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Yearbook 1993
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
CALGARY FLAMES
In a span of three seasons, the Calgary Flames went from a Stanley Cup championship to a team that missed the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. How did the wheels come off? The Flames’ talent base steadily eroded in that 36 months. Some players retired (Hakan Loob, Lanny McDonald, Jim Peplinski). Others were traded (Joe Mullen, Brad McCrimmon). Then came a major 10-player trade with Toronto and the bottom fell out. The cold statistical result: The Flames finished with 74 points, second fewest in team history and their worst year since moving from Atlanta to Calgary in 1980. 1991-92 record: 31-37-12, fifth in Smythe, 16th overall, missed playoffs. Three pivotal factors: 1. The performance of their best players. The Flames need them to rebound from off seasons. Two years ago, Joe…
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Toronto Maple Leaf general manager Cliff Fletcher wants nothing less than the best for his team. When it needed a goaltender, he went out and got Grant Fuhr, perhaps the best in the business. When it needed a new coach, he snatched Montreal’s Pat Burns, one of the best behind the bench. When he made a 10-player swap with Calgary that brought Doug Gilmour and Jamie Macoun, among others, to Toronto, he got the best of the Flames. Unfortunately, Fletcher’s Leafs aren’t the best in the Norris Division. But Fletcher is well on his way to reversing the franchise’s losing attitude that was so predominant in the 1970s and 1980s. 1991-92 record: 30-43-7, fifth in Norris, 19th overall, missed playoffs. Three pivotal factors: 1. Maximum yield from the top players. The Leafs have so few…
THE TOP 250
Better brush up on your spelling. And your pronunciation. Because you’re going to have a tough time doing both at your hockey pool draft this season. With two new expansion teams and the second coming of the Europeans there will be more first-year NHLers in 1992-93 than at any other time since the expansion of 1967. But don't panic, we’ll guide you through the fall classic (hockey pool night, not that other autumn event), tell you who to draft, in what order and, as a special bonus, even provide spelling on the European names. And it’s all in one easy-to-follow ranking of the top 250 hockey pool prospects. Among factors considered in our ranking were a player’s age, his place on a team's depth chart (some lesser player on weak teams outpoint better…
ROCK ’EM SOCK ’EM STEVENS
The next time you watch Kevin Stevens skate down the left wing, realize that beneath the Pittsburgh Penguins’ sweater beats the heart of a catcher. When Stevens was growing up, his field of dreams wasn’t necessarily covered in ice. He was a child divided equally between two passions. He excelled at both hockey and baseball, knocking in as many runs as opposing players into the boards. “Playing baseball I was always Carl Yastrzemski. When I played hockey I thought I was Bobby Orr,” he said “I was like every other kid in the Boston area.” What made Stevens different was his potential to be a professional in either sport. His athleticism and competitiveness were honed as much on the diamond as on the ice. Leadership traits that served him as an all-star catcher…