Canadian Universities

LIFE AFTER ESPOSITO

There will be no legends to lead them. General manager Phil Esposito is gone. Guy Lafleur has moved on and head coach Michel Bergeron has departed, too. The New York Rangers are no longer a glamor team and they will begin the 1989-90 season in search of a new identity. After spending 79 days in first place in the Patrick Division last season, only to suffer a devastating collapse, the Rangers seem to be a team which defies analysis and logic. With spectacular rookies Brian Leetch and Tony Granato leading the way, the Rangers owned a 34-23-8 record on March 2 and then fell apart, losing 12 of their final 15 games. Esposito, who dismissed Bergeron on April 1, went 0-2 in the regular season and then 0-4 against Pittsburgh in the playoffs as…

LONG YEAR AHEAD

How low can the Toronto Maple Leafs go? Well, we’re not quite sure. A week after Gord Stellick unexpectedly resigned as general manager, owner Harold Ballard fired George Armstrong from his position as coach—a position Armstrong really didn’t want, anyway. With training camp just weeks away, Ballard was looking for a new GM from a short list of cronies whose primary qualification was the ability to work with the capricious owner. That’s a situation Stellick found intolerable, so he bolted to the New York Rangers as assistant GM, taking with him whatever semblance of order there was in the organization. No head coach and no GM are significant disadvantages, even in the weak Norris Division. Rivals Detroit and St. Louis have made changes to improve their teams while Minnesota and Chicago made great…

REACH FOR THE TOP

The Civic Arena, that circular structure located on the fringes of downtown Pittsburgh, has long been one of the NHL’s most distinctive arenas. Not only because of what the building has, like a retractable roof, but because of what it lacks—-a championship banner of any sort. In 22 years of regular-season play, along with an occasional visit to the playoffs, the Penguins have never won anything worthy of being commemorated with a pennant. The law of averages, the Penguins figure, is on their side. More importantly, they believe the talent assembled in Pittsburgh over the past few years is of championship caliber. Only the most optimistic members of the organization even dare to dream of a Stanley Cup, but a Patrick Division title seems a reasonable objective. Pittsburgh finished five points behind Washington, the Patrick…