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Yearbook 1985

The Hockey News Yearbook 1985

<div class="byline">Michel Bergeron</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02376/10149010-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="670" height="720"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01499/10149003-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="568" height="564"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he Battle of Quebec is what the series between the Nordiques and Montreal Canadiens was billed as in the Adams Division final. The Habs won it, and the Nordiques are now the second-best team in <i>La Belle Province.</i></p><p>This season, the Nordiques will be using that loss to fuel themselves all season long. To be sure, they&rsquo;d love nothing more than to meet the Habs in the division final again and come out on top.</p><p>But while the Canadiens were busy making improvements in the off-season, the Nordiques practically stood pat. The only major move&mdash;and one that raised a few eyebrows&mdash;was acquiring free-agent goalie Richard Sevigny from Montreal. The Nords were already well-stocked at that position with Dan Bouchard, Mario (Goose) Gosselin and Clint Malarchuk. Some people even thought the Nordiques purposely signed Sevigny just to irk the Habs.</p><p>&ldquo;I would never sign a player just to hurt another organization,&rdquo; said Nordique general manager Maurice Filion. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t waste any time when I saw that Sevigny was free without compensation because he is an experienced goaltender.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just say that getting Richard was an insurance policy for us,&rdquo; added coach Michel Bergeron.</p><p>Bouchard has always been the Nordiques&rsquo; No. 1 goalie, because he could be relied upon come playoff time. But Bouchard, who refuses to talk to the media during the season, didn&rsquo;t seem to concerned about the overcrowded situation when he commented on it during the summer.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not worried about it,&rdquo; Bouchard said. &ldquo;I still have a contract for the next two years. I certainly would like to end my career with the Nordiques, but you have to expect anything in this league. The team made a good move in signing Sevigny, especially since it didn&rsquo;t cost anything in compensation. Once again the Nordiques are seeking improvement at every position on the team and I like that.&rdquo;</p><p>Gosselin, the youngster who was so effective with the 1984 Canadian Olympic Team, will present Bouchard with the stiffest competition. Gosselin recorded shutouts in his first two games, but an injury he suffered one game later forced him to miss the balance of the season.</p><p>There was some mention of a possible three-way trade between Minnesota, Philadelphia and the Nords in the off-season, but nothing materialized.</p><p>It is interesting to note that one of the names bandied about was Michel Goulet, arguably the best left winger in the National Hockey League. Goulet is a consistent All-Star and one of the league leaders in points, so it seems a little unthinkable that the Nordiques would trade him unless they were given a Brinks package in return.</p><p>Dale Hunter was another Nordique who was rumored to be on the trading block. In previous years. Hunter would have been considered an untouchable, but his stock may have dipped following his disappointing play in the playoffs. On the other hand, the 24-year-old menace was playing hurt, and you can&rsquo;t overlook the fact that last season he had his best year in four pro seasons.</p><p>Peter Stastny&rsquo;s name was free from such talk&mdash;and small reason why. He posted more than 100 points for the fourth consecutive year, and later became a member of the Canadian team in the Canada Cup, after becoming a Canadian citizen earlier in the year.</p><p>Stastny&rsquo;s brothers, Marian and Anton, had only ordinary seasons, and there was talk at one point that they would be dealt to Toronto as part of a deal which would send Borje Salming to Quebec. That trade never materialized, though it&rsquo;s obvious the Nordiques would not be hesitant to break up the Stastny clan.</p><p>While the Nordiques held back on pushing the trade button, they were active the previous summer at the NHL draft, when they dealt Real Cloutier to Buffalo for Tony McKegney, Jean-Francois (J.F.) Sauve and Andre Savard. Last season, that trade benifitted the Nords more than the Sabres, as Cloutier was ineffective (and even benched at times) while the three transplanted Nordiques worked relatively well in their new surrounding. Both Sauve and Savard were bothered by injuries, while McKegney had a neck injury which forced him to miss five games and probably affected him quite a bit more. He produced 51 points, a meager sum for him, but look for him to improve on that this season. Also, look for Sauve to make the Nordiques&rsquo; power play one of the best in the league.</p><p>The Nords drafted right winger Trevor Stienburg in the first round (15th overall) from Guelph Platers, but the big youngster will probably be sent back to junior.</p><p>Defensively, the Nordiques can hold their own. Mario Marois is the kingping and Randy Moller, 21, will be playing in only his third season, but he has the maturity of a player who&rsquo;s been around a lot longer. He&rsquo;s accompanied by veterans such as Normand Rochefort, Pat Price, Andre Dore, Blake Wesley and Wally Weir.</p><p>Dave Shaw of the Kitchener Rangers and Bruce Bell of the Brantford Alexanders are two junior players who may earn a promotion this season. If the Nordiques choose to keep them, it&rsquo;ll be the responsibility of new assistant coach Guy Lapointe to tutor them.</p><p>A final mention should be made of coach Michel Bergeron and general manager Maurice Filion. Bergeron is highly underrated, no doubt resulting from the Nordiques&rsquo; identity crisis outside of Quebec, but his will to win has helped to make the team competitive since entering the league from the World Hockey Association in 1979. As for Filion, he signed a new contract in the summer, and that&rsquo;s good news for the Nordiques. He, too, ranks right up there with the best.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01376/10148996-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="1583" height="3185"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Peter Stastny, the best of the three Stastnys on the Nords, will aim for 100 points for the fifth straight season.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>QUEBEC NORDIQUES (10)</h3><p>1. Trevor Stienburg, RW, Guelph</p><p>2. Jeff Brown, D, Sudbury</p><p>3. Steven Finn, D, Laval</p><p>4. Terry Perkins, RW, Portland</p><p>5. Darren Cota, RW, Kelowna</p><p>6. Henrik Cedergren, RW, Sweden</p><p>7. Jyrki Maki, D, Minn HS</p><p>8. Guy Ouellette, C, Quebec</p><p>9. Ken Quinney, RW, Calgary</p><p>10. Peter Loob, D, Sweden</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-02270/10148989-1-eng-US/f0051-022.jpg" title="f0051-02" width="785" height="2381"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-03174/10148982-1-eng-US/f0052-032.jpg" title="f0052-03" width="1114" height="1419"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Nordique left winger Michel Goulet is considered one of the best players at his position.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01382/10148975-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="1282" height="1569"></div><h2><b>Quebec Nordiques Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02247/10148968-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="2404" height="1583"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01356/10148961-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="2446" height="1257"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02245/10148954-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="2392" height="1282"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists; <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead, <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T, L, I P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists): <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played. <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by players team while he was on the ice; <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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IN THIS ISSUE

Quebec Nordiques

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STATISTICS

U.S. College Statistics

<div class="byline">Bob Johnson</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-02125/10149358-1-eng-US/f0066-022.jpg" title="f0066-02" width="545" height="734"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-01205/10149351-1-eng-US/f0066-012.jpg" title="f0066-01" width="653" height="564"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>here was a time, not too long ago, when you had to feel sorry for the Calgary Flames. They had all the talent, but were missing that little something extra to make them serious contenders.</p><p>But beginning with the move from Atlanta five years ago, general manager Cliff Fletcher has dismantled the Flames and has built a new and exciting team. And yes, they are serious challengers.</p><p>Don&rsquo;t forget, had it not been for a breakdown in the seventh and final game of the Smythe Division final against Edmonton, Calgary may have pulled the biggest upset in last season&rsquo;s playoffs.</p><p>But despite the loss to Edmonton, the Flames have plenty of reason to be optimistic about this season.</p><p>The reason?</p><p>Their draft picks have come of age.</p><p>Leading the pack is Paul Reinhart, who is one of the most talented rearguards in the league. But Reinhart has been plagued by injuries and missed most of last year, when he played in only 27 games because of a bad back. There was some speculation that Reinhart&rsquo;s injury might end his career. That&rsquo;s still a possibility but both the Flames and Reinhart are hoping his surgically-repaired back can withstand the rigors of NHL life.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting anxious, but I&rsquo;m also a little apprehensive,&rdquo; Reinhart said while relaxing during the summer. &ldquo;I went through a year last year when a lot of things went wrong for me. I don&rsquo;t want to go through it all again.&rdquo;</p><p>Al Maclnnis, whom the Flames drafted 15th overall in 1981, came of age in his rookie year last season. Everyone knew Maclnnis could play offense, as he had proven in his junior years with Kitchener of the Ontario League, and last season with the Flames, in which he produced 45 points in 51 games. But when it came to the playoffs, the 20-year-old first-year NHLer played with the poise of a veteran. He totalled 14 points, 12 of which were assists. He was a pivotal man on their power play, as he used his heavy shot without mercy on opposing goalies. Maclnnis, without much doubt, has one of the hardest shots&mdash;if not the hardest&mdash;in the league and he, along with his Kitchener alumnus, Reinhart, form one of the best backline duos in the league.</p><p>Jamie Macoun is another good defenseman, and he was selected to the All-Rookie team last year. He&rsquo;s only 23, and the Flames may be tempted to sign a few more free agents such as him if they produce like he did last season.</p><p>Those three, along with players such as Steve Konroyd, Paul Baxter, Tim Hunter and Kari Eloranta, who rebounded from the dead to produce 39 points in 78 games, provide defensive depth.</p><p>That&rsquo;s good news for Flame goalie Reggie Lemelin, who is one of the most underrated goalies in the league. But playing for the upstart Flames, Lemelin may finally merit the recognition he deserves. The Flames&rsquo; management gave Lemelin a new multi-year contract in the summer to reward him for his excellent work in the playoffs, but Reggie will be playing as hard as ever to prove he&rsquo;s worth it.</p><p>&ldquo;The way I see it, it&rsquo;s just a different kind of pressure,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It used to be the kind of pressure of getting ahead and getting a contract like this. It&rsquo;s now the pressure of answering the bell. But I feel very confident because, let&rsquo;s face it, I&rsquo;ve been going through 10 years of pro hockey now and it seems like every year, it gets better. I don&rsquo;t see why the development would stop. I can certainly overcome difficult periods. I believer, because I&rsquo;ve shown in the past I can bounce back. It might be one of my biggest assets.&rdquo;</p><p>Don Edwards played in 41 games last season, but had an unimpressive 4.09 goals-against average. Mike Vernon, the Calgaryborn goalie who was a star with the junior Wranglers, may be ready to unseat Edwards.</p><p>While the Flames are stacked in the defensive department, they are equally&mdash;if not more&mdash;healthy on offense. Leading the pack, as usual, is Kent Nilsson. However, Nilsson, who is called the Magic Man because of his puck prowess, is one of the most puzzling players in the league. While there is no questioning his ability, there is a lot to be said about his heart, or lack of it. He never seems to give a consistent effort, and it&rsquo;s been one reason the Flames are usually mediocre competitors in the playoffs. Last season, though, Nilsson missed the post-season competition and the Flames proved they can play without him. All of which leads to the question, do the Flames really need Kent Nilsson? It&rsquo;s a question that could be answered sometime this season.</p><p>But if Nilsson&rsquo;s inconsistency is a disappointment, the Flames have to be happy with the efforts of free agent Eddy Beers, who honed his skills in U.S. college, and Hakan Loob, a swift Swede who was the second Flame on last season&rsquo;s All-Rookie team.</p><p>Those two, plus veterans such as Lanny McDonald (who had an injury-plagued season), Mike Eaves, Doug Risebrough and Jim Peplinski give the team plenty of hustle and leadership.</p><p>Last season, even the Flames were a little surprised at how well their underage rookies performed, but coach Bob Johnson expects them to continue their rapid development. Dan Quinn, who produced 52 points in 54 games after he was promoted from Belleville of the Ontario Hockey League, and Richard Kromm, the son of former Detroit Red Wing coach, Bobby Kromm, are the Flames&rsquo; first-round picks from &rsquo;83 and &rsquo;82, respectively, and both added youthful enthusiasm to the team.</p><p>Gary Roberts from the Memorial Cup champion Ottawa 67s was the Flames&rsquo; first-round pick in &rsquo;84, and there&rsquo;s talk that he may be a full-time Flame this season. Judging by the success of their rookie-laden team last season, you&rsquo;d have to think Calgary has no qualms about starting another freshman.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-01143/10149344-1-eng-US/f0067-012.jpg" title="f0067-01" width="1605" height="3218"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Paul Reinhart had surgery in the off-season to correct the back problems which hampered him for much of last season.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>CALGARY FLAMES (12)</h3><p>1. Gary Roberts, LW, Ottawa</p><p>2. Ken Sabourin, D, S.S. Marie</p><p>3. Paul Ranheim, C, MO HS</p><p>4. Peter Rosol, LW, Czech</p><p>5. Joel Pauno, LW, Finland</p><p>6. Brett Hull, RW, Penticton, Tier II</p><p>7. Kevan Melrose, D, Red Deer, Tier II</p><p>8. Jurri Hrdina, RW, Czech</p><p>9. Gary Suter, D, Wisconsin</p><p>10. Petr Rucka, C, Czech</p><p>11. Stefan Jonsson, D, Sweden</p><p>12. Rudy Suchanek, D, Cezh</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-0283/10149337-1-eng-US/f0067-022.jpg" title="f0067-02" width="762" height="2257"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-01155/10149330-1-eng-US/f0068-012.jpg" title="f0068-01" width="1154" height="1446"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Veteran Lanny McDonald didn&rsquo;t do as well last season after a splendid campaign in 1982-83.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0280/10149323-1-eng-US/f0068-022.jpg" title="f0068-02" width="1263" height="1547"></div><h2><b>Calgary Flames Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0349/10149316-1-eng-US/f0068-032.jpg" title="f0068-03" width="2425" height="1565"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-01133/10149309-1-eng-US/f0069-012.jpg" title="f0069-01" width="2407" height="1279"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0289/10149302-1-eng-US/f0069-022.jpg" title="f0069-02" width="2373" height="1256"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played. <b>G</b> - Goals. <b>A</b> - Assists. <b>PTS</b> - Points. <b>S</b> - Shots on goal. <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal). <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals. <b>GT</b> - Game-Tying Goals, <b>F</b> - First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> - Score-Tying Goals. <b>L</b> - Goals giving a team the lead. <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); P - Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score) <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F. T, L. I P). <b>PCTG</b> - Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists) <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played. <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice <b>PGF</b> - Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played. <b>TGA</b> - Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice, <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> - Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played. <b>DIFF</b> - Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Calgary Flames

<div class="byline">Bill LaForge</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0276/10149445-1-eng-US/f0070-022.jpg" title="f0070-02" width="656" height="719"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-01136/10149438-1-eng-US/f0070-012.jpg" title="f0070-01" width="648" height="591"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;<i>I want the Canucks to be one big happy family, 20 guys believing in one common goal. I believe in PHD&mdash;pride, hustle and desire.&rdquo;</i>&nbsp;<br>&mdash;<b>Canuck coach Bill LaForge.</b></blockquote><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>here was a time in Vancouver when the fans waved triumphant towels, but that was three years ago. Now, they&rsquo;re likely to wave Terrible Towels.</p><p>What&rsquo;s the reason for the new wave? Bill LaForge. He&rsquo;s the new coach and he&rsquo;s one tough dude.</p><p>LaForge has an interesting history. Three years ago his Oshawa General team led the Ontario League in penalties. In one game, LaForge scuffled during a pre-game brawl and it resulted in a 50-game suspension. He believed the OHL wanted him out, so he took his tough act to Regina of the Western League and repeated it with the Pats. After one season there, he moved to Kamloops, where he altered his style to accommodate the team, and the Oilers won the WHL title last season and earned a berth in the Memorial Cup.</p><p>The Canucks then hired the 32-year-old Edmonton native, who became the youngest coach in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;It certainly is a big challenge,&rdquo; LaForge said. &ldquo;My motto is that I&rsquo;ll do whatever it takes to win. In Vancouver, looking over the personnel, I&rsquo;d say we have to instill some excitement, a burning desire to win and be successful. Part of that will be developing team toughness.&rdquo;</p><p>LaForge succeeds general manager Harry Neale, who guided the team on an interim basis last season after Roger Neilson was fired because the team lacked motivation.</p><p>But motivation shouldn&rsquo;t be a problem now. If LaForge can&rsquo;t do it, than the Canucks would be advised to call on Crazy George to start banging on his drum and lead the Vancouver fans in the section-by-section wave.</p><p>The Canucks finished tied with Winnipeg for the final playoff position in the Smythe Division, but escaped facing Edmonton in the first round because the Jets came out on the short end in regular-season competition with Vancouver. Still, the Canucks couldn&rsquo;t match the upstart Flames and were disposed easily in the first round.</p><p>Judging by their off-season activity&mdash;or lack of it&mdash;the Canucks shouldn&rsquo;t improve that much on last season&rsquo;s standing. That comment, of course, excludes any mention of LaForge. He may make a difference, especially in the motivation and desire categories. But the bottom line is that the Canucks are in dire need of more scoring.</p><p>At one point last year, Tony Tanti solved that problem. He was on par with Edmonton&rsquo;s Wayne Gretzky in scoring, but he tailed off and finished with 86 points. While that figure may seem respectable, it surely pales in comparison to the 100 or so points he seemed almost certain of totalling. He&rsquo;ll have to be more consistent this year, because he is too important to the Canuck attack.</p><p>Patrik Sundstrom, the taciturn twin brother of Peter Sundstrom of the New York Rangers, blossomed in his sophomore season with 91 points in 78 games. He and Tanti have the talent to much any combination in the league, but again the key word is consistency. Cam Neely, entering his sophomore season, rounds out that line and he&rsquo;s capable of providing some offense, too.</p><p>The second line of Thomas Gradin centering Darcy Rota on the left wing and captain Stan Smyl on the right wing had to rank as a major disappointment for the Canucks last season. Gradin produced 78 points in 75 games, but he&rsquo;s had better seasons than that. Smyl, the Canuck captain, produced only 67 points, and Rota, who was injured for 21 games, had 48 points. Barring injury, this line has the capability to repeat on its impressive figures two years ago. But should any one of the three sustain an ailment, it could be big trouble for the team.</p><p>And the reason is the lack of scoring punch after the top two lines. The Canucks have plenty of foot soldiers&mdash;Al Mac Adam, Gary Lupul et al&mdash;who will be able to play LaForge&rsquo;s style but it would seem that for Vancouver to rise out of the NHL&rsquo;s middle ground, Neale may have to make a deal. He&rsquo;s already unloaded veteran defensemen Kevin McCarthy and Harold Snepsts, but neither deal produced much immediate help. Neale is well-stocked with defenseman&mdash;Rick Lanz is the best&mdash;and the addition of Canadian Olympian Jean-Jacques (J.J.) Daigneault gives them a bona fide rusher if the knee injury he sustained in the Quebec League championship doesn&rsquo;t prove to be serious. But defense isn&rsquo;t the problem, and Neale still has a good surplus of young rearguards&mdash;Neil Belland, Andy Schliebener, Michel Petit and Garth Butcher&mdash;who could be used in a package deal if he hopes to land a sniper.</p><p>In goal, the Canucks finally have someone to give Richard (King) Brodeur a challenge for the No. 1 job. Frank Caprice was promoted from Fredericton of the American League last season and had a 3.38 goals-against average in 19 games. Brodeur, by comparison, had a 4.02 GAA in 36 games. Caprice is only 22, while Brodeur will be 32. Caprice will probably receive more starts this season, which may be a good thing for Brodeur because it will keep him competitive. Veteran John Garrett may be retained as insurance.</p><p>Is there a solution to the Canucks&rsquo; problem? Well, the Canucks were supposed to lend their private jet to Team Canada for the Canada Cup, and Arthur Griffiths, Vancouver&rsquo;s assistant to the chairman, jokingly said he was going to ask tournament chairman Alan Eagle-son if Wayne Gretzky could remain on the plane after the tournament.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-01132/10149431-1-eng-US/f0071-012.jpg" title="f0071-01" width="1558" height="3219"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Tony Tanti finished with 45 goals, but could improve on that this season if he plays with more consistency.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>VANCOUVER CANUCKS (14)</h3><p>1. J.J. Daigneault, D, Longueuil</p><p>2. Jeff Rohlicek, LW, Portland</p><p>3. Dave Saunders, LW, St. Law. University</p><p>4. Landis Chaulk, LW, Calgary</p><p>5. Mike Stevens, C, Kitchener</p><p>6. Brian Bertuzzi, C, Kamloops</p><p>7. Brett MacDonald, D, North Bay</p><p>8. Jeff Korchinski, D, Clarkson</p><p>9. Blaine Chrest, C, Estevan, Tier II</p><p>10. Jim Agnew, D, Brandon</p><p>11. Rex Grant, G, Kamloops</p><p>12. Ed Lowney, RW, Boston Univ</p><p>13. Doug Clarke, D, Colo. College</p><p>14. Ed Kister, D, London</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-0273/10149424-1-eng-US/f0071-022.jpg" title="f0071-02" width="761" height="2247"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-01131/10149417-1-eng-US/f0072-012.jpg" title="f0072-01" width="1137" height="1425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Darcy Rota&rsquo;s production tailed off as a result of an injury which sidelined him for 21 games.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0267/10149410-1-eng-US/f0072-022.jpg" title="f0072-02" width="1266" height="1544"></div><h2><b>Vancouver Canucks Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0341/10149403-1-eng-US/f0072-032.jpg" title="f0072-03" width="2415" height="1562"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-01124/10149396-1-eng-US/f0073-012.jpg" title="f0073-01" width="2374" height="1339"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0281/10149389-1-eng-US/f0073-022.jpg" title="f0073-02" width="2377" height="1239"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played; <b>G</b> - Goals. <b>A</b> - Assists. <b>PTS</b> - Points; <b>S</b> - Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal) <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals. <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals. <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead). <b>P</b> - Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score) <b>TOT</b> - Total Important Goals (F, T. L. I P). <b>PCTG</b> - Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals, <b>IP</b> - Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> - Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice, <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0070-02

Vancouver Canucks

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012249/10148082-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div><p><b>U</b>nder bright early August sunshine Mark Messier patiently accommodated a group of giggling, young autograph seekers.</p><p>A few feet away, outside a spacious west end mall where the Edmonton Oilers often practise in full view of curious shoppers, was parked a flaming red Trans-Am&mdash;Messier&rsquo;s spanking new $20,000 reward for being named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner during the Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>The 23-year-old center took the giant step towards slipping into the driver&rsquo;s seat on the night of May 15, 1984.</p><p>And four nights later the Oilers turned the northwestern outpost into a frenzy by unceremoniously dethroning the four-time champion New York Islanders for the Stanley Cup. The Oilers required but a scant five games to become the first refugee from the World Hockey Association to capture Lord Stanley&rsquo;s oversized beer stein, accomplishing this remarkable feat in only their fifth National Hockey League campaign.</p><p>But, take away one individual accomplishment on the 15th and the Stanley Cup might not be residing in Western Canada for the first time since the Victoria Cougars won three of four games from the Montreal Canadiens back in 1925. It was to be an absolutely brilliant goal by Messier at 8:38 of the second period in pivotal Game Three that would have a snowballing effect on the Oilers.</p><p>With Edmonton on the defensive, a pass by Islander center Brent Sutter was tipped at the Oiler blueline by defenseman Lee Fogolin. Messier scooped the puck and wheeled in the opposite direction in one powerful skating motion. He hit the Islanders&rsquo; blueline, where he spied veteran Denis Potvin and rookie Gord Dineen. Not surprisingly, he opted for the freshman. But the manner in which he left Dineen corkscrewed to the ice has folks still giggling in these parts. Then. Messier uncorked a 20-foot wrist shot that had the Islander goalie, the despised Billy Smith, staring into far away places.</p><p>The goal, Messier&rsquo;s first of two in the 7-2 Edmonton triumph, pulled the Oilers into a 2-2 tie. Never again were they to trail in the series. And, to further underline the impact upon his teammates, of the final 22 goals in the series, 18 came off Edmonton sticks.</p><p>Messier also produced the game-winner on an almost equally sensational effort in Game Four en route to being named the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup tournament. Almost as significant, perhaps for the first time in the 6-foot, 205-pounder&rsquo;s five-year NHL career, people outside of Edmonton became aware of his emergence out of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s shadow.</p><p>For it was Messier, not the magnificent Gretzky, who ignited the stagnant Oilers&rsquo; offense against the Islanders. Oh sure, Gretzky, who is unparalleled among hockey performers on this planet, did his fair share in the end, scoring two goals in each of the final two games, including the all-important first goal in each match. When Gretzky staked the Oilers to 2-0 in the final game. Smith&mdash;Public Enemy No. 1 in Edmonton&mdash;was summoned to the bench after the first period as the Oilers went on to a Cup-winning 5-2 triumph.</p><p>But, it was Messier&mdash;known as <i>The Other Kid</i> ever since his arrival on the Oilers&rsquo; scene in 1979&mdash;who provided the one spark that was required to make the Oilers total believers in themselves.</p><p>&ldquo;When he made it 2-2 in Game Three, that was where we started to turn things around,&rdquo; said defenseman Kevin Lowe, who along with goalie Grant Fuhr also received consideration for the Smythe Trophy. &rsquo;&rsquo;It was a classic Oiler goal. He beat the defense and he beat the goalie. From that point on, we never looked back.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;If Gretzky and Mark aren&rsquo;t one-two right now as the best players in the world, I don&rsquo;t know who is,&rdquo; said Oiler right winger Dave Lumley in another ultimate compliment.</p><p>With Messier having moved last February to center from left wing, where he earned two first-team and one second-team all-star nominations over the past three years, favorable comparisons are now being made to splendid Islander two-way center Bryan Trottier.</p><p>&ldquo;No question, they have the same strength, same power and Mark may have a little more speed. But they&rsquo;re very comparable,&rdquo; said Gretzky. &ldquo;The only difference now in them is experience. Bryan&rsquo;s played a little longer than Mark, but Mark will gain that over time. They&rsquo;re both very valuable to their teams.&rdquo;</p><p>Gretzky also figured the loss of Trottier to the U.S. team would be eased in the Canada Cup tournament by the presence of Messier.</p><p>&ldquo;Before Mark came in and did what he did (in the playoffs), we would have missed Trottier a lot more,&rdquo; said Gretzky. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question, you&rsquo;re going to miss to player of Trottier&rsquo;s ability and talent, and his leadership is second to none. But Mark has the ability now to step in and do that job.&rdquo;</p><p>Messier, who accounted for 37 goals and 101 points last season, is looking forward to the challenge of performing in the manner of a Trottier.</p><p>&ldquo;I hope so&hellip; and I don&rsquo;t see any reason why I can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said the Edmonton native. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as if I&rsquo;m 27 or 28. I won&rsquo;t be 24 until January (18th). I&rsquo;m still young and I&rsquo;ve had no serious injuries. As long as my mind stays sharp and the willingness is there, hopefully I can help the team win a bunch more Cups.&rdquo;</p><p>Speaking of the Stanley Cup, is the possibility of an Oiler dynasty in the offing?</p><p>&ldquo;A lot depends on injuries,&rdquo; replied Messier. &ldquo;Over 80 games, breaks and luck also have a lot to do with it. Look at the Islanders over four years how close they were at times to getting beat out (by Pittsburgh Penguins in 1982 and New York Rangers last season). But we have the talent to do it and the camaraderie is certainly there. With a little luck and if we make our own bounces, we should be able to do it.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012312/10148075-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="1586" height="1833"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>With a little luck and a lot of hard work, Messier says, an Edmonton Oiler dynasty isn&rsquo;t out of the question.</b></figcaption></div><p>While Messier draws praise from teammates. his talents are also recognized by other hockey people as well.</p><p>During the summer of 1983, New York-based agent Art Kaminsky lumped him with Gretzky and Islander right winger Mike Bossy as the only players in the NHL who could &ldquo;run past compensation&rdquo; where free agency is concerned.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a pretty high compliment,&rdquo; shrugged Messier when informed of Kaminsky&rsquo;s assessment of his ability. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s true or not.&rdquo;</p><p>In any case, the Oilers weren&rsquo;t taking any chances.</p><p>Despite intermittent reports to the contrary throughout the winter. Messier was staying put in Edmonton. Therefore it hardly came as a total surprise when owner Peter Pocklington proudly blurted on March 1 that the big forward had signed a new five-year contract&mdash;speculated to run in excess of $300,000 annually. Pocklington made the announcement on the occasion of the Oilers&rsquo; Junior Achievement Dinner&mdash;an annual affair of fun, food and frivolity that generally carries the news value of a campaign speech. The timing. however, had newsmen scampering to telephones.</p><p>&ldquo;It never entered my mind to go anywhere else,&rdquo; said Messier, whose father Doug managed and coached the Oilers&rsquo; farm team in Moncton. N.B., for two years before beind replaced by Larry Kish this summer when the team moved to Halifax. &ldquo;I started my career in my hometown and I&rsquo;d like to end it there.&rdquo;</p><p>Commenting on the free-agency route taken in other sports, Messier shrugged: &ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t baseball or football. This league doesn&rsquo;t have a U.S. TV contract, doesn&rsquo;t produce the revenue other sports do. We have to be realistic about it.&rdquo;</p><p>He&rsquo;s equally level-headed when it comes to drawing comparisons to Gretzky&rsquo;s salary, which is approaching $1 million annually.</p><p>&ldquo;I talked to a guy who is involved in a $20,000 hockey pool, with $12,000 going to the winner. Gretz has been ruled ineligible. His salary is the same thing. He sells hockey. Probably all of the general managers in the league would throw in 50 grand each just to keep him around.&rdquo;</p><p>No question. But, it&rsquo;s <i>The Other Kid</i> who has the keys to the red Trans-Am. And the one trophy Gretzky has yet to win&mdash;the Conn Smythe.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-01

FEATURES

THE OTHER KID

<div class="byline">BY TIM MORIARTY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012231/10148120-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span></b> 31-foot cabin cruiser was moving cautiously through the tricky currents of the Shinnecock Canal on Long Island one July day when three vacationers standing on the shore noticed the boat&rsquo;s name painted on the stem: &ldquo;TROTS 19.&rdquo; The trio waved and screamed a greeting to the boat&rsquo;s skipper.</p><p>Bryan Trottier waved back.</p><p>&ldquo;When those three people recognized me, they started yelling things like, &rsquo;You did your best,&rsquo; and Don&rsquo;t worry, you&rsquo;ll get &rsquo;em next year.&rsquo; It made me feel good.&rsquo;&rsquo; the Islander center said.</p><p>Neither Trottier nor his teammates nor the Islander fans felt good when the Edmonton Oilers ended the Isles&rsquo; four-year reign as Stanley Cup champions last May.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess we were all a little down for awhile,&rdquo; Trottier said. &ldquo;I was, that&rsquo;s for sure. But we&rsquo;re getting over it. The fans have been very understanding and supportive. They realized, as we did, that it couldn&rsquo;t go on forever, and we&rsquo;ve all accepted that fact now.&rdquo;</p><p>Mike Bossy agreed with his linemate and friend.</p><p>&ldquo;At first, I figured we&rsquo;d get a lot of those &lsquo;What happened?&rsquo; questions,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But everybody seemed to realize we were tired and we had a lot of injuries in the final round, and that was a factor.</p><p>&ldquo;Nobody that I talked to, though, seemed to be too happy that the Oilers won&mdash;for whatever reasons. But there were others who were glad to see somebody else get a chance to lift the Cup.&rdquo;</p><p>Ken Morrow finally learned what it was like to lose after being on four Cup winners and an Olympic gold medal-winning team in four years.</p><p>&ldquo;It was a little hard for me to accept at first,&rdquo; the defenseman said. &ldquo;I was disappointed, sure, but this might make us work harder from now on. Sometimes you tend to take things for granted. Now somebody else has the Cup and we have to win it back.&rdquo;</p><p>Can the Islanders reclaim the Cup?</p><p>This was a question that general manager Bill Torrey grew tired of answering during the summer.</p><p>&ldquo;Can we win it again? Well, I certainly hope so,&rdquo; he said rhetorically. &ldquo;Everything that Al (Arbour) and the rest of us did since the end of last season was geared toward getting us back on the track.&rdquo;</p><p>The initial changes involved management. Arbour, after much hemming and hawing, agreed to return for his 12th season as head coach. Brian Kilrea abandoned the junior ranks to become Arbour&rsquo;s assistant. Lorne Henning, Arbour&rsquo;s aide for the past four years, became head coach of the Isles&rsquo; new Springfield farm club in the American League.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-012157/10148113-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="2248" height="1523"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>When the Edmonton Oilers took possession of the Stanley for the New York Islanders. This year, they&rsquo;ll be relying on Cup last spring, it marked the beginning of a long summer youth to get it back to Long Island.</b></figcaption></div><p>Several Islanders expressed a mixture of relief and delight when they learned Arbour would be back behind the bench.</p><p>&ldquo;I always thought Al would be back,&rdquo; Trottier said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident we can get the Cup back and I think Al believes that too.&rdquo;</p><p>Said Bossy: &ldquo;Al knows we want to win the Cup again and he wants to be part of it. Besides, he has such a love for the game.&rdquo;</p><p>Arbour, characteristically, said little.</p><p>&ldquo;I take this job year-to-year,&rdquo; the tight-lipped coach said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way it&rsquo;s been for the past three years&hellip;And. of course, I think we can win again."</p><p>Now Torrey has the staff he wants to bring the Cup back to Long Island.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve changed the direction of this franchise,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re at the crossroads.&rdquo;</p><p>Then Torrey began the slow process of pruning older players and gently guiding more rookies into the Isles&rsquo; lineup. He offered Wayne Merrick a &ldquo;buy out&rdquo; on the remaining year of his contract and the veteran center accepted.</p><p>The Islanders had one of the oldest teams in terms of personnel last season until youngsters such as Paul Boutilier, Gord Dineen, Pat Flatley and Pat LaFontaine were inserted into the lineup. Torrey indicated he was prepared to offer Arbour more newcomers.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s important that our young players continue to improve,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to add one or two more. We need their young legs and their spirit and enthusiasm.&rdquo;</p><p>LaFontaine and Flatley, the graduating Olympians, have provided the Isles with added scoring punch while Boutilier and Dineen have helped shore up the defense. LaFontaine totalled 13 goals and 19 points in 15 regular-season games following his service with the U.S. Olympic team last winter. Flatley had only two goals in 16 regular-season games, but was a revelation in the playoffs when he totaled nine goals and 15 points in 21 games.</p><p>&ldquo;Some of our kids played as well or better than the veterans in the playoffs,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;Obviously we have to get some of the veterans back to their old form.&rdquo;</p><p>Torrey declined to identify the vets, but he didn&rsquo;t have to. The statistics were there for everybody to read. Bob Nystrom admitted he was disappointed with his 15-goal season last year, and he failed to score a goal in the playoffs. Clark Gillies&rsquo; regular-season goal production dropped from 21 to 12, but he came alive in the playoffs (12-7-19).</p><p>On defense, Denis Potvin remained a scoring threat (22 goals), but lacked his old zip on the backline, due in part to a hypertension problem. Morrow and Dave Langevin were hampered by chronic knee problems.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get those guys healthy again,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;We had more players out with injuries last season than in any recent year. Maybe the toll of those four (Cup) years finally caught up with us.&rdquo;</p><p>Some Islander watchers also suspected that the team lost some of its drive and dedication and devotion to duty last season.</p><p>Torrey has wondered about that.</p><p>&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t sit back and say, &rsquo;Hey, four Cups were pretty good&rsquo; and let it go at that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have to want it. The Oilers certainly want it. They&rsquo;ll be better because they have a lot of confidence now.&rdquo;</p><p>Other teams will be stronger, too, according to the Isles&rsquo; boss.</p><p>&ldquo;Look at the Rangers&hellip; they&rsquo;re improving every year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;James Patrick has been a big help to them. And you can say the same thing for the Capitals. They&rsquo;re coming on strong. They&rsquo;re getting closer and closer to the top.</p><p>&ldquo;The Bruins and the Canadiens are always tough for us, though I wonder about the Canadiens goaltending, and out West you have to keep an eye on the Flames. They beat us all three times last season and they carried the Oilers to seven games in the playoffs. That could be a very tough team.&rdquo;</p><p>Torrey admitted he spent most of the summer with &ldquo;an empty feeling.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I felt like something was missing, and I felt it almost every day,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know what was causing it, of course.&rdquo;</p><p>The Stanley Cup.</p><p>When someone suggested a way to get rid of that &ldquo;empty feeling,&rdquo; Torrey chuckled and said:</p><p>&ldquo;Yeah, I know. We&rsquo;ve got to win it back.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

DOWN, BUT NOT OUT

<div class="byline">BY HOWARD BERGER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-012000/10148165-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Unheralded Steve Penney virtually came out of nowhere to stage a remarkable playoff performance for the Canadiens.</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he electrifying rise to prominence of rookie goalie Steve Penney in last spring&rsquo;s playoffs conjured up some serious pangs of <i>deja vu</i> around Montreal. Long-time patrons of the immortal Forum recalled the great Ken Dryden and his hauntingly-similar ascent from obscurity 13 years earlier, and the comparisons continued through out the summer.</p><p>After several brilliant years tending goal for Cornell University, Dryden joined the Canadiens late in the 1970-71 season and backstopped them to a surprise Stanley Cup triumph.</p><p>Before Dryden&rsquo;s arrival, Hab general manager Sam Pollock paved the way for his bright prospect by selling veteran goalie Gump Worsley to Minnesota the previous year. But, spumed by Dryden&rsquo;s excellence in the playoffs, Pollock completed his purge by shipping Montreal&rsquo;s other veteran goalie&mdash;Rogie Vachon&mdash;to Los Angeles early in the 1971-72 campaign.</p><p>And what would seem to be a repeat of the past about 13 years later, the Habs were once again cleaning their goaltending house after a rookie shone in the playoffs. First, Rick Wamsley was traded to St. Louis for a first-round selection (Shayne Corson) on draft day. Shortly afterwards, Richard Sevigny signed with the Quebec Nordiques as a free agent. As a result, Montreal was expected to begin the current season with its most experienced net-minder&mdash;a &ldquo;veteran&rdquo; of four regular-season NHL games.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to compare the situation nowadays to the one 13 years ago,&rdquo; said Montreal GM Serge Savard, a star on the Habs&rsquo; defense in the Dryden era. &ldquo;Nobody has really stepped forward and grabbed the No. 1 goaltending spot for this team&rsquo;since Ken Dryden retired (in 1979). So, we have to take a few chances. After watching Penney in the playoffs last year, I&rsquo;m confident he&rsquo;ll be the guy to finally take control. But, unlike the situation in 1971, this team has three other excellent goaltending prospects. So, we&rsquo;re not really putting all the onus on Steve.&rdquo;</p><p>One of either Mark Holden, Greg Moffett or Patrick Roy will join Penney with the Canadiens this season&mdash;unless Savard opts for a goalie in the NHL waiver draft in October&mdash;but the St. Foy, Que. native is expected to shoulder a heavy load in his first full NHL campaign. His unforseen brilliance powered the Habs to preliminary and quarter-final round playoff upsets over Boston and Quebec last spring and he is fully aware of the confidence Savard has shown in him.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess I should be a little bit nervous in my situation,&rdquo; Penney said. &ldquo;The team is obviously expecting a lot from me this year but it doesn&rsquo;t really scare me. I think coming up to the Canadiens in such a pressure situation last year cured me from being nervous. I got it all out of my system back then. Now, I&rsquo;m here to do a job and I&rsquo;m looking forward to it.&rdquo;</p><p>Penney, 23, joined the Canadiens for the final nine days of the regular season and played four complete games&mdash;losing them all. Sevigny played the season finale in Boston and looked-strong in a 2-1 loss to the Bruins, and everyone&mdash;including Penney&mdash;expected coach Jacques Lemaire to give the veteran the starting assignment in the playoff opener in Boston four days later.</p><p>&ldquo;I never figured I&rsquo;d see a minute of playoff action unless somebody got hurt,&rdquo; Penney said. &ldquo;But, we were skating around in the Boston Garden the day before the first game when Jacques came up and told me I was starting the opener. Needless to say, that made me very nervous but I had a quick talk with myself and I realized that my future in hockey was on the line. I decided to stop worrying and just go out and do the best I could. I had worked so hard to get where I was and I didn&rsquo;t want to blow my big chance.&rdquo;</p><p>Ironically, Penney came precariously close to quitting hockey the previous season. A 10th-round choice (165th overall) of Montreal in 1980, Penney spent his first two professional campaigns with the Flint Generals of the International Hockey League&mdash;the Canadiens-second-rung farm team. He finally graduated to the American Hockey League Nova Scotia Voyageurs last season, which prevented him from hanging up his pads.</p><p>&ldquo;If the Canadiens had sent me back to Flint for a third year, I would&rsquo;ve quit hockey and gone back to school,&rdquo; Penney said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that I didn&rsquo;t like Flint or the International League. The people were nice and I made lots of friends. But I didn&rsquo;t feel there was any future for me in that league. I got married two years ago and I suddenly had a lot of new responsibilities. If I wasn&rsquo;t good enough to be a pro hockey goalie, then I had to go out and find another job.&rdquo;</p><p>Penney performed adequately enough in training camp last year to avoid a third trip to Flint but was given little, if any reason, to believe he had a legitimate shot at playing in the NHL. Greg Moffett began the season as a backup with the Canadiens and Penney shared the netminding chores in Halifax with Mark Holden. Both Moffett and Holden sustained injuries early in the season, though, and Penney temporarily found himself as Nova Scotia&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie.</p><p>&ldquo;I played three games in November and we won them all,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;But when Moffett and Holden recovered from their injuries, I was back in the stands (as the No. 3 goalie). I couldn&rsquo;t figure it out. I was surprised and very discouraged.&rdquo;</p><p>Just when the situation appeared to be reaching the panic stage once again, another unpredictable event took place. Early in January, Penney was suddenly recalled by the Canadiens.</p><p>&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t figure out anything at that point,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There I was, sitting in the stands in Halifax, and now the Canadiens wanted me? It didn&rsquo;t make too much sense but I was very excited about the opportunity.&rdquo;</p><p>Penney&rsquo;s stint in Montreal, however, was brief.</p><p>&ldquo;I backed up Rick (Wamsley) for two games,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The day I got to Montreal. Bob Berry (then coaching the Habs) said I&rsquo;d be with the team for two or three weeks and he&rsquo;d start me in a game during that time period. But, fifteen minutes after we talked, Halifax called and said Moffett was hurt. So, I had to go back to the American League right away.&rdquo;</p><p>Penney finished strongly with Nova Scotia, prompting the Canadiens to give him another trial before the NHL playoffs. But he couldn&rsquo;t buy a victory in four games&mdash;losing 4-2 in Buffalo; 3-2 in New York (Rangers); 7-0 on Long Island, and 5-2 at home to Quebec. When the curtain rose on post-season play, however, he found himself at the east end of hockey&rsquo;s most intimidating building. Hiding any nervous symptoms. Penney&rsquo;s quick glove and pad reflexes stymied the heavily-favored Bruins and muzzled the normally-obnoxious gathering in the &ldquo;Gaaaaden". His 29 saves lifted the Canadiens to a 2-1 triumph in their playoff opener.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-012049/10148158-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="743" height="1090"></div><p>&ldquo;If I was a little nervous before the game, it all disappeared afterwards,&rdquo; Penney said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really know what to expect from myself and the guys didn&rsquo;t know what to expect from me. After making the first couple saves, though, I could tell they were gaining confidence. It was like they said, &rsquo;He can play, so let&rsquo;s do our jobs&rsquo;. And we became a team very quickly.&rdquo;</p><p>Penney came back with another standout effort in Game Two and the Canadiens won again&mdash;3-1&mdash;to miraculously take a 2-0 series lead back to Montreal. The Bruins, thoroughly psyched, should have mailed the two points for Game Three and saved themselves travel expenses. Penney earned his first NHL shutout in a 5-0 whitewashing and Montreal swept the best-of-five series before 18,097 wild partisans on Ste. Catherine Street.</p><p>&ldquo;What a thrill that was.&rdquo; Penney said. &ldquo;Late in the game, we knew we had won, but the guys were still going all out to preserve my shutout. It was one of the greatest nights of my life.&rdquo;</p><p>Penney didn&rsquo;t have much time to rest on his laurels. The Quebec Nordiques were next in line in a best-of-seven quarter-final for the bragging rights of the Adams Division and French Canada. One of the most bitter rivalries in NHL history&mdash;on the ice and in the beer stores&mdash;was about to be renewed and Penney spent a few sleepless nights thinking about it.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t ever remember being as nervous as I was before the first game of that series (in Quebec),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I grew up in Quebec City and I knew how special the series was going to be. The media really built it up in the papers and I had a lot of family and friends in the arena that night. We lost the first game and I didn&rsquo;t play very well. But we decided to forget it and come back strongly in Game Two.&rdquo;</p><p>The series was deadlocked at two games apiece when Penney spun his magic and shifted the momentum into Montreal&rsquo;s corner. In Game Five, he made 26 saves and shut out the Nordiques, 4-0. His performance frustrated Quebec coach Michel Bergeron.</p><p>&ldquo;We had lots of chnaces but Penney was the difference,&rdquo; Bergeron said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing the same thing to us that Ken Dryden did to Montreal&rsquo;s opponents in the 1971 playoffs. He&rsquo;s winning it for the Canadiens.&rdquo;</p><p>Throughout the first five games of the series, the two clubs managed to more or less supress their emotions. But they officially declared war on one another following the second period of Game Six. A 15-minute donnybrook involving all the players on each team climaxed when Quebec&rsquo;s Louis Sleigher cold-cocked Montreal defenseman Jean Hamel after a tussle along the boards. Referee Bruce Hood ejected <i>a</i> handful of players on each side but the deposed members returned for the pre-third period skate.</p><p>Hostilities immediately resumed, as the Canadiens tried to avenge the Sleigher sucker punch. Meanwhile, Penney found himself strapped to the side of the Canadiens&rsquo; bench by the strong-arm of coach Lemaire.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really want to fight,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but some of our guys were being double-teamed and Jacques had to hold me back a few times. Richard (Sevigny) was already thrown out of the game and he couldn&rsquo;t afford to lose me as well.&rdquo;</p><p>Michel Goulet scored shortly after the cease-fire to put the Nordiques ahead 2-0 and it looked as if Quebec was going to force a deciding seventh game. But Steve Shutt scored for Montreal midway through the final period and everything suddenly caved in on the Nordiques. Shutt, with his second, Rick Green, John Chabot and Guy Carbonneau pumped in consecutive markers and the Habs sent their home supporters into a frenzy with a 5-3 series-clinching victory.</p><p>&ldquo;I wanted to jump up and down when we were leading 5-2 but I realized I had to keep my emotions under control,&rdquo; Penney said. &ldquo;When the game ended, though, I didn&rsquo;t hold back. None of us did. It was a real emotional series.&rdquo;</p><p>After grabbing a 2-0 series lead against the New York Islanders in the Wales Conference final, fatigue began to set in. The Canadiens lost the four succeeding games and the series in six. Penney finished the playoffs with a superb 2.20 goals-against mark, setting the stage for what could be a long, rewarding career.</p><p>&ldquo;It was so exciting the way the people in Montreal reacted towards us last spring, &rsquo;&rsquo; Penney said. &ldquo;I spent the whole summer looking forward to training camp and my first full year with the Canadiens. There&rsquo;s going to be some pressure on me this year but I think I got used to handling that stuff in the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>Despite his great efforts in the spring, Penney is not thoroughly convinced he is the runaway No. 1 candidate among Canadien goalkeepers. In fact, he is hoping to form a strong tandem with his partner.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be working very hard for the No. 1 position but I also realize how important it is to have two consistent goalies,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;With all the travelling these days, every team needs a backup who can play 20 or 30 games a season.&rdquo;</p><p>What about the other 50, Steve?</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take them,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t mind that at all.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012329/10148151-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="2031" height="2991"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0011-01

Penney’s Worth A Lot To Habs

<div class="byline">BY RICH FRIEDMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-012011/10148196-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><i><b><span>T</span></b>he year is 2005. The New York Rangers have just won their first Stanley Cup since 1940 and as their first victory parade in 65 years snakes its way down Broadway, an observer reflects on how much the times have changed.</i></p><p><i>Starting-off point for the parade is on the West Side site, overlooking the Hudson River near the city&rsquo;s new Convention Center where the 25,000-seat Madison Square Garden was opened in 1995.</i></p><p><i>Ten minutes later, the parade passes the spot on Seventh Avenue where the Rangers played from 1968 until the mid-&rsquo;90s, when that building was given a send-off by 50-year-old Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones and then converted by owner Gulf & Western into a more-profitable office building.</i></p><p><i>Now, take a look at the Rangers&rsquo; entourage. In the lead float is New York City&rsquo;s first woman mayor, sitting next to the Rangers&rsquo; first female general manager and the team&rsquo;s first Russian coach, a man who journeyed from Moscow to Minnesota to learn hockey strategy from the University of Minnesota&rsquo;s athletic director, former Ranger coach Herb Brooks, and then was hired through a special deal worked out between Russian hockey authorities and National Hockey League commissioner Alan Eagleson.</i></p><p><i>That second-generation blend of European and North American strategy was just what the doctor ordered for wavy-haired Bruce Duguay, the Rangers&rsquo; 18-year-old captain whose father, Ron, had ironically been banished to Brook&rsquo;s doghouse more than 20 years earlier before being traded to Detroit where he led the Red Wings to four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early &rsquo;90s, just as GM Jim Devellano predicted he would.</i></p><p><i>The Rangers, meanwhile, had been the only New York-based franchise not to win a league championship since the Second World War a drought unparalleled in professional sports and one which had driven their fans to distraction. And when that drought ended, the sidewalks of New York were lined with the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the fans who had witnessed the</i> team&rsquo;s <i>last ticker-tape parade in 1940.</i></p><p><b>F</b>or New York Ranger fans, such a scenario represents both the best of their hopes and the worst of their fears. Theirs is a legacy of frustration that has been intensified by the team&rsquo;s recent trips to the mountain top&mdash;the finals in 1979, during Fred Shero&rsquo;s first year as their coach, and five years later the heartbreaking opening-round, overtime loss to the Islanders, when they came within an overtime goal of dethroning the defending Stanley Cup champions.</p><p>&ldquo;We all suffered terribly,&rdquo; said one Manhattan lawyer, who rarely goes to the Garden now, preferring to watch Ranger games at home on cable, where he doesn&rsquo;t have to expose himself to the fickleness and frequently-foul mouths of the Ranger hometown fans. &ldquo;The puck bouncing over Mikko Leinonen&rsquo;s stick&mdash;maybe 20 feet from Billy Smith&mdash;it just never leaves my mind.&rdquo;</p><p>That happened just moments before Islander defenseman Ken Morrow toppled the Rangers with the overtime goal that Ranger fans will never forget.</p><p>Now, the question might well be asked&mdash;did that goal set the Rangers&rsquo; Cup quest back another decade? If they don&rsquo;t go all the way in 1984-85. will they be hexed until the &rsquo;90s? What would be the psychological effect of another year of failure, after coming so close last spring&mdash;especially if Brooks heads home to family and Minnesota as many observers believe he will?</p><p>&rsquo;&rsquo;What happens to the Rangers and the Islanders is irrelevant,&rsquo;&rsquo; snapped the attorney. &ldquo;The Cup will be in Edmonton for the next five years.</p><p>&ldquo;Now the Rangers have to bide their time and build a team.&rdquo;</p><p>Ah, yes, another year of transition. That seems to have been the buzz word here since the late &rsquo;70s, when Shero took over and was then followed by Craig Patrick.</p><p>And yet the facts are unavoidable. The Rangers&rsquo; deficiencies were there for all to see, particularly their crying need for a forward to put the puck in the net and for defensemen willing to take the body the way big Willie Huber won&rsquo;t or can&rsquo;t.</p><p>While some of Patrick&rsquo;s deals of the last few years have borne fruit and will continue to&mdash;the acquisition of Pierre (48 goals) Larouche from Hartford, for one, and of big Olympian Bob Brooke from St. Louis&mdash;it was evident that the string had run out on other transactions, such as former Whaler Mike Rogers and Blaine Stoughton. Those were short-term positions; the message for 1983-84 was there were still holes to be filled in the Rangers&rsquo; lineup and tough decisions to be made about a good half-dozen players.</p><p>Meanwhile, several other veterans whose status had been uncertain had decided for themselves what they wanted to do, based in large part on how they saw the team&rsquo;s chances. Anders Hedberg, the 33-year-old right winger who had sat out the entire 1981-82 season after knee surgery and later rebounded with a 32-goal season last year (second on the team only to Larouche), made the decision to return for one more year&mdash;"one last shot at it"&mdash;considering how close the Rangers had come in the playoffs.</p><p>Shortly after the season ended, Hedberg admitted that he was closer to returning than he had been last winter. Since recovering from surgery, he has made that a year-by-year decision. He was convinced that had the Rangers beaten the Islanders they would have made the finals.</p><p>&ldquo;We do have a serious chance to be in there,&rdquo; said Hedberg. &ldquo;My feeling was, we deserved to beat the Islanders.&rdquo;</p><p>Then there was Dave Maloney, the veteran defenseman who had set out the Islanders series, only to play in the final game after captain Barry Beck was injured.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel that this franchise is really close to the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; said Maloney, who had been the subject of many a trade rumor since the all-star break, &ldquo;and I want to be part of it. &ldquo;</p><p>The Rangers have in James Patrick, the highly-touted Olympic defenseman, the makings of a team leader. They have in John Vanbiesbrouck and Ron Scott two promising young goalies, and they have in their fans as emotional a group of rooters as any in all of professional sports.</p><p>For a symbol of both their hopes and their frustrations, the Garden faithful need look no further than a middle-aged man who parades around the building&rsquo;s aisles in an Indian headdress and a Ranger jersey. Bob Comas&mdash;also known as The Chief&mdash;had not even been born when the Rangers last won the Cup, and some fans do not take too kindly to the spectacle of their unofficial mascot prancing about during seasons of all-too-frequent despair. He has had his head-dress stomped on and had been thrown at him as Garden security looked the other way.</p><p>&ldquo;The longer the Rangers go without winning the Cup, the fans become increasingly frustrated,&rdquo; Comas said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m more or less a symbol of what the Rangers are all about.&rdquo;</p><p>Yet, this year&rsquo;s Rangers&mdash;like last spring&rsquo;s&mdash;are capable of a division and even a conference championship. But beating an Edmonton Oiler team, a young squad at the peak of their power, may be another story. So what is ahead for the Rangers&rsquo; long-suffering fans is either yet another build-up to a giant let-down or one of the biggest celebrations The Big Apple has ever seen.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

In The Year 2005…

<div class="byline">BY PERRY LEFKO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011791/10148227-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers have the Stanley Cup now, but their next task is to hold onto it.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>T</b>here is every reason to think that the 1984-85 season will go down in National Hockey League history as one of the most important ever.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s why:</p><p>&bull; The newly-crowned Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers will either start a dynasty or be one-shot wonders.</p><p>&bull; The New York Islanders will either capture their fallen glory or plummet even further from grace.</p><p>&bull; Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s achievements will receive stiff competition from those of Mario Lemieux.</p><p>&bull; Fans will reap the harvest of increased television coverage&mdash;though this point is, as they say on TV, subject to change.</p><p>&bull; Many players will be out of work as a result of the death of the Central League.</p><p>Let&rsquo;s begin then with the Oilers. Glen Sather&rsquo;s wild west crew simply were too strong for the four-time Cup champion, New York Islanders. The Oilers won in five games, and they were awesome. Wayne Gretzky dismissed his lackadaisical performance in the 1983 playoffs, and proved he was truly the greatest player in North America. But it was a team effort, with solid efforts from Mark Messier (the Most Valuable Player in the tournament). Paul Coffey, Kevin Lowe, Grant Fuhr and Kevin McClelland, acquired in a midseason deal with Pittsburgh for Tom Roulston.</p><p>But can the Oilers start with that one Cup and go for a second one?</p><p>That brings us to the second point&mdash;the status of the Islanders? Were they really tired in their loss to the Oilers? The Islanders, both physically and emotionally, were certainly a different team in the &rsquo;84 finals. And when they start this season they&rsquo;ll be altered even further.</p><p>Memorial Cup-winning coach Brian Kilrea has moved away after 10 successful season in Ottawa to assist Al Arbour behind the Isles&rsquo; bench. It&rsquo;s only for a year, as Arbour has indicated this will be his 13th and final season coaching the Isles. You know Arbour would like to leave on a high note, so you can be sure any one of his past speeches will pale in comparison to some of this season&rsquo;s oratories.</p><p>Also, the Isles will be moving one of their goalies at the start of the season. Will it be Billy Smith? Roland Melanson? Kelly Hrudey?.</p><p>There won&rsquo;t be any time for the Isles to slump at the start of the season as they&rsquo;ve done in previous years. The Patrick Division will be tougher than ever with Washington, the archrival Rangers and Philadelphia, led by new general manager Bobby Clarke, eager to finish first in the regular season. And that&rsquo;s only the regular season. Once it&rsquo;s the playoffs, all three will looking to unseat the Isles, who came within an overtime by goal by Ken Morrow of losing in the division semi-finals last season.</p><p>And moving right along, there&rsquo;s the status of Lemieux, the hottest commodity in the league aside from Gretzky. Wayne and Mario. They are celebrities by their given names only, but Wayne has already proven his ability; Mario has yet to do so.</p><p>Bluntly speaking, Lemieux will either make or break the Pittsburgh Penguins. The amazing center from Laval of the Quebec League scored 133 goals and 282 points in 70 games last season, and was rewarded with a $600,000 three-year package (including a $150,000 signing bonus) by the Penguins, who made him the first pick overall in the 1984 entry draft. A Rookie-of-the-Year selection would seem to be in order, but there&rsquo;s plenty of other freshman earning a lot less who will challenge him. It all comes down to how badly Lemieux wants it.</p><p>For the sake of the Penguins, last in the league in attendance last season with an average of 6,872, Lemieux had better want it bad.</p><p>And now the television status. Carling O&rsquo;Keefe Breweries, owners of the Quebec Nordiques, want to add more television coverage next season, but is, along with the 14 U.S. teams and the Nords, in the midst of a $25million lawsuit launched by the remaining six Canadian-based teams.</p><p>But if you asked a fan, his reaction would probably be in favor of the added coverage. Hockey fans can&rsquo;t get enough&mdash;particularly when it&rsquo;s good.</p><p>In addition, because of the existing schedule, fans in one division may see non-division teams only once a season while they&rsquo;ll see division teams four times. That&rsquo;s great if you&rsquo;re a Patrick Division fan, because four out of the six teams are among the best in the league. But if you&rsquo;re a fan in the Norris Division, you may be a little tired of watching Detroit and St. Louis, not to mention Toronto. A few games from outside the division&mdash;and the chance to see some of the other stars in the league more often&mdash;would be a welcome relief.</p><p>Lastly, there&rsquo;s the matter of the Central League. It simply became too expensive for NHL teams to support it. But the CHL&rsquo;s demise will have both it&rsquo;s good and bad points.</p><p>First the bad point. A lot of players will be unemployed or playing in Europe next season, because there are just too many people and not enough jobs in the minors. And in the case of Salt Lake, a transformed CHL franchise in the International League, it&rsquo;s literally forced to pay to play.</p><p>The good points are that competition will be better than it&rsquo;s ever been. The NHL will only be keeping its best prospects in the minors, which should see an overall improvement in all three leagues. (The Atlantic Coast League wants to use primarily American-born players, but that, too, would be good both for selling purposes and for improving the American born talent).</p><p>And this applies to the NHL, too. The training camps will be fierce, with players trying harder than ever for major-league jobs. By the start of the season, there could be a lot of player shuffles, which is always interesting from a fan standpoint.</p><p>Toss in a half dozen new coaches, a handful of exciting rookies and the usual pre-season optimism for every club, and it all adds up to is a season which has an interesting personality. In June of &rsquo;85, it could be seen as one of the most interesting of all time.</p><div class="sidebar"><h2><b>Editor&rsquo;s Note</b></h2><p>While THE HOCKEY NEWS 1985 Yearbook was in production, a number of NHL teams made roster additions and deletions. We regret that not all of these changes could be made in the Yearbook.</p><p>We invite you to read regular issues of THE HOCKEY NEWS and keep up to date on the latest hockey developments as they happen.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0017-01

PREVIEWS

Will It Be An Oiler Dynasty?

<div class="byline">Al Arbour</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021450/10148314-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="661" height="713"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011970/10148307-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="673" height="622"></div><p><b>N</b>o matter what happens this season in the National Hockey League, one thing is certain: The New York Islanders will not be the same.</p><p>That became apparent after the four-time Stanley Cup champions had their string broken by the Edmonton Oilers in the finals last season in a surprisingly easy five-game finish.</p><p>The Islanders didn&rsquo;t look as awesome in that final as they did in the past, and general manager Bill Torrey said the loss should be looked upon as a warning.</p><p>Then he indicated there would be some changes. One which will happen, though not this season, will take place behind the bench Brian (Killer) Kilrea was hired from the Memorial Cup-winning Ottawa 67s to assist coach Al Arbour, who is expected to move into a management role after his 13th year behind the Isles&rsquo; bench this season.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s (Kilrea) a very basic coach, like Al,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;Their philosophy is the same&hellip;There are things in Kilrea&rsquo;s manner and method that we liked. I like success, and he has been successful. He&rsquo;s a winner.&rdquo;</p><p>Another key move will become apparent sometime around the start of the season when the Isles will be forced to make a goaltending move. The Isles have three good ones, but can only protect two.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the biggest decision I have facing me over the summer,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;When the waiver draft comes out in October and I&rsquo;m still sitting with three goaltenders, obviously one will be snapped up.&rdquo;</p><p>Kelly Hrudey, 23, was elevated last season after a good showing in the minor leagues, but his presence caused a lot of friction among the other two goalies, Billy Smith and Rollie Melanson, as Arbour elected to give the rookie a fair workload. But Arbour went back to Smith in the second half of the season to prime his money goalie for the playoffs.</p><p>Still, the year-end statistics show Hrudey with a 3.14 goals-against average, Melanson next with 3.27 and Smith last with 3.42.</p><p>The facts would support a trade involving Smith. He&rsquo;s the eldest of the three, did not play particularly well in the finals against the Oilers, and is still very marketable. But before the NHL entry draft in June, Bill Torrey attempted to peddle Melanson to Los Angeles for the Kings&rsquo; first-round pick (third overall), but was unsuccessful. So it will be an interesting scenario as this tale of three goalies unfolds.</p><p>If Smith is the one to go, he&rsquo;ll accept his fate.</p><p>&ldquo;I love the team, I love the organization,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But if it happens, there won&rsquo;t be any bitterness from me.&rdquo;</p><p>Defense will be another key area. Newly-married captain Denis Potvin will be back again to anchor the blueline. He rebounded from an non-Potvin type season in &rsquo;82-83 (69 points in 66 games), which was plagued by off-ice problems. But last season, he had a trouble-free season and responded with 85 points. Potvin, more than ever, will be looked upon for leadership and production this season. While he&rsquo;ll have support from Swedish veterans Tomas Jonsson and Stefan Persson, he may not have the same backing from the gimpy-kneed pair of Ken Morrow and Dave Langevin, both of whom missed portions of the season with injuries.</p><p>Gord Dineen, 21, and Paul Boutilier, 21, benifitted from the injuries to Morrow and Langevin, as it gave them a promotion from the minors. Both gave capable performances, particularly in the playoffs, but they&rsquo;re still green.</p><p>Gord Lane was used sporadically last season, and it&rsquo;s doubtful he&rsquo;ll be retained. He could wind up in his home province of Manitoba this season, playing for the Jets.</p><p>Rugged Gerald Diduck, a 6-foot-2, 195-pounder who was one picked 16th overall in &rsquo;83, had a bruising year in Lethbridge last season (133 penalty minutes) and he should be ready for NHL duty.</p><p>Duncan MacPherson, 6-foot-l, 188 pounds, was the Isles&rsquo; first-round pick in &rsquo;84 from Saskatoon Blades, but he&rsquo;s only had a year of junior and is probably a year away from joining the team.</p><p>Center Bryan Trottier and right winger Mike Bossy are one of the best one-two combinations in the league. Both players missed a few games last season with injuries, but were All-Stars nonetheless. Trottier rebounded after an ordinary year for him (89 points) in &rsquo;83 with a 118-point effort. Bossy, who just eclipsed the 50-goal mark after 60-goal seasons four of the last five campaigns, proved he could play two ways.</p><p>Greg Gilbert, the hard-nosed winger, worked his way onto the left side with Trottier and Bossy and had 66 points plus a good showing in the playoffs.</p><p>The two Pats, LaFontaine and Flatley, joined the Islanders after the Olympics and were well-received. Pat LaFontaine, whom the Isles drafted in the first-round in 1983 after an amazing career with Verdun Juniors, brought his scoring touch along with 19 points in 15 games. He&rsquo;s a potential Rookie of the Year, as is Flatley, who was the Islanders&rsquo; first-round pick in &rsquo;82. His maturation was very apparent in the playoffs.</p><p>The Pats were put on a line with hardworking John Tonelli, and that combination, if retained, will be as good as any second line in the league.</p><p>The Sutter brothers, Brian and Duane, plus Bob Bourne and Clark Gillies, who had a surprisingly good showing in post-season play, are good role players.</p><p>Butch Goring, a native of St. Bonafice. Man., may be bound for the Jets, or a playing-coach role in Switzerland.</p><p>The Isles have some good prospects in the minors, such as Ron Handy, who were unable to crack the lineup in the past. They may get a longer look in training camp as the Isles slowly move to towards youth.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011714/10148300-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="1578" height="3197"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>One of the biggest questions facing the New York Islanders is whether to trade veteran netminder Billy Smith.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>NEW YORK ISLANDERS (13)</h3><p>1. Duncan MacPherson, D, Saskatoon</p><p>2. Bruce Melanson, RW, Oshawa</p><p>3. Jeff Norton, D, Mass HS</p><p>4. Doug Wieck, LW, Minn HS</p><p>5. Ari Haanpaa, RW, Finland</p><p>6. Mike Murray, C, London</p><p>7. Jim Wilharm, D, Minn HS</p><p>8. Kelly Murphy, D, Sask. HS</p><p>9. Franco Desantis, D, Verdun</p><p>10. Tom Warden, D, North Bay</p><p>11. David Volek, RW, Czech</p><p>12. Russ Becker, D, Iowa HS</p><p>13. Allister Brown, D, New Hampshire</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-021277/10148293-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="775" height="2284"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011723/10148286-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="1128" height="1393"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mike Bossy didn&rsquo;t score as many goals, but he worked hard to improve his defensive play.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021234/10148279-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="1298" height="1571"></div><h2><b>New York Islanders Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03863/10148272-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="2476" height="1563"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011380/10148265-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="2455" height="1286"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02899/10148258-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="2454" height="1291"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists; <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal. <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; GT &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); P &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); TOT &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T, L, I. P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists). <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice; <b>PGF</b> - Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> - Total Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>PGA</b> - Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> - Percentage of opponents&rsquo; even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-02

New York Islanders

<div class="byline">Bryan Murray</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-021167/10148401-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="712" height="715"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011603/10148394-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="676" height="360"></div><p><b>W</b>hen the Washington Capitals signed veteran Paul Gardner in the off-season, it was a minor move with major ramifications.</p><p>Gardner, 28, was released by the Pittsburgh Penguins and his career appeared to be over, but the Caps rescued him and signed him to a contract.</p><p>&ldquo;We lack offensive production and Paul Gardner could be a specialist for us on the power play,&rdquo; Cap general manager David Poile said at the time. &ldquo;Also, I&rsquo;d like to be able to set up our team with two offensive lines and two defensive lines.</p><p>That is a gross understatement. The Caps&rsquo; leading scorer, Mike Gartner, had only 85 points.</p><p>The team is built with defense in mind, as coach Bryan Murray is more content to let the other team make mistakes. He can&rsquo;t really be faulted, though, because he&rsquo;s made the Caps winners the last two seasons. In 1982-83, he took them to the playoffs for the first time in their history, and last season nearly guided them to a first-place finish in the tough Patrick Division. They lost out to the New York Islanders by only two points.</p><p>But after polishing off Philadelphia in a three-game sweep in the opening round of the playoffs, they lost to the Islanders in five games in the division finals. It was a bitter loss, which left Gartner, for one, quite upset.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel much more disappointed this year than last year,&rdquo; Gartner said after the loss. &ldquo;Last year we were happy to just get into the playoffs. This year I honestly thought we should have beat them. It&rsquo;s frustrating. I want the season to start tomorrow. I still think we can beat that club. Maybe it&rsquo;s going to take a year or two to get the confidence or experience we need.&rdquo;</p><p>Winger Craig Laughlin, however, said the a lack of a &ldquo;killer instinct&rdquo; is severely retarding the Caps.</p><p>The forwards needn&rsquo;t worry about opening up because the Caps are strong in goal and on defense.</p><p>Pat Riggin responded from a week in the minors to post the best average in the league at 2.66 (Quebec fans will note Mario Gosselin only played three games and doesn&rsquo;t really qualify). Riggin had always been considered a good goalie, but it took that one week in the minors&mdash;a decision he made on his own&mdash;to straighten him out. He was on the trading block, but saved himself with an amazing win string. The former junior standout who turned pro at 18 with the Birmingham Bulls in 1978 is a star when he wants to be, but consistency seems to be his biggest problem.</p><p>Riggin&rsquo;s play reduced the playing time of Al Jensen, the hottest thing in the NHL at the All-Star break. He was the top goalie in the league and a member of the Wales Conference team, but a back injury sidelined him from the contest. He was second fiddle to Riggin from that point on, but the two easily captured the William Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals.</p><p>The defense was equally terrific. Rod Langway won his second consecutive James Norris Trophy as the best rearguard in the league, and it was an interesting choice. Paul Coffey of Edmonton had a banner year offensively, but Langway was brilliant defensively. Right or wrong, Langway certainly earned recognition for his job. He&rsquo;s the leader on that team, logging up to 45 minutes a game and every day Poile wakes up he has to thank former Montreal managing director Irving Grundman for giving him Langway two seasons ago in a deal which will never be completely understood.</p><p>Along with Langway, Grundman tossed in Brian Engblom, hardly a shabby player by any means, and last season Poile traded Engblom and Ken Houston to Los Angeles for Larry Murphy, one of the better rushing defensemen in the league. That only added to a defense corps which was solid with Scott Stevens, the tough and talented sophomore, Timo Blomqvist and Darren Veitch, a good player when he&rsquo;s healthy. Dave Shand played a regular shift after being cast off by Toronto which banished him to the minors after a good playoff the previous season, and Swede Peter Andersson was signed in mid-season and ushered into the lineup.</p><p>Kevin Hatcher, the Caps&rsquo; first-round pick in &rsquo;84, has a good attitude and wants to make the team, but at 18 the Caps may feel he needs more time in junior with the North Bay Centennials.</p><p>But back to the goalscoring. Dave Christian was acquired in the summer of &rsquo;83, and the former U.S. Olympian responded with his best-ever NHL season (81 points). He worked well with Bengt Gustafsson, who also had his best season with 75 points in five years in Washington.</p><p>Bob Carpenter, the Caps&rsquo; first pick (third overall) in &rsquo;81 from high school in St. John&rsquo;s High School in Massachusetts, had a 68-point season, but he is really hard to assess. To a certain extent his offense is curtailed by Murray&rsquo;s defensive system, but the Caps expect more from him (one reason they signed Gardner). Still, he&rsquo;s only 21 and has three years of NHL experience.</p><p>Craig Laughlin, Alan Haworth, Doug Jarvis, Bobby Gould, Bryan Erickson and Doug Jarvis, winner of the Frank Selke Trophy as best defensive player, round out the capable cast.</p><p>Lou Franceschetti, a robust left winger who played last season in Hershey, was given a new contract in the summer and may be in the lineup this season.</p><p>Dean Evason, a 5-foot-10, 175-pounder from Kamloops of the Western League, has exhausted his junior eligibility and this may be the season he makes it to the NHL. He&rsquo;s a center and he can score, but he needs a chance to prove it.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011374/10148387-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="1590" height="3196"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Rod Langway continues to pay dividends for the Capitals, as he won the Norris Trophy for the second straight year.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>WASHINGTON CAPS (11)</h3><p>1. Kevin Hatcher, D, North Bay</p><p>2. Steve Leach, RW, Mass HS</p><p>3. Michael Pivonka, C, Czech</p><p>4. Kris King, C, Peterborough</p><p>5. Vito Cramarossa, RW, Toronto</p><p>6. Timo lljima, C, Finland</p><p>7. Frank Joo, D, Regina</p><p>8. Jim Thomson, RW, Toronto</p><p>9. Paul Cavallini, D, Henry Carr HS</p><p>10. Mikhail Tatarinow, D, Soviets</p><p>11. Per Schedrin, D, Sweden</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02989/10148380-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="771" height="2371"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011544/10148373-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="1137" height="1398"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Pat Riggin spent a week in the minors, and when he returned he emerged as the Capitals&rsquo; No. 1 goalie.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-021111/10148366-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="1276" height="1523"></div><h2><b>Washington Capitals Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03770/10148359-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="2414" height="1531"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011350/10148352-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="2477" height="1459"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02955/10148345-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="2506" height="1117"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played; <b>G</b> - Goals; <b>A</b> - Assists; <b>PTS</b> - Points; <b>S</b> - Shots on goal. <b>SC PCTG</b> - Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> - Game-Winning Goals GT - Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> - First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> - Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> - Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> - Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead). <b>P</b> - Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score), <b>TOT</b>-Total Important Goals (F, T. L. I. P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> - Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by team while players he was on the ice <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage (r)f team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents&rsquo; even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-02

Washington Capitals

<div class="byline">Mike Keenan</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-021119/10148488-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="699" height="719"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011557/10148481-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="595" height="397"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he Philadelphia Flyers have been lame ducks in the playoffs the last three &ldquo;seasons, and every year there&rsquo;s been talk of change. This may be the year the talk finally ceases and the real work&mdash;on the ice&mdash;speaks for itself.</p><p>But that&rsquo;s up to Bobby Clarke, who retired in the off-season to become the Flyers&rsquo; general manager.</p><p>Let the record show that Clarke, 35, captained the Flyers to two successive Stanley Cups (&rsquo;73-74, &rsquo;74-75) and was the Most Valuable Player in the league in &rsquo;73, &rsquo;75 and &rsquo;76. He symbolized the Flyers then, a group of brawling types who were known as the Broad Street Bullies, though his strength was a never-ending desire to play his heart out. The Flyers have never been as successful since&mdash;and certainly their embarrassing losses in the playoffs the last three seasons have been terribly painful for the Philly fans&mdash;but Clarke indicates a new wave for the Flyers.</p><p>He&rsquo;ll be relying heavily on former GM, Keith Allen. It&rsquo;s a good setup, because Clarke is eager to learn, and Allen is willing to teach.</p><p>&ldquo;One-thirty in the morning in Montreal and I&rsquo;m nodding off. Bobby wants to get back on the phone to see if so-and-so&rsquo;s available,&rdquo; says Flyer head scout, Jerry Melnyk, of an incident at the 1984 entry draft which typified Clarke&rsquo;s work ethic, even off the ice.</p><p>Clarke officially became GM on May 15, but the actual process began long before that. Bob McCammon lost his popularity last season, and when team president Jay Snider offered to relieve him of his coaching job so he could concentrate on managing, McCammon quit, saying he was too young (43) to abandon coaching. The real reason may have been that he felt a lack of confidence by the Flyer hierarchy, which was just waiting for Clarke to retire so he could take over the team.</p><p>Immediately after becoming GM, Clarke A began looking for a coach. There were many candidates, but the man who was chosen to succeed McCammon is Mike Keenan, a 34-year-old who won the Canadian championship in 1984 at the University of Toronto, after winning the American League crown with Rochester the year before that.</p><p>When word leaked that Keenan was coming to Philly for a second interview, Clarke took special care to shield him from the press.</p><p>&ldquo;If reporters met Mike at the airport and waited outside while we met, it would have put a deadline pressure on us that we didn&rsquo;t need,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;This way, if it fell through, we could start fresh.&rdquo;</p><p>Keenan is one of the most cerebral men in hockey, the kind of guy who you would expect to be lecturing in college. But he&rsquo;s appealing, and the fact he&rsquo;s young is no coincidence. The Flyers have a young team, and Clarke feels Keenan will appeal to his players.</p><p>Keenan has a good assistant in Ted Sator, the assistant coach with Team USA in the Canada Cup. Ed Maguire, the head coach at the University of Guelph, was hired in the off-season as another assistant.</p><p>Along with Clarke, Bill Barber will be missed. Barber has been forced to take a year off to recover from a serious knee injury, and at the age of 32 there&rsquo;s a possibility he may be forced to retire.</p><p>That means that Darryl Sittler will be the senior member of the Flyers. Sittler, who&rsquo;ll be 34 by the start of the season, was considered expendable, but the center-left winger will probably be retained to provide leadership.</p><p>Tim Kerr turned a lot of heads last season with 54 goals and 93 points, but he&rsquo;s entering his option year and it will be interesting to see what happens in his negotiations with the team. Clarke was playing hardball with him in the summer, proving he could handle his new role. But if Kerr is as good as last season would indicate, then the Flyers will find it hard not to reward him.</p><p>Brian Propp had his best season with 92 points, though there was talk the Flyers might be trading him. If they keep him, he should have another good season.</p><p>Dave Poulin had 35 goals and 76 points in his rookie season, and he is easily one of the fastest players in the league. He&rsquo;s underrated, but that won&rsquo;t be for long if he has a good&mdash;and speedy&mdash;sophomore outing.</p><p>The Flyer forwards are young, led by centers Ron Sutter, Len Hachborn and Ross Fitzpatrick. There&rsquo;s a good blend of toughness and speed on the wings with Ilkka Sinisalo, Rich Sutter, Ray Allison (if he&rsquo;s not traded), Paul Guay and Glen Cochrane, moved up from defense.</p><p>Peter Zezel, a center whom the Flyers drafted in the first round in 1983, and Rick Tocchet, a 1982 pick, both excelled in junior last season and will be watched carefully in training camp.</p><p>There&rsquo;s strength on the blueline with Mark Howe, still one of the best rushing defensemen in the league but coming off a poor season due to a shoulder injury, Thomas Eriksson (on the All-Rookie Team last season), Doug Crossman, Brad McCrimmon, Miroslav Dvorak and Brad Marsh. Ed (Boxcar) Hospodar was signed as a free agent from Hartford in the off-season to fill the void created by the retirements of Frank Bathe and Randy Holt. Daryl Stanley and Dave Brown have limited talent, but supply plenty of muscle if that is a route the Flyers choose to take.</p><p>Bill Campbell and Jerome Carrier of Verdun are promising youngsters.</p><p>Bob Froese is No. 1 in goal, but his backup, Pelle Lindbergh, has never recovered from a bombing in the 1983 All-Star game. He purposedly avoided playing for Team Sweden in the recent Canada Cup to prepare for Tegular season, but he&rsquo;ll have competition in training camp from Gil Hudon and Ron Hex tall.</p><p>The good news for the Flyers is that the fans will be more patient with their hero, Clarke, running the show than they would with McCammon.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011428/10148474-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="1601" height="3205"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Flyer winger Tim Kerr was a big surprise last season with 54 goals and was looking to earn a raise in the off-season.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (13)</h3><p>1. Greg Smyth, D, London</p><p>2. Scott Mellanby, RW, Henry Carr HS</p><p>3. Jeff Chychrun, D, Kingston</p><p>4. David McLay, LW, Kelowna</p><p>5. John Stevens, D, Oshawa</p><p>6. Dave Hanson, C, No. Dak HS</p><p>7. Brian Dobbin, RW, London</p><p>8. John Dzikowski, LW, Brandon</p><p>9. Tom Allen, D, Kitchener</p><p>10. Luke Vitale, C, Henry Carr HS</p><p>11. Billy Powers, C, Mass HS</p><p>12. Daryn Fersovich, C. St. Albert, Tier II</p><p>13. Juraj Bakos, D, Czech</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-021004/10148467-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="789" height="2286"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011533/10148460-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="1124" height="1407"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dave Poulin was most impressive in his first year, as he maximized his outstanding speed.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-021076/10148453-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="1266" height="1539"></div><h2><b>Philadelphia Flyers Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03796/10148446-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="2436" height="1563"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011345/10148439-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="2436" height="1263"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02924/10148432-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="2447" height="1296"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played; <b>G</b> - Goals. <b>A</b> - Assists. <b>PTS</b> - Points; <b>S</b> - Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals. <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game. <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> - Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); <b>P</b> - Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F. T, L, I. P); <b>PCTG</b> - Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by players team while he was on the ice, <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-02

Philadelphia Flyers

<div class="byline">Herb Brooks</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-021065/10148575-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="711" height="716"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011544/10148568-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="666" height="621"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>elcome to the Big Apple, home of the Rangers, a team who came close last season to becoming the best in New York and <i>may</i> finally do it this year.</p><p>As a little refresher, remember it was the Rangers who came within an overtime goal of beating the crosstown rival Islanders in the opening round of the playoffs. Ranger fans lauded the play of their beloved team, and this season they&rsquo;re hoping the string of 44 years without a Stanley Cup will be over. But before they can start thinking about the Stanley Cup, they&rsquo;ve got plenty to contend with in their own division, the Patrick, which some hockey people consider the most competitive in the National Hockey League.</p><p>Just to get out of their division, they have to eliminate two of this tough group&mdash;New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers.</p><p>Still, the Rangers proved last spring how close they are. And, based on that strong playoff performance against the Isles, the fans and players expect to go a long way this season.</p><p>But you just can&rsquo;t tell with this team. It seems to lack cohesion.</p><p>If you can believe the sometimes fanatical and sensational New York press, then Ranger general manager Craig Patrick and coach Herb Brooks do not get along, with Brooks bound for the University of Minnesota immediately after his contract expires this season.</p><p>Heading into this season, though, the Rangers biggest task will be disposing of bodies. The Blueshirts have a plethora of players with lots of NHL experience. The trouble is that a number of them are either on the downside of their careers or they don&rsquo;t fit into Brooks&rsquo; scheme of things.</p><p>Competition for jobs is considered healthy, but with so many bodies on the loose in New York, large portions of the lineup remain uncertain and that isn&rsquo;t a positive thing.</p><p>Now let&rsquo;s move on to their top player, Pierre Larouche. Considered uselss in Hartford, Larouche narrowly missed recording his third 50-goal season with three separate teams (he tallied 50 in Pittsburgh and Montreal). Still, he produced 48 goals and 33 assists and he didn&rsquo;t even cost the Rangers anything. Larouche had a lot of bad marks in his book before coming to New York, but he&rsquo;s supposedly reformed. Another year like the last and the Rangers will be laughing all the way to the bank. But Larouche is in his option year, and at press time he was asking for a substantial raise and GM Patrick was putting up a stiff front.</p><p>Mark Pavelich, the former U.S. Olympian who hung a Gone Fishing sign on his door when the U.S. team in the Canada Cup entry came a callin&rsquo;, had 29 goals and 53 assists and was the perfect foil for Larouche. He quitely does the job and keeps getting better.</p><p>Mike Allison is third on the depth chart for centers. He&rsquo;s developed into a good, defensive-type center, but his health is a big question. Bob Brooke, a graduate of Yale and the U.S. Olympic team who was traded from St. Louis to New York because the Blues couldn&rsquo;t afford to meet his salary demands, came on strong in the playoffs last season.</p><p>Mike Rogers is on the way down, and at last look he was on his way out.</p><p>Dave Gagner, who split his time between Brantford of the Ontario League and the Canadian Olympic Team, will most likely be playing full-time with the Rangers, and possibly Mark Morrison, a minor leaguer who played sparingly last season because of injuries.</p><p>A good supply of wingers is led by Anders Hedberg, once a Smurf and now in his last season in the NHL, Don Maloney, Mark Osborne, Patrik Sundstrom and Jan Erixon. Blaine Stoughton and Mike Blaisdell are two guys with a lot of talent but they have reputations for being gross underachievers.</p><p>And, oh yes, how could you exclude Nick Fotiu, the darling of the Ranger fans and a guy with more heart than Stoughton and Blaisdell combined but simply lacking the talent to remain on the roster. Just before the June draft, Fotiu&rsquo;s agent, Larry Rauch, went public with his client&rsquo;s dilemma.</p><p>&ldquo;Herb Brooks has made it clear to Nick and to myself that he&rsquo;d like to see Nick phased out,&rdquo; Rauch said. &ldquo;We want the New York fans to know Nick loves the Rangers&rsquo; crest and the fans. But there&rsquo;s no sense in staying there if he&rsquo;s not going to be allowed to perform.&rdquo;</p><p>On defense, Barry Beck, who suffers from inconsistency and injuries, is the team captain, and the undisputed leader. He&rsquo;ll be ably assisted by James Patrick, the talented grad of the Canadian Olympic team who played so well in his short stint with the Rangers at the end of last season. In fact, Patrick is being tabbed as the defensive anchor of the future. He&rsquo;s an excellent puckhandler, but also pays considerable attention to affairs in his own end.</p><p>Reijo Routsalainen, the Finn who embodies the spirit of Brooks&rsquo; flow-in-motion system, is a dynamite little player. Tom Laidlaw is underrated but gets the job done. Steve Richmond came up from the minors to add some badly-need muscle, which did not come from Willie Huber, the giant among giants whose passive behaviour belies his size.</p><p>That leaves Dave Maloney, the former captain, and Ron Greschner, the husband of superstar model Carol Alt. Where they will fit in remains to be seen.</p><p>And what about goal? Glen Hanlon showed in the playoffs that he still can be a capable NHL goalie. He&rsquo;ll be the No. 1 man this season, with John Vanbiesbrouck, THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; minor league Player of the Year last season, Mario Proulx, Ron Scott and Steve Weeks competing for the No. 2 job. Give the edge to Vanbiesbrouck based on his good showing last year in the minors.</p><p>Put it all together. Is it enough to get past the Isles, Caps and Flyers? It&rsquo;s a question that Ranger fans have been asking for years and they are praying the answer is to their liking this time around.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011397/10148561-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="1586" height="3156"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Pierre Larouche was the bargain of the year, as the Rangers claimed him for practically nothing and he produced 48 goals.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>NEW YORK RANGERS (12)</h3><p>1. Terry Carkner, D, Peterboro</p><p>2. Raimo Helminen, C, Finland</p><p>3. Paul Broten, C, Minn HS</p><p>4. Clark Donatelli, LW, Stratford, Tier II</p><p>5. Kjell Samuelson, D, Sweden</p><p>6. Tom Hussey, LW, Ontario HS</p><p>7. Brian Nelson, C, Minn HS</p><p>8. Ville Kentala, LW, Finland</p><p>9. Heinz Ehlers, C, Sweden</p><p>10. Kevin Miller, C, Redford HS</p><p>11. Tom Lorentz, C, Minn HS</p><p>12. Scott Brower, G, Lloydminster, Tier II</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02950/10148554-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="791" height="2292"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011519/10148547-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="1112" height="1433"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Rangers need a strong performance from captain Barry Beck, who has the potential to do even better.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-021028/10148540-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="1240" height="1599"></div><h2><b>New York Rangers Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03746/10148533-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="2407" height="1598"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011345/10148526-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="2503" height="1524"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02936/10148519-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="2484" height="1461"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-02

New York Rangers

<div class="byline">Doug Carpenter</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-021081/10148662-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="644" height="717"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011544/10148655-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="495" height="482"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span></b>omewhere down the road, perhaps in five years or so, the New Jersey Devils will be a good team. After all, they just keep landing top draft picks year after year.</p><p>But as far as this season goes, new coach Doug Carpenter will have to build a dream if the Devils expect to make the playoffs. If Carpenter&rsquo;s lucky, the Devils will improve on last season&rsquo;s finish&mdash;second worst overall in the league&mdash;but chances are New Jersey will play an 80-game schedule for the sole purpose of determining how high it will draft in &rsquo;85.</p><p>Carpenter, 41, toiled in the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; organization after coaching the Cornwall Royals to a Memorial Cup championship in 1980. He did a good job with the Leafs&rsquo; minor-league teams, should have been promoted, but was overlooked for a reason known only to the Leafs. (One rumor had it that he was to be elevated as assistant coach this season, but Leaf owner Harold Ballard nixed the idea after he read a newspaper column by former Leaf general manager Punch Imlach, who stated Carpenter deserved to be head coach).</p><p>So the Devils, after failing to secure the services of Mike Keenan (hired by Philadelphia) and giving Tom McVie a good deal to go back down to the minors, signed Carpenter. He has one year to make good of a situation which is pretty bad.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no strange situation here,&rdquo; Carpenter boldly stated when he was named coach. &ldquo;I guess if you weren&rsquo;t able to do the job, you don&rsquo;t deserve a second year. One way of looking at it is that the people who want the long-range contracts are the ones who are established. The one year doesn&rsquo;t concern me.</p><p>&ldquo;What does it do in terms of security? If they&rsquo;re going to get rid of you, they&rsquo;11 get rid of you anyway. Oh, they&rsquo;ll pay you if you have the years left, but there&rsquo;s no security in employment.&rdquo;</p><p>Now that&rsquo;s confidence&hellip; sort of.</p><p>But realistically, how can you expect a parting of the Hudson River from Carpenter? He&rsquo;ll have a good blend of young talent, but they&rsquo;re going to make mistakes and Carpenter will need a lot of patience. Assistant coach Lou Vairo may be of some help, but his only major experience is as head coach of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, which bombed in Sarajevo.</p><p>Glenn (Chico) Resch, the good goalie who is often mentioned in trade rumors, will be of some help. Resch was one of the busiest goalies last season, playing in 51 games and recording a 4.18 goals-against average&mdash;which isn&rsquo;t too bad when you consider the Devils had the fifth-worst team GAA in the league. Ron Low is his able-bodied sidekick and will play in his share of games. Craig Billington, picked 23rd overall in the 1984 entry draft, will be returned to the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario League, but look for him to be the Devils&rsquo; goalie of the future.</p><p>Joe Cirella will spearhead the defense. Cirella was the Devils&rsquo; representitive at the 1984 All-Star Game (which just happened to be in New Jersey) and he delighted the Devil fans with one of the Wales&rsquo; goals. He has age (21) and size (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) in his favor, plus 44 points last season. His plus-minus looked worse than a winter temperature in Western Canada, but look for him to improve on that with some help from veterans Mike Kitchen, Dave Lewis, Bob Hoffmeyer and Murray Brum well.</p><p>The status of Bob Lorimer and Phil Russell is questionable. Both could conceivably start the season, though the Devils may seek to move both of them to pave the way for newcomers Don Dietrich, acquired in an offseason trade with Chicago, and Uli Heimer, a free agent from West Germany. Ken Daneyko is an outstanding offensive-type rearguard who played 11 games with the Devils last season before breaking his leg. He&rsquo;ll be staying in New Jersey this season.</p><p>Center will attract a lot of attention this season, primarily because of Kirk Muller, taken second overall in the &rsquo;84 draft. Muller was a standout with both Guelph Platers and the Canadian Olympic Team, and would have been the first pick had it not been for Mario Lemieux. Muller can play all three forward positions and the Devils are just delighted to have him.</p><p>&ldquo;Muller&rsquo;s a more proven commodity than (Ed) Olczyk,&rdquo; said general manager Max McNab, who acquired Dietrich from the Black Hawks for bypassing on Olczyk, a native son of Chicago. &ldquo;We think Kirk has the skills to become a complete player. He also has that certain something every team is looking for&mdash; he&rsquo;s a driving force.&rdquo;</p><p>Pat Verbeek had a good rookie season with 47 points, but should easily pad that in his sophomore year. Aaron Broten slumped to 38 points after leading the team with 55 points the previous year, so he&rsquo;ll be looking to improve. Veterans Mel Bridgman and Rick Meagher should have no problem making the team; it&rsquo;s just a question of whether they&rsquo;re used at center or on the wing. Steve Tsujira, a minor-league and junior star, was picked up from Philadelphia. He&rsquo;s only 5-foot-5, but the Devils may give him a shot if he has a good training camp.</p><p>The wing positions are unsettled, but those in the running include Jan Ludvig, Paul Gagne, Doug Sulliman (signed as a free agent from Hartford), Rich Preston (acquired in the Chicago deal) and Tim Higgins.</p><p>Minor leaguer Rich Chernomaz, an offensive type, will also be considered.</p><p>John MacLean and Rocky Trottier, the Devils&rsquo; first-round picks in &rsquo;83 and &rsquo;82 respectively, rate better-than-average chances of making the team. If they don&rsquo;t, it will look bad on that trade which sent Rob Ramage to St. Louis in &rsquo;82. To date, it&rsquo;s a deal which has paid off for the Blues and burned the Devils, though MacLean is expected to develop into a blue-chipper.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011422/10148648-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="1585" height="3178"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Glenn Resch&rsquo;s efforts are recognized by other teams, who are often talking trade with the Devils to acquire his services.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>NEW JERSEY DEVILS (12)</h3><p>1. Kirk Muller, C, Guelph</p><p>2. Craig Billington, G, Belleville</p><p>3. Neil Davey, D, Mich State</p><p>4. Paul Ysebaert, C, Petrolia Jr. B</p><p>5. Jon Morris, C, Mass HS</p><p>6. Kirk McLean, G, Oshawa</p><p>7. Ian Ferguson, D, Oshawa</p><p>9. Vladimir Kames, C, Czech</p><p>9. Mike Roth, D, Minn HS</p><p>10. Mile Peluso, D, Minn HS</p><p>11. Jarto Piipatinen, RW, Finland</p><p>12. Chris Kiene, D, Mass HS</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-021015/10148641-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="768" height="2315"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011445/10148634-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="1138" height="1428"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Kirk Muller, the second pick overall in the 1984 draft, can play any of the forward positions.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02986/10148627-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="1268" height="1522"></div><h2><b>New Jersey Devils Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03814/10148620-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="2428" height="1552"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011281/10148613-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="2481" height="1263"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02908/10148606-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="2486" height="1300"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played. <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists. <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal. SC <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals. <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game. <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead). <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F. T, L. I P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals. <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists), <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played. <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player team&rsquo;s while he was on the ice. <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played. <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice, <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played. <b>DIFF</b> - Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-02

New Jersey Devils

<div class="byline">Bob Berry</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02976/10148749-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="683" height="720"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011401/10148742-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="680" height="632"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>f Saturday Night Live&rsquo;s Joe Piscopo had to do a report on the Pittsburgh Penguins, he&rsquo;d say, &ldquo;Mario Lemieux-&hellip;Franchise&hellip;Big contract&hellip;Big businessman&hellip;Big bust?</p><p>The stories of Lemieux&rsquo;s record-breaking season in the Quebec League in 1983-84 (133 goals, 282 points in 70 games) have been well documented, along with his refusal to wear the Penguins&rsquo; sweater at the National Hockey League entry draft in June, and his much-heralded contract signing ($600,000 for two years plus an option and a signing bonus).</p><p>So what more can you say about Lemieux?</p><p>Well, he has the power to singlehandedly bring the Penguin fans back to the Igloo, or dig the franchise into its grave.</p><p>Last season the fans came in droves to watch the Penguins, but somewhere during the course of their drive they lost directions to the Igloo and the Penguins suffered with a meager average home attendance of only 6,872, the worst in the league.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not going to be easy,&rdquo; Lemieux said of his Moses-like task. &ldquo;Hockey is a team sport. It takes 20 guys and I know that the guys will have to help me a lot. It is a lot of pressure to shoulder. But I think first of pride, not pressure. A lot of guys, they can&rsquo;t take the pressure. I think I can. I am confident of my abilities, but I think everyone will have to be patient, too. It takes some time to adjust.&rdquo;</p><p>Shortly after the Penguins signed Lemieux, they began a campaign entitled, The Class of &rsquo;84, designed to spark interest in Pittsburgh, with the Lemieux as the focal point.</p><p>&ldquo;What we want to do is sell him as a great hockey player,&rdquo; said a Penguin spokesman, &ldquo;a player who&rsquo;s being mentioned in the same breath as Wayne Gretzky, as a young player whose career really is just starting and is not really going to blossom for a couple of years. &ldquo;</p><p>But how can you expect the Penguins to be patient and wait? They&rsquo;ve been waiting since the team became part of the league in 1967 &mdash; and it isn&rsquo;t getting any better.</p><p>Last season, for instance, Penguin general manager Eddie Johnston had nothing but heartaches. Lou Angotti was promoted from the Pens&rsquo; American Hockey League franchise in Baltimore, but he had a most difficult time in his first season in the National Hockey League. The Penguin players didn&rsquo;t jive to his system, and a season later he and his assistant, Mike Corrigan, were gone.</p><p>Bob Berry succeeds Angotti, but having just gone through the grinder twice with Montreal, you have to think the former captain of the Los Angeles Kings enjoys punishment.</p><p>&ldquo;A lot of my friends in Montreal, when the rumors were surfacing, would phone me and ask me if maybe I gone senile my last three years in Montreal, or whether I had my brain baked in Los Angeles over the summer to come to a situation as we have here in Pittsburgh,&rdquo; Berry said when hired.</p><p>But his response to that was, &ldquo;I realize the situation here represents a tremendous challenge, and I can honestly say that I&rsquo;m very eager to roll up my sleeves and go to work here.&rdquo;</p><p>In the Steeltown city, you can be sure Berry will be rolling up his sleeves and working up a sweat with the Penguins.</p><p>If Lemieux gives the fans something to cheer about, then Berry will have a large load taken off his shoulders. But Berry will most likely have to be patient&mdash;not only with Lemieux, but with the entire team.</p><p>The Pens have a good group of youngsters, led by Mike Bullard, who last season potted 51 goals and 92 points. In trade talks with the Penguins, other teams are always asking about Bullard. He&rsquo;s a sniper who could certainly help a lot of teams in need of his goalscoring, but Johnston realizes the value of good young talent and it&rsquo;s doubtful he&rsquo;ll trade him.</p><p>Last season, Johnston upgraded the Pens with a good trade with Philadelphia. Disgruntled Rich Sutter, the Pens&rsquo; first-round pick the previous season, was unhappy with his situation in Pittsburgh and begged to be with his twin brother, Ron, in Philly. Johnston accommodated him and, in turn, received Mark Taylor, Ron Flockhart and Andy Brickley, plus the Flyers&rsquo; first-round pick in the &rsquo;84 draft, which the Pens used to claim Roger Belanger.</p><p>Conceivably, all four of these players could be starting the season with the Penguins. Taylor, the former NCAA Player of the Year, was going nowhere in the Flyer organization, but he finished with 55 points in 60 games last season. Flockhart, the speedy center who&rsquo;s exciting brand of play was dubbed, Flocky Hockey in Philly, had only 48 points last season, but look for him to do better. Brickley, bounced between the minors (once for disciplinary reasons) and the Penguins, had 38 points in 50 games. Belanger, a 90-point center with Kingston of the Ontario League, has two years experience in the OHL, so he may be ready to test the NHL.</p><p>Another player to consider is Doug Shedden, who produced 57 points in 67 games last season. He&rsquo;s only 23 and has a lot of potential.</p><p>Veteran Rick Kehoe is on the team for his experience, as the onetime 50-goai man has slowed down over the years.</p><p>Tim Fox, Kevin McCarthy and Bryan Maxwell are retreads on defense; the future rests with youngsters Marty McSorley, Norm Schmidt, Mo Mantha and Doug Bodger, the Pens&rsquo; second first-round pick in &rsquo;84 and the premier rearguard in the Western League last season. Bodger may turn out to be a pleasant surprise for the Penguin fans, because he possesses a lot of talent, desire and confidence.</p><p>Goalies Denis Herron and Michel Dion worked the majority of the games last season, but the Pens had the worst team goals-against average in the league. Roberto Romano, who starred in Baltimore last season, may nab one of the top two spots.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011281/10148735-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="1576" height="3163"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>All eyes will be cast upon Mario Lemieux, the high-scoring center whom the Pens picked No. 1 overall in the 1984 draft.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (10)</h3><p>1. Mario Lemieux, C, Laval</p><p>2. Doug Bodger, D, Kamloops</p><p>3. Roger Belanger, C, Kingston</p><p>4. Mark Teevens, RW, Peterboro</p><p>5. Arto Javanainen, RW, Finland</p><p>6. Tom Ryan, D, Mass HS</p><p>7. John Del Col, LW, Toronto</p><p>8. Steve Hurt, RW, Minn HS</p><p>9. Jim Steen, C, N. Dak HS</p><p>10. Mark Zillotto, LW, Ont. Jr. B</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02874/10148728-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="768" height="2367"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01998/10148721-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="1157" height="1419"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mike Bullard, who scored 51 goals last season, is one of the key players in the Penguins&rsquo; youth movement.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02658/10148714-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="1316" height="1558"></div><h2><b>Pittsburgh Penguins Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03511/10148707-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="2463" height="1551"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01873/10148700-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="2414" height="1310"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02583/10148693-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="2406" height="1288"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played: <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals. <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists: <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> - Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals. <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead, <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead). <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate. Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F. T. L, I P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice; <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE</b> PERCENTA<b>GE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played. <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice<b>. PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a tearm while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-02

Pittsburgh Penguins

<div class="byline">Gerry Cheevers</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02611/10148836-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="679" height="700"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01929/10148829-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="761" height="698"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>his season marks a new era for the Boston Bruins. In the past, Bruin teams have been built with big rugged forwards whose plodding style boded well with the Boston Garden.</p><p>Not anymore. Well, at least not completely anyway.</p><p>After they produced only two goals (both by Tom Fergus) in a three-game sweep to Montreal in the opening round of the playoffs, it became obvious the Bruins desparately needed goalscorers.</p><p>&rsquo;"If we had gotten by Montreal or Quebec, somewhere along the line our weakness would have showed up,&rdquo; Bruin general manager Harry Sinden said after the sudden loss to Montreal. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t generate offense when the checking on us is tight. When we&rsquo;ve got one player on our entire roster who scores in a playoff round, that tells you something, doesn&rsquo;t it?</p><p>&ldquo;We lack that one guy who can break open a really tight-checking game.&rdquo;</p><p>Two months after making that comment, Sinden dealt left winger Mike Krushelnyski to Edmonton for center Ken Linseman. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s (Linseman) not a prolific scorer, but he can make things happen so a lot of other people do score,&rdquo; Sinden said after the trade. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve said it before, it&rsquo;s not necessary that we get a player who is a scorer, but it&rsquo;s important that we get someone to establish a second line that has some comparable offense to Barry Pederson and Rick Middleton. I think Ken Linseman can be that player.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I like everything about Boston&mdash;the team, the fans, the rink, the atmosphere,&rdquo; said Linseman, who is already being compared to former Bruin disturber, Johnny (Pie) McKenzie. &ldquo;Maybe I can take some of the offensive pressure off Pederson. I think I can create a lot of offensive chances.&rdquo;</p><p>Pederson is one of the top centers in the league, a consistent 100-point man and highly underrated when you consider many of the other top centers in the league don&rsquo;t carry nearly as much of their team&rsquo;s offense as he does. Wayne Gretzky may be the Most Valuable Player in the league, but you can&rsquo;t deny that Pederson doesn&rsquo;t mean just as much to the Bruins.</p><p>Pederson&rsquo;s linemate is Rick Middleton, the man they call Nifty because of his splendid moves. Middleton, as everyone knows, reformed when he came over from the New York Rangers eight seasons ago. Much of that had to do with former Bruin coach Don Cherry, but Grapes has long since left the Bruin fold, and it&rsquo;s Middleton who&rsquo;s gotten better with age. The 31-year-old Toronto native had his best season a year ago since entering the pros in 1974, with 105 points. He doesn&rsquo;t gamer nearly the attention that rival Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders does, but there are few players in the league who play as well at both ends of the rinks as he does.</p><p>After Pederson, Middleton and Linseman, the Bruins are thin offensively up front. Players such as Fergus, Keith Crowder (when he&rsquo;s healthy), Dave Silk and Nevin Markwart (who made the team in his rookie year last season) are good, but definitely not game-breakers. And should either Middleton or Pederson falter, these players can&rsquo;t be relied on to pick up the slack.</p><p>Youngsters such as Lyndon Byers (Regina), Greg Johnston (Toronto) and Dave Reid (Peterborough) were promoted for short periods from their junior clubs last season, but all three are good offensive types and will probably earn more playing time this season with the Bruins.</p><p>Boston drafted right winger Dave Pasin (Prince Albert) in the first round on the &rsquo;84 draft, and center Ray Podloski (Portland) with their second pick. Both players were the start of what should be many offensive forwards drafted by the Bruins in the next few years. However, it&rsquo;s uncertain whether Boston will attempt to insert Pasin and Podloski into the lineup right away. Pasin needs work on his skating, but if he repeats on his effort last season (68 goals, 54 assists in 71 games), the Bruins may promote him and let him apprentice in the NHL.</p><p>While the Bruins may lack depth at the forward position, they&rsquo;re stacked on the blueline. Ray Bourque finished on the first All-Star team, edging out Edmonton&rsquo;s Paul Coffey in what many people consider Bruin favoritism. But, Coffey had his best season ever in the pros, totalling 96 points in 78 games. More importantly, he&rsquo;s healthy&mdash;knock on the Garden boards&mdash;and whenever you mention quality Bruin defensemen, health is always a concern (the Bobby Orr file is open for anyone wishing more information on this subject).</p><p>Bourque heads a cast which includes Mike O&rsquo;Connell, Gord Kluzak, Mike Milbury. Randy Hillier. Jim Schoenfeld (if the Bruins retain him), and a couple of young giants in Brian Curran and John Blum.</p><p>Goalie Pete Peeters had an off year after his Vezina Trophy season in 1982-83. but with a 3.16 goals-against average in 50 games the Bruins aren&rsquo;t about to go crazy. Backup Doug Keans, picked up from Los Angeles for the price of a hot dog last season, came out of nowhere to post a 3.10 GAA in 33 games, and was given a new contract in the off-season to keep him in Boston. Other goalies in the system include minor leaguer Mike Moffat and Boston University grad Cleon Daskalakis, who is dreaming of playing for the Bruins but may have to put that on hold for awhile.</p><p>The Bruins edged out Buffalo for first place in the Adams Division last season, but with Montreal&rsquo;s improvement, the maturation of the young Buffalo team, and the constant threat of the Nordiques, it&rsquo;ll be tough for Boston to hold onto its regular-season title.</p><p>But the Bruins are a quality team, one of the best in the league, and with or without scoring, they&rsquo;ll still be fighting it out to the finish.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01900/10148822-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="1576" height="3167"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Barry Pederson should have a little less pressure this season as the Bruins will be trying to concentrate more on offense.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>BOSTON BRUINS (12)</h3><p>1. Dave Pasin, RW, Prince Albert</p><p>2. Ray Podloski, C, Portland</p><p>3. Jeff Cornelius, D, Toronto</p><p>4. Bob Joyce, C, N.B. HS</p><p>5. Mike Bishop, G, London</p><p>6. Randy Oswald, D, Mich Tech</p><p>7. Mark Thietke, C, Saskatoon</p><p>8. Don Sweeney, D, N.B. HS</p><p>9. Kevin Heffernan, C, Mass HS</p><p>10. J.D. Urbanic, LW, Windsor</p><p>11. Bill Kopecky, C, Mass HS</p><p>12. Jim Newhouse, LW, Mass HS</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02633/10148815-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="768" height="2333"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01809/10148808-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="1148" height="1402"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Pete Peeters will be looking to improve, after slumping somewhat from his amazing showing two seasons ago.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02533/10148801-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="1275" height="1566"></div><h2><b>Boston Bruins Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03405/10148794-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="2453" height="1531"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01712/10148787-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="2458" height="1284"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02484/10148780-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="2416" height="1290"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played, <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals, <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists<b>, PTS</b> &mdash; Points, <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal. <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal), <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals. <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals, <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game, <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals. <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead), <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score): <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T, L. I. P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists), <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played. <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice, <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice, <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice, <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played. <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0042-02

Boston Bruins

<div class="byline">Scott Bowman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02483/10148923-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="647" height="702"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01722/10148916-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="622" height="593"></div><p><b>A</b> lot of people are picking the Buffalo Sabres to represent the Wales Conference in the Stanley Cup finals &mdash; and with good reason.</p><p>For the first time in a few years, the New York Islanders are no longer the class of the Wales Conference. There&rsquo;s every reason to believe their poor showing in the last year&rsquo;s Cup final against Edmonton was the first sign of a breakdown. Islander general manager Bill Torrey may have placed too much confidence in his old players at the risk of his youngsters. It&rsquo;s just the opposite with the Sabres.</p><p>Scott&mdash;he&rsquo;s outgrown the Scotty stage &mdash; Bowman, the Sabres&rsquo; man-for-all-portfolios, has built this team with a delicate blend of young players and steady veterans. And he&rsquo;s received a lot of respect in doing so. He was THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; choice for National Hockey League Executive of the Year, despite the fact he&rsquo;s been known to ruffle a few feathers of the writers and columnists who voted for him. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know I had so many friends,&rdquo; Bowman chuckled upon receiving the award.</p><p>His demeanor is one thing; his ability to spot talent is another. It&rsquo;s been said that while other general managers like to brag about their &ldquo;finds&rdquo; in the junior level, Bowman can give you a complete dossier on players at the bantam level.</p><p>Since taking control of the Sabres in 1979 after winning four consecutive Cups with Montreal, Bowman has continuously upgraded Buffalo with good, young talent. Phil Housley, Mike Ramsey, Tom Barrasso, Hannu Virta, Dave Andreychuk, Paul Cyr and Lindy Ruff are examples of that. But these are only the names of players on last season&rsquo;s team.</p><p>John Tucker, Adam Creighton, Normand Lacombe and Claude Verret all stand good chances of making the team this season. And these are only the North American prospects.</p><p>Jiri Dudacek, the dynamite Czechoslovakian player whom Bowman drafted in the first round in 1981, and Mikael Andersson, a young center from Sweden whom Bowman tapped in the first round of the &rsquo;84 draft, are European players who will someday be wearing the Sabre sweater, but for the time being Bowman can afford to wait on them.</p><p>It&rsquo;s obvious Bowman is a master craftsman. About the only thing he can be criticized for is last summer&rsquo;s trade which sent Tony McKegney, J.F. Sauve and Andre Savard to Quebec for Real Cloutier and a first-round pick (Creighton). If Creighton, the 6-foot-6 center from the Memorial Cup-winning Ottawa 67s, lives up to his junior billing, then the trade was a success. As it stands, the Nordiques received three starters, and the Sabres have a kid with potential and a veteran who sat in Bowman&rsquo;s doghouse last season and may not fare much better this campaign.</p><p>But Bowman is entitled to one mistake. Actually, he&rsquo;s entitled to a couple, though the second one&mdash;while costly&mdash;he can live with. After drafting Barrasso fifth overall in the &rsquo;83 draft. Bowman gave his approval to a clause which would give the 18-year-old netminder a hefty sum if he made the team. Bowman never figured the high-schooler would make the jump to the NHL without a stay in the minors. A season later, Barrasso had not only made the Sabres, he&rsquo;d won the Calder Trophy as the best rookie, the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie, and finished on the first All-Star team. Bowman made a boo-boo but, with a talented kid such as Barrasso, that&rsquo;s the kind of mistake which could pay off in the long run&mdash;or even sooner.</p><p>Barrasso is cocky, to be sure, but he&rsquo;s good. The lanky, 6-foot-3 netminder loves to play, and Bowman may give him the lion&rsquo;s share this season, cutting the workload of Bob Sauve, who produced a 3.49 goal-against average during the season (Barrasso&rsquo;s was 2.84) and was especially porous in the shocking first-round loss to Quebec.</p><p>&ldquo;I personally feel that I can play better next year,&rdquo; Barrasso said after his trophy bonanza. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to have to be coming to training camp in the fall ready to work again. I can&rsquo;t play on what I won this year.&rdquo;</p><p>With Phil Housley alternating between forward and defense, the Sabres have themselves an excellent two-way player. His defense is suspect because he tends to concentrate solely on offense, but used with either stay-at-home types such as Mike Ramsey (one of the top defensive-defensemen in the league) or Bill Hajt, and the Sabres can let Housley roam to his heart&rsquo;s content.</p><p>Gil Perreault, one of the league dinosaurs at age 34, still can dipsy-doodle his way out of any jam. He&rsquo;s coming off a 90-point season, though he was bothered by wrist and back injuries. Still, his experience is an important commodity on this youthful brigade.</p><p>Bowman may even elect to give Perreault a little more rest this season (remember how successful it worked in Philadelphia with Bobby Clarke and Darryl Sittier?), because he&rsquo;s just overflowing with talent at center. Tucker, the Most Valuable Player in the Ontario Hockey League last season with Kitchener Rangers, produced 16 points in 21 games. This 20-year-old native of Windsor has a fantastic touch around the net, and he stands an excellent chance of becoming this season&rsquo;s Rookie of the Year.</p><p>Another candidate is Creighton, Tucker&rsquo;s rival in the OHL and Memorial Cup. These two plus the ever-improving Andreychuk give the Sabres three outstanding young centers.</p><p>Suffice to say, the Sabres are extremely talented in all departments. The loss to the Nordiques in the playoffs was a major disappointment when you consider the Sabres came within one overtime goal of winning the Adams Division championship in &rsquo;83. But if they learned something from that heartbreaker, then last season&rsquo;s debacle should make them even wiser and the force to be reckoned with this year.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01649/10148909-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="1591" height="3198"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Tom Barrasso fared well in his rookie season, winning the Vezina and Calder Trophies and making first-team all-star.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>BUFFALO SABRES (11)</h3><p>1. Mikael Andersson, C, Sweden</p><p>2. Doug Trapp, LW, Regina</p><p>3. Ray Sheppard, RW, Cornwall</p><p>4. Bob Halkidis, D, London</p><p>5. Joe Rampton, LW, S.S. Marie</p><p>6. James Gasseau, D, Drummondville</p><p>7. Darcy Wakaluk, G, Kelowna</p><p>8. Orwar Stambert, D, Sweden</p><p>9. Brian McKinnon, C, Ottawa</p><p>10. Grant Delcourt, RW, Kelowna</p><p>11. Sean Baker, LW, Seattle</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02424/10148902-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="783" height="2330"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01512/10148895-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="1140" height="1403"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gil Perreault is the oldest player on the Sabres, but his experience will be a benefit to the young Buffalo team.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02330/10148888-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="1303" height="1557"></div><h2><b>Buffalo Sabres Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-03230/10148881-1-eng-US/f0048-032.jpg" title="f0048-03" width="2418" height="1552"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01508/10148874-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="2400" height="1262"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02390/10148867-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="2429" height="1282"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists; <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal, <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals. <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead). P &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F. T. L. I P): <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice. <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played. <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0046-02

Buffalo Sabres

<div class="byline">Jacques Lemaire</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02223/10149097-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="691" height="713"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01370/10149090-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="665" height="447"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>D</span></b>o you ever get the feeling that Sam Pollock really didn&rsquo;t retire and he&rsquo;s still running the show in Montreal? Lately, it&rsquo;s beginning to seem that way.</p><p>For years, Pollock, the Habs&rsquo; managing director had a habit of fleecing his opposition counterparts. And judging by the recent moves in Montreal, it looks as though nothing has changed.</p><p>But as everyone knows, Pollock has long since left his desk at the Forum. The man in charge now is Serge Savard, and he&rsquo;s seems to be doing it with every bit of skill that Pollock did.</p><p>It was Savard who put all his faith in an untested rookie goalie, Steve Penney, in the playoffs. Chalk one up for Serge.</p><p>It was Savard who masterminded that brilliant wheeling and dealing&mdash;not to mention a little espionage&mdash;at the 1984 entry draft. He drafted Czechoslovakian defector, Petr Svoboda, and later traded Rick Wamsley to St. Louis for the Blues&rsquo; first pick (eighth overall), which turned out to be Shayne Corson, a player Savard would have picked with the team&rsquo;s first pick had he not been able to draft Svoboda. Chalk another one up for Serge.</p><p>And it was Savard who only a couple of days after the draft traded Perry Turnbull to Winnipeg for Lucien DeBlois, a deal which many people felt was slighted in Montreal&rsquo;s favor. Chalk up a third one for Serge.</p><p>And the most amazing thing of all is that Savard has only been doing the job for one year. He took over the mess left by Irving Grundman and somehow made it workable&mdash;though it didn&rsquo;t come together until the playoffs, in which Penney and Co. were surprising everybody.</p><p>In between, Bob Berry was fired as coach, and assistant coach Jacques Lemaire took over the reins. Lemaire relied on the youngsters, who in turn thrived on the workload.</p><p>This year, you have to figure the Habs will be vastly improved, though much of that depends on Penney. While he was amazing in the series&rsquo; against Boston and Quebec, he came down to earth against the New York Islanders. Possibly it was because he was tired, or maybe his flaw of falling down had been exposed. The Habs are giving him the No. 1 job this year&mdash;backup goalie Richard Sevigny signed with Quebec as a free agent&mdash;and will leave unproven minor-leaguers Mark Holden and Greg Moffett to compete for second-string duty, though they may grab a goalie in the waiver draft for insurance. If Penney can repeat his playoff heroics, the Habs will be a force; if not, they could be a farce.</p><p>One factor riding in Penney&rsquo;s favor is the improved Hab defense. Larry Robinson is still toiling away after all these years&mdash;it seems like forever&mdash;and the Hab fans have smartened up after booing him unmercilessly the last two seasons. Maybe Robinson wasn&rsquo;t playing up to his All-World level of the late &rsquo;70s, but he was helpless on a shoddy blueline.</p><p>But the Habs are no longer a defense disaster. Aside from Robinson, they have Rick Green, Craig Ludwig, Jean Hamel and Chris Chelios, a five-man corps which played better than anyone could have imagined in the playoffs. Chelios, the late-season addition from the U.S. Olympic Team, gave the Habs an excellent rushing defenseman, one who may be as fast as Paul Coffey of Edmonton. It&rsquo;s only a matter of time before he gains All-Star status.</p><p>In addition to those five, the Habs also have Ric Nattress, Kent Carlson, Hobey Baker winner Tom Kurvers and, of course, Svoboda. If this 18-year-old is as good as everyone says, the Habs have an amazing prospect. It&rsquo;s been said that he&rsquo;s as tough as any North American. He was, however, only 160 pounds at the draft and Savard had him on a weight-traing program in the summer to add bulk. Savard also took the youngster in as a boarder, to help him adjust to Montreal, and enlisted him in English and French courses to help him communicate&mdash;and you can bet there will be a lot of people who&rsquo;ll be wanting to chat with him.</p><p>Up front, the Habs are seriously lacking a sniper. Bobby Smith, acquired from Minnesota in a three-player deal 10 games into last season, was supposed to fill that role. He started off strongly, giving everyone the impression that a change was all he needed, but then he tailed off. The Habs need a more consistent effort from him&mdash;didn&rsquo;t they say the same thing about him in Minnesota?&mdash; because he is every bit as important as Penney.</p><p>Little Mats Naslund, the Swede with the speed, is the darling of the Forum fans. He&rsquo;s so exciting, it&rsquo;s a shame he can&rsquo;t score more. Otherwise, he&rsquo;d surely be one of the best left wingers in the league.</p><p>Guy Carbonneau emerged as an excellent defensive center in the playoffs, and the Habs rewarded him with a three-year contract. DeBlois, a 30-35 goal-scorer, was given a two-year deal, so that, plus playing close to home, should help the Hab attack.</p><p>Mark Hunter bounced back from injuries in the season to help in the playoffs, and he&rsquo;s the &rsquo;80s answer to Bob Gainey&mdash;if he stays out of sick bay.</p><p>And there&rsquo;s a good possibility Corson will be around after the final cuts, despite his inexperience. Some people are comparing him to Dale Hunter of the Nordiques.</p><p>&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m a good two-way hockey player,&rdquo; Corson said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got good hockey sense. I don&rsquo;t mind the aggressive style of the game&hellip;and I guess you could say I&rsquo;m an all-round player.&rdquo;</p><p>Veterans such as Gainey, Ryan Walter, Mario Tremblay, Pierre Mondou and Steve Shutt are still capable of contributing, but the same may not be said for Guy Lafleur, the greatest player of the past decade but who now seems uninspired and decidely ordinary.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01327/10149083-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="1564" height="3197"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>If the Habs are to improve, they&rsquo;ll be looking for a more inspired performance from their big center, Bobby Smith.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>MONTREAL CANADIENS (14)</h3><p>1. Petr Svoboda, D, Czech</p><p>2. Shayne Corson, C, Brantford</p><p>3. Stephane Richer, C, Granby</p><p>4. Patrick Roy, G, Granby</p><p>5. Graeme Bonar, RW, S.S. M.</p><p>6. Lee Brodeur, RW, N. Dak HS</p><p>7. Gerald Johannson, D, Swift Current, Tier II</p><p>8. Jim Nesich, RW, Verdun</p><p>9. Scott MacTavish, D, N.B. HS</p><p>10. Brad McCaughey, RW, Mich HS</p><p>11. Grant Demers, LW, Shawinigan</p><p>12. Ron Annear, D, San Diego U.</p><p>13. Dave Tanner, D, Manitoba HS</p><p>14. Troy Crosby, G, Verdun</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-02212/10149076-1-eng-US/f0055-022.jpg" title="f0055-02" width="766" height="2252"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-01301/10149069-1-eng-US/f0056-012.jpg" title="f0056-01" width="1140" height="1430"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mats Naslund could become one of the best wingers in the league if he adds to his point total.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-02197/10149062-1-eng-US/f0056-022.jpg" title="f0056-02" width="1262" height="1545"></div><h2><b>Montreal Canadiens Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-03124/10149055-1-eng-US/f0056-032.jpg" title="f0056-03" width="2415" height="1553"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01279/10149048-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="2465" height="1266"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-02200/10149041-1-eng-US/f0057-022.jpg" title="f0057-02" width="2528" height="1256"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played. <b>G</b> - Goals; <b>A</b> - Assists. <b>PTS</b> - Points. <b>S</b> - Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal). <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals. <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game, <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead. <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score): <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F. T. L, I. P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played. <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice, <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> - Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played. <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0054-02

Montreal Canadiens

<div class="byline">Jack Evans</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-01303/10149184-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="671" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-02204/10149177-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg" title="f0058-02" width="675" height="726"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span></b>or almost an entire season, the Hart-ford Whalers thought they had a chance to nail down the final playoff spot in the Adams Division. The only obstacle was the Montreal Canadiens, whom the Whalers just couldn&rsquo;t stop in head-to-head competition.</p><p>Even though they missed the playoffs, it was the year of great improvement for the Whalers. So where do they go from there? That depends upon how much improvement they show this season.</p><p>This much is certain&mdash;they&rsquo;ll have to continue making significant strides because none of the other Adams Division teams&mdash;Boston, Buffalo, Quebec and Montreal&mdash;are expected to fall back. In fact, all of them should improve upon last season&rsquo;s performance. All of which leaves Hartford in a precarious position.</p><p>General manager and president Emile Francis is going in a new direction, sharing his minor-league team in Binghamton with Washington and reducing his payroll.</p><p>In the summer, Francis cut loose numerous veterans, including Jeff Brownschidle, Doug Sulliman, Michel Galameau, Randy Cameron and Ed (Boxcar) Hospodar.</p><p>At the same time, the Whalers gave new contracts to right wingers Randy Pierce, Ray Neufeld and Tony Currie, and defenseman Joel Quenneville. Defenseman Ulf Samuelsson, a fourth-round pick from Sweden in 1982, was also signed to a multi-year pact.</p><p>&ldquo;Ulf is a big, strong young man who can play left or right defense,&rdquo; Francis said of the 6-foot-l, 195-pound Swede. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to say that he&rsquo;s a very serious contender to win a job with the Whalers.&rdquo;</p><p>But cutting players and signing others won&rsquo;t turn the Whalers into instant contenders. It&rsquo;s going to take a longer time than that because previous management made too many mistakes in evaluating talent.</p><p>Francis, when he took over the job last season, was billed as the &ldquo;czar&rdquo; who would mastermind the reconstruction of the Whalers. Fortunately for him, St. Louis was having a give-away sale, and one of the players whom Francis picked up, Bobby Crawford, produced 36 goals and 21 assists. But many of the other players he claimed were only stop-gap measures.</p><p>Francis had little help at the National Hockey League entry draft in June, with only one pick (11th overall) in the first five rounds. Sylvain Cote, an offensive defenseman from Quebec Remparts of the Quebec League whom the Whalers selected with that pick, has a good shot at making the team.</p><p>&ldquo;Cote was rated higher by both us and Central Scouting,&rdquo; Francis said immediately after selecting Cote. &ldquo;We never thought he&rsquo;d still be there on the 11th pick&hellip;The kid&rsquo;s a possibility, our guys really like him.&rdquo;</p><p>Cote, himself, doesn&rsquo;t plan on returning to junior next season.</p><p>&ldquo;The idea is to play in Hartford,&rdquo; Cote said. &ldquo;I am very excited about joining a young team on the way up.&rdquo;</p><p>Cote&rsquo;s enthusiasm is refreshing, but the bottom line is the Whalers are questionable on defense. Risto Siltanen, the little hardrock, Quenneville and Chris Kotsopoulos are the only proven blueliners. Kevin Dineen and Mark Fusco are both green. Mark Paterson, a youngster from Ottawa of the Ontario League, will give veterans Marty Howe and Richie Dunn competition in training camp. Scot Kleinendorst, acquired in the trade for Blaine Stoughton, came to the Whalers with an ankle injury and didn&rsquo;t play at all. His status is highly questionable.</p><p>Up front, the shining star is left winger Sylvain Turgeon.</p><p>Turgeon was one of the top rookies last season and made a genius out of Francis, who put his reputation on the line when he bypassed Pat LaFontaine for Turgeon in the &rsquo;83 entry draft. While LaFontaine shuffled between the U.S. Olympic Team and the New York Islanders, Turgeon was amazing the fans in Hartford and around the league. He led the team with 40 goals, and don&rsquo;t be surprised if he adds to that figure this season. They don&rsquo;t call him Sly for nothing.</p><p>Mark Johnson led the team in scoring with 87 points. Johnson, the son of Calgary coach Bob Johnson, has seen the sights of Pittsburgh, Minnesota and now Hartford but appears to have found a home with the Whalers. He was an excellent player with the U.S. Olympians in 1980, and it appears it&rsquo;s just taken him a little longer to realize his talent.</p><p>Neufeld was solid on right wing, turning in 69 points and 97 minutes in penalties.</p><p>Ray Ferraro was the Western League Player of the Year with Brandon and the offensive-minded center is ready to play in the NHL after two good seasons in junior. David Jensen, chosen 20th overall by the Whalers in the 1983 draft, played for the U.S. Olympic Team and big things are expected from him. Former Olympian Dave Tippett plays with the same workmanlike approach as Mike Zuke, another castoff from St. Louis.</p><p>And then there are veteran forwards such as Randy Pierce, Mike Crombeen, Torrie Robertson and Tony Currie, who are strictly role players.</p><p>That leaves a big question mark in the name of Ronnie Francis? He&rsquo;s certainly one of the most talented Whalers and coveted by many NHL teams. But he was slow to fit into rookie coach Jack Evans&rsquo; system, and only produced 83 points&mdash;which is low for him. In fairness to him, though, he lacked the scoring wingers that a playmaking center requires. Finding people who can play on his flanks is one of the Whalers&rsquo; prime concerns.</p><p>In net, the Whalers are solid. Greg Millen, the undisputed No. 1 man, keeps Hartford competitive. Another challenge will be finding a capable backup who can give Millen some much deserved rest.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-01242/10149170-1-eng-US/f0059-012.jpg" title="f0059-01" width="1578" height="3183"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Sylvain Turgeon was converted from center to left wing, and the move helped him to lead the Whalers in goals.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>HARTFORD WHALERS (7)</h3><p>1. Sylvain Cote, D, Quebec</p><p>2. Mike Millar, RW, Brantford</p><p>3. Mike Vellucci, D, Belleville</p><p>4. John Devereaux, C, Mass HS</p><p>5. Brent Regan, RW, St. Albert, Tier II</p><p>6. Jim Culhane, D, W. Mich</p><p>7. Peter Abric, G, North Bay</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-02159/10149163-1-eng-US/f0059-022.jpg" title="f0059-02" width="774" height="2557"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-01251/10149156-1-eng-US/f0060-012.jpg" title="f0060-01" width="1138" height="1420"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ronnie Francis&rsquo; production tailed off, primarily because he wasn&rsquo;t used as much in coach Jack Evans&rsquo; system.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-02156/10149149-1-eng-US/f0060-022.jpg" title="f0060-02" width="1278" height="1533"></div><h2><b>Hartford Whalers Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-03110/10149142-1-eng-US/f0060-032.jpg" title="f0060-03" width="2408" height="1564"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-01225/10149135-1-eng-US/f0061-012.jpg" title="f0061-01" width="2467" height="1264"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-02156/10149128-1-eng-US/f0061-022.jpg" title="f0061-02" width="2443" height="1264"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played, <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists; <b>PTS</b> - Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal, <b>SC PCTG</b> - Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal). <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals. <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead. <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead). <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T, L, I P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals. <b>IP</b> - Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> - Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice; <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice, <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played. <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0058-01

Hartford Whalers

<div class="byline">Glen Sather</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-02139/10149271-1-eng-US/f0062-022.jpg" title="f0062-02" width="668" height="712"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-01247/10149264-1-eng-US/f0062-012.jpg" title="f0062-01" width="738" height="691"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>ill Wayne Gretzky and friends be able to renew their lease on the Stanley Cup? Judging by the way they manhandled the New York Islanders in the finals last season, you&rsquo;d have to think so. But think about why the Islanders lost, and add the Canada Cup factor, and you have a whole new hockey game.</p><p>The Islanders, having trudged through series in their own division and later conference, were dog tired by the time they met the Oilers, who had the benefit of over a week&rsquo;s holiday.</p><p>The Oilers could very well fall victim to the same fate this season because of the Canada Cup. Edmonton was well represented in the Cup, and that little bit of extra summer work could spell exhaustion later on.</p><p>Then again, the Oilers are young, they&rsquo;re just as hungry to repeat, and it&rsquo;s been proven that some players who compete in the Cup enhance their season because they&rsquo;re in better shape. Can anyone forget the season Ron Duguay had after his impressive showing in the &rsquo;81 Canada Cup?</p><p>The Oilers will need a slogan to keep them intense. The Islanders had Drive For Five last season, so Edmonton might consider One Is Not Enough. How about One Is A Lonely Number? Things Are Always Better In Twos?</p><p>Okay, okay, the message is clear: It will be just as hard, if not harder, to win it all again.</p><p>Glen Sather, the Oilers&rsquo; president, general manager and coach (and some would say Western Wonder), has taken steps to make sure his team doesn&rsquo;t become too comfortable. - In keeping with the theory of the good keep building, Sather dealt free agent Ken Linse-man to Boston for another free agent, Mike Krushelnyski. This trade, however, was more than just a simple one-for-one.</p><p>Linseman had dropped from being the team&rsquo;s No. 2 center to it&rsquo;s third and sometimes fourth, (Didn&rsquo;t it seem like yesterday that the Oilers had traded for Linseman and were marvelling at their speed-demon line of Linesman, Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson?). Yet it was Linseman who provided the Oilers with crucial goals in the playoffs, and it was Linseman who provided the team with spark leading up to the Cup finals, when neither Anderson nor Messier had it.</p><p>Linseman became expendable because he wanted a raise. So Krushelnyski, a very expendable left winger with the Bruins, was taken in return. Knishelnsyki will supposedly fill the role of Wayne Gretzky and Juri Kuril&rsquo;s left winger. But as everyone knows, the Oilers have been on the search for such a player for years. First it was Willy Lindstrom, then Jaroslav Pouzar, then Raimo Summanen, now along comes Krushelnyski. This is providing the Oilers don&rsquo;t put Messier back on the wing, a possible move but one which probably won&rsquo;t come about because he seems to have found a new home at center.</p><p>Krushelnyski&rsquo;s ability to adjust to Gretzky and Kurri may not be as serious as something. They waltzed through the regular season, then the playoffs and finally the Cup. So how important can it really be? Or more important, how good is Krushelnyski? Forty-five points in 66 games doesn&rsquo;t exactly give opposition coaches nightmares. But the Oilers are banking that Krushelnyski will benefit playing with his new world-class linemates and he&rsquo;ll supply some muscle, too..</p><p>&ldquo;I was reluctant to allow a player of Kenny&rsquo;s talent to go, but to get quality, you have to give up quality,&rdquo; Sather said. &rsquo;&rsquo;Krushelnyski should be a valuable addition who combines strong skating and scoring ability and an aggressive style of play.&rdquo;</p><p>Krushelnyski is one of the few uncertainties on a team stacked with certainties. The only other uncertainties are the ones involving Gretzky. Will he total over 200 points for the third time in his career? The oddsmakers are giving good odds. Will Gretzky finally crack the incredible 100-goal mark? The oddsmakers have made it tempting to say yes, but that&rsquo;s a don&rsquo;t-touch-it. Will Gretzky skate away with the big awards this season? The oddsmakers are putting an asterisk beside the bet, depending if you want to include the Cup.</p><p>Of course that&rsquo;s just Gretzky talk. The Oilers are more than just one man, as was proven in the Cup. Messier, the Most Valuable Player in the Cup, is arguably the best left winger in the game and could be the No. 2 center, too. Anderson posted his first 50-goal season and, if he irons out his contract problems with the Oilers, he&rsquo;ll probably repeat that. And what about Kurri? His only problem is that he sometimes shies away from the heavy-going, but he&rsquo;s a genuine offensive star. Besides, with diggers such as Kevin McClelland, Pat Hughes, Dave Hunter, Dave Lumley and Dave Semenko, the Oilers can afford to let their gunners loose.</p><p>Paul Coffey, who became only the third defenseman in NHL history to total at least 100 points in a season, was bypassed on the first All-Star team in favor of Ray Bourque, which had the Oiler brass fuming. The Oilers, recognizing their need to have Coffey happy, signed him to a new contract in the summer.</p><p>Coffey is the leader of a talented defense corps which includes Randy Gregg, Kevin Lowe, Charlie Huddy, Lee Fogolin and Don Jackson.</p><p>Selmar Odelein, the Oilers&rsquo; top draft pick, will be sent back to junior to develop, but Steve Smith, Jeff Beukeboom and Jim Playfair are big youngsters who may have a chance to stay.</p><p>The Oilers have two of the best netminders in the league in Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog. Fuhr has emerged as the better of the two, but Moog has proven that he can be effective in relief. In fact, he seems to excel in that role.</p><p>All in all, a lot of strengths. Few, if any, weaknesses. That translates into another excellent shot at the Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-01189/10149257-1-eng-US/f0063-012.jpg" title="f0063-01" width="1577" height="3220"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Wayne Gretzky did it all last season, but he&rsquo;ll be looking to continue his assault on the record books this season.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>EDMONTON OILERS (12)</h3><p>1. Selmar Odelein, D, Regina</p><p>2. Daryl Reaugh, G, Kamloops</p><p>3. Todd Norman, C, Minn HS</p><p>4. Richard Novak, RW, Richmond, Tier II</p><p>5. Richard Lambert, LW, Henry Carr HS</p><p>6. Emanuel Viveiros, D, Prince Albert</p><p>7. Ivan Dornic, LW, Czech</p><p>8. Heikki Riihijarvi, D, Finland</p><p>9. Todd Ewen, RW, New West</p><p>10. Joel Curtis, LW, Oshawa</p><p>11. Simon Wheeldon, C, Victoria</p><p>12. Darren Gani, D, Belleville</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-02122/10149250-1-eng-US/f0063-022.jpg" title="f0063-02" width="752" height="2329"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-01203/10149243-1-eng-US/f0064-012.jpg" title="f0064-01" width="1113" height="1396"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Paul Coffey became the third defenseman in NHL history to crack the 100-point mark.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-02122/10149236-1-eng-US/f0064-022.jpg" title="f0064-02" width="1253" height="1561"></div><h2><b>Edmonton Oilers Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-0367/10149229-1-eng-US/f0064-032.jpg" title="f0064-03" width="2396" height="1543"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-01205/10149222-1-eng-US/f0065-012.jpg" title="f0065-01" width="2425" height="1331"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-02147/10149215-1-eng-US/f0065-022.jpg" title="f0065-02" width="2445" height="1286"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>G</b> - Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists; PTS &mdash; Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T, L. I. P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played, <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice; PGF &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice, <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice, <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games In which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0062-02

Edmonton Oilers

<div class="byline">Barry Long</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-01126/10149532-1-eng-US/f0074-012.jpg" title="f0074-01" width="579" height="563"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-0261/10149525-1-eng-US/f0074-022.jpg" title="f0074-02" width="688" height="718"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>R</span></b>emember when the Montreal Canadiens had a big, menacing player patrolling the left wing, a fellow by the name of John Ferguson? Remember how no one wanted to go near him because he was too tough to mess with? Well, take a look at the current lineup of the Winnipeg Jets and you&rsquo;ll notice a lot of Ferguson clones.</p><p>Exhibit A: The defense has behemoths such as Wade Campbell (6-foot-4, 220 pounds), Jim Kyte (6-foot-5, 210 pounds) and Dave Babych (6-foot-2, 210 pounds).</p><p>Exhibit B: The forwards are comprised of Perry Turnbull (6-foot-2, 200 pounds), Scott Amiel (6-foot-2, 190 pounds), Laurie Bosch-man (6-foot, 185 pounds), Bengt Lundholm (6-foot, 180 pounds), Paul MacLean (6-foot, 205 pounds), Andrew McBain (6-foot-l, 195 pounds) and Tim Young (6-foot-2, 180 pounds).</p><p>Now that alone should prove to you that Big John has a particular liking for the large set. But does brawn beget winning? As Fergie said last year, &ldquo;Only if they can play.&rdquo;</p><p>Having finished tied for the fourth and final playoff position in the Smythe Division and then losing in a three-game sweep to Edmonton Oilers ir. the first round of the playoffs, it seems the Jets can&rsquo;t play. But Ferguson has made some recent additions which he hopes will improve the Jets&rsquo; fortunes.</p><p>&ldquo;I think we have improved vastly with our new faces,&rdquo; Ferguson said.</p><p>Turnbull, acquired from Montreal for Jet captain Lucien DeBlois just two days after the 1984 entry draft June 9, is expected to make a big difference, though critics may suggest Ferguson is fooling himself if he thinks Turnbull can drastically reshape the Jets&rsquo; fortunes. Turnbull started his career with St. Louis after the Blues drafted him second overall in the 1979 entry draft, but following a brief stay in Montreal after a three-for-one deal with the Canadiens, Turnbull is much closer to his native home of Rimbey, Alta.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to it (coming to Winnipeg),&rdquo; Tumbull said after the trade. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like Montreal and I didn&rsquo;t want to leave St. Louis. I thought St. Louis was my town and I would play there for a long time. When I was traded to the Canadiens, there was a lot of pressure on me. Then when I got off to such a bad start, the press just built it up and I never really got going.&rdquo;</p><p>Trading DeBlois, a proven goalscorer, for Tumbull, who hasn&rsquo;t proven anything, has left many Jet fans concerned. But Fergy had coveted Tumbull for years, and he was able to justify the trade because DeBlois was entering his option year and was seeking a healthy raise (Tumbull is also in his option year, but Ferguson will probably sign him). St. Louis gave Tumbull five years to prove himself, Montreal gave him less than a year, and it remains to be scene how Long&mdash;no pun intended, in reference to coach Barry Long&mdash;the Jets will give him.</p><p>Paul and Perry Pooley, 23-year-old twins who played at Ohio State last season, were signed as free agents in the summer. Paul, a center, led the nation in scoring; Perry, a right winger, finished as a second-team all-star in the Central Conference.</p><p>Laurie Boschman, another Fergy favorite, was acquired in &rsquo;83 for veteran Willy Lindstrom, and he was the Jets&rsquo; best player last season until he suffered a shoulder injury in a game against New Jersey early in December. But off-season surgery has repaired the damage, and he&rsquo;ll be back again this season to provide his toughness and scoring, both of which were sorely missed in his absence.</p><p>Dale Hawerchuk had a rough start with only 25 points in 29 games, and Ferguson attributed it to a poor diet. Ironically, after a cover story in THE HOCKEY NEWS entitled, What&rsquo;s Wrong With Dale Hawerchuk, Hawerchuk responded with 77 points in the final 51 games. Whether it was a response to the cover story which he didn&rsquo;t want to do anyway, or an improved diet, Hawerchuk had changed for the better. And the Jets are hoping the first pick overall in 1981 maintains the form which helped him to win Rookie-of-the-Year honors in &rsquo;82.</p><p>But both Hawerchuk and Boschman finished in the minus category, and Babych, the team&rsquo;s best defenseman, had the worst figure on the team (minus-31). This may seem unimportant to those critics who put no faith in plus-minus statistics, but if he&rsquo;s the team&rsquo;s best blueliner, then you can well appreciate why Ferguson had no qualms about trading for Randy Carlyle last March.</p><p>Carlyle, the Norris Trophy winner in 1981, has proven he can be a leader on defense if he stays healthy and curbs his appetite. The Jets gave up young defenseman Moe Mantha and their first-round pick in the &rsquo;84 draft to acquire Carlyle from Pittsburgh, but Ferguson wanted him for his leadership.</p><p>Goaltending had been a sour spot on the team for the last couple of years, though the inexperienced defense is partially to blame. Marc Behrend didn&rsquo;t provide immediate relief after he finished his stint with the U.S. Olympic Team. He faced 54 shots in a 4-1 loss in the second game of the Oiler series, but he earned enough praise in that game&mdash;from both teams&mdash;to perhaps merit No. 1 status this season. Doug Soetaert and Brian Hayward will be vying for job, too.</p><p>Long was promoted from assistant coach to head coach after former Coach of the Year Tom Watt was given his walking papers midway through the season. There was apparent friction with Watt and some of the players&mdash;particulary Hawerchuk&mdash;and the team just seemed to&rsquo; function better under Long&rsquo;s command. Of course, Ferguson directed the team in the intervening week of Watt&rsquo;s firing and Long&rsquo;s hiring, and there&rsquo;s every reason to believe <i>he</i> is still the force as far as the Jets are concerned.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0075-01105/10149518-1-eng-US/f0075-012.jpg" title="f0075-01" width="1525" height="3169"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dale Hawerchuk started off slowly, but the combination of a new diet and a controversial story improved his play.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>WINNIPEG JETS (12)</h3><p>1. Peter Douris, C, New Hampshire</p><p>2. Chris Mills, D, Bramalea Jr. B</p><p>3. Sean Clement, D, Brockville, Tier II</p><p>4. Scott Schneider, C, Colo. Coll.</p><p>5. Brent Severyn, D, Seattle</p><p>6. Gary Lorden, D, Rh. Isl. HS</p><p>7. Luciano Borsato, C, Bramalea Jr. B</p><p>8. Brad Jones, C, Michigan</p><p>9. Gord Whittaker, RW, Colo. C.</p><p>10. Rick Forest, LW, Melville, Tier II</p><p>11. Mike Warus, RW, L. Superior</p><p>12. Jim Edwards, G, Cornell</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0075-0263/10149511-1-eng-US/f0075-022.jpg" title="f0075-02" width="746" height="2255"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-01117/10149504-1-eng-US/f0076-012.jpg" title="f0076-01" width="1120" height="1412"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Winnipeg workhorse David Babych is the Jets&rsquo; leader on defense, but he finished with a team-leading minus-31.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-0260/10149497-1-eng-US/f0076-022.jpg" title="f0076-02" width="1282" height="1545"></div><h2><b>Winnipeg Jets Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-0341/10149490-1-eng-US/f0076-032.jpg" title="f0076-03" width="2396" height="1556"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-01116/10149483-1-eng-US/f0077-012.jpg" title="f0077-01" width="2372" height="1294"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-0265/10149476-1-eng-US/f0077-022.jpg" title="f0077-02" width="2364" height="1257"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists; <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points; S - Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> - Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> - First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> - Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> - Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T, L, I. P); <b>PCTG</b> - Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> - Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played; <b>TGF</b> - Total Goals scored by players team while he was on the ice; <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; TGA &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> - Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> - Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0074-01

Winnipeg Jets

<div class="byline">Pat Quinn</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-0251/10149619-1-eng-US/f0078-022.jpg" title="f0078-02" width="649" height="717"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-01112/10149612-1-eng-US/f0078-012.jpg" title="f0078-01" width="737" height="415"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span></b>omewhere in your heart, you have to feel something for Marcel Dionne. He happens to be one of the greatest active players in the National Hockey League, and you know he&rsquo;d love to put his name on a Stanley Cup before it&rsquo;s time to retire.</p><p>But it won&rsquo;t happen this season&mdash;barring any hocus pocus from Magic Johnson.</p><p>For the umpteenth time, the Kings are in a rebuilding year, and there&rsquo;s the distinct possibility they&rsquo;ll finish out of the playoffs for the third time in as many years.</p><p>Rogie Vachon, the one-time goalie of the Kings who took over in January of last season when owner Jerry Buss decided to clean house&mdash;or at least sweep some of the dust off to the side&mdash;has control of a team which for many years has been out of control. In the land of suntans, the Kings have had their share of bums.</p><p>Rogie thinks he can change the team for the better&mdash;he certainly couldn&rsquo;t do any worse&mdash;and he&rsquo;s enlisted the services of cerebral Pat Quinn to coach the team.</p><p>Quinn, 41, has spent the last two years working on a law degree, and previous to that he helped the Philadelphia Flyers set a National Hockey League and professional sports record with a 35-game unbeaten streak. He&rsquo;s been itching to work behind the bench following his dismissal by the Flyers in 1981-82, and he has some definite ideas on turning around the Kings.</p><p>&ldquo;There has to be an attitude change out there more than anything,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to ask Marcel Dionne to bowl someone over to try and get the puck back. But there are some definite responsibilities that relate to being physical. Physical to me can mean two things. Paul Holmgren is physical and a Brian Propp is physical, but he&rsquo;s not gonna dominate you with his muscle like Holmgren. I expect that, even with the players we have who wouldn&rsquo;t be termed Holmgren-style physical, they can do that other job.</p><p>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have many of the physical players, but I think we can ask players to do some mucking. You don&rsquo;t have to be a guy who crashes over people to be effective in getting the puck back. Propp isn&rsquo;t a very big man, but he mucks, gets his body in the way, and he&rsquo;s effective because of it.&rdquo;</p><p>If the Kings learn how to play a little more physically, coupled with their scoring talent, they will be on the road to recovery. Much of the scoring load will come from the Kings&rsquo; No. 1 threesome&mdash;and one of the best in the league&mdash;of Dionne, Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor, otherwise known as The Triple Crown Line. But even that constant is on hold now that Simmer, irate over a contentious contract clause, has said he won&rsquo;t play for the Kings.</p><p>Dionne missed 14 games last season, but still produced 92 points. Taylor had 69 points in 63 games, after missing the first 11 games of the season while recovering from a wrist injury. Yet it was Simmer who proved to the most pleasant surprise on the Kings, scoring 44 goals and 48 assists and, more importantly, missing only one game. The season previous to that he played in all 80 games, so it appears as though he can forget about that awful leg injury he suffered three years ago, which many people&mdash;himself included&mdash;thought would threaten his career. For the Kings to be a playoff threat, though, they have to have a happy Charlie Simmer.</p><p>Flamboyant Bernie Nicholls rebounded from a poor sophomore season to lead the team with 94 points. Nicholls was obviously helped by the dismissal of Don Perry, as the former King coach and star player did not see eye-to-eye.</p><p>Jim Fox was Nicholls&rsquo; right winger and produced 72 points, but the onetime great in the Ontario Hockey League has never risen to that level in the pros.</p><p>The left winger on that line, Brian MacLellan, a 6-foot-3, 210-pounder, produced 54 points. Quinn will obviously be looking for him to add a little more muscle to his game.</p><p>After these six players, the Kings are lacking depth. Two promising centers are juniors Dave Gans and Brian Wilks. Gans, a 1983 pick, had 56 goals and 132 points with Oshawa last season, while Wilks, a second-round pick from Kitchener Rangers, produced 71 points, but is an effective two-way player. Both stand chances of making the team.</p><p>The defense, one of the worst in the league, will be strengthened by Canadian Olympian Craig Redmond, the Kings&rsquo; first first-round pick in a few years. Redmond caused a stir at the draft, when it was revealed he wrote a letter to some teams, saying he would remain in U.S. college if they drafted him. Toronto, he pointed out, was using an old-style system, which he felt wouldn&rsquo;t help his development. But unless Quinn is successful in turning around the Kings, Redmond, who happens to be an excellent rusher, will find his talent wasted.</p><p>Minor-league prospect Mike Heidt and junior Bruce Shoebottom may make the team, along with Garry Galley, an All-American at Bowling Green last season who was signed as a free agent in the off-season. John English, a defensive defenseman drafted in the third round from Sault Ste. Marie, will merit a good look, too.</p><p>Veterans Brian Engblom, Jay Wells and offensive Mark Hardy will be the anchor of this green defense.</p><p>Probably the most interesting aspect of the team is goal. Vachon traded his first pick (third overall) in the &rsquo;84 draft to Chicago to obtain goalie Bob Janecyk. This trade launched a lot of criticism, partially because Janecyk, 27, has only played six games in the NHL.</p><p>Vachon has confidence in Janecyk, but he&rsquo;ll need more than he realizes but the Kings don&rsquo;t really have an adequate backup. If worse comes to worse, Vachon could be forced to become the first playing general manager.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-0199/10149605-1-eng-US/f0079-012.jpg" title="f0079-01" width="1519" height="3226"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Flamboyant Bernie Nicholls finished atop the Kings&rsquo; scoring, and new coach Pat Quinn will be looking for a repeat performance.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>LOS ANGELES KINGS (12)</h3><p>1. Craig Redmond, D, Team Canada</p><p>2. Brian Wilks, C, Kitchener</p><p>3. John English, D, S.S. Marie</p><p>4. Tom Glavine, C, Mass HS</p><p>5. Dave Grannis, RW, Minn HS</p><p>6. Greg Strome, G, No. Dakota</p><p>7. Tim Hanley, C, Mass HS</p><p>8. Shannon Deegan, C, Vermont University</p><p>9. Luc Robitaille, LW, Hull</p><p>10. Jeff Crossman, C, W. Mich</p><p>11. Paul Kenny, G, Cornwall</p><p>12. Brian Martin, C, Belleville</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-0252/10149598-1-eng-US/f0079-022.jpg" title="f0079-02" width="740" height="2386"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-01100/10149591-1-eng-US/f0080-012.jpg" title="f0080-01" width="1119" height="1412"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Veteran King Marcel Dionne was bothered by a bad ankle, but he still managed to get 92 points in 66 games.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0251/10149584-1-eng-US/f0080-022.jpg" title="f0080-02" width="1276" height="1573"></div><h2><b>Los Angeles Kings Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0329/10149577-1-eng-US/f0080-032.jpg" title="f0080-03" width="2409" height="1572"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-01108/10149570-1-eng-US/f0081-012.jpg" title="f0081-01" width="2312" height="1257"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0270/10149563-1-eng-US/f0081-022.jpg" title="f0081-02" width="2338" height="1258"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played; <b>G</b> - Goals <b>A</b> - Assists; <b>PTS</b> - Points; <b>S</b> - Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> - Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> - First Goal of Game. <b>T</b> - Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> - Goals giving a team the lead <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead). <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score). <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T. L. I P); <b>PCTG</b> - Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals. <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists). <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played. <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice. <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice. <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> - Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played. <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played. <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0078-02

L. A. Kings

<div class="byline">Bill Mahoney</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-0249/10149706-1-eng-US/f0082-022.jpg" title="f0082-02" width="668" height="726"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-0197/10149699-1-eng-US/f0082-012.jpg" title="f0082-01" width="767" height="692"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>hen you talk about the Minnesota North Stars, you inevitably talk about a team with immense talent that doesn&rsquo;t seem to play to its potential. And, of course, there are the whispers of clubhouse dissension and disunity.</p><p>The first sign of that became apparent early last season when new coach Bill Mahoney attempted to put a clamp on the team&rsquo;s offensive gears. Eventually, things worked themselves out, though the Stars were fortunate because their Norris Division rivals, the Chicago Black Hawks, were decimated by injuries.</p><p>What looked like the superior force in the Norris, however, almost suffered an embarrassing defeat in the division finals to a team which was almost dead the season before. If not for a rather soft overtime goal by Steve Payne on Mike Liut of St. Louis in the deciding game of the division playoffs, the Stars would have suffered an early playoff exit.</p><p>From there, the Stars fell limp to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, Edmonton Oilers, losing in four games.</p><p>That&rsquo;s when the dissension rumbles started again.</p><p>Al MacAdam, a veteran winger who is anything but a troublemaker, claimed all was not as rosy with the team as general manager Lou Nanne had everyone believing. He begged to be traded and was eventually swapped to Vancouver for defenseman Harold Snepsts.</p><p>Then came the Dino Ciccarelli talks&mdash;and there were a lot of those. There was mention that Ciccarelli was a malcontent. There was mention that he wanted to be traded. There was mention that other teams didn&rsquo;t want to trade for him because he was a malcontent. Ciccarelli was married in the off-season and there wasn&rsquo;t much talk after that, but you would expect that he&rsquo;ll be trying to hush his critics with a more consistent performance than a year ago.</p><p>Ciccarelli, however, is not the only problem on the team. As has been documented many times over, the Stars have an abundance of talent. But many people fail to realize the team has been molded with offense in mind. Nanne has taken a liking to the goalscorers, which explains why the Stars had a hard time adhering to Mahoney&rsquo;s defensive philosophy.</p><p>Will the Stars be radically different this season?</p><p>It&rsquo;s a question which is too difficult to answer, though players such as Brian Bellows, Paul Holmgren and Willi Plett will not allow the Stars to be outmuscled.</p><p>Bellows is probably the consummate hockey player of the &rsquo;80s, certainly the consummate player on the Stars. He can score, he can check, but most importantly, he has a burning desire to win. He was awarded the captaincy in the absence of injured Craig Hartsburg, and whether or not he retains the C on his sweater, he should be just as effective.</p><p>The same cannot be said of Holmgren, though heart won&rsquo;t be the reason. Holmgren, a native of Minnesota, was traded last season to the Stars from Philadelphia, a move which allowed him to be closer to home but which also separated him from his close teammates of several years. After only a few games with the Stars, he aggravated a shoulder which had been damaged in Philly but never properly corrected. Surgery in the off-season should correct it, but he may not be able to play until after the start of the season.</p><p>Then there&rsquo;s Plett. He has the toughness that every team covets, but many won&rsquo;t touch. While he may be overrated by some standards, he still has a lot of belief in himself, and he proved that last season in the playoffs. Plett awoke from the doldrums and was a quality performer for his team. It&rsquo;s the annual Trivial Pursuit question whether he will be able the giant for the Stars in the sleeping or scoring department. The Stars are obviously hoping for the latter.</p><p>There are many other talented players in the Stars&rsquo; lineup who should be playing much better than they are. Ciccarelli, as has been mentioned, is one, along with linemate Tom McCarthy, who produced 70 points (39 goals) in only 66 games. But many people believe McCarthy could be one of the best at his position if he plays with more intensity. Neal Broten, the center for McCarthy and Ciccarelli, had 89 points in 76 games last season, but many feel his statistics could be even better.</p><p>There&rsquo;s a cast of really good players supporting the top line, including Dennis Maruk, Brian Lawton, Steve Payne, Keith Acton and Mark Napier. Collectively, they are awesome, but their biggest weakness is that they have yet to mesh properly. Some such as Maruk and Payne needed time to comprehend and adjust to Mahoney&rsquo;s system, but both seemed to find a working groove in the playoffs.</p><p>Defensively, the Stars are hoping Hartsburg can return after two operations on the same knee. But, as someone stated, Hartsburg playing at 75 per cent is a lot better than some defensemen playing at full capacity. If Hartsburg has trouble, the Stars still have adequate rearguards in Brad Maxwell, Gord Roberts, Curt Giles and the three towers, Snepts, Dave Richter and Dan Mandich. Tom Hirsch, a U.S. Olympian in 1984, has the potential to be one of the Stars&rsquo; best defensemen in the next few years.</p><p>Miroslav Maly is a 21-year-old Czechoslovakian who, along with countryman, Jiri Poner, a right winger, were signed in the offseason by Nanne. Both players were selected by the Stars in the &rsquo;84 draft but were the first Europeans signed by Nanne.</p><p>&ldquo;At all costs, I would like to make the team,&rdquo; Maly said through an interpreter. &ldquo;I am a playmaker from the back (defense), and I am not worried about adjusting. It can be managed.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-0187/10149692-1-eng-US/f0083-012.jpg" title="f0083-01" width="1506" height="3167"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Young Brian Bellows displayed his leadership qualities when he took over the captaincy on an interim basis.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>MINNESOTA STARS (12)</h3><p>1. David Quinn, D, Rh. Isl. HS</p><p>2. Ken Hodge, C, Ontario HS</p><p>3. Miroslav Maly, D, W. Germany</p><p>4. Jiri Poner, RW, W. Germany</p><p>5. Kari Takko, G, Finland</p><p>6. Gary McColgan, LW, Oshawa</p><p>7. Vladimir Kyhos, LW, Czech</p><p>8. Darin Maclnnis, G, Conn HS</p><p>9. Duane Wahlin, RW, Minn HS</p><p>10. Michael Orn, C, Minn HS</p><p>11. Tom Terwilliger, D, Colo HS</p><p>12.Mike Nightengale, D, Minn HS</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-0252/10149685-1-eng-US/f0083-022.jpg" title="f0083-02" width="755" height="2302"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0190/10149678-1-eng-US/f0084-012.jpg" title="f0084-01" width="1103" height="1401"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Neal Broten was the Stars&rsquo; leading player last season, but look for him to do even better.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0243/10149671-1-eng-US/f0084-022.jpg" title="f0084-02" width="1270" height="1539"></div><h2><b>Minnesota North Stars Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0327/10149664-1-eng-US/f0084-032.jpg" title="f0084-03" width="2455" height="1583"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-0186/10149657-1-eng-US/f0085-012.jpg" title="f0085-01" width="2437" height="1282"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-0249/10149650-1-eng-US/f0085-022.jpg" title="f0085-02" width="2451" height="1282"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played. <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists. <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points: S &mdash; Shots on goal. <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal). <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals. <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game. <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead. <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead). <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T, L. I P). <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals. <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played. <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by players team while he was on the ice, <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played: <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0082-02

Minnesota North Stars

<div class="byline">Jacques Demers</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-0247/10149793-1-eng-US/f0086-022.jpg" title="f0086-02" width="689" height="722"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-0194/10149786-1-eng-US/f0086-012.jpg" title="f0086-01" width="662" height="652"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span></b>arry Omest probably doesn&rsquo;t carry a roll of Lifesavers in his back pocket, but he could. He saved the Blues from extinction in St. Louis a year ago and, despite his controversial method of rebuilding the club, nearly turned a profit.</p><p>Allow, however, a little room for explanation. The Blues were in desperate financial shape, but along came Omest, a Vancouver businessman who lives in California, who bought the team from the league.</p><p>Omest, who some people said made the purchase with mirrors, quickly went into his magic act. He had to do it briskly because it was only a short time before the season started. He hired Ron Caron, who had been on the unemployment line after he was sacked in the Irving Grundman purge in Montreal in &rsquo;83, as his manager and gave him a simple mandate of producing a competitive hockey team.</p><p>There was, however, an unofficial description which preceded the words competitive hockey team&mdash;a cost-efficient competitive hockey team.</p><p>Players were released&mdash;many of whom ended up in Hartford with Emile Francis, the former president and general manager of the Blues&mdash;and the skeleton Blues, which no one expected to challenge, finished in second place in the Norris Division. Not a great feat in lieu of the division, but commendable nonetheless.</p><p>In fact, they came within one overtime goal in the seventh and deciding playoff game against Minnesota of winning the Norris title. Had they won that game, they would have earned some additional home dates at the Arena and Omest could have finished-in the black.</p><p>&ldquo;We gave it the ultimate effort,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; coach Jacques Demers. &ldquo;As a coach, I can say that I have the maximum respect for those players.&rdquo;</p><p>There&rsquo;s sufficient reason to think the Blues can do it this year&mdash;and without all the nagging and unnecessary comments from those not in the know. Omest won&rsquo;t be operating with the same kind of budget, though he will be watching to make sure the books are intact.</p><p>The Blues made a pivotal move at the National Hockey League entry draft in June when they traded their first-round pick (eighth overall) to Montreal for goalie Rick Wamsley. This move, while it did raise a few eyebrows from those critics who believe first-round picks should never be traded, made some practical sense. The Blues needed a goalie to back up Mike Liut, and they believe Wamsley can work at least 30 games.</p><p>The addition of Wamsley also opens up the possibility of a Liut trade. Certainly his high-price tag must disrupt the Blues&rsquo; budget, but on the other hand, Liut played so well for them when it really mattered in the playoffs.</p><p>&ldquo;The man stood out great in the playoffs,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;It was a Billy Smith type performance. I don&rsquo;t care whether Piett&rsquo;s (gametying) shot came from, even if it was from their blueline, look at the other saves he made. 1&rsquo;11 never fault him for that one.&rdquo;</p><p>One of the principle reasons for the Wamsley trade was that the Blues figured the player they would obtain with their first-round pick wouldn&rsquo;t be able to play this season, so they had to think of their present needs as opposed to their long-term needs. Using their second-round pick, the Blues selected defenseman Brian Benning, who is a bit more rugged than his brother Jim, a three-year veteran with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Benning, while he expressed a desire to play pro this season, may be sent back to his junior team, the Portland Winter Hawks. His brother made the jump to the pros at age 18 and it took him two years to find his groove.</p><p>Caron, who still wears the Habs&rsquo; crest on his sleeve, has built the team with some good, young players. He made the trade last year that brought Doug Wickenheiser, Greg Paslawski and Gilbert Delorme from Montreal for Perry Turnbull. The fact the Canadiens subsequently traded Turnbull to Winnipeg just after the &rsquo;84 draft makes the Blues look good. They&rsquo;re high on Delorme, whom many people feel was a real steal for the Blues.</p><p>Rob Ramage is the leader on defense. He has found the form which New Jersey obviously felt would never surface when they traded him in &rsquo;82. It&rsquo;s taken a while for Ramage to establish himself, and while he may not be the best at his position, he&rsquo;s certainly in the top echelon.</p><p>Ramage provides leadership for youngsters such as Delorme and Rik Wilson, another rearguard who&rsquo;s starting to show some promise after spending some time in the minors.</p><p>The Blues&rsquo; strength is their first line of Bernie Federko, centering Brian Sutter and Joe Mullen. Federko produced over 100 points for the second time in four years, but the fact he&rsquo;s not flashy makes him virtually anonymous. He works well with the tough Sutter on the left side and Mullen, who set a record for points by an American-born player, on the right side.</p><p>That line is backed up by Doug Gilmour, an underrated rookie last season, and Jorgen Pettersson, a slick Swedish left winger, and Mark Reeds, a good right winger who was severely hampered by an eye injury early last season.</p><p>Wickenheiser, while he will never live up to his junior billing, has found some serenity in St. Louis and is giving the Blues an honest effort. He&rsquo;s developed into a good checker, whom many people overlook because he was such an outstanding offensive type as an 18-year-old in Regina.</p><p>But this is where the Blues are in need of help. They need at least one more good sniper&mdash;preferably on the wing. Without one, they can repeat last season&rsquo;s performance, but it will be difficult to make any drastic improvement.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0182/10149779-1-eng-US/f0087-012.jpg" title="f0087-01" width="1524" height="3170"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bernie Federko is the Blues&rsquo; top player, but is virtually anonymous because he does his job with little fanfare.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>ST. LOUIS BLUES (15)</h3><p>1. Brian Benning, D, Portland</p><p>2. Tony Hrkac, C, Orillia, Tier II</p><p>3. Toby Ducolon, RW, Vermont HS</p><p>4. Robert Dirk, D, Regina</p><p>5. Alan Perry, G, Rh. Isl. HS</p><p>6. Graham Herring, D, Longueuil</p><p>7. Scott Paluch, D, Chi. Jets</p><p>8. Steve Tuttle, RW, Richmond, Tier II</p><p>9. Cliff Ronning, C, New West</p><p>10. Don Porter, LW, Mich Tech</p><p>11. Jim Vesey, C, Mass HS</p><p>12. Daniel Jomphe, LW, Granby</p><p>13. Tom Tilley, D, Orillia, Tier II</p><p>14. Mark Cupolo, LW, Guelph</p><p>15. Mark Lanigan, D, Waterloo USHL</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0241/10149772-1-eng-US/f0087-022.jpg" title="f0087-02" width="748" height="2254"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-0199/10149765-1-eng-US/f0088-012.jpg" title="f0088-01" width="1140" height="1408"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Blues dealt for a good back-up goalie in the offseason to reduce the workload of Mike Liut.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-0242/10149758-1-eng-US/f0088-022.jpg" title="f0088-02" width="1251" height="1520"></div><h2><b>St. Louis Blues Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-0325/10149751-1-eng-US/f0088-032.jpg" title="f0088-03" width="2433" height="1536"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-0188/10149744-1-eng-US/f0089-012.jpg" title="f0089-01" width="2393" height="1311"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-0250/10149737-1-eng-US/f0089-022.jpg" title="f0089-02" width="2392" height="1292"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played. <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals. <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists. <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points. <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal. <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> - Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game. <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; I &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead). <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F. T. L, I. P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists), <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by players team while he was on the ice. <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice. <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played. <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0086-02

St. Louis Blues

<div class="byline">Nick Polano</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-0246/10149880-1-eng-US/f0090-022.jpg" title="f0090-02" width="678" height="716"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-0193/10149873-1-eng-US/f0090-012.jpg" title="f0090-01" width="731" height="633"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>P</span></b>robably the biggest misunderstanding of the 1982-83 National Hockey League season resulted from a quote by Detroit Red Wing general manager Jim Devellano. Asked when he thought the Wings would win the Stanley Cup, he said, &ldquo;About 1990.&rdquo;</p><p>At that time, Jimmy D. had every reason to feel it would take that long&hellip;maybe even longer. Not anymore. This team, if Devellano continues to build with the same amount of skill and luck, will rise to the top a lot sooner.</p><p>Last season, the Wings finished in third place. This season, they should repeat that, possibly go even higher.</p><p>Devellano is the Campbell Conference version of Scott Bowman. He&rsquo;s a good judge of talent, having gained good training as the assistant general manager of the New York Islanders in their heyday. His strength is his dogged determination, which was evident in the summer when he waited by the telex as the names of free agents came across the wire. It vias a Sunday, and you can be sure many of Jimmy D.&rsquo;s counterparts were probably enjoying the day off.</p><p>Devellano receives a lot of support from owner Mike (Little Caesar&rsquo;s Pizza) Hitch, who is committed to delivering a winner to the long-suffering Wing fans. He&rsquo;s not afraid to open up his wallet and spend a few bucks. He did, after all, give Brad Park a large piece of the pizza pie to motor over to Detroit after eight seasons in Boston, and rewarded Steve Yzerman with $25,000 after finishing second to Buffalo&rsquo;s Tom Barrasso in the Rookie-of-the-Year balloting.</p><p>Park and Yzerman were the talk of Detroit last season. The old and the young, the clever veteran and the talented rookie. The present and the future.</p><p>Park, the human tortoise, used his wits to compensate for his eroded knees, and won the Bill Masterton Trophy for perserverance, and eclipsed Bobby Orr&rsquo;s career record for assists by a defenseman.</p><p>Yzerman led the team in scoring with 87 points, 35 of which were goals. He generated a lot of enthusiam in Detroit, and will undoubtedly continue that this season.</p><p>John Ogrodnick, the Wings&rsquo; prized and underrated right winger, missed 16 games with a wrist injury, but he still scored 42 goals and 36 assists. He&rsquo;s another player who will do even better this season.</p><p>Ron Duguay came over from New York in a three-for-three deal with New York Rangers in &rsquo;83. Many people criticized Devellano for trading for Duguay, who had worn out his welcome in the Big Apple. Devellano, however, was willing to overlook Duguay&rsquo;s reputation, and felt a change of scenery would help him. Duguay turned in his best campaign in seven NHL seasons, with 33 goals and 47 assists. But don&rsquo;t give all the credit to Jimmy D. for the turnaround. Robin Bobo, a model who Duguay married during the season, gave the sex symbol from Sudbury a new lease on his career.</p><p>Ivan Boldirev, who heads into this season as one of the oldest players in the league at age 35, has seen the sights of the NHL, but last year in Detroit he had his most productive campaign with 83 points, second only to Yzerman. It was a story right out of Ripley&rsquo;s Believe It Or Not, but the Wings weren&rsquo;t looking for any answers.</p><p>The same is true for Lane Lambert, the Wings&rsquo; second-round pick in &rsquo;83 from Saskatoon Blades. He should have been drafted in the first round but amazingly wasn&rsquo;t. His 35 points may indicate why, but Red Wing players will tell you that Lambert&rsquo;s value to the team could be measured in his 115 minutes in penalties. He wasn&rsquo;t afraid to slug it out, and that was just as important as Yzerman&rsquo;s scoring.</p><p>Shawn Burr, the Rookie of the Year in the OHL last season with Kitchener, was drafted seventh overall. He&rsquo;s already being compared to Yzerman.</p><p>&ldquo;Soon as it (the draft) happened, I thought about it, that people would expect so much from me because of the kind of season he (Yzerman) had,&rdquo; Burr said. &ldquo;I probably won&rsquo;t be able to do the things he did, but I&rsquo;ll try my best.&rdquo;</p><p>The Wing management feels the 18-year-old has a good chance to start the season as a fourth-line center.</p><p>The Wings added some toughness up front by acquiring Dave (Tiger) Williams from Vancouver for Rob McClanahan. Danny Gare, Dwight Foster and Kelly Kisio are other hardworking forwards who promote Detroit&rsquo;s team concept.</p><p>Defenseman Reed Larson is the anchor on defense, with his blistering shot and excellent attitude.</p><p>John Barrett was rewarded with a new multi-year pact in the off-season, along with Colin Campbell. These two, plus Larson and Park will form part of the defense, but as many as eight others will be vying for jobs too. This include incumbents Randy Ladouceur, Greg Smith and Barry Melrose, plus newcomers Larry Trader, coming off a great minor-league season, and Rick Zombo, who sacrificed his final year of college eligibility to tum pro. In addition, there&rsquo;s 31-year-old Milan Chalupa, a veteran of the Czech national team, and youngsters David Korol and Doug Houda.</p><p>Greg Stefan has won the No. I job in goal. He&rsquo;s not nearly as aggressive as the comparisons to Billy Smith would suggest. He&rsquo;s chippy, to be sure, but his 3.51 goals-against average in 50 games is proof he can do more than swing his stick. It&rsquo;ll be an interesting battle to see which one of either Corrado Micalef or Ed Mio wins the backup job. Both are good, but Devellano will most likely retain just one and send the other to the minors, or work out some kind of trade.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0091-0176/10149866-1-eng-US/f0091-012.jpg" title="f0091-01" width="1397" height="3219"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve Yzerman finished second in the Rookie-of-the-Year balloting, but was given a large cash bonus for his good showing.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>DETROIT RED WINGS (12)</h3><p>1. Shawn Burr, C, Kitchener</p><p>2. Doug Houda, D, Calgary</p><p>3. Milan Chalupa, D. Czech</p><p>4. Mats Lundstrom, LW, Sweder</p><p>5. Randy Hansch, G, Victoria</p><p>6. Stefan Larsson, D, Sweden</p><p>7. Lars Karlsson, LW, Sweden</p><p>8. Urban Nordin, C, Sweden</p><p>9. Bill Shibicky, C, Mich State</p><p>10. Jay Rose, D, Mass HS</p><p>11. Tim Kaiser, RW, Guelph</p><p>12. Tom Nickolau, C, Guelph</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0091-0241/10149859-1-eng-US/f0091-022.jpg" title="f0091-02" width="650" height="2319"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0195/10149852-1-eng-US/f0092-012.jpg" title="f0092-01" width="1138" height="1445"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Red Wing John Ogrodnick produced 42 goals and 36 assists, despite missing 16 games with a wrist injury.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0246/10149845-1-eng-US/f0092-022.jpg" title="f0092-02" width="1274" height="1540"></div><h2><b>Detroit Red Wings Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0327/10149838-1-eng-US/f0092-032.jpg" title="f0092-03" width="2408" height="1544"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0182/10149831-1-eng-US/f0093-012.jpg" title="f0093-01" width="2348" height="1320"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0245/10149824-1-eng-US/f0093-022.jpg" title="f0093-02" width="2362" height="1261"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists; <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> &mdash; Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F. T, L. I. P); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice; <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice: <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0090-02

Detroit Red Wings

<div class="byline">Orval Tessier</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0094-0234/10149967-1-eng-US/f0094-022.jpg" title="f0094-02" width="680" height="714"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0094-0187/10149960-1-eng-US/f0094-012.jpg" title="f0094-01" width="680" height="631"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>t happened in a game against Toronto. Al Secord, the heart and soul of the Chicago Black Hawks, was playing in his first game of the season after missing most of it with tom stomach muscles. He played with his usual amount of intensity&mdash;even if he was grossly out of shape&mdash;and even gave Toronto winger Stewart Gavin a thunderous bodycheck that forced the Leaf winger to miss the balance of the game.</p><p>One could only imagine how good the Hawks would have been last season with Secord playing 80 games. And Darryl Sutter. And Curt Fraser. And Doug Wilson. And Tom Lysiak. And&hellip;</p><p>Okay, you get the message. The Hawks were battered and bruised, a dispirited group that fought hard to overcome the obstacles but simply couldn&rsquo;t.</p><p>This season, if the Hawks don&rsquo;t act out another episode of MASH they&rsquo;ll be among the league contenders.</p><p>&ldquo;In my mind, we&rsquo;re the team to beat in the Norris Division,&rdquo; said general manager Bob Pulford. &ldquo;I think we should be the most improved team in the entire league over the year. In all the years I&rsquo;ve been in hockey, I&rsquo;ve never seen a year with so many injuries to so many key people. How can you judge anything on what happened last year?&rdquo;</p><p>You just have to look at last season&rsquo;s horror and chalk it up to experience. The previous season, Hawk coach Orval Tessier openly criticized his team for lacking heart, despite winning the Norris Division and then making it to the Campbell Conference final. Last season, they finished second last in the division, tottering close to the brink of elimination, but Tessier said he was more proud of his troops then because of their desire to overcome the obstacles.</p><p>Those in the know say Tessier is a master manipulator, a latter day Vince Lombardi who enjoys saying things which he mightn&rsquo;t mean but which he hopes will have an effect on his team. In his first season, the players didn&rsquo;t groove on his philosophy. They weren&rsquo;t any happier last season, and for awhile it appeared as though Mt. Orval would be silenced with a pink slip. But Hawk general manager Bob Pulford sympathized with Tessier because of the situation.</p><p>This season will be a make-it-or-break-it period for Tessier. If the Hawks can recapture their glory of two seasons ago, Tessier will be safe. If he falters, he&rsquo;ll be in big trouble.</p><p>Much of his fate will depend of the health of his No. 1 line of Denis Savard, Secord and Steve Larmer.</p><p>Let&rsquo;s begin with Savard. He has the exciting moves that lift fans out of their seats and keep opposition defensemen standing still. After a 121-point season in &rsquo;83, he slumped to 94 points last season. He missed Secord, his bruising left winger, but Savard will have to learn to overcome that dependency.</p><p>Secord, as mentioned, was only a fraction of his self last season. The stomach injury was a big mystery, and for awhile it seemed as though Big Al would never play again. But he worked hard&mdash;actually rested is more appropriate&mdash;to improve his condition, and this season he should be fit and ready to go the distance. He means too much to this team to be absent from the lineup. When he&rsquo;s playing, the Hawks earn automatic respect.</p><p>The third member of that line, Steve Larmer, is nicknamed, Charmer&mdash;and with good reason. He is a clever player, making up for his mediocre skating with his adroit work around the net. He just always seems to be in the right place at the right time, but he, too, missed Secord. Larmer, the Rookie of the Year in &rsquo;83 with 90 points, had his output drop by 15 points. But the one thing you can say about Larmer is that he believes in the work ethic. He worked his way up from the American League, and he should be able to improve his production.</p><p>Doug Wilson, the Norris Trophy winner in &rsquo;82, was another of the wounded veterans. In one game, he suffered a fractured skull when he was hit above the bridge of his nose.</p><p>Lysiak, one of the best two-way centers in the league, sat out 20 games for deliberately tripping linseman Ron Foyt. It was a stupid thing to do, and Lysiak will carry that with him for the rest of his career, but he&rsquo;s a veteran center and No. 2 on the Hawk depth chart.</p><p>Sutter, the Hawk captain, played in only 59 games, while Fraser was good for only 29. The absence of those two and Secord forced the Hawks to work with a skeleton left wing. When those three are in the lineup, opposition right wingers think twice about going into the comers.</p><p>Other forwards such as Billy Gardner, Troy Murray, Ken Yaremchuk, Tom McMurchy and Bobby MacMillan (acquired in a trade with New Jersey), add depth to the forward list.</p><p>Ed Olczyk, the hometown boy who starred for the U.S. Olympic Team and was drafted third overall by the Hawks last June, can play all three forward positions and he&rsquo;s enthusiastic. Wayne Presley, a highly-talented winger with the Kitchener Rangers, may be elevated, too.</p><p>Jack O&rsquo;Callahan, Bob Murray, Dave Feamster, Jerome Dupont, Keith Brown and Behn Wilson complement Doug Wilson on defense. Murray Bannerman is one of the better goalies in the league, and he&rsquo;ll be backed up by either Warren Skorodenski or Jim Ralph.</p><p>Tony Esposito, once the premier goalie in the league, became a free agent without compensation on July 1. As this issue was going to press, the Hawks hadn&rsquo;t signed him and it didn&rsquo;t appear that they would, Whether any other NHL club is interested in the veteran netminder remains to be seen.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0095-0182/10149953-1-eng-US/f0095-012.jpg" title="f0095-01" width="1546" height="3192"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Denis Savard should be able to bounce back after an off year, provided both he and his Black Hawk teammates stay healthy.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS (13)</h3><p>1. Ed Olczyk, RW, Team USA</p><p>2. Trent Yawney, D, Saskatoon</p><p>3. Tom Eriksson, C, Sweden</p><p>4. Timo Lehkonen, RW, Finland</p><p>5. Darin Sceviour, RW, Lethbridge</p><p>6. Chris Clifford, G, Kingston</p><p>7. Mike Stapleton, C, Cornwall</p><p>8. Glenn Greenough, RW, Sudbury</p><p>9. Ralph Difiore, D, Shawinigan</p><p>10. Joakim Persson, RW, Sweden</p><p>11. Bill Brown, C, Minn HS</p><p>12. David MacKey, LW, Victoria</p><p>13. Dan Williams, D. Chi. Jets</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0095-0238/10149946-1-eng-US/f0095-022.jpg" title="f0095-02" width="766" height="2346"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-0329/10149939-1-eng-US/f0098-032.jpg" title="f0098-03" width="1130" height="1406"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Severely pulled stomach muscles nearly threatened Al Secord&rsquo;s career, but a long rest helped him to recover.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-0253/10149932-1-eng-US/f0098-022.jpg" title="f0098-02" width="1296" height="1536"></div><h2><b>Chicago Black Hawks Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-01112/10149925-1-eng-US/f0098-012.jpg" title="f0098-01" width="2408" height="1528"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0175/10149918-1-eng-US/f0099-012.jpg" title="f0099-01" width="2321" height="1293"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0327/10149911-1-eng-US/f0099-032.jpg" title="f0099-03" width="2357" height="1288"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> - Games Played; <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists; <b>PTS</b> - Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> &mdash; Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> - Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> &mdash; First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> &mdash; Score-Tying Goals. L &mdash; Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> - Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T, L, I. P). <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by player&rsquo;s team while he was on the ice; <b>PGF</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice; <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> &mdash; Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played; <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> &mdash; Percentage of opponents&rsquo; evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> &mdash; Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0094-02

Chicago Black Hawks

<div class="byline">Dan Maloney</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0241/10150054-1-eng-US/f0100-022.jpg" title="f0100-02" width="568" height="700"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0185/10150047-1-eng-US/f0100-012.jpg" title="f0100-01" width="788" height="680"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>oronto Maple Leaf captain Rick Vaive signed a new contract in the off-season which will reward him if the Leafs make the playoffs. Vaive, then, must be considered an optimist, but a realist would probably tell him the only bonus he&rsquo;ll be getting will be at Christmas.</p><p>But look for new coach Dan Maloney and his assistant, John Brophy, to at least make losing not nearly as acceptable as it was last season under Mr. Nice Guy, Mike Nykoluk.</p><p>Some say the 33-year-old Maloney, who was Nykoluk&rsquo;s assistant the last two seasons, was actually coaching the team for much of last season. If that was the case, then he has to share the blame for last season&rsquo;s disaster. But he&rsquo;ll be the official coach this season, and provided management does not interfere&mdash;which is like saying Ronald Reagan doesn&rsquo;t like warheads&mdash;he will be able to design and implement his own system. He won&rsquo;t take any nonsense, so watch for the Leafs to play with a lot more effort and intensity this season.</p><p>Also, if the Leafs are lucky, they won&rsquo;t lead the league again in injuries. That, in part, contributed to Nykoluk&rsquo;s downfall, as he was never really blessed with a full roster. Maloney, who was responsible for assigning the players conditioning programs in the offseason, will be closely monitoring their health in training camp and at various points during the season.</p><p>When you talk about talent on the Leafs, there are various examples where it&rsquo;s obvious. In goal, the Leafs have two outstanding young netminders in Allan Bester and Ken Wreggett. Bester was called up from the Brantford Alexanders and posted a 4.35 goals-against average in 32 games. He&rsquo;s exciting, he&rsquo;s young (20), and he has enough enthusiasm to last a whole season. The only question is, will he, at 5-foot-7, 150 pounds, be able to stand up to a whole season? He&rsquo;s already earned No. 1 status, and that means he&rsquo;ll be given lots of work.</p><p>Wreggett, an all-star with the Western League Lethbridge Broncos, is the opposite of Bester, at least in terms of style. While Bester plays high in his crease to make up for his size, the 6-foot-l, 180-pound Wregget prefers to stay low and is more apt to stand up. He stood up to 54 shots, in fact, is his first game with the Leafs and came away on the winning end of an 8-6 score. He&rsquo;ll be a good mate for Bester, and the combination of the two will be good for the Leafs, though they definitely lack experience. Veteran Mike Palmateer will be waiting in the wings for his chance to prove he&rsquo;s not over the hill.</p><p>Brophy, a minor-league player who never made it to the NHL but who left his mark&mdash;literally&mdash;on many of the better ones, will handle the defense. He&rsquo;s coached the Nova Scotia Voyageurs the last few seasons and did a good job, but this may be his biggest challenge. Last season, there were just too many examples when the defense wasn&rsquo;t working.</p><p>Veteran Borje Salming, 33, is unquestionably the Leafs&rsquo; most-valuable player. When he&rsquo;s not in the lineup, the Leafs cannot win. But when he&rsquo;s in the lineup, it&rsquo;s interesting to note that the Leafs are somewhat handicapped, also. The opposition knows that by shooting the puck in Salming&rsquo;s zone, they can wear him down and curtail his effectiveness. The fact Salming&rsquo;s been saddled with rookies for the past few seasons hasn&rsquo;t helped the cause either. He&rsquo;s coming off a season in which he suffered a broken kneecap, and had he not suffered the injury, he would have played in the Canada Cup. For the Leafs&rsquo; sake, Salming&rsquo;s knee had better be in sound working order or it will be big trouble.</p><p>Gary Nylund, if he&rsquo;s ever able to fully recover from two knee operations, will be a solid defenseman. If he can&rsquo;t, it will be a tragic waste. Jim Benning, while he still is not the prettiest skater, was the team&rsquo;s most improved blueliner last season and has the potential to get even better. Gary Leeman, 20, lost his confidence in his rookie year after a starring in junior, but only because the Leafs didn&rsquo;t use him enough. Bill Stewart (if he stays with the team) and Bob McGill are others to look for. Bill Root, obtained from Montreal, should be a regular.</p><p>Cam Plante was the best defenseman in the Western League last season and may be with the Leafs, though his skating is suspect. Allafrate, the No. 1 pick (fourth overall) from the U.S. Olympic Team and Belleville Bulls, still needs time to develop and may be back in junior this season.</p><p>Vaive, who&rsquo;s posted three consecutive 50-goal seasons, is the Leafs&rsquo; most consistent forward. But he&rsquo;s alone in that category. John Anderson, Vaive&rsquo;s left winger, always hovers around the 80-point mark, though he has the potential to do much more. Bill Derlago worked his way back from the fourth-line to the first. He had 40 goals last season&mdash;the most ever for him in the pros&mdash;but his 60 points wasn&rsquo;t nearly enough. Playing on a good line will help him, but Derlago will need to work harder.</p><p>After this line, though, the Leafs are weak. Left winger Walt Poddubny will be back and hopefully in better form after a injury-riddled sophomore season. The same goes for his Czechoslovakian linemates, Peter Ihnacak and Miroslav Frycer, but with hard rocks such as Maloney and Brophy in charge, the two Czechs will have to play with a lot more gusto than in the past. Jim Korn was shuffled between defense and forward, but the Leafs may keep him up front longer this season to utilize his size.</p><p>Russ Courtnall, promoted late in the season after a stint with the Canadian Olympic Team, is the only other quality player. Dan Daoust tailed off after a good rookie season, and he, too, could b6 in trouble.</p><p>Juniors Jeff Jackson (Brantford) and Dan Hodgson (Prince Albert) may be retained by the Leafs, and possibly minor-leaguer Greg</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0178/10150040-1-eng-US/f0101-012.jpg" title="f0101-01" width="1541" height="3197"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Leaf captain Rick Vaive had his third consecutive season of at least 50 goals and was rewarded with a new contract.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>DRAFT CHOICES</b></h2><h3>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (11)</h3><p>1. Allafrate, D, Belleville</p><p>2. Todd Gill, D, Windsor</p><p>3. Jeff Reese, G, London</p><p>4. Jack Capuano, D, Rh. Isl. HS</p><p>5. Fabian Joseph, C, Victoria</p><p>6. Joe Maclnnis, C, Mass HS</p><p>7. Derek Laxdal, RW, Brandon</p><p>8. Dan Turner, LW, Med. Hat</p><p>9. David Buckley, D, Mass HS</p><p>10. Mikael Wurst, LW, Ohio State</p><p>11. Peter Slanina, D, Czech</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0245/10150033-1-eng-US/f0101-022.jpg" title="f0101-02" width="728" height="2299"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0102-0181/10150026-1-eng-US/f0102-012.jpg" title="f0102-01" width="1174" height="1421"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Veteran Borje Salming is getting on in age, and the opposition isn&rsquo;t making it any easier for him.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0102-0237/10150019-1-eng-US/f0102-022.jpg" title="f0102-02" width="1290" height="1541"></div><h2><b>Toronto Maple Leafs Roster</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0102-0325/10150012-1-eng-US/f0102-032.jpg" title="f0102-03" width="2450" height="1547"></div><h2><b>1983-84 Statistical Review</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0103-0174/10150005-1-eng-US/f0103-012.jpg" title="f0103-01" width="2443" height="1297"></div><h2><b>Plus-Minus Statistics</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0103-0236/10149998-1-eng-US/f0103-022.jpg" title="f0103-02" width="2386" height="1259"></div><h3><b>STATISTICAL REVIEW ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>G</b> &mdash; Goals; <b>A</b> &mdash; Assists; <b>PTS</b> &mdash; Points; <b>S</b> &mdash; Shots on goal; <b>SC PCTG</b> - Scoring Percentage (Goals and shots on goal); <b>GW</b> &mdash; Game-Winning Goals; <b>GT</b> - Game-Tying Goals; <b>F</b> - First Goal of Game; <b>T</b> - Score-Tying Goals; <b>L</b> - Goals giving a team the lead; <b>I</b> &mdash; Insurance Goals (Putting a team two goals ahead); <b>P</b> &mdash; Proximate Goals (Moving the losing team to within one goal of the opponent&rsquo;s score); <b>TOT</b> &mdash; Total Important Goals (F, T. L, I. P); <b>PCTG</b> - Percentage of Important Goals compared to Total Goals; <b>IP</b> &mdash; Important Points (Goals and assists); <b>PCTG</b> &mdash; Percentage of Important Points compared to Total Points.</p><h3><b>PLUS-MINUS ABBREVIATIONS</b></h3><p><b>GP</b> &mdash; Games Played; <b>TGF</b> &mdash; Total Goals scored by players team while he was on the ice; PGF - Power-Play Goals scored by team while player was on ice, <b>OFFENSE PERCENTAGE</b> - Percentage of team&rsquo;s even-strength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on the ice in games in which he played. <b>TGA</b> &mdash; Total Goals Against a team while player on ice; <b>PGA</b> &mdash; Power-Play Goals Against a team while player on ice. <b>DEFENSE PERCENT</b> - Percentage of opponents evenstrength and shorthand goals (Not power-play goals) for which the player was on ice in games in which he played; <b>DIFF</b> - Difference between Offense Percent and Defense Percent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0100-02

Toronto Maple Leafs

f0105-01

U.S. College Hockey Gears Up For The Great Experiment

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0110-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0110-0181/10150186-1-eng-US/f0110-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he summer of 1984 produced changes, some surprises and a slightly different version of the venerable&mdash;and rather resilient&mdash;American Hockey League.</p><p>For the third straight season, the AHL will have 13 teams, an all-time high for the 49-year-old league. And, once again, the 13clubs will be located in the same cities, with the same divisional alignments. But you might be hard-pressed to draw many more comparisons.</p><p>For starters, the death of the Central Hockey League shortly after the completion of the 1983-84 season sent five National Hockey League teams looking for affiliates to send their minor league prospects. Add to that a little jockeying by some member clubs and you have all the ingredients needed for an active off-season.</p><p>After some false finishes, what has emerged is a league with 13 teams, six of which have dual partnerships with NHL teams, believed to be an all-time record, and seven with just one partner. That changeover has produced a great deal of speculation about the merits of each system and how the competitive balance will be affected.</p><p>&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s going to prove rather interesting to see how the single affiliates do against those working with two clubs,&rdquo; said AHL president Jack Butterfield.</p><p>There are differing points of view about the matter. One group feels that the teams with one affiliate will be able to present stronger teams, since they are likely to have veteran players as well as rookies on the roster. On the other hand, some people believe that the teams with two NHL affiliates will have twice as many quality prospects in place and will benefit the most. And there are some others who feel that conditions have presented an opportunity for an enterprising independent operator to dip into the rich market of free agent players available and field a competitive team in much the same manner that AHL owners did prior to the NHL expansion and emergence of the World Hockey Association.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m inclined to think that those going with the two affiliates are probably thinking, &rsquo;Well, okay, we won&rsquo;t carry any excess weight, we&rsquo;ll only carry prospects.&rsquo;&rdquo; Butterfield said. &ldquo;It would seem to me that teams like Binghamton, Fredericton, Hershey, New Haven, Sherbrooke and Springfield will probably have a lot of younger players as opposed to, for example, Adirondack, Baltimore, Nova Scotia, Moncton. Those teams will probably have some of the older, a little more established players. They&rsquo;re going to have to carry that type of player to fill out their roster.&rdquo; &rsquo; Just four clubs return with the same affiliates and coaches. Adirondack (Detroit) will be coached again by Bill Dineen, marking the first time that the same man has lasted two seasons with the Glens Falls-based team. AHL Coach of the Year Gene Ubriaco will guide Baltimore (Pittsburgh) again, Earl Jessiman is ready to start his second season at Fredericton (Quebec and Vancouver), and Joe Crozier is back for year two of his stint in Rochester (Buffalo).</p><p>That&rsquo;s the simple part. Let&rsquo;s start in the Northern Division, where Moncton, Nova Scotia, Sherbrooke and Maine have instituted some changes. Maine, the defending Calder Cup champ, was the least active of the bunch. It continues as the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; top farm team, but a summer coaching shuffle in the Devils&rsquo; organization resulted in Tom McVie&rsquo;s return to the head coaching job at Maine, and John Paddock being named as his assistant. McVie was promoted from Maine in November, &rsquo;83 to handle the Devils, and Paddock retired as a player to handle the Mariners. Paddock, who had no prior coaching experience, led the Mariners to the playoff title.</p><p>In a series of moves that took about a month to complete, the Montreal Canadiens left Nova Scotia for Sherbrooke, Edmonton left Moncton for Nova Scotia, and Moncton was left without a team. The Calgary Flames eventually moved their operation to the New Brunswick city and the league scrapped its proposed East-West division alignment and 12-team lineup to return to its 13-team form.</p><p>The scramble started when the Canadiens ended their long association with Nova Scotia and headed west to the province of Quebec. They landed in Sherbrooke&mdash;-where the Winnipeg Jets struggled during the past two seasons&mdash;to achieve artistic and financial success. The Canadiens own the franchise in Sherbrooke, have changed the nickname from Jets to Canadiens, and have completed a deal with Winnipeg to have some of its players on the Sherbrooke roster. Pierre Creamer will coach the team.</p><p>Edmonton&rsquo;s desire to end an unsuccessful two-year run in Moncton opened the door for the Canadiens to move out of Nova Scotia. The Oilers agreed to assume the remaining years of the Canadiens&rsquo; lease at the Metro Centre. Edmonton, which owns the franchise, renamed the club the Nova Scotia Oilers and selected former Hartford Whaler coach Larry Kish to be the coach and general manager.</p><p>The Edmonton-Montreal deal, which was consummated during the National Hockey League meetings in June, left Moncton, which entered the league in 1978, without a team for the second time in three years. League officials adapted a realignment policy for what appeared to be a 12-team league and Butterfield drew up a schedule. But Moncton city officials and a group of private investors forged a partnership, purchased a franchise from the league during its annual meeting in early July and announced a deal with the Flames on a working agreement.</p><p>Under the terms of the unique arrangement, the City of Moncton owns 51 per cent of the franchise, guaranteeing that it will always have a team playing the city&rsquo;s arena. Also, the city recouped its expenditure for the franchise through a deal with a corporate sponsor. The minority owners will be responsible for the operation of the franchise and the Flames will control the hockey product. Pierre Page, who handled the Colorado Flames in the Central Hockey League the past two seasons, will coach the Moncton Golden Flames.</p><p>Southern Division teams were just as busy announcing changes and the seven that are likely to have an impact on the fortunes of the clubs involved.</p><p>Binghamton, which wallowed at the bottom of the standings with Hershey last season, will receive players from both the parent Hartford Whalers, which owns the franchise, and the Washington Capitals. Larry Pleau, a former Hartford player who later became coach and GM of the team, was named the Binghamton coach and GM.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0111-0179/10150179-1-eng-US/f0111-012.jpg" title="f0111-01" width="1575" height="1800"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>After stints as a player, coach and general manager in the NHL, Larry Pleau is running the show in Binghamton.</b></figcaption></div><p>Washington was left without an affiliate shortly after the season ended when the Hershey Bears&rsquo; management decided not to renew its agreement with the Caps and signed a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers and the Boston Bruins, who were partners at Hershey last season, will supply the players and coach Gary Inness returns for his third season.</p><p>Springfield owner Peter Cooney picked up two former CHL operators, the New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars, as his major-league affiliates after ending his dual arrangement with the Chicago Black Hawks, who moved to the International Hockey League, and the Flyers. Former Islander Lome Henning, an assistant with the parent club the past few seasons, was named the head coach at Springfield.</p><p>Nick Beverly will again coach the New Haven Nighthawks, the top farm team of the Los Angeles Kings, but Beverly will have a much larger talent pool to choose from, as the Kings have added the New York Rangers as their partners.</p><p>St. Catharines, which came on strong in the second half of last season and finished third in the Southern Division, has a new coach, Clair Alexander. The former Toronto Maple Leaf succeeds Doug Carpenter, now the Devils&rsquo; coach, as the head coach of the Leafs&rsquo; top farm team.</p><p>Since nine of the 13 teams in the league are wholly owned by National Hockey League teams, Butterfield said that the AHL remains on very strong footing. However, he said the trend toward dual affiliations could have an effect on the league in the next few years.</p><p>&ldquo;The only thing that does concern us is that if the two-team concept is successful, we might be faced with the possibility of losing some franchises if everybody doubles up,&rdquo; Butterfield said. &ldquo;There are 21 teams in the National Hockey League and that could mean 10 teams in our league if everybody doubles up.</p><p>&ldquo;I somehow or other seriously doubt that&rsquo;s going to happen, particularly with the fact that nine of the 13 teams are owned outright and those teams spent pretty good money to get those franchises and I don&rsquo;t think they are going to be in a hurry to give them up. They didn&rsquo;t acquire a franchise in the AHL for a song and for that reason I think they&rsquo;re going to want to continue to operate that way.</p><p>&ldquo;The member clubs in the National League have totally different concepts. Detroit is determined that they want to operate their farm team. Pittsburgh had offers from other clubs indicating a desire to go into partnership with them (in Baltimore) and they said they didn&rsquo;t want it. New Jersey has indicated that they want to remain independent. I think it&rsquo;s going to stay pretty much split down the middle.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0110-01

1984-85 AHL Regular Season Preview

f0112-01

1984-85 OHL Regular Season Preview

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1984-85 WHL Regular Season Preview

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0118-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0118-0178/10150307-1-eng-US/f0118-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he Quebec Major Junior Hockey League heads into the 1984-85 season with several changes, including a new landmark franchise, a change in divisions of Granby Bisons, seven new coaches, and a 71-game schedule. Also, the QMJHL will switch from short pants to long pants, which are already in use in the other two major junior Canadian leagues.</p><p>Plattsburgh Pioneers, the first all-Ameican major junior team, has received approval to affiliate with the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States and will compete in the Robert LeBel Division with Laval Voisins, Longueuil Chevaliers, Verdun Canadiens, St. Jean Beavers and Hull Olympiques.</p><p>Granby Bisons have shifted to the Frank Dilio Division, which also includes Shawinigan Cataractes, Drummondville Voltigeurs, Quebec Remparts. Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Trois-Rivieres Draveurs.</p><p>Some clubs will play 36 games at home and 35 on the road, then reverse it the following season with the clubs who played one less home game this season</p><p>Here&rsquo;s a look at both the divisions in alphabetical order:</p><h2><b>LEBEL DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>HULL OLYMPIQUES</b></h3><p>The Olympiques, who finished in the division cellar last season, will be stressing defense under new coach Pat Bums, a Gatineau policeman who is a disciplinarian.</p><p>Goalie Stephane Fortin has graduated and will be replaced by Eric Bohemier, the top-rated Quebec midget netminder.</p><p>Burns will be looking for productive seasons from second-year left winger Luc Robitaille and top draft pick Jean Bergeron.</p><h3><b>LAVAL VOISINS</b></h3><p>The Voisins represented the QMJHL in the Memorial Cup last season, but this year their fate will largely be determined by the status of defenseman Bobby Delias, Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; first-round pick two years ago, and Stephen Finn, a third-round selection of Quebec Nordiques in &rsquo;84.</p><p>&rsquo;&rsquo;Losing Mario Lemieux is a big piece of the puzzle,&rsquo;&rsquo; said Voisin owner and general manager Claude Foumel of his record-breaking center who was drafted first overall in the &rsquo;84 National Hockey League draft by Pittsburgh. &ldquo;But we have a good bunch coming back and their Memorial Cup experience should help them.&rdquo;</p><p>Laval will lose veterans such as Jacques Goyette, Yves Courteau and Francois Sills up front and defenseman Rene Badeau and goalie Tony Haladuick, but Foumel figures his team will be strong down the middle.</p><p>Alain Bisson, Michel Mongeau, Vincent Damphousse, Sylvain Boutin, Steve Latour and Reynold Gagne will return along with defensemen Rich Kokila, Michel Caron and Tom Paradis and goaltenders Carl Parker and Eric Pettigrew.</p><p>Top draft pick Jocelyn Lemieux, brother of Montreal Canadien draft pick. Claude Lemieux, is a hard-working winger who is reminiscent of former Hab John Ferguson</p><h3><b>LONGUEUIL CHEVALIERS</b></h3><p>Roger Picard, who played for St. Louis and coached Granby for a year and a half, has resurfaced behind the bench of Longueuil Chevaliers, league finalists in their first two seasons. But Picard has a tough year ahead of him.</p><p>The Chevaliers will miss offensive defenseman Jean-Jacques Daigneault, drafted in the first round by Vancouver. Center Santino Pellegrino, one of the league&rsquo;s best skaters, will play in Italy.</p><p>&ldquo;We lose 11 players and have to build a new team,&rdquo; Picard said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be a little more aggressive. I think people like good hockey but want to see more contact.&rdquo;</p><h3><b>PLATTSBURGH PIONEERS</b></h3><p>The expansion Pioneers will open their training camp in Lake Placid and start the season playing in the 3,200-seat field house at Plattsburgh State College in northern New York, then switch to the Crete Memorial Civic Centre when renovations are completed in October.</p><p>Owner Denis Methot from Trois-Rivieres will coach the club and Dan LaFrance has been named general manager.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve signed 15 players and will probably have 25 to 30 in camp,&rdquo; said publicist Rick Strack, the former Tulsa and Springfield goalie who graduated from Plattsburgh State, adding that the Pioneers will be &ldquo;pretty solid up front with big, fast skaters. The defense could be a question mark. We have size but have to work on mobility. The goaltending will be pretty solid and could be excellent if we get Alan Perry (whose rights are owned by St. Louis of the National Hockey League and Windsor of the Ontario League).&rdquo;</p><p>The top player on the Pioneers&rsquo; protected list, 6-foot-4, 200-pound left winger Max Middendorf from Wyckoff, NJ, has decided to attend the Ontario Hockey League camp of the Sudbury Wolves.</p><h3><b>ST. JEAN BEAVERS</b></h3><p>Ron Harris, a 15year pro, has left the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau to guide St. Jean Beavers, who finished fourth in the division last season.</p><p>&ldquo;Last year, we just made the playoffs by one point,&rdquo; Harris said. &ldquo;We have quite a few coming back and I know we can do a lot better. I want the team to be a lot more defensive and a lot more physical. I don&rsquo;t mean fighting; I mean a lot of good forechecking and back-checking.&rdquo;</p><p>Harris, who also coached Windsor in the Ontario League and Spokane in the Western league, has 14 returning players including defenseman Jean-Guy Bergeron and sniper Luc Marengere.</p><p>He lost top draft pick Mike McCullough from the junior A Hawkesbury Hawks to NCAA champion Bowling Green but says four players from the French junior national team have a good chance of making the club.</p><h3><b>VERDUN CANADIENS</b></h3><p>Pierre Cream er has stepped up to direct the parent Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; American league farm club in Sherbrooke and former Montreal Canadien winger Yvon Lambert takes over behind the bench.</p><p>Among the newcomers to the Canadiens, second in the division last season after representing the QMJHL in the Memorial Cup the previous season, will be top draft pick and high-scoring center Jim Carson from Detroit Compuware midgets and No. 2 pick Everett Sanipass from Moncton, a center and right winger described as &ldquo;one of the best midget prospects in the country&rdquo; by Verdun GM Eric Taylor.</p><p>Added size on the blueline will come from 6-foot-3, 210-pound Scott MacTavish from Fredericton and 6-foot-2, 200-pound Ron Annear from San Diego International University. Veterans include Jerome Carrier, Franco De Santis, Shane MacEachem, Jim Nesich and 6-foot-6, 220-pound Gerry Fleming, nephew of former NHLef Reggie Fleming.</p><h2><b>DILIO DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>CHICOUTIMI SAGUENEENS</b></h3><p>Mario Bazinet has reached the league final three of the past four years coaching Trois-Rivieres and Longueuil and will try again with Chicoutimi, who finished fourth last season.</p><p>&ldquo;We have to travel more than any team in the league and I think we have to have some bigger players, be more aggressive and disciplined,&rdquo; Bazinet said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s close to a rebuilding year because we lose 10 or 11 players. But I think we drafted the best all-around player in Simon Masse and best goalie in Roch Mariner.&rdquo;</p><h3><b>DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGEURS</b></h3><p>Michel Parizeau, who played for the World Hockey Association Nordiques, has moved from Chicoutimi to Drummondville, third-place finishers last season.</p><p>&ldquo;I played my junior hockey in Drummondville under (present Nordique GM) Maurice Filion,&rdquo; Parizeau said. &ldquo;We should have a good year, the only place we have to improve is on the left side.&rdquo;</p><p>A good nucleus of veterans include Jude Labillois and Dan Berthiaune in goal; Mario Carrier, Steve Duchesne and James Gasseau on defense; forwards Steve Pepin, Denis Gosselin and Jose Charbonneau.</p><h3><b>GRANBY BISONS</b></h3><p>The Bisons, fifth place finishers in the LeBel Division last season, lose only six players, including high-scoring defenseman Jocelyn Gauvreau on defense.</p><p>&ldquo;At center, we&rsquo;ll be one of the best in the league with Martin Bouliane and Stephane Richer, but our main concerns are defense and right wing,&rdquo; said coach Claude St. Sauveur.</p><p>St. Sauveur, however, believes he has the best goalie in the league in Patrick Roy, a fourth-round pick of Montreal.</p><h3><b>QUEBEC REMPARTS</b></h3><p>The big question about the Remparts, who tied with Shawinigan for first place last season, is the status of high-scoring defenseman Sylvain Cote, drafted in the first round of the &rsquo;84 draft by Hartford.</p><p>&ldquo;If Sylvain remains in Hartford, we&rsquo;ll be down to Alain Cote who played as a 16-year-old on the right side,&rdquo; said new club president Martin Madden. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have most of our forwards back (Claude Gosselin, Guy Ouellette, and Claude Lefebvre as a 20-year-old), but defense remains the one point we have to improve.&rdquo;</p><p>Outstanding goalie Luc Guenette will play minor pro after three years with the Remparts.</p><h3><b>SHAWINIGAN CATARACTES</b></h3><p>The Cataractes, who tied with Quebec for first place in the regular season but took the division title in the playoffs, could be the biggest team in the league once again. The QMJHL&rsquo;s top defensive club last year, the Cataractes have 6-foot-4 captain Jean Houde and four other players at 6-foot-3.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have another good defensive team,&rdquo; said Ron Lapointe. &ldquo;We have six defensmen back. We have four big left wingers coming back and we&rsquo;ve put a little more speed into the program.&rdquo;</p><p>No. I draft pick Simon Gagne, a right winger, is 6-foot-3 and weighs 200 pounds. Dave Kasper, the brother of Boston center Steve Kasper, will attend New Jersey&rsquo;s camp but could return to the Cataractes as an overage player if he fails to stay with the Devils.</p><h3><b>TROIS-RIVIERES DRAVEURS</b></h3><p>Former Philadelphia Flyer Andre (Moose) Dupont, whose team finished with the worst record in the league last season, got a head start on the season with a rookie camp in Cap de la Madelaine.</p><p>&ldquo;Center Martin Desjardins (first midget pick overall) is turning out as good as we thought he would,&rdquo; Dupontsaid. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have eight goalies fighting Alain Raymond for his job and we&rsquo;ll have a lot more potential to start the season with than we had last year.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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1984-85 QMJHL Regular Season Preview

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HOCKEY NEWS STATISTICS

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Top Shooters

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How NHL Final Attendance Looked

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International League

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Ontario Hockey League

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Western Hockey League

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Quebec Hockey League

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