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Yearbook 1988

The Hockey News Yearbook 1988

<div class="byline">Andre Savard</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-01132/10222721-1-eng-US/f0074-012.jpg" title="f0074-01" width="689" height="545"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-0267/10222714-1-eng-US/f0074-022.jpg" title="f0074-02" width="616" height="713"></div>The Quebec Nordiques have taken a page from the book of the Montreal Canadiens, their bitter provincial rivals.The Nordiques are looking to the future&hellip;and hording draft choices in the best tradition of former Montreal general manager Sam Pollock.Quebec GM Maurice Filion began on draft day this past summer by trading center Dale Hunter and goalie Clint Malarchuk for forwards Alan Haworth and Gaetan Duchesne, plus a 1987 first rounder. Soon after, Quebec shocked the hockey world&mdash;trading Michel Bergeron to the New York Rangers for $100,000 and a 1988 first rounder.That gives them four first-round picks in two years.The Nordiques used the &rsquo;87 pick to draft high-scoring center Joe Sakic, who counted 60 goals and 113 assists for Swift Current of the Western League last season.With their own first-round choice, they took defenseman Bryan Fogarty, who may step in this year from the Ontario League&rsquo;s Kingston Canadians.&ldquo;That was the main reason, the most important reason we made those trades,&rdquo; says Nordiques&rsquo; president Marcel Aubut. &ldquo;You have to start doing it at the appropriate time.&rdquo;In other words, you don&rsquo;t want to hit bottom before you start climbing back up. If you wait too long, you usually get caught in an avalanche.The Nordiques slid to 31-39-10 last season, their first sub-.500 effort in six seasons. The dip resulted largely from injuries to Hunter and Peter Stastny, but Aubut takes part of the blame for being an absentee president.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really have anything to do with the hockey part of it since I leave that to my coaches and scouts,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;but when the boss is away, the organization suffers psychologically. And we concentrated more on Rendez-vous (&rsquo;87) than the Nordiques.&rdquo;With no international spectacular to worry about this year, the Nordiques get all the attention. The first priority, finding a coach to replace Bergeron, was addressed immediately.Andre Savard, fresh from two seasons as coach of the Nordiques&rsquo; American League farm team in Fredericton, replaces Bergeron after the latter&rsquo;s seven-year run behind the bench.Aubut says Savard, the first former Nordique player ever to take an off-ice role in the organization, is just the man to lead a changing of the guard. And that&rsquo;s despite the 32-43-5 last-place record Savard had with the AHL Express last season.&ldquo;A little bit of that was our fault,&rdquo; Aubut says. &ldquo;With all of our injuries, we had to call up players and he never had any to work with.&rdquo;Aubut feels Savard&rsquo;s familiarity with the Quebec organization will be a large asset. Especially when the media and fans howl for Bergeron when the first slump hits.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s from this city and he knows the press and the fans,&rdquo; Aubut says. &ldquo;Plus he knows the kids, from coaching them in the minors. And he knows the veterans, from playing with them.&rdquo;But does he know how to coach?&ldquo;He worked miracles in Fredericton with what we gave him,&rdquo; the president says.The Nordiques&rsquo; resident miracle-workers on skates&mdash;left winger Michel Goulet and center Peter Stastny&mdash;return, although Stastny turns 31 this year.Left winger John Ogrodnick, after some early difficulties adjusting to Quebec following his trade from Detroit, was a scoring threat throughout the playoffs.But generally, the once-proud Nordique offense sputtered.Quebec scored 63 fewer goals, which more than negated the 13-goal improvement in goals against.&ldquo;We have to change the approach of the team back to scoring goals,&rdquo; Aubut says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we changed some people.&rdquo;The Nordiques figure they came out ahead in that respect, by trading with Washington. They gave up a center recovering from a broken leg (Hunter) because they have another disturber-type, Paul Gillis, ready to take his place.They let Malarchuk go because they figure Mario Gosselin is ready for a full season. In case he isn&rsquo;t, the erratic Richard Sevigny will have to do.Aubut recognizes that the Nordiques, undergoing a heart transplant with the departure of Hunter, are taking big chances.&ldquo;A lot of the spark is gone, yes,&rdquo; Aubut says. &ldquo;It will be tough to replace, but we think the kids are ready to take over.&rdquo;Is Andre Savard, after two years of minorleague experience?<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0075-01114/10222707-1-eng-US/f0075-012.jpg" title="f0075-01" width="1515" height="2774"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nordique super-scorer Michel Goulet&rsquo;s string of 50-goal seasons ended at four&mdash;by just one goal. Goulet scored 49 goals in 75 games.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>QUEBEC NORDIQUES (12)</h3>9. Bryan Fogarty, D, Kingston Canadians (OHL)15. Joe Sakic, C, Swift Current Broncos (WHL)51. Jim Sprott, D, London Knights (OHL)72. Kip Miller, C, Michigan State University Spartans (CCHA)93. Rob Mendel, D, University of Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA)114. Garth Snow, G, Mount St. Charles Academy (R.l.)135. Tim Hanus, LW, Minnetonka High School (Minn.)156. Jake Enebak, LW, Northfield High School (Minn.)177. Jaroslav Sevcik, LW, Zetor Brno (Czechoslovakia)183. Ladislav Tresl, C, Zetor Brno (Czechoslovakia)198. Darren Nauss, RW, North Battleford (SJHL)219. Mike Williams, G, Ferris State College Bulldogs (CCHA)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0075-0272/10222700-1-eng-US/f0075-022.jpg" title="f0075-02" width="686" height="1631"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-01128/10222693-1-eng-US/f0076-012.jpg" title="f0076-01" width="2432" height="1271"></div><h2>Quebec Nordiques Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-0270/10222686-1-eng-US/f0076-022.jpg" title="f0076-02" width="2433" height="1510"></div> &#9632;

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THE FEATURES

Quebec Nordiques

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0143-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0143-0244/10223908-1-eng-US/f0143-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0144-0173/10223901-1-eng-US/f0144-012.jpg" title="f0144-01" width="2645" height="3579"></div> &#9632;

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THE STATISTICS

College-University Report

<div class="byline">Bob Murdoch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011463/10221898-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="640" height="541"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02993/10221891-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="579" height="631"></div>The Chicago Blackhawks were a mess last season.The power play was worst in the National Hockey League. The penalty killing was fifth-worst. Incredibly, a team with such offensive stars as Denis Savard, Al Secord, Troy Murray, Steve Larmer, Wayne Presley, Curt Fraser, Ed Olczyk and Doug Wilson scored 61 fewer goals than the year before.To top it all off, the Blackhawks were blown out of the playoffs&mdash;swept in straight games for the second straight year. And a lot of the problem was bad attitude. Nobody seemed to care.&rsquo;&rsquo;Maybe the new staff (coach Bob Murdoch and assistants Darryl Sutter and Wayne Thomas) can motivate these guys,&rdquo; says assistant general manager Jack Davison. &ldquo;Maybe we need a Terry Ruskowski type.&rdquo;Unfortunately, Ruskowski left Chicago five seasons ago. He&rsquo;s now with Minnesota.Still, all was not lost last year. The Hawks cut their goals-against total to 310, a drop of 40.So why did Chicago make Chicoutimi goaltender Jimmy Waite its No. I draft pick? And sign free agents Bob Mason of the Washington Capitals and Ed Belfour of the University of North Dakota? And not re-sign free agent Bob Sauve, who went to New Jersey?Just listen to team president William Wirtz. On draft day, he told everybody. &ldquo;I told our fans I guaranteed better goaltending. They deserve better goaltending.&rdquo;Mason would seem to have the inside track on the No. 1 job for now. The Chicago brass, led by general manager Bob Pulford&mdash;who kicked himself upstairs permanently to make room for new coach Murdoch&mdash;figures Waite is the Blackhawk goalie of the future. Just as well, because he&rsquo;s joined the Canadian Olympic program and likely won&rsquo;t be available until next spring.Murray Bannerman, who posted a 4.14 goals-against-average in 39 games, is still around. And Warren Skorodenski remains in the organization. But they just don&rsquo;t inspire confidence. Neither did Sauve.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what it is,&rdquo; wonders Davison. &ldquo;Bannerman was a good goalie. He legitimately won the job after (Tony) Esposito left. It&rsquo;s not all his fault, but something is wrong somewhere.&rdquo;Let&rsquo;s start with the forwards. Everyone except right wingers Steve Larmer (28-56-84) and rookie Wayne Presley (32-29-61) had poor seasons.It&rsquo;s all in the numbers. Centers Savard (4050-90) and Murray (28-43-71) dropped by 26 and 28 points, respectively. Right winger Olczyk (16-35-51) fell 28 points. Left wingers Secord and Fraser totalled 18 fewer points each. Wilson, the one-time Norris Trophy winner as best defenseman, saw his production dip by 16 points.While it&rsquo;s easy to point to off-years as the reason for the Blackhawk decline, it should be noted that in some cases, off-years could become terminal. Wilson is 30 now; Fraser and Secord will be the same in January and March, respectively. Savard will be 27 in February. Not old, by any means. But getting there, by current NHL standards.And Chicago has really done nothing about it, besides hope they can all rebound.The Blackhawks, in the market for a center, right winger and defenseman. went for blueliners in a big way at the draft. Chicago took Toronto Maple Leaf Bob McGill&rsquo;s cousin Ryan McGill (6-foot-2, 197 pounds) of Swift Current, Cam Russell (6-foot-4. 175) of Hull and Mike Dagenais (6-foot-3. 198) of Peterborough with its second, third and fourth picks.Bob Murray, 32, should have a few years left on the blue line&mdash;along with Keith Brown, Gary Nylund, Jack O&rsquo;Callahan and Behn Wilson, who returns after missing last season with a back ailment.Some of the youngsters who wore Blackhawk jerseys last year must come through. Bigger things were expected of Marc Bergevin. Bruce Cassidy has been hampered by knee troubles. Canadian Olympian Trent Yawney is expected to move in on the Hawk defense after the Calgary Games.Up front, left wingers Everett Sanipass and Daniel Vincelette, who played three of the four games in Chicago&rsquo;s playoff loss to Detroit, appear ready. In fact, the Hawks are counting on them.Chicago fans, meanwhile, are counting on their Hawks, who have lost in the first round of the playoffs three of the last four years, to make some headway. Last year marked the 25th anniversary of Chicago&rsquo;s last Stanley Cup championship. Nobody wants to wait another 25.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011288/10221884-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="1639" height="3046"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Presley emerged as a sniper in his first full season with the Hawks, scoring 32 times. Only Denis Savard, with 40, had more for Chicago.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (12)</h3>8. Jimmy Waite, G, Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)29. Ryan McGill, D, Swift Current Broncos (WHL)50. Cam Russell, D, Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)60. Mike Dagenais, D, Peterborough Petes (OHL)92. Ulf Sandstrom, RW, Mo Do (Sweden)113. Mike McCormick, D, Richmond (BCJHL)134. Stephen Tepper, RW, Westboro High School (Mass.)155. John Reilly, LW, Phillips Andover Academy (Mass.)176. Lance Werness, RW, Burnsville High School (Minn.)197. Dale Marquette, LW, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)218. Bill Lacouture, RW, Natick High School (Mass.)239. Mike Lappin, C, Northwood School (N.Y.)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02913/10221877-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="739" height="1784"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011417/10221870-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="2447" height="1270"></div><h2>Chicago Black Hawks Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02983/10221863-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="2433" height="1522"></div> &#9632;

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Chicago Black Hawks

<div class="byline">Jacques Martin</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-01126/10222787-1-eng-US/f0077-012.jpg" title="f0077-01" width="655" height="526"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0077-0274/10222780-1-eng-US/f0077-022.jpg" title="f0077-02" width="592" height="643"></div>The consummate bump-and-grind outfit ground itself to a halt last season.The St. Louis Blues expended so much energy finishing first in the Norris Division that they had little left for the playoffs.The result was a six-game playoff ouster, courtesy of the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the division semi-finals.&ldquo;Injuries and our lack of depth were factors,&rdquo; admits Blues&rsquo; coach Jacques Martin. &ldquo;We went with basically three lines from mid-February on, and it caught up with us.&rdquo;The injury bug bit early, when captain Brian Sutter was sidelined with a shoulder injury 14 games into the season. He&rsquo;s healthy again. and Eddy Beers is on the comeback trail following back surgery.The return of inspirational leader Sutter and Beers gives St. Louis a six-pack at left wing. Completing the case are Perry Turnbull, Gino Cavallini, Ron Flockhart and Jocelyn Lemieux, who displays the same pesky tendencies of brother Claude in Montreal.The Blues are deep on the left side, but their spirit is in the middle. Doug Gilmour is the big gun with 42 goals and 63 assists, although he was frustrated by the checking of Toronto&rsquo;s Dan Daoust over the latter part of the Norris semi-finals.Things got so bad for Gilmour that all most remember of his performance against Toronto is the dance he and his tormentor did around the Maple Leaf Gardens&rsquo; ice, near the end of the Leafs&rsquo; 4-0 final game victory.Team Canada selectors remembered more and invited him to their Canada Cup training camp.It was ironic that the Blues should be shut down by the same tight checking style that has become their trademark. A trademark that is accurate, if sometimes guilty of obscuring a small cluster of good scorers.Right wingers Mark Hunter (36-33-69) and Greg Paslawski (29-35-64) have blossomed as snipers in St. Louis. Center Bernie Federko had 20 goals and 52 assists in just 64 games, after 34-68-102 numbers over 80 games in 1985-86.Still, it&rsquo;s just not enough. St. Louis ranked 15th overall in goal scoring, and relied too much on its fourth-rated power play for production. Off-season acquisition Tony McKegney, a left winger who scored 29 of his 31 goals with the New York Rangers, will help out. Turnbull had three straight 30-goal seasons in his first stint with the Blues, but that was six years ago. Martin would likely settle for 20 or so this time.Tony Hrkac (pronounced Hercus), the top player in U.S. college hockey last year with 116 points, brings the promise of increased firepower. The Hobey Baker Award winner was the dazzling ringleader of national-champion North Dakota&rsquo;s Hrkac Circus.His NHL initiation, however, will include following the St. Louis Blueprint. First, you learn your defensive responsibilities. Then, and only then, the offensive.That was how former coach Jacques Demers handled the first-year Gilmour, placing him under house arrest and handcuffing him to a defensive role.Martin figures Hrkac, too, will benefit from similar treatment.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re looking for him to establish himself as a guy who can play at both ends of the ice,&rdquo; explains Martin, who acquitted himself well during his first NHL season. &ldquo;Gilmour was a defensive-type player at first. We don&rsquo;t want to put any extra pressure on him (Hrkac) right away.&rdquo;On defense, the Blues are built around Brian Benning, veteran Rob Ramage and goalies Greg Millen and Rick Wamsley. Benning, who like teammate Cliff Ronning apprenticed with the Canadian national team, had a superb freshman season. His 13 goals and 36 assists prompted selection to the league&rsquo;s all-rookie team.Big defenseman Charlie Bourgeois played well down the stretch after early troubles, while Jim Pavese and Tim Bothwell are steady, if unspectacular performers.They&rsquo;re also immobile. Sweden&rsquo;s Robert Nordmark, one of two picks St. Louis made in the third round of the 1987 entry draft, could help alleviate that weakness.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s mobile and has excellent anticipation,&rdquo; says Martin. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s also shown he can play grinder hockey.&rdquo;Naturally. The Blues called their arena the Checkerdome for so long it&rsquo;s an ingrained habit. But, it&rsquo;s a prerequisite in this division.The Blues wouldn&rsquo;t have it any other way. They were 17-8-7 within the division, paving the way to the title.&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be another dogfight,&rdquo; Martin predicts.To win it again, the Blues have to quit playing like dogs on the road. They were 1121-8 away from St. Louis.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-01122/10222773-1-eng-US/f0078-012.jpg" title="f0078-01" width="1600" height="3054"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Gilmour proved his outstanding 1986 playoff season was no fluke&mdash;scoring 105 points to finish among the league&rsquo;s top 10 last year.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>ST. LOUIS BLUES (13)</h3>12. Keith Osborne, RW, North Bay Centennials (OHL)54. Kevin Miehm, C, Oshawa Generals (OHL)59. Bob Nordmark, D, Lulea (Sweden)75. Darin Smith, LW, North Bay Centennials (OHL)82. Andy Rymsha, LW, Western Michigan University Broncos (CCHA)117. Rob Robinson, D, Miami University Redskins (CCHA)138. Todd Crabtree, D, Governor Dummer Academy (Mass.)159. Guy Hebert, G, Hamilton College Continentals (ECAC Il-Ill)180. Robert Dumas, D, Seattle Breakers (WHL)201. David Marvin, D, Warroad High School (Minn.)207. Andy Cesarski, D, Culver Military Academy (Ind.)222. Dan Rolfe, D, Brockville (CJHL)243. Ray Savard, C, Regina Pats (WHL)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-0259/10222766-1-eng-US/f0078-022.jpg" title="f0078-02" width="713" height="1794"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-01107/10222759-1-eng-US/f0079-012.jpg" title="f0079-01" width="2462" height="1273"></div><h2>St. Louis Blues Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-0260/10222752-1-eng-US/f0079-022.jpg" title="f0079-02" width="2461" height="1514"></div> &#9632;

f0077-01

St. Louis Blues

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011670/10221300-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Did the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association make a rookie mistake when they didn&rsquo;t vote Ron Hextall top first-year player?</figcaption></div>In 10 years, when Ron Hextall is old, grey, on his way to the Hall of Fame and still refusing to apologize for trying to break Kent Nilsson&rsquo;s leg, few will be able to explain why the Philadelphia Flyer goalie was not named National Hockey League rookie of the year.Perhaps, if Luc Robitaille scores 45 goals every year, as he did in his first, the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association will never have to say it&rsquo;s sorry. The Kings&rsquo; left winger unquestionably had the kind of year worthy of a Calder Trophy. Worthy, that is, in just about any season other than 1986-87.Granted, opinions are about as cheap as a Harry Ornest budget. But it&rsquo;s no slight of Robitaille to suggest that Hextall&rsquo;s second-place finish&mdash;by a scant 18 voting points&mdash;was a mistake. Hextall&rsquo;s position is a lot harder to play than Robitaille&rsquo;s. And the Flyers&rsquo; position in the standings&mdash;first in the Patrick Division largely because of Hextall&rsquo;s 37 victories, as opposed to the Kings&rsquo; modest improvement from fifth to fourth in the Smythe (due in part to Robitaille)&mdash;should not have left the vote remotely close.No question, every writer who did not vote for Hextall will have some explaining to do on the day he writes his final lead and heads to meet his Maker in that big hospitality suite in the sky.&ldquo;Have a seat please. Let&rsquo;s see here, every-thing in your file seems to be in order. Thirty years of service to the SPC A, three Humanitarian of the Year awards. Never said a bad word about Scotty Bowman. I see no reason why you shouldn&rsquo;t be admitted to Heaven immediately. By the way. what did you do for a living?&rdquo;&rsquo;I wrote about hockey.&rdquo;&ldquo;Hey, you weren&rsquo;t one of the guys who didn&rsquo;t vote for Hextall. were you?&rdquo;&ldquo;Uh. I&rsquo;m afraid so.&rdquo;&ldquo;Throw this guy into that steaming pit over there.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012254/10221293-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="2486" height="2162"><figcaption class="caption-body">Philadelphia Flyer netminder Ron Hextali stands on guard for the National Hockey League&rsquo;s second-best team. The Flyers finished second overall in points and lost in the Stanley Cup finals last year.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;But he really looked like he was getting tired in March.&rdquo;&ldquo;No excuse. Get him out of here. &ldquo;&ldquo;But right before I sent my ballot in, the last game of the season, the Islanders bombed him 9-5.&rdquo;&ldquo;You judged him on one game? I&rsquo;ll judge you for eternity. How do you like that?&rdquo;&ldquo;But he was the third different Flyer goalie in three years to have either the First or second-best goals-against average in the league. Wouldn&rsquo;t you think the team was carrying the guy?&rdquo;&ldquo;You ignorant, insolent, jerk. The playoffs made you look like a fool. Get the pitch fork for this guy. &ldquo;&ldquo;Okay, okay, the real reason I voted for Robitaille was the way Hextall used his stick. He had 95 penalty minutes.&rdquo;&ldquo;Up here, we judge a person by his performance. We have a place for pious jerks like you. Take him away. &ldquo;&ldquo;Wait, wait. Please, please. I&rsquo;ll level with you. The reason I didn&rsquo;t vote for Hextall is that, every time I saw him play, he looked so good I just couldn&rsquo;t believe he was a rookie.&rdquo;&ldquo;Oh, well, that&rsquo;s understandable, then. Why didn&rsquo;t you say so in the First place? Show this man right in.&rdquo;Truth is, if you caught only here-and-there glimpses of Hextall during the regular season, it was easy to get the impression he was immature.There were his outbursts of temper. And there was his stick, which had no conscience. There were times that his puck-handling ability was almost out of control. Defensemen were peeling off with about as much idea of what Hextall was going to do as kids leaving the huddle of a pickup touch football game. Even when the Flyers knew where the puck was coming, Hextall was firing it so hard they couldn&rsquo;t hold it on their sticks.Then there was the cadence he played, before faceoffs, with his stick against the goalposts. The habit that was viewed as anything from colorful to silly to obnoxious. John Davidson, the goalie turned TV analyst, called it a waste of energy&mdash;although the only real problem may be that J.D. doesn&rsquo;t have any rhythm.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012325/10221286-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="780" height="1939"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Hextail was named the playoffs most valuable player.</figcaption></div>Hextali had just enough bad games, too, to leave some open reservations on his bandwagon. Of course, he had fewer than just about every other goalie in the league&mdash;but rookie goalies are typecast as &ldquo;hot,&rdquo; not &ldquo;good&rdquo; and are therefore expected to fall apart at any second. On top of that, so many people grew to dislike Hextali so quickly that they really just couldn&rsquo;t wait for it to happen.What these people didn&rsquo;t understand was that this kid was no kid. Flyer coach Mike Keenan didn&rsquo;t throw Hextail to the wolves when he started him in 15 of the first 17 games. Instead it was Hextail who was the wolf. He was hungry, quick and cunning.Beneath the surface-level histrionics was an extraordinarily mature 22-year-old. There were a number of reasons for this.First, the Flyers didn&rsquo;t rush Hextali, a six-thround choice in 1982, through the minor leagues. They waited until they were sure he was ready for the NHL. Certainly there was no reason to rush him up until the time of Pelle Lindbergh&rsquo;s death.When the goalie died in late 1985, Hextail had fewer than 15 games of American League experience. The Flyers made sure he got a full year by recalling Darren Jensen.It helped, too, that Ron&rsquo;s father. Bryan, a nine-year NHL player, gave the hockey brat a window on professional life that wasn&rsquo;t rose-coloured. As a result. Ron knew a little bit about preparing himself to play the game.Hextall&rsquo;s first-year instruction was as excellent as his company. Bernie Parent, the Hall of Fame Flyer goaltending coach, would spot the mechanical flaws and provide a little homespun philosophy. Glenn (Chico) Resch, who was finishing a 13-year goaling career in a backup role, served as Hextall&rsquo;s father-confessor. cheerleader and publicist.It was uncanny how an hour or two with Parent, following a poor game, would kiss whatever Hextali was doing wrong and make it better.Because he was so determined did not mean he was stubborn. Hextali listened and he knew what was important, both to his game and his life. One only had to see him walking out of the Spectrum after games with his daughter, Kristin, on his shoulders to understand that he had his priorities in the strictest order. They were home and hockey and not much else.But you had to watch Hextail play not once, but twice, to understand just how special he was. Ideally, you saw him play badly the first time&mdash;because the second time, he absolutely refused.Most veteran goalies will admit to an acute fear of embarrassment. The best ones learn how to use it for motivation. Hextali seemed to be in a different category. He has suffered defeat just often enough to be repulsed by it. He can&rsquo;t wait to get that feeling out of his system.Late in the year, he lost to Detroit 5-1. One of the goals&mdash;Hex tall was fooled badly on a Mel Bridgman goal from the boards&mdash;was particularly embarrassing. And the Spectrum fans&rsquo; treatment of him that day, in light of what he had done to make an injury-plagued team a runaway division winner, was callous.Five nights later came the rematch in Detroit. There were 104 penalty minutes in the, first period, 10 taken by Hextali himself. He chopped at Gerard Gallant and Bob Probert, after they strafed the crease, and nearly started two riots. After the second incident. Hextail threw a pretty mean elbow at Ron Asselstine as the linesman was attempting to break a res-training grip. At one point, referee Ron Four-nier skated over to Keenan and told the coach to get his goalie under control.While all of this was going on. Hextail stopped at least five excellent Detroit chances during two separate 5-on-3 advantages, continually cleared the puck out of danger and obsessively guarded a 1-0 lead. He won 2-1 and removed whatever doubts remained that his fuse was too short. Or that Keenan, by playing him in 65 games, had burned it too long.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t wait for the next game,&rdquo; Hex-tall said. &ldquo;I just knew I would play well. I was terrible that day (the 5-1 loss) and I knew it. And losing is just so awful. When I lose, my whole day is ruined. The next day, nothing is fun.&rdquo;That victory in Detroit was nothing more than prelude to more tribulations during the playoffs. Hextall played the role of the thorn throughout, but his playoff-record 26 starts were hardly any bed of roses.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021969/10221279-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="788" height="1966"><figcaption class="caption-body">King hotshot Luc Robitaille collected the Calder Trophy.</figcaption></div>He lost his first NHL playoff game, 3-0 to the New York Rangers. Gulp City. In game five, when the Flyers&mdash;obviously still not over their Ranger heebie-jeebies&mdash;were tied 2-2 in the series and looking entirely beatable. Hex-tall lost a race to the puck with Pierre Larouche and gave up the tying goal into an empty net.That was all he gave up in that game, however, and pretty much for the rest of the series. By the time he finished the Rangers off with his second shutout in six games, the writers were tired of writing that Hextail was tired.In game three of the Islander series, Mikko Makela scored with three seconds left to beat him 2-1. In game five, Hextall&rsquo;s skate got caught it a rut, causing him to fall and surrender the tying goal in a 2-1 loss. He still pulled the Flyers through the series in seven.Montreal dumped him and bumped him continually through the Wales Conference final. After denying the Flyers a chance to make short work of the series by winning game five, the Canadiens appeared to have Hextali shaken in game six. A wide-angle shot caromed off the shaft of the goalie&rsquo;s stick and into the net in the final seconds of the first period. He stood defiantly the rest of the way, jubilantly raising both arms in the air when the clock ran out on a 4-3 comeback victory that put Philadelphia into the finals.Following the Nilsson incident in game four, Edmonton embraced Hextall&rsquo;s visit for game five with a warmth usually reserved for serial killers. He might have had his best game of the entire playoffs that night as the Flyers won 4-3 to stay alive.&ldquo;All through juniors and everywhere I&rsquo;ve been, there haven&rsquo;t been too many buildings where people like me,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s all right. They pay for their tickets. Besides, I can see why they don&rsquo;t like me. Really. But it has no effect on me.&ldquo;The rap against me has always been you can get me off my game. When I was at Brandon. the guys at Regina tried to get to me all the time. It took them almost three years to realize they couldn&rsquo;t. I think a lot goalies get thrown off their games, but I honestly believe that I can&rsquo;t.&ldquo;I might, at times, do something you call stupid, but I&rsquo;ll still be in control and I&rsquo;ll know what I&rsquo;m doing. Certain teams crowd me and when that happens, you&rsquo;ve got to stick up for yourself. You can&rsquo;t let people knock you over.&rdquo;He didn&rsquo;t win the Stanley Cup. But he didn&rsquo;t lose, either, until there were fewer than three minutes left in game seven. By then, the Oilers, outshooting the Flyers by a 2-to-l ratio, were like battering rams against a fortress. Finally, in the 57th minute of the siege, Glenn Anderson broke through.But defeats just don&rsquo;t come any more valiant. Nor, brilliant as Hextall had been, as bitter.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-012171/10221272-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="1623" height="1315"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran goaltender Chico Resch, who retired after the 1986-87 season, provided valuable support for newcomer Ron Hextall.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012560/10221265-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="2447" height="1813"><figcaption class="caption-body">As heroic as Ron Hextail was during the Stanley Cup showdown, some shots did elude him-including this one by Edmonton Oiler superstar Jari Kurri. Hextali finished with a playoff goals-against average of 2.77.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;How can I be satisfied?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;All 1 can think about now is coming back and winning.&rdquo;Eleven days later, when he added the Vezina Trophy to his Conn Smythe. Hextali was asked if the enormity of what he had accomplished in one of the most spectacular first seasons ever had yet sunk in.&ldquo;Maybe eventually,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t yet, because all I&rsquo;ve thought about for 10 days is losing the seventh game.&rdquo;Then he said something which effectively summarized what he had done, the steel will it had taken to do it. and what he planned to do next.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather have 10 great years than 15 good years,&rdquo; Hextail said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go all out in the next few years&mdash;and if I bum out, then I&rsquo;ll bum out. That&rsquo;s our whole team, that&rsquo;s the way we are.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m striving to be the best goalie ever. It&rsquo;s a high goal. I don&rsquo;t know whether I can reach it.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m going to try.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021750/10221258-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="1618" height="995"><figcaption class="caption-body">Edmonton&rsquo;s Glenn Anderson scored the Stanley Cup insurance goal in the Oilers&rsquo; final-game 3-1 victory at Northlands Coliseum.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0002-01

Beauty And The Beast

<div class="byline">BY JOHN KOROBANIK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012240/10221345-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012442/10221338-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="1625" height="2931"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nothing seems to bother the Oilers&rsquo; relaxed Grant Fuhr, who provides big saves not big quotes for headline-hungry reporters.</figcaption></div>It was the morning after game one of last spring&rsquo;s Stanley Cup playoffs and Grant Fuhr was getting restless.As he fired off polite but rapid replies to I reporters&rsquo; questions, he tried edging his way I towards the exit. Hockey was last night&mdash;the I Edmonton Oilers had won, thanks largely to I Fuhr&rsquo;s goaltending&mdash;but today was for I golfing.While he didn&rsquo;t say it, the 24-year-old Spruce Grove, Alta., native would have preferred everyone talk to Wayne Gretzky or Paul Coffey or anyone else; just let him get away.Considered by many to be the top goaltender in the National Hockey League, Fuhr believes his play best does the talking for him.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have much to say,&rdquo; he says. &rsquo;I just play the game. What I do on the ice speaks for itself.&rdquo;Indeed it does.&ldquo;Grant Fuhr is the best goaltender in hockey in a long, long time,&rdquo; says Detroit coach Jacques Demers. &rsquo;&rsquo;When his team is up a goal and they need save after save, he does it. He says, &rsquo;Boys, don&rsquo;t worry. I&rsquo;ll win it for you.&rsquo;Fuhr has been doing that with amazing regularity. After six seasons in the NHL, he has a won-lost-tied record of 138-51-30 in regular-season play, and 46-18 in the playoffs.His career goals-against average is 3.63&mdash;respectable, considering he plays for a team that likes playing defense about as much as it enjoys losing to the Calgary Flames. Often facing 40 or more shots a game, Fuhr needs his lightning-quick glove hand and amazingly-swift reflexes to keep the average that low.Despite his statistics and recognition as one of the league&rsquo;s top goaltenders, Fuhr has never been a first-team all-star and never won an individual trophy.I don&rsquo;t worry about those things,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just looking for consistency. If my statistics are consistent, and as long as I&rsquo;m happy, that&rsquo;s the biggest thing.Maybe somewhere down the road I&rsquo;ll get the recognition. I&rsquo;ve got the Stanley Cup rings and, right now, winning Stanley Cups and having fun is enough for me. If we keep winning Stanley Cups, it&rsquo;ll come. If the team does well, that&rsquo;s enough recognition.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012422/10221331-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="2467" height="1629"><figcaption class="caption-body">Edmonton defenseman Charlie Huddy and Grant Fuhr team up to defend the Oilers&rsquo; net. Fuhr has long been regarded as one of the very best NHL goaltenders but has been named to an all-star team just once.</figcaption></div>Fuhr has been one of the key figures in all three Edmonton Stanley Cup victories&mdash;in 1984, &rsquo;85 and &rsquo;87. The playoffs, especially last spring&rsquo;s, seem like a microcosm of his career.Edmonton&rsquo;s leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy, Fuhr beat Philadelphia&rsquo;s highly-visible and emotional Ron Hextail on the ice. Yet, it was the Flyer goaltender who won the Conn Smythe Trophy.If that bothers Fuhr, he doesn&rsquo;t show it. Not getting the acclaim he deserves has become a part of life, for two reasons:One&mdash;voters appear reluctant to give Edmonton players recognition for anything associated with defensive play.And two&mdash;Fuhr&rsquo;s low profile. He&rsquo;s lost among the glamor of other Oiler stars such as Gretzky, Coffey and Mark Messier.&ldquo;It keeps things quiet for me. I like that.&rdquo;The low profile comes partly from Fuhr&rsquo;s placid personality and his abrupt answers&mdash;yes, no, I guess so&mdash;during interviews. These were his stock replies early in his career.That scared off television and eliminated one of his best opportunities for exposure.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just having fun,&rdquo; Fuhr insists. &ldquo;Most guys take the game to heart. I think having fun prolongs a career. You don&rsquo;t wear down as easily.&rdquo;The summer of 1986 wasn&rsquo;t much fun, however. After two years as Cup champions, the Oilers were knocked off by Calgary. Then, Sports Illustrated published its much-ballyhooed article about drug use on the Oilers that turned into a expose of Fuhr&rsquo;s financial problems. Finally, the goaltender lost his father.&ldquo;Everyone was looking for reasons we lost,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;That story didn&rsquo;t affect my life any. I had other things on my mind so it didn&rsquo;t mean anything.&rdquo;Still, it was a difficult summer&mdash;and even many hours on the golf course couldn&rsquo;t ease all of the pain.Since 1984, when the Oilers won their first Stanley Cup, golfing has been a vital part of Fuhr&rsquo;s life. Playing on off-days in 1984, he found golf relaxing, leaving him fresh for game day.Now a four handicapper&mdash;"I&rsquo;m trying to get it back down to a two"&mdash;it takes more than rain or cold weather to keep him off the fairways during the playoffs.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely relaxing,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It clears the head, and a clear head makes it easier to play.&rdquo;Fuhr may need a clear head more than ever this season, because Andy Moog, his goaltending partner, was a free agent looking for a new team during the summer. That could leave Fuhr as the undisputed No. 1 goaltender on the Oilers, and finally bring him some of the recognition he deserves.If it doesn&rsquo;t come, however, Fuhr is prepared to live with that, just as he lives with the occasional soft goal through the five-hole. Anyone on the Oilers will tell you, that for every goal he gives up, Fuhr slops a dozen more with his ability, his lack of fear of any shooter, and his knowledge of the game.Ron Low, who tutored Fuhr early in his career and is now Edmonton&rsquo;s goaltending coach, says Fuhr studies the game &ldquo;as well as any goalie who&rsquo;s ever played.&rdquo;That kind of praise from other hockey people&mdash;Fuhr calls it &ldquo;mutual respect&rdquo; when it comes from teammates&mdash;seems to be all the acclaim Fuhr really needs. &#9632;

f0007-01

The Fabulous Fuhr

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012361/10221418-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Esposito&rsquo;s best-known trade, the acquisition of Marcel Dionne, didn&rsquo;t work out well in &rsquo;86-87 Dionne, second-leading scorer in NHL history, was mediocre after joining the Rangers from LA.</figcaption></div>Phil Esposito didn&rsquo;t enjoy being labelled &ldquo;the garbage man&rdquo; when he was winning five National Hockey League scoring championships, and he does not want to be remembered as a general manager who spent his time picking through the league&rsquo;s scrap heap of unwanted players.Esposito will do what he believes he has to, however, to get the job done&mdash;and he will take the media heat, just as he took a pounding in front of opponents&rsquo; net, in order to get off his shots.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like being called &lsquo;The Wheeler Dealer&rsquo; or &lsquo;Trader Phil,&rsquo; &ldquo;Esposito says, &ldquo;but those kinds of names are better than being known as a person who sat around and didn&rsquo;t at least try to improve things because he was afraid to make a mistake.&rdquo;When Esposito took over the New York Rangers from Craig Patrick on July 14, 1986, he acknowledged that he would probably make &ldquo;a ton of mistakes&rdquo; while trying to remodel New York&rsquo;s sagging hockey team. Then, he went out and made 17 trades in less than a year.&ldquo;I guess it&rsquo;s a record,&rdquo; Esposito notes, &ldquo;but that&rsquo;s not what I want to be remembered for. I want to be the guy who brought a Stanley Cup to New York. I&rsquo;m just in a hurry.&rdquo;Although he says he has no intention of matching that pace in his second year on the job, there will be more changes. Esposito still has a &ldquo;No More Waiting&rdquo; sign hanging in his office.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-012057/10221411-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="761" height="827"><figcaption class="caption-body">An inner ear ailment kept Tom Webster from coaching New York.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;My plan, my intention, was to make a lot of changes in the first year,&rdquo; Esposito explains, &ldquo;because a rookie GM can get away with it.&ldquo;The other GMs think maybe they can take advantage of you&mdash;and sometimes they are able to&mdash;and the fans say, &rsquo;At least he is trying.&rsquo;&ldquo;Mostly, I got rid of players 1 just didn&rsquo;t think were going to be winners for the New York Rangers,&rdquo; the GM says, suggesting that subtraction was part of his motivation almost as often as addition.&ldquo;I want to bring a bunch of guys together who will live, play and fight for one another&mdash;and we&rsquo;re not there yet. So, yes, I&rsquo;m still looking for ways to bring us closer to that. When we get to that point, you&rsquo;ll see me making a lot fewer deals.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021431/10221404-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="753" height="818"><figcaption class="caption-body">A reluctant Phil Esposito spent much of last season coaching.</figcaption></div>Esposito says he looks forward to that day more than some people seem to realize.&ldquo;Being traded is the worst thing a player has to go through,&rdquo; the Ranger GM declares, &ldquo;and everybody knows how much I hated it.&ldquo;As a GM, I don&rsquo;t like telling a guy that I&rsquo;ve traded him. People don&rsquo;t have to believe it, but I&rsquo;m really depressed for three or four hours after that happens.&ldquo;Even when you strongly believe you did the right thing,&rdquo; Esposito adds, &ldquo;you feel bad because it&rsquo;s so personal. Sometimes, you have to give up somebody you really don&rsquo;t want to lose in order to make a necessary move.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-031025/10221397-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="753" height="823"><figcaption class="caption-body">New Rangers&rsquo; coach Michel Bergeron did not come cheaply.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I remember telling somebody that making my first trade (obtaining Kelly Kisio from Detroit on July 29, 1986) was kind of fun but, after that, it became work in a big hurry.&rdquo;After trading a first-round draft choice to Quebec for the right to sign Michel Bergeron as his head coach, Esposito will have more time for phone calls this season.&ldquo;Tom Webster&rsquo;s illness last season was very unfortunate,&rdquo; says the GM, who filled in behind the bench. &ldquo;There were times when it seemed that everything that could go wrong was going wrong. It was a long, difficult season&mdash;but this one may be even tougher in terms of making the playoffs.&rdquo;The Rangers edged Pittsburgh for fourth place in the Patrick Division by only four points last year. Esposito expects the Penguins to challenge again this season, and he also anticipates a strong run by New Jersey.&ldquo;We made trades last year to try to get the club through,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;and, if we didn&rsquo;t I don&rsquo;t think we would have been in the playoffs. Every time we made a deal, the team seemed to play better for four or five games.&rdquo;Once the season begins, however, Esposito would like to maintain more stability than last year.&ldquo;If a guy gets traded this year,&rdquo; Esposito says, &ldquo;it will probably be for one of three reasons: 1) The coach convinces me that he wants the player out of here. 2) The player is a bad team man. 3) The player says he wants to be traded.&rdquo;Esposito wants to avoid another major reshuffling, but he realizes that Bergeron, like any other coach, is going to want to surround himself with a certain kind of player.&ldquo;One thing that happened last year when Ted Sator began the year as our coach, was that I made some deals that he didn&rsquo;t really like,&rdquo; Esposito recalls. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to try very hard not to let that happen with Michel but, in the final analysis, it&rsquo;s my job to decide.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-012022/10221390-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="2380" height="1111"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Esposito poses with coach Ted Sator and early acquisitions, from left, Doug Soetaert, Jim Leavins, Kelly Kisio and Lane Lambert. Gone are Soetaert, Sator and Lambert. Ex-Leaf Watt Poddubny, below left, proved to be a fine acquisition.</figcaption></div>Esposito has brought more color, flair and controversy to the Rangers. Even though he says he doesn&rsquo;t like the label of &lsquo;Trader Phil.&rsquo; he plays the role with gusto.The Ranger GM has been known to call reporters from his car phone and, while driving under a bridge, continue to talk while the sound is breaking up.&ldquo;Did you hear what I said?.&rdquo; he asks playfully when the interference stops.The reporter responds in the negative, of course.&ldquo;Oh, that&rsquo;s too bad.&rdquo; Esposito chirps, &ldquo;because I just named the next five guys I&rsquo;m going to trade.&rdquo;Despite an occasional wrong number, the NHL&rsquo;s version of Monty Hall plans to keep on dialing until his dime, or his time, runs out.A review of Esposito&rsquo;s many moves:1. July 24&mdash;Signed free agent goalie Doug Soetaert from Montreal.Result to date: Soetaert, now retired, was No. 2 goalie until Bob Froese was acquired.2. July 29&mdash;Traded goalie Glen Hanlon and the Rangers&rsquo; third-round draft choices in 1987 and 1988 to Detroit in exchange for forward Kelly Kisio, right winger Lane Lambert and defenseman Jim Leavins.Result to date: Kisio was one of Rangers&rsquo; best forwards, Lambert was traded to Quebec for Pat Price. Leavins, who has back problems, spent most of year at New Haven of the American League.3. Aug. 14&mdash;Named Jack Ferreira as director of player development.4. Aug. 18&mdash;Obtained center Walt Poddubny from Toronto for forward Mike Allison.Result to date: Poddubny led New York with 40 goals and 47 assists during regular season but failed to score in six playoff games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021436/10221383-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="745" height="1605"></div>5. Aug. 24&mdash;Traded left winger Brian MacLellan to Minnesota for fourth-round draft choice.Result to date: MacLellan, who didn&rsquo;t want to play for Sator, scored 32 goals for North Stars. Esposito let him go too cheaply.6. Aug. 15&mdash;Signed free agent forwards Mike Donnelly and Paul Fenton.Result to date: Neither player made an impact at the NHL level but both will get opportunities this fall.7. Sept. 8&mdash;Signed free agent defenseman Norm Maclver.Result to date: Played at New Haven (AHL) and may not be strong enough for NHL.8. Sept, 20&mdash;Signed free agent right winger Lucien DeBlois from Montreal.Result to date: Hampered by injuries last year. DeBlois will have a difficult time earning a spot this fall.9. Oct. 2&mdash;Obtained defenseman Don Jackson and right winger Mike Golden from Edmonton for &ldquo;future considerations.&rdquo;Result: Protected Reijo Ruotsalainen (for Oilers) in waiver draft and. therefore, lost Wilf Paiement to Buffalo. Jackson was unable to contribute, partially because of back problems.10. Oct. 23&mdash;As phase II of Oct. 2 deal. Rangers sent center Ville Kentala. defenseman Jim Wiemer. left winger Clark Donatelli and rights to Ruotsalainen to Edmonton, in exchange for defenseman Miloslav Horava and &ldquo;future considerations.&rdquo;Result to date: Ruotsalainen&rsquo;s decision to return to Europe this year makes deal less of a disaster. Rangers are trying to lure Horava out of Czechoslovakia.11. Oct. 24&mdash;Traded &ldquo;retired&rdquo; Mark Pavelich to Minnesota in order to raise fourth-round pick for Mac Lei lan to third-round pick.Result: A giveaway, because MacLellan scored 30, which would have automatically raised payment to third-rounder.12. Nov. 13&mdash;Traded Bob Brooke and fourth-round draft choice in 1988 to Minnesota in exchange for defenseman Curt Giles, left winger Tony McKegney and second-round pick in 1988.Result to date: Giles was a solid contributor and, after McKegney scored 29 goals in 64 games for Rangers, Esposito traded him to St. Louis for defenseman Bruce Bell.13. Nov. 21&mdash;Fired coaching staff of Ted Sator, Reg Higgs and Jack Birch.14. Nov. 26&mdash;Hired Tom Webster as head coach.15. Dec. 18&mdash;Obtained goalie Bob Froese from Philadelphia for defenseman Kjell Samuelsson and Rangers&rsquo; second-round pick in 1989.Result to date: Froese shared No. 1 job with John Vanbiesbrouck and remains a valuable commodity.16. Jan. 1&mdash;Traded center Mike Ridley, left winger Kelly Miller and left winger Bob Crawford to Washington for center Bobby Carpenter and second-round draft choice in 1989.Result to date: Caps were 24-13-3 after deal. Esposito waited a little over a month before trading Carpenter to Los Angeles for Marcel Dionne. Almost impossible for Rangers to justify what appears to be a double mistake.17. Jan. 20&mdash;Obtained defenseman Brad Maxwell on waivers from Vancouver.Result to date: None.18. Jan. 21&mdash;Obtained center Ron Duguay from Pittsburgh for center Chris Kontos.Result to date: Happy Duguay worked hard, was Rangers&rsquo; best forward in playoffs.19. Feb. 21&mdash;Maxwell traded to Minnesota for &ldquo;future considerations.&rdquo;Result to date: Future considerations rumored to be nothing at all.20. March 5&mdash;Obtained left winger Jeff Jackson and third-round draft choice in 1989 from Toronto for troubled left winger Mark Osborne.Result to date: Jackson, 22, showed promise. Esposito denies rumor that Czechoslovak center Vladimir Ruzicka was substituted for third-rounder.21. March 5&mdash;Sent Lambert to Quebec for Price.Result to date: The fact that Price became a regular said a lot about troubles of Ranger defense corps.22. March 10&mdash;Sent center Raimo Helminen to Minnesota for &ldquo;future considerations.&rdquo;Result to date: A former second-round pick, Helminen was &ldquo;ruined&rdquo; by previous regimes, according to Esposito.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-012107/10221376-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="1615" height="2376"><figcaption class="caption-body">The GM made his presence felt in the dressing room, posting a message from &lsquo;Espo.&rsquo; Talking beneath it are assistant coach Eddie Giacomin and Don Maloney.</figcaption></div>23. March 10&mdash;As phase III of Oct. 2 deal with Edmonton. Rangers obtained winger Stu Kulak in exchange for 12th-round pick in 1987.Result to date: Kulak showed signs of being useful player but 20 teams, including Rangers, let him pass through waivers early in season.24. March 10&mdash;Traded Carpenter and defenseman Tom Laidlaw to Los Angeles for center Dionne, left winger Jeff Crossman and third-round draft choice in 1989.Result to date: Dionne struggled in Big Apple and Esposito received loads of criticism.25. May 28&mdash;Traded McKegney to St. Louis for Bell and &ldquo;future considerations.&rdquo;26. June 8&mdash;Obtained left winger Brian Mullen and 10th-round pick in 1987 from Winnipeg for third-round choice in 1989 and fifth-round pick in &rsquo;88.27. June 18&mdash;Traded first-round draft choice in 1988 and $100,000 to Quebec for right to sign head coach Michel Bergeron, who was under contract with Nordiques.To be continued&hellip;undoubtedly. &#9632;

f0012-01

Learning His Trade

<div class="byline">BY MURRAY TOWNSEND</div>There are two kinds of drafters&mdash;serious and social&mdash;in most hockey pools. The serious drafter spends hours poring over statistics looking for an edge, while the social drafter picks up a copy of National Hockey League stats from the previous year on draft day and wings it.It&rsquo;s not hard to tell which of these two groups wins the majority of hockey pools.But now there&rsquo;s hope for the social drafter. By reading the information on these pages, compiling a draft list properly should take a minimum of effort. The serious drafter will benefit as well from studying this material, because that person knows every statistical trend or bit of information is potentially valuable.Of course, there&rsquo;s no sure way to predict who the big point-scorers are going to be this year, but it&rsquo;s sure fun trying. Luck has a hand in it, but the better armed the drafter is, the less a factor luck will be.Consistent scorers are, naturally, the players in highest demand. They&rsquo;ve proven they&rsquo;ll get you points year after year. The following list shows player point totals from last year (86/87), individual career season highs (High) and average theoretical points per 80 games during the past three seasons (Avg.).The average points are strictly theoretical and will only match up with actual average points in the cases of players who have played all 240 regular-season games the past three seasons. Dale Hawerchuk, with 335 points, is one such example. His actual and theoretical averages are both 112. For the vast majority of players who missed games, their three-year game and point totals are calculated, and their points-per-game totals determined. Then, points-per-game figures are multiplied by 80 games to arrive at theoretical yearly averages over the period covering 1984-85, 1985-86 and 1986-87.Keeping all this mind, you&rsquo;ll realize that all players&mdash;except those appearing in all 240 games&mdash;will have higher theoretical than actual points per year. Points are averaged over 80 games, to eliminate the factor of time lost through injury. Note, also, that players with less than three years of NHL service are measured on the basis of one or two years.This is a handy list from which to select your players&mdash;but adjustments must be made, and many of those will be included elsewhere in this story. Some players, like Doug Gilmour of St. Louis, are just entering their primes. They should probably be picked higher than the chart indicates.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011985/10221596-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="780" height="1471"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Yzerman is coming off a 90-point season with the Wings.</figcaption></div>Career highs will let you know the players&rsquo; potential scoring power and by checking points for last year, you&rsquo;ll get an idea of who is going down and who is going up. For example, John Tonelli is listed ahead of Gilmour in the ratings, but Tonelli&rsquo;s stats are higher because of one high-point season. Gilmour has also has had one high-point season, but he&rsquo;s done it more recently&mdash;last year&mdash;and appears to be on the way up while Tonelli is on the way down.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021452/10221589-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="808" height="252"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-031027/10221582-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="853" height="2658"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011725/10221575-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="2477" height="2932"><figcaption class="caption-body">The bane of all poolsters is the unpredictability of injuries. The absence of someone like Jari Kurri, receiving medical attention above, would cut deeply into a poolster&rsquo;s points.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011737/10221568-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="790" height="1749"><figcaption class="caption-body">Petr Klima is inconsistent but he&rsquo;s got enormous potential.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021239/10221561-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="847" height="1242"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03868/10221554-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="833" height="2007"></div>The third or fourth year is when a player usually emerges as a scorer. In a study for THN last year, it was revealed more players had their first seasons of 40 goals in their third or fourth years than all others combined.All of the North American players had impressive junior stats and most were drafted in the first or second round, so the potential was always there. Some of these players should still improve on those totals, especially those just entering their fourth years. These players either do not rate highly in the three-year ratings ordo not rate at all, so adjustments should be made for these players in your draft ratings.The first listing indicates what year of his career a player was in during the 1986-87 season (Yr.), number of points he scored in 1985-86 (85/86) and 1986-87 (86/87), and the increase recorded (Inc.) over those two seasons.The second chart gives you a list of 12 players entering their third or fourth years (Yr.), their highest junior point totals (High) and 1986-87 point totals (86/87). These players have not yet scored 70 points but may break out and score a lot of points this year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04593/10221547-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="797" height="1743"><figcaption class="caption-body">This could be the year for Steve Thomas of Toronto to emerge.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05376/10221540-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="866" height="633"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06310/10221533-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="785" height="383"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011393/10221526-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="768" height="183"></div>Injuries are the curse of poolsters. Some players have histories of injury problems. Others miss time for reasons other than injury&mdash;but the stats below reflect player records after they have become regulars.All players listed have played at least five seasons and have averaged at least 50 points over the last three years. The chart tells you career length (C), number of seasons in which at least 10 games have been missed through injury (I) and most recent season in which at least 10 games were missed (Rec.)Following the list of injury-prone players is a list of those players who have played the most seasons without missing at least ten games in a season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02905/10221519-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="765" height="876"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03577/10221512-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="732" height="600"></div>Team power-play rankings tell an important and valuable story. With few exceptions, there is no consistency in power-play production from year to year. What follows is a listing of the total number of goals scored by each team in 1986-87 (G), and their league power-play rankings over the past four seasons.Last year, Los Angeles went from 21st to third and Chicago went from second to 21st. The chart clearly indicates that type of reversal is not uncommon. If you&rsquo;re basing some of your picks on the offensive power of a team, then you should look very carefully at their power-play records.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04437/10221505-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="1510" height="1339"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom McCarthy, first with Minnesota and now with Boston, has kept team doctors busy throughout his eight-year career.</figcaption></div>Chicago, which placed 10th in total goals scored last year, would have scored 28 more goals had they the same power-play rate as the year before. That would have placed them second in league scoring and provided a potential for 84 more scoring points&mdash;divided up mostly among the regular power-play performers.A second chart lists team goal totals without power-play goals included. With the unpredictability of the power play, this is a better indicator of a team&rsquo;s offensive strength. Here, we provide total goals from last year (G), number of power-play goals (PP), percentage of total goals that were scored on the power play (%) and non-power-play goals (N-PP). Teams are listed in order of greatest production in non-power-play situations.The Toronto Maple Leafs scored the lowest percentage of their goals on the power play. If they ever get their man-advantage unit going, you can expect more points from their key players. The Kings, who scored the highest percentage of their goals on the power play, shouldn&rsquo;t be expected to do as well this year. So, count on some Kings with fewer points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05313/10221498-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="817" height="809"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-06240/10221491-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="778" height="526"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011619/10221484-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="743" height="313"></div>Individual power-play goals are listed in | NHL statistics, but far more important | are power-play points. Assists count the same as goals in most hockey pools and what really matters here is knowing which players are on a team&rsquo;s power play.The player listings include all those with at | least 10 points and will tell you exactly who I was playing most often on the power plays last year.The following chart tells you how many power-play goals (G), assists (A) and points (P) players earned, in addition to what percentage (%) of their total points were scored on the power play. Considering the unpredictability of team power plays, be wary of those players with high percentages of their points earned with the man advantage. Also, consider the possibility of improvement, assuming increased team productivity on the power play.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-021175/10221477-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="776" height="1632"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03857/10221470-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="706" height="1255"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nobody is a more dangerous goal-scorer on the power play than Philadelphia&rsquo;s Tim Kerr.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04631/10221463-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="690" height="1245"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Lidster led Vancouver&rsquo;s power play last season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05482/10221456-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="781" height="2791"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011557/10221449-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="2529" height="1639"></div>So, have you digested all these numbers? Hope so. Anyway, good luck in your pools. Not that you&rsquo;ll need it with all of this information at your side. Well, maybe a little won&rsquo;t hurt. &#9632;

f0018-01

How To Make Splash In NHL Scoring Pools

<div class="byline">BY KARLO BERKOVICH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011358/10221634-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Powerful Mark Messier and the defending Stanley Cup-champion Edmonton Oilers are seeking their fourth playoff title in five years.</figcaption></div>The National Hockey League completed its longest season when the Edmonton Oilers regained the Stanley Cup on May 31, 1987.It may also have been one of its best.The two top teams from the regular season&mdash;the Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers&mdash;met in the Stanley Cup final. And the Cup series went the full seven games for the first time since the 1971 classic between the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks.That the championship series came down to a one-game showdown was appropriate. Parity has arrived, and the NHL is at its most competitive level in more than 20 years.Just 42 points separated first-place Edmonton (106) from last-place Buffalo (64)&mdash;the smallest differential since the 1964-65 season and certainly an improvement over the 95-point margin separating first-place Montreal and last-place Washington in 1975-76.A league-wide shift to clutch-and-grab tactics brought goal scoring down and complaints up. New York Islander center Bryan Trottier, so angered by fouls left unpunished, wrote a column criticizing league referees for THE HOCKEY NEWS. The NHL fined him S1.000 for the outburst.The game&rsquo;s biggest star. Wayne Gretzky, missed the 200-point barrier for the first time in four years, dropping from a record 215 to 183. But he showed no signs of loosening his seven-year grip on the Art Ross Trophy. And for the third straight year. Gretzky had at least as many assists as any other player had points.More than 12 million fans filed into NHL arenas, including an unofficial league-record 750.225 in Detroit, where the Red Wings rose from the grave and attracted 25 sellouts to huge Joe Louis Arena.Few of the Detroit faithful saw top draft pick Joe Murphy play. He spent most of the year struggling in Adirondack of the American League. Further seasoning isn&rsquo;t expected to be needed for 1987 prizes Pierre Turgeon of Buffalo and Brendan Shanahan of New Jersey.Good players still don&rsquo;t prevent coaches from leaving or being fired. In a surprise move, Calgary&rsquo;s Bob Johnson quit to become executive director of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS). He&rsquo;s been replaced by Terry Crisp.Five other coaches&mdash;Butch Goring, Bob Berry, Ted Sator, Craig Ramsey and Scott Bowman&mdash;were fired although Sator resurfaced in Buffalo after leaving the Rangers. Bowman, who reduced the Sabres from contenders to pretenders, wound up in the broadcast booth.Seven teams have new coaches although only two&mdash;Pierre Creamer in Pittsburgh and Crisp in Calgary&mdash;are new to the NHL.The spotlight will fall heaviest on the New York Rangers, whose wheeler-dealer general manager Phil Esposito traded for former Quebec coach Michel Bergeron. Bergeron&rsquo;s replacement, Andre Savard, has only two years of minor-league experience. Herb Brooks will try to work more miracles in Minnesota while Bob Murdoch attempts to light a fire under the listless Chicago Blackhawks. Bob McCammon will do what he can with the Vancouver Canucks.Whether those men will retain their jobs through the NHL&rsquo;s 71st season remains to be seen.Barring injury, a few milestones will be reached. Gretzky needs only 71 points to pass Esposito and move into third on the all-time scoring list behind only Marcel Dionne and Gordie Howe. And 23 assists will give him 1,000, in only his ninth season.Hartford center Doug Jarvis enters the season on a 962-game ironman streak. New Jersey has a franchise streak of its own going. The Devils-Colorado Rockies have played 720 consecutive games since they last appeared in the playoffs. Wonder which streak will end first&mdash;Jarvis&rsquo; or the Devils&rsquo;?Stay tuned.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011575/10221627-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="1649" height="2249"><figcaption class="caption-body">First draft choice Pierre Turgeon is the latest phenom on whom all eyes will be focused this year. Buffalo drafted him from the Granby Bisons.</figcaption></div><h2>Editor&rsquo;s Note</h2>While THE HOCKEY NEWS 1988 YEARBOOK was in production, a number of NHL teams made roster additions and deletions. Not all of those changes could be made in the YEARBOOK We invite you to read regular issues of THE HOCKEY NEWS to keep up with the latest hockey developments as they happen.<h2>Your Key To THE HOCKEY NEWS Statistics</h2><h3>DRAFT CHOICES</h3>AJHL&mdash;Alberta Jr. Hockey League, AUAA&mdash;Atlantic Universities Athletic Association, BCJHL&mdash;British Columbia Jr. Hockey League, CCHA&mdash;Central Collegiate Hockey Association, CJHL&mdash;Central Jr. Hockey League, CWUAA&mdash;Canada West Universities Athletic Association, ECAC&mdash;Eastern College Athletic Conference, ECAC (Il-Ill)&mdash;Eastern College Athletic Conference, Divisions Il-Ill, HE&mdash;Hockey East, GWHC&mdash;Great West Hockey Conference, ICHL&mdash;Illinois Collegiate Hockey League, Ind.&mdash;Independent, MJHL&mdash;Metro Toronto Jr. Hockey League, NEJHL&mdash;New England Jr. Hockey League, NCAA&mdash;National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCHA&mdash;Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, OHA&mdash;Ontario Hockey Association, OHL&mdash;Ontario Hockey League, OJHL&mdash;Ontario Jr. Hockey League, OUAA&mdash;Ontario Universities Athletic Association, OPJHL&mdash;Ontario Province Jr. Hockey League, QMJHL&mdash;Quebec Major Jr. Hockey League, QUAA&mdash;Quebec Universities Athletic Association, SJHL&mdash;Saskatchewan Jr. Hockey League, USJHL&mdash;United States Jr. Hockey League, WCHA&mdash;Western Collegiate Hockey Association, WHL&mdash;Western Hockey League.<h3>STATISTICAL REVIEWS, HOCKEY NEWS STATISTICS</h3>GP&mdash;Games Played, G&mdash;Goals, A&mdash;Assists, PTS&mdash;Points, PM&mdash;Penalty minutes, SHG&mdash;Shots on goal, SC PCT&mdash;Scoring percentage, PP&mdash;Power-play goals, GW&mdash;Game-winning goals, GT&mdash;Game-tying goals, FG&mdash;First goals of the game, TGF&mdash;Total goals scored by team while player on the ice, PGF&mdash;Power-play goals scored while player on the ice, OFF NET&mdash;Number of even-strength and shorthanded goals while player on the ice, TGA&mdash;Total goals against while player on the ice, PGA&mdash;Power-play goals against while player on the ice, DEF NET&mdash;Number of even-strength and shorthanded goals given up while player on the ice, /&mdash;The difference between number of even-strength and shorthanded goals scored for and against while player on the ice. &#9632;

f0025-01

THE LEAGUES

A Proud Year For The NHL

<div class="byline">Terry O&#x2019;Reilly</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011440/10221700-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="570" height="562"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-021009/10221693-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="618" height="670"></div>The Boston Bruins have learned that sometimes you have to go backward before you can go forward.&ldquo;Our philosophy this year,&rdquo; says general manager Harry Sinden &ldquo;might be that we have to take some chances, maybe develop some young players, so we can be a good team by the time the playoffs roll around.&rdquo;The Bruins are finally realizing the regular season is meaningless. So they may sacrifice a few regular-season points for a playoff payoff.&ldquo;This team gets between 85 and 90 points every year (actually 82, 86 and 85 the last three seasons) and then we go out in the first round,&rdquo; Sinden says. &ldquo;Then somebody like Toronto gets 50 points a season (actually 70) and wins a round. They&rsquo;d be having a party in Toronto if they got 85 points. We can&rsquo;t get away with what they do. We wouldn&rsquo;t fill the building.&rdquo;Those in the building, the Boston Garden, have grown weary of watching their team eliminated in the Adams Division playdowns eliminated, most regularly that is, by the Montreal Canadiens.After last year&rsquo;s four-game Montreal sweep&mdash;the fourth consecutive year the Canadiens have bounced the Bruins from the Adams Division playoffs&mdash;the total stood at 18 consecutive series wins by the Habs over Boston since 1943.Short of transferring out of the Adams Division, there seems little the Bruins can do except get better.To ensure the Bruins do so, the goaltending must improve. The seventh-best netminding in the league came unravelled against Montreal.&ldquo;It has to be better for us to go further,&rdquo; Sinden says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as obvious a weakness during the season.&rdquo;Bill Ranford, Doug Keans and Roberto Romano are the training camp netminders, along with college grads Norm Foster (Michigan State) and Terry Taillefer (Boston University).Despite a poor playoff performance, Ranford, 21, will be given every chance to anchor the youth movement.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s outstanding, although he has flaws,&rdquo; Sinden says. &ldquo;We have to give him the opportunity to learn to play goal.&rdquo;The same applies to defenseman Glen Wesley, the Bruins&rsquo; first-round draft pick, third overall, from Portland of the Western League.Wesley, mobile and a good shooter, is expected to join Ray Bourque (23-72-95 and winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman) on the power play.Mike Milbury, who could have helped ease in Wesley, retired to become coach and general manager of Boston&rsquo;s American League farm team in Maine. That leaves Reed Larson, Allen Pedersen and John Blum as the other confirmed defensemen, while Wade Campbell, Alain Cote and Frank Simonetti will fight for the other spot. Injury-plagued Gord Kluzak remains a question mark.Other youngsters on the way up include center-right winger Bob Sweeney, who scored 29 goals and 55 points with Moncton in the American League last year, left winger John Carter (25-30-55 at Moncton) and Tommy Lehman, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound Swede who plays left wing and center. Another possibility is U.S. Olympic team center Craig Janney, Boston&rsquo;s first-round draft pick in 1986. He&rsquo;ll be available after the Olympics in February.Boston scored 301 goals, seventh-best in the league, but it lacks a gamebreaker up front. Too many of the players are typical Boston Garden grinders, and Sinden recognizes the problem.&ldquo;To survive in Boston Garden, you have to be prepared to be hit,&rdquo; Sinden says. &ldquo;But then, maybe you don&rsquo;t develop those open-ice skills.&rdquo;Right wingers Cam Neely and Rick Middleton, a 34-year-old who enjoyed a fine comeback year, had 36 and 31 goals, respectively. Neely, acquired from Vancouver, was a revelation&mdash;adding five more goals in four playoff games&mdash;and joined Bourque as Boston representatives at Team Canada&rsquo;s training camp.Center Tom McCarthy had 30 goals and left winger Charlie Simmer 29 during the regular season. Right winger Keith Crowder, who missed 22 games with injuries, slumped to 22 goals. A return to his 38-goal effort of two years ago is in order.The key to a resurgence may rest with Ken Linseman, who slumped both in the regular season (15-34-49) and playoffs (1-1-2). &ldquo;He has to have a better year,&rdquo; Sinden says.The Bruins always have a good year. It just ends too soon.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011549/10221686-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="1507" height="2825"><figcaption class="caption-body">After a sluggish start to his pro career with Vancouver Canucks, Cam Neely exploded for 36 goals in his first year with the Bruins.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>BOSTON BRUINS (13)</h3>3. Glen Wesley, D, Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)14. Stephane Quintal, D, Granby Bisons (QMJHL)56. Todd Lalonde, LW, Sudbury Wolves (OHL)67. Darwin McPherson, D, New Westminster Bruins (WHL)77. Matt Delguidice, G, St. Anselm College Hawks (ECAC Il-Ill)98. Ted Donato, C, Catholic Memorial High School (Mass.)119. Matt Glennon, LW, Archbishop Williams High School (Mass.)140. Rob Cheevers, C, Boston College Eagles (HE)161. Chris Winnes, RW, Northwood School (N.Y.)182. Paul Ohman, D, St. John&rsquo;s High School (Mass.)203. Casey Jones, C, Cornell University Big Red (ECAC)224. Eric Lamarque, RW, Northern Michigan University Wildcats (WCHA)245. Sean Gorman, D, Matignon High School (Mass.)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-021081/10221679-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="670" height="1659"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011355/10221672-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="2260" height="1169"></div><h2>Boston Bruins Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02931/10221665-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="2267" height="1397"></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

Boston Bruins

<div class="byline">Ted Sator</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011559/10221766-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="615" height="604"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-021072/10221759-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="639" height="721"></div>The Buffalo Sabres are hoping lightning strikes twice.Seventeen years ago, they crushed the Vancouver Canucks in a roulette wheel spin-off for the right to draft superstar center Gilbert Perreault.They made the playoffs two years later, and two seasons after that lost the first all-expansion Stanley Cup final to the Philadelphia Flyers. It&rsquo;s been a slow, downhill slide ever since.Now, with Perreault retired, the Sabres are back where they started. Except the National Hockey League passed on the roulette wheel. Buffalo took the traditional route&mdash;finishing last&mdash;to land top pick.So the climb begins anew on the shoulders of slick center Pierre Turgeon, who scored 69 goals and 85 assists last season for the Granby Bisons.The inevitable comparisons have been made and, on draft day, even Sabre general manager Gerry Meehan acknowledged that his club had come full circle.&ldquo;I like to think of it as a good omen.&rdquo; said Meehan, a teammate of Perreault&rsquo;s on the 1970-71 Sabres. &rsquo;&rsquo;A great French Canadian led the rise of the Buffalo Sabres. I like to think another French-Canadian star will lead the Sabres back up again.&rdquo;That was in June. By training camp, Meehan wanted to ease the pressure on his prize pick.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good story and the comparison is natural, but I don&rsquo;t want to put the entire responsibility on his shoulders,&rdquo; Meehan says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the same situation. This team has some history, some talent. And Pierre is younger (he turned 19 on Aug. 29) by two years than Gilbert was. We won&rsquo;t make him the team saviour.&rdquo;Turgeon is not the type of crowd-pleasing player Perreault was, one who could bring the fans out of their seats and a team out of the doldrums with a stirring end-to-end rush.Rather, Meehan sees Turgeon as the center of a collective effort that starts at the top under a new regime, after a steady decline under Scott Bowman.While Bowman could never settle on a coach, besides himself, Meehan is going to build with Ted Sator, who was 21-22-4 after taking over Dec. 4. Under Sator, the Sabres made up an 18-point deficit on the Quebec Nordiques before a series of injuries late in the season left the talent-thin Sabres unable to make the playoffs.&ldquo;Last year was destabilizing,&rdquo; Meehan says, &ldquo;but now we can start fresh, with no baggage left over from the previous organization. This organization is solid.&rdquo;How a last-place team can be solid is anyone&rsquo;s guess but, as Meehan says, everybody likes his own team in the off-season.Meehan wants to like his team during the season. When he looks at the state of the Sabres, it&rsquo;s obvious there&rsquo;s plenty of room for improvement. Buffalo finished with the third-worst record in franchise history.One reason was pathetic production on the wings&mdash;particularly on the left side&mdash;which contributed to a 16-goal drop in overall production. The goals-against total, once a source of Sabre pride, rose by 17. Phil Housley, who had a strong season and Rendez-vous rear-guard Mike Ramsey are the best of the blueliners.Meehan says he values goaltenders Tom Barrasso, Jacques Cloutier and Daren Puppa highly. As in trade value, perhaps?Someone may be moved for a high-scoring left winger, because last year&rsquo;s numbers were downright embarrassing. The television Jethro could score more goals than Clark Gillies&rsquo; 10. And Paul Cyr, an off-season shooting victim during a bizarre ambush in the Dominican Republic, notched just 11. Cyr has recovered. Dave Andreychuk fell from 36 to 25. Bob Logan, a Yale grad who scored 30 goals in 56 games at Rochester, will get a good look.On the right side, the decline was also evident. Mike Foligno boogied just 30 times, after taking 41 post-goal dances the year before. Scott Amiel and Mark Napier, acquired from Edmonton, combined for just 24 goals.At center, the Sabres have some depth. Fine Finnish rookie Christian Ruutu scored 22 goals, while John Tucker posted 17-34-51 totals in just 54 games. With classic playmaker Turgeon a lock, that leaves the No. 4 spot up for grabs. Adam Creighton, Ottawa&rsquo;s Memorial Cup hero of 1984, has the inside track.The Sabres, meanwhile, hope to have an inside track on the playoffs after missing them for the past two seasons. Not since the franchise&rsquo;s first two years has that happened.It took Perreault two years to right the Sabres. How long will it take Turgeon? Or more precisely, is he the man for the job?Buffalo is betting yes.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011407/10221752-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="1518" height="2787"><figcaption class="caption-body">Finnish center Christian Ruuttu quietly established himself as one of the NHL&rsquo;s best first-year players last season with 65 points in 76 games.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>BUFFALO SABRES (13)</h3>1. Pierre Turgeon, C, Granby Bisons (QMJHL)22. Brad Miller, D, Regina Pats (WHL)53. Andrew MacVicar, LW, Peterborough Petes (OHL)84. John Bradley, G, New Hampton School (N.H.)85. David Pergola, RW, Belmont Hill School (Mass.)106. Chris Marshall, LW, Boston College High School (Mass.)127. Paul Flanagan, D, New Hampton School (N.H.)148. Sean Dooley, D, Groton School (Mass.)153. Tim Roberts, C, Deerfield Academy (Mass.)169. Grant Tkachuk, LW, Saskatoon Blades (WHL)190. Ian Herbers, D, Swift Current Broncos (WHL)211. David Littman, G, Boston College Eagles (HE)232. Allan Maclsaac, LW, Guelph Platers (OHL)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03713/10221745-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="675" height="1630"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011538/10221738-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="2382" height="1271"></div><h2>Buffalo Sabres Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-012100/10221731-1-eng-US/f0032-0122.jpg" title="f0032-012" width="2372" height="1517"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

Buffalo Sabres

<div class="byline">Terry Crisp</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011351/10221832-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="741" height="639"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02941/10221825-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="651" height="713"></div>Success in Calgary is measured by how often the Flames beat Edmonton.Ex-Calgary Flame coach Bob John-son had the formula. His teams knocked the defending Stanley Cup-champion Oilers out of the playoffs two years ago, and followed up by beating their provincial rivals six times in eight games during the 1986-87 regular season.Whether Badger Bob left the blueprint behind when he left to become executive director of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States remains to be seen.But perhaps a bigger problem for new coach Terry Crisp is figuring out how to beat Winnipeg. It&rsquo;s fine to be capable of beating the Oilers, but last year the road to Edmonton detoured through Winnipeg, and Calgary crashed.&ldquo;It seems like teams in this division gear up to beat a particular team,&rdquo; says the Flames&rsquo; general manager, Cliff Fletcher.And the Jets were geared up for Calgary, taking six of eight regular-season decisions. Losing that season series may well have cost second-place Calgary a chance to put some heat on Edmonton for the Smythe Division title.As it were, the Flames came within five points of the century mark and 11 of the over-all-champion Oilers&mdash;a big improvement over the 30-point Flame-Oiler gap of two seasons ago.The Flames want to torch the difference this time, and Fletcher sees cracking the 100-point barrier as the key. Two years ago, an 11-game losing streak prevented it. Last year, the jet-stream proved too turbulent.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going for first and so is Winnipeg, so maybe it&rsquo;ll be a three-team race,&rdquo; Fletcher says. &ldquo;That would be a first.&rdquo;To ensure the Flames get there, Fletcher wants the area in front of the Calgary goal to bum like Beirut.No, he&rsquo;s not trading for Ron Hextali. He couldn&rsquo;t get him anyway and besides, Fletcher considers Reggie Lemelin, Mike Vernon and Cornell product Doug Dadswell more than adequate.But he&rsquo;s looking for some stay-at-home bruisers to make life easier in the crease and improve Calgary&rsquo;s defensive record from 13th in the league.&ldquo;Maybe we&rsquo;ll have to trade for a good NHL defenseman,&rdquo; Fletcher says.That doesn&rsquo;t seem to say much for Ric Nattress&mdash;acquired from St. Louis in the offseason. Nattress does add some depth to a shallow defense further weakened when Jamie Macoun was lost for at least the first two months of 1986-87. Macoun, who missed the playoffs with a kidney injury, suffered a severe arm injury in an alcohol-related car accident last spring.Macoun&rsquo;s injury leaves Calgary with second- and third-leading scorers Al Maclnnis and Paul Reinhart on defense, as well as Gary Suter and Wayne Gretzky-disturber Neil Sheehy.The cavalry&mdash;in the form of 6-foot-4, 225-pound Saskatoon Blade defenseman Brian Glynn&mdash;doesn&rsquo;t arrive until next year, so the search will continue.Offensively, the Flames are well-heeled. Calgary scored 318 goals, to place second only to Edmonton in the league. The Flames&rsquo; power play was second to none in terms of efficiency. On fully one-quarter of its man-advantage opportunities, Calgary made good.Six players, including right winger Joey Mullen with 47 goals, scored 2G or more times last season. Mike Bullard, who scored 28 goals in 57 games after joining the Flames from Pittsburgh, is Calgary&rsquo;s other gunner. Five more players were in the high teens.Younger forwards are expected to earn fulltime work. Center Joe Nieuwendyk, right winger Brett Hull and left winger Gary Roberts look ready to supplant veteran center Doug Risebrough (now the assistant coach), right winger Lanny McDonald and left winger John Tonelli. Tonelli, who carries a fat contract, remained the topic of trade speculation&mdash;for a defenseman, perhaps?Nieuwendyk scored five goals in nine NHL games, &ldquo;The Golden Brett&rdquo; fired 50 goals in Moncton and Roberts accounted for 20 in 38 games with Moncton.Czechoslovakian center Jiri Hrdina, 30, will join the Flames from the Czechoslovakian national team in March, following the Olympics. Teammate Igor Liba, a left winger, may follow. At 28, he&rsquo;d be the youngest Czechoslovakian ever to play in the NHL.Johnson&rsquo;s departure means the end of an era in Calgary. But Fletcher feels the transition to Crisp will be smooth.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s more a subtle change,&rdquo; Fletcher says. &ldquo;It won&rsquo;t be as abstract as people think.&rdquo;Calgary fans want concrete changes in this year&rsquo;s playoff result.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011561/10221818-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="1613" height="3047"><figcaption class="caption-body">Former Penguin captain and 50-goal scorer Mike Bullard happily joined the Calgary Flames and contributed four goals in six playoff games.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>CALGARY FLAMES (13)</h3>19. Bryan Deasley, LW, University of Michigan Wolverines (CCHA)25. Stephane Matteau, LW, Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)40. Kevin Grant, D, Kitchener Rangers (OHL)61. Scott Mahoney, LW, Oshawa Generals (OHL)70. Tim Harris, RW, Pickering (MJHL)103. Tim Corkery, D, Ferris State College Bulldogs (CCHA)124. Joe Aloi, D, Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)145. Peter Ciavaglia, C, Nichols School (N.Y.)166. Theoren Fleury, C, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)187. Mark Osiecki, D, Madison (USJHL)208. Bill Sedergren, D, Springfield Jr. Olympics (NEJHL)229. Peter Hasselblad, D, Orebro (Sweden)250. Magnus Svensson, D, Leksand (Sweden)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-021087/10221811-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="737" height="1794"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011429/10221804-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="2198" height="1139"></div><h2>Calgary Flames Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-021019/10221797-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="2169" height="1375"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

Calgary Flames

<div class="byline">Jacques Demers</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011290/10221964-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="633" height="545"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02879/10221957-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="589" height="666"></div>If the Detroit Red Wings falter this year after improving by 38 points and going all the way to the Campbell Conference final, blame Jacques Demers.He&rsquo;s ready for any flak, although he thinks a slide is out of the question.That would fly in the face of recent National Hockey League history. The Winnipeg Jets and Los Angeles Kings are examples of teams going from the outhouse to the penthouse and back again.There is no high-rent district in the Norris Division, whose five teams all finished below .500. The Red Wings were the dogs of the division&mdash;and league&mdash;two years ago, but Demers doesn&rsquo;t fear a return to 1985-86 form.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s up to the coach not to let that happen,&rsquo;&rsquo; says Demers, coach of the year last season. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t get complacent. I feel good about our chances. We weren&rsquo;t overachievers. This team is more solid than it&rsquo;s ever been.&rsquo;&rsquo;With apologies to Howe, Lindsay, Abel and Delvecchio, you understand Demers&rsquo; point. There&rsquo;s plenty to feel giddy about.After setting team records for futility, the Wings flew from last overall to 11th in one season. They doubled their win total from 17 to 34, and cut losses from 57 to 36. Their total of 260 goals, however, was lowest in the league.The lack of overall scoring punch was over-shadowed, at least last year, by a remarkable defensive turnabout that saw Detroit cut its goals against from 415 to 274&mdash;believed to be the greatest single-season improvement in league history.The architects were two solid goaltenders, the oldest defense in the league, and forwards who accepted the coach of the year&rsquo;s imported St. Louis work ethic.Greg Stefan lowered his average by more than a goal a game (from 4.50 to 3.45) and was considered the No. 1 man until Detroit dropped the first two games of the Norris Division final against Toronto.Demers sat Stefan the rest of the series, although not before controversy arose when the goalie learned his fate from the newspapers rather than the coach. Glen Hanlon stepped in and the ex-Ranger brought the Wings back from a 3-1 deficit.Stefan and Hanlon shared the duties against Edmonton in the Campbell Conference final, and Demers says the issue is closed. His two-goalie system employs Stefan and Hanlon, period.Third-stringer Mark Laforest was traded to Philadelphia for a second-round draft pick, which Detroit used to take defenseman Bob Wilkie of Swift Current. Free agent-signee Darren Eliot comes over from Los Angeles, but is likely bound for Adirondack of the American League.Last year&rsquo;s defense rested on rejuvenated Darren Veitch (13-45-58) and the aging shoulders of Harold Snepsts, Dave Lewis and Mike O&rsquo;Connell. The Wings acknowledged their most pressing need by taking Yves Racine from Longueuil in the first round, feeding a frenzy that was satisfied only when Detroit selected nine defensemen with its 12 picks.Still, Racine is not expected to crack the lineup&mdash;which means last year&rsquo;s group, including the whack-and-hack twosome of Gilbert Delorme and Lee Norwood, will be back. Jeff Sharpies of Portland will get a look.Although the Wings are solid up front with the likes of center Steve Yzerman and left wingers Brent Ashton, Gerard Gallant, Bob Probert and Petr Klima, there are questions.Demers considers his group of left wingers to be among the best in the National Hockey League, but is Ashton really a 40-goal man? His numbers in 35 games were 15-16-31 after arriving from Quebec, and he had been accustomed to a 25-goal pace. The same needs be asked of Gallant, who notched 38 markers. And does the immensely-talented Klima really fit in with Demers&rsquo; grinder style?As for Probert, he shone in the playoffs, indicating his checkered history of alcohol-related problems may be over.Depth at center has been added with the acquisition of journeyman John Chabot from Pittsburgh. Adam Oates and Shawn Burr, who had 22 goals in his rookie year, should keep improving&mdash;and, of course, there&rsquo;s Yzerman, who shared THN comeback player of the year honors with Veitch and Montreal goalie Brian Hayward.The right side is bare, except for Dave Barr and Joey Kocur. Unless, of course, the biggest bust since Greg Joly can come through.&ldquo;Joe Murphy has a good chance to make our team,&rdquo; says Demers, who was highly disappointed with the NHL&rsquo;s No. 1 draft pick in 1986. &ldquo;He has a great attitude now. Adirondack really helped him.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-011016/10221950-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="1459" height="2797"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gerard Gallant was a key force in the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; resurgence, providing goals and gumption to coach Jacques Demers&rsquo; team.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>DETROIT RED WINGS (13)</h3>11. Yves Racine, D, Longueuil Chevaliers (QMJHL)32. Gordon Kruppke, D, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)41. Bob Wilkie, D, Swift Current Broncos (WHL)52. Dennis Holland, C, Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)74. Mark Reimer, G, Saskatoon Blades (WHL)95. Radomir Brazda, D, Pardubice (Czechoslovakia)116. Sean Clifford, D, Ohio State University Buckeyes (CCHA)137. Mike Gober, LW, Laval Titan (QMJHL)158. Kevin Scott, C, Vernon (BCJHL)179. Mikko Haapakoski, D, Karpat (Finland)200. Darin Bannister, D, University of Illinois-Chicago Flames (CCHA)221. Craig Quinlan, D, Hill-Murray High School (Minn.)242. Tomas Jansson, D, Ik Talje (Sweden)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02663/10221943-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="660" height="1667"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02588/10221936-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="2415" height="1290"></div><h2>Detroit Red Wings Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01880/10221929-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="2397" height="1537"></div> &#9632;

f0039-01

Detroit Red Wings

<div class="byline">Glen Sather</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01946/10222030-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="726" height="694"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02617/10222023-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="613" height="724"></div>The Edmonton Oilers didn&rsquo;t add any chapters to the National Hockey League record book during the 1986-87 season.After soaring to a 56-17-7 record in 198586, the Oilers slipped to 50-24-6. Goal production dropped by 54. Wayne Gretzky fell from record-setting totals of 163 assists and 215 points to 62-121-183.Winger Glenn Anderson plunged from 54 goals to 35. and 102 points to 73. Defenseman Paul Coffey, plagued by back problems, played in just 59 games and gave up his two-year lease on the Norris Trophy. He scored 17 goals after potting 48, a record for defensemen, the previous year. And his assists fell from 90 to 50.But statistics are for losers. The Oilers proved the point by regaining the Stanley Cup. That makes it three championships in the last four years.&ldquo;Our goal is always to win the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; says Barry Fraser, director of player personnel. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;re proud of our accomplishments. We&rsquo;ve been in the league eight years and we&rsquo;ve been in the finals four times. I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ll ever see something like that again.&rdquo;Edmonton players and fans never want to see anything like the spring of 1986 again. That&rsquo;s when the Oilers, fresh from being burned by the Calgary Flames in the Smythe Division finals, took a broadside from Sports Illustrated. SI reported allegations of cocaine use by at least five unnamed members of the team.The Oilers weathered the snowstorm, then set themselves to following co-coach John Muckier&rsquo;s orders to improve their defensive record.The team paid attention. It allowed just 284 goals, the lowest total in franchise history. Maintaining that defensive competence, however, will be more difficult this year with the departure of rearguard Randy Gregg to the Canadian Olympic team.But it&rsquo;s hardly impossible. Coffey&mdash;who made noises after the Stanley Cup finals about leaving Edmonton due to differences with coach Glen Sather&mdash;Kevin Lowe, Craig Muni, Charlie Huddy, Steve Smith and Jeff Beukeboom remain. If they perform to their capabilities and the Oiler forwards continue to play disciplined two-way hockey, Edmonton should be able to approach the heights scaled in the third period of the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals against Philadelphia.Down 2-1 with 20 minutes to go, the Flyers desperately needed to press the attack. But the disciplined Oilers shut them down, holding Philadelphia to just two shots on goal in the third period en route to a 3-1 victory.Goaltender Grant Fuhr, who benefited from that disciplined play to turn in another outstanding playoff, will split regular-season net-minding chores with Andy Moog, unless Moog is moved. When playoff time comes, however, Fuhr is the Oiler money man.During the off-season, Vancouver and Pittsburgh were listed as possible destinations for Moog, a free agent with compensation. If the disgruntled Moog were traded, the backup role would fall to Daryl Reaugh. who posted a 3.71 goals-against average with Nova Scotia of the American League.A champion cannot afford to stand pat, and the Oilers will make some changes.Winger Kent Nilsson (18-45-63) has returned to Sweden, while mobile defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen is back in his native Finland.Fraser sees several new players having chances to crack the lineup. And they aren&rsquo;t flashy types like the departed Scandinavians. The top candidate is left winger Kelly Buch-berger, an enforcer who had 257 penalty minutes in Nova Scotia. Buchberger acquitted himself well in the rough-and-tumble department over three Stanley Cup final game appearances.Other possibilities are left winger Scott Metcalfe, the Oilers&rsquo; first-round 1985 draff pick; right winger Kim Issel, their first-round choice in 1986; right winger Normand Lacombe of Nova Scotia; and Czechoslovakian defector Ivan Matulik, a left winger taken in the seventh round of the 1986 draft.The key returnees up front include Gretzky, Mark Messier (37-70-107), Jari Kurri (54-54108), Anderson and Esa Tikkanen. Messier, coming off his best scoring season ever, remains the most powerful presence in the game&mdash;a circumstance somehow overlooked by voters, who have never chosen him for an all-star team. Understandably, one position is already taken up each year by Gretzky but what about the other?<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01907/10222016-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="1669" height="3079"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky won his eighth straight MVP award and seventh consecutive scoring championship as Edmonton regained the Stanley Cup.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>EDMONTON OILERS (13)</h3>21. Peter Soberlak, LW, Swift Current Broncos (WHL)42. Brad Werenka, D, N. Michigan University Wildcats (WCHA)63. Geoff Smith, D, St. Albert (AJHL)64. Peter Eriksson, RW, HV 71 (Sweden)105. Shaun Van Allen, C, Saskatoon Blades (WHL)126. Radek Toupal, RW, Motor Bude-jovice (Czechoslovakia)147. Tomas Srsen, LW, Zetr Brno (Czechoslovakia)168. Age Ellingsen, D, Storhamer (Norway)189. Gavin Armstrong, G, RPI Engineers (ECAC)210. Mike Tinkham, RW, Newburyport High School (Mass.)231. Jeff Pauletti, D, University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA)241. Jesper Duus, D, Rodoure SK (Denmark)252. Igor Viazmikin, RW, Central Red Army (Soviet Union)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02637/10222009-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="775" height="1799"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01826/10222002-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="2218" height="1151"></div><h2>Edmonton Oilers Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02539/10221995-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="2214" height="1383"></div> &#9632;

f0042-01

Edmonton Oilers

<div class="byline">Jack Evans</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01718/10222096-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="681" height="666"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02489/10222089-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="640" height="727"></div>If Hartford Whalers have learned from history, they won&rsquo;t bust their tailfins trying to win the Adams Division pennant this season.Only once since 1981-82, when the National Hockey League adopted its current alignment and playoff format, has the Adams&rsquo; regular-season winner survived the division playoffs.That happened in 1982-83, when the Boston Bruins advanced to the Prince of Wales Conference final. The year before that, the Montreal Canadiens were ousted in the first round. Two years later the same fate befell Boston. Montreal and Quebec made it three in a row.Hartford made it four. The Nordiques played Captain Ahab, harpooning Hartford in six games after dropping the first two. The Whalers, who surprised Quebec in three straight games the year before, learned how the other half lives.The frustrating part about the playoff defeat was that it followed the best season in Hartford history. The Whalers broke or tied 59 regular-season team standards, en route to a 43-30-7 I record.But the foundations of the effort&mdash;discipline and goaltending&mdash;crumbled against Quebec.Hartford, the least-penalized team in the league with 1,496 minutes, let the Nordiques get under its skin. Former Nordique coach Michel Bergeron, now with the New York Rangers, was the prime agitator.Bergeron&rsquo;s irritating Cheshire-cat grin and acid comments worked wonders for the Nordiques. The Whalers turned into the Hartford Hackers and set single-team playoff series records of 104 penalties and 317 minutes. Philadelphia&rsquo;s Broad St. Bullies (who else?) set the previous marks of 92 and 295 against Toronto in 1976.&ldquo;We have no one to blame but ourselves,&rdquo; Whaler general manager Emile Francis said after the debacle.And, as Bergeron mentioned throughout the series, maybe Mike Liut. After posting a 3.23 goals-against average and .885 save percentage in 59 regular-season games, he came apart against the Nordiques. His playoff GAA was 4.52, but more importantly, Liut seemed prone to giving up goals at inopportune times&mdash;like early and late in periods.He&rsquo;s too good a goaltender not to recover, but he is 32 and the Whalers are already looking to the future. Peter Sidorkiewicz (2.92 GAA in 57 games at Binghamton in the American League) may be ready to push Steve Weeks out of the backup role. Sean Evoy and Kay Whitmore are in the system.But don&rsquo;t look for too many others from either the minors or the draft to make the jump to the big club. The Whalers consider themselves solid enough that neither of their first two choices&mdash;right winger Jody Hull of Peterborough and defenseman Adam Burt of North Bay&mdash;are expected to crack the lineup for two years.Hartford is hoping no further troubles visit Sylvain Turgeon&rsquo;s stomach. The talented left winger, who scored 45 goals two years ago, returned to form and scored 23 in 41 games after recovering from a tom abdominal muscle. Hopes are the under-motivated Turgeon will push himself harder now that his brother, Pierre, is with the Buffalo Sabres.The rest of the balanced offense features eight players who scored 20 goals or more. The key men are captain Ron Francis, who scored 30 goals and 63 assists at center, and 40-goal man Kevin Dineen on right wing.Ray Ferraro, Dean Evason, and Doug Jarvis (who has played a record 962 consecutive regular-season NHL games) provide depth at center.The left side is somewhat thin after John Anderson and Paul Lawless, with only disturber Torrie Robertson (recovered from a broken leg), Dave Tippett and Dave Semenko.Everything seems in place for another run at the Adams Division title&mdash;preferably the playoff version. That&rsquo;s the big hurdle the Whalers must jump on route to a Stanley Cup triumph.To get them there, Hartford signed Emile Francis&mdash;whom Whaler chairman Howard Baldwin called &ldquo;the best man in hockey"&mdash;to a five-year contract.Francis has built the Whalers to the level where they can start thinking Stanley Cup. But. then building teams has never been a problem for &ldquo;The Cat.&rdquo; His resume already details successful reconstruction projects with the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues.But building teams and winning championships are two different things. And the &ldquo;best man in hockey&rdquo; has never had the best team&mdash;in 23 years of trying.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01739/10222082-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="1666" height="3033"><figcaption class="caption-body">One of the reasons for Hartford&rsquo;s best NHL season ever was the 27 goals contributed by center Ray Ferraro, a former Western League superstar.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>HARTFORD WHALERS (10)</h3>18. Jody Hull, RW. Peterborough Petes (OHL)39. Adam Burt, D, North Bay Centennials (OHL)81. Terry Yake C. Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)102. Marc Rousseau D, University of Denver Pioneers (WCHA)123. Jeff St. Cyr. D, Michigan Tech University Huskies (WCHA)144. Greg Wolf, D, Buffalo Regal Midgets (N.Y.)165. John Moore. C. Yale University Bulldogs (ECAC)186. Joe Day, LW, St. Lawrence University Saints (ECAC)228. Kevin Sullivan. RW, Princeton University Tigers (ECAC)249. Steve Laurin, G, Dartmouth College Big Green (ECAC)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02491/10222075-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="756" height="1784"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01659/10222068-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="2450" height="1273"></div><h2>Hartford Whalers Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02429/10222061-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="2457" height="1521"></div> &#9632;

f0045-01

Hartford Whalers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0048-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01526/10222127-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0048-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Winning Coverage at home & away…

<div class="byline">Mike Murphy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01513/10222193-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="696" height="535"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02383/10222186-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="579" height="643"></div>Rogie Vachon is laying down the law in L.A.And it&rsquo;s got nothing to do with the version imposed by the National Hockey League for Los Angeles&rsquo; role in the Pat Quinn affair. Or the television show.The Kings&rsquo; general manager wants an attitude change. That, says Vachon, will help vault the fourth-place Kings two rungs in the Smythe Division. Unlike the folks in Calgary, he&rsquo;s conceding first place to Edmonton.&ldquo;We have to be realistic,&rsquo;&rsquo; the former NHL goaltender says.That&rsquo;s also why-&mdash;though the Kings improved by 16 points and even beat the Oilers once in the division semi-finals&mdash;Vachon feels it&rsquo;s time to join the elite.&ldquo;Our thinking is that making the playoffs isn&rsquo;t good enough anymore,&rdquo; Vachon says. &ldquo;We have to challenge. If we start making a run at being a good team, I think we&rsquo;ll stay a while.&rdquo;To charge up the ladder, the Kings must improve their intra-divisional record, which at 10-19-3 was even worse than last-place Vancouver&rsquo;s (12-18-2).Not that L.A. hasn&rsquo;t turned things around before. The problem is the Kings tend to spin so much they go in circles. The franchise enjoyed a 105-point season in 1974-75 and 99-point year in 1980-81, but those advances were always followed by Napoleonic retreats. The year of 99 was followed by a 63-point beauty, and since then a graph of L.A. &rsquo;s totals looks like the nearby Santa Lucia Range.Over the last four years, the final line has read 59, 82, 54 and 70 points, and Vachon would like to get off the rollercoaster. Preferably at the top.Some stability in the coaching ranks might help. Quinn was in his third season when he was expelled for signing a future contract with the Vancouver Canucks. The Kings have gone through 14 head coaches in their 20 years in the league, and six in the last six seasons.Mike Murphy, who led the Kings to a second-half record of 13-21-4 after moving up from assistant coach, signed a two-year contract in the off-season.Will Murphy&rsquo;s Law claim this coach?Not if rookie-of-the-year left winger Luc Robitaille (45 goals), fellow freshman sensation Jimmy Carson (37 goals) and all-rookie defenseman Steve Duchesne avoid the sophomore jinx. And top draft pick Wayne McBean&mdash;fresh from a Memorial Cup title with Medicine Hat&mdash;comes through as the Kings expect.The 6-foot-2, 196-pound defenseman might be just what Dr. Jerry Buss ordered for a team that finished second-last in the league with 341 goals allowed&mdash;unbelievably, an improvement from 389 the year before.&ldquo;You have to have character to play here because it&rsquo;s tough with all the travel and distractions,&rdquo; Vachon says. &ldquo;We interviewed him (McBean) before (the draft) and we knew we were hand-picking the right person.".The goaltending choice remains Rollie Melanson, who posted a 3.69 goals-average in 46 games. Free agent Darren Eliot signed with Detroit, so Bob Janecyk (4.86) and Al Jensen (5.16) will fight for the remaining ice time.But defense doesn&rsquo;t solely consist of goaltending. The Kings must embrace the concept of team defense which has finally hit the Smythe Division. Even the Oilers emphasized the grinder approach to a greater extent than ever before.&ldquo;This was a skating division, but it&rsquo;s changed,&rdquo; Vachon says.The Kings don&rsquo;t want to change their scoring habits, which have always been among the league&rsquo;s best. After falling below the 300-goal mark in 1985-86, they rallied to tie Calgary for the league&rsquo;s second-best total of 318 goals. The Kings&rsquo; power play ranked third.That was despite sub-par years from center Bernie Nicholls (who dropped from 97 points to 81), plus right wingers Jim Fox (19 goals) and Dave Taylor (18). Former Washington and Ranger center Bobby Carpenter should contribute more than the 9-18-27 totals he had with three teams, although Vachon isn&rsquo;t expecting any more 50-goal years.&ldquo;If he scores 25 or 30 and does a good job defensively, we&rsquo;ll be happy,&rdquo; says Vachon, who sees Carpenter as a force on what has been a pathetic penalty-killing unit. With the second-worst shorthanded record in 1985-86, the Kings seemed to have nowhere to go but up. They dropped instead to rock bottom, 21st in a 21-team league.Which brings up an interesting point. Those teams&mdash;Calgary and Winnipeg&mdash;Vachon is planning on catching? Both were in the top 10 defending against power plays&mdash;and the Jets were best. The Kings still have a way to go.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01383/10222179-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="1653" height="3028"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luc Robitaille, a ninth-round draft choice in 1984, was rewarded with the Calder Trophy after scoring 45 goals in his rookie year.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>LOS ANGELES KINGS (10)</h3>4. Wayne McBean, D, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)27. Mark Fitzpatrick, G, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)43. Ross Wilson, RW, Peterborough Petes (OHL)90. Mike Vukonich, C, Duluth Denfeld School (Minn.)111. Greg Batters, RW, Victoria Cougars (WHL)132. Kyosti Karjalainen, LW, Brynas (Sweden)174. Jeff Gawlicki, LW, University of Michigan Wolverines (CCHA)195. John Preston, C, Boston University Terriers (HE)216. Rotislav Vlach, RW, Gottwaldov (Czechoslovakia)237. Mikael Lindholm, C, Brynas (Sweden)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-02276/10222172-1-eng-US/f0051-022.jpg" title="f0051-02" width="768" height="1775"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01393/10222165-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="2399" height="1254"></div><h2>Los Angeles Kings Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02253/10222158-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="2402" height="1500"></div> &#9632;

f0050-01

Los Angeles Kings

<div class="byline">Herb Brooks</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01363/10222259-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="670" height="686"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02249/10222252-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="644" height="716"></div>Coach Herb Brooks performed his last miracle in 1980, when he led the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal.Fortunately, the new coach of the Minnesota North Stars should need somewhat less than that to guide the Stars back into the Norris Division playoffs.All you needed for a ticket last year was 70 points. The North Stars bought one, but had it ripped up in their face when Toronto&rsquo;s 70 points were deemed better than theirs by virtue of the tie-breaking formula.And really, the Maple Leafs deserved entry as much as anyone in a division whose winner (St. Louis) couldn&rsquo;t even crack the .500 barrier. Toronto beat Winnipeg and Edmonton on the road down the stretch. The North Stars, who managed just seven points in their last 17 games, couldn&rsquo;t beat anybody.To help avoid another such swoon&mdash;which cost coach Lome Henning his job&mdash;the North Stars signed free agent center-winger Terry Ruskowski from Pittsburgh and tough portsider Basil McRae from Quebec.The duo won&rsquo;t challenge Wayne Gretzky for the scoring title&mdash;Ruskowski had 14 goals and McRae 11&mdash;but that isn&rsquo;t the idea.&ldquo;They give us the tenacity and the leadership we need,&rdquo; says Nanne. &ldquo;Terry is as good a locker room leader as there is in the league.&rdquo;He also spends a good deal of time (1,178 career penalty minutes) in the penalty box. So does McRae (342 minutes last year), which means more of a burden on a North Star penalty killing crew that finished 19th overall.McRae and Ruskowski are winners, and they may provide the intangibles. But nothing much will change unless the North Stars cancel the perfect losers&rsquo; prescription they followed last year&mdash;giving up nine more goals and scoring 31 fewer than the previous season.The offense was the NHL&rsquo;s eighth best, but it was mainly a one-man effort. And while right winger Dino Ciccarelli (52-51-103) kept getting better, everyone else faltered&mdash;meaning defenseman Craig Hartsburg&rsquo;s 61 points were good for third in team scoring.Other blueliners include Gordie Roberts, Ron Wilson, Jari Grandstand and Frantisek. Musil, the much-heralded Czechoslovakian defector who showed improvement as his first year progressed.The North Stars had five 20-goal men. Only left winger Brian MacLellan (32), however, joined Ciccarelli above 30. Hard-nosed left winger Larry DePalma came highly recommended after notching 61 goals with Saskatoon in the Western League, but he left the goals behind&mdash;managing just nine in the big time&mdash;while bringing the penalty minutes (219).Brian Bellows, Keith Acton, Denis Maruk, Neal Broten, Scott Bjugstad and Brian Lawton were either aging, in the infirmary or not producing. Or all three.Draft help comes from 6-foot-l, 194-pound center Dave Archibald of the Portland Winter Hawks. Archibald scored 50 goals and 107 points in junior and is the biggest Minnesota middle man since Bobby Smith went to Montreal.Archibald&rsquo;s fondness for physical play has been questioned. A few practice rounds with Willi Plett, Ruskowski, McRae and DePalma should provide some answers.The North Stars themselves remain an enigma&mdash;a supposedly talented bunch that never lives up to expectations.And remember, this is the team that was granted a shortcut to success when it merged with the remnants of the Cleveland Barons after the 1977-78 season.The transfusion helped a team with an 1853-9 record reach the Stanley Cup finals within two years.Yet they never fulfilled their promise. Though Minnesota finished first in its division three of the five seasons after that, the North Stars were on a treadmill. Now they&rsquo;re starting over.Minnesota&rsquo;s failure last year ate at Nanne so much the GM lost 12 pounds in the final 10 days of the season, prompting a two-day visit to the Mayo Clinic for tests. The verdict? Slow down. Put things in perspective.Which means Nanne, a noted and colorful referee-baiter from high in league press boxes, may have to cool the act a bit.&ldquo;I have to not be all consumed by what happens,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I have to resign myself to the result.&rdquo;Can he do it?&ldquo;I hope to hell I can,&rdquo; Nanne says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to be better.&rdquo;So do the North Stars.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01380/10222245-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="1636" height="3064"><figcaption class="caption-body">The North Stars didn&rsquo;t have a lot to celebrate last year, but captain Craig Hartsburg&rsquo;s defensive and offensive play was truly inspiring.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS (12)</h3>6. Dave Archibald, C, Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)35. Scott McCrady, D, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)48. Kevin Kaminski, C, Saskatoon Blades (WHL)73. John Weisbrod, C, Choate-Rosemary Hall School (Conn.)88. Teppo Kivela, C, Jokerit (Finland)109. D&rsquo;Arcy Norton, LW, Kamloops Blazers (WHL)130. Timo Kulonen, D, Kalpa (Finland)151. Don Schmidt, D, Kamloops Blazers (WHL)172. Jarmo Myllys, G, Lukko (Finland)193. Larry Olimb, D, Warroad High School (Minn.)214. Mark Felicio, G, Northwood School (N.Y.)235. Dave Shields, C, University of Denver Pioneers (WCHA)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02228/10222238-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="736" height="1794"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01335/10222231-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="2476" height="1346"></div><h2>Minnesota North Stars Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-02218/10222224-1-eng-US/f0055-022.jpg" title="f0055-02" width="2452" height="1597"></div> &#9632;

f0053-01

Minnesota North Stars

<div class="byline">Jean Perron</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-01311/10222325-1-eng-US/f0056-012.jpg" title="f0056-01" width="705" height="549"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-02204/10222318-1-eng-US/f0056-022.jpg" title="f0056-02" width="615" height="729"></div>May the better team lose.That&rsquo;s how the Montreal Canadiens must have felt after losing in the 1987 Wales Conference finals&mdash;one year after winning the Stanley Cup.The Canadiens of &rsquo;86-87 were decidedly better than that: of &rsquo;85-86, yet they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers one round earlier than they had beaten the Calgary Flames the season before.Two factors mitigated against similar success.First was a less charitable schedule. Two years ago a slew of upsets left rookie-laden Montreal a relatively easy path to the Stanley Cup final. Philadelphia had already been knocked out when Montreal advanced to the Wales championship series in 1986.Second was goaltending. Two years ago, Montreal netminder Patrick Roy was talking to goalposts and winning the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. Last year, Philadelphia goalie Ron Hextail was banging on goalposts and winning the Conn Smythe. Roy looked on from the bench, while Brian Hayward started five of six games.The defending Cup champs were expected to do better. They closed the regular season with a nine-game winning streak, and strode past the Boston Bruins in four straight games. It took them seven games to subdue the Quebec Nordiques.Montreal was favored against Philadelphia in the conference finals. The Flyers were without high-scoring Tim Kerr for the entire series, and inspirational leader Dave Poulin missed all but one game.But the Habs, in passive white, surrendered all three home games they played against the Flyers. Counting two home defeats at the hands of Quebec in the Adams Division finals, that made five defeats in six home outings. Whatever happened to the Forum mystique?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to say we should have won when we lost,&rdquo; says Canadiens&rsquo; managing director Serge Savard. &ldquo;We lost, period.&rdquo;Despite their unsuccessful bid for a double, however, the Canadiens can hardly be called a team in decline. With more experience, the young Montreal club promises to improve again in &rsquo;87-88.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re one of the top three teams in the league,&rdquo; says Boston Bruin general manager Harry Sinden.The Canadiens go into this season with essentially a set lineup. Incumbents have most of the lineup positions locked up.The usual players are back, and Savard spent a busy summer signing them. Montreal had no free agents on the market, and with 10 players&mdash;among them Guy Carbonneau, Bob Gainey, Ryan Walter, Chris Chelios and both goaltenders&mdash;entering their option years, Savard wants to keep it that way.That group&mdash;along with forwards Bobby Smith, Shayne Corson, Claude Lemieux, Chris Nilan and Mats Naslund, and defensemen Larry Robinson, Craig Ludwig and Rick Green&mdash;forms the core of the Canadiens.&ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t too many openings,&rdquo; Savard says. &ldquo;But we want to slowly bring people in to ensure that we don&rsquo;t lose all of our veterans at once. We want to build new leaders like Chelios and Corson, because you look at people like Robinson and Gainey on a year-to-year basis.&rdquo;Among the players Montreal will look at this season are defenseman Scott Sandelin and forwards Ernie Vargas, Gilles Thibaudeau, Mike Keane and former high draft picks Jose Charbonneau and Graeme Bonar. Charbonneau was disappointing in his first year at Sherbrooke and injuries limited Bonar to just 21 American League games.If the Canadiens have a shortcoming, it is clearly on offense. The Habs scored only 277 goals, third-worst in the league last year.A sniper must be found. Naslund appeared to be the man two years ago when he totalled 110 points, but he dropped to 80 points last season. Which is his true level? Savard says the short summer after the Stanley Cup win hurt Naslund.Stephane Richer&mdash;who scored 20 goals in 57 games but also spent considerable time in coach Jean Perron&rsquo;s doghouse, as well as Sherbrooke&mdash;has the touch, but his attitude remains questionable.&ldquo;You have to grow up, eh?&rdquo; says Savard.The Canadiens&rsquo; offense also has to grow. Unless some of their forwards suddenly flourish, it means the suffocating style that has been so effective the last two seasons will prevail.&ldquo;We have to play according to our talent,&rdquo; Savard says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d like to have Gretzky and Kurri, but we feel we have a good team. I think there are 10 teams with a shot at the Cup, and we&rsquo;re one of them.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01289/10222311-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="1667" height="3068"><figcaption class="caption-body">Patrick Roy was the playoff MVP in 1986. Last year he sat on the bench while the Habs were eliminated. He needs a return to Conn Smythe form.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>MONTREAL CANADIENS (14)</h3>17. Andrew Cassels, C, Ottawa 67&rsquo;s (OHL)33. John Leclair, C, Bellows Free Academy (Vt.)38. Eric Desjardins, D, Granby Bisons (QMJHL)44. Mathieu Schneider, D, Cornwall Royals (OHL)58. Francois Gravel, G, Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)80. Kris Miller, D, Greenway High School (Minn.)101. Steve McCool, D, The Hill School (Pa.)122. Les Kuntar, G, Nichols School (N.Y.)143. Rob Kelley, LW, Matignon High School (Mass.)164. Will Geist, D, St. Paul Academy (Minn.)185. Eric Tremblay, D, Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)206. Barry McKinlay, D, University of Illinois-Chicago Flames (CCHA)227. Ed Ronnan, RW, Phillips Andover Academy (Mass.)248. Bryan Herring, C, Dubuque (USJHL)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-02204/10222304-1-eng-US/f0057-022.jpg" title="f0057-02" width="757" height="1810"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-01314/10222297-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="2437" height="1259"></div><h2>Montreal Canadiens Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-02209/10222290-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg" title="f0058-02" width="2427" height="1522"></div> &#9632;

f0056-01

Montreal Canadiens

<div class="byline">Doug Carpenter</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-01247/10222391-1-eng-US/f0059-012.jpg" title="f0059-01" width="651" height="622"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-02164/10222384-1-eng-US/f0059-022.jpg" title="f0059-02" width="604" height="667"></div>The Devils have improved by five points in each of the last three seasons.Problem is, that pace still left them 12 points out of a Patrick Division playoff spot. At this rate, they won&rsquo;t experience their first postseason play until 1990.But the maturing of captain Kirk Muller and right wingers John MacLean and Pat Verbeek, plus the play of team scoring leader Aaron Broten, gives the Devils some real cause for optimism. So, of course, does the drafting of second overall pick Brendan Shanahan.Playoff talk is being heard for the first time since the 1982-83 season, when the Devils took up residence in Brendan Byrne Arena.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re at the launching point,&rdquo; says general manager Max McNab. &ldquo;When you get in the 64- to 68-point range (the Devils had a franchise-record 64 last year) you&rsquo;re in striking range of .500, which should mean a playoff spot.&rdquo;New Jersey&rsquo;s playoff rivals will likely remain Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers. McNab acknowledges Philadelphia, Washington and New York Islanders are built for long-term success.Centerman Muller, 21, is the latest in an increasing number of young captains around the league. After back-to-back seasons of 25 and 26 goals, this could be his breakthrough year.&ldquo;With guys like Muller, Verbeek and John MacLean three-year veterans now, we&rsquo;re certainly optimistic about our chances,&rdquo; says McNab.Shanahan could be the catalyst that finally helps the Devils turn the comer into the playoffs. They&rsquo;ve been steadily improving in a tough division. With the talent they&rsquo;ve assembled this time, they may be out of excuses.The big center-right winger had 39 goals and 53 assists for the Ontario League&rsquo;s London Knights and is an acknowledged locker room leader. He&rsquo;ll fit in nicely with a group of players who are beginning to believe in themselves under coach Doug Carpenter.That may be the key to any success the Devils achieve this year. Confidence. Shanahan will add to it, but New Jersey isn&rsquo;t going to burden Brendan with the pressure of leadership. McNab sees Shanahan augmenting the qualities many of the current Devils already possess.&ldquo;We have a lot of self-starters,&rdquo; McNab says, &ldquo;and we&rsquo;re getting more all the time.&rdquo;Shanahan also adds depth to an impressive list of forwards&mdash;centers Muller, Mark Johnson and Greg Adams, right wingers Verbeek, MacLean and Doug Sulliman, and left winger Broten&mdash;who all notched at least 20 goals each and helped the Devils to the ninth-best goal production (293) in the league.The Devils lost veteran center Peter McNab to retirement, while pivot Mel Bridgman went to Detroit in a deal for right winger Chris Cichocki and a third-round draft pick. The Devils in turn, sent the pick to Buffalo for defenseman Tom Kurvers. New Jersey also acquired Dave Maley from Montreal.Offensive strengths aside, the Devils are getting burned behind their own blue line. New Jersey allowed 368 goals, the worst total in the league. Craig Billington and Alain Chevrier did their best and the red light flashed six fewer times than in &rsquo;85-86, but improvement is needed.Free agent Bob Sauve answered the Help Wanted ad when he left Chicago in the offseason. That adds further depth to the organization which features Canadian Olympian Sean Burke, American Olympic hopeful Chris Terreri, and Oshawa General grad Kirk McLean.While he&rsquo;s satisfied with the goaltending situation heading into the season, McNab makes no secret of the fact he can hardly wait until the Calgary Olympics are over and Burke becomes available.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a blue-chipper and we&rsquo;re going to wait for him,&rdquo; McNab says. &ldquo;He may be as good as we&rsquo;ve got, although Chevrier is underrated.&rdquo;On defense, the acquisition of Kurvers should help the goaltenders and add some offensive punch. He&rsquo;ll likely work the point on the Devils&rsquo; power play, which was ninth overall.Bruce Driver and Joe Cirella are the other veterans, while newcomer Jimmy (Crack) Korn can also be used on defense. Craig Wolanin, 20, and Ken Daneyko, 23, continue to develop while Devils await second-round draft pick Rickard Persson, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound Swede who isn&rsquo;t available until 1988-89 due to military commitments.It might just take some military might to propel New Jersey into the playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-01263/10222377-1-eng-US/f0060-012.jpg" title="f0060-01" width="1520" height="2807"><figcaption class="caption-body">New Jersey forward Aaron Broten escaped the formidable shadow of brother Neal, the Minnesota star, with a 79-point season for the Devils.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>NEW JERSEY DEVILS (10)</h3>2. Brendan Shanahan, C, London Knights (OHL)23. Rickard Persson, D, Ostersund (Sweden)65. Brian Sullivan, RW, Springfield Jr. Olympics (NEJHL)86. Kevin Dean, D, Culver Military Academy (Ind.)107. Ben Hankinson, C, Edina High School (Minn.)128. Tom Neziol, LW, Miami University Redskins (CCHA)149. Jim Dowd, RW, Brick High School (N.J.)170. John Blessman, D, Toronto Marlboros (OHL)191. Peter Fry, G, Victoria Cougars (WHL)212. Alain Charland, C, Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-02163/10222370-1-eng-US/f0060-022.jpg" title="f0060-02" width="660" height="1625"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-01233/10222363-1-eng-US/f0061-012.jpg" title="f0061-01" width="2270" height="1144"></div><h2>New Jersey Devils Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-02160/10222356-1-eng-US/f0061-022.jpg" title="f0061-02" width="2252" height="1348"></div> &#9632;

f0059-01

New Jersey Devils

<div class="byline">Terry Simpson</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-01256/10222457-1-eng-US/f0062-012.jpg" title="f0062-01" width="737" height="667"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-02145/10222450-1-eng-US/f0062-022.jpg" title="f0062-02" width="651" height="709"></div>The familiar faces&mdash;Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Denis Potvin and Billy Smith&mdash;are still there, but don&rsquo;t be fooled. The New York Islanders made a clean break last season from their Stanley Cup glory days.The result, under new coach Terry Simpson, was the club&rsquo;s worst regular-season record since 1973-74, the second year of the franchise.But the Islanders were up to their old tricks come playoff time.Buoyed by Kelly Hrudey&rsquo;s spectacular goaltending. New York rallied from a 3-1 deficit to oust the Washington Capitals in their Patrick Division semi-final series, clinching the set on Pat LaFontaine&rsquo;s goal 8:47 into the fourth overtime period of the seventh game.The comeback made the 1987 Islanders just the fourth team to rally from the brink of elimination with three straight wins to capture a series. The Islanders almost became the fifth when they clawed back from a 3-1 disadvantage in the Patrick Division finals against Philadelphia. But the Islanders were finally subdued, 5-1, on Spectrum ice.They&rsquo;re hoping to build on that experience this season.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question the key things are happening with our younger players,&rdquo; says Islander general manager Bill Torrey, who signed 16 more youngsters from Canadian junior and U.S. college teams in the offseason. &ldquo;What we did in the playoffs should give confidence to young guys who weren&rsquo;t always sure of themselves.&rdquo;While the regular-season record (35-33-12) wasn&rsquo;t impressive&mdash;for the Islanders&mdash;the reason for it was simple. The club used the season to break in new players, players who came of age in the playoffs. And, since the Islanders have been careful to retain key on-ice links with their Stanley Cup years, those youngsters should continue to mature.Veterans Trottier (23-64-87) and Bossy (3837-75 in 63 games) still carry the club up front and show the way for their teammates.On defense, old-timers Potvin and Ken Morrow lead a group that includes Gerald Diduck, Ken Leiter, Gord Dineen, Randy Boyd, Tomas Jonsson, Steve Konroyd and Brian Curran. Greybeard goalie Smith provides support for Hrudey, while prospects Marty Wakelyn and Royden Gunn develop.With proven winner Simpson, whose Prince Albert Raiders won the Memorial Cup in 1985. running the show, the Islanders are hoping for a steady ascent.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been down this road before,&rdquo; acknowledges Torrey. &ldquo;We know you don&rsquo;t build overnight.&rdquo;The question is, will the exploits of Pat LaFontaine, Richard Kromm, Mikko Makela, Brent Sutter, and Patrick Flatley resemble those of Potvin, Trottier, Bossy, Smith, Morrow, Nystrom, Goring and Gillies?&ldquo;The young players were the ones who did it for us last year,&rdquo; Torrey says, &ldquo;but we still expect improvement.&rdquo;Especially in the scoring department. The Islanders&rsquo; production fell by 48 goals, although New York did have the league&rsquo;s second-best power play, behind Calgary.A question mark surrounds Bossy, whose chronic back problems caused him to miss the 50-goal mark for the first time in his 10 NHL seasons. Bossy played just 63 games&mdash;many of them in extreme discomfort. The Islander&rsquo;s failure to hit the half-century mark leaves Wayne Gretzky as the only player in NHL history to never have scored less than 50 goals in a single season.Right winger Flatley must score more than 16 goals. Center LaFontaine (38-32-70) has not yet approached the offensive prowess he demonstrated in 1982-83, when he scorched the Quebec League with 104 goals and 234 points for Verdun. But last year represented his best in the NHL and first time he played all 80 games.Other right wing candidates are Brad Dalgamo, the Islanders&rsquo; first-round draft pick in 1985, Western Michigan grad Stu Bimie, and Todd Okerlund, a U.S. Olympic hopeful.Trottier, LaFontaine and Brent Sutter are fixtures at center. Left wing is a weak spot, with converted centerman Makela, who scored 24 goals, the only Islander providing any offense. Kromm hasn&rsquo;t demonstrated an ability to put the puck in the net, while injuries have reduced Gilbert (31 goals in &rsquo;83-84) to fringe status (6-7-13 last year).Derek King, the Islanders&rsquo; second pick in the first round of the 1985 draft (53-53-106 with Oshawa of the Ontario League last year) may fill the gap. Defenseman Dean Chy-noweth of Medicine Hat, the Islanders&rsquo; top draft pick this year, isn&rsquo;t expected to make the club.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-01197/10222443-1-eng-US/f0063-012.jpg" title="f0063-01" width="1700" height="3059"><figcaption class="caption-body">Center Pat LaFontaine broke the Washington Capitals&rsquo; hearts when his goal in quadruple overtime ended the fifth-longest game in NHL history.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>NEW YORK ISLANDERS (12)</h3>13. Dean Chynoweth, D, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)34. Jeff Hackett, G, Oshawa GeneraXTOHL)55. Dean Ewen, LW, Spokane Chiefs (WHL)76. George Maneluk, G, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)97. Petr Vlk, LW, Dukla Jihlava (Czechoslovakia)118. Rob DiMaio, C, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)139. Knut Walbye, C, Furuset (Norway)160. Jeff Saterdalen, RW, Jefferson High School (Minn.)181. Shawn Howard, D, Penticton (BCJHL)202. John Herlihy, RW, Babson College Beavers (ECAC Il-Ill)223. Mike Erickson, D, St. John&rsquo;s High School (Mass.)244. Will Averill, D, Belmont Hill School (Mass.)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-02128/10222436-1-eng-US/f0063-022.jpg" title="f0063-02" width="758" height="1797"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-01212/10222429-1-eng-US/f0064-012.jpg" title="f0064-01" width="2391" height="1259"></div><h2>New York Islanders Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-02129/10222422-1-eng-US/f0064-022.jpg" title="f0064-02" width="2395" height="1506"></div> &#9632;

f0062-01

New York Islanders

<div class="byline">Michel Bergeron</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-01215/10222523-1-eng-US/f0065-012.jpg" title="f0065-01" width="745" height="668"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-02153/10222516-1-eng-US/f0065-022.jpg" title="f0065-02" width="663" height="700"></div>Phil Esposito is a man not easily satisfied.In his first 11 months as general manager of the New York Rangers, he made 17 transactions&mdash;the biggest his acquisition of coach Michel Bergeron from the Quebec Nordiques.This is a man who believes practice makes perfect, a man still in search of the perfect trade&mdash;judging from his response to an inquiry about whether he planned on making more trades.&ldquo;When I played,&rdquo; said the Rangers&rsquo; GM, &ldquo;if I scored two goals I wanted three. If I scored four I wanted five&hellip;that answer your question?&rdquo;Alright already. So you want everything. Did you get it? Assess your trade record.&ldquo;You never know about trades until two or three years down the road,&rdquo; Esposito replied, &ldquo;but I know one thing. Every deal I made helped both teams. I like helping people. I want everyone to be happy.&rdquo;Even if Esposito, himself, isn&rsquo;t.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m never happy. I&rsquo;m never satisfied,&rdquo; he says.Not even a Stanley Cup would do. What does this guy want, the Soviet League title?&ldquo;Not even then,&rdquo; rasps Esposito. &ldquo;Even then, I&rsquo;d want two, then three.&rdquo;Ranger fans will settle for one. Stanley Cup, that is. The last time the Rangers won it was in 1940. Before that happens again, New York has to make the playoffs. They squeezed in last year, four points ahead of Pittsburgh. But with both the Penguins and New Jersey Devils improved, Esposito and Bergeron both know it won&rsquo;t be easy.They&rsquo;ve discussed it. And the two fiery men have argued about it. &ldquo;I expect to argue with him quite a bit,&rdquo; Esposito says. &ldquo;I like to argue.&rdquo;He also likes to win. The Rangers haven&rsquo;t had a winning season since 1983-84, and Esposito is concerned about their chances this year.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just gonna plug away,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The difference is this. New Jersey and us have no true superstar. Pittsburgh has one&mdash;Lemieux. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s gonna be tough.&rdquo;Actually, the Rangers do have a superstar. A faded one. Esposito acquired center Marcel Dionne from the Los Angeles Kings for the last 14 games of the season. But Dionne is 36 and may finally be slowing down. He didn&rsquo;t play particularly well for New York.The price for Dionne was problem child Bobby Carpenter and defenseman Tom Laidlaw. It was considerably higher&mdash;$100,000 and a 1988 first-round draft pick to Quebec&mdash;for Bergeron.But the Rangers figure he&rsquo;s worth it.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an inspirational kind of coach,&rdquo; Esposito says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s motivational, emotional. That&rsquo;s the way I am. And that&rsquo;s why we made the playoffs last year, not because I was coaching, but we were able to instill those ingredients in our players.&rdquo;The players are led by center Walt Poddubny, who scored 40 goals and 47 assists to lead the Rangers in scoring. He was obtained from Toronto for Mike Allison.Dionne, Pierre Larouche (28-35-63) and Ron Duguay, who was the Rangers&rsquo; best forward in the Patrick Division semi-final loss to Philadelphia, are the other centers. Swede Ulf Dahlen, former Ranger GM Craig Patrick&rsquo;s first-round draft choice in 1985, is considered a star of the future in the middle.Forty-goal man Tomas Sandstrom and Kelly Kisio, acquired in a trade before last season from Detroit, are solid scorers on right wing. Left winger Brian Mullen, picked up from Winnipeg during the summer, is a past 30-goal scorer who netted just 19 last season.But preventing goals is the big worry. New York allowed 47 more goals in &rsquo;86-87. Esposito blames poor team defense&mdash;not 1986 Vezina Trophy-winner John Vanbiesbrouck and sidekick Bob Froese.Help arrives with the acquisition of defenseman Bruce Bell from St. Louis, in exchange for winger Tony McKegney. And Esposito is trying to coax Barry Beck out of retirement to help out defensive leader James Patrick. Highly-touted Brian Leetch, the Rangers&rsquo; first-round pick in 1986, might be available after the Olympics. He&rsquo;s expected to be a key man on the American blue line.&ldquo;We have to find the right combination between offense and defense,&rdquo; Esposito says.He thinks he knows the right combination for the playoffs. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll take 90 points to finish fourth in this division,&rdquo; Esposito says.The Rangers have only done that once in the last five years.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-01217/10222509-1-eng-US/f0066-012.jpg" title="f0066-01" width="1659" height="3108"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dealt away by Toronto, center Walt Poddubny responded with his best season ever&mdash;scoring 40 goals and 47 assists for the New York Rangers.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>NEW YORK RANGERS (12)</h3>10. Jayson More, D, New Westminster Bruins (WHL)31. Daniel Lacroix, LW, Granby Bisons (QMJHL)46. Simon Gagne, RW, Universite Laval Rouge et Or (QUAA)69. Michael Sullivan, C, Boston University Terriers (HE)94. Eric O&rsquo;Borsky, C, Yale University Bulldogs (ECAC)115. Ludek Cajka, D, Dukla Jihlava (Czechoslovakia)136. Clint Thomas, D, Bartlett High School (Alaska)157. Charles Wiegand, C, Essex Junction High School (Vt.)178. Eric Burrill, RW, Tartan High School (Minn.)199. David Porter, LW, Northern Michigan University Wildcats (WCHA)205. Brett Barnett, RW, Wexford (MJHL)220. Lance Marciano, D, Choate-Rosemary Hall School (Conn.)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-02134/10222502-1-eng-US/f0066-022.jpg" title="f0066-02" width="762" height="1828"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-01153/10222495-1-eng-US/f0067-012.jpg" title="f0067-01" width="2450" height="1265"></div><h2>New York Rangers Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-0293/10222488-1-eng-US/f0067-022.jpg" title="f0067-02" width="2441" height="1507"></div> &#9632;

f0065-01

New York Rangers

<div class="byline">Mike Keenan</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-01167/10222589-1-eng-US/f0068-012.jpg" title="f0068-01" width="743" height="570"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0290/10222582-1-eng-US/f0068-022.jpg" title="f0068-02" width="611" height="716"></div>The story of the Philadelphia Flyers last season was about a goaltender&hellip;again.More than a decade after the heyday of Bernie Parent, and only a season removed from the death of Pelle Lindbergh, the Flyers unleashed yet another puckstopper on National Hockey League shooters.Ron Hextali played 66 games in his rookie season, posted 37 regular-season wins and led Philadelphia to within one victory of its third Stanley Cup championship. He became the second Flyer&mdash;Reggie Leach was the first&mdash;to be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable playoff performer in a losing cause.Statistically, Hextall&rsquo;s regular-season performance fell short of that turned in by Bob Froese, Lindbergh&rsquo;s replacement, the year before. Froese had a 2.55 goals-against average and .909 save percentage in &rsquo;85-86, while Hextall&rsquo;s totals last year were 3.00 and .902. Froese had a league-leading five shutouts, Hextali just one. But Froese was never looked upon as the answer to the Flyers&rsquo; pursuit of a championship. Hextail is.The first-year goalie made an impact like few before him. Stickwork is his trademark. Not only does he stop pucks with his big goalie stick but he beats out a tune on the goalposts during stoppages in play.When he&rsquo;s not doing that, he&rsquo;s shooting the puck as well as any goalie (and some forwards) in history. And when he&rsquo;d not doing that, he&rsquo;s brandishing the stick threateningly&mdash;daring opposition forwards to infringe upon his territory. Hextall&rsquo;s playoff performance will be remembered as much for his chopping down of Kent Nilsson in game four as the remarkable saves he made. His attack on Nilsson resulted in an eight-game suspension, to be served when the 1987-88 season began.With Glenn Resch retired, American Leaguers Darren Jensen and Mark Laforest&mdash;picked up in a trade from Detroit&mdash;were expected to carry the early-season load for Philadelphia. Hextall&rsquo;s sentence may help keep things interesting in the Patrick Division, which the Flyers won by 14 points last season.Flyer general manager Bob Clarke knows he can&rsquo;t count on the Washington Capitals&mdash;reinforced by the return of center Bengt Gustafsson and the addition of pivot Dale Hunter from Quebec&mdash;slumbering again until after the all-star break.He&rsquo;s looking more at Washington&rsquo;s 16-5-2 closing rush as an indicator of the team&rsquo;s worth. Then there are the Islanders, fresh from another stirring playoff flight, and the Rangers of new coach Michel Bergeron.&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s improved,&rdquo; Clarke says. &ldquo;We have to hope for some of our young players to step in and push people, maybe take a job.&rdquo;That won&rsquo;t be easy. The Flyers will have essentially the same set roster that almost upset Edmonton in the Cup finals. Next time around, however, they want to have 58-goal right winger-center Tim Kerr along for a Stanley Cup ride.Kerr, the human slot machine, missed most of the playoffs with a shoulder injury, marking the second straight time the Flyers have been without him for a Cup showdown with Edmonton.&ldquo;The last two times we&rsquo;ve been there we haven&rsquo;t had many breaks,&rdquo; Clarke says, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;re not complaining.&rdquo;Two years ago, Philadelphia was crippled by Kerr&rsquo;s absence and managed just one victory. Last year they added two more, and a healthy Kerr might have been enough to put them over the top for the first time since 1975. For all the talk of Flyer tradition, the fact remains the franchise has lost the last four finals in which it has appeared.Pricking holes in such a solid team is difficult, but the power play (5th-worst in the league) is a concern. And aside from Propp (31 goals in 53 games, followed by a 12-16-28 playoff) the club does not have a sniper unless right winger Ilkka Sinisalo can get in a full season and approach his previous seasons of 36 and 39 goals.The emergence of Peter Zezel (33-39-72) leaves Philadelphia&mdash;which also ices Dave Poulin, Pelle Eklund and Ron Sutter down the middle&mdash;deep at center. Rick Tocchet, Scott Mellanby and pugnacious Dave Brown join Kerr and Sinisalo on the right side, while Murray Craven, Lindsay Carson and Canadian Canada Cup hopeful Derrick Smith toil on the left.In other words, the organization is deep. Which means top draft pick Darren Rumble of Kitchener is at least a year away from cracking the defense crew of Crossman, Howe, Brad McCrimmon, Brad Marsh, J.J. Daigneault and Kjell Samuelsson. One possible newcomer is defenseman Jeff Chychrun, who totalled 239 penalty minutes with Hershey in the American League last year.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-01142/10222575-1-eng-US/f0069-012.jpg" title="f0069-01" width="1514" height="2759"><figcaption class="caption-body">Respected for his industriousness and leadership talents, Philadelphia captain Dave Poulin was named the NHL&rsquo;s top defensive forward in 1986-87.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (12)</h3>20. Darren Rumble, D, Kitchener Rangers (OHL)30. Jeff Harding, RW, St. Michael&rsquo;s (MJHL)62. Martin Hostak, C, Sparta Praha (Czechoslovakia)83. Tomaz Eriksson, LW, Djurgarden (Sweden)104. Bill Gall, RW, New Hampton School (N.H.)125. Tony Li80nk, D, Dimond High School (Alaska)146. Mark Strapon, D, Hayward High School (Wis.)167. Darryl Ingham, RW, University of Manitoba Bisons (CWUAA)188. Bruce MacDonald, RW, Loomis-Chaffee School (Conn.)209. Steve Morrow, D, Westminster School (Conn.)230. Darius Rusnak, C, Bratislava (Czechoslovakia)251. Dale Roehl, G, Minnetonka High School (Minn.)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0298/10222568-1-eng-US/f0069-022.jpg" title="f0069-02" width="683" height="1615"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-01148/10222561-1-eng-US/f0070-012.jpg" title="f0070-01" width="2176" height="1165"></div><h2>Philadelphia Flyers Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-0287/10222554-1-eng-US/f0070-022.jpg" title="f0070-02" width="2172" height="1379"></div> &#9632;

f0068-01

Philadelphia Flyers

<div class="byline">Pierre Creamer</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-01141/10222655-1-eng-US/f0071-012.jpg" title="f0071-01" width="749" height="665"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-0282/10222648-1-eng-US/f0071-022.jpg" title="f0071-02" width="629" height="723"></div>After missing the National Hockey League playoffs for the fifth season in a row, the Pittsburgh Penguins raised ticket prices.Now there&rsquo;s a way to endear yourself to fans.But, there&rsquo;s a catch. To prove the team means business&mdash;about getting into the playoffs, that is&mdash;the Penguins are offering fans a rebate of $1 on tickets for each of 40 home games, should the team not crash the annual post-season bash.General manager Ed Johnston doesn&rsquo;t think that will be a problem.He cites one important reason&mdash;center Mario Lemieux (54-53-107) is healthy after missing 17 games last season with a sprained knee and bronchitis. If he stays that way, the Pens are in. Johnston guarantees it.&ldquo;We would&rsquo;ve made it last year if he hadn&rsquo;t missed 20 games,&rdquo; Johnston says. &ldquo;Right after he got hurt we got just two points out of six straight overtime games. I don&rsquo;t think they would have even gone into overtime if we&rsquo;d had Mario.&rdquo;That is debatable. But the point is that Pittsburgh&mdash;the league&rsquo;s early surprise with a 7-0-0 start&mdash;missed the playoffs for the 11th time in its 20-y ear history, costing coach Bob Berry his job.Johnston escaped with his, and he&rsquo;s hoping some of the talent he&rsquo;s assembled will help him and new coach Pierre Creamer rise to the top. The Penguins have the superstar every team covets in Lemieux. Now it&rsquo;s a matter of building a solid support staff around him&hellip;and convincing Lemieux it&rsquo;s not shameful to work relentlessly in every game. Hard work on a consistent basis is acceptable from all-stars.He&rsquo;ll have some muscle at his side this year. The Penguins signed free agent right wingers Wilf Paiement and Jimmy Mann. Paiement brings toughness, although he turns 32 early in the season and has been bouncing from team to team (Quebec, Rangers, Buffalo) of late.Mann? The only thing keeping him out of the penalty box last year was the fact he was retired. Johnston says he has more talent than most people think. Mann, by the way, earned 10 goals during his first seven years in the NHL.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an equalizer,&rdquo; Johnston says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the kind of guy you need on the road.&rdquo;The Penguins could sure use something. Their road record was 11-23-6, and their slate inside the Patrick Division was 10-19-6.&ldquo;Those two things are the keys to our improvement,&rdquo; Johnston admits.The Penguins can expect continued improvement from right winger Craig Simpson. Simpson, who scored 26 goals last year, is entering his third year&mdash;often a breakthrough season for youngsters. His emergence and some help from junior scoring sensation Rob Brown of Kamloops would lessen the burden on Lemieux and Dan Quinn, the Penguins&rsquo; fine second-line center. Brown, another center, was a Western League record-setter last year with 76 goals and 136 assists. He won the scoring championship by 66 points, a differential eclipsed in organized hockey only by NHL scoring champion Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s 75-point margin of victory over Jari Kurri.Others on the right side depth chart include Dave Hannan, Oshawa grad Lee Giffin, Dwight Mathiasen and Finnish product Risto Kurkinen. The left side is thin, however, with only Randy Cunneyworth showing any scoring ability.The real Penguin prizes will arrive after the Calgary Olympics, where Pittsburgh will be represented by at least one&mdash;and possibly two&mdash;first-round draft picks. Chris Joseph, the Penguins&rsquo; 1987 first-rounder, is big (6-foot-1, 194-pounds), mobile and hopeful of making the Canadian national team. Zarley Zalapski, the 1986 first-rounder, has already established himself as a potential star with strong international play. He was named the Izvestia Tournament&rsquo;s top defenseman last Christmas.Returning veterans include Moe Mantha, Doug Bodger, Ville Siren, Jim Johnson, Todd Charles worth and Rod Buskas.In goal, Steve Guenette, who had five shutouts in 54 games at Baltimore, will get every chance to break in, as the Penguins consider going with a three-man rotation. Veterans Gilles Meloche and Pat Riggin are the other two, with second-round draft pick Rick Tabaracci of Cornwall at least a year away.The goaltenders represent a large part of the playoff equation, says Johnston, himself an ex-NHL goaltender. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been close and, now, we&rsquo;re right on the doorstep,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I really think all it takes these days is goaltending and effort&mdash;every night.&rdquo;Sounds simple, doesn&rsquo;t it?<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-01141/10222641-1-eng-US/f0072-012.jpg" title="f0072-01" width="1601" height="3064"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mario Lemieux only played 63 games last season, but still scored 54 goals. He has scored at least 100 points in each of his three seasons.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (12)</h3>5. Chris Joseph, D, Seattle Breakers (WHL)26. Rick Tabaracci, G, Cornwall Royals (OHL)47. Jamie Leach, RW, Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)68. Risto Kurkinen, LW, Jypht (Finland)89. Jeff Waver, D, Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)110. Shawn McEachern, C, Matignon High School (Mass.)131. JimBodden, C, Chatham (Ont. Jr. B)152. Jiri Kucera, RW, Dukla Jihlava (Czechoslovakia)173. Jack MacDougall, RW, New Prep (Mass.)194. Daryn McBride, C, University of Denver Pioneers (WCHA)215. Mark Carlson, LW, Philadelphia Jr. Flyers (MJL)236. Ake Lilljebjorn, G, Brynas (Sweden)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0275/10222634-1-eng-US/f0072-022.jpg" title="f0072-02" width="710" height="1791"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-01132/10222627-1-eng-US/f0073-012.jpg" title="f0073-01" width="2470" height="1276"></div><h2>Pittsburgh Penguins Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0287/10222620-1-eng-US/f0073-022.jpg" title="f0073-02" width="2482" height="1523"></div> &#9632;

f0071-01

Pittsburgh Penguins

<div class="byline">John Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-01108/10222853-1-eng-US/f0080-012.jpg" title="f0080-01" width="730" height="692"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0258/10222846-1-eng-US/f0080-022.jpg" title="f0080-02" width="654" height="716"></div>The Toronto Maple Leafs have spent two years perfecting their act.First, they slog through a mediocre regular season. Then they rise up and win a playoff round before finally bowing out in the seventh game of the Norris Division finals.Well, assistant general manager Gord Stellick is growing tired of the same old song and dance. You get the idea he might actually want the Maple Leafs to win the division pennant. Or, heaven forbid, win more games than they lose.That hasn&rsquo;t happened since the 1978-79 season under long-departed coach Roger Neilson, the original Captain Video.The Maple Leafs improved by 13 points under rookie head coach John Brophy and, after a 32-42-6 season, found themselves within 10 points of the .500 level.To break even over the full 80-game schedule, Toronto must avoid the peaks and valleys of &rsquo;86-87, Last year started with the promise of a 7-3-2 pace, but fell into a canyon of despair in January&mdash;when the Maple Leafs lost 12 of 15 games.&ldquo;You look at the better teams, and the key is consistency,&rdquo; Stellicksays. &ldquo;Beingover .500 is a sign of that and I don&rsquo;t see why 1987-88 can&rsquo;t be the year. We&rsquo;re out of excuses as far as being a young team.&rdquo;He&rsquo;s right. The Maple Leafs aren&rsquo;t pups anymore. What they do have is a pack of young veterans who should be able to produce consistently good hockey for the 16,382 fans who fill Maple Leaf Gardens&mdash;and owner Harold Ballard&rsquo;s pockets&mdash;40 times a year.Left winger Wendel Clark (37 goals) is a growing NHL star, an inspirational leader and probably the most popular Maple Leaf since Darryl Sittier. He is expected to be the next Toronto captain, although Stellick said the club will officially continue to go without one.But while Clark pulls the fans out of their seats, he&rsquo;s not pulling his weight defensively, as his minus-23 figure attests.Only defenseman-winger Gary Leeman&rsquo;s minus-26 total was worse, and Clark&rsquo;s defensive problems are indicative of the general malaise among the Maple Leafs&rsquo; bright young stars. Center Russ Courtnail was minus-20 and defenseman Al lafrate minus-18.Left winger Steve Thomas scored 35 goals, veteran right winger Rick Vaive 33 and Courtnail 29, so the offense is there. But Courtnail had a poor second half and, from Jan. 7 to Feb. 22, went 22 games without scoring.Center Vincent Damphousse successfully made the jump from junior hockey and is the Maple Leaf star of the future. He had 21 goals and 25 assists.The defense remains unsteady and lacking in depth. Toronto suffered more than it should have when veteran Chris Kotsopoulos was lost in mid-January with a chronic groin injury.That means 1987 top draft pick Luke Richardson of Peterborough and second-round 1986 pick Darryl Shannon may crack the lineup. Gill and lafrate have to continue to develop. Boije Salming is not the player he once was, but circumstances dictate he remain the lynchpin on defense&mdash;even at age 36.Goaltender Ken Wregget&rsquo;s performance has fluctuated along with the Maple Leafs&rsquo; fortunes. His last two regular seasons have been marked by uneven play, but he&rsquo;s been superb in both playoffs. Allan Bester is his capable understudy.The Maple Leaf specialty teams were mostly forgettable last season. The power play was second worst in the league. The penalty killing, so impressive early, slipped to 14th at the end.Defenseman Rick Lanz was acquired from Vancouver in midseason to work the powerplay point, but that didn&rsquo;t solve the problem. What the Maple Leafs lack is a big, talented forward to work the comers and slot area. Vaive (32-34-66) had perhaps his best all-around season, but takes a lot of punishment at both ends of the ice. He could use relief.All-purpose forward Mike Allison came through with an overtime goal in game four of the Norris finals against Detroit, but neither he nor the crowd-pleasing Brad Smith (Motor City Smitty) is the answer to Toronto&rsquo;s lack of size up front. In today&rsquo;s grinder climate, players such as Leeman, Courtnall and center Dan Daoust inevitably wear down.&ldquo;I think we have guys who play big, like Wendel (Clark),&rdquo; says Stellick, &ldquo;but yeah, we&rsquo;d like another winger who can play. We don&rsquo;t have the aggressive third- or fourth-line winger.&rdquo;Aggressiveness was never a problem for Brophy, who used to menace the minor leagues as a defenseman. It would help for the Leafs to take on a harder edge&mdash;in front of both nets, especially their own goal where opposing forwards have been known to camp out, if not overnight, certainly the whole night.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-01119/10222839-1-eng-US/f0081-012.jpg" title="f0081-01" width="1677" height="3061"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pugnacious left winger Wendel Clark has won over a legion of followers with his rough-and-ready play, and natural goal-scoring ability.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (12)</h3>7. Luke Richardson, D, Peterborough Petes (OHL)28. Daniel Marois, RW, Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)49. John McIntyre, C, Guelph Platers (OHL)71. Joe Sacco, LW, Medford High School (Mass.)91. Mike Eastwood, C, Pembroke (CJHL)112. Damian Rhodes, G, Richfield High School (Minn.)133. Trevor Jobe, LW, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)154. Chris Jensen, D, Northwood School (N.Y.)175. Brian Blad, D, Belleville Bulls (OHL)196. Ron Bernacci, C, Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)217. Ken Alexander, LW, Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)238. Alex Weinrich, D, North Yarmouth Academy (Maine)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0280/10222832-1-eng-US/f0081-022.jpg" title="f0081-02" width="755" height="1797"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-01108/10222825-1-eng-US/f0082-012.jpg" title="f0082-01" width="2186" height="1163"></div><h2>Toronto Maple Leafs Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-0259/10222818-1-eng-US/f0082-022.jpg" title="f0082-02" width="2166" height="1369"></div> &#9632;

f0080-01

Toronto Maple Leafs

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0084-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-01101/10222884-1-eng-US/f0084-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0084-01

INTRODUCES INSIDE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">Bob McCammon</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0192/10222950-1-eng-US/f0087-012.jpg" title="f0087-01" width="749" height="635"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0251/10222943-1-eng-US/f0087-022.jpg" title="f0087-02" width="635" height="712"></div>Before the Vancouver Canucks can rebuild, Pat Quinn figures they must first convince outsiders that they are not a bungling, directionless organization.Which was how they appeared in acquiring Quinn from the Los Angeles Kings.Oh, they got their man, all right. And now, $310,OCX) (Cdn.) lighter in the pocketbook&mdash;the penalty for signing Quinn to a contract while he was still coaching division-rival Los Angeles&mdash;the Canucks can finally embark on their rebuilding plan.&ldquo;We have to provide reasons for the public and the hockey world to change their opinions about us,&rdquo; Quinn says.The reconstruction job starts with Quinn, the new president and general manager who is charged with improving the team&rsquo;s fortunes while bringing some behinds back to Pacific Mausoleum. Not even Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers made an impact two years ago during the playoffs.The overhaul continues with vice-president and director of hockey operations Brian Burke, a former hockey agent who raised eyebrows around the NHL when he took the job.The third new face is coach Bob McCammon, the former director of player development with the Oilers who also coached the Philadelphia Flyers. He replaces Tom Watt.Quinn, Burke and McCammon, plus assistant coach Jack Mcllhargey, have strong Philadelphia backgrounds.Quinn says McCammon offers the Canucks a less technical approach than previous head coaches Roger Nielson and Watt.&ldquo;Bob&rsquo;s been with two of the top organizations around,&rdquo; Quinn says, &ldquo;and he brings the additional reputation of being able to evaluate players.&rdquo;McCammon&rsquo;s first job is to evaluate a lastplace team that finished four points out of a playoff berth and three picks out of the entry draft&rsquo;s first round. Ordinarily, finishing 19th overall would give Vancouver the third pick, but former GM Jack Gordon traded away that selection&mdash;and Cam Neely&mdash;to Boston for Barry Pederson last summer.When Vancouver&rsquo;s first turn finally came up, 24th overall, it chose Laval center Rob Murphy. He&rsquo;ll be back with Laval of the Quebec League this year. Murphy will watch, from long range, the Canucks&rsquo; bid for respectability. A bid that should include:Step 1&mdash;Winning away from home. Results in enemy rinks (6-26-8) were as black as the road jerseys.Step 2&mdash;Improving the penalty-killing. Vancouver was 17th in the league. The sixth rated power play, featuring gunners Tony Tanti (41 goals) and Petri Skriko (33) was a highlight.Step 3&mdash;Finding a competent backup for Richard Brodeur in the nets. King Richard turns 36 this season and may soon abdicate.Step 4&mdash;Improving a slow defense. Aside from Doug Lidster (12-51-63), the Canucks lack mobility and scoring punch on the blue line. They had Rick Lanz, but shipped him to Toronto for rearguard Jim Benning and center Dan Hodgson.&ldquo;We had a reasonable goals against (314, an improvement of 19),&rdquo; Quinn says, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;re still looking for any NHL-calibre defensemen. We need six.&rdquo;The Canucks won&rsquo;t ignore a trade offer, but they have only so many jewels to offer. They don&rsquo;t want to get robbed. &ldquo;The richer teams want gold for three pieces of bronze. &rsquo; &rsquo; laments Quinn.The Canucks could make available some good forwards, but it&rsquo;s doubtful Quinn would dangle Tanti, Skriko, Patrik Sundstrom or Barry Pederson. He&rsquo;d probably get a pack of grinders in return, but Vancouver already has some of those in players such as right wingers Stan Smyl and Rich Sutter.Just how long he expects it will take Vancouver to achieve respectability, Quinn won&rsquo;t say. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to put a time frame on it because that just gives you another excuse,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I expect improvement right away. A lot of it is perspective and we want to look more at ourselves.&rdquo;What he&rsquo;s looking at is a team that has been treading water for most of its existence, save one towel-waving run at the Stanley Cup in 1982. But that team, in the end, was just another of the Canucks&rsquo; 15 sub-.500 teams over the franchise&rsquo;s 17-year history.Vancouver, on the Pacific Ocean fringe of Canada, hasn&rsquo;t had its head above water since 1975-76. That&rsquo;s the last time the Canucks won more regular-season games than they lost. Since then, sometimes only the frozen waters of Pacific Coliseum have kept them from drowning.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-01110/10222936-1-eng-US/f0088-012.jpg" title="f0088-01" width="1459" height="2777"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Pederson struck for 76 points after joining the Canucks in a controversial trade that included Vancouver&rsquo;s first 1987 draft choice.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>VANCOUVER CANUCKS (12)</h3>24. Rob Murphy, C, Laval Titan (QMJHL)45. Steve Veilleux, D, Trois-Rivieres Draveurs (QMJHL)66. Doug Torrel, C, Hibbing High School (Minn.)87. Sean Fabian, D, Hill-Murray High School (Minn.)108. Gary Valk, RW, Sherwood Park High School (Alta.)129. Todd Fanning, G, Ohio State University Buckeyes (CCHA)150. Viktor Tuminev, C, Moscow Sparta (Soviet Union)171. Craig Daly, D, New Hampton School (N.H.)192. John Fletcher, G, Clarkson University Golden Knights (ECAC)213. Roger Hansson, LW, Rogle (Sweden)233. Neil Eisenhuit, C, Langley (BCJHL)234. Matt Evo, LW, Country Day School (Mich.)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-0249/10222929-1-eng-US/f0088-022.jpg" title="f0088-02" width="655" height="1648"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-0197/10222922-1-eng-US/f0089-012.jpg" title="f0089-01" width="2358" height="1257"></div><h2>Vancouver Canucks Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-0259/10222915-1-eng-US/f0089-022.jpg" title="f0089-02" width="2393" height="1468"></div> &#9632;

f0087-01

Vancouver Canucks

<div class="byline">Bryan Murray</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-01104/10223016-1-eng-US/f0090-012.jpg" title="f0090-01" width="721" height="577"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-0256/10223009-1-eng-US/f0090-022.jpg" title="f0090-02" width="645" height="720"></div>Even though they lost a memorable seventh-game overtime marathon to the New York Islanders last April, the Washington Capitals could take solace in their making history early that Easter Sunday morning.Right. And Richard Nixon enjoyed Watergate.After finishing on a 16-5-2 pace to claim second place in the Patrick Division, the Caps were tabbed by many&mdash;including THE HOCKEY NEWS&mdash;as a probable playoff finalist.Instead, for the fifth straight season, they didn&rsquo;t make it out of the division. The Islanders were the executioners for the fourth time, with Pat LaFontaine doing the honors after 68 minutes and 47 seconds of extra time.Something about New York teams gives Washington the willies. Two years ago, the Rangers eliminated them in a six-game division final.Forgotten in all the excitement and history of the overtime defeat&mdash;the seven-period game was the longest since 1943&mdash;was the fact the Caps also blew a 3-1 series lead. But then, that&rsquo;s nothing new for them against the Isles. In 1985, Washington surrendered a 2-0 series and lost a deciding fifth game at the Cap Center.So changes were made&mdash;partly the result of losing free agent goaltender Bob Mason to Chicago. The acquisition of Quebec&rsquo;s Dale Hunter and goaltender Clint Malarchuk, in exchange for center Alan Haworth, leftwinger Gaetan Duchesne and the Caps&rsquo; 1987 first-round draft choice, gives Washington more of a Patrick Division look.The key man is Hunter.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never had a center like him,&rdquo; says general manager David Poile. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a gritty, win-at-all-costs guy.&rdquo;Just what the Capitals have been missing.Only a broken leg, which limited Hunter to 46 games, kept the Sudbury native from missing the 200-penalty minute mark. That was a first in Hunter&rsquo;s seven-year career.Hunter adds to a group of grinders that includes right winger Craig Laughlin and center Bob Gould. Erstwhile sniper Dave Christian fell from 41-42-83 production to plumber numbers of 23-27-50. He and Mike Gartner (41-32-73) provide depth at right wing. The left side remains weak, although Jeff Greenlaw (the Capitals&rsquo; first rounder in 1986) may be ready.The Capitals suffered in the playoffs two years ago, when center Bengt Gustafsson (2352-75) was lost with a broken leg. They went without him all of last season when he returned to play in his native Sweden. Now the 29-year-old is back, after leading Tre Kronor to the world championship.Gustafsson, with a hefty two-year contract tucked safely away, should help revive a Washington power play that was 18th in the league. He also contributes depth to a position that features 31-goal man Mike Ridley, Hunter, Gould and Czechoslovakian defector Michal Pivonka.Pivonka, 20, had respectable first-year numbers (18-25-43) and can be expected to improve as he continues to adjust both to the league and North America.The acquisition of Malarchuk seems an even trade-off for the loss of Mason, who posted a 3.24 goals-against average and .890 save percentage in 45 games with the Capitals. As the No. 1 man in Quebec, Malarchuk played 54 games and posted a 3.40 GAA and .884 save percentage. He was also voted, by fans, to a place on the NHL&rsquo;s Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 squad.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a young (26), up-and-coming goalie,&rdquo; Poile says of Malarchuk, who heads into his third full season after splitting two others between Quebec and its American League farm team in Fredericton.Washington drafted Ottawa 67 defenseman Jeff Ballantyne in the second round of the entry draft, but the Caps&rsquo; traditional strength remains in the capable hands of team scoring leader Larry Murphy (23-58-81), Scott Stevens (10-51-61), Rod Langway and Kevin Hatcher.Murphy attracted long-overdue credit for his immense skills last year, earning a berth on the second all-star team and placing third in Norris Trophy balloting.Murphy, Stevens, Lang way and Hatcher represent an all-star foursome. Each of them was invited to Canada Cup training camps&mdash;Murphy and Stevens to Canada&rsquo;s, Langway and Hatcher to U.S.A.&rsquo;s.The Stanley Cup, however, is a more pressing concern of the Capitals. They&rsquo;ve been close for several years, and want to avoid being another of those teams that never quite got over the hump.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bitter pill to swallow,&rdquo; Poile says of the frustrations of continually falling short.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0091-0186/10223002-1-eng-US/f0091-012.jpg" title="f0091-01" width="1644" height="3051"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scott Stevens of the Washington Capitals brings talent and spirit to the blue line&mdash;a combination that makes him tough on opposition forwards.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>WASHINGTON CAPITALS (11)</h3>36. Jeff Ballantyne, D, Ottawa 67&rsquo;s (OHL)57. Steve Maltais, LW, Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)78. Tyler Larter, C, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)99. Pat Beauchesne, D, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)120. Rich Defreitas, D, St. Mark&rsquo;s School (Mass.)141. Devon Oleniuk, D, Kamloops Blazers (WHL)162. Thomas Sjogren, RW, Vastra Frolunda (Sweden)204. Chris Clarke, D, Pembroke (CJHL)225. Milos Vanik, C, EHC Freiburg (West Germany)240. Dan Brettschneider, RW, Burnsville High School (Minn.)246. Ryan Kummu, D, RPI Engineers (ECAC)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0091-0251/10222995-1-eng-US/f0091-022.jpg" title="f0091-02" width="752" height="1803"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-01105/10222988-1-eng-US/f0092-012.jpg" title="f0092-01" width="2397" height="1269"></div><h2>Washington Capitals Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0255/10222981-1-eng-US/f0092-022.jpg" title="f0092-02" width="2398" height="1507"></div> &#9632;

f0090-01

Washington Capitals

<div class="byline">Dan Maloney</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0189/10223082-1-eng-US/f0093-012.jpg" title="f0093-01" width="667" height="621"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0252/10223075-1-eng-US/f0093-022.jpg" title="f0093-02" width="663" height="730"></div>The Winnipeg Jets gambled by going with two rookie goaltenders last season.And with Daniel Berthiaume and Eldon (Pokey) Reddick providing the league&rsquo;s fourth-best work, the Jets won. Lots. Enough to finish 29 points ahead of their 1985-86 pace and finish sixth overall.Of course, the Jets make a habit of this. Back in 1980-81, they managed 32 points in 80games, then rebounded phenomenally to 80 points the next season. And over the last three seasons they&rsquo;ve improved by 23, dropped by 37 and climbed by 29.The inconsistency, says general manager John Ferguson, has been the result of injuries. He&rsquo;s hoping another plunge isn&rsquo;t imminent, fueled by the sophomore jinx that seems to hit goalies.Ferguson has an example in his own organization. Steve Penney, the hero of the 1984 playoffs for Montreal, wasn&rsquo;t worth a plug nickel to the Jets and spent some time wearing his old colors in Sherbrooke of the American League.&ldquo;I hope he bounces back,&rdquo; Ferguson says of Penney. He also hopes Pokey and the Bandit don&rsquo;t ride off into the sunset.&ldquo;We have to guard against our goaltending faltering,&rdquo; admits Ferguson.Faker? These guys just helped cut the goals-against total by 101. And they play goal-crazy Edmonton eight times a year.The Jets do fine in the regular-season matchups, but when it comes time for the playoffs it&rsquo;s no contest. Under new coach Dan Maloney, the Jets actually won more intra division games than the Oilers (19-17), but after downing Calgary in the opening playoff round, they once again were steamrolled by Edmonton in four straight.That makes 11 playoff game losses in a row to Gretzky and Co. Make that 12. Ferguson is at a loss to explain why Winnipeg is unable to provide playoff competition for the Oilers. The Jets are a good team, a very good team. But unless they can figure out how to beat Edmonton in the playoffs, who outside Manitoba will ever know?A league-wide trend to clutch-and-grab tactics sent goal totals tumbling last year, and the Jets were in step. Their production fell by 16&mdash;and that&rsquo;s cause for concern, since output dropped by 63 the season before.Center Dale Hawerchuk, a 100-point man, remains among the brightest lights of the division. Hockey history is sure to record that Hawerchuk had the misfortune to come along at the same time as Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Their offensive brilliance has overshadowed his.Paul MacLean, Hawerchuk&rsquo;s right winger, is a solid 30-goal man. But while Winnipeg&rsquo;s penalty-killing topped the list, an anemic power-play (19th overall) forces the Jets to win at even strength.Tough left winger Steve Rooney, acquired from Montreal, is strong physically but he won&rsquo;t solve any goal-scoring problems. Swedish import left wingers Roger Ohman and Jan Ingman will need an adjustment period. So, improvement is needed from holdover center Laurie Boschman (17-24-41), who tailed off by 10 goals, 28 points and 89 penalty minutes.Former Norris Trophy-winner Randy Carlyle signed a three-year contract in the offseason and is the Jets&rsquo; leader on defense. Mario Marois had an outstanding season in &rsquo;86-87 and Dave Ellett is developing into a steady defenseman. Ferguson expects big things from Teppo Numminen, a 19-year-old member of Finland&rsquo;s Canada Cup team who was Winnipeg&rsquo;s second-round draft pick in 1986.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s really matured,&rdquo; Ferguson says.The Jets better hope so. Three seasons ago, Numminen and Janne Ojanen, now a highly-touted New Jersey Devil prospect, skated in the Ontario Tier II Jr. A league. But the pair never adjusted to North American life, grew homesick, and left.Numminen represents the Jets&rsquo; youth movement. Winnipeg isn&rsquo;t growing old, but Ferguson wants to keep it that way.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve preserved our draft choices and stockpiled them for many years to come,&rdquo; Ferguson says.This year&rsquo;s No. 1, Belleville Bull defenseman Bryan Marchment, fits right into the Ferguson mould. An impulsive fighter, Marchment totalled 238 penalty minutes in 52 Ontario League games and will make the Winnipeg crease unpleasant territory for invaders.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question in my mind&mdash;that&rsquo;s the player we wanted,&rdquo; Ferguson said on draft day. One other thing Ferguson wants is the Stanley Cup. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re capable of (winning) the Cup,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We just have to turn the comer.&rdquo;Around the corner are the Oilers.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0094-0196/10223068-1-eng-US/f0094-012.jpg" title="f0094-01" width="1615" height="3069"><figcaption class="caption-body">There are few more gifted players in the NHL than Dale Hawerchuk, who continues to lead Winnipeg with exceptional offensive skills.</figcaption></div><h2>DRAFT CHOICES</h2><h3>WINNIPEG JETS (11)</h3>16. Bryan Marchment, D, Belleville Bulls (OHL)37. Patrik Eriksson, C, Brynas (Sweden)79. Don McLennan, D, University of Denver Pioneers (WCHA)96. Ken Gernander, C, Greenway High School (Minn.)100. Darrin Amundson, C, Duluth East High School (Minn.)121. Joe Harwell, D, Hill-Murray High School (Minn.)142. Todd Hartje, C, Harvard University Crimson (ECAC)163. Markku Kyllonen, RW, Oulu Karpat (Finland)184. Jim Fernholz, RW, White BearLake High School (Minn.)226. Roger Roudelot, G, Madison (USJHL)247. Hans Goran Elo, G, Djurgarden (Sweden)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0094-0241/10223061-1-eng-US/f0094-022.jpg" title="f0094-02" width="731" height="1800"></div><h2>1986-87 Statistical Review</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0095-0192/10223054-1-eng-US/f0095-012.jpg" title="f0095-01" width="2193" height="1155"></div><h2>Winnipeg Jets Roster</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0095-0248/10223047-1-eng-US/f0095-022.jpg" title="f0095-02" width="2199" height="1387"></div> &#9632;

f0093-01

Winnipeg Jets

<div class="byline">By Mike Kane</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0099-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0186/10223127-1-eng-US/f0099-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Toronto Maple Leaf defenseman Todd Gill was the beneficiary of time spent in the American League, with Newmarket Saints, during the 1986-87 season. By year&rsquo;s end, he was a prominent contributor on the Leaf blue line.</figcaption></div>After three years of relative calm, change is once again prevalent in the American and International leagues.For the IHL, 1987-88 brings an unprecedented increase in sponsorship by National Hockey League teams and a marked gain in prestige. For the AHL, long acknowledged as the top minor league in North America, it has brought about a serious re-examination of basic policies and goals.Although the movement began in January&mdash;when reports first surfaced that the Calgary Flames were planning to leave the AHL&rsquo;s Moncton franchise for Salt Lake City of the IHL&mdash;the roots go much deeper, probably to the demise of the Central League in 1984.Since that spring, when the vagabond and homeless Oilers won the final CHL championship, the American League has been the development base for 20 of the 21 NHL teams. Only the St. Louis Blues, who operate the Peoria Rivermen, did not move east to the AHL.But now five other teams have set up their minor-league headquarters in the IHL. The Flames are in Salt Lake, the New York Rangers in Denver, Minnesota North Stars in Kalamazoo, Pittsburgh Penguins in Muskegon and Chicago Blackhawks in Saginaw. The IHL, in branching out from its traditional Michigan base to the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states, is looking increasingly like the old CHL.&ldquo;I think the timing was good and the cycle has now gone around again,&rdquo; said IHL commissioner Bud Poile, who ran the CHL for eight seasons. &ldquo;It happens about every five or six years that National League teams feel that they need a partner, then decide it is not working out and they want their own (farm) team. I believe that they&rsquo;ve been looking at our league for the past two years, maybe three years, and decided that we met all the requirements.&rdquo;In the Flames&rsquo; case, an important criteria for moving was location; Alberta is much closer to Utah than it is to New Brunswick. The Rangers, who co-sponsored the AHL&rsquo;s New Haven Nighthawks with Los Angeles Kings for three years, wanted their young players in a big-city environment and aligned with Denver interests to form the Colorado Rangers. Minnesota pulled out of a dual arrangement with the New York Islanders in Springfield and took over the previously-independent IHL franchise in Kalamazoo.Many of the NHL executives who pulled development teams from the AHL complained too much emphasis was being placed on competition, meaning teams used veteran players at the expense of grooming young prospects.The AHL&mdash;which will operate with a record-high 14 franchises in 1987-88, despite the defections&mdash;reacted quickly to those charges. A special league meeting held during Rendez-vous &rsquo;87 resulted in a plan to reduce rosters to 16 skaters and two goaltenders&mdash;the same limits used in the IHL.AHL president Jack Butterfield said he&rsquo;s heard a variety of reasons for the exodus of teams to the IHL.&ldquo;Many of our NHL partners said we should be using players who are going to become available to our parent clubs, and should not be paying players who are just filling out a roster,&rdquo; Butterfield acknowledged.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s when we decided we should consider steps that would make the American Hockey League not necessarily attractive (in an effort) to bring clubs back, but more attractive to retain existing clubs. That&rsquo;s why one of the recommendations was to reduce the playing roster.&rdquo;The AHL managed to add a team&mdash;a New Jersey Devil farm club in Utica, N.Y.&mdash;to its roster and maintain the existing 13 franchises.But there was plenty of sponsorship movement. Five teams-&mdash;Moncton, Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, Maine and New Haven&mdash;will now operate with single NHL parents.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0196/10223120-1-eng-US/f0100-012.jpg" title="f0100-01" width="766" height="1349"><figcaption class="caption-body">The AHL is re-emphasizing the development of pro players. In the future, you&rsquo;ll see more youngsters like Sherbrooke&rsquo;s Gilles Thibaudeau</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0249/10223113-1-eng-US/f0100-022.jpg" title="f0100-02" width="768" height="1367"><figcaption class="caption-body">fewer veterans like former Adirondack forward Geordie Robertson.</figcaption></div>Moncton lost the Calgary-Boston partnership, but picked up Winnipeg, which had been sending players to Montreal&rsquo;s team club at Sherbrooke. Sherbrooke now goes solo with the NHL Canadiens, after three seasons under dual affiliation.Nova Scotia retains Edmonton as sole affiliate after losing Chicago, while Boston replaces New Jersey in Maine.Baltimore Skipjack officials decided to operate as an independent after Pittsburgh dropped its affiliation.New Haven returns with Los Angeles as a single sponsor. Springfield lost Minnesota&rsquo;s support but retains that of the New York Islanders.The only two dual affiliations remaining in the AHL are at Binghamton&mdash;where Hartford and Washington work with local owners&mdash;and Fredericton, where Quebec and Vancouver jointly stock the Nordique-owned club.The changeover has been just as dramatic in the IHL, which welcomed Colorado but saw the owners of Fort Wayne and Indianapolis franchises suspend operations for a season. The league was optimistic, however, that it would be able to operate both teams while new owners were sought.Meanwhile, Salt Lake, Kalamazoo, Saginaw and Muskegon signed working agreements with Calgary, Minnesota, Chicago and Pittsburgh, respectively.Flint and Milwaukee return as the only teams under independent ownership.Butterfield and Poile expect the process of change to continue, as contractual obligations are completed.&ldquo;I think there is room for everybody,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;1 know everybody is kind of upset, but there are 21 National League clubs and, in the next three years, there will be 21 minor-league clubs. It has to be.&ldquo;I said six years ago that, eventually, everybody will have their own farm system. They&rsquo;re looking at expansion; it&rsquo;s the only way they can go. And if they look at the people winning the Stanley Cup&mdash;the Montreals and now the Edmontons&mdash;they&rsquo;ve got strong farm systems.&rdquo;Butterfield said he also sees a shift to a stronger emphasis on player development.&ldquo;I think that now the parent organizations are saying, &rsquo;Wait a minute, why am I paying a guy like (a veteran free agent) when he&rsquo;s never going to make my big club? What I better start doing is playing my younger players so they are here as a backup.&rsquo;&ldquo;When you look at (the 1985-86) Montreal Canadiens winning the Stanley Cup, they had probably six players out of Sherbrooke standing in the background and a couple playing. So they said, &rsquo;Hey, maybe that&rsquo;s the right philosophy. Maybe I should be developing these guys so they&rsquo;re there when I need them.&rsquo;&ldquo;The thinking has changed. The philosophy has changed. &ldquo; &#9632;

f0099-01

The Times They Are A-Changin’ In Minors

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0101-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0188/10223186-1-eng-US/f0101-012.jpg"></div>Brian Kilrea sits on the trainer&rsquo;s table in the middle of the London Gardens dressing room one day last season and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.A few minutes earlier, he was on the ice turning the air blue over a mistake by one of his Ottawa 67&rsquo;s hockey players. Now, he&rsquo;s in the dressing room, sharing a laugh with that same player.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got nothing to hide,&rdquo; Kilrea says. &ldquo;If I can&rsquo;t say it in front of these guys, then it&rsquo;s not worth saying. I enjoy giving them hell, but I also enjoy teasing them and I enjoy helping them grow as hockey players and people through positive encouragement. A successful coach-player relationship evolves around one thing, and that&rsquo;s trust. I wouldn&rsquo;t want a guy to say one thing to me and then do another. I hate a liar.&ldquo;Some days these kids need a pat on the back and the next day they need a kick in the butt. But junior hockey means a new town, a new school, new landparents (families with whom they billet), a new coach, new everything. If they can&rsquo;t trust the fellow they&rsquo;re playing for, I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;re ever going to get 100 per cent out of them.&rdquo;Kilrea. who turns 53 on Oct. 21, is the dean of Ontario League coaches. He&rsquo;s spent 11 seasons behind the Ottawa bench and wouldn&rsquo;t trade a minute of his time in the Canadian Hockey League (the newly-named junior umbrella group) for other work.He&rsquo;s held other jobs&mdash;he worked in his father&rsquo;s photography shop in Ottawa as a kid, he&rsquo;s been involved in the restaurant and motel business, but hockey is his first and only love.Kilrea grew up knowing nothing but hockey. Three of his uncles played in the National Hockey League. Hec, who died in 1969, was the most distinguished of a Kilrea hockey clan that also included Wally and Ken.&rsquo;Hurricane Hec&rsquo; assisted on Mud Bruneteau&rsquo;s goal in the longest overtime game in NHL history. Detroit Red Wings defeated Montreal Maroons 1-0 on March 24-25, 1936, in a game that progressed into a ninth period and concluded at 2:25 a.m.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0102-0192/10223179-1-eng-US/f0102-012.jpg" title="f0102-01" width="1592" height="1337"><figcaption class="caption-body">The late Eddie Shore, left, in conversation with ex-NHLer Jimmy Orlando, was renowned for running a tight ship in Springfield of the AHL.</figcaption></div>Hee was also said to be the fastest skater in the NHL. At age 18, he beat Howie Morenz in a puck-carrying contest at the Montreal Forum. Morenz and three others shared the fastest time at 17.2 seconds, but Hee went out one night and shaved a full second off that mark.It made sense that young Brian would want only to follow in his uncles&rsquo; skatemarks and play hockey professionally.Kilrea quit school after Grade 10. He was attending high school in Ottawa and, when he returned from summer vacation, he found a new gymnasium on the same spot where an outdoor rink had stood.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d played so much hockey on that rink, but basketball was big at our school and the old gym had three pillars on the floor and they had to play around them&hellip;honest.&ldquo;1 guess the priority was on basketball and not hockey, but I was heartbroken. I went to my dad and asked him what 1 was to do without hockey. He said I could work full-time in his shop and skate in the afternoons, when business was slow.&rdquo;Kilrea was an all-round athlete, also excelling as a baseball catcher. At age 17, the Philadelphia Phillies offered him a minor-league contract to play Class B ball in Florida. Kilrea declined, choosing to concentrate on hockey.He played two years with the junior Hamilton Tiger Cubs, a team in the Red Wings&rsquo; chain. He spent four seasons in the International League before signing with Eddie Shore to play with his American League Springfield Indians in 1959.Kilrea played nine seasons under Shore and still smiles about that experience.&ldquo;He was mean, he was tough, he was hard&mdash;but everyone should have had one year with him,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;He taught you hockey and he taught you humility. You also learned not to be a complainer.&ldquo;He was also ahead of his time when it came to hockey. He was very big on puck possession. He didn&rsquo;t believe in getting to the blue line and, if the way was blocked, shooting the puck in and chasing it. He said to back off, regroup and try another attack. To the day he died, Eddie swore the Russians stole his system.&rdquo;Kilrea was in the middle of the players&rsquo; strike in Springfield that eventually led to the formation of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.Dale Rolfe. Bill White and Dave Amodeo were suspended by Shore after he gave in to their contract demands. The rest of the teaip went on strike, demanding the three be reinstated.Kilrea had been captain off and on in Springfield and, although he wasn&rsquo;t captain at the time, the players requested that he be their spokesman with Shore.&ldquo;Alan Eagleson came down from Toronto and we got things resolved,&rdquo; Kilrea recalls. &ldquo;They had been working quietly on forming some sort of players&rsquo; union, but our strike brought it all to a head.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0103-0181/10223172-1-eng-US/f0103-012.jpg" title="f0103-01" width="2189" height="2639"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal Canadien center Bobby Smith is one of many NHLers turned out by Brian Kilrea. Kilrea, pictured as a young player (inset), played briefly in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0105-0186/10223165-1-eng-US/f0105-012.jpg" title="f0105-01" width="1444" height="2671"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Kilrea, nothing if not straightforward, expresses his opinion on a referee&rsquo;s call with assistant coach Bert O&rsquo;Brien in the background.</figcaption></div>Today, Eagleson heads the NHLPA.The mention of the name Springfield Indians struck fear in the hearts of many an NHL player.&ldquo;They used it as a threat,&rdquo; Kilrea says. &ldquo;But we had our fun.&ldquo;One day, the same year as the strike. Eddie made some of us sit on the bus for a couple of hours in Fort Erie (Ont.). We finally decided to take it around the block&mdash;so Jac-ques Caron, our goalie, jumped in behind the wheel and started her up. Eddie reported the bus stolen and we had the police chasing us with the sirens screaming and red lights flashing. Fortunately, we knew the police&mdash;so nothing happened to us.&rdquo;The NHL expanded in 1967 and Kilrea went to the Los Angeles Kings. He scored the first goal in the Kings&rsquo; history. They were playing Philadelphia and Doug Favell was in goal for the Flyers.&ldquo;We were down 2-0 in the second period and Terry Sawchuk was sitting on the bench this night as Wayne Rutledge played,&rdquo; Kilrea recalls. &ldquo;1&rsquo;11 always remember Terry saying we&rsquo;re going to get the next goal.&rdquo;Kilrea went onto the ice and scored. The Kings rallied for a 5-3 victory, but it was Kilrea&rsquo;s last NHL hurrah. A tom ligament 15 games into the season meant the end of his pro career. He toiled in the minors for a couple of more years, then returned to Ottawa where he entered the restaurant business.It became a sports gathering spot during the daytime hours, but wasn&rsquo;t there for long. It occupied prime real estate in the heart of Ottawa and was soon supplanted by a high-rise development.Kilrea coached minor hockey in Ottawa and was offered the 67&rsquo;s position in 1973.The 67&rsquo;s won the Memorial Cup in 1984, the same year Kilrea coached the national junior team at the World Championships in Sweden. The Canadians finished fourth that year, although they were in gold-medal contention right up until the second-last game of the tournament. A 3-3 tie with the Soviets ended their gold rush.Kilrea will coach the Canadian national under-17 team this year in a series of exhibition games against a touring Soviet team during the Christmas-New Year&rsquo;s period, but is only doing so because he was asked by OHL commissioner Dave Branch.Kilrea hates the Soviets, their political ideology and the fact &ldquo;we bend over backward to please them when they&rsquo;re in our country but they treat us like crap when we&rsquo;re over there. &rsquo;&rsquo;Kilrea is as candid as they come.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never backed down from a question and I cap live with my answers because that&rsquo;s what 1 believe,&rdquo; he says.The New York Islanders saw something they liked and hired Kilrea in the summer of 1984 as an assistant to head coach Al Arbour.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0106-0189/10223158-1-eng-US/f0106-012.jpg" title="f0106-01" width="199" height="548"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Crossman credits Birian Kilrea with looking out for his players.</figcaption></div>It was believed Kilrea was being; groomed as Arbour&rsquo;s replacement but, when the coach of four Stanley Cup championship teams retired in the spring of 1986, Kilrea was released.Prince Albert Raider coach Tetry Simpson was hired.Kilrea feels it was the relationship he cultivated with the players that cost him the Islanders&rsquo; job.&ldquo;Sure I got close to the players in New York, but that&rsquo;s the way I coach&mdash;and the organization knew that before it hired me. I was in the players&rsquo; bowling league, I went to the team parties, but that didn&rsquo;t change my mind about who I&rsquo;d give hell to the next day at practice.&rdquo;When 67&rsquo;s owners Howard Darwin and Earl Montagano learned Kilrea was available, they approached him about rejoining their team. He accepted without hesitation.Kilrea has put numerous players in the NHL, including Bobby Smith, Ed Hospodar, Doug Crossman, Jimmy Fox, Steve Payne, Doug Wilson, Behn Wilson, Adam Creighton and Gary Roberts.Crossman, who plays defense for the Stanley Cup-finalist Philadelphia Flyers, says his former coach always knew the right thing to say and when to say it.&ldquo;Brian was a lot of fun. He&rsquo;d joke around with us on the ice but then the discipline was there when we needed it,&rdquo; Crossman says. &ldquo;He was also a father figure.&ldquo;A guy 16 or 17, it&rsquo;s easy to mark him with your personality and, fortunately for me, Brian was a good guy and he prepared me for the pro-life. He put everything on a human level and everybody respected him because of that. We could also see that he loves his family and Ottawa. He was like a human magnet because I know players are always dropping by to see him. He leaves the door wide open.&ldquo;Junior hockey takes you fresh out of the crib and Brian puts you in the right direction. &ldquo;His first year of coaching junior was a learning experience. Kilrea says some of the veteran players put him to the test early.&ldquo;I had to step on them to make sure the players weren&rsquo;t coaching the team. I remember in training camp, Tim Young threw his stick into the seats. I told him to go up there and get it if he wanted to continue playing for this team. He became one of the best players in our league, a leader on our team, an all-star, and then went on to the NHL, after he got rid of wanting to challenge authority.&rdquo;Kilrea believes in discipline but has his own methods.&ldquo;1&rsquo;ve never fined a player once in 11 years for missing curfew,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe in it because the players in junior don&rsquo;t make enough money. There are better ways of discipline&mdash;I won&rsquo;t play a guy when we go into his hometown and I tell him he can explain to his parents, friends and local media why he&rsquo;s not in the lineup.&rdquo;The day will come when Brian Kilrea ends his association with junior hockey and he says he would like to be remembered &ldquo;as a good friend and as a good coach&hellip;a good friend first.&ldquo;Friendships are the most important thing in all walks of life and one thing you can&rsquo;t get enough of are good friends.&rdquo;But for now, he&rsquo;ll be content to spend his time helping to develop the skills and minds of young men&mdash;although he admits he learned last season that he is growing older.&ldquo;The (one-hour) trip home from Cornwall used to be a six-pack. Now it&rsquo;s only a five-pack.&rdquo;<h2>CHL</h2>Brian Kilrea is the focal point of our Canadian major junior hockey coverage this year. He is among the most respected of all coaches in the Canadian Hockey League, which encompasses the Quebec, Ontario and Western Leagues. Included in our CHL section are stories on the QMJHL, OHL and WHL. &#9632;

f0101-01

Brian Kilrea: Father Figure Knows Best

<div class="byline">BY RANDY RUSSON</div>Though the Memorial Cup eluded its grasp in 1987, the Ontario League was gratified to break even with its Western League rival at the National Hockey League entry draft.Soon after the hometown Oshawa Generals were upset by the WHL&rsquo;s Medicine Hat Tigers in the national championship game, the OHL was rejoicing when eight of its players were selected in the first round of the 1987 draft.That was six more than in 1986, and equalled the eight Whalers picked among the first 21.The first OH Let chosen was London Knight center Brendan Shanahan. He was selected second overall by the New Jersey Devils. If you&rsquo;re looking for a successor to Shanahan as the league&rsquo;s top NHL prospect, take a long look at Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound center Troy Mallette.Mallette, the OHL&rsquo;s first pick in the 1986 midget draft, has been compared favorably to Shanahan by Greyhound coach Don Boyd, who coached Shanahan as a London rookie in 1985-86. Mallette had 20 goals, 25 assists and 157 penalty minutes as a 16-year-old rookie.The Greyhounds are expected to battle with the North Bay Centennials and Windsor Spitfires for top spot in the OHL&rsquo;s Emms Division this season.The loss of nine regulars&mdash;including scoring champion Scott McCrory and 50-goal scorer Derek King&mdash;will make it difficult for Oshawa to repeat as Leyden Division and league champions.The Peterborough Petes, with NHL first-rounders Luke Richardson and Jody Hull likely to return, have a strong nucleus. In Ottawa, coach Brian Kilrea is building a strong 67&rsquo;s club around center Andrew Cassels, the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; first pick this past summer.All 15 OHL teams will be looking to continue a recent trend in Memorial Cup history. Over the past six years, the WHL has won the junior championship in odd-numbered years, the OHL in even-numbered years.The next Memorial Cup, of course, is in 1988. &#9632;

Cup Date In 1988?

<div class="byline">BY GREGG DRINNAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0104-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0104-0193/10223241-1-eng-US/f0104-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Brown, THN&rsquo;s 1987 Canadian junior player of the year, isn&rsquo;t expected back with Kamloops Blazers after setting several WHL scoring records last year.</figcaption></div>Though 1986-87 was a season of triumph for the Western League, the tragedies will be remembered far longer.League president Ed Chynoweth is among those still wrestling with a pair of incidents that, between them, claimed the lives of four WHL players and left another paralyzed.&ldquo;The accidents that happened&mdash;and 1 don&rsquo;t want to sound harsh because I&rsquo;m not, and I think I was as involved as closely as anyone&mdash;are things that are facts of life,&rdquo; Chynoweth said. &ldquo;Hopefully, neither our league nor any other league will have to go through anything like it again.&rdquo;The first heartbreak came Dec. 30, when a bus carrying the Swift Current Broncos swerved off the Trans-Canada Hwy., just east of the Saskatchewan town. Four players&mdash;Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff&mdash;were killed.Two months later, with the shock of the bus crash beginning to subside, center Brad Hornung of the Regina Pats was checked from behind and fell head-first into the boards. He is now learning to live without any feeling below his neck.The league suffered deeply last season, but there were moments of triumph, as well. The all-star game in Regina was a widely-celebrated, smashing success. And, in the end, the Medicine Hat Tigers returned home with the Memorial Cup.&ldquo;We have to look at the good parts too,&rdquo; Chynoweth said. &ldquo;We won the Memorial Cup and our attendance was up. We certainly had the lowest amount of bench-clearing brawls in some time. I&rsquo;d like to think that some things are progressing. Now, whether that&rsquo;s just an overly optimistic outlook on my part, I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;The WHL&rsquo;s 14 teams played before 1,327,780 fans last season, representing an increase of 115,388 from the year before. Five teams&mdash;Portland, Regina, Seattle. Prince Albert and Spokane&mdash;each drew more than 100,000 fans.The league, however, will likely lose its biggest gate attraction. Kamloops scoring machine Rob Brown is expected to break the lineup of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team which selected him in the fourth round of the 1986 National Hockey League entry draft. Brown took stick in hand last season and rewrote the WHL record book.The 19-year-old Blazer center fired 76 goals and added 136 assists for 212 points to win his second straight scoring title.Brown established league marks for most points in a single season and career (522), in addition to most assists in a single season and career (343), eclipsing three records held by NHLers Cliff Ronning, Brian Propp and Dan Hodgson.The new season will bring other changes. The Calgary franchise has moved to Lethbridge, and interlocking play between divisions (home-and-home series between teams in East and West loops) has returned after a one-year experimental absence.Lethbridge&mdash;home of the Broncos before they moved to Swift Current&mdash;has taken over the Calgary Wranglers and renamed them the Hurricanes.In the WHL, the Hurricanes represent the winds of change. &#9632;

f0104-01

Of Triumph & Tragedy

<div class="byline">BY RICK MAYOH</div>Jocelyn Guevremont, first-yea general manager of the Laval Titan is hoping history repeats itself.Last season, the ex-National Hockey League defenseman was working for a sports promotion firm in Montreal. He watched another former NHL rearguard Guy Lapointe, build a Quebec League championship team during his short reign as GM of the Longueuil Chevaliers.Before the season was over Lapointe left the QMJHL for an assistant coaching position with the Quebec Nordiques, but not before his Chevaliers were on their way to becoming league champion.They rebounded from a dismal 18-51-3 record in &rsquo;85-86 to a LeBel Division-leading 46-20-4 mark in &rsquo;86-87. Longueuil then earned a berth in the Memorial Cup, where they failed to win a game.Guevremont, who previously coached in Drummondville and Cornwall, says he&rsquo;d like to follow in Lapointe&rsquo;s footsteps&mdash;not to the Nordiques, but to a league championship.The Titan, which finished the last two seasons as LeBel Division bridesmaid, has a number of veterans returning, including centers Francois Guay (52-77-129 in 63 games) and Sylvain Couturier (39-51-90 in 67 games).Watch for the Hull Olympiques and Verdun Jr. Canadiens&mdash;the league&rsquo;s two youngest teams last season&mdash;to battle for the division lead, followed by a tight race between Laval, Longueuil and the St-Jean Castors.Verdun boasts a large squad of returnees and rookie left winger Martin St-Amour, who scored 55 goals and set Quebec AAA midget records with 95 assists and 150 points in 42 games last year.In the Dilio Division, look for the Shawinigan Cataractes and Drummondville Voltigeurs to scrap for bragging rights. Chicoutimi Sagueneens, Trois-Rivieres Draveurs and the rebuilding Bisons round out the division. &#9632;

Titan GM Student Of History

<div class="byline">BY NEIL KOEPKE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0108-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0108-0197/10223324-1-eng-US/f0108-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Mason entered the 1987-88 CCHA season with 510 victories in Division I play Only four others had more wins than the MSU coach.</figcaption></div>Ron Mason saw great potential for the Michigan State hockey program when he took over as Spartan coach in 1979, but he never expected his teams would enjoy as much success as they have over the last six seasons.Mason doctored a program in despair and rejuvenated it into one of college hockey&rsquo;s powerhouses. After two losing seasons, the Spartans started winning in 1982, and they haven&rsquo;t stopped.Since then, MSU has qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Association regional playoffs six straight years, and made it to the Final Four three times in the last four seasons.In 1986, the Spartans reached the top when they captured the NCAA title in Providence. R.I. Last season, they made it to the NCAA championship game before losing to North Dakota, another perennial power, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.&ldquo;I thought there was potential for Michigan State to compete nationally,&rdquo; says Mason, the fourth-winningest coach in U.S. college hockey history with 510 victories. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I came here. I felt with this school, the environment, the rink and the good support, that we could be in the national picture.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s happened, but it&rsquo;s gone beyond my expectations.&rdquo;Michigan State, which has an enrollment of 41,000, has been called a Cadillac among the 43 NCAA Division I hockey schools. And with good reason.Munn Arena, the Spartans&rsquo; 6,255-seat home rink, is one of the best facilities in the nation, and MSU consistently attracts standing-room-only crowds of 6,700.The combination of a winning program, excellent facilities, beautiful campus and high-profile coach attracts recruits from all parts of Canada and the U.S.&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t really recruit, they select,&rdquo; says one Central Collegiate Hockey Association coach. &ldquo;They find the talent and if they want someone, they usually get him.&rdquo;Recruiting players with talent and character, Mason says, has been the key factor in MSU&rsquo;s climb to national prominence.&ldquo;We knew it was going to take time to rebuild and earn respect for our program,&rdquo; says the 47-year-old Mason, who coached for 13 years at Lake Superior State and Bowling Green State before landing at MSU.&ldquo;The thing that gave us a big lift was bringing in players with the best combination of character and athletic ability. We started with guys like Mark Hamway and Ken Leiter (in 1979-80), both out of Detroit. The next year, we recruited (goalie) Ron Scott, Newell Brown. Gary Haight and David Taylor.&ldquo;They were quality people with good talent. and they wanted to prove that MSU could be successful. Their hearts were in it.&rdquo;Once the word got out that Spartan hockey was on the rise, recruiting became easier. Suddenly, Mason was competing for the top prospects, players who just a few years earlier would not have considered MSU.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0109-0186/10223317-1-eng-US/f0109-012.jpg" title="f0109-01" width="1491" height="1327"><figcaption class="caption-body">Former Spartan Jeff Parker raises the NCAA championship trophy after MSU won the 1986 title with a 6-5 win over Harvard in the final game.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0110-0191/10223310-1-eng-US/f0110-012.jpg" title="f0110-01" width="2211" height="2689"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Murphy, drafted No.1 overall off MSU&rsquo;S campus by Detroit in 1986, spent his first disappointing pro season in the AHL. EX-Spartan Craig Simpson (inset), No.2 in 1985, has played well for Pittsburgh.</figcaption></div>The mix of talent and character continued, as Mason lured such players as Lyle Phair, Dan McFall, Dale Krentz, Mike Donnelly, Kelly Miller, Craig Simpson, Jeff Parker, Don McSween, Mitch Messier, Bill Shibicky, Joe Murphy and goalies Bob Essensa and Norm Foster.Scott was a two-time All-America, while McFall, Donnelly and Messier each earned the honor once. Murphy spent one year with MSU and became the first college player ever to be picked No. 1 overall at the National Hockey League&rsquo;s entry draft (by Detroit in 1986).In the 1985 draft, Simpson was the second player picked overall (by Pittsburgh).Over the past six seasons, Michigan State has always won 30 or more games and never lost more than 12. As the talent graduates or leaves early for the pros, Mason usually has players in place to pick up the slack.&ldquo;The thing that pleases me the most is our consistency,&rdquo; says Mason. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve maintained a winning program and have done it within the rules.&ldquo;I enjoy seeing our kids&rsquo; fine success on the ice, but it&rsquo;s important to see them do well academically. It&rsquo;s encouraging to see the kids come back to get their degrees. This year, Krentz, Donnelly, Simpson and Murphy were all in summer school.&rdquo;In eight years at MSU, Mason has compiled a 221-108-9 record, and his teams have captured five Central Collegi ate Hockey Association titles. Over his 21-year coaching career, he&rsquo;s had a hand in the development of several other coaches&mdash;including the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; Ted Sator, who served as. an assistant under Mason at Bowling Green.Shawn Walsh, head coach at Maine, worked under Mason at both Bowling Green and MSU. Rick Comley, Northern Michigan&rsquo;s athletic director and hockey coach, played for Mason at Lake Superior State and later served as an assistant at LSSC.&ldquo;I could tell that each had a good sense about the game and that they could teach,&rdquo; says Mason, who has had NHL opportunities but chosen to remain at MSU. &ldquo;Ted wasn&rsquo;t with me long in college, but we&rsquo;ve been together at hockey schools almost every year since. He has the pro penance and now I enjoy learning about the pro game from him. &rsquo;&rsquo;Unlike college football and basketball, college hockey has kept its house clean, avoiding recruiting scandals and other off-ice controversy.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0111-0189/10223303-1-eng-US/f0111-012.jpg" title="f0111-01" width="791" height="1288"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kip Miller, brother of Washington&rsquo;s Kelly, continues a family tradition at MSU.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0112-0199/10223296-1-eng-US/f0112-012.jpg" title="f0112-01" width="1630" height="1628"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Mason presides over the MSU bench during the final moments of the Spartans&rsquo; drive to the national championship two seasons ago.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Hockey isn&rsquo;t a big-dollar sport at most schools, so one player isn&rsquo;t going to bring in millions of do liars,&rdquo; says Mason, a member of the NCAA rules committee. &ldquo;You battle other schools for a kid, but one player isn&rsquo;t going to make or break you.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe it&rsquo;s that much of a problem in the others ports. 1 think things are changing. The frustrate ng problem we face in hockey is determining eligibility. The kid might have played major junior and some schools may think he can be eligible with an appeal to the NCAA&mdash;arid they&rsquo;ll go after him. Some will say, &rsquo;No way is he eligible,&rsquo; and not recruit him.&ldquo;It would be nice if everyone knew exactly where they stand with each player.&rdquo;Finding talent has never been a problem for Mason, who hires sharp recruiters as assistant coaches. And he doesn&rsquo;t care where the players come from, as long as they&rsquo;re good.&ldquo;We just look for the best players who can fit into our system,&rdquo; Mason says. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter if they&rsquo;re from Western Canada, Detroit, Ontario or Minnesota. We go after the top kids in the Detroit area, and we&rsquo;ve had some great kids come through here&mdash;Donnelly. McSween. Hamway, Leiter and others.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re looking for the best players who want to come to school, and if we think we have a shot at them, we&rsquo;ll go anywhere.&rdquo;Mason looks at the 1987-88 season as a rebuilding year. The Spartans lost five outstanding seniors in goalies Foster and Essensa, defenseman McSween, and forwards Messier and Shibicky. In addition, junior forward Kevin Miller was expected to make the U.S. Olympic team.For the first time in seven years, MSU may not be among the main challengers for the national title.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to be very young and inexperienced,&rdquo; Mason says, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s going to be an interesting season. We&rsquo;re not going to be a dominant team and it may be frustrating at times, but it&rsquo;s fun to see players improve and see the team develop.&rdquo;No one expects MSU to fall too far in the CCHA standings, and some coaches still see the Spartans hovering around third or fourth place.&ldquo;We expect to struggle,&rdquo; says Mason, &ldquo;but by the second half of the season, we could be pretty dangerous. We have to be patient, but we&rsquo;re going to build it back.&rdquo;<h2>NCAA</h2>Michigan State and North Dakota are two of the dominant teams in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I hockey. Both are looked at in our NCAA section, MSU in the feature story and UND in the final sidebar on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. There are also stories on the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, Hockey East and Eastern College Athletic Association. &#9632;

f0108-01

Spartan Existence

<div class="byline">BY BILL CRAWFORD</div>While recruiting is always &ldquo;successful&rsquo; &rsquo; before the first puck is dropped, at least two Central Collegiate Hockey Association teams can boast an exceptional influx of new talent.Defending-champion Michigan State, hard hit by graduations, recruited four potentially outstanding forwards and two capable goalies. They bring, perhaps, the best new talent into the league.Other CCHA schools also did fine recruiting jobs, but none can match the coup turned in by Miami.The perennial also-ran Redskins, beginning to emerge as a CCHA contender, won a college and major junior sweepstakes by signing a pair of 17-year-old fraternal twins from Scarborough, Ont.When veteran Redskin winger Ron Saatzer left for his home state and the University of Minnesota, that freed up scholarship money which the Redskins used to lure Scott and Jaan Luik, who played last season for the Toronto Marlboro midgets.Both were drafted by Ontario League junior teams&mdash;right winger Scott 143rd overall by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and defenseman Jaan I44th overall by the Oshawa Generals. The OHL thought more of them than their low-round selections would suggest.Heavy recruitment by Miami, Bowling Green, Michigan, Michigan State and several other schools outside the CCHA led OHL teams to regard the Luiks as only outside possibilities to attend training camp.Scott, a 35-goal scorer last season, stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 210 pounds. Jaan, a touch shorter but just as imposing, collected 20 goals and 60 points.Since the pair joined the Redskins, however, Oshawa acquired Scott&rsquo;s rights from the Soo, in hopes of one day seeing both players in General uniforms.Miami head coach Bill Davidge credits assistant Mike Norton&rsquo;s persistent recruitment for landing the twins.&ldquo;We owe it to him that we have the Luiks in our fold,&rdquo; says Davidge. &ldquo;He worked hard to convince them that we were the best thing for them and the work paid off. We are very happy they chose us.&rdquo;The Spartans are just as happy with their newcomers, especially center Shawn Heaphy. an 18-year-old from the Stratford (Ont.) Cullitons. Last season, Heaphy scored 67 goals (breaking Chicago Blackhawk Ed Olczyk&rsquo;s league record) and 63 assists for Stratford.Other new forwards at MSU include Heaphy&rsquo;s Culliton teammate Pat Murray, a 17-year-old who scored 34 goals and 75 assists last year; 17-year-old Cary Russell (41-61102 in 49 games at Kelowna. B.C.); and 18-year-old Jeff Harding (22 goals in 30 games with St. Michael&rsquo;s. Ont.). Harding was a second-round draft choice of the Philadelphia Flyers this year.The loss of goalies Norm Foster and Bob Essensa could be offset by the acquisition of 20-year-old Jamie Stewart of Langley, B.C. and 17-year-old Jason Muzzatti of St. Michael&rsquo;s. &#9632;

Redskins Recruit Rare Pair

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>Hockey East will be a vastly-changed league in 1987-88.The era of domination by Boston College and Boston University appears over, the full-scale emergence of Maine apparently imminent. But far more important than the difference in game-by-game results will be the difference you don&rsquo;t see, the difference behind the scenes. Hockey East is close to detente with its former partner, the Eastern College Athletic Conference.Over the summer, half of Hockey East&rsquo;s institutional memory quietly disappeared. Lou Lamoriello&mdash;the league&rsquo;s commissioner, founder, godfather and personal embodiment&mdash;has gone to the New Jersey Devils as the National Hockey League club&rsquo;s president.Publicist Denny Hanks becomes executive director of Hockey East. He and New Hampshire&rsquo;s Mike O&rsquo;Neill will divvy up the tasks which Lamoriello had managed solo for Hockey East&rsquo;s first three seasons. The league&rsquo;s executive committee, chaired by BC athletic director Bill Flynn, will oversee them.Lamoriello was also the athletic director at Providence College. He&rsquo;ll be replaced in that role, as will colleagues at three other Hockey East schools&mdash;Maine, New Hampshire and Lowell. Why is all of this administrative detail so important? Does it really matter who&rsquo;s scheduling the toiumeys and signing the checks? You bet it does.Hockey East can be termed only a partial success. It provides great hockey, but it hasn&rsquo;t been drawing enough fans. If the trend continues, the athletic directors will be forced to act. Already under pressure to cut costs, shorten the season and generate revenue, they might just try a little harder to effect a truce with the schools of the ECAC. And these men, who don&rsquo;t have first-hand recollections of the acrimonious breakup of three years ago, might just pushia little harder than their predecessors.As it is, Hockey East&rsquo;s seven teams will play each other three times during the 198788 season, rather than four&mdash;which was overkill&mdash;as they did last year. They&rsquo;ll still play each Western College Hockey Association team once, providing a treat for hockey purists. Unfortunately, mere aren&rsquo;t enough hockey purists. There are, however, a lot of fans who want to see the old-time rivalries rekindled.Most of all, they want the Eastern playoffs back. Until 1985, the Easterns were a rite of spring, regularly jamming Boston Garden. Last year, the separate league playoffs in the Garden drew about four half houses over consecutive nights.This is not to say that a reunion of the leagues would benefit only Hockey East. Boston-area Harvard has been eating the rest of the loop alive with its strong recruitment. RPI, Colgate, Vermont and the other ECAC teams now have only one chance a year to appear in the important recruiting area around Boston. Plus, it&rsquo;s hard to ask a youngster to play for a school 300 miles from home when the player knows he&rsquo;ll play only once a year in front of his family and friends. If a coach can promise him three or four road trips to his neighborhood each year, it&rsquo;s another story.The year 1987-88 will be pivotal for Hockey East and Eastern college hockey. On the surface, nothing much will change except the order of finish at season&rsquo;s end. But underneath, the ducks are going to start realigning themselves. &#9632;

Making Up Is Hard To Do

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>Harvard coach Bill Cleary happily faced a unique predicament during the off-season.The defending Eastern College Athletic Conference champions could have a tough time winning a second straight championship because some of his best players might not be available to him.They could be taking a year off to play for the U.S. Olympic team.&ldquo;I hope they all can go,&rdquo; said Cleary. &ldquo;I told them that we&rsquo;ll survive, life will go on. We might lose a couple of more games because of it, but who cares. &ldquo;If Cleary sounds like a flag-waving, chest-beating patriot, it&rsquo;s because he is. He twice played for the U.S. team, making his debut with the silver medal team of 1956. He was also the team&rsquo;s top scorer in 1960 when the Americans stunned the hockey world by mining gold.Harvard sent six players to the National Sports Festival, one Of the showcase events used to determine the U.S. team. Its losses could be severe, much like those other teams such as Hockey East&rsquo;s Boston College and Boston University could experience.Two of the Harvard forwards hoping to land spots on the U.S. squad were Lane MacDonald and Allen Bourbeau, the top two scorers last season. MacDonald, a native of Mequon, Wis., is fourth on Harvard&rsquo;s all-time scoring list.On defense. Harvard could lose Chris Biotti and Jerry Pawloski. Biotti. who played both forward and defense for Harvard last winter, has represented the U.S. at the World Junior Championships. Also competing for places on the team were versatile defenseman Josh Caplan and sophomore forward C.J. Young.Two Harvard graduates, Scott Fusco and goaltender Dickie McEvoy, also had hopes of wearing U.S. colors in Calgary.&ldquo;You can play in 100 Stanley Cups and not get the thrill of playing in the Olympics,&rdquo; said Cleary. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no feeling like wearing the U.S.A, across your chest&hellip;Utopia would be to see eight Harvard hockey players on the ice for the U.S.&rdquo; &#9632;

Waving The Flag

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0113-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0113-0184/10223434-1-eng-US/f0113-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">North Dakota won&rsquo;t have Hobey Baker Award-winning Tony Hrkac this year. THN&rsquo;s U.S. college player of the year has joined the St. Louis Blues.</figcaption></div>No team has won consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I hockey championships since Boston University in 1971 and 1972.And even though 1987 champion North Dakota won 40 games&mdash;the most in college history&mdash;and had four underclassmen named to either the first or second All America teams, don&rsquo;t bet on the Fighting Sioux to win again in 1988.The Western Collegiate Hockey Association campus has become a raiding ground for the pros. Just as in 1980 and 1982, when the school last won national titles, the Fighting Sioux fought a losing battle with the National Hockey League after the WCHA season ended.Gone are Hobey Baker Award-winner Tony Hrkac and his NCAA-record 116 points, and all-America goalie Ed Belfour. Hrkac gave up his last two years of eligibility to sign with the St. Louis Blues. Belfour, who won 29 of 33 decisions, while posting a 2.43 goals-against average and .915 save percentage, was signed as a free agent by the Chicago Blackhawks. Belfour also gave up his last two years of college eligibility.The Blackhawks also came close to hiring Sioux coach Gino Gasparini, but last-minute negotiations broke down when Chicago wouldn&rsquo;t give Gasparini more than a two-year contract.Gasparini, who is both hockey coach and athletic director at UND, refused to give up that security for the instability of a two-year contract.So while Gasparini will return, several other underclassmen won&rsquo;t. All-America left winger Bob Joyce, a Boston Bruin prospect, has joined the Canadian Olympic Team rather than return to UND for his final season.All-America defenseman Ian Kidd won&rsquo;t be back, either. Kidd could probably crack the lineup of the U.S. Olympic team if he so desired, but it&rsquo;s an even better bet that the free agent will give up his last season of eligibility to turn pro&mdash;possibly with Vancouver.While the U.S. Olympic team may not get Kidd, it has its eyes on players from other WCHA teams&mdash;so much so, in fact, that it&rsquo;s difficult to project a favorite for this season. Suffice to say any of Denver, Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota could emerge on top.The Sioux will have a new look in 1988. A bumper crop of recruits will fill some holes, however, and some younger faces who played support roles behind the stars in 1987 could make the Sioux a contender once again in the WCHA.UND&rsquo;s biggest gun&mdash;Gasparini&mdash;is back. Despite the raids on his young talent, he&rsquo;s still taken teams to the Final Four in five of his nine years as coach at his alma mater.The WCHA no longer dominates college hockey as it did in the past. UND&rsquo;s title ended a stretch of three years in which no league member won the NCAA crown. But the Fighting Sioux revived a glorious conference tradition.Its triumph was the WCHA&rsquo;s 30th in the 40-year history of the tournament.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0114-0193/10223427-1-eng-US/f0114-012.jpg" title="f0114-01" width="2199" height="2825"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gino Gasparini, left, shares a chuckle with UNO assistant coach Dean Blais at a civic celebration in Grand Forks, ND., after the Fighting Sioux won the 1987 NCAA Division I title.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0113-01

National Champs Regroup

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0115-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0115-0181/10223465-1-eng-US/f0115-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0115-01

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0116-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0116-0194/10223531-1-eng-US/f0116-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0118-0187/10223524-1-eng-US/f0118-012.jpg" title="f0118-01" width="5376" height="3580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0120-0190/10223517-1-eng-US/f0120-012.jpg" title="f0120-01" width="5340" height="3580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0122-0188/10223510-1-eng-US/f0122-012.jpg" title="f0122-01" width="5370" height="3580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0124-0193/10223503-1-eng-US/f0124-012.jpg" title="f0124-01" width="2601" height="3544"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0125-0181/10223496-1-eng-US/f0125-012.jpg" title="f0125-01" width="2205" height="2595"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kent Nilsson, now playing in Sweden, was with the Edmonton Oilers long enough to help them win the Stanley Cup for the third time in four years.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0116-01

National League Report

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0126-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0126-0185/10223562-1-eng-US/f0126-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0126-01

NHL Award Winners, All-Star Teams

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0127-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0127-0181/10223607-1-eng-US/f0127-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0128-0191/10223600-1-eng-US/f0128-012.jpg" title="f0128-01" width="2651" height="3579"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0129-0183/10223593-1-eng-US/f0129-012.jpg" title="f0129-01" width="2550" height="1413"></div> &#9632;

f0127-01

1987-88 NHL Schedule

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0129-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0129-0259/10223659-1-eng-US/f0129-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0130-0184/10223652-1-eng-US/f0130-012.jpg" title="f0130-01" width="5340" height="3580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0132-0184/10223645-1-eng-US/f0132-012.jpg" title="f0132-01" width="2691" height="3580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0133-0185/10223638-1-eng-US/f0133-012.jpg" title="f0133-01" width="2628" height="1876"></div> &#9632;

f0129-02

American League

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0133-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0133-0259/10223711-1-eng-US/f0133-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0134-0186/10223704-1-eng-US/f0134-012.jpg" title="f0134-01" width="2691" height="3580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0135-0181/10223697-1-eng-US/f0135-012.jpg" title="f0135-01" width="2691" height="3580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0136-0189/10223690-1-eng-US/f0136-012.jpg" title="f0136-01" width="2524" height="1540"></div> &#9632;

f0133-02

International League

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0136-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0136-0254/10223749-1-eng-US/f0136-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0137-0182/10223742-1-eng-US/f0137-012.jpg" title="f0137-01" width="2652" height="1632"></div> &#9632;

f0136-02

Atlantic Coast League

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0137-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0137-0255/10223794-1-eng-US/f0137-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0138-0181/10223787-1-eng-US/f0138-012.jpg" title="f0138-01" width="2691" height="3580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0139-0244/10223780-1-eng-US/f0139-022.jpg" title="f0139-02" width="2678" height="2328"></div> &#9632;

f0137-02

Ontario League

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0139-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0139-0167/10223832-1-eng-US/f0139-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0140-0176/10223825-1-eng-US/f0140-012.jpg" title="f0140-01" width="5334" height="3580"></div> &#9632;

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Western League

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0142-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0142-0170/10223870-1-eng-US/f0142-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0143-0171/10223863-1-eng-US/f0143-012.jpg" title="f0143-01" width="2560" height="1840"></div> &#9632;

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Yearbook 1988

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