Islanders took some big palooka by the name of Zdeno Chara.</p><p>In 1997, the Leafs traded their first-rounder to the Islanders in a package to bring Wendel Clark back to Toronto. The Islanders used the pick to select Roberto Luongo fourth overall.</p><p>In 1999, the Leafs and head scout Anders Hedberg thought they were pretty clever when they took a young Swiss center by the name of Luca Cereda 24th overall, so the Ottawa Senators settled for Martin Havlat two picks later.</p><p>In 1999, the Leafs and Hedberg took another kid from a hockey hotbed, drafting Antropov out of Kazakhstan, while the Colorado Avalanche got Alex Tanguay 12th and Robyn Regehr 19th; the Flyers took Simon Gagne 22nd; and, the New Jersey Devils grabbed Mike Van Ryn 26th and Scott Gomez 27th.</p><p>The Leafs seem to have righted themselves a little in recent years with prospects such as Carlo Colaiacovo, Alexander Steen, Staffan Kronvall and Kyle Wellwood. But they&rsquo;re all too young to make much of a difference this year, one that could be the first in a string of long ones for the Maple Leafs.</p><p>For the present, management is banking on a return to form for Lindros and Jason Allison, two stars who have been plagued by serious injuries, and a big year from Jeff O&rsquo;Neill, who left the Carolina Hurricanes to play closer to his home in southern Ontario.</p><p>Captain Mats Sundin, who played no hockey during the lockout and even skipped the world championship, might benefit from a full season of rest.</p><p><i>&ndash; Ken Campbell covers the Maple Leafs for the Toronto Star</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0542/8755534-1-eng-US/f0061-052.jpg" title="f0061-05" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>JASON ALLISON</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0635/8755527-1-eng-US/f0061-062.jpg" title="f0061-06" width="78" height="83"></div><p><b>C</b></p><p>Signed an incentive-laden contract and is out to prove he can return to point-per-game form after missing almost three years of NHL hockey.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here is Toronto&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0294/8755520-1-eng-US/f0061-022.jpg" title="f0061-02" width="717" height="1830"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0061-04

Bad drafts haunt Buds

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0345/8755607-1-eng-US/f0062-032.jpg" title="f0062-03" width="971" height="977"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>Journeyman defender Nolan Baumgartner (pictured) is vying for a depth job on the blueline. Ex-Capitals D-man Jason Doig, a tough customer, is also in the running.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-01135/8755621-1-eng-US/f0062-012.jpg" title="f0062-01" width="106" height="106"></div><p><b>I</b>t&rsquo;s the same old Vancouver Canucks returning to the new-look NHL.</p><p>While the league hopes a radical rules makeover finally turns the NHL into must-see reality TV, the Canucks are content doing impersonations of Stuart Smalley from the old <i>Saturday Night Live</i> skit, looking in the mirror with a self-affirming smile and saying: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re good enough, we&rsquo;re smart enough, and doggone it, people like us.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0274/8755614-1-eng-US/f0062-022.jpg" title="f0062-02" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Kevin Woodley</p><p>Vancouver</p></figcaption></div><p>For fans in Vancouver, what&rsquo;s not to like?</p><p>With fewer cast changes than <i>Seinfeld</i> the past four seasons, fans can&rsquo;t be surprised to see the Canucks return looking a lot like the group that skated off the ice with their heads down 17 months ago. But after the latest in a steady run of regular season improvements and post-season disappointments, this year&rsquo;s lack of splashy signings makes sense.</p><p>Why change the team to fit the league when the league changes to fit the team?</p><p>Few appear better suited to the NHL&rsquo;s openice policies than the Canucks, a young group of speedy, skilled forwards and mobile defensemen eager to jump into the rush. With a league-wide emphasis on offense, who better to benefit than a team that relies on an up-tempo attacking system to outscore its mistakes?</p><p>Instead of being ripped for another quiet summer, rookie GM Dave Nonis deserves credit for keeping his core together. With the salary cap looming like Yoko Ono for a group already pushing the $39-million limit, he lost only two key players &ndash; defensemen Marek Malik (Rangers) and Brent Sopel (Islanders) both got overpaid in New York &ndash; and still found room to modestly improve a potent group of forwards with Anson Carter and Richard Park.</p><p>Vancouver returns most of the team that won a Northwest Division title in 2003-04. It&rsquo;s not, however, the same team that lost to the eventual Western Conference-champion Calgary Flames in overtime of Game 7 in the first round of the playoffs.</p><p>The latter was missing the suspended Todd Bertuzzi, injured No. 1 goalie Dan Cloutier and the world-class wrist shot of Markus Naslund, who was reduced to a weak half-slapper by a bone chip in his elbow that required surgery. All three are back and expected to play key roles on a team talking openly about a Stanley Cup.</p><p>None will be more important than Bertuzzi, who is coming off a 17-month suspension for assaulting Colorado&rsquo;s Steve Moore. Bertuzzi insists he won&rsquo;t change in the face of increased scrutiny from fans, media and league officials, and promises a return of the &ldquo;old&rdquo; Bertuzzi. Will it be the unstoppable power forward who finished top-five in NHL scoring in 2001-02 and 2002-03, or the inconsistent player who had 17 goals and took his team off the power play 20-plus times before his suspension?</p><p>Either way, Bertuzzi&rsquo;s return at least allows others to resume their regular roles. With those jobs set, the team&rsquo;s chemistry intact and all but a few bottom spots on the back end fixed, the Canucks are poised to bolt from the gate like Seabiscuit on steroids.</p><p>Of course, starting hasn&rsquo;t been a problem. Problems usually crop up in the playoffs, a place where obstruction crackdowns go to die (or at least be laid to rest after a slow death 25 games into the season).</p><p>If the NHL holds true on its promise to continue the crackdown into the second season, the Canucks appear set. If not, they may need more grit just to survive a Clint Eastwood-tough Northwest Division.</p><p><i>&ndash; Kevin Woodley covers the Canucks for the Associated Press</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0434/8755600-1-eng-US/f0062-042.jpg" title="f0062-04" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>ANSON CARTER</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0521/8755593-1-eng-US/f0062-052.jpg" title="f0062-05" width="86" height="83"></div><p><b>RW</b></p><p>Speedy veteran will be counted on to finally give the Sedin twins a right winger with finish. Carter&rsquo;s looking for a return to &rsquo;02-03 form.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here&rsquo;s Vancouver&rsquo;s 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0618/8755586-1-eng-US/f0062-062.jpg" title="f0062-06" width="719" height="1830"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0062-03

Canucks expect to excel

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0619/8755673-1-eng-US/f0063-062.jpg" title="f0063-06" width="924" height="930"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CAMP BUZZ <i>The good news? Alexander Ovechkin was one of 58 players at Washington&rsquo;s camp. The bad news? There were few bona fide NHLers among the other 57 players.</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-01115/8755687-1-eng-US/f0063-012.jpg" title="f0063-01" width="107" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he night of the 2004 entry draft, the Washington Capitals hosted a party in Raleigh, N.C., to celebrate the selection of Alexander Ovechkin with the first pick overall. The Russian left winger, whose English was limited, paraded around with the confidence of a Donald Trump, greeting guests at the door, making sure everyone had a beverage, introducing himself to one and all &ndash; and consuming all the cantaloupe the hotel could round up.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0346/8755680-1-eng-US/f0063-032.jpg" title="f0063-03" width="218" height="353"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Dave Fay</p><p>Washington</p></figcaption></div><p>The grin frozen on the young man&rsquo;s face is hard to forget. It&rsquo;s the expression a giddy little boy wears on Christmas morning when he spots the one gift he longed for. It was, in fact, a knowing and thankful smile, Ovechkin realizing he had just taken a huge step in his lifelong dream of playing in the NHL. Maybe he didn&rsquo;t know the words in English, but his thoughts were written all over his face.</p><p>In Ovechkin, Washington has landed a player who can change forever the face of hockey in a city which has tried very hard at times to ignore it. Ovechkin is a truly magical player on the ice, a creative, thoughtful individual who cannot wait to share his triumphs with teammates, a player who seems destined to lead his club to lofty heights with his passion for the game and devotion to it.</p><p>But there is more to it than his performance on the ice. He is a marketing dream, a young man who realizes his standing within the community and &ndash; so far, anyhow &ndash; has bent over backwards to help grow the sport in whatever way he is asked.</p><p>Now it is time for the team to plan for Ovechkin&rsquo;s and its own future. This is a player around whom this team must be built. Washington should use Ovechkin&rsquo;s rookie season to carefully diagnose his strengths and weaknesses and plan to acquire the proper support staff that will benefit him, the team and, in the end, boost the bottom line.</p><p>The Caps would be wise to carefully study what Pittsburgh did after it drafted Mario Lemieux, how management analyzed what it had and then set out to make the most of it. As great as he was in his youth, Lemieux did not win two Stanley Cups by himself. A case study on how the task was accomplished, what mistakes were made along the way and how to avoid them, should be started now.</p><p>Ovechkin has the potential to be the best offensive player and perhaps best all-around performer in the Caps&rsquo; somewhat sorry history. It would be a sad state of affairs, virtually a criminal act, to allow this opportunity to slip past in order to save a dollar here or there. In the long term, if Washington opts to cut corners in assembling Ovechkin&rsquo;s supporting cast&hellip;well, that would be a crying shame. This phenomenal player could lead the club to a Stanley Cup championship when he reaches his full potential. He just needs time&hellip;and teammates.</p><p>This is a unique individual and a unique opportunity. Ovechkin gives the Capitals hope for the next decade, and then some.</p><p>The Caps will have a relatively young team this season; soon it will be Ovechkin&rsquo;s team. Goaltender Olie Kolzig and defenseman Brendan Witt are the only two players remaining from the Washington club that reached the Stanley Cup final in 1998 (and Witt wants to be traded).</p><p>Left winger Alexander Semin, who enjoyed his best world championship ever for Russia in May, and right winger Boyd Gordon will have to elevate their play, along with blueliners Shaone Morrisonn, Josef Boumedienne and Steve Eminger.</p><p><i>&ndash; Dave Fay covers the Capitals for the Washington Times</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0434/8755666-1-eng-US/f0063-042.jpg" title="f0063-04" width="191" height="374"></div><h2><b>FRESH FACE</b></h2><p><b>ANDREW CASSELS</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0523/8755659-1-eng-US/f0063-052.jpg" title="f0063-05" width="86" height="83"></div><p><b>C</b></p><p>The Caps were looking for a veteran center who could set up wingers and help teach youngsters. Cassels fits the bill very nicely.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2005-06 DEPTH CHART</b></h2><p><b><i>Here&rsquo;s the Capitals&rsquo; 32-player depth chart, ranked in terms of value to the organization. Player positions may change according to team needs.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0273/8755652-1-eng-US/f0063-022.jpg" title="f0063-02" width="717" height="1835"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MITCHELL LAYTON/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0063-06

It’s the Ovechkin era

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0066-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-0270/8755718-1-eng-US/f0066-022.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-01116/8755725-1-eng-US/f0066-012.jpg" title="f0066-01" width="82" height="93"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>NHL TRANSACTIONS</b></h2><p><b>NHL personnel moves from Sept. 8 &ndash; 21.</b></p><p><b>MIGHTY DUCKS OF ANAHEIM Sept. 14</b> Brett Festerling, D, signed three-year entry level contract. <b>Sept. 17</b> Eddie Ferhi, G, signed with Anglet (Fra.).</p><p><b>ATLANTA THRASHERS Sept. 18</b> Peter Bondra, RW, signed one-year contract.</p><p><b>BOSTON BRUINS Sept. 14</b> Tim Thomas, G, re-signed one-year contract; Sergei Zinovjev, C, signed with Ak Bars (Rus.). <b>Sept. 16</b> Andrew Raycroft, G, re-signed one-year contract.</p><p><b>BUFFALO SABRES Sept. 8</b> James Patrick, D, announces retirement, hired as assistant coach. <b>Sept. 9</b> Jay McKee, D, re-signed contract. <b>Sept. 14</b> Sean McMorrow, LW, re-signed contract.</p><p><b>CALGARY FLAMES Sept. 17</b> Phillipe Sauve, G, signed contract.</p><p><b>CAROLINA HURRICANES Sept. 15</b> Vince Bellissimo, C, signed two-year contract.</p><p><b>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</b> No transactions.</p><p><b>COLORADO AVALANCHE Sept. 15</b> Wojtek Wolski, LW, signed contract.</p><p><b>COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS Sept. 16</b> Karl Goehring, G, signed with Helsinki (Fin.). <b>Sept. 19</b> Adam Pineault, LW, signed contract.</p><p><b>DALLAS STARS</b> No transactions.</p><p><b>DETROIT RED WINGS Sept. 17</b> Mikael Samuelsson, RW, signed one-year contract. <b>Sept. 19</b> Jason York, D, signed with Lugano (Swi.). <b>Sept. 20</b> Pavel Datsyuk, C, re-signed two-year contract.</p><p><b>EDMONTON OILERS Sept. 11</b> Mike Morrison, G, re-signed contract. <b>Sept. 14</b> Ryan Smyth, LW, re-signed two-year contract.</p><p><b>FLORIDA PANTHERS Sept. 10</b> Burke Henry, D, signed with Salzburg (Aus.). <b>Sept. 12</b> Olli Jokinen, C, Mike Van Ryn, D, Jay Bouwmeester, D, re-signed one-year contracts.</p><p><b>LOS ANGELES KINGS Sept. 12</b> Trent Klatt, RW, announced his retirement.</p><p><b>MINNESOTA WILD Sept. 9</b> Stephane Veilleux, LW, re-signed multi-year contract; Clayton Stoner, D, signed entry level contract. <b>Sept. 14</b> Jordan Krestanovich, LW, signed with Mora (Fin.).</p><p><b>MONTREAL CANADIENS Sept. 12</b> Michael Ryder, RW, re-signed one-year contract.</p><p><b>NASHVILLE PREDATORS Sept. 8</b> Adam Hall, RW, re-signed contract. <b>Sept. 9</b> Acquired Kris Beech, C, from Pittsburgh for conditional draft pick.</p><p><b>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</b> No transactions.</p><p><b>NEW YORK ISLANDERS Sept. 13</b> Mark Parrish, RW, re-signed one-year contract.</p><p><b>NEW YORK RANGERS Sept. 12</b> Mark Messier, C, announced retirement. <b>Sept. 21</b> Marc Staal, D, signed contract.</p><p><b>OTTAWA SENATORS Sept. 17</b> Joe Cullen, C, signed one-year contract; Charlie Stephens, C, re-signed one-year contract. <b>Sept. 16</b> Jeff Glass, G, signed three-year contract.</p><p><b>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS Sept. 14</b> Brent Robinson, LW, signed with Rogle (Swe. 2). <b>Sept. 15</b> Brian Savage, LW, signed one-year contract.</p><p><b>PHOENIX COYOTES</b> No transactions.</p><p><b>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS Sept. 9</b> Sidney Crosby, C, signed three-year entry level contract; Mario Lemieux, RW, re-signed contract. Acquired conditional draft pick from Nashville for Kris Beech, C. <b>Sept. 13</b> Brooks Orpik, D, re-signed one-year contract.</p><p><b>ST. LOUIS BLUES Sept. 9</b> Al MacInnis, D, announced retirement. <b>Sept. 13</b> Scott Young, RW, signed one-year contract.</p><p><b>SAN JOSE SHARKS Sept. 12</b> Josh Langfeld, RW, signed one-year contract. <b>Sept. 19</b> Brad Staubitz, D, and Lukas Kaspar, RW, signed three-year entry level contracts.</p><p><b>TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</b> No transactions.</p><p><b>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS Sept. 8</b> Mariusz Czerkawski, RW, signed one-year contract. <b>Sept. 10</b> Brad Brown, D, signed one-year contract. <b>Sept. 14</b> Ron Francis, C, announced retirement.</p><p><b>VANCOUVER CANUCKS Sept. 20</b> Matt Cooke, LW, re-signed three-year contract.</p><p><b>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</b> No transactions.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0066-02

NHL STATISTICS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0186/8755763-1-eng-US/f0068-012.jpg" title="f0068-01" width="360" height="587"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0242/8755756-1-eng-US/f0068-022.jpg" title="f0068-02" width="253" height="245"></div><p><b>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</b></p><p><b>POS.</b> Goal</p><p><b>AGE</b> 24</p><p><b>BIRTHPLACE</b> Winthrop, Mass.</p><p><b><i>Worst movie you&rsquo;ve ever seen?</i></b></p><p>&ldquo;I can say without any hesitation that <i>Pieces of April</i> with Katie Holmes was horrendous, from the second it started until it was over. I&rsquo;m telling you, if you ever want to get revenge on somebody, make them watch <i>Pieces of April</i>.&rdquo;</p><p><b><i>Any guilty pleasures?</i></b></p><p>&ldquo;I usually get yelled at for it, but whenever I can crash on the couch and relax, I&rsquo;m a happy man.&rdquo;</p><p><b><i>Hardest hit you&rsquo;ve ever seen?</i></b></p><p>&ldquo;Radek Martinek got drilled by Jordin Tootoo. He was coming around the net and Tootoo, I think, was coming from the other end of the ice. Radek was a little shook up. More than a little.&rdquo;</p><p><b><i>Strangest fan mail you&rsquo;ve received?</i></b></p><p>&ldquo;I get a few weird ones from video game players. They&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;You were my goalie for NHL 2004 and you sucked. What&rsquo;s wrong with you?&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p><b><i>Worst travel experience?</i></b></p><p>&ldquo;I was traveling through a bad storm with the U.S. junior national team&hellip;halfway through the flight, the pilot comes over the loudspeaker and says, &lsquo;The plane was just struck by lightning, but don&rsquo;t worry, everything will be fine.&rsquo; He didn&rsquo;t really convince us. I&rsquo;ve never seen a plane land with so many passengers with their eyes closed.&rdquo;</p><p><b><i>Time&rsquo;s up!</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0068-01

RICK DIPIETRO

<div class="byline">By Larry Humber</div><p>Answers in next issue and @ <b><i><a href="http://TheHockeyNews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></i></b></p><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p><b>1</b> Jennings Trophy honors them</p><p><b>4</b> One of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s former teams</p><p><b>7</b> Oates of Hull and Oates</p><p><b>8</b> &lsquo;J.D.&rsquo; is often on TV</p><p><b>10</b> Goalie drafted 11th by Calgary in 1990; went to Carolina with Gary Roberts in 1997, pictured</p><p><b>12</b> Horn</p><p><b>13</b> Unmarked</p><p><b>14</b> Senator invited to Canada&rsquo;s recent Olympic camp</p><p><b>18</b> Hamilton&rsquo;s AHL team nickname</p><p><b>19</b> ___ Otto helped the Flames to their only Cup</p><p><b>20</b> Ron ___ was a Canuck, Flame</p><p><b>21</b> Teams giving up too many scoring chances need to ___ up</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p><b>1</b> Hall of Famer ___ Fuhr</p><p><b>2</b> Non-professionals</p><p><b>3</b> He was hockey&rsquo;s &lsquo;Entertainer&rsquo;</p><p><b>4</b> Red Wing invited to Canada&rsquo;s Olympic camp</p><p><b>5</b> He wears No. 61 in Columbus</p><p><b>6</b> California city with NHL since &rsquo;91</p><p><b>9</b> He was with Devils when they won Cups in 2000 and 2003</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0319/8755801-1-eng-US/f0068-032.jpg" title="f0068-03" width="968" height="953"></div><p><b>11</b> Doesn&rsquo;t report to camp, hoping for a better deal: 2 wds.</p><p><b>12</b> Reporters</p><p><b>15</b> The most points &lsquo;Gretz&rsquo; ever got in a game</p><p><b>16</b> Ted ___ was NHL coach of the year in 1997</p><p><b>17</b> Color worn by Columbus (naturally)</p><h2><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION</b></h2><p><b>ACROSS</b> 1. SIBERIA, 4. GIFTS, 7. UNIT, 8. FINALIST, 10. HIGH STICKS, 12. MIAMI, 13. EJECT, 14. STAMPEDERS, 18. ISLANDER, 19. FARM, 20. SEALS, 21. SIMPSON <b>DOWN</b> 1. SOUTH, 2. BRIDGMAN, 3. ALIBI, 4. GOALKEEPER, 5. FLIP, 6. SITS OUT, 9. ASSISTANTS, 11. GENERALS, 12. MATTIAS, 15. MYERS, 16. SIMON, 17. ALTA</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0414/8755794-1-eng-US/f0068-042.jpg" title="f0068-04" width="1510" height="628"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0068-03

CROSSWORD

<h2><b>WHO AM I?</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>eed a helicopter ride? I can help, as I have a pilot&rsquo;s license. I also have a 12-year NHL career and one Stanley Cup ring. This season, I&rsquo;m moving from the Lone Star State to <i>Sopranos</i> land. Who am I?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-074/8755877-1-eng-US/f0068-072.jpg" title="f0068-07" width="252" height="407"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-084/8755870-1-eng-US/f0068-082.jpg" title="f0068-08" width="181" height="548"></div><h2><b>The &lsquo;Big Blue&rsquo; Award</b></h2><p>Goes to Keith Tkachuk, reportedly suspended by St. Louis for arriving at training camp woefully out of shape. Shame his diet didn&rsquo;t have a cap on it.</p><h2><b>TRIVIA</b></h2><p>How many third period shots did the East and West Conferences combine for in the 1971 NHL All-Star Game?</p><p><b>a.</b> 9</p><p><b>b.</b> 2</p><p><b>c.</b> 71</p><p><b>d.</b> 50</p><p>The correct answer to the Trivia/Who Am I questions will appear in next week&rsquo;s issue of The Hockey News and at <a href="http://TheHockeyNews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></p><p><b>Last issue&rsquo;s Trivia:</b> D. Gordie Howe.</p><p><b>Last issue&rsquo;s Who Am I:</b> Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Rob DiMaio.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0068-07

ON THE FLY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0171/8755943-1-eng-US/f0070-012.jpg" title="f0070-01" width="298" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>Mike Brophy</b></p><p><b><i>Senior Writer</i></b></p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-075/8755950-1-eng-US/f0070-072.jpg" title="f0070-07" width="82" height="93"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><b>T</b>he train was threatening to go off the tracks and everyone inside the New York Rangers dressing room knew it.</p><p>Their vision of becoming the first Rangers team to capture the Stanley Cup in 54 years was fading. In a matter of days they had gone from being a confident, determined bunch to wondering what possibly could go wrong next.</p><p>The Rangers were shaken, rattled and on the verge of being rolled.</p><p>Outsiders will always point to Game 6 in New Jersey, with the Devils leading the Eastern Conference final 3-2, as the turning point in a championship season. That game is memorable because captain Mark Messier did his very best &lsquo;Broadway Joe&rsquo; in predicting the Rangers would return from The Swamp with a victory. Then he went out and scored three goals to make sure his promise came true.</p><h2><b>TURMOIL NEARLY DERAILED RANGERS</b></h2><p>But the players with the 1993-94 Rangers know that&rsquo;s only half of the story. The other half is what went on behind closed doors, how Messier was able to put out a fire that was threatening to scorch the team and the dream. It was how he tamed a coach who was coming undone.</p><p>The Devils, a formidable opponent, were coming on strong in the series so Rangers coach Mike Keenan decided it was time to make a point. In Game 5, a 4-1 Ranger loss, he benched Messier. And Brian Leetch. And Adam Graves. Goalie Mike Richter was pulled. You could cut the tension in the New York dressing room with a dull skate blade. &ldquo;We thought it was over,&rdquo; recalls Ranger grinder Nick Kypreos.</p><p>Had Keenan lost faith in his team? Had he lost his marbles?</p><p>A lot of star players would have gone postal. Not Messier. The so-called &ldquo;greatest leader in the history of hockey&rdquo; knew that was not the tactic that was required. Nope, no big <i>Messy</i> blow-up with Keenan. The Rangers had cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs, barely allowing the Islanders to touch the puck in the opening series and shutting down Washington in Round 2. Two rounds down, two to go.</p><p>Messier knew the Rangers were championship material. He knew because he already owned five Cup rings from his days with the Oilers.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s where Mess was great,&rdquo; Kypreos says. &ldquo;He would quietly go in and talk with Keenan. There was no, &lsquo;You benched me and I&rsquo;m pissed off.&rsquo; Or, &lsquo;You can&rsquo;t do this.&rsquo;Mess simply told him, &lsquo;You can get this thing back. You can still bring us together. We can still do this.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><h2><b>&lsquo;HIS CONFIDENCE SET THE TONE&rsquo;</b></h2><p>Adds Steve Larmer, a Rangers veteran in 1994: &ldquo;His demeanor and confidence set the tone. He had the ability to pick guys up when they were down and to make sure guys didn&rsquo;t go too over the top when things were going good.&rdquo;</p><p>Messier brought Keenan back to the fold. Before Game 6 against the Devils, the coach addressed the team and in a moving and tearfilled speech, Keenan apologized for allowing his emotions to get the better of him. With the coach and team back on the same page, the Rangers downed the Devils and then beat Vancouver in seven games to win the Cup. When the Rangers blew a 3-1 series lead against the Canucks and were forced into a Game 7, there was still a calmness surrounding the team. No one pressed the panic button.</p><p>Messier was so confident and so mentally strong, it rubbed off on his team. It didn&rsquo;t matter if they lost by a goal or by 10 goals, he would tell his teammates the key was to understand what went wrong and to show up for work the next day prepared to do whatever was necessary to win.</p><p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t get through an entire year without facing some adversity,&rdquo; Richter says. &ldquo;We were on the verge of being eliminated and that&rsquo;s when the character on your team is going to show and when your need for leadership is absolutely crucial. Mark was ultra-disciplined in all situations. He believed in our team and he made sure everybody knew that. He put a lot of thought into everything he did and everything he said in an effort to keep us positive and moving in the right direction. You couldn&rsquo;t possibly overstate what he meant to our team.&rdquo;</p><p>Retired Oilers players could probably tell similar tales about what Messier meant to their championship teams of the 1980s. But it&rsquo;s hard to imagine one player meaning more to a team than Messier meant to the Rangers in 1994.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0314/8755936-1-eng-US/f0070-032.jpg" title="f0070-03" width="1627" height="2081"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(STEPHEN CHERNIN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0235/8755929-1-eng-US/f0070-022.jpg" title="f0070-02" width="464" height="331"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIGHTY MOOSE <i>Messier is second only to Gordie Howe in games (1,767) and Wayne Gretzky in points (2,857).</i></b></figcaption></div><p><b>REGULAR SEASON</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-085/8755922-1-eng-US/f0070-082.jpg" title="f0070-08" width="538" height="310"></div><p><b>PLAYOFFS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-095/8755915-1-eng-US/f0070-092.jpg" title="f0070-09" width="538" height="299"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0411/8755908-1-eng-US/f0070-042.jpg" title="f0070-04" width="578" height="508"></div><p><b>PARTING SHOT</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not Peter Forsberg, that we know.&rdquo;</i><br><b>&ndash; NEWEST COLORADO AVALANCHE CENTER, PIERRE TURGEON, STATES THE OBVIOUS</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Memories of Mark

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-055/8755981-1-eng-US/f0070-052.jpg" title="f0070-05" width="708" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>The Maine Black Bears veer into the &rsquo;05-06 season by playing in the Icebreaker, starting Oct. 7.</i></b> <span class="photo-credit">(STEVE BABINEAU/SPORTS ACTION)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Wed., Oct. 5</b>&nbsp;<i>NHL opening night, with all 30 teams in action</i></p><p><b>Wed., Oct. 5</b>&nbsp;<i>AHL season kicks off with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Bridgeport</i></p><p><b>Fri., Oct. 7</b>&nbsp;<i>NCAA&rsquo;s annual Icebreaker tournament begins in Colorado Springs</i></p><p><b>Fri., Oct. 21</b>&nbsp;<i>ECHL regular season gets underway with nine games</i></p><p><b>Mon., Nov. 7</b>&nbsp;<i>Neely, Kharlamov, Costello inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame</i></p><p><b>Dec. 26-Jan. 5</b>&nbsp;<i>World Junior Championship in Vancouver</i></p><p><b><i>For the latest news, visit <a href="http://TheHockeyNews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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October 4, 2005

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