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Yearbook 1994-95

The Hockey News Yearbook 1994-95

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STATISTICS

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011471/10245376-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Young Jets captain Keith Tkachuk has emerged as a classic power forward 36 (TONY BIEGUN/BBS)</figcaption></div>Keith Tkachuk and Brendan Shanahan unknowingly waged a relentless battle that didn&rsquo;t end until the final day of the regular season.It was a battle of toughness and talent, power and power plays, penalty minutes and goals. In the end, Tkachuk emerged triumphant.The Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; left winger is the second winner of the High IQ Award, edging St. Louis Blues&rsquo; left winger Shanahan by the slimmest margin possible.The Intimidation Quotient (IQ) is a statistical measure of players who supply physical play and finesse.It&rsquo;s calculated by multiplying a player&rsquo;s goal total by three and adding amended penalty minutes (total minutes minus game and 10-minute misconducts). Players must have a minimum 30 goals and 100 amended penalty minutes to register on the IQ scale.Tkachuk&rsquo;s winning calculation is: 41 (goals) x 3=123, plus 195 (255 minus 60 in misconducts)=318. Shanahan&rsquo;s runner-up total is 52 (goals) x 3=156, plus 161 (211 minus 50 in misconducts)=317.A one-point game.Shanahan didn&rsquo;t quite remove his goalie in the final minute for an extra attacker, but he did put together a last-game surge&hellip;in an attempt to win the High IQ Award we&rsquo;d like to think.Tkachuk held a 309-306 lead over Shanahan entering the final game of the season-a head-to-head battle between the Jets and Blues. Their battle was a classic, covering the entire scope of the Intimidation Quotient. All brute and all brilliance.Tkachuk took a first-period minor penalty, then battling for the puck midway through the second period, he clipped Shanahan with a high stick and received a double minor.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011424/10245369-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="725" height="1512"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Graves is one of six left wingers among the top eight on the IQ Index. (MIKE DIGIROLAMO/BBS)</figcaption></div>Shanahan went to the trainer&rsquo;s room and received 40 stitches in and around his mouth. The Blues&rsquo; star was back on the ice to score two goals in the opening seven minutes of the third period, earning six important IQ points.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t too happy with Keith,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &ldquo;I let him know about it later on.&rdquo;Shanahan was trailing Tkachuk in the IQ race 315-312 as the game wound down. With the Blues comfortably ahead 3-0, Shanahan sought revenge and tried to instigate a fight with an unwilling Tkachuk. Shanahan wound up with a fighting major and game misconduct. Tkachuk wasn&rsquo;t penalized.The major established a 317-315 lead for Shanahan with just minutes remaining. Tkachuk sought ultimate retribution by scoring on Shanahan&rsquo;s penalty in the dying minutes and winning the season&rsquo;s IQ Award by a 318-317 score.Shanahan laughed when told how close the race was.&ldquo;I guess I should have asked (the referee) for an extra instigator penalty when I got the major,&rdquo; Shanahan joked. &ldquo;It was that close, eh?&rdquo;Shanahan would likely have won the IQ title had he played the full 84-game regular season as Tkachuk did. Shanahan played 81 games, three fewer than his Winnipeg rival.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02989/10245362-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="758" height="1751"></div>&ldquo;I had no idea it came down to the last game,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;Brendan&rsquo;s a tough player to play against. He&rsquo;s in your face all night. You&rsquo;ve always got to keep an eye on him. Let him out of your sight and he&rsquo;ll do damage.&rdquo;The same description applies to Tkachuk and all others on the IQ chart. They can bum the opposition in more ways than one.&ldquo;They are very important players,&rdquo; said Hartford Whalers&rsquo; assistant general manager Kevin Maxwell. &ldquo;Along with a goalie, they&rsquo;re probably the most important players on the team.&ldquo;You rarely see any of those (High IQ) guys up for trade.&rdquo;Wendel Clark is an exception. After a career season in which he scored 46 goals and compiled 115 amended penalty minutes, the Toronto Maple Leafs dealt the left winger to the Quebec Nordiques in a trade involving center Mats Sundin.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t see it in the stats, but guys like Tkachuk and Shanahan and Pat Verbeek here in Hartford are the guys who play the same every night, at home or on the road,&rdquo; Maxwell said. &rsquo;That&rsquo;s why Tkachuk is captain and Shanahan would make a good captain.&rdquo;Tkachuk scored 28 goals and 201 penalty minutes as a rookie and boosted those totals to 41 and 255 last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03789/10245355-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="734" height="1519"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brendan Shanahan would have ranked first if he didn&rsquo;t miss three games. (DAN HAMILTON)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I respect him as a player,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the youngest guys in the league who is able to combine the attributes of talent and toughness and you know he&rsquo;s only going to get better. He did a lot last season without (Teemu) Selanne in the lineup. You can tell he&rsquo;s an excellent leader.&rdquo;Tkachuk says the only way he can maximize his effectiveness is to maintain high numbers-penalty minutes and goals.&ldquo;I have a short temper, but I know when to put a lid on it,&rdquo; the 22-year-old said. &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s late in a close game, I know I&rsquo;m better to the team being on the ice rather than in the penalty box.&rdquo;Rick Tocchet of the Pittsburgh Penguins was the first winner in 1992-93, with an IQ rating of 336. His teammate, left winger Kevin Stevens, was next at 292.Completing our top 10 for 1993-94 are: 3) left winger Adam Graves, New York Rangers; 4) Clark, Toronto; 5) Stevens; 6) right winger Theoren Fleury, Calgary Flames; 7) right winger Verbeek; 8) left winger Gary Roberts, Calgary; 9) right winger Scott Mellanby, Florida Panthers; 10) center Keith Primeau, Detroit Red Wings.Among those missing the top 10 because their amended penalty minute totals were below 100 was center Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers. Expect Lindros, who missed 19 games due to injury in 1993-94, to be a contender for the High IQ title this season. &#9632;

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FEATURES

HIGH IQ

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0123-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0123-0180/10246863-1-eng-US/f0123-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ADAM GRAVES (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>The New York Rangers are about to find out just how good a coach Mike Keenan really is.The man who guided the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup championship in 54 years left the team over the summer to join the St. Louis Blues. Exactly how much Keenan had to do with the Rangers&rsquo; triumph will become known this season.We&rsquo;re not saying Keenan was solely responsible for New York&rsquo;s win, but this much is indisputable: The Rangers hadn&rsquo;t won the Cup in 54 years before his arrival and things didn&rsquo;t look near as good for them before he was hired in 1993.That&rsquo;s not to say the Rangers can&rsquo;t win the hardware without Iron Mike. Any team with Mike Richter in goal; Brian Leetch and Sergei Zubov on defense and Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Alexei Kovalev and Petr Nedved up front has a solid enough foundation upon which to build.Throw in useful veterans such as Steve Larmer and Greg Gilbert into the mix and there&rsquo;s every reason to believe the Rangers could spoil what once were the NHL&rsquo;s longest-suffering fans with another Cup.Without Keenan at the helm, the Rangers should be out to prove they can win it with anyone behind the bench.The Rangers got a lot of help from veteran imports, mainly ex-Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks parachuted in at the trade deadline, but the core of this championship team is young and in its prime.1993-94 record: 52-24-8, first in Atlantic, first overall, won Stanley Cup 4-3 over Vancouver. Power play: 23 per cent (first overall); penalty-killing: 84.6 per cent (third overall).Off-season acquisition: Petr Nedved, C.Candidates for promotion: Corey Hirsch, G; Joby Messier, D; Mattias Norstrom, D.Three pivotal factors: 1. Continued emergence of young stars. Graves, Zubov and Kovalev played integral roles in the Rangers&rsquo; success. Graves has Messier-type leadership qualities; Zubov is a force on defense and Kovalev may yet evolve into one of the game&rsquo;s premier offensive talents.2. Veteran leadership. Messier vowed immediately after winning the Cup last season he would do everything in his power to make sure it remains in Manhattan. Can he back that promise? We aren&rsquo;t about to doubt a man who guaranteed a victory in Game 6 of the semifinal in New Jersey with the Rangers trailing the series 3-2-and ensured it by scoring a third-period hat trick. The Rangers need Messier, Lanner. Kevin Lowe and Jay Wells to. at the very least, contribute as they did last season. Larmer&rsquo;s production tailed off a bit. but he remains a dependable two-way player.3. The new coach. Will the Rangers be as motivated now that they&rsquo;ve exorcised the ghosts of 1940? Will they be able to motivate themselves without Keenan there or will they use his departure as a crutch this season? Say what you will about Keenan, but many of his methods were very effective and he got a team laden with talent to put it all together. The new man behind the bench will have Keenan&rsquo;s shadow and past success to deal with so it&rsquo;s imperative he make his own mark on the team early.State of goaltending: Those nightmares of Ron Francis scoring on him from the parking lot have faded for Richter. The most valuable player in last season&rsquo;s NHL All-Star Game was a key element in the Rangers&rsquo; Cup run. One year after being banished to the minors for six games, he bounced back to lead the league in wins during the regular season (42) and playoffs (17). At 28. Richter should be able to carry the bulk of the goaltending load for years to come. This is not good news for veteran Glenn Healy, 32, or up-and-comer Corey Hirsch, 22. Healy wants to be a No. 1 goalie. Hirsch helped the Binghamton Rangers win the American League championship two years ago and played superbly for silver medal-winning Canada at the 1994 Winter Olympics.Most pressing need: A left defenseman or two. After Leetch, there are a couple of 35-year-olds-Lowe and Wells. Both players are still capable of contributing in limited fashion, but most of the special-teams duty falls on Leetch&rsquo;s shoulders. The Rangers definitely must break in a young left defenseman or two to ease the heavy burden on Leetch.Breakthrough player: Stephane Matteau represents the type of winger-a big grinder with offensive potential-that championship teams require. That&rsquo;s why Keenan pushed general manager Neil Smith to get the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder from the Blackhawks at the trade deadline. The upside is the 25-year-old left winger came through with a strong post-season performance. The downside is two teams, Chicago and the Calgary Flames, who drafted him 25th overall in 1987, gave up on him. New York could be his last stop. The Rangers expect him to score about 30 goals and play with grit-a tall order for someone who hasn&rsquo;t even registered a 20-goal season yet in his NHL career.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0124-0196/10246856-1-eng-US/f0124-012.jpg" title="f0124-01" width="734" height="790"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0124-0250/10246849-1-eng-US/f0124-022.jpg" title="f0124-02" width="1043" height="1489"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Leetch (JIM MclSAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0124-0334/10246842-1-eng-US/f0124-032.jpg" title="f0124-03" width="737" height="811"></div>Organization: The Rangers are not impressed with twin talents Chris and Peter Ferrant, after they signed with the independent Atlanta Knights of the International League. Peter, whom the Rangers drafted in the first round in 1992, is the better of the twins and the Rangers hoped to get him in the organization this season. Those in the organization who have earned positive reviews include left defenseman Michael Stewart, the 13th overall pick in 1990; junior graduate Eric Cairns, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 217 pounds; and Niklas Sundstrom who scored seven goals and 17 points in 29 games with MoDo of the Swedish Elite League last season.Coach/GM: Keenan and Smith were hockey&rsquo;s answer to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis-they didn&rsquo;t like each other, but worked well together. Keenan&rsquo;s departure means Smith&rsquo;s job in New York is safe. Smith, who was named Executive of the Year by The Hockey News in 1993-94, had hoped to build through the draft, but quickly realized how demanding Ranger fans are and realized he had to make deals to speed up the process. Still, the former scout is a keen judge of talent and is considered among the best in the business.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0124-0420/10246835-1-eng-US/f0124-042.jpg" title="f0124-04" width="602" height="1030"></div>Playoff history: The final chapter of one of hockey&rsquo;s oldest stories was written when the Rangers hoisted the Cup. The ghosts have been exorcised. The curse has been lifted. Could there possibly be anything about the Rangers&rsquo; dreadful playoff history and 54-year Stanley Cup drought you didn&rsquo;t have beaten into your brain last season? Look on the bright side, a new chapter has been started. It couldn&rsquo;t possibly take 54 years for the Rangers to win another Cup&hellip;could it?For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0125-0184/10246828-1-eng-US/f0125-012.jpg" title="f0125-01" width="2591" height="3500"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0126-0189/10246821-1-eng-US/f0126-012.jpg" title="f0126-01" width="2415" height="2358"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0126-02_ad2/10246814-1-eng-US/f0126-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0126-02_Ad" width="2395" height="902"></div> &#9632;

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NHL TEAMS

Two much too soon? Don’t bet against it

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0087-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0199/10246143-1-eng-US/f0087-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE MODANO (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>Texas is indisputably football country, but the Dallas Stars put hockey on the map in the Lone Star State.Not only did the Stars, who moved to Dallas last season after 26 years in Minnesota, enjoy their best regular season ever, they were a hit at the gate. The Stars drew an average of 16,124 per game, third best in the NHL and 96 per cent capacity, up from 13,947 in their final season in Minnesota.The move obviously agreed with the players. One year after missing the playoffs, in a season thrown into disarray amid rumors the team might be moving, the Stars recorded club records with 42 wins and 97 points.They enjoyed a measure of success in the playoffs, easily disposing of the St. Louis Blues in four games before losing out to the Vancouver Canucks in five.Their formula for success is quite simple: Outwork the opposition. After center Mike Modano, who enjoyed his best season ever by reaching the 50-goal plateau for the first time, the Stars are not exactly a collection of stars. That&rsquo;s why the loss of defenseman and captain Mark Tinordi Feb. 23 to a broken leg was too much for a team with little depth to overcome.Linder the guidance of coach and general manager Bob Gainey, one of the game&rsquo;s best-ever defensive forwards as a player, Dallas places a great deal of emphasis on the defensive aspect of the game.It may not be the most exciting brand of hockey, but it worked just fine for the brand new team in Dallas.1993-94 record: 42-29-13, third in Central, eighth overall, lost Western Conference semifinal 4-1 to Vancouver. Power play: 18.4 per cent (15th overall). Penalty killing: 84.1 per cent (fourth overall).Off-season acquisitions: None.Candidates for promotion: Todd Harvey, LW; Mark Lawrence, RW; Jarkko Varvio, RW.Three pivotal factors: 1. The continued emergence of Modano. The 24-year-old, five-year veteran has been a superstar in waiting-a handsomely paid one at $1.8 million a season-since being picked first overall in 1988. After averaging just 31 goals a season in his first four years in the NHL, Modano broke through with 50 and equalled his single-season high of 93 points. The Stars are thrilled with his production, but don&rsquo;t believe 50 goals is a ceiling. One of the NHL&rsquo;s fastest skaters and hardest shooters, there is reason to believe he can post higher totals. Look for even better things from Modano this season.2. Goaltending. The Stars are satisfied with their goaltending tandem of veterans Andy Moog and Darcy Wakaluk, but need them to steal a few more games the way John Vanbiesbrouck did for the Florida Panthers. A team such as the Stars that plays it so conservatively on offense can&rsquo;t afford to have anything less than superb goaltending.3. The young turks. In Derian Hatcher, Doug Zmolek and Richard Matvichuk, the Stars boast three excellent young defensemen with great size. Hatcher recovered from his sophomore slump to record his best offensive season, 12 goals and 31 points, while improving his defensive game immensely. Matvichuk split his season between Dallas and the Kalamazoo Wings of the International League and should be ready to challenge for more playing time with the Stars. Zmolek, a tough customer, was brought in late for toughness in the absence of Tinordi.State of goaltending: Moog and Wakaluk will likely split the number of games again. Moog, 34, struggled somewhat in dropping from 37 wins the season before with the Boston Bruins to 24 with the Stars. The 28-year-old Wakaluk had his best season yet, going 18-9-6 and was 4-1 in playoffs. Mike Torchia had something of a breakthrough with Kalamazoo, physically, not statistically. He will likely start his third season in the minors, but if he continues to win the battle of the bulge, he could see action with Dallas. Dallas&rsquo; goalie of the future is Manny Fernandez of the Quebec League&rsquo;s Laval Titan. He guided the Titan to the best record in the QMJHL, a berth in the Memorial Cup and was a first team all-star. They also have Chad Lang, who will play his fourth season with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario League.Most pressing need: A big left winger or center. Last season Dave Gagner performed for the Stars at both positions. While the 29-year-old, 10-year veteran enjoyed a decent season statistically, scoring 32 goals and 61 points in 76 games, the acquisition of one or the other would allow Gagner to settle in at one position. Ideally, that would be as the second-line center behind Modano.Breakthrough player: Right winger Trent Klatt showed signs of being at home in the NHL, boosting his goal total to 14 from four the season before, but he lacked consistency. The Stars envision the swifts-kating 23-year-old Klatt as an all-around performer capable of scoring 30 goals and killing penalties. They will be looking for him to take a few steps in that direction next season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-01115/10246136-1-eng-US/f0088-012.jpg" title="f0088-01" width="744" height="799"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-0253/10246129-1-eng-US/f0088-022.jpg" title="f0088-02" width="1061" height="1556"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Gagner (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-0333/10246122-1-eng-US/f0088-032.jpg" title="f0088-03" width="740" height="769"></div>Organization: In the off-season, the Stars signed 19-year-old center Todd Harvey, the ninth overall pick from the 1993 draft. Described as a Dale Hunter-type, Harvey scored 34 goals and 85 points with the Detroit Jr. Wings of the OHL last season. They thought they had Jere Lehtinen lined up for next season, but the 21-year-old right winger has opted for one more year in the Finnish Elite League. In 36 games with TPS Turku last season, the Stars&rsquo; third pick in the 1992 draft scored 16 goals and 33 points. Fellow Finn Juha Lind is also a highly-regarded prospect, but is a couple of years away from joining the organization. Center Jamie Langenbrunner, whom the Stars drafted 35th overall in 1993 out of Cloquet High School in Minnesota, was one of the top rookies in the OHL last season, leading Peterborough in scoring with 33 goals and 91 points in 62 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-0415/10246115-1-eng-US/f0088-042.jpg" title="f0088-04" width="603" height="1036"></div>Coach/GM: The respect the 40-year-old Gainey earned as a player has carried over into his coaching and managing careers. That&rsquo;s because he demonstrates the same honest work ethic-along with an even temperament-as a coach and GM as he did when he played. In his first season as coach of the Minnesota North Stars, he guided the team all the way to the final, knocking off the top two teams from regular season along the way. Although they were beaten by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup final, Gainey made his mark as a coach. The 1992-93 season was filled with frustration, but Gainey showed his true colors by remaining patient. It paid off for the Stars last season.Playoff history: The Stars have made it to the final twice, in 1981 and 1991, but have not won the Cup in their 27-year history.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-01103/10246108-1-eng-US/f0089-012.jpg" title="f0089-01" width="2611" height="3530"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-01110/10246101-1-eng-US/f0090-012.jpg" title="f0090-01" width="2324" height="2410"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-02_ad2/10246094-1-eng-US/f0090-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0090-02_Ad" width="2338" height="901"></div> &#9632;

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DALLAS STARS

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen and Steve Dryden</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-012175/10245061-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dominik Hasek became the first goalie to crack the 2.00 GAA barrier in 20 years and cracked our list at No. 22. (DAN HAMILTON)</figcaption></div>To rank the NHL&rsquo;s best players, you have to have a little Tie Domi in your blood. You have to be able to take a beating.The Hockey News learned that last fall when we debuted our top 25 list. Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s friends and his coach, Barry Melrose, tore a strip from our hides for ranking him eighth. We still smart from the flogging.But in Domiesque fashion, taking a few licks makes us feel more aggressive. This year, we&rsquo;ve expanded the list to the Top 40, which guarantees we&rsquo;ll make even more people unhappy.Before you draw up your own lists, consider the following: this is a celebration of today, not a salute to yesterday or a projection for tomorrow.We want premium players. If you want to put Peter Forsberg on your list, do so only if you believe he&rsquo;s going to be an impact player in 1994-95. (We debated long and hard about him-and Paul Kariya for that matter, the two best players outside the NHL in 1993-94-but they just missed the final cut.)Don&rsquo;t consider salaries, potential or whether he would make a good neighbor. Do count playoff performance, because winning is what hockey is about, and winning hockey is what this list is about.Here&rsquo;s our Top 40. In parentheses are The Hockey News 1994 Yearbook rankings for those who made the Top 25.1. Mario Lemieux (1): When the Lion is healthy, his roar causes shudders throughout the animal kingdom. He&rsquo;s a great player with less-than-great health-he suffers from back problems and anemia. Despite health concerns, he returns to the No. 1 slot, with an asterisk. Nobody knows how much he&rsquo;ll play this season.2. Doug Gilmour (3): The 165-pound Gilmour has become the 2,000-pound gorilla of the NHL. He does what he wants, when he wants. Though Gilmour doesn&rsquo;t have the Conn Smythe Trophy to prove it, he played just as well as Brian Leetch in the playoffs.3. Sergei Fedorov: He&rsquo;s the only foreign import welcome in the Motor City. That he won the Hart and Selke trophies in the same season says it all. He&rsquo;s a more-offensive, less-gritty version of Gilmour.4. Patrick Roy (7): Simply put, he&rsquo;s one of the best goalies in NHL history.5. Brian Leetch (15): Comparisons to Bobby Orr flowed freely during the playoffs. But those who played against Orr said Leetch is much better defensively. A lasting impression from the final: the surprised look on Pavel Bure&rsquo;s face when Leetch pile-drove him into the boards.6. Eric Lindros (2): Opponents must be using Kryptonite because Superman has gone from No. 2 last year. When he&rsquo;s healthy, he&rsquo;s the anti-Gret-zky-mean, powerful and cocky. He wears the black hat and dares you to knock it off.7. Wayne Gretzky (8): When we wrote Father Time was looking over his shoulder last year, he responded by winning another scoring title. At 33, he&rsquo;s still a superior being as a passer.8. Pavel Bure (21): It&rsquo;s like Sunday on the autobahn when Bure shifts into high gear. No one in this league, on this planet, is more dangerous 1-on-1.9. Scott Stevens: In a sport with far too many dinosaurs roaming the blueline, Stevens is Tyrannosaurus Rex. He&rsquo;s the carnivore-a ferocious meat-eating predator who can swallow forwards whole. His offensive contributions are a bonus.10. Jeremy Roenick (10): He&rsquo;s a modern-day Musketeer, a swashbuckling soldier who blazes down ice, runs goalies and possesses a deadly shot. He plays with as much verve and nerve as any player.11. Chris Chelios (4): Brian Burke suspended Chelios for the same indiscretions he would love him for if he were his general manager. We&rsquo;re not condoning heinous acts of violence; Chelios got carried away in 1993-94. But he&rsquo;s a great defenseman because he plays on the edge.12. Felix Potvin: When Potvin spreads butterfly deep in his crease, you would swear he has every inch of the net covered. Within five years, the world will be swimming in butterfly netminders.13. Ray Bourque (14): He is the league&rsquo;s most consistent three-zone defenseman. At 33, he plays a smart, proficient defensive game, while creating offense.14. Brendan Shanahan: Everyone laughed at the St. Louis Blues when they lost Scott Stevens to get Shanahan, but that trade is more realistic today (though we still wouldn&rsquo;t do it). Shanahan is the kind of power forward so difficult to obtain in a trade.15. Pat LaFontaine (5): We called LaFontaine a Porsche last year and he ended up in the body shop after blowing out his knee. Bumped out and boasting a fresh coat of paint, LaFontaine should achieve maximum RPMs in 1994-95.16. Mike Modano: Tampa Bay Lightning coach Terry Crisp said he would break out in hives if he were a defenseman watching Modano break in on him. He can be as dangerous as Lemieux or Bure.17. Steve Yzerman (12): Just like he followed LaFontaine in the 1983 draft, Yzerman follows him out of the garage and onto our Top 40 list. Stevie Wonder is coming off back surgery after a season in which he only averaged an assist per game.18. Teemu Selanne (6): Think about the 76 goals Selanne had in 1992-93, not the 25 he had in injury-plagued 1994-95. He&rsquo;s still champagne in a sea of malts and ales.19. Al Maclnnis: Maclnnis had a big shot; now he is a big shot. And nobody can say he&rsquo;s underap-preciated and underpaid anymore.20. Mark Messier (20): Of all the intellectual musings that escaped coach Mike Keenan&rsquo;s lips during the final, the one that lingers is this: &ldquo;Mark Messier is the greatest leader in sports today.&rdquo; Messier knows more about winning than any player in hockey.21. Bill Ranford: If the Detroit Red Wings had Ranford in goal, they would have made a run for the Stanley Cup. Ranford is good in the regular season, great in the playoffs.22. Dominik Hasek: The Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; goal-tender is a member of the 2.00-" and-under club alongside leg-I ends Bernie Parent, Jacques Plante and Glenn Hall. We like the company he keeps.23. Cam Neely: We thought about asking Lloyd&rsquo;s of London for insurance for this pick. Seriously, Neely&rsquo;s injury record worries us.24. Keith Tkachuk: He&rsquo;s a young man with old hockey values. A captain at age 22, he&rsquo;ll give you 40 F goals and 40 lashes.25. Adam Oates (22): Mother always extolled the virtues of Oates in the morning. We like him at J night, too. Brett Hull said it first, then Neely, now we say it: Oates is the best passer this side of Gretzky.26. Brett Hull (11): You still win by scoring k-more goals than the oppostion and Hull produces them at an amazing rate. Fifty-seven last season, 339 over five years. Lost among the goals is the fact Hull is a good passer.27. Alexander Mogilny (13): We clocked Mogilny coming over the blueline one night at Mach III. The man can fly. The man can score. The man must be in our Top 40.28. Mats Sundin: You realize how skilled Sundin is when you hear GMs talk about facing a Gilmour-Sundin one-two center combination.29. Joe Sakic ((18): With Sundin traded, Sakic trade rumors may finally disappear. He&rsquo;s an elite creator of offense.30. Ed Belfour (17): The Chicago Blackhawks haven&rsquo;t won the Cup with Belfour, but they would have been miserable without him. Belfour has a Messier-like attitude about doing what it takes to win.31. Jaromir Jagr: He makes our list because of his danger factor. He&rsquo;s always a threat to beat you with a Play-of-the-Day type move.32. Jari Kurri: The oldest player on our list is also its most responsible. He plays textbook hockey, combining offense and defense like few others in the game&rsquo;s history.33. Luc Robitaille (23): He has averaged 49 goals per season during an eight-year career and is headed for B the Hall of Fame, but he gets no respect-including X from us. We almost didn&rsquo;t include him on the list. Shame on us.34. Kevin Hatcher (24): He&rsquo;s coming off a poor season, but we still view him as a bundle of talent. Defensemen who can score 30 goals are in short supply.35. Rob Blake (16): Every GM spends hours on the phone trying to trade for guy with Blake&rsquo;s skills.36. Kevin Stevens (9): Some say he&rsquo;s not the same player he was two seasons ago, but he&rsquo;s still a 40-goal scorer with speed and gumption.37. Curtis Joseph: If the Blues weren&rsquo;t so poor defensively, Joseph might look as good as Potvin.38. Gary Roberts (25): The left winger gives you goals and guts. The latter helps as much as the former.39. Sergei Zubov: His playoff performance showed anyone who slept through the regular season that he has become an elite NHL defenseman.40. Pierre Turgeon (19): How the mighty has fallen. From No. 1 pick in 1987 to THN&rsquo;s No. 19 last year to No. 40 this season. Watch him make us look bad.<h2>THN&rsquo;S TOP 40 PLAYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012565/10245054-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="2400" height="754"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021752/10245047-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="2385" height="741"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-031047/10245040-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="2389" height="742"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04675/10245033-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="2390" height="762"></div> &#9632;

f0005-01

TOP NHL 40

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012448/10245099-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JOHN GIAMUNDO/BBS)</figcaption></div>You could forgive Mike Richter if he&rsquo;s feeling a little dizzy. The New York Rangers&rsquo; goalie is at the top of the hockey world after leading his team to the Stanley Cup and the view is spectacular.But it&rsquo;s also a very long way down and Richter knows what life is like at the bottom.Richter&rsquo;s troubles started in the 1992 playoffs, when the Rangers were in command over the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. New York was on the verge of taking a 3-1 stranglehold in the second-round series when Richter allowed a 65-foot momentum-turning goal to Ron Francis. The Penguins won in overtime, tied the series and won the next two games.Ugh.The 27-year-old native of Abington, Pa., had to live all summer with that sickly feeling. Eager to redeem himself the following season, Richter tumbled with the rest of teammates from first overall to out of the play-offs. Only Richter&rsquo;s fall was harder than most.First, coach Roger Neilson admonished him for moving from suburban Westchester, where most of the Rangers live, to Manhattan. Then Neilson lost confidence in his goalie. Then Richter was inexplicably made to feel like an outcast. Then he temporarily lost his job as John Vanbiesbrouck&rsquo;s backup to Corey Hirsch. Then he was sent to the Binghamton Rangers of the American League to work on his game. By the time it ended, Richter had his worst professional season, going 13-19-3.Double ugh.By the start of the 1993-94 season, there was so much to prove, not only to his doubters and to himself, but also to a new coach, Mike Keenan, and to the Rangers&rsquo; president/general manager, Neil Smith. It was Smith who showed faith in Richter by trading Vanbiesbrouck to the Vancouver Canucks before the expansion draft.Richter, unable to reach a contractual agreement, decided to play out his option.And Keenan, well, everyone knew how Keenan handled his goalies. The coach had a history of choosing a No. 1 and riding him for most of the season, but he also had the biggest and quickest hook since Sparky Anderson. How would Richter&rsquo;s fragile, beaten psyche handle that?&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want your career to end and say, &rsquo;Gee, I wonder if I had somebody pushing me, what I could have done.&rsquo; I think this is a great opportunity for me,&rdquo; Richter said the night Keenan was hired.Fifteen months later, and at the top, Richter was perhaps the Ranger most stung by Keenan&rsquo;s abrupt departure to the St. Louis Blues.&ldquo;I learned a lot under him,&rdquo; Richter said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;ll be missed in a lot of ways, and I hate to see him go. I liked playing for him a lot. A lot.&ldquo;I owe him an awful lot. He came at a great time, not only for me personally, but for the team. You can only go so far with talent, but the discipline he instilled was a great thing.&rdquo;Keenan tested Richter early and Richter didn&rsquo;t immediately respond. He started the season 0-4-0. But Keenan kept going back to Richter. From that point through Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, Richter went 58-15-5. He had a team-record 20-game unbeaten streak during the season and he began the playoffs 7-0.His 42 regular-season wins were a club record, as were his 16 playoff wins. He had five shutouts during the season and an NHL-record tying four more in the playoffs. He was MVP of the All-Star Game and on the short list of candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy, which was won by his close buddy, Brian Leetch.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the stories within the story,&rdquo; Keenan said minutes after his champagne shower on the Cupclinching night of June 14. &ldquo;Michael&rsquo;s rise to the top of the league, to the top of his game, was epitomized on the last save (on Pavel Bure) he made in the final moments of Game 7.&ldquo;It has been a long road to come from the hardships he has suffered in the past to where he is now. He had a fabulous record, was in the top four or five in the four main statistical categories, and he got better and better and better,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;He believed in the team and the team believed in him.&rdquo;What Richter came to believe, and what the Rangers learned to believe is Richter is a money goalie.The best goalies, the so-called money goalies, all have two things in common. First, and most obvious, is that they&rsquo;re able to win the biggest games.You may not be a pro but you can still look like one. Authentic NHL Center Ice Second, and far more subtle, is that their stats don&rsquo;t tell the whole story. The best goalies make the biggest saves when they&rsquo;re needed most. Billy Smith, for instance, didn&rsquo;t always put up the best numbers, but he won the biggest games. He didn&rsquo;t care if it was 1-0, 5-4 or 11-10. That is the way Vanbiesbrouck, who was Richter&rsquo;s sidekick until last summer, tried to play the game: &ldquo;No matter how many have gone in,&rdquo; Vanbiesbrouck said, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t allow the next one.&rdquo;The money goalies always worry about stopping the next shot, the important shot, and that is what Richter did during the incredible playoff run.&ldquo;Winning the game is your goal,&rdquo; Richter said. &ldquo;When you win and you&rsquo;ve played to the best of your ability, there&rsquo;s no better feeling.&ldquo;That is the kind of player I want to be known as.&rdquo;Richter&rsquo;s most awe-inspiring saves came at the most crucial of times during the play-offs, and most of them weren&rsquo;t in any of his shutouts. They came in games in which he couldn&rsquo;t afford to allow any more goals.His brilliance got lost, for instance, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New Jersey Devils. Mark Messier stole that spotlight by guaranteeing a victory then scoring a natural hat trick in the third period. Leetch had a monster game and so did Alexei Kovalev.But Richter allowed it all to be possible.Ranger forward Sergei Nemchinov, tipped a pass by Richter for a 1-0 Devils&rsquo; lead and a Claude Lemieux deflection had made it 2-0. If Richter let in another goal, the Rangers were done, eliminated.Not only did he not allow another goal in that game, but he didn&rsquo;t allow one in Game 7 until there were 7.7 seconds left. For much of Game 6, Richter was on his own, too, because the Rangers were forced to open the game into a rush-fest, trading chances with the Devils in hopes of creating offense. Messier and Leetch both gave Richter as much credit as they received. &ldquo;Richter was incredible,&rdquo; Messier said.Two nights later, in Game 7, Leetch&rsquo;s goal stood up, thanks to Richter, until the dying seconds. Even then, Richter had stopped shots by Lemieux and Valeri Zelepukin. He almost squeezed another one under his out-stretched left skate, but Zelepukin poked it in. Richter then stopped every shot the rest of the way, including a bouncer off three legs moments before Stephane Matteau&rsquo;s double-overtime series winner. At that point, Richter had allowed one goal in the most crucial 127 minutes of the Rangers&rsquo; year.In the final, Richter continued to do it when the Rangers needed it most.During Game 4 in Vancouver, the Canucks led 2-0 after one period, looking to tie the series at two. After the Rangers cut it to 2-1, Richter had to make five consecutive difficult saves. Then Pavel Bure-whom Richter robbed five times enroute to the All-Star game MVP-broke loose and was pulled down by Leetch. Bure was awarded a penalty shot. Richter charged out of his net, then retreated, but gave Bure nothing. When the Russian Rocket went forehand, backhand, forehand, Richter exploded across the crease to make a split save with his right skate. The Rangers won the game to take a 3-1 lead in the series. They needed all of that lead because Vancouver won the next two games.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-012016/10245092-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="1579" height="2442"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Richter wants to be known around the league as a money goaltender. (BRUCE BENETT/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It was a classic confrontation between one of the most, if not the most electrifying player in the league and one outstanding goaltender who made the biggest save of his career, I&rsquo;m quite sure,&rdquo; Keenan said.&ldquo;He has done it for us all year long,&rdquo; Leetch said. &ldquo;And in the playoffs he has done it even more. We did the same thing against the Devils in Game 6, when we got down 2-0, and he just shut it down and gave us a chance. Without that we might not even have been in the finals.&rdquo;&ldquo;Yeah, we were in a similar situation in the Jersey series,&rdquo; Richter said. &ldquo;Maybe more critical. Those are opportunities you&rsquo;re going to face. That is the best feeling, to come through at those times. That&rsquo;s when you put yourself on the line for your teammates.&rdquo;It doesn&rsquo;t get any higher. Especially when you consider where Richter came from. &#9632;

f0008-01

RICHTER SCALE

<div class="byline">By Keith Gave </div><div class="byline">&#x2014;Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012347/10245144-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="719" height="1433"><figcaption class="caption-body">(DAN HAMILTON)</figcaption></div>As it turned out, one anxious dilemma the Detroit Red Wings faced at the draft table four years ago was a no-brainer.&ldquo;I remember sitting there at the table. It was the fourth round and we were going to take a Russian for the first time,&rdquo; said Ken Holland, Detroit&rsquo;s assistant general manager and scouting director. &ldquo;We were going to take either Pavel Bure or Sergei Fedorov.&ldquo;We went with Fedorov because he was a little bigger and more responsible defensively.&rdquo;And although the Wings admire Bure&rsquo;s accomplishments-two straight 60-goal seasons and a trip to the Stanley Cup final-they have not had an ounce of regret about choosing Fedorov, the most individually honored player in the NHL last season.Fedorov walked off with an unlikely combination of silverware-the Hart Trophy as the league&rsquo;s most valuable player and the Selke Trophy as its best defensive forward-though he finished second to Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings in the scoring race with 56 goals and 120 points.Fedorov also was voted the first-team all-star center and was named the Lester B. Pearson Award recipient as the game&rsquo;s best player in a vote of his peers.The dilemma now is where Fedorov fits among the game&rsquo;s all-time great two-way players. Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; general manager/president Bob Clarke, whom many include in that group, says Fedorov belongs in the upper echelon.&ldquo;There are some awfully good players who fit in that category, but most of them have been North Americans,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;This is the first European who fits in with those types of guys. I think Fedorov erases the European factor.&ldquo;To me, he&rsquo;s another great, talented two-way player regardless of where he&rsquo;s from. He brings the ability, but the toughness, too.Until him, it has always been the North American players who could play like that.&rdquo;But Clarke isn&rsquo;t convinced Fedorov was either the MVP or the best defensive forward in the league last season. If he had a vote on either award, it would have gone to Doug Gilmour of the Toronto Maple Leafs.&ldquo;What Doug Gilmour has done better than Fedorov is he has brought his team farther in the playoffs each year,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;For Fedorov to be considered as good as Gilmour, he&rsquo;s going to have to do that.&ldquo;I actually think Fedorov has had better players around him than Gilmour, but if you eliminated the playoffs, you&rsquo;d have to say they&rsquo;re equal players.&rdquo;Such an assessment wouldn&rsquo;t insult Fedorov. In four seasons, he has begun to be haunted by the same whispers that have followed teammate Steve Yzerman: Great regular-season player, but where is he in the playoffs?In Fedorov&rsquo;s defense, he played the seven-game series last spring against the San Jose Sharks at far less than 100 per cent. He had sustained a serious concussion in a late-season game against the Vancouver Canucks and didn&rsquo;t fully recover from the injury until two weeks after the season ended. But he refused to use that as an excuse.The trophies he won may have filled his heart with pride and his wallet with money (he made $400,000 in bonuses), but his focus is unwavering. He wants his name on the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;I have only one motivation,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t forget all those first-rounds we lose.&rdquo;And his blossoming friendship with Gretzky seems to be helping him develop a winner&rsquo;s mentality decidedly lacking in the Detroit dressing room in recent years.&ldquo;You have to go for it. Don&rsquo;t be afraid to take a shot at it,&rdquo; Fedorov said. &ldquo;You have to believe in yourself and your teammates.&rdquo;Fedorov never lacked confidence in himself. As a rookie, he finished a close second to Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; goaltender Ed Belfour in Calder Trophy balloting.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-012028/10245137-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="2343" height="3200"><figcaption class="caption-body">(SILVIA PECOTA)</figcaption></div>He was disappointed, but not nearly so much as the following year when he finished an even closer second to Guy Carbonneau of the Montreal Canadiens for the Selke.&ldquo;I was sad. I asked myself a lot of questions, like why?&rdquo; Fedorov said. &ldquo;I asked a few people, like Bryan Murray. They didn&rsquo;t know either.&rdquo;Murray was Fedorov&rsquo;s first NHL coach and general manager, who said days after Fedorov&rsquo;s arrival in Detroit that he expected the young Russian to make his mark as a defensive specialist first and &ldquo;eventually score maybe 30-35 goals.&rdquo;The Wings are impressed with the defensive capabilities of centermen trained by famed Central Red Army coach Viktor Tikhonov.&ldquo;It seems like most centermen who played for Tikhonov were very responsible defensively, like (Igor) Larionov,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way he coaches. His No. 1 concern for his centermen is defense, while the wingers are free to go down and do whatever they want.&rdquo;But Clarke, who played against the great early Soviet clubs, doesn&rsquo;t buy completely into that theory.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s face it, a lot of centermen have played under Tikhonov,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re going to be a No. 1 center under him or for any coach, you have to play the game at both ends.&ldquo;In Fedorov&rsquo;s case, I see a great player learning under a great coach. To be a great player you have to understand the game of hockey and obviously Fedorov does that. He has the instincts for the game and he applies them at both ends of the ice.&rdquo;Like Clarke, Gilmour, Jari Kurri, Mike Bossy, Milt Schmidt and, in Clarke&rsquo;s estimation, &ldquo;that kid in Chicago-(Jeremy) Roenick.&ldquo;But the best ever, in my opinion, was Bryan Trottier.&rdquo;&ldquo;Fedorov, in many ways, reminds me of Bryan Trottier,&rdquo; said Wings&rsquo; vice-president Jimmy Devellano, the man who drafted Trottier for the New York Islanders in 1974. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re very, very similar players.&rdquo;Clarke concurred: &ldquo;Trottier was as complete a package as I&rsquo;ve seen. He could score, hit, check, win faceoffs, kill penalties, work the power play. Everything.&ldquo;Gilmour does that. Fedorov does that. And they do it all within the confines of the hockey team. That&rsquo;s the most important thing. That&rsquo;s the real sign of a great player.&rdquo;For Fedorov, though, all such comparisons are premature. After all, he barely has gotten his skates wet in the NHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still learning to play hockey in North America. I&rsquo;m here only four years,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;European hockey is very different from North America, but every year those two styles come closer and closer together.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not easy. You have to adjust to a new lifestyle, learn to play a more defensive, physical style of hockey in this league. It has been very difficult. But I feel like I can play better.&rdquo;A lot of people feel the same way.<h2>Mr. Hockey tips in all three zones</h2>Sergei Fedorov is a great two-way player, but he&rsquo;s not the best ever; he&rsquo;s not even the best in Red Wing history. Gordie Howe is. He&rsquo;s No. 1 on The Hockey News list of all-time super-skilled, two-way players.1. Gordie Howe: One department where Howe beats Great One hands down.2. Bryan Trottier: No way Islanders win four Cups without him.4. Bobby Clarke: Had one of greatest combinations of skill, tenacity in history.5. Dickie Moore: Recognized as one of greatest left wingers of all-time.6. Mark Messier: In Edmonton days, was league&rsquo;s best at both ends of ice.7. Jari Kurri: Has been Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s defensive conscience for years.8. Doug Gilmour: Has blossomed as superstar since moving to Toronto.9. Milt Schmidt: Hall-of-Famer put up great numbers for his era.10. Sergei Fedorov: Will likely move up list before end of career.11. Mike Bossy: Defensive contributions were largely overlooked.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01_ad/10245130-1-eng-US/f0017-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0017-01_Ad" width="2403" height="1579"></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

CLASS ACT

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011732/10245196-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cam Neely&rsquo;s Boston Bruins are nearing the end at the Garden. (BRIAN WINKLER/BBS)</figcaption></div>Like rust, the hockey world never sleeps. In an effort to bring everyone up to speed as the season approaches, here&rsquo;s a look at the NHL from A to Z.A is for Arenas. The United Center? The Kiel Center? Whatever became of Chicago Stadium? The St. Louis Arena? The worst is yet to come. The Shawmut Center? The new Montreal Forum? If you haven&rsquo;t been to the Boston Garden, don&rsquo;t delay. And when it closes up at the end of this season, the shrine in Montreal is next. Call your travel agent.B is for Burke, as in NHL senior vice-president and director of hockey operations Brian Burke. The question is this: When the former NHL general manager&rsquo;s contract with the league expires at season&rsquo;s end, will he sign on for another term with Gary B. Bettman? Or will he return to the front lines with a club? Bet on the latter.C is for CBA, for without a new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and Players&rsquo; Association there will be no need for the ABCs of this season.D is for Down, which is where the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders are headed.E is for Expansion, which as soon as a new CBA is in place, will become the league&rsquo;s primary source of revenue. Cities across North America-chiefly Atlanta, San Diego, Phoenix, Portland, Houston and Milwaukee, are primed for hockey. There is much talk about the league not being ready to expand, which is admirable. But when the costs on a new CBA are tallied this season, the league will have no choice but to court willing suitors. Face it, the NHL is destined to become a 32-team league and this is the season when the expansionary process will begin-again.F is for Fighting, as in Forget about Fighting. For now, anyway. Maybe once the CBA is completed and officiating is overhauled, league power-brokers will have some time and/or real concern for what has traditionally been a hot topic. But it looks as though the anti-fighting bloc is losing steam and the success of the NHL (with fighting) in new areas is proving non-hockey markets will take to the game-just the way it is.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011745/10245189-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="2353" height="1884"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jobs for pugilists such as Mick Vukota of the New York Islanders and Dennis Vial of the Ottawa Senators are safe for now. (JOHN GIAMUNDO/BBS)</figcaption></div>G is lor Goaltending, as in yon don&rsquo;t win without it, Which is why the Bruins, Islanders, Ottawa Senators. Philadelphia Flyers, Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals and Winnipeg lets aren&rsquo;t going to get to where (hey want to get unless they upgrade at that position.H is for Hot, which hockey will continue to be in the damndest places. Just look all the attendance figures for games in the East Coast, Central and International Leagues. If they&rsquo;re buying (he game in the Carolinas. Texas and Vegas, they&rsquo;ll buy it anywhere. Hockey, not just the NI II .. is riding a wave and the rush will continue unabated.I is lor Indictments The attempted extradition of tonner NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Alan Eagleson by the U.S. Attorney&rsquo;s office in Boston will continue and likely come to a head in the 1994-95 season.J is for judges and judgment. One gels the distinct impression the NHL Players&rsquo; Association will mm up the heal by using litigation as the means to its end. Should be fun. eh?K is for Kozlov, as in Victor, who if he finally signs with the San Jose Sharks, will give new meaning to the KLM line with aging Russians Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov.L is for Lindros, and we&rsquo;re not talk in&rsquo; Brett. This is the year the Big E really takes off and posts a 50-goal, 100-point season to go with incredible physical domination. Not even that will get the Flyers in the playoffs, though, unless their goaltending problem is addressed.M is for Mario. Will Le Magnifique play? And if he does, is it a wise decision? I he word in the summer from those who know Lemieux was that he was B & B a little bloated and a lot bitter. Mario thinks the NHL style of play-hooking, holding and interfering-has degenerated into the dumper. His back may be bad. but his attitude could be worse. There were hints during last year&rsquo;s playoffs Mario just can&rsquo;t do the things he used to or lacks the willingness to fight through the restraining tactics to get the job done to his usual standards.N is for Ninety, as in the number of goals Vancouver winger Pavel Bure could score this season if he decides to play each and every game of the 84-match contest.O is for Offensive, which the league needs to get after a low-scoring 1993-94. Great goalies and conservative coaches kept goals (6.48 per game) at their lowest level in 20 years (1973-74,6.39).P is for penalties, which should be called more often away from the play.Q is for Quiet, which is what you hear in too many NHL arenas, especially those in Canada.R is Rookie of the Year, which will be a two-man race between Quebec center Peter Forsberg and Mighty Duck of Anaheim left winger Paul Kariya. Of course, Kariya would have to sign a contract for that to happen. Worth noting is that if Kariya doesn&rsquo;t sign and sits out the season, the talented Gretzky-style player would be an unrestricted free agent.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011625/10245182-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="1556" height="2475"><figcaption class="caption-body">Quebec&rsquo;s Peter Forsberg enters the NHL with Calder Trophy-type expectations. (BRUCE JESSOP)</figcaption></div>S is for Sinden, as in, See ya later, Harry Sinden. The Boston Bruins&rsquo; GM, senior man on the circuit and the most respected by his peers, has said this is his last season. When Sinden goes, the Bruins incredible string of playoff appearances and better-than-.500 seasons will be in danger of going with him.T is for Television. Exposure for the game has never been better. Last spring&rsquo;s terrific playoff run has encouraged ESPN to provide more plentiful coverage. In Canada, there&rsquo;ll be doubleheaders every Saturday on CBC&rsquo;s Hockey Night in Canada, plus weekday coverage from The Sports Network.U is for Up, which is where the Hartford Whalers, Nordiques and St. Louis Blues are all headed.V is for the Victors. The Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers achieved success last spring by a playing an exciting, entertaining brand of hockey. If success breeds imitation, let us pray that most of the teams who played the dreaded neutral-zone trap see the light.W is for Watkins, as in Dr. Robert Watkins, the L.A.-based orthopedic surgeon to the stars of all sports. Dr. Watkins has performed complicated back surgery on Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman, among others. Gretzky&rsquo;s career was salvaged, let us hope the same for Yzerman.X is for X-Rays, of which there are far too many in the game. Whether anyone cares to admit it, the NHL is experiencing an injury epidemic. Backs, knees, shoulders, rotator cuffs, abdominal wall tears, you name it, the NHL has them. And many of the biggest names are being afflicted with serious maladies. Four skaters aside or international size ice may not be definitive cures, but the NHL is showing no foresight by not making it mandatory for the many new arenas to be easily converted into big ice surfaces.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-021178/10245175-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="753" height="1385"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ottawa draft pick Radek Bonk helped make hockey a hit in Las Vegas. (STEVE REYES/BBS)</figcaption></div>Y is for yesteryear, as in the hockey stars of yesteryear. How can any sport treat its former players as shabbily as the NHL has treated the men who made the game what it is today? The NHL&rsquo;s appeal of the ex-players&rsquo; pension lawsuit victory is, all legal gobbledygook aside, a farce and an embarrassment to anyone who calls himself a hockey man.Z is for Zebras. No issue, apart from the NHL&rsquo;s labor problems, will draw more attention than the league&rsquo;s proposed overhaul of officiating. Several veterans are gone, the supervisors have been re-organized, training camp has been extended and video instruction will be employed regularly. The expectation is NHL officiating will be improved, if not in pure quality then at least in terms of consistency. If it&rsquo;s not, you will hear the howls all season long. &#9632;

f0019-01

ALPHABET SCOOP

<div class="byline">C.J. RELKE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011563/10245227-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"></div>You&rsquo;ve read about them. You&rsquo;ve seen a glimpse of them. Now you&rsquo;re going to get an eyeful.Peter Forsberg and Paul Kariya are expected to make huge splashes in their NHL debuts.Anything less will be disappointing.Their achievements have been well-chronicled the past two years and now-the contract gods willing in Kariya&rsquo;s case-they will go head-to-head in a Calder Trophy showdown.Our money is on Forsberg-even if he hasn&rsquo;t played on an NHL-size ice surface.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen a rink like this.&rdquo; Forsberg said after watching a 1994 playoff game. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not a lot of space to do anything with the puck.&rdquo;We suspect Forsberg will adapt quickly enough to be a major force by the season&rsquo;s second half.He&rsquo;s older, bigger and surrounded by better teammates in Quebec than Kariya in Anaheim.Forsberg. 21. may not be the better player five years from now.He was called one of the best five passers in the world two years ago. but it&rsquo;s Kariya. 20. who astonished the hockey world with Gretzky-like intuition last year.Other rookie-of-the-year candidates include Florida Panthers&rsquo; No. I overall pick Ed Jovanovski. their Orange Crush defenseman.He&rsquo;s a longshot, but no more so than, say. Jason Arnott of the Edmonton Oilers entering the 1993-94 season.More likely to make an impact is Radek Bonk, the Las Vegas Thunder and lightning center who-money permitting-will give the Ottawa Senators the most exciting group of young centers in hockey history.Sound excessive? Get a load of Alexei Yashin and Alexandre Daigle.Making predictions is a mug&rsquo;s game, but Forsberg will be joined by New York Rangers&rsquo; defenseman Brian Leetch (Norris Trophy). Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; center Doug Gilmour (Hart Trophy). Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; goalie Patrick Roy (Vezina Trophy) and Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; coach Marc Crawford (Adams Trophy) on the 1994-95 league honor roll.That&rsquo;s right. Crawford will be named coach of the year in his rookie season. He probably won&rsquo;t get our vote because we think first-year coaches on teams that underachieved the previous season are favored by voters.But lots of people will be impressed by the Nordiques&rsquo; revival under Crawford and he&rsquo;ll be singled out at the NHL awards evening next June.Speaking of which, here&rsquo;s one more prediction:There won&rsquo;t be a leak before the annual awards ceremony again. No. if the identities of award-winners are revealed early in 1995. there will be a Hood.Of blood.-Steve Dryden and Mike Brophy<h2>1994-95 Standings A fearful forecast</h2><h3>EASTERN CONFERENCE</h3><h4>Atlantic Division</h4>1. New York Rangers2. New Jersey Devils3. Washington Capitals4. Philadelphia Flyers*5. New York Islanders*6. Florida Panthers*7. Tampa Bay Lightning*<h4>Northeast Division</h4>1. Pittsburgh Penguins2. Quebec Nordiques3. Buffalo Sabres4. Montreal Canadiens5. Boston Bruins6. Hartford Whalers*7. Ottawa Senators*<h3>WESTERN CONFERENCE</h3><h4>Central Division</h4>1. Detroit Red Wings2. Toronto Maple Leafs3. St. Louis Blues4. Chicago Blackhawks5. Winnipeg Jets6. Dallas Stars*<h4>Pacific Division</h4>1. Vancouver Canucks2. Calgary Flames3. San Jose Sharks4. Los Angeles Kings*5. Anaheim Mighty Ducks*6. Edmonton Oilers*&rsquo;Asterisks indicate non-playoff teams<h3>President&rsquo;s Trophy</h3>Regular-Season ChampsDetroit Red Wings<h3>Western Finalists</h3>Detroit Red WingsToronto Maple Leafs<h3>Eastern Finalists</h3>New York RangersPittsburgh Penguins<h3>Stanley Cup Finalists</h3>Detroit Red WingsNew York Rangers<h3>Stanley cup Winner</h3>Detroit Red Wings &#9632;

f0024-01

LOOKING AHEAD

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011447/10245279-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BRUCE BENNETT/BBS)</figcaption></div>The official announcement, when it finally came June 16, was anti-climactic.There had been so many rumors, so much speculation and now it was time to come clean: Pavel Bure and the Vancouver Canucks had found mutual happiness in a long-term contract.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011555/10245272-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="2336" height="1911"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pavel Bure expects to remain in Vancouver for a long time after signing a six-year, $25-million contract at season&rsquo;s end. (C.J.RELKE)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We are very proud,&rdquo; said Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; president and general manager Pat Quinn, &ldquo;that we&rsquo;ll have Pavel in our organization for a long time to come.&rdquo;The Russian Rocket, a man of mystery just three summers ago, had become everything the Canucks hoped and desired. He was the dazzling goal-scorer they never had, a game-breaking, breathtaking, crowd-pleasing, human highlight film. He was a keeper and the Canucks were damn-well going to keep him.The deal is for six years, retroactive to the 1993-94 season, and worth approximately $25 million (U.S.). It includes Bure&rsquo;s marketing rights and a job for his father, Vladimir, as a &ldquo;fitness and marketing&rdquo; consultant. Vladimir, needless to say, would be keeping just one Canuck fit.&ldquo;The contract is staggering,&rdquo; acknowledged Canucks&rsquo; owner Arthur Griffiths. &ldquo;We think he would be the third-, fourth- or maybe fifth-highest paid player in the league. The way I look at it, you&rsquo;re either in business or you&rsquo;re not. There are marquee individuals who are key to your success and you have to be sure you have them on your roster. It didn&rsquo;t escape us that we had to make sure we had Pavel here for a long time.&rdquo;Bure, who has impressed so many with his incredible talents, was even impressed with himself. Twenty-five million at age 23. Someone get this guy to the bank.&ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s huge money,&rdquo; said Bure, who admitted to feeling &ldquo;all right&rdquo; that he had become so wealthy. &ldquo;I never dreamed about something like this. I worked hard for 16 years to get to this point and I think I did something unbelievable for myself. I&rsquo;m really excited I will be spending lots of years in Vancouver.&rdquo;It all began in Moscow, at the Red Army Sports Club. Vladimir Bure was an Olympic swimmer and he fancied that his first born, Pavel, would follow in his wake. Pavel could swim before he could walk, but swimming was not his passion. He wanted to play hockey. From the time he was old enough to express himself, it was only hockey.&ldquo;How could I say no?&rdquo; Vladimir chuckled, his shoulders shrugging in mock surrender.Bure grew up in the controlled environment of Soviet athletics and he excelled. While hockey people were aware of his tremendous talent, Bure didn&rsquo;t gain international prominence until the 1989 World Junior Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.There, a left winger named Alexander Mogilny, was being touted as the next great Soviet star. Center Sergei Fedorov was a rising star as well. Bure was the right winger on the line, the fastest and youngest of the three.Canucks&rsquo; chief scout Mike Penny had seen Bure just once before. It was in September 1988, at a tournament featuring the Swedes, Finns, Czechoslovaks and Soviets.&ldquo;He was captivating even then,&rdquo; said Penny of his greatest drafting coup. &ldquo;He was very small, like Paul Kariya, but he could just fly and he had too much hockey sense. He caught your attention right away. Even though he didn&rsquo;t have much size, you just kind of knew.&rdquo;The Canucks selected Bure in the sixth round (113th overall) of the 1989 NHL entry draft. There were howls of protest from rival GMs who claimed Bure was ineligible. In those days, the drafting of 18-year-olds was restricted to the first three rounds unless there were special circumstances. The Canucks felt there were.After a year-long investigation, former NHL president John Ziegler didn&rsquo;t agree and ruled Bure ineligible. He would have to go back into the draft. The Canucks, convinced they were right, produced the documentation that supported their position.Igor Larionov, then a Canucks&rsquo; player, and Igor Kuperman, a journalist eventually hired by the Winnipeg Jets, secured missing scoresheets that proved Bure had played 11 games at either the elite or international level, the criteria at the time.Ziegler reversed himself and the Canucks had their man. Or at least his NHL rights.A year later, in the summer of 1991, their man tumbled into their arms like a gift from the gods. Upset the Soviet Union&rsquo;s Central Red Army insisted Pavel sign a threeyear contract, Vladimir Bure decided to take Pavel and younger brother Valeri on a &ldquo;vacation&rdquo; to Manhattan Beach, Calif. Waiting for them was agent Ron Salcer and his Russian associate, Sergei Levin.The negotiations that followed were hot and heated. The Russians knew Pavel wasn&rsquo;t coming back, but they demanded a financial settlement for his release. The soap opera dragged on for nearly two months, culminating Oct. 31, 1991 in a Detroit courtroom where Bure kicked in the final $50,000 to end the haggling.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say the new contract is a pretty good return on a $50,000 investment,&rdquo; said Salcer, understating the case.Bure, in fact, didn&rsquo;t need to wait that long to recoup the $50,000. He won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year despite missing training camp and the season&rsquo;s first 15 games. His bonus for the Calder? Why, $50,000, of course.It has been a steady climb from there to the head of the class.Bure scored 60 times in 1992-93, the first Canuck in team history to surpass the 50-goal plateau. But two other European right wingers, former linemate Mogilny and Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; Teemu Selanne, outscored him by 16. In 1993-94, Bure erased all doubt.Despite missing eight games with a groin injury, then suffering through a first-half slump, the Russian Rocket again reached the 60-goal mark. He scored 46 times in his last 46 games and led the league in goals. In a season when scoring was at its lowest level in 20 years, Bure didn&rsquo;t miss a beat.Wayne Gretzky and retired New York Islanders&rsquo; ace Mike Bossy are the only two players to score more goals than Pavel Bure (34-60-60=154) during their first three full seasons in the NHL.Here are the top 10 three-year scorers in NHL history. Listed are games played, goals-per-game averages and goals.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011566/10245265-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="1047" height="2170"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BRUCE BENETT/BBS)</figcaption></div>At a 60-goal pace, Bure would need to play another 11-plus seasons to reach Gordie Howe&rsquo;s and Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s 800-goal plateau. Bure would be 34 years old. Gretzky, who has 803 career goals, is 33.Bure was the fans&rsquo; choice for the mid-season All-Star Game and the writers&rsquo; choice for the post-season first all-star team. He was the first Canuck in the club&rsquo;s 24-year history to make the first team, yet another feather in his cap.Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; coach Eddie Johnston, who has a star-studded cast at his own fingertips, is suitably impressed.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say he&rsquo;s one of the top five players in the league right now,&rdquo; said E.J. after the Canucks and Penguins met twice in March.Of course, a player&rsquo;s biggest test comes in April, during the post-season. Bure would have to prove he was more than a regular-season wonder.He entered the 1994 playoffs with 11 goals in 25 career post-season games. Pretty good by most people&rsquo;s standards, but not up to snuff for him. Even worse, he had poor second series in both 1992 against the Edmonton Oilers and 1993 against the Los Angeles Kings, series in which the Canucks were eliminated after first-place finishes.Bure did not let anyone down in 1994. Despite being shadowed by the Calgary Flames, mugged by the Dallas Stars and watched closely by the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers, Bure still led all playoff scorers with 16 goals.He, along with goalie Kirk McLean and captain Trevor Linden, helped carry Vancouver to the Stanley Cup final and a memorable seven-game loss to the Rangers.Along the way, Bure scored the double-overtime goal that eliminated Calgary, threw a vicious blindside elbow that kayoed Dallas tough guy Shane Churla and scored back-breaking goals against both the Stars and Leafs. He had eight points in the final despite playing with strep throat as the series opened.When the book finally closed on 1993-94, Bure owned or shared 26 club records. Perhaps even more scary-for the opposition anyway-is the widely shared belief that Bure has yet to reach his pinnacle. The money is not expected to spoil him. He loves to play and score.&ldquo;This guy,&rdquo; summed up Penny, &ldquo;is a thoroughbred.&rdquo;No one would disagree.<h2>THREE-YEAR SCAN:BURE&rsquo;S GOAL RUSH</h2>Wayne Gretzky and retired New York Islanders&rsquo; ace Mike Bossy are the only two players to score more goals than Pavel Bure (34-60-60=154) during their first three full seasons in the NHL. Here are the top 10 three-year scorers in NHL history. Listed are games played, goals-per-game averages and goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-021078/10245258-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="719" height="590"></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

GOING FOR GOAL

<div class="byline">By Steve Kettman</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011544/10245324-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(STEVE BABINEAU)</figcaption></div>Latvian goalie Arturs Irbe showed up at the San Jose Sharks&rsquo; pre-season camp two years ago with high expectations.The season before, he led the Kansas City Blades to an International League championship while forging a close relationship with a fiery, young Minnesota coach named Kevin Constantine.Irbe, then 25, felt he had long since earned the right to show what he could do in the NHL. His three years on the Soviet national team-which he left in January, 1991 following Russian-sponsored violence in Latvia-included the honor of being name top goalie at the 1990 World Championships.But Irbe had not finished paying his dues. Some Shark executives were high on Irbe-who was 2-6-3 with a 4.47 goal-against average in limited action with San Jose in 92-but not coach George Kingston. He doubted a goalie with Soviet-style hockey in his blood could readily adapt to the NHL. Kingston once listed Irbe dead-last on the team&rsquo;s depth chart for goalies.When Irbe was demoted to Kansas City after training camp, he felt he had let down the people of his Latvia, a small country on the western fringe of Russia. He was embarrassed and angry. He vowed to prove to the hockey world the Sharks had made a mistake.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011359/10245317-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="727" height="1423"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JOHN GIAMUNDO/BBS)</figcaption></div>Injuries gave Irbe a chance to do just that Brian Hayward and Jeff Hackett were sidelined for parts of 1992-93, opening the door for Irbe to push his way to the top of the depth chart. His 6-0 shutout of the Los Angeles Kings in November topped a short list of highlights from one of the league&rsquo;s all-time horrible seasons, in which the Sharks posted an 11-71-2 record.Just two years later, Irbe headed to camp in Brainerd, Minn., with a much different challenge facing him. He had to show he wasn&rsquo;t a one-season wonder.&ldquo;He has got a lot left to prove,&rdquo; said Dean Lombardi, the Sharks&rsquo; director of hockey operations. &ldquo;He gave us some encouraging things (last year), but is he the foundation of a championship team?&rdquo;Irbe quenched some of his desire for vindication by emerging as one of the top goalies in the league last season. During a campaign that started with an 0-8-1 skid before ending with the club&rsquo;s first playoff appearance, Irbe was the Sharks&rsquo; clear MVP. He had the trust and confidence of his coach, Constantine, and that made all the difference for him.&ldquo;I know that he has confidence in me,&rdquo; Irbe said. &ldquo;Last season, I did not have that same feeling (with Kingston).&rdquo;Any lack of warmth the fans of the Bay Area may have felt towards Irbe, vanished in a hurry. Soon Irbe was the Shark receiving the most fan mail, he was the player the raucous crowds at the San Jose Arena most loved to cheer and he was the one making the most difference on the ice.Wayne Gretzky, for one, thought Irbe deserved to be league MVP, based on his decisive role in the Sharks&rsquo; dramatic turnaround from the previous season. San Jose posted the largest improvement in league history-its 58-point rise from 24 points in 1992-93 to 82 points topped the 52-point improvement of the Quebec Nordiques the previous season.But when the Sharks arrived in the spotlight of the playoffs, the player who carried the bulk of the load during the season seemed worn down. He set a record for minutes played in an NHL season, eager to reach 30 wins and purge the pain of the start of the previous season. He did that. But the Sharks would never have given Irbe so much playing time had they known the club was headed for two seven-game playoff series.In the Sharks&rsquo; first-round upset of the Detroit Red Wings, Irbe outplayed the Detroit goalies, but not by a huge margin. In Game 7 of the subsequent series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, when his team needed him most, Irbe was outplayed by Felix Potvin.&ldquo;He was a major reason we got into the playoffs. But really, outside of Game 1 in the Detroit series, he didn&rsquo;t steal a game for us,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;He was great in Game 1, not so great afterwards.&rdquo;Irbe was getting a lesson in the pressures of playoff hockey. Even as he had shown in spectacular game after spectacular game that his earlier detractors were wrong, Irbe was finding out they had a point: the intensity of the NHL&rsquo;s center stage can subject an athlete to new challenges. He carried too much of the load and lost some of his edge with misadventures coming out of the net.&ldquo;Maple Leaf Gardens has the fastest boards in the league and unpredictable bounces,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was trying to help our defensemen, but it didn&rsquo;t happen and it made me look inconsistent and less confident.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s way too early to say Irbe&rsquo;s post-season has labeled him strictly a regular-season goalie. A look at his success in big games in the past, including a 2.89 goals-against average in the IHL playoffs two years ago, counters that thought. Irbe was 30-28-16 with a 2.84 GAA and made his first All-Star Game appearance in 1993-94. In the playoffs he was 7-7 with a 3.72 GAA.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think one great year makes a career,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;When you think about greatness you think about (Patrick) Roy and (Bill) Ranford. Consistency has been their hallmark.&rdquo;Irbe faces another challenge. At 5-foot-7, he cannot fill the net the way someone such as Kirk McLean of the Vancouver Canucks can. That leayes him vulnerable to shots in the high comers.At his best, Irbe plays a highly entertaining style of hockey. He&rsquo;s strong and stays in extraordinary shape. The sight of his postgame stomach-crunching sit-ups was exhausting for onlooking reporters. Irbe shows tremendous flexibility, compensating for momentary lapses in technique by bending at impossible angles for the sort of save that makes opponents feel the goal has been covered in plastic.Irbe&rsquo;s success springs in large part from his ability to inspire calm and confidence in his teammates. This was true during the Bad News Sharks&rsquo; period. He makes difficult saves look easy, often gloving blistering slapshots with what looks like the disdain of a baseball player snap-catching a lazy flyball.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011567/10245310-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="1490" height="2356"><figcaption class="caption-body">Arturs Irbe is about to become the NHL games leader among European goalies. (BRUCE BENETT/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;When there&rsquo;s a breakaway, when you&rsquo;re on the bench, you feel a little more comfortable,&rdquo; said right winger Pat Falloon. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t talk that much in the locker room, but he can change the momentum of a game with a good save, so he&rsquo;s an important leader for us.&rdquo;&ldquo;I try to save my energy,&rdquo; Irbe said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t try to do extra super saves for the fans. It gets an opposing team off its game if a hard, accurate shot is saved easily, like a piece of cake. They lose their confidence. They think &rsquo;that goalie is not playing so well, but something is wrong with us.&rsquo; &ldquo;Irbe spent the summer in his hometown of Riga, a break from the pressures of stardom. He stuck to his usual training regimen, but unlike a year ago, he had no competition to face. Last summer, Irbe was the big name on a Latvian national team which tried to qualify for the Winter Olympics in Norway. The team failed to quality.Backup goaltender Jimmy Waite will play more during the regular season in order to keep Irbe fresher once the playoffs get underway.But even if the Sharks falter and miss the playoffs, Irbe needs only 35 games to surpass the late Pelle Lindbergh as the European-born goalie with the most NHL games played.That should go a long way to silencing his detractors. That is, if there are any of them left. &#9632;

f0032-01

SHARK PROOF

<div class="byline">By Les Bowen</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-011023/10245421-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(LEN REDKOLES/BBS)</figcaption></div>It took arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi six days to deliberate before he awarded Eric Lindros to the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1992 entry draft. It will take hockey people longer to deliberate and choose a winner in the landmark trade.Bertuzzi ruled the Quebec Nordiques made an enforceable trade with the Flyers in the frantic moments before the draft, nullifying Quebec&rsquo;s subsequent deal with the New York Rangers.Only one thing is certain.As the three teams enter Year 3 P.T. (Post Trade), the losers in Bertuzzi&rsquo;s ruling, the Rangers, have experienced the most success-they won the Stanley Cup.Quebec and Philadelphia are still scrambling to fit pieces together. It&rsquo;s safe to assume neither team is where it thought it would be when it looked at its future in those sunny summer days before the 1992-93 season.The Nordiques have already said goodbye to three of the six players they acquired for Lindros-Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne and Kerry Huffman.They drafted goaltender Jocelyn Thibault with one of the two first-round picks they acquired from the Flyers, and used the other-the 1994 10th overall pick-as bait in the big Wendel Clark-Mats Sundin trade at the 1994 draft in Hartford.This season, the Nordiques will finally unveil the player most observers feel is the key to the deal from Quebec&rsquo;s perspective-Swedish prospect Peter Forsberg. Forsberg was the Flyers&rsquo; first-round selection in 1991.Quebec also obtained solid center Mike Ricci, young left winger Chris Simon and an estimated $15 million in cash.It still might be years before anyone can properly evaluate what the Nordiques got for Lindros, whom they drafted first overall in 1991.The evaluation is no easier in Philadelphia, where No. 88 has been both more and less than the Flyers hoped.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy in a lot of respects with the first two years,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s points and then there&rsquo;s leadership and team values.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll get better as the team gets better. We&rsquo;ll grow together.&rdquo;Lindros is happy with his production. He scored 85 goals and 172 points in 126 NHL games over a season-and-a-half. Considering he&rsquo;s just 21, and that teammate Mark Recchi predicts we won&rsquo;t see the full scope of his talents for at least a couple of years, his numbers are impressive.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Gretzky and Howe advised Lindros to pick his spots.</blockquote>When Lindros was drafted, many observers predicted he would be a force, but were skeptical of his potential to be a mega point producer. Last season, injuries prevented him from surpassing the 100-point and 50-goal plateaus. His 1.37 points-per-game average over the past two seasons is marginally better than Hart Trophy winner Sergei Fedorov&rsquo;s (1.33) during that same time period.&ldquo;Eric Lindros can be and will be the most dominating player in the league over the next few years,&rdquo; said Craig MacTavish, Lindros&rsquo; new teammate who was signed as a free agent during the summer from the Rangers. &ldquo;He has a lot of the same attributes as the guy I just left in New York, Mark Messier. He can carry a team like that. But it doesn&rsquo;t happen overnight.&rdquo;Injuries, mostly ligament strains in both knees, have kept Lindros out of 42 games. Each of his first two Novembers in Philadelphia saw Lindros limp off the Spectrum ice as the Flyers season derailed. If Lindros had missed, say, 10 games through two seasons instead of 42, the Flyers would not be carrying around a five-year streak of having missed the playoffs, currently the NHL&rsquo;s longest.Lindros&rsquo; physical style and willingness to enter the fray, however, makes him a candidate for the injury-of-the-year club.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m thinking of making November National Knee Month in Philadelphia,&rdquo; Lindros said. Beyond the quip, he doesn&rsquo;t offer much insight on the subject, which he finds embarrassing.It&rsquo;s a complicated issue. Last season, both Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe advised Lindros to pick his spots when making big hits, to not run around the ice recklessly, seeking to wreak havoc. Lindros made visible progress, but he still got hurt.On the other hand, the Flyers can&rsquo;t afford for him to back off the physical play too much because his intimidating hitting is what makes him unique.Lindros has encased both knees in black fiberglass and foam braces, and has sworn off reckless lunges. He feels that&rsquo;s the best he can do to protect himself.Is he fragile, or is he about to come out of a spell of bad luck? Year III might very well answer that question.We should also find out in Year III if his leadership skills have improved. New Flyers&rsquo; coach Terry Murray is banking on it.&ldquo;I think he still has a lot of room to grow,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re paid as the top player in the organization, there&rsquo;s a lot of responsibility. You&rsquo;re buying more than the on-ice product when you sign that kind of player.&ldquo;There are a lot of things he has to bring away from the rink, there are a lot of things that he has to say and do in the dressing room. Eric Lindros, if he&rsquo;s not able to it today, he&rsquo;s going to have to learn how to do it.&rdquo;Nobody doubts Lindros&rsquo; character, determination or intelligence. After Lindros experienced a turbulent rookie year off the ice-the Koo Koo Bananas beer spitting incident was the most notorious-Flyers&rsquo; management told him it didn&rsquo;t want any more barroom headlines. Lindros never admitted any wrongdoing, but he did listen and has been more careful in the public eye.Taking his rightful place as the leader of the young Flyers in the dressing room has been trickier. When Lindros led the team to eight successive victories at the end of the 93 season, many thought he was ready to be the team captain. Management decided he was too young and it gave the &rsquo;C&rsquo; to Kevin Dineen.<blockquote class="pullQuote">Lindros&rsquo; leadership skills need to improve.</blockquote>As the Flyers unraveled, Lindros became openly frustrated with some of his teammates. His two closest rookie-year advisors were gone-Bob Clarke to the Florida Panthers and Keith Acton to the New York Islanders-and Lindros began to look very much like a lost kid. He was outspoken about what he perceived as a lack of focus and direction from then-general manager Russ Farwell.&ldquo;I think we had a lot of confusion there,&rdquo; Lindros said after Farwell was replaced by Clarke. &ldquo;There was sort of a wait-and-see (approach). There was no direction.&rdquo;Lindros respected then-coach Terry Simpson and Simpson never blamed Lindros for the Flyers&rsquo; problems. But in the final weeks of the season, when asked about Lindros and leadership, Simpson said that &ldquo;a true leader leads everybody, not just the players who play the way he approves of. Eric still needs to learn that.&rdquo;Lindros sees the wisdom in Simpson&rsquo;s philosophy: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to agree with that. A true leader gets everybody going.&rdquo;Lindros said he expects to learn how to do that now that he has Clarke and Acton back to teach him. Make no mistake, getting Lindros&rsquo; head straight was a major impetus behind Clarke&rsquo;s return as president and GM, and Acton&rsquo;s return as an assistant coach.&ldquo;I really think with having Woody (Acton) back, with Clarkie there, there&rsquo;s always somebody to talk to about how to handle different situations,&rdquo; Lindros said.Having Clarke back in charge has made this interminable off-season bearable for Lindros. He believes absolutely in Clarke&rsquo;s ability to make the Flyers bigger and tougher, to give Lindros the supporting cast he needs in order to make the winner of that 1992 draft day trade crystal clear to everyone.&ldquo;Every step that has been taken (in the offseason) is in the right direction,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;I have total faith in what Bob Clarke has got going. He&rsquo;s our leader.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01_ad/10245414-1-eng-US/f0042-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0042-01_Ad" width="2355" height="1629"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01_ad/10245407-1-eng-US/f0043-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0043-01_Ad" width="2419" height="1632"></div> &#9632;

f0040-01

BUSTIN’ LOOSE

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0044-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01833/10245466-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(C.J.RELKE)</figcaption></div>Francophone goalies are stopping more than shots these days; they&rsquo;re stopping further erosion of Quebec&rsquo;s reputation for producing big-name hockey players.Quebec has gone from birth place of NHL stars to dearth place of top NHL prospects.The most prominent exceptions are a group of goalies headed by Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; superstar Patrick Roy.Few first-class skaters have emerged from the province in recent years and the Quebec League is a decidedly weak sister to the Ontario and Western Leagues in Canadian major junior hockey.If not for Mario Lemieux, arguably the No. 1 player on the planet, and a disproportionate number of outstanding goalies who learned their craft in Quebec, La Belle Province would be poorly-represented in the NHL.Consider:&#9633; A Quebec francophone player did not finish in the top 10 in 1993-94, marking only the second time in 45 years that has happened. Sure, Lemieux played only 22 games, but Quebecers made up about 12 per cent of the league. (Russian-born players made up seven per cent and had two scorers in the top 10.)&#9633; No forward or defenseman from the QMJHL was selected in the first round in four of the six entry drafts since 1989. The Winnipeg Jets haven&rsquo;t drafted a francophone skater since 1983. San Jose Sharks have 16 scouts, including one in Alaska; none in Quebec. The Sharks had a part-time scout in the province, &ldquo;but there wasn&rsquo;t enough work,&rdquo; says Sharks director of hockey operations Dean Lombardi.&#9633; The Hockey News ranked the best 50 prospects in NHL organizations not yet playing for the top team. One of them-left winger Rene Corbet of the Quebec Nordiques-was from Quebec. (Seven were from Sweden, all of them among the top 21.)Most would say Lemieux is the best player Quebec has ever produced, but you&rsquo;d have to consider at least five others-Rocket Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur and Mike Bossy.There was a time when Quebec was hockey&rsquo;s wild wild west.Well, sort of. In the wild west, there were no laws, but in l&rsquo;est wilde there were no hits and even less defense. The province was known for producing offensive wizards-dynamos who could fill seats and then bring fans out of them-and little else.Lemieux, Luc Robitaille and Pierre Turgeon are still of that stripe, but all three are veteran players. Ray Bourque, who was drafted in 1979, is one of the greatest defensemen in history and other offensive players such as Vincent Damphousse and Joe Juneau have emerged as quality players.But the burden of Quebec super stardom now falls on the shoulders of Alexandre Daigle, the No. 1 pick last year.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01725/10245459-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="1057" height="1906"><figcaption class="caption-body">Will Ottawa&rsquo;s Alexandre Daigle be the NHL&rsquo;s next Quebec-born superstar? (BRIAN WINKLER/BBS)</figcaption></div>The man with the million-dollar smile and multi-million-dollar contract broke Lemieux&rsquo;s records in midget hockey, but it&rsquo;s doubtful he&rsquo;ll duplicate those feats in the NHL. He had 20 goals as a rookie last season with the Ottawa Senators.Daigle doesn&rsquo;t feel the pressure, but he is aware of it.&ldquo;Here in the media they always talk about that when the draft arrives,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Hey, that&rsquo;s true. They got me first and before that it was Pierre Turgeon in 1987. That makes six years. That&rsquo;s a lot.&rdquo;In recent years Quebec players have fallen into line just like all good Canadian boys. They&rsquo;re bigger, they take their man and go up and down the wings almost as well as any other prospective young player bound for NHL glory on the fourth line. The Lafleurs and Bossys have been replaced by Patrick Poulins and Pierre Sevignys.Question: So whatever happened to the French Canadian superstar? Answer: He changed positions.All the best young Quebecers in the NHL are goalies. Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; goalie coach Francois Allaire, whose goaltending school has graduated 15 NHL stoppers, says the position now attracts the best athletes in the province.&ldquo;These kids see guys like Patrick Roy and they see they can make a lot of money if they&rsquo;re successful,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It used to be the goalie was the smallest guy or the one who couldn&rsquo;t skate. Now I&rsquo;m getting 14-year-old kids who are 6-feet tall and they&rsquo;re the best skaters.&rdquo;Roy, Felix Potvin of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils are among the league&rsquo;s best. Jocelyn Thibault and Stephane Fiset are the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; goalies of the future.Eric Fichaud of the Quebec League&rsquo;s Chicoutimi Sagueneens was the only QMJHL player selected in the first round of this year&rsquo;s draft and Jose Theodore of the St-Jean Lynx was picked in the second round by the Montreal Canadiens.What has happened to the French Canadian superstar? Ask people in hockey and a common thread runs through all of their responses.&ldquo;I wish I knew the answer to that,&rdquo; Roy says. &ldquo;I have no idea.&rdquo;&ldquo;Hmm, boy,&rdquo; Lombardi says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a tough one.&rdquo;&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t have an answer to that particular question,&rdquo; says Guy Blondeau, president of the Quebec Ice Hockey Federation.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to say,&rdquo; Brodeur says. &ldquo;A lot of people ask me about that.&rdquo;The issue of Quebec&rsquo;s place in hockey is an emotional one.When the 1994 Canadian Olympic team carried just one Quebec player, there were accusations of racism by Quebec politicians in the Canadian parliament.Assistant coach Dany Dube, a Quebec francophone, didn&rsquo;t help matters when he was quoted as saying francophones are too emotional, hate defensive play and always want to play too offensively.Theories abound on the demise of Quebec as a hockey powerhouse.The QMJHL is an offensive league that doesn&rsquo;t care about defense.This would explain why the province has produced such great goalies, but there&rsquo;s a problem: it&rsquo;s not true.The QMJHL has become as defense-conscious as the OHL and WHL. There were 8.3 goals scored per game in the QMJHL in 1993-94, 8.4 in the WHL and 8.7 in the OHL.Quebec players are not well-suited to the grinding pro game.It&rsquo;s true that many of the QMJHL&rsquo;s most dangerous players in recent years have been small by NHL standards, but the same could probably be said about many of the top players elsewhere in the Canadian Hockey League.The CHL doesn&rsquo;t keep average heights and weights for each league, so comparisons are impossible. Undeniable, though, is that of the league&rsquo;s six MVPs from 1986 through 1991, only one was drafted by an NHL team g and none was over 6-feet tall.Style of play, not just size, may also mitigate against Quebec players developing into top-flight pros. The province doesn&rsquo;t permit 3 bodychecking at the the peewee (age 12-13) level. Some believe that leaves the bigger g players behind from the get-go and they never catch up.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01666/10245452-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="1561" height="2244"><figcaption class="caption-body">Without extraordinary Patrick Roy, the Montreal Canadiens are very ordinary. (ROBERT LABERGE/BBS)</figcaption></div>The QMJHL is an inferior league.&ldquo;The Quebec League certainly has a reputation to live down,&rdquo; says Drummondville Voltigeurs&rsquo; head coach Blair Mackasey. &ldquo;We have the reputation of being a second-class league.&rdquo;It doesn&rsquo;t help that no Quebec-based team has won the Memorial Cup since the Quebec Remparts in 1971, that the league allows player loans late in the season and that the coach&rsquo;s office for at least half of the teams in the league are equipped with a revolving door.&ldquo;I always hear it from scouts, &rsquo;It&rsquo;s still the Quebec League. Could he do the same thing in the OHL?&rsquo; &ldquo; Mackasey says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re always hearing the coaching is no good and the kids are too small. But I think we&rsquo;re going in the right direction.&rdquo;There is a prejudice against franco-phone players.The University of Ottawa did a study four years ago that concluded there is a bias against francophone Quebecers in the NHL. Those involved in hockey in Quebec don&rsquo;t buy it.Joe Canale, who guided Canada to gold at the 1994 World Junior Championship, is thrilled Quebec is producing more third-liners. This past season, 80 players from Quebec finished the season on NHL rosters.&ldquo;If there are two kids of equal ability, the one from Ontario or the west will be picked,&rdquo; says Canale, coach of the Beauport Harfangs. &ldquo;I compare it to shopping. Eaton&rsquo;s is known for quality and even though you can get something just as good at another department store, people keep going to Eaton&rsquo;s. We hate to change.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0044-01

FRENCH FACTS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Ken Campbell</div>Patrick Roy doesn&rsquo;t look for hand signals from the bench anymore. If he gets any, it&rsquo;s usually a thumbs-up from coach Jacques Demers.Roy played for the Ste-Foy Gouverneurs in the Canadian midget championship in 1982 and had everyone baffled at the way he took hand signals from his goaltending coach at the bench.&ldquo;There was a rumor going around the Ste-Foy goalie was deaf and dumb,&rdquo; recalls Jacques Naud, the man who gave the signals.Roy beat Wendel Clark and Russ Courtnail of the Notre Dame Hounds, but lost out in the final to Cliff Ronning&rsquo;s team from Burnaby, B.C. At last check, none of those players had won a Stanley Cup, but Roy has two and two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP.While touting Roy for post-season awards in 1993-94, Demers often said that without Roy in net, he is a very ordinary coach. So is his team. No team&rsquo;s fortunes are dictated by the play of its goalie more than the Canadiens.&ldquo;My biggest role with the team is to be a leader,&rdquo; Roy says, &ldquo;and the best way I can do that is to play well and keep my team in the game. When the other guys see that, they say, &rsquo;Patty&rsquo;s there, let&rsquo;s go.&rsquo; I realize I have to play well for my team to win games, but it&rsquo;s not just me. We don&rsquo;t have a Mario Lemieux on our team.&rdquo;Don&rsquo;t tell that to Francois Allaire. The Canadiens&rsquo; goaltending coach thinks Roy is as valuable to the Canadiens as Lemieux is to the Pittsburgh Penguins. And while Lemieux&rsquo;s future is uncertain, Allaire predictsRoy will be a force in the league for years to come.&ldquo;Patrick is in his prime and will be there for the next five years,&rdquo; Allaire says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s in good shape, he&rsquo;s technically perfect and the pressure doesn&rsquo;t bother him.&rdquo;Roy criticized his teammates when they lost in the first round to the Boston Bruins, saying the Canadiens had gotten away from the attitude that made them Stanley Cup champions the season before.&ldquo;Pat Riley talked about it in his book,&rdquo; Roy says. &ldquo;One year the Los Angeles Lakers won the championship and the next year they came back and everyone thought they were Magic and Kareem. They forgot their roles and so did we.&rdquo;Montreal hopes Roy never forgets his. &#9632;

Roy in prime of career

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0049-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01518/10245535-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(C.J.RELKE)</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s difficult to think of Doug Gilmour as under-recognized or as a player who has something to prove.After all, the pride of Kingston, Ont., plays under the microscope in hockey-crazed Toronto, has appeared in the last two All-Star Games and receives those endorsement opportunities afforded to only a select few NHLers. The Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; center has become a franchise player in the second half of his career.Yet, somehow, the Toronto superstar has consistently been overshadowed by other NHL bright lights.Gilmour&rsquo;s extraordinary 127-point season in 1992-93 landed him on the NHL&rsquo;s center stage and earned him a reputation as a gritty, skilled player. That image was enhanced by a brilliant post-season effort as the Leafs climbed to within one game of the Stanley Cup final. His play surprised some observers who thought Gilmour was best-suited as a support player.His reward was a second-place finish behind Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; star Mario Lemieux in Hart Trophy balloting. Gilmour did capture the Selke Trophy as the game&rsquo;s top defensive forward, but wasn&rsquo;t named to either the first or second all-star team.&ldquo;I always thought it was funny that 1 had my career high in points and I won a defensive award,&rdquo; Gilmour said.Still, he was recognized by the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association (which did the awards voting) as the game&rsquo;s top two-way performer, and in turn, general manager Cliff Fletcher bumped Gilmour&rsquo;s salary to a level shared by the league&rsquo;s elite with a five-year, $15-million pact.Gilmour responded by essentially duplicating his efforts from the 1992-93 season. His production, like that of the league in general, was a shade off, but his clever playmaking helped Dave Andreychuk smash a Leaf goal-scoring record for left wingers and also aided captain Wendel Clark to his finest season ever.With little support at center on the Leaf depth chart, Gilmour actually produced a more captivating season long effort than he had a year earlier and again carried an under-talented Leaf team into the upper echelon of the NHL standings.&ldquo;Last year, I said Dougie was the best all-around player in the NHL,&rdquo; said coach Pat Bums. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve changed my mind. He&rsquo;s the best player. Period.&rdquo;Yet Gilmour&rsquo;s work-once again followed up by a magnificent post-season effort-was not recognized by the writers. When the MVP voting was completed, Gilmour had been outdistanced by Sergei Fedorov of the Detroit Red Wings, John Vanbiesbrouck of the Florida Panthers and Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres.&ldquo;I think he had as good a year last year as he did the year before,&rdquo; Fletcher said, &ldquo;but I think the team didn&rsquo;t capture the imagination of people in the same way last year.&rdquo;The Hart voting was based on regular-season play alone, but when the hard-charging Gilmour was still leading the Leafs late into May, all three finalists had been on the sidelines since the first round of the playoffs.If coming in fourth in MVP voting wasn&rsquo;t bad enough, Gilmour also lost the Selke by a wide margin to Fedorov and was left off the first and second all-star teams. Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center Wayne Gretzky ended up ahead of Gilmour in all-star voting despite the fact Gretzky-the scoring champ, but a minus-25 player on the season-had not garnered a single MVP vote.That&rsquo;s where the under-recognized, under-appreciated part comes in. It seems incomprehensible Gilmour&rsquo;s play in his first two full seasons as a Leaf have earned him only a solitary award for defensive proficiency.Over the past two regular seasons, only Boston Bruins&rsquo; center Adam Oates, with 254 points, has totalled more than Gilmour&rsquo;s 238. The Leafs&rsquo; No. 93 has an additional 63 points in the last two Stanley Cup tournaments, 23 points more than the next closest player.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01520/10245528-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="1036" height="2299"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Gilmour has been asked to help groom Mats Sundin as his successor. (BRIAN WINKLER/BBS)</figcaption></div>Factor in a combined plus-57 over those two seasons and include Toronto&rsquo;s consecutive appearances in hockey&rsquo;s final four and you have an all-around player who is durable and elevates his play and that of his team in the post-season.In short, you have a player deserving of more accolades than Gilmour has received.It&rsquo;s unclear why it has happened. Clearly, he doesn&rsquo;t play in an NHL outpost where his talents remain a local secret. He is not, despite his other talents, a prolific goal-scorer and the big gunners always capture attention more easily.Perhaps it&rsquo;s simply that Gilmour has remained consistent in his production in play, while fans and media are always looking to heap kudos on a player who produces either the unique or unexpected results.Will this season be any different? It may, and here&rsquo;s why. The loss of Clark in a trade with the Quebec Nordiques means Gilmour has inherited the leadership of the Leafs, becoming not only the team&rsquo;s heart night-in and night-out, but also its soul.Sure, Gilmour played more of his career outside Toronto than in a Leaf uniform. But he is undoubtedly, like Clark, the very incarnation of Conn Smythe&rsquo;s image of a &ldquo;beat-&rsquo;em-in-the-alley&rdquo; Maple Leaf. His image as a little big man with the heart of a lion makes him a compelling figure and playing seemingly every minute of the Leafs&rsquo; playoff drive despite a badly damaged ankle that required up to five needles of pre-game freezing further cemented his reputation as a heroic performer.Gilmour has also come to understand the difference between playing hockey in Toronto versus most other NHL cities. Since arriving, Gilmour has been the most accessible Leaf. For most team-related functions, he is the first to volunteer and has won over legions of new fans by his willingness to go out of his way to sign autographs and appear at charity events.Being the undisputed leader of the Leafs may also give observers pause to consider him in a new light. Of the last 22 Hart Trophy winners, 13 wore a captain&rsquo;s &rsquo;C&rsquo;.&ldquo;Without a doubt, Doug has taken on a leadership role since he has been here,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;When we didn&rsquo;t have Wendel for considerable stretches, we always looked to Doug as our leader on the ice.&rdquo;Along with his leadership duties. Gilmour must also take on the role of teacher this season. Under his wing is skilled Swede Mats Sundin, the key player in the Wendel Clark deal.&ldquo;When a new player like Sundin comes in,&rdquo; Fletcher said, &ldquo;right away from the first practice it&rsquo;s Doug who sets the tone.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01400/10245521-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="2327" height="2790"><figcaption class="caption-body">(CLAUS ANDERSON/BBS)</figcaption></div>In Sundin, Gilmour will be expected to groom his successor. Fletcher said he acquired the young Swede with the post-Gilmour era in mind. The suggestion that age may eventually do to Gilmour what opponents have not will likely fuel the 31-year-old&rsquo;s competitive desires more than anything, just as it did three years ago when Calgary Flames&rsquo; officials told an NHL arbitrator Gilmour&rsquo;s skills were on the wane while defending their position in an arbitration hearing.Gilmour, after all, has a game plan and it doesn&rsquo;t include doing a slow fade into a checking forward, a role he once embraced with passion. He has often suggested the end of his current contract in four years will coincide with his retirement papers. Gilmour&rsquo;s durability and production suggest he can be at least a consistent 100-point player until then.If he manages to do that, will the hockey world stand up and take notice?If things go according to Gilmour&rsquo;s plan, it may not have a choice. &#9632;

f0049-01

BLOOD AND GUTS

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0054-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01387/10245615-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>Al Maclnnis&rsquo; slapshot is regarded as the NHL&rsquo;s best. Others have had faster shots clocked in skills competitions, but nobody&rsquo;s is as feared by the goaltending fraternity.It&rsquo;s his trademark.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the first thing that comes to anybody&rsquo;s mind,&rdquo; Maclnnis said.Not that he minds.&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t bother me at all because all anybody wants is a chance,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Whether it&rsquo;s your skating ability, hitting, shooting or scoring, there&rsquo;s something that gives you a chance to show what you can do.&ldquo;The shot gave me a chance with Calgary.&rdquo;It has also helped make Maclnnis rich beyond his wildest dreams.After the Calgary Flames traded the all-star defenseman to the St. Louis Blues for Phil Housley and a swap of draft picks July 4, Maclnnis signed a four-year, $13.7-million contract with the Blues. They gave him a $500,000 signing bonus and will pay him annual salaries of $3 million, $3.2 million, $3.5 million and $3.5 million in U.S. dollars. Maclnnis, 31, earned $4 million over four years in his last contract with the Flames.When he signed the contract which pays an outrageous amount for shooting pucks, he recalled the days when he made $100 a week on loading docks in his hometown of Port Hood, N.S., during lobster season.&ldquo;We used to unload the lobsters off the boats and put them on the docks until the big trucks came,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Then we loaded everything on the trucks by hand and off they went.&rdquo;Maclnnis smiles when asked if he wonders whether the loading docks of Port Hood might have been his destiny if not for his devastating shot. His father worked in the mines, then in an oil refinery and later ran the local rink. Three of his five brothers work in the local pulp and paper mill.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;d be in that pulp and paper mill with them if I didn&rsquo;t get a few breaks in life,&rdquo; he said.Maclnnis got his breaks in life by hitting the broad side of a barn. As a youth, the seventh of Alexander and Anne Mae Maclnnis&rsquo; eight children passed the idle time on the family farm by shooting pucks at the barn.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a natural thing like the Hull family,&rdquo; Maclnnis said of his shot. &ldquo;Those guys seem to be able to shoot the puck from natural ability. Mine was something I had to work on quite a bit.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d just shoot &rsquo;em off the side of the bam, go down, pick &rsquo;em up and shoot &rsquo;em again.&rdquo;Maclnnis said there wasn&rsquo;t much else to do in the sleepy little island town, pop. 700.&ldquo;There are no theaters, no bowling alleys, no malls, no nothing,&rdquo; he said.Maclnnis never imagined it would lead to something this big.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t even think about playing in the NHL,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You dream about it, but you never thought it would actually happen.&rdquo;It didn&rsquo;t happen overnight. It took time and travel, the usual nomadic route Canadian boys endure when they leave home at a young age to play junior hockey and pursue their dream of playing in the NHL.Maclnnis&rsquo; first stop was Regina, Sask., where he played for the Regina Pats&rsquo; Jr. A team. The 16-year-old was recruited by future NHL coach-general manager Bryan Murray. From there, he went to the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario League, where coach Joe Crozier gave him sound advice.&ldquo;He told me one day, &rsquo;Keep working on that shot. It might give you a chance to play in the NHL some day,&rsquo; &ldquo; Maclnnis said.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01296/10245608-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="1066" height="2090"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al Maclnnis has gone from loading docks to loading nets with pucks. (JOHN GIAMUNDO/BBS)</figcaption></div>That happened when Calgary selected Maclnnis in the first round of the 1981 entry draft, making him the 15th pick overall. He got his break in 1983-84 when, after 19 games with Calgary&rsquo;s farm team in Denver, he was called up.&ldquo;They were struggling on the power play and, basically, all my job was to play on the power play and shoot the puck as often as I got it,&rdquo; Maclnnis said. &ldquo;From there, the coaching staff worked with me, and the rest is kind of history.&rdquo;Maclnnis&rsquo; history shows a Calgary team-record 822 points in 803 games, with 213 goals and 609 assists. It shows six appearances in the NHL&rsquo;s All-Star Game, two selections as a first-team all-star and two selections as a second-team all-star.Twice, Maclnnis has been a runner-up for the Norris Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman, but his biggest honor was winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP in the 1989 playoffs. That&rsquo;s the year Calgary won its only Cup.&ldquo;Maclnnis has done it all,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; president Jack Quinn. &ldquo;He has been on a Stanley Cup champion and knows what it entails to go to the Stanley Cup finals.&ldquo;Plus, he comes with the hardest shot in hockey.&rdquo;It always comes back to the shot, which some believe intimidated Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; goalie Patrick Roy, a two-time Conn Smythe winner himself, in the 1989 Cup finals.Maclnnis doesn&rsquo;t buy that suggestion.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot of nonsense,&rdquo; Maclnnis said. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t think Patrick Roy would be intimidated by anyone&rsquo;s shot. The goalies in this league are just too good to be intimidated.&rdquo;Broadcaster John Davidson, a former NHL goalie, says Maclnnis&rsquo; shot might have killed a goalie in the days before equipment reached its current standards.Maclnnis said the last thing he wants to do is hurt anybody, his teammates in front of the net or the opposition. He has control of his hard shot, not like in the early days of his career.&ldquo;I still thought I was shooting at the bam,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was shooting as hard and as high as I could, but you soon realize you don&rsquo;t beat goalies that way. You shoot low for deflections and rebounds, or shoot wide of the net for a tip-in. If 1 do let one get away, my teammates in front of the net let me know.&rdquo;Goalies wish Maclnnis were as concerned about them. His 28 goals in 1993-94 led defenseman, the second time he has done so. He is tied with Brad Park for ninth in all-time goals by defensemen (213). Passing Park next season would represent one more milestone along the way to the Hall of Fame.From Port Hood to the Hall of Fame. What were the chances of that happening?In the beginning, it was no more than a shot in the dark. Now, Maclnnis is shooting for the stars.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-01_ad/10245601-1-eng-US/f0056-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0056-01_Ad" width="1207" height="1611"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-02_ad/10245594-1-eng-US/f0056-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0056-02_Ad" width="1192" height="1618"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-03_ad/10245587-1-eng-US/f0056-03_ad2.jpg" title="f0056-03_Ad" width="2403" height="1656"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-01_ad2/10245580-1-eng-US/f0059-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0059-01_Ad" width="1165" height="1607"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-02_ad2/10245573-1-eng-US/f0059-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0059-02_Ad" width="1168" height="1589"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-03_ad2/10245566-1-eng-US/f0059-03_ad2.jpg" title="f0059-03_Ad" width="2279" height="1604"></div> &#9632;

f0054-01

SURE SHOT

<div class="byline">By Murray Townsend</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0060-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-01270/10245667-1-eng-US/f0060-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BRUCE BENNETT/BBS)</figcaption></div>This is THN&rsquo;s third annual top 250 projected point list. Last year, every single play-er finished in exactly the order we predicted.Just kidding.Aside from the first pick, the best thing to have at your hockey pool draft is a sense of humor. You&rsquo;ll need it later when some of your selections fall flat on their faces.It&rsquo;s a way of life in the hockey pool world. Every veteran has his own horror story and a grudge with at least one NHL player who has done him wrong.Players are unpredictable. Golly gee, even Howie Meeker scored five goals in a game as a rookie. The only thing we can say with any degree of certainty is Todd Krygier will score exactly 30 points. He has done it in four of five NHL seasons.Apart from that, your guess is as good as mine.Well, maybe not quite. A lot of research has gone into compiling a list of the projected top 250 point-getters in the NHL. Taken into consideration were age, power-play time, career patterns, first and second-half points, injury history, potential and where they fit on the team&rsquo;s depth chart.The last factor is probably the most important. For example, if Dale Hawerchuk (who. by the way earned 86 points, exactly as predicted last year) was traded to a team that had Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Sergei Fedorov at center, he would probably score about 50 fewer points. The other three would get all the power-play time, the better linemates and more ice time.Another consideration is which players will compose the first unit of the power play. If the Los Angeles Kings didn&rsquo;t use Gretzky with the man advantage last season, he would have had 69 points instead of 130.<h2>FORMAT</h2>There are many different forms of pools. A lot of them stink. You want one that keeps you in the action for the whole year. There&rsquo;s nothing worse than your two top players having major surgery two weeks into the season, ending any hope of winning the pool.Drafts are the only way to go. They&rsquo;re the most fun and the biggest test of your skill. They also ensure the players you select are yours only&hellip;at least until you dump them.Here&rsquo;s a pool format that works.Instead of drafting before the first game when so much is uncertain, draft two weeks into the season. By that point, you know who is playing and who&rsquo;s not.Use the inverse-order system. For position, draw names from a hat, proceed with Round 1, then select in inverse order for Round 2 and so on.Make the draft a deep one. Have enough rounds until you start considering Ken Baumgartner. It fosters more interest.Don&rsquo;t set team and position limitations. It complicates matters more than it&rsquo;s worth.Break the season up into segments and allow for periodic changes. Here&rsquo;s an example: Split the season into two halves and collect all the money at the start of the season. (Void where prohibited and just talking theoretically in some jurisdictions.) At a pre-determined date, make the halfway standings final. Divvy up the (pretend) money in a 6525-10 per-cent ratio, erase all the points accumulated and start over. That makes the second half a season in itself.Allow three re-drafting periods: midway through the first half, at the halfway mark, and halfway through the second segment. Two drops and adds at each point are a good guideline.There&rsquo;s no need to re-convene for drops and adds. Just designate the poolster you trust most to man the phones at Hockey Pool Central, give him your wish list and he&rsquo;ll distribute the selections in inverse order.<h2>KEY FOR PICKS</h2>It has been a long time since anyone other than Gretzky or Lemieux was selected first in a regular-season hockey pool.This could be the year. Lemieux would be an automatic first choice if not for the state of his health. He could play the entire season, a half season, a quarter season or not at all. For that reason, he&rsquo;s not listed on our top-250 list. Take him at your own risk.The top 250 ranking, which appears on the following page, includes the 1993-94 point totals of each individual pro-rated over 84 games (Steve Yzerman, for example, had 82 points in 58 games, but is listed at 119) as well as their career totals per 84 games and their projected 1994-95 total.Those who didn&rsquo;t play in at least 25 games last season or over their career have an asterisk beside the number. Also fisted is the team that held the player&rsquo;s NHL rights, with the exception of John Cullen, who is designated FA for free agent.In many cases, projected point totals are higher than they will ultimately be, because we&rsquo;re going with the assumption every player will play all 84 games.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-01204/10245660-1-eng-US/f0063-012.jpg" title="f0063-01" width="2398" height="1671"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-01_ad/10245653-1-eng-US/f0062-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0062-01_Ad" width="2342" height="1587"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-02_ad2/10245646-1-eng-US/f0063-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0063-02_Ad" width="2386" height="1626"></div> &#9632;

f0060-01

POOL PARTY

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-01222/10245705-1-eng-US/f0065-012.jpg" title="f0065-01" width="406" height="593"></div>Tease the Detroit Red Wings all you want next season about being the NHL&rsquo;s longest suffering member of the Original Six.It will be your only chance.The Red Wings, who haven&rsquo;t won the Stanley Cup since 1955, will end their 40-year drought early in June, defeating the defending-champion New York Rangers in the final.Detroit has been a contender the past few years, although you&rsquo;d never know it by the Red Wings&rsquo; sorry playoff record-two straight first-round upsets.They will not be denied again. Owner Mike Hitch wants a champion and he wants one now.Last season the Red Wings failed to address their biggest need, a No. 1 goalie, and lived to regret it. Now they have one (Mike Vernon) and they should profit from it. As long as they add a defenseman with presence.The explosive Red Wings (led by league MVP Sergei Fedorov) still need a big blue-liner-a poor man&rsquo;s Scott Stevens, if you will&hellip;if not the real thing.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-02158/10245698-1-eng-US/f0065-022.jpg" title="f0065-02" width="1913" height="2795"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL COFFEY (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>We&rsquo;re counting on coach-GM Scotty Bowman to find one; that&rsquo;s why the Red Wings are our Cup pick, but only a B+ club entering the season. The precedent was set last year when the THN Yearbook gave the Rangers a Brand picked them to win the Cup. Forgive the shameless self-promotion, but such tri-umphs are few and far between.Detroit joins five others in the B+ range on our Report Card. Three teams (the New Jersey Devils, Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins) earned grades of A-. We had three A teams last year, the Red Wings, defending Cup-champion Montreal Canadiens and the Penguins. There were four D teams last season, but only one-the Ottawa Senators-this year.The Senators are among our 10 choices to miss the playoffs. See page 25 for full predictions on regular-season and post-season play in 1994-95. &#9632;

f0065-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE TEAMS

<div class="byline">By Brent Hurst</div>There were 7,081 goals scored during the NHL 1993-94 season.Care to guess which position produced the most goals?If you said goalie, you&rsquo;re a wiseacre. Defense? your IQ is approaching Paul Coffey&rsquo;s number. Left wing? You&rsquo;ve hit triple figures. Right wing? MENSA, here you come.Center? It means you read The Hockey News. It also means you&rsquo;re right.Past THN research has shown centers are the league&rsquo;s best goal-scorers. They were again last season.We assigned every goal to a position-defense, left wing, right wing or center-to determine team totals and league averages.Total league goals at each position were calculated and divided by 26 to determine league marks. Team averages were: Center-79.5; Right Wing-77.3; Left Wing-73.3; Defense-42.2; and Total-272.3.The five totals were assigned values of 100 per cent. Each team&rsquo;s positional and overall totals were compared to league averages to derive efficiency ratings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-01224/10245743-1-eng-US/f0066-012.jpg" title="f0066-01" width="755" height="960"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Guerin&rsquo;s Devils scored greater than 100 per cent at all positions.</figcaption></div>For example, Detroit centers scored a league-high 124 goals. That represents 156 per cent of the league average. The team efficiency rating at center is 156, No. 1 in the league.Detroit exceeded the league average at three of four positions. Only its left wingers failed to top 100 per cent. Its league-leading team total of 356 goals represented a 131 per-cent efficiency rating. The only team to record five efficiency ratings of at least 100 per cent was the New Jersey Devils.Team scoring breakdowns (1993-94 Scoring) are listed on the second page of every team story. Included are four positional ratings and total or overall ratings. Also listed are leading individual goal totals.Assigning goals to positions is far from a precise science given the nature of today&rsquo;s game-some say positions are only for face-offs-and periodic individual shifts in forward positions. Some players are listed under two positions because they split time at the positions during the season.Our research is valuable in determining team strengths and weaknesses.?<h2>YOUR GUIDE TO THN ABBREVIATIONS</h2><h3>GLOSSARY</h3>Here&rsquo;s a key to abbreviations, short forms and statistial designations that appear over the next 120 pages in NHL team and league pages.<h3>STATISTICS</h3>Record: W-wins; L-losses; T-ties; Pts.- points, Pct.-winning percentage. Entry draft: No.-overall pick; Pos.-position. Roster: No.-sweater number; Ht.-height; Wt.- weight. 1993-94 Statistics: *-rookie; GP-games played, G-goals, A-assists, P-points; PIM-penalty minutes; +/-, plus-minus, PP-power play goals, SH-short handed goals, GW- game winning goals, OTL-overtime loss, SL-shootout loss, OT-overtime record, GF-goals for, GA-goals against, PCT-winning percentage, SV%- save percentage, MIN-minutes played, GA-goals against, GAA-goals against average, SO-shutout.<h3>LEAGUES AND COUNTRIES</h3>Alberta Jr. Hockey League (AJHL); American Hockey League (AHL); Bantam (Ban.); British Columbia Jr. Hockey League (BCJHL); Central Ontario Jr. Hockey League (COJHL); Central (Ont.) Jr. B Hockey League (CJHL); Czech Republic (Cze.); Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA); Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA); East Coast Hockey League (ECHL); Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC); Finland (Fin.); Germany (Ger.); Golden Horseshoe Jr. B Hockey League (GHJHL); Junior (Jr., Jr. A or Jr. B); Hockey East (HE); International Hockey League (IHL); Manitoba Jr. Hockey League (MJHL); Metro Toronto Jr. B Hockey League (MTJHL); Midget (Mid.); Midwestern Ontario Jr. Hockey League (MOJHL); New England Jr. Hockey League (NEJHL); North American Jr. Hockey League (NAJHL); Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA); Ontario Hockey League (OHL); Ontario Universities Athletic Association (OUAA); Ontario Jr. Provincial Hockey League (OJPHL); Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL); Rockey Mountain Jr. Hockey League (RMJHL); Russia (Rus.); Saskatchewan Jr. Hockey League (SJHL); Slovakia (Slo); Sweden (Swe); Switzerland (Switz.); United States Jr. Hockey League (USJHL); United States Jr. League (USHL); United States High School (USHS); Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA); West Coast Jr. Hockey League (WCJHL); Western Hockey League (WHL); Western Ontario Jr. B Hockey League (WOJHL).<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-02_ad2/10245736-1-eng-US/f0066-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0066-02_Ad" width="2390" height="923"></div> &#9632;

f0066-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Here’s how to keep score

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0067-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-01161/10245823-1-eng-US/f0067-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY HEBERT (MICHAEL DIGIROLAMO/BBS)</figcaption></div>Among the many things the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim learned last season was this: The best way to overcome their nickname, which naturally invites sarcasm, is to be successful.They weren&rsquo;t quite as successful as their expansion counterparts in Florida, but the Ducks did:&#9633; Share a record for most wins by an NHL expansion team joining Florida at 33.&#9633; Sell out 27 of 41 home dates and play to 98.9 per-cent capacity at The Pond.&#9633; Finish 10th in goals against average (2.97) and tied the St. Louis Blues with the league&rsquo;s fifth-best save percentage (.904).&#9633; Finish with more points than the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers and Winnipeg Jets.&#9633; Play one game under .500, 19-20-3, on the road.&#9633; Leave themselves a tough act to follow. Disney had better make a good sequel to this one.The Ducks did just about everything right in their first season. After winning just five and tying two of their first 20 games, they went a respectable 28-32-3 the rest of the way.Success came through hard work. Top scorer Terry Yake had just 52 points and was one of only two players on the team-Bob Corkum was the other-to crack 20 goals.Even with an upgrade in talent, the Ducks will be hard-pressed to match last season&rsquo;s success. The movie that bears the same name was disappointing as a sequel. Will the same thing happen to the real team?1993-94 record: 33-46-5, fourth in Pacific, 20th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 14.4 per cent (26th overall). Penalty-killing: 82.7 per cent (seventh overall).Off-season acquisition: Tom Kurvers, D.Candidates for promotion: Maxim Bets, LW; Scott Chartier, D; Scott McKay, C.Three pivotal factors: 1. Paul Kariya and Oleg Tverdovsky. There is no guarantee the Ducks will be able to sign one or both of them, but every effort will be made to make them ducklings this season. Kariya was Anaheim&rsquo;s top pick, fourth overall, in 1993 and split last season between the University of Maine and Canada&rsquo;s Olympic and World Championship teams. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound left winger brings offensive creativity and imagination to the mix. Tverdovsky, the second overall pick in the 1994 entry draft, is an offensive defenseman in the mold of Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers.2. Special teams. The addition of Kurvers, obtained from the New York Islanders on draft day for left winger Troy Loney, should help the Mighty Ducks&rsquo; power play which ranked dead last at 14.4 per cent. Now with his seventh team in his 11th NHL season, Kurvers has a decent shot from the point and is an equally good playmaker.3. Work ethic. The Mighty Ducks have added more talent to the team-including Kurvers and Stephan Lebeau who arrived late in the season in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens for goalie Ron Tugnutt-but they are not exactly overloaded with superstars. Their forte was hard work last season and they must be prepared to match that effort.State of goaltending: General man-ager Jack Ferriera is satisfied Guy Hebert and Mikhail Shtalenkov can team to provide the Ducks with a formidable goaltending tandem. Hebert was 20-27-3 last season with a 2.83 goals against average and .907 save percentage. He recorded two shutouts. Shtalenkov started the season with the San Diego Gulls of the International League and was promoted after Tugnutt was traded. He was 3-4-1 with a 2.65 GAA and .909 save percentage. If either goalie falters, the Ducks have confidence John Tanner can step up to the NHL. The colorful Tanner was 5-3-2 with San Diego after being traded to the Ducks by the Quebec Nordiques. Many feel Tanner has the ability&rsquo; to play in the NHL-he had two wins and five ties in 21 appearances with the Nordiques over three seasons-if he would only learn to control his mouth like he controls rebounds.Most pressing need: The Ducks hope they have answered one of their most pressing needs with the acquisition of Kurvers to quarterback the power play. The NHL&rsquo;s fourth lowest scoring team with 2.7 goals per game must also find a way to score goals at even strength. Getting Kariya and Tverdovsky signed and in the lineup would be the first step toward scoring more goals.Breakthrough player: The Ducks have a number of players who have NHL experience, but have yet to meet their potential. Right winger Joe Sacco, for example. scored 19 goals last season-14 in the second half. The 6-foot-l, 190-pound former Toronto Maple Leaf prospect is projected to be a consistent 25-30 goal-scorer with the ability to create scoring opportunities for himself and others with his exceptional speed.Organization: The Ducks haven&rsquo;t been around long to enough to have built a sub-stantial farm system, but are excited about right winger Valeri Karpov, a lanky 23-year-old defenseman who scored 13 goals and 29 points in 32 games last season for Chelyabinsk in Russia and 19-year-old defenseman Nikolai Tsylugin, who played for Salafat Ufa in Russia.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-01174/10245816-1-eng-US/f0068-012.jpg" title="f0068-01" width="761" height="799"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0296/10245809-1-eng-US/f0068-022.jpg" title="f0068-02" width="1075" height="1540"><figcaption class="caption-body">Oleg Tverdovsky (BRUCE BENNETT/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0358/10245802-1-eng-US/f0068-032.jpg" title="f0068-03" width="749" height="762"></div>Coach/GM: When the Mighty Ducks signed Ferriera as their first GM, they not only hired a man with more than 20 years pro hockey experience, they also got one with a personal agenda to prove the San Jose Sharks were wrong in relieving him of similar duties after just one season. The former all-America goalie at Boston University was the loser in a San Jose front-office squabble, but was the perfect man for the Ducks. First, it was his second goround piecing together a west coast expansion team from scratch. Also, after being dumped by the Sharks. Ferreira spent time as director of pro scouting for the Montreal Canadiens. which gave him an opportunity to evaluate the talent at the NHL. International and American League levels.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-0429/10245795-1-eng-US/f0068-042.jpg" title="f0068-04" width="625" height="1033"></div>Ferreira&rsquo;s formula was simple: Build with size and strength. His days in San Jose taught him that if you aren&rsquo;t big and tough enough, other teams will be quick to take advantage.Ferreira&rsquo;s first good move was signing Wilson, who had virtually no head coaching experience save for a short interim stmt in the minors. The 38-year-old Wilson, who played 177 games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota North Stars, is a players&rsquo; coach who knows where to draw the line. He spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach with the the Vancouver Canucks under Pat Quinn. His approach was strictly defensive and the players bought into his system.Playoff history: None.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-01148/10245788-1-eng-US/f0069-012.jpg" title="f0069-01" width="2601" height="3490"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-01155/10245781-1-eng-US/f0070-012.jpg" title="f0070-01" width="2318" height="2334"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-02_ad2/10245774-1-eng-US/f0070-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0070-02_Ad" width="2360" height="894"></div> &#9632;

f0067-01

MIGHTY DUCKS OF ANAHEIM

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0071-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-01147/10245903-1-eng-US/f0071-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RAY BOURQUE (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>It has become a yearly ritual. Every season, the pundits predict the demise of the Boston Bruins and every season general manager Harry Sinden finds a way to build a contender with limited means.But this is the year it happens, we guarantee it. Well, uh, maybe.Unless Sinden can perform his usual feats of administrative strength, the Bruins could be in for a very trying season.Negotiations with defenseman Glen Wesley and right winger Cam Neely were going nowhere as July turned into August. But Sinden&rsquo;s other potential problem could be in the nets.After the season, the Bruins offered Jon Casey a termination contract and their No. 1 goalie from last season bolted for the St. Louis Blues and the chance to be Curtis Joseph&rsquo;s backup for $1.8 million.That left the Bruins with the very real possibility that their top two goalies this season will be rookies.Holdovers Vincent Riendeau and John Blue have been left to fight it out with youngsters Blaine Lacher and first-round draft choice Evgeni Ryabchikov for the No. 1 and 2 positions-both of which are wide open.Trust the cagey Sinden to work things out. His forte as a GM during his tenure with the Bruins is keeping them competitive. In fact, the Bruins have been one of the NHL&rsquo;s model citizens in the regular-season, placing first or second in their division in each of the past six seasons. That has not translated into playoff success.1993-94 record: 42-29-13, second in Northeast, seventh overall, lost Eastern Conference semifinal 4-2 to New Jersey. Power play: 21.7 per cent (third overall). Penalty killing: 84.7 per cent (first overall).Off-season acquisitions: Alexei Kasatonov, D; Mikko Makela, LW; Marc Potvin, LW.Candidates for promotion: John Gruden, D; Lacher, G; Jon Rohloff, D; Ryabchikov, G.Three pivotal factors: 1. Cam Neely&rsquo;s health. That is assuming the Bruins can re-sign their star right winger. The Bruins&rsquo; success doesn&rsquo;t hinge solely on Neely&rsquo;s return to good health, but it comes awfully close. When he plays, Neely is one of the NHL&rsquo;s most productive players. He scored 50 goals in 49 games last season, but missed the playoffs with another in a series of knee injuries. Neely has dressed for 71 of his team&rsquo;s 248 games over the past three seasons. Neely was seeking Eric Lindros-type money, about $3.5 million a season.2. Who plays net? Casey didn&rsquo;t earn a single vote in the race for the Vezina Trophy last season, but his departure creates a huge gap. If Jamie Storr and Kevin Weekes return to the Ontario League&rsquo;s Owen Sound Platers, they might have better goaltending than the Bruins. Which explains why the Bruins signed Lacher-who led Lake Superior State to a national title-and drafted Ryabchikov in the first round. The one thing the survivor of the battle of the crease has going for him is the Bruins are traditionally a strong defensive team.3. Al lafrate&rsquo;s contribution. All eyes will be on the NHL&rsquo;s best quote to see how he fares after the Bruins traded Joe Juneau to the Washington Capitals to get him. The Bruins, guarding against the potential loss of Wesley in the free agent market and the eventual retirement of Bourque, traded the potentially high-scoring Juneau to the Capitals for the free-spirited lafrate late last season. One of the NHL&rsquo;s fastest skaters and hardest shooters, lafrate scored a career-high 25 goals two seasons ago, but slipped to 15 last season.State of goaltending: Riendeau and Blue are back-up goalies who may be thrust into front-line roles. Riendeau had one great season with the St. Louis Blues in 1990-91 when he went 29-9-6. Blue split his time between Boston and the Providence Bruins of the American League and didn&rsquo;t have a winning record with either team. The Bruins have confidence in Lacher and Ryabchikov. Lacher had a 20-5-4 record with a 1.98 goals-against average with Lake Superior State last season and Ryabchikov sported a 3.86 GAA with Molot Perm in Russia. Lacher is 24-years-old so the expectations on him will be higher.Most pressing need: The Bruins need help in a number of areas, most notably scoring and size, but until the mystery of who plays goal is solved, there is no more pressing need. This will be the third consecutive year the Bruins will play in front of a different No. 1 stopper. Two years ago Andy Moog held the job and last season it was Casey. Barring an addition to the roster, no team will go to training camp with more suspect goaltending than Boston.Breakthrough player: We hate to put too much pressure on a rookie, but the Bruins can&rsquo;t afford for right winger Mariusz Czerkawski to develop slowly. Born and raised in Poland, he spent his formative years as a pro playing in Sweden and joined the Bruins for last season&rsquo;s playoffs scoring three goals and six points in 13 games. The 5-foot-11,185-pounder showed good speed and hands in his audition, leading the Bruins to believe he will be a solid contributor as a freshman.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-01148/10245896-1-eng-US/f0072-012.jpg" title="f0072-01" width="746" height="790"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0281/10245889-1-eng-US/f0072-022.jpg" title="f0072-02" width="1027" height="1531"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Oates (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0348/10245882-1-eng-US/f0072-032.jpg" title="f0072-03" width="742" height="763"></div>Organization: Ryabchikov was one of three goalies the Bruins selected in the 1994 draft. Kevyn Adams, the Bruins&rsquo; top pick, in 1993, enjoyed a second productive season with Miami-Ohio of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The 6-foot-1, 182-pound center scored 15 goals and 43 points in 36 games. Their second-rounder from 1993, 6-foot-5, 195-pound right winger Matt Al very, managed six goals and 14 points with Lake Superior.Coach/GM: Sinden has been hinting he&rsquo;d like to step aside in the near future and thought he was grooming Mike Milbury as his successor until Milbury abruptly quit near the end of last season. After considering ex-Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; GM Bryan Murray, and if you believe it, Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; president-coach-GM Pat Quinn as replacements for Milbury, he set-tied on former Bruin Mike O&rsquo;Connell. That means Sinden will likely stick around for a few seasons to teach him the business. Brian Sutter begins his third season behind the Bruins&rsquo; bench. With the Bruins he has been remarkably patient with youngsters, but has high expectations for players with NHL experience.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-0421/10245875-1-eng-US/f0072-042.jpg" title="f0072-04" width="607" height="1025"></div>Playoff history: The Bruins have the longest streak in North American pro sports for making the playoffs-27 consecutive years, but they haven&rsquo;t won the Stanley Cup since 1972. They are one of the NHL&rsquo;s most consistent regular-season teams, finishing first in their division 10 times and second six times in the last 20 years. Last season, Boston defeated the Montreal Canadiens in seven games in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, then were eliminated by the New Jersey Devils in six games in the second round.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-01138/10245868-1-eng-US/f0073-012.jpg" title="f0073-01" width="2551" height="3480"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-01139/10245861-1-eng-US/f0074-012.jpg" title="f0074-01" width="2349" height="2369"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-02_ad2/10245854-1-eng-US/f0074-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0074-02_Ad" width="2325" height="893"></div> &#9632;

f0071-01

BOSTON BRUINS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0079-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-01114/10245983-1-eng-US/f0079-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY ROBERTS (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div>As the Calgary Flames watched the Vancouver Canucks battle the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup final, they had to be thinking, &ldquo;That could have been us.&rdquo;If not for one of the greatest saves ever by Kirk McLean on Robert Reichel in overtime of Game 7 of the Western Conference quarterfinal, Calgary might have made it to the final for the first time since winning the Cup in 1989. Instead, the Flames faced another off-season explaining to folks the &rsquo;C&rsquo; on their jersey doesn&rsquo;t stand for choke.Next season it could stand for changes. By choice and out of necessity, the Flames will have a much different team this season.By dealing goalie Mike Vernon and star defenseman Al MacInnis, the Flames lost their two longest serving players and cornerstones of the franchise.Maclnnis was the team leader in games played, assists and points and Vernon led in virtually every career goaltending category.The Flames got reliable defenseman Steve Chiasson from the Detroit Red Wings for Vernon and offensive defenseman Phil Housley from the St. Louis Blues for Maclnnis in a trade they were forced to make.Housley indicated during the summer he wouldn&rsquo;t report to Calgary because of the Canadian tax system.The biggest concern facing the Flames is in goal. Replacing the unappreciated, but reliable Vernon won&rsquo;t be an easy task, but management is convinced Trevor Kidd is ready to take hold of the No. 1 goaltending job.1993-94 record: 42-29-13, first in Pacific, sixth overall, lost Western Conference quarterfinal 4-3 to Vancouver. Power play: 21.2 per cent (fourth overall). Penalty killing: 80.6 (19th overall).Off-season acquisitions: Chiasson, D; Housley, D.Candidates for promotion: Jason Muzzatti, G; Cory Stillman, C; Vesa Viitakoski, LW. factor. It was a sign of things to come when defenseman Trent Yawney hurt his shoulder lifting weights the day before training camp opened. Yawney&rsquo;s injury was the first of many for the Flames, who were hit harder by injuries to key players than any other team. On Jan. 5 in Buffalo, the Flames had 12 regulars out of the lineup because of injuries. At various times during the season the Flames were also without the services of gritty left winger Gary Roberts, Maclnnis, captain Joe Nieuwendyk, Gary Suter and Kelly Kisio for extended periods.2. Goaltending. As maligned as Vernon was during his eight full seasons in Calgary, he provided the team with reliable, consistent goaltending, averaging 30 wins per season. If Kidd makes the transition to No. 1 as easily as management expects, he&rsquo;ll make the fans in Calgary forget about Vernon. If not, they could be wondering how they could have ever wished for Vernon&rsquo;s departure.3. The power play. Maclnnis and Suter played the points on the power play for the better part of the past nine seasons. Four times during that span the Flames had the best power play in the NHL. The two defensemen rank first and third in Flames&rsquo; all-time scoring and now both are gone. The plan is for Housley and Zarley Zalapski to man the points on the No. 1 power play this season. If that combination fails, Chiasson will be given a shot.Breakthrough player: The Hartford Whalers hoped Michael Nylander would be their break-through player last season, but dealt him to the Flames in a six-player trade. Nylander, a center-left winger, showed significant improvement as a sophomore last season, using his teammates better than previously, but still needs to add a dash of grit to his game to become a dominant force and improve on the 13 goals and 55 points he scored in 73 games last season.State of goaltending: The Flames are convinced Kidd, 22, Jason Muzzatti, 24, and Andrei Trefilov, 25, are all capable of being No. 1 goalies. The job, heading into training camp, is Kidd&rsquo;s to lose with the other two battling for the role of back-up. Kidd was the Flames&rsquo; first pick in the 1990 draft and spent one season with Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team before turning pro. After one season in the International League, he joined the Flames last year and produced respectable numbers: a 13-7-6 record with a 3.16 goals against average and .887 save percentage. Trefilov was 3-4-2 with the Flames with a 2.50 GAA and .915. Muzzatti impressed management as the No. 1 man with the Saint John&rsquo;s Flames of the American League last season.Most pressing need: Production from the wings. Left winger Gary Roberts and right winger Theoren Fleury are the Flames&rsquo; most consistent threats from the wing. German Titov, who plays both sides, was a pleasant surprise, scoring 27 times as a 29-year-old rookie. After that trio of wingers, there&rsquo;s a dramatic drop off to Paul Kruse who had three goals and 11 points in 63 games and enforcer Sandy McCarthy who managed just five goals and 10 points in 79 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-01114/10245976-1-eng-US/f0080-012.jpg" title="f0080-01" width="746" height="798"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0262/10245969-1-eng-US/f0080-022.jpg" title="f0080-02" width="1045" height="1511"><figcaption class="caption-body">Trevor Kidd (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0337/10245962-1-eng-US/f0080-032.jpg" title="f0080-03" width="745" height="759"></div>Organization: The Flames still have high hopes for center Jesper Mattsson. their first pick, 18th overall, in 1993, although he managed just a goal and five points in 31 games with Malmo in Sweden. Malmo was a veteran-laced team and Mattsson didn&rsquo;t receive much playing time. He&rsquo;s a few years away from aiming to North America. Center Marty Murray, picked 96th in 1993, led the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western League in scoring with 43 goals and 114 points in 64 games. The downside is Murray is only 5-foot-8.Coach/GM: If you must make a mistake, learn from it. Doug Risebrough. entering his fourth season as the Flames&rsquo; general manager, has done just that. He blew it on his first big deal, the Doug Gilmour trade in 1992, but made a strong comeback by acquiring Nylander. Zalapski and James Patrick for Suter. Paul Ranheim and Ted Drury; Chiasson for Vernon; and Housley for Maclnnis who was leaving Calgary anyway. Risebrough now takes initiative in the trade market, but is now much more patient in evaluating the talent he receives before making the deal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-0416/10245955-1-eng-US/f0080-042.jpg" title="f0080-04" width="598" height="1021"></div>Coach Dave King enters the final year of his three-year contract to guide the Flames this season. The Flames have been generally pleased with the way the quiet, intelligent King runs the show, although Calgary took four penalties for too many men on the ice in the playoff series against Vancouver. King has been knocked periodically for over-coaching and playing favorites with former Canadian national and Olympic team players.Playoff history: Since winning the Stanley Cup in 1989, the Flames have been post-season busts. They have missed the playoffs once and have been first-round losers four times since then.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-01124/10245948-1-eng-US/f0081-012.jpg" title="f0081-01" width="2591" height="3530"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-01115/10245941-1-eng-US/f0082-012.jpg" title="f0082-01" width="2396" height="2479"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-02_ad2/10245934-1-eng-US/f0082-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0082-02_Ad" width="2383" height="941"></div> &#9632;

f0079-01

CALGARY FLAMES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0083-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-01103/10246063-1-eng-US/f0083-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEREMY ROENICK (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>The Chicago Blackhawks are moving into a new home, but the family is still plagued with the same old problems.The Blackhawks simply can&rsquo;t score. That much was evident last season when they dropped three 1-0 games to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. They did not light it up during the regular season either, finishing 19th overall with 254 goals in 1993-94.In the off-season, the Blackhawks signed Bernie Nicholls to take the burden off No. 1 center Jeremy Roenick. Nicholls would have helped the Blackhawks five years ago, but do they really believe a 33-year-old who scored 19-goals last season is the answer? They also signed free-agent bad boy Bob Probert to a four-year deal for $6.6 million. Probert had seven goals and 275 penalty minutes in 66 games last season for the Detroit Red Wings.The Blackhawks move out of the 65-year-old Chicago Stadium and into the United Center this season. With a larger ice surface, they have taken the emphasis away from imposing physical players, Probert excepted, and have placed more of a premium on speed.Keeping the puck out of the net has not been a problem for Chicago with Ed Belfour, one of the league&rsquo;s finest goalies, between the posts. The Blackhawks also boast a solid blueline corps led by stars Chris Chelios and Gary Suter.The Blackhawks dropped 19 points in the standings last season, from first in their division to fifth, but allowed just 10 more goals.1993-94 record: 39-36-9, fifth in Central, 13th overall, lost Western Conference quarterfinal 4-2 to Toronto. Power play: 17.5 per cent (19th overall). Penalty killing: 83.4 per cent (fifth overall).Off-season acquisitions: Brent Grieve, LW; Bernie Nicholls, C; Bob Probert, LW.Candidates for promotion: Ivan Droppa. D; Sergei Krivokrasov, RW.Three pivotal factors: 1. Offensive performance. Things were bleak last season after you got past Roenick, who led the team with 107 points. Joe Murphy was Chicago&rsquo;s second-leading scorer with 70 points. The additions of Suter, Nicholls, Paul Ysebaert and Tony Amonte should help. Ysebaert, a left winger, had five goals and eight points in 11 games after arriving from the Winnipeg Jets. Amonte, also a left winger, scored 35 and 33 goals in his first two NHL seasons. The Blackhawks hope last season&rsquo;s 17 goals were an aberration.2. Defensive play. The Blackhawks must score more goals, but not at the expense of defense. With the late-season addition of Suter, the Blackhawks solidified one of the most potent defenses in the NHL. Chelios is still a dangerous two-way performer with a competitive spirit and mean streak that hasn&rsquo;t mellowed with age. Steve Smith, who is coming off a broken leg, remains a dependable stay-at-home type.3. Team discipline. The Blackhawks are consistently among the NHL&rsquo;s most penalized teams. Last season only the Winnipeg Jets had more penalty minutes. The year before Chicago was No. 1. The Blackhawks&rsquo; penalty killers do a decent job-they placed fifth in the league-but only because they get so much practice. If the key additions are to have a chance to flex their scoring muscles, the Blackhawks cannot be playing shorthanded so often.State of goaltending: Belfour, the NHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year in 1991, is one of the league&rsquo;s most-maligned goalies. People generally don&rsquo;t like his floppy style, but it certainly hasn&rsquo;t hurt his performance. In four seasons as the Blackhawks&rsquo; No. 1 goalie, he has twice been named winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league&rsquo;s outstanding goaltender; led the league in victories in 1990-91 with 43 and three times has led or shared the league lead for most shutouts. He tied Patrick Roy of the Montreal Canadiens and Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres with seven a piece last season. Belfour has also won the Jennings Trophy twice for leading the Hawks to the league&rsquo;s lowest goals-against average. He had the second-highest number of wins last season, 37. Backup Jeff Hackett had an off-year, recording a 2-12-3 record. He could be pushed next season by Chris Rogles and Christian Soucy, both signed as free agents in 1993, who split goaltending chores with the Indianapolis Ice of the International League.Most pressing need: Depth at right wing. The Blackhawks spent all summer trying to talk captain 35-year-old Dirk Graham out of retiring, not only because they feel he still has intangible leadership skills, but because they are so short at the position. Graham is No. 2 on the depth chart behind Murphy. After those two, there&rsquo;s Krivokrasov, who is 20 years old with two years&rsquo; experience in the IHL; Rich Sutter, who&rsquo;s not an offensive player; and enforcer Darin Kimble.Breakthrough player: When the Blackhawks acquired left winger Patrick Poulin from the Hartford Whalers, they hoped they were getting a gritty winger who would score 30 goals a season. The 6-foot-1, 208-pound Poulin led the Quebec League in scoring in 1992 with 138 points for the St-Hyacinthe Laser, but has not translated junior success into success in the NHL. He scored 20 goals and 51 points as a rookie with the Whalers, but dropped to 14 goals and 28 points last season. He had no points in four playoff games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-01106/10246056-1-eng-US/f0084-012.jpg" title="f0084-01" width="735" height="797"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0252/10246049-1-eng-US/f0084-022.jpg" title="f0084-02" width="1045" height="1545"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Belfour (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0334/10246042-1-eng-US/f0084-032.jpg" title="f0084-03" width="735" height="772"></div>Organization: Eric Lacompte, Chicago&rsquo;s first pick in the 1993 draft, has been one of the QMJHL&rsquo;s most consistent scorers and most feared left wingers the past two seasons. Last year he scored 39 goals and 88 points with 171 penalty minutes in 62 games, then added 10 goals and 20 points with 68 PIM in 10 playoff games. The Blackhawks feel they got one of the steals of the &rsquo;94 draft in 6-foot-2, 205-pound center Ethan Moreau of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Niagara Falls Thunder with the 14th pick. More-au is a solid two-way player who scored 98 points and had 100 PIM in 59 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-0411/10246035-1-eng-US/f0084-042.jpg" title="f0084-04" width="597" height="1037"></div>Coach/GM: In his 17 years with the Blackhawks, general manager Bob Pulford has served as the team&rsquo;s coach, GM and vice-president. He again took over the GM position in 1992 from Mike Keenan, who held it for two years. He was also responsible for hiring Darryl Sutter to replace Keenan as coach. Sutter&rsquo;s intensity as a player carried over into his coaching career, although he is said to have toned it down somewhat in his second season behind the Blackhawks&rsquo; bench.Playoff history: Since Keenan took the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup final in 1992, the Blackhawks have not won a round. They were knocked off in four straight games by the St. Louis Blues in 1993 and lost to Toronto last spring. They have won three Cups in their 67 year history, their last was in 1961. They have the second-longest Cup drought in the league.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-01101/10246028-1-eng-US/f0085-012.jpg" title="f0085-01" width="2591" height="3470"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-01110/10246021-1-eng-US/f0086-012.jpg" title="f0086-01" width="2407" height="2384"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-02_ad2/10246014-1-eng-US/f0086-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0086-02_Ad" width="2386" height="901"></div> &#9632;

f0083-01

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0091-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0091-0192/10246223-1-eng-US/f0091-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>If there were any lingering doubts as to how important goaltending is, the Detroit Red Wings erased them last season.The Red Wings, who boasted the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player in Sergei Fedorov, were beaten out in the first round of play-offs in seven games by the San Jose Sharks after finishing with 100 points.The Red Wings knew they needed better goaltending than they had to be a factor in the playoffs, but didn&rsquo;t acquire it They tried, getting Bob Essensa from the Winnipeg Jets, but Essensa played worse than the man for whom he was traded-Tim Cheveldae. It cost general manager Bryan Murray his job.Fedorov&rsquo;s emergence as a bona fide NHL superstar was clearly the highlight. He was the runaway winner of the Hart Trophy, out-distancing runner-up Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; goalie Dominik Hasek by 194-86 in the voting.A season that held so much promise wound up being a bitter disappointment. Coach Scotty Bowman was supposed to be the answer for the long-suffering Wings and he wasn&rsquo;t. However, he did survive and, in fact, has more power in the organization having taken over as director of hockey operations from Murray.Now the pressure is squarely on the shoulders of Mike Vernon, who was acquired from the Calgary Flames in the offseason. The nine-year veteran goaltender is being asked to lead the Red Wings to the Promise Land.Wait until he sees his defense corps.1993-94 record: 46-30-8, first in Central, fourth overall, lost Western Conference quarterfinal 4-3 to San Jose. Power play: 20.8 per cent (sixth overall). Penalty killing: 80.9 (17th overall).Off-season acquisition: Mike Krushelnyski, C; Mike Vernon, G.Candidates for promotion: Jamie Pushor, D; Aaron Ward, D; Jason York, D.Three pivotal factors: 1. Vernon&rsquo;s contribution. He was traded to the Red Wings not because the Flames were concerned about a decline in his play, but to make room for a new regime. His 2.81 goals-against average last season was his best since 1988-89, the year he led the Flames to the Stanley Cup. The Red Wings gave up their best defensive defenseman, Steve Chiasson, to get Vernon. Replacing Chiasson is a priority if Vemon is to live up to expectations.2. Team defense. The Red Wings aren&rsquo;t going to seriously challenge for the Stanley Cup until they get better at keeping pucks out of their net. Detroit&rsquo;s 356 goals for was 50 more than the New Jersey Devils, who finished second in scoring. However, the Red Wings were 16th in goals against last season. And don&rsquo;t put all the blame on their goalies. The Red Wings had a weak defense and with Chiasson traded and Mark Howe retired-the situation is bleaker now. Ward, York and Pushor are ready to make the leap to the NHL, but Bowman is not known for nursing along youngsters. The Red Wings were said to be in the market for experienced help along the blueline in the off-season.3. Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s health. The Red Wings&rsquo; 29-year-old captain had an outstanding second half last season after missing most of the first half with a herniated disc in his back. He was the fourth-highest scorer in the second half with 17 goals and 58 points. Yzerman had surgery in the off-season and isn&rsquo;t expected back until November. After 11 seasons, he remains one of the league&rsquo;s most gifted scorers-when he&rsquo;s healthy.State of goaltending: All of a sudden goaltending, their biggest concern a year ago becomes a strength for the Red Wings. Vernon should carry the bulk of the load, just as he did for the Flames the past seven seasons. Chris Osgood established himself as a solid NHLer, going 23-8-5 as a rookie last season with a 2.86 goals against average and .895 save percentage. What becomes of Essensa is anybody&rsquo;s guess. Scheduled to earn $3.8, million the next three seasons, he doesn&rsquo;t stand to be an easy person to trade if that&rsquo;s what the Wings elect to do. Waiting in the wings is Kevin Hodson, one of the top goalies at the American League level last season with the Adirondack Red Wings and Norm Maracle, who was named top goalie in the Western League with the Saskatoon Blades.Most pressing need: Filling the gap created by the loss of Chi-asson and Howe. Chiasson is one of those players you have to watch night after night to fully appreciate his contributions. He has been a dependable two-way, physical performer the past six seasons. Howe, a future Hall of Famer, didn&rsquo;t play as a regular because of back troubles, but was an honest defensive citizen when he was in the lineup.Breakthrough player: Right winger Martin Lapointe has been on the verge of being a Red Wing regular since they drafted him 10th overall in 1991. The 5-foot-l 1, 200-pounder scored eight goals and 16 points with Detroit last season and a whopping 25 goals and 46 points in 28 games with Adirondack. The Red Wings don&rsquo;t expect Lapointe to unseat Dino Ciccarelli or Vyacheslav Kozlov-the team&rsquo;s top two right wingers-yet, but hope he emerges as a grinding up-and-down player who can score 20-25 goals on the third line.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-01112/10246216-1-eng-US/f0092-012.jpg" title="f0092-01" width="742" height="794"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0260/10246209-1-eng-US/f0092-022.jpg" title="f0092-02" width="1055" height="1540"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Vernon (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0338/10246202-1-eng-US/f0092-032.jpg" title="f0092-03" width="750" height="776"></div>Organization: The Red Wings have a very strong group of prospects, led by Ward, who was the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; first-round choice in 1991. Another first-round defenseman, Anders Eriksson, was chosen by the Wings in 1993 and had a promising year with MoDo of Sweden, but is just 19 years old. Two Ontario League wingers, Jason MacDonald of the Owen Sound Platers and Curtis Bowen of the Ottawa 67s, should be regulars in Adirondack next season. MacDonald had 51 goals and 116 points with Owen Sound last season and proved he can produce when it counts, scoring seven goals and 18 points in nine playoff games. Bowen scored 25 goals and 52 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-0412/10246195-1-eng-US/f0092-042.jpg" title="f0092-04" width="598" height="1028"></div>Coach/GM: Bowman is one of the most successful coaches in NHL history. Only Toe Blake, with eight, has won more Stanley Cups as a coach than Bowman&rsquo;s six. He was brought in to replace Murray, who couldn&rsquo;t lead the Wings to playoff success. Communication with the players has never been one of Bowman&rsquo;s strong suits and in today&rsquo;s game, that seems more important than ever. Bowman&rsquo;s only previous GM experience was with the Buffalo Sabres from 1979-80 to 1986-87.Playoff history: When the Rangers won the Stanley Cup last season, the Red Wings inherited the longest drought in the league. It has been 39 years since Gordie Howe and the Wings won their second straight Cup, beating the Montreal Canadiens in seven games in 1955. The Red Wings have not gone beyond the second round since 1988&rsquo;For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0194/10246188-1-eng-US/f0093-012.jpg" title="f0093-01" width="2641" height="3502"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0094-01102/10246181-1-eng-US/f0094-012.jpg" title="f0094-01" width="2384" height="2366"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0094-02_ad2/10246174-1-eng-US/f0094-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0094-02_Ad" width="2357" height="896"></div> &#9632;

f0091-01

DETROIT RED WINGS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0095-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0095-0198/10246303-1-eng-US/f0095-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>Sheila MacDonald has the toughest job in hockey. She&rsquo;s the director of ticketing operations for the Edmonton Oilers. What an unenviable task it must be trying to convince the people of Edmonton to purchase season tickets for this team.As of late July, the Oilers had no coaching staff, half of their team remained unsigned and they didn&rsquo;t have a signed agreement for their arena. They were supposedly close to signing a long-term lease agreement with Northlands Coliseum.Even with the emergence of a young star center in Jason Arnott and several other good young prospects, the Oilers remain a team that has deteriorated from a dynasty to a penny-pinching, garage-sale outfit.Glen Sather, the only general manager in Oilers&rsquo; NHL history, has done a remarkable job under trying circumstances. He continues to trade aging, high-priced veterans for young, talented players. The only problem is that by the time those young players are in the primes of their careers, they&rsquo;re too expensive to stay in Edmonton and the whole process repeats itself.The Oilers placed last in the Pacific Division last season and there is no reason to believe they will improve on that this year. The Oilers are building for the future and they may be a good team some day, but it won&rsquo;t be any day soon.Barring a miracle, the Oilers will once again serve as a farm team for participating teams in the 1995 World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden.1993-94 record: 25-41-14, sixth in Pacific, 23rd overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 18.4 percent (16th overall). Penalty killing: 80.5 per cent (20th overall).Off-season acquisitions: None.Candidates for promotion: Jason Bonsignore, C; Nick Stajduhar, D; Tyler Wright, C.Three pivotal factors: 1. The defense corps. The Oilers are counting on rookie Stajduhar stepping in and making an immediate impact. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound graduate of the Ontario League&rsquo;s London Knights scored 34 goals and 86 points last season. The loss of Dave Manson, traded last season to the Winnipeg Jets, leaves the Oilers with a severe lack of toughness on the blueline.2. Performance of young players. Can lightning strike twice in the same place? The Oilers hope so. They feel Bonsignore has the potential to duplicate what Arnott did last season. Arnott was the surprise freshman student from the Class of 1993-94, scoring 33 goals and 68 points, third best among rookies. The Oilers are hoping for similar production from Bonsignore next season. The 6-foot-4, 208-pound Bonsignore scored just 22 goals and 86 points in 58 games with the Newmarket Royals and Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario League: Hardly awe-inspiring numbers for a fourth-overall pick. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine a kid who has yet become an impact player in junior jumping in and being an impact player in the NHL. The door is also open for smallish center Tyler Wright, the 12th overall pick in 1993, to move up from the Cape Breton Oilers of the American League. The feisty 5-foot-ll, 170-pounder scored 14 goals and 41 points with 160 penalty minutes last season.3. Reaction to a new coach. The Oilers will likely play for their third head coach in less than a calender year. The task is a thankless one, designed for somebody with good teaching skills and a lot of patience.State of goaltending: When Sather didn&rsquo;t draft top-rated goalie Jamie Storr of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Owen Sound Platers with the fourth overall pick, it became apparent he intended to make every effort to re-sign Bill Ranford and have him remain the team&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie. At 28, Ranford is young enough to be a major factor if the Oilers manage to turn the comer in the next year or two. Ranford&rsquo;s poor numbers, a 22-34-11 record, 3.48 goals against average and .898 save percentage are a reflection of the lack of talent protecting him, not a decline in his ability. Rookie Fred Brathwaite was the back-up last season, but his 3-10-3 record with a 3.54 GAA and .898 save percentage hardly give him a lock on the job. He&rsquo;ll be challenged by Steve Passmore, who helped the Western League&rsquo;s Kamloops Blazers capture the Memorial Cup last season, and Greg Louder, the No. 1 goalie at the University of Notre Dame last season.Most pressing need: To sign their players. Unless the Oilers can come to terms with all or most of the players who played out their options last season, they are in deep trouble. There is not nearly enough depth in the organization to support a major desertion.Breakthrough player: Considering the Oilers&rsquo; lack of depth at right wing, the time is right for Steve Rice to make his move, assuming he re-signs with the team. His third year as a pro was his best-17 goals and 32 points in 63 games-but he has some ground to cover before he becomes the player the New York Rangers projected he&rsquo;d be when they picked him 20th overall in 1989. That would be a 6-foot, 215-pound bruiser with strong leadership skills who averages 30 goals a season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0096-01113/10246296-1-eng-US/f0096-012.jpg" title="f0096-01" width="749" height="793"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0096-0254/10246289-1-eng-US/f0096-022.jpg" title="f0096-02" width="1049" height="1455"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Ranford (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0096-0334/10246282-1-eng-US/f0096-032.jpg" title="f0096-03" width="750" height="857"></div>Organization: As is the case with Wright, Ralph Intranuovo is a small (5-foot-8, 185-pound) center with good offensive instincts. He scored 21 goals and 52 points in 66 games as a rookie with Cape Breton last season. Another center, David Vybomy, excited Oiler officials with his strong performance at a mini-camp during the summer. The 19-year-old speedster scored 15 goals and 35 points for Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic. Mats Lindgren was the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; first pick, 15th overall in 1993, and was included in the deal that brought Boris Mironov and a first round draft choice in 1994 (which turned out to be Bonsignore) to Edmonton for Dave Manson. Lindgren, a 20-year-old left winger, scored 11 goals and 17 points in 22 games with Djurgarden in Sweden last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0096-0414/10246275-1-eng-US/f0096-042.jpg" title="f0096-04" width="616" height="1028"></div>Coach/GM: Sather was expected to hand over the coaching reigns for the third time in his this time to George Burnett. The career, 33-year-old Burnett, a former coach of the year in the OHL. guided Cape Breton to the Calder Cup championship in the AHL two seasons ago. Sather will remain the team&rsquo;s president and GM and will likely continue to perform wonders with one of the most limited budgets in the league.Playoff history: Oiler fans used to be spoiled, which makes the team&rsquo;s recent fall from grace all that much harder to take. The team hadn&rsquo;t missed the playoffs prior to 1992-93 and their five Stanley Cups in seven years qualified them as a modern-day NHL dynasty. Even two years after wining their fifth Stanley Cup in 1990, the Oilers advanced to the conference championship.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-01105/10246268-1-eng-US/f0097-012.jpg" title="f0097-01" width="2581" height="3500"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-01128/10246261-1-eng-US/f0098-012.jpg" title="f0098-01" width="2377" height="2366"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-02_ad2/10246254-1-eng-US/f0098-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0098-02_Ad" width="2366" height="894"></div> &#9632;

f0095-01

EDMONTON OILERS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0099-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0192/10246383-1-eng-US/f0099-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">SCOTT MELLANBY (SCOTT LEVY/BBS)</figcaption></div>Success in Montreal is a Stanley Cup. Success in Miami is coming within one game of making the playoffs.Despite the fact the Florida Panthers went 0-4-4 down the stretch and lost the right to be cannon fodder for the New York Rangers in the first round, the season was viewed by all as an unequivocal success.In their first season, the Panthers set expansion records for most points (83), most road wins (18), longest unbeaten streak (nine games) and tied the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for most wins (33).Part of the management team responsible for the Panthers&rsquo; terrific first year, general manager Bob Clarke, left to join the Philadelphia Flyers. Team president Bill Torrey handled the GM chores through the early summer until former Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; coach-GM Bryan Murray was hired in August.At the 75-game point in the standings, the Panthers looked playoff-bound. They even held a nine-point advantage over the New York Islanders, but stumbled down the stretch and lost their scoring touch. The Panthers won&rsquo;t be any more offensive this season so they&rsquo;ll again have to win games with coach Roger Neilson&rsquo;s rigid defensive system and outstanding goaltending.Aside from their lack of offense, the Panthers&rsquo; biggest concern will be to avoid the Shark syndrome. After making strides in their first season, the San Jose Sharks fell back and posted one of the worst seasons in NHL history.1993-94 record: 33-34-17, fifth in Atlantic, 16th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 15.9 per cent (21st overall). Penalty killing: 82.6 per cent (ninth overall).Off-season acquisitions: Danny Lorenz, G; Randy Moller, D.Candidate for promotion: Doug Barrault, LW; Ed Jovanovski, D.Three pivotal factors: 1. Offense. We acknowledge Neilson&rsquo;s love for defensive hockey and its success, especially in the playoffs. But if the Panthers don&rsquo;t start scoring more often, they&rsquo;ll never make the playoffs. One big problem is the Panthers don&rsquo;t have a trigger-man. Even Bob Kudelski, acquired Jan. 6 from the Ottawa Senators, scored just 14 goals in 44 games for Florida. The Panthers have high hopes for Stu Barnes, whom they re-signed in the offseason, as well as Jesse Belanger and Rob Niedermayer. Only Scott Mellanby came through last season as expected, scoring a career-high 30 goals.2. Goaltending. If the Panthers put all their stock in their defensive game, then goalies John Vanbiesbrouck and Mark Fitz-patrick will be under pressure to repeat their heroics of last season. The Panthers were 21-10-7 in games which they were outshot by nine shots or more. At one point they were 19-4-2 under the same circumstances.3. Development of Panther first-rounders. Niedermayer, the fifth overall pick in 1993, probably wouldn&rsquo;t have made a lot of teams, but there wasn&rsquo;t much competition at center in South Florida. A shoulder injury limited the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Niedermayer to 65 games and he scored nine goals and 26 points. Down the stretch, with the Panthers in a playoff race, he received only limited playing time. If Ed Jovanovski, the No. 1 overall pick last June, makes the team, it&rsquo;s incumbent upon Neilson to pair him with a veteran and keep him out of potentially confidence-killing situations.State of goaltending: The goaltending scene was muddied in mid-July when Fitzpatrick was charged with aggravated domestic battery&rsquo; for allegedly assaulting his pregnant wife. If convicted, he faced a maximum 10 years in prison. If the Panthers had any plans of trading Vanbiesbrouck to a contender, they were put on hold until Fitzpatnck&rsquo;s situation was settled. Outside of Vanbiesbrouck and Fitzpatrick, the Panthers are extremely thin in the crease. They lost Eldon (Pokey) Reddick in the off-season and signed free agent Danny Lorenz. He played eight games and posted one win with the New York Islanders between 1990 and&rsquo;93.Most pressing need: As sad as the Panthers&rsquo; state of offense is. even more sorry is their lack of toughness along the blueline. Only 6-foot-2, 210-pound Brent Severyn, who had 156 penalty minutes in 67 games last season, is a physical threat. Paul Laus is a gamer, but he is also still considered a project and not nearly ready for full-time employment. Jovanovski could help in this department, the way Scott Stevens did as a rookie when he amassed 195 penalty inmutes as a rookie with the Washington Capitals. but he&rsquo;s still something of a longshot to make the club. He&rsquo;ll likely return to junior hockey, where he&rsquo;ll dominate.Breakthrough player: Barnes gave indication down the stretch he&rsquo;s ready to become the player the Winnipeg Jets projected him to be when they picked him fourth overall in 1989. In the Panthers&rsquo; final 15 games, when just about everybody on the team went into the tank, he emerged with seven goals and 12 points. His final tally of 23 goals, 24 assists and 47 points were all career highs. A free agent after last season, he elected to re-sign with the Panthers and is slotted in as their No. 1 center for 1994-95.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-01101/10246376-1-eng-US/f0100-012.jpg" title="f0100-01" width="747" height="798"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0252/10246369-1-eng-US/f0100-022.jpg" title="f0100-02" width="1028" height="1532"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Vanbiesbrouck (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0329/10246362-1-eng-US/f0100-032.jpg" title="f0100-03" width="739" height="768"></div>Organization: Like the other recent expansion teams, the Panthers&rsquo; farm system is not deep with future NHLers. One of the more interesting prospects is goalie Kevin Weekes. Their second pick and the fourth goalie chosen in the 1993 draft, Weekes spent the better part of the past two seasons as Jamie Storr&rsquo;s backup with the Ontario League&rsquo;s Owen Sound Platers. Storr was the first goalie picked in 1994. Weekes was 13-19-1 last season. Defenseman Chris Armstrong (13 goals and 68 points in 64 games) of the Western League&rsquo;s Moose Jaw Warriors and center Steve Washbum (30 goals and 80 points in 65 games) of the OHL&rsquo;s Ottawa 67&rsquo;s had good enough major junior seasons to be considered solid prospects for the future.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-0413/10246355-1-eng-US/f0100-042.jpg" title="f0100-04" width="605" height="1035"></div>Coach/GM: Torrey&rsquo;s hiring of Murray means he&rsquo;s content to slide back into his role as team president. Murray comes with excellent regular-season credentials, having guid-ed Detroit to a 170-121-37 record in four seasons as GM. The knock on Murray, dating back to his days with the Washington Capitals, has been his inability to lead his teams to playoff success as either a coach or GM. In 13 seasons, his teams have never made it past the second playoff round. That reputation won&rsquo;t mean much juxtaposed to that of Torrey, the mastermind behind the New York Islanders&rsquo; four Stanley Cups. Neilson proved once again he can take a team with average talent to great heights. He has yet to coach a Stanley Cup winner, but did the next best thing when he guided an overachieving Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; squad to the Stanley Cup final in 1982.Playoff history: None.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0192/10246348-1-eng-US/f0101-012.jpg" title="f0101-01" width="2604" height="3504"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0102-0198/10246341-1-eng-US/f0102-012.jpg" title="f0102-01" width="2404" height="2358"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0102-02_ad2/10246334-1-eng-US/f0102-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0102-02_Ad" width="2373" height="881"></div> &#9632;

f0099-01

Building on success of Florida’s Miami Ice

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0103-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0103-0187/10246463-1-eng-US/f0103-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">SEAN BURKE (JIM MclSAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div>The going rate for an NHL expansion team is $50 million. But for the slightly reduced cost of $47.5 million, you can get an NHL team near extinction.When a group led by Peter Karmanos of Compuware Corp., recently bought the Whalers, it purchased a team:&#9633; With a coach who will return behind the bench this season after leaving last year when he said he feared he would strangle somebody.&#9633; Which established franchise lows for goals scored (227), power-play efficiency (15 per cent) and second-half record (10-26-6).&#9633; Whose players and coaches have been involved in several ugly off-ice incidents involving alcohol.&#9633; Which was surrounded by rumors it would move and, according to the previous owner, lost $14 million last season.Karmanos guaranteed he would keep the team in Hartford for at least four years. But there&rsquo;s little evidence to suggest Hartford wants the Whalers. Their attendance was second worst in the league.One thing the Whalers do have is strong ownership. Compuware operates one of the most successful minor hockey organizations in North America and owns the highly successful Detroit Jr. Red Wings of the Ontario League.Former NHL goalie Jim Rutherford was immediately named the team&rsquo;s new general manager and Holmgren was re-instated as head coach after Pierre McGuire was released.Let the rebuilding begin.1993-94 record: 27-48-9, sixth in Northeast, 24th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 15 per cent (23rd overall). Penalty killing: 78.8 per cent (24th overall).Off-season acquisitions: Jimmy Carson, C; Jeff Chychrun, D.Candidates for promotion: Andrei Nikolishin, C-LW; Kevin Smyth, LW.Three pivotal factors: 1. Sean Burke. If there was one silver lining in an otherwise awful season, it was the play of their goalie. He won games for the Whalers they had no business winning and kept them close in others that should have been blow-outs. Named the Whalers&rsquo; most valuable player by his teammates, Burke had a 17-24-5 record with a 2.99 goals against average and .909 save percentage. He had two shutouts. Burke was largely responsible for the team allowing 81 fewer goals than the season before. There&rsquo;s only one down side: Burke is inconsistent and injury prone and missed 22 games last season with a pulled hamstring. If the team&rsquo;s fortunes are to improve, he must at least duplicate last season&rsquo;s effort.2. Players&rsquo; attitudes. They wanted McGuire out and Holmgren back as head coach and got their wish. Now it&rsquo;s time for the players to repay management by stepping up their levels of commitment to the game. The players truly believe they are a better team than last season&rsquo;s dismal record indicates.3. The play of Geoff Sanderson. Sanderson has quietly developed into one of the NHL&rsquo;s best left wingers with back-to-back seasons of 46 and 41 goals. However, Sanderson slumped badly last season after a promising start and dipped 22 points from 1992-93. He could easily be a 50-goal scorer.State of goaltending: Burke will be expected to play between 65 and 70 games. The Whalers dumped Frank Pietrangelo in the off-season, mainly because of his constant complaining about lack of activity, which leaves Jeff Reese and Mario Gosselin to fight it out for the No. 2 position. Considering they signed Reese to a two-year, one-way contract worth $850,000 running through 1995-96, he would seem to have the inside track on the job. Also, the Whalers were impressed by the way he took his role with the team in stride after being traded to Hartford from the Calgary Flames in November. The Whalers are still high on Manny Legace, who was 8-6-0 with a 2.51 goals against average as a backup with Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team last season.Most pressing need: Unless top draft choice Jeff O&rsquo;Neill, picked fifth overall, can pull a Jason Arnott and become the team&rsquo;s No. 1 center overnight, the Whalers remain without a top-flight pivot. They haven&rsquo;t really had one since Ron Francis was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991. John Cullen was supposed to be the man, but bombed in Hart-ford. Andrew Cassels and Darren Turcotte, who was injured most of last season after arriving in a trade from the New York Rangers, are solid No. 2 or 3 centers while Ted Drury and Mark Janssens also contribute to the cause. Cassels slipped from a career-high 21-goal, 85-point season to 16 and 58. None of the Whalers&rsquo; forwards possesses game-breaking offensive potential.Breakthrough player: Robert Petrovicky was all over the map last season, playing 33 games with the Whalers, 30 with the Springfield Indians of the American League and eight with Slovakia at the Winter Olympics. The Whalers would prefer the 21-year-old Petrovicky, picked ninth overall in the 1992 entry draft, to play left wing and are banking on between 25 and 30 goals from him this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0104-0199/10246456-1-eng-US/f0104-012.jpg" title="f0104-01" width="731" height="793"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0104-0253/10246449-1-eng-US/f0104-022.jpg" title="f0104-02" width="1035" height="1536"><figcaption class="caption-body">Geoff Sanderson (JOHN GIAMUNDO/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0104-0332/10246442-1-eng-US/f0104-032.jpg" title="f0104-03" width="725" height="762"></div>Organization: After combining forces with the Winnipeg Jets on their Springfield farm team, the Whalers drop their number of contract players from about 50 to 37. Defenseman Jason McBain, who scored 15 goals and 66 points in 63 games with the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western League, will turn pro this season. Another defenseman, Wes Swinson of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Kitchener Rangers, went from no goals as a rookie to 26 last season and has been invited to try out for Canada&rsquo;s national junior team. Mike Harding, a 6-foot-4, 221-pound left winger, scored 24 goals and 49 points in 38 games for Northern Michigan University.Coach/GM: Holmgren, who had difficulty handling the dual role of coach and GM, now has just one tough task to concentrate on. He&rsquo;s a patient man and loyal to his players, but must be more demanding if it is to work this time around. Rookie GM Rutherford has been extremely successful as Karmanos&rsquo; hockey guy, but success in junior hockey doesn&rsquo;t necessarily translate into the same at the NHL level-just ask Russ Farwell. Rutherford&rsquo;s knowledge of the NHL will be put to the test early as he tries to revive a franchise that is in dire straits both on and off the ice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0104-0414/10246435-1-eng-US/f0104-042.jpg" title="f0104-04" width="588" height="1025"></div>Playoff history: The Whalers missed the playoffs the last two seasons and have won just one round-in 1986 over the Quebec Nordiques, before losing the next round in seven games to the Montreal Canadiens-in their 15-year history. They gave the Whalers a parade that year and another one will be in order if they manage to make the playoffs this season.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0105-0191/10246428-1-eng-US/f0105-012.jpg" title="f0105-01" width="2513" height="3512"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0106-0195/10246421-1-eng-US/f0106-012.jpg" title="f0106-01" width="2411" height="2365"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0106-02_ad2/10246414-1-eng-US/f0106-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0106-02_Ad" width="2384" height="908"></div> &#9632;

f0103-01

New-look Whale: Same old results?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0107-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0107-0186/10246543-1-eng-US/f0107-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">KELLY HRUDEY (STEVE REYES/BBS)</figcaption></div>The most important number in Los Angeles last season was 802. It should have been 911.Not even Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s conquering of Gordie Howe&rsquo;s record of 801 career goals or the Great One&rsquo;s 10th scoring championship could salvage the disaster that was the Los Angeles Kings in 1993-94.The Kings became just the second team in the last 24 years to miss the playoffs the year after making the Stanley Cup final. There were disasters on and off the ice from the Marty McSorley fiasco to Tony Granato&rsquo;s 15-game suspension; from front office bickering to owner Bruce McNall&rsquo;s financial troubles.Despite advancing to the final, the Kings were an 11th place team in 1992-93. Last season, they plummeted to 22nd overall, causing Gretzky to be on the outside looking in on the post-season for the first time in his career.Who was to blame? There were many, but general manager Nick Beverley and director of player personnel Bob Owen were the ones who paid the price with their jobs. Beverley was replaced by former major junior hockey operator Sam McMaster. Outspoken Kings&rsquo; coach Barry Melrose survived the front-office power struggle.The pressure is now squarely on Melrose&rsquo;s shoulders for the Kings to rebound. Gretzky had an excellent season and the Kings still missed the playoffs, so it&rsquo;s clear that the Kings can&rsquo;t count on just Gretzky to carry them.1993-94 record: 27-45-12, fifth in Pacific, 22nd overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 20.7 per cent (seventh overall). Penalty killing: 80.5 per cent (20th overall).Off-season acquisitions: Rob Brown, LW; Yanic Perreault, C; Michel Petit, D; Rick Tocchet, RW.Candidates for promotion: Kevin Brown, RW; Keith Redmond, LW.Three pivotal factors: 1. The Great One. If there was one silver lining to an otherwise dismal season, it was Gretzky&rsquo;s strong comeback. Lest we forget Gretzky hinted at retirement at the end of the 199293 season after the Kings lost the Cup final to the Montreal Canadiens. His batteries recharged, Gretzky has made it his personal goal to lead the Kings back to respectability. In order for that to happen, he must maintain his high level of performance for a 15th season at age 33.2. Team attitude. The biggest thing the Kings lacked last season was belief in themselves. The winning attitude they displayed the season before was replaced with doubt and second-guessing. It could be debated they overachieved the year before, but there is clearly no doubt they were underachievers last season. Not even the efforts of positive-thinking guru Anthony Robbins could save the Kings from disaster.3. Defensive play. The Kings chopped 18 goals off their goals-against total of 340 from the previous season. That is not nearly good enough. It would be easy to point to the inconsistent goaltending of Kelly Hrudey and Robb Stauber, but that would be too easy. The fact is there has been no commitment to defensive play the past two seasons and the personnel is simply not good enough-they scored 44 fewer goals-to rely on offense.State of goaltending: Goaltending has long been the Kings&rsquo; weak spot. Even when they went to the final in 1993, it was a big concern for the Kings. You&rsquo;ll recall they even summoned hockey&rsquo;s Crash Davis, career minor leaguer Rick Knickle, in to help that year. Knickle returned for four games last season, leaving Hrudey and Stauber to carry the bulk of the load. Hrudey re-established himself as the No. 1 stopper, playing in 64 games, but won just 22. In fact, he has never won more than 26 games in his 11-year career. There are also lingering doubts about Stauber, once thought to be the Kings&rsquo; goalie of the future. That title now belongs to Jamie Storr, the top-rated goalie in the 1994 entry draft who was picked seventh overall by Los Angeles. The 18-year-old Storr will be given every opportunity to take control of the crease in training camp.Most pressing need: A No. 2 center with offensive instincts to play behind Gretzky. It could be sophomore Robert Lang or perhaps it&rsquo;s free agent Perreault who was signed from the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; organization. He enjoyed seasons of 38, 49 and 45 goals for the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs of the American League and in 13 games with the Leafs last season, scored three goals and six points. There has also been some discussion of Rob Brown, who led the International League in scoring with 42 goals and 155 points, moving to center from right wing. He was a center in junior.Breakthrough player: The Czechborn Lang periodically displayed offensive ability last season, though not often enough to convince the coaching staff he is the logical candidate to fill the team&rsquo;s need for a No. 2 center. At 6-foot-2, 190-pounds he has the size and he also possesses good speed. The Kings are looking for a more consistent effort from the 23-year-old.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0108-01103/10246536-1-eng-US/f0108-012.jpg" title="f0108-01" width="732" height="799"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0108-0248/10246529-1-eng-US/f0108-022.jpg" title="f0108-02" width="1042" height="1539"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jari Kurri (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0108-0330/10246522-1-eng-US/f0108-032.jpg" title="f0108-03" width="735" height="774"></div>Organization: The Kings are loaded with toughness. Aside from Redmond, who registered 196 penalty minutes in the IHL last season with the Phoenix Roadrunners, there&rsquo;s 6-foot-4, 202-pound Justin Hocking, a defenseman who amassed 236 PIM with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western League; and 6-foot-2, 205-pound right winger Shay ne Toporowski, who had 183 PIM with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL. Just for insurance, the Kings&rsquo; used their second pick, 33rd overall, to draft Matt Johnson from the Ontario League&rsquo;s Peterborough Petes. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound left winger had 233 PIM last season and was considered the toughest player in junior hockey.Coach/GM: The 50-year-old McMaster, an old pal of Gretzky, was a surprise choice to replace Beverley as the Kings&rsquo; sixth GM in history. McMaster&rsquo;s forte at the junior level was putting people in the stands. He&rsquo;ll learn Melrose likes to be involved in personnel decisions. Melrose went public with his dissatisfaction with the players Beverley provided him. Melrose, who has two years remaining on his contract with the Kings, favors grinders, as evidenced in the July trade of Luc Robitaille to the Pittsburgh Penguins for veteran mucker Rick Tocchet. There are those in Los Angeles who claim Melrose mishandled scorers Tomas Sandstrom and Shawn McEachern, who were traded to Pittsburgh to reacquire McSorley.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0108-0414/10246515-1-eng-US/f0108-042.jpg" title="f0108-04" width="593" height="1031"></div>Playoff history: The playoffs have not been kind to the Kings. Their trip to the final two years ago was the only time in 27 years they have made it that far. More often they are first-round victims. The Kings have missed the playoffs eight times and been eliminated in the first round on 11 occasions.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0109-0192/10246508-1-eng-US/f0109-012.jpg" title="f0109-01" width="2601" height="3520"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0110-0195/10246501-1-eng-US/f0110-012.jpg" title="f0110-01" width="2389" height="2361"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0110-02_ad3/10246494-1-eng-US/f0110-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0110-02_Ad" width="2363" height="903"></div> &#9632;

f0107-01

Great One’s heroics not enough to stem tide

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0111-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0111-0193/10246623-1-eng-US/f0111-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIC DESJARDINS (JIM McISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div>The Montreal Canadiens are not Stanley Cup threats, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean they can&rsquo;t win the Stanley Cup. Their last two Cup victories have been in years when they didn&rsquo;t have to play anyone that good.Looking at their current roster, the Canadiens are not a team that inspires tremendous hope for the immediate future. Of course they&rsquo;ll be contenders, but they don&rsquo;t enter the season as a favorite to win.One reason for that is they have become far too dependent on the heroics of goalie Patrick Roy. When Roy is unhealthy or falters, the Canadiens are a very ordinary outfit.In fact, if you want to look up the reason for Montreal&rsquo;s failure last season, you&rsquo;ll find it in the appendics. When Roy went down with appendicitis after Game 2 of the first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins, the Canadiens were in trouble. Despite the fact Roy posted a .930 save percentage-the second best in the playoffs-the Canadiens went down in seven games.Montreal&rsquo;s offense, with the exception of 40-goal left winger Vincent Damphousse, is anemic. But Damphousse followed up his first 40-goal campaign with one goal in the playoffs.The players the Canadiens look to for goals have not been reliable. Brian Bellows, the team&rsquo;s second-leading scorer, was even scratched from one playoff game last year.After scoring 21 goals in 39 games in 1991-92, left winger Gilbert Dionne scored 20 then 19 goals in two full seasons.1993-94 record: 41-29-14, third in Northeast, ninth overall, lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-3 to Boston. Power play: 20.1 per cent (10th overall). Penalty killing: 82.6 per cent (eighth overall).Off-season acquisitions: Yves Racine, D.Candidates for promotion: Craig Darby, C; Craig Ferguson, RW; Brian Savage, C; Turner Stevenson, RW.Three pivotal factors. 1. Roy&rsquo;s goal-tending. Ever since Roy joined them fulltime, in 1985, any success and failure the Canadiens have had has been directly linked to his performance. In 1992-93, Roy won 10 straight overtime games and led the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup. Last season, he won 35 games on a poor offensive team. The Canadiens can ill afford anything resembling a slide or injury.2. Size at forward. When the Canadiens were eliminated from the playoffs, general manager Serge Savard said his team was too small. This should come as good news for 6-foot-3, 200-pound Stevenson, a right winger, and 6-foot-2, 191-pound Savage, a center, who will be auditioning for fulltime employment in training camp. Stevenson would also add much-needed toughness along the boards.3. Offensive production. The Canadiens&rsquo; 283 goals was 43 fewer than they scored the season before. Even Damphousse, the team&rsquo;s leading goal scorer, does not represent a sure-thing when he climbs over the boards late in a close game. Montreal does not boast a single natural scoring threat. Dionne, John LeClair and Paul DiPietro have been inconsistent offensively and must start to produce.State of goaltending: Fine and dandy as long as Roy remains healthy and continues to be among the game&rsquo;s best stoppers. His 68 games played represented a career single-season high and his 35 wins were the second most he has recorded in a season, fourth highest in the league. As well, Roy had the third best goals-against average last season at 2.50 and his save percentage of .918 was also third best in the league. Ron Tugnutt, who can now officially be called a journeyman since he&rsquo;s with his fourth NHL team and third in three seasons, was 10-15-1 with the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim before being traded to Montreal. He then went 2-3-1 with the Canadiens. He has never been given the opportunity to be the No. 1 goalie on a good team and it won&rsquo;t happen in Montreal either. It wouldn&rsquo;t be surprising to see Tugnutt request a move after half a season of watching from the bench. Roy&rsquo;s backup could be Jose Theodore, who plays for the St-Jean Lynx of the Quebec League. He was picked 44th overall in the 1994 entry draft.Pressing need: The Canadiens boast one true scoring threat from the right side in Brian Bellows and there&rsquo;s a good chance he&rsquo;ll be on his way out. The Gary Leeman experiment hasn&rsquo;t worked out and Mike Keane is a solid citizen and consistent performer, but has never reached the 20-goal plateau in six NHL seasons. The fact Keane was fifth in team scoring is further proof Montreal is desperate for offense. Oleg Petrov made the all-rookie team at right wing, but is just 5-foot-9 and 161 pounds.Breakthrough player: Defenseman Patrice Brisebois has demonstrated the ability to survive, not thrive in the NHL. The 6-foot-2, 175-pounder possesses better-than-average offensive instincts, but managed just two goals in 53 games last season after scoring 10 in 70 as a rookie. The Canadiens hoped he would develop into a solid two way performer when they picked him 30th overall in the 1989 entry draft. By last season&rsquo;s playoffs, Brisebois was being benched.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0112-01106/10246616-1-eng-US/f0112-012.jpg" title="f0112-01" width="743" height="790"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0112-0246/10246609-1-eng-US/f0112-022.jpg" title="f0112-02" width="1051" height="1532"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kirk Muller (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0112-0324/10246602-1-eng-US/f0112-032.jpg" title="f0112-03" width="740" height="762"></div>Organization: The Canadiens do have great offensive players, they&rsquo;re just too in-experienced. Starting with 19-year-old center Saku Koivu, who was Finland&rsquo;s second leading scorer at the Winter Olympics, the Canadiens boast depth on the horizon. The Canadiens are also excited about right winger Valeri Bure, younger brother of Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; superstar Pavel, who shot 40 goals and 102 points with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western League and defenseman David Wilkie, who scored 38 goals and 77 points in just 56 games with the Regina Pats of the WHL. Montreal has among the best groups of prospects in the league.Coach/GM: Jacques Demers returns for his third season with the Canadiens after experiencing the high of guiding hockey&rsquo;s most successful franchise to a Stanley Cup and then a first-round playoff loss. Named the NHL&rsquo;s top coach in back-to-back seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Demers will have to do some fancy coaching to get a number of underachievers to perform better this season. If they don&rsquo;t, Savard won&rsquo;t hesitate to make trades. The Hall-of-Fame defenseman demonstrated resilience as a player, twice bouncing back from career threatening broken legs. He has shown the same fortitude as an executive in hockey&rsquo;s toughest market and, in spite of all his accomplishments, is still remembered for trading Chris Chelios for Denis Savard.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0112-0414/10246595-1-eng-US/f0112-042.jpg" title="f0112-04" width="604" height="1034"></div>Playoff history: Montreal is hockey&rsquo;s model franchise, having won 24 Stanley Cups, more than any other team. Since claiming their fourth Cup in 1944, they have never gone more than seven years between Cups.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0113-0188/10246588-1-eng-US/f0113-012.jpg" title="f0113-01" width="2515" height="3512"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0114-0198/10246581-1-eng-US/f0114-012.jpg" title="f0114-01" width="2418" height="2503"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0114-02_ad2/10246574-1-eng-US/f0114-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0114-02_Ad" width="2306" height="872"></div> &#9632;

f0111-01

No offense, but this team can’t score goals

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0115-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0115-0186/10246703-1-eng-US/f0115-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARTIN BRODEUR (JIM MclSAAC/BBC)</figcaption></div>The team that wouldn&rsquo;t go places until it got a big, powerful center is now one of the best teams in the NHL. And it still doesn&rsquo;t have a big, powerful center.How did the New Jersey Devils do it?Simple. They have developed so much depth at all positions, including center, a big guy to go nose-to-nose with the Eric Lindroses and Mark Messiers of the world is no longer necessary. The Devils were so strong that their second-leading scorer from the previous season, Alexander Semak, dropped from 79 points to part-time duty and 29 points in 1993-94 and hardly anybody noticed.The Devils are coming off their best season ever after finishing second overall with a club-record 106 points and taking the champion New York Rangers to the limit in the semifinal.The Devils were basically the same team that finished fourth in the Patrick Division the year before and lost in the first round of playoffs to the Pittsburgh Penguins with two major exceptions-a coaching staff featuring Jacques Lemaire and his assistant Larry Robinson and a Calder Trophy-winning rookie goalie in Martin Brodeur.The Devils lost veteran center Bernie Nicholls to free agency in the off-season and were forced to match a four-year, $16-million offer from the St. Louis Blues to retain defenseman and captain Scott Stevens.Brian Rolston can replace Nicholls. Can Stevens be happy in New Jersey when he was set on going to St. Louis?1993-94 record: 47-25-12, second in Atlantic, second overall, lost Eastern Conference final 4-3 to Rangers. Power play: 18.3 per cent (17th overall). Penalty killing: 81.1 per cent (16th overall).Off-season acquisitions: None.Candidates for promotion: Mike Dunham, G; Denis Pederson, C; Rolston, C.Three pivotal factors: 1. The goaltending tandem. The battery of Brodeur and five-year veteran Chris Terreri gives the Devils as good a one-two punch as any team in the NHL. The duo helped the Devils team goals-against average drop from 3.53 the season before to 2.59, a mere .02 more than the Buffalo Sabres, who were No. 1 in the league.2. The team&rsquo;s second tier of players. Forwards such as Jim Dowd (15 points in 15 games with the Devils last season) and David Emma (10 points in 15 games) could have a tough time earning regular duty because the Devils have so much depth at forward. What a pleasant problem for Devils&rsquo; management. Others, such as defenseman Scott Niedermayer, a sophomore last season who was brilliant in the playoffs, and Jason Smith, a fine offensive prospect on the blueline, have the potential to be impact players next season. If Bobby Holik ever meets his potential, the Devils will be set.3. Focus on winning. The Devils now have an idea of exactly how much drive and intensity it takes to be champions. The lesson in perseverance taught to them by the Rangers in the semifinal should not be overlooked as they prepare to take things to the next level. The Devils&rsquo; success came from playing well collectively and that must be the case again.State of goaltending: New Jersey goalies will wage one of the more interesting battles at training camp. The Devils are so deep in net that Peter Sidorkiewicz played in the 1993 All-Star Game and for the Albany River Rats of the American League in 1993-94. He couldn&rsquo;t find regular employment with the Devils after recovering from shoulder surgery in the off-season. He played three games with New Jersey, all losses, and 15 with Albany. Mike Dunham, No. 4 on the Devils&rsquo; depth chart, would probably be the backup on most teams. He split last season between the U.S. Olympic team and Albany. After one season in the minors, Brodeur stole the No. 1 job from Terreri. He was 27-11-8 with a 2.40 goals against average and .915 save percentage. Terreri also produced great numbers; 20-11-4, 2.72 GAA and .907.Most pressing need: The Devils&rsquo; top-scoring center last season, Corey Millen with 20 goals and 50 points, was scratched for all but seven playoff games. While it is apparent they can succeed without a power forward at center, they do require a more consistent scoring threat from that position. If Semak rebounds from last season&rsquo;s poor performance, he could be the answer. More likely it will be the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Rolston who is put on the accelerated program.Breakthrough player: If you thought last season was 24-year-old Bill Guerin&rsquo;s breakthrough season, think again. New Jersey&rsquo;s first choice in the 1989 draft scored 25 goals, up from 14 the previous season, but that only served notice of better things to come. The Devils project the 6-foot-2, 190-pound right winger as a player who can score in the 35-40 goal range each season and play with something of a mean streak.Organization: He might require another year in the minors, but rugged defenseman Cale Hulse has the Devils excited. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder established himself as one of the most rugged players in the AHL with Albany, racking up 186 penalty minutes in 79 games. Nineteen-year-old left winger Jay Pandolfo had an outstanding sophomore season with Boston University of Hockey East with 17 goals and 42 points in 37 games. Nineteen-year-old center Brendan Morrison enjoyed a successful freshman year with the University of Michigan of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, scoring 20 goals and 48 points in 38 games. Another center, 20-year-old Sergei Brylin, scored six goals and 11 points in 32 games with Central Army of the Russian Professional League. The Devils like the fact he&rsquo;s a solid two-way performer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0116-01100/10246696-1-eng-US/f0116-012.jpg" title="f0116-01" width="730" height="793"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0116-0254/10246689-1-eng-US/f0116-022.jpg" title="f0116-02" width="1030" height="1533"><figcaption class="caption-body">John MacLean (JOHN GIAMUNDO/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0116-0333/10246682-1-eng-US/f0116-032.jpg" title="f0116-03" width="731" height="771"></div>Coach/GM: In his only full season coaching in the NHL prior to joining the Devils, Hall-of-Famer Lemaire guided the Montreal Canadiens to a 48-37-12 record in 1984-85. But he couldn&rsquo;t stand the politics that go with coaching the Canadiens and quit. His lowkey approach and credibility-he played on eight Stanley Cup winners-was the right formula for the underachieving Devils, who responded wonderfully. Full marks to general manager Lou Lamoriello for having the courage and foresight to hire a man who had not coached in eight years. He also hired assistant coach Robinson, another former Canadien. Lamoriello has slowly built the team into a winner, largely with players developed in the organization.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0116-0416/10246675-1-eng-US/f0116-042.jpg" title="f0116-04" width="592" height="1020"></div>Playoff history: New Jersey&rsquo;s romp to the semifinals last season matched their previous best performance in 1988. But there is much more reason for optimism this time for a team that has generally been a playoff flop. The Devils failed to make it into post-season play 12 of the first 13 years of their existence.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0117-0183/10246668-1-eng-US/f0117-012.jpg" title="f0117-01" width="2581" height="3480"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0118-0194/10246661-1-eng-US/f0118-012.jpg" title="f0118-01" width="2327" height="2436"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0118-02_ad2/10246654-1-eng-US/f0118-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0118-02_Ad" width="2282" height="893"></div> &#9632;

f0115-01

Optimism abounds after best season ever

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0119-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0119-0183/10246783-1-eng-US/f0119-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON HEXTALL (JIM MclSAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div>We&rsquo;re willing to give Al Arbour the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he would have retired no matter what kind of season his New York Islanders had in 1993-94.But if Arbour had thought the Islanders were on the cusp of becoming serious Stanley Cup contenders, would he have chosen now to ride off into the sunset?At any rate, the Islanders are Lome Henning&rsquo;s problem to deal with now. After two seasons of improvement and a berth in the semifinals in 1993, the Islanders took a tumble.Instead of taking the next step forward, the Islanders dropped three points in the standings and were first-round playoff casualties at the hands of the New York Rangers.Henning, Arbour&rsquo;s assistant coach for seven years, was Arbour&rsquo;s hand-picked successor. He inherits a team with an abundance of talent. It also got an injection of leadership in the form of Ron Sutter and Troy Loney, who were both secured in draft-day trades.There are, however, growing doubts about scoring ace Pierre Turgeon&rsquo;s ability to lead the team. There were even rumors he might be traded in the off-season. And goalie Ron Hextali was not the savior the Islanders anticipated they were getting when they acquired him from the Quebec Nordiques.The Islanders&rsquo; theme for the 1994-95 season is commitment. Henning will be a no-nonsense head coach, so expect some players who don&rsquo;t buy into the program to be moved.1993-94 record: 36-36-12, fourth in Atlantic, 15th overall, lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-0 to Rangers. Power play: 20.1 per cent (ninth overall). Penalty killing: 81.1 per cent (15th overall).Off-season acquisitions: Troy Loney, LW; Ron Sutter, C.Candidates for promotion: Brett Lindros, RW; Bryan McCabe, D; Zigmund Palffy, LW; Dan Plante, RW; Tommy Salo, G.Three pivotal factors: 1. The defense corps. Uwe Krupp went to Quebec for Sutter and Tom Kurvers to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Loney. The much-travelled Kurvers was a solid offensive contributor and Krupp, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound seven-year German-bom-and-trained veteran, is a reliable defensive performer. It opens the door for youngster Bryan McCabe to make the jump from junior.2. Goaltending. The Islanders allowed 33 fewer goals last season than the year before, but confidence in Ron Hextali, who arrived last season from the Quebec Nordiques, is waning. His season went from mediocre early to good in December to horrible down the stretch. The Islanders got solid play from rookie Jamie McLennan, but Hextail remains the incumbent. The former Calder and Conn Smythe winner and first-team all-star must find his form soon. Unless he proves himself a better goal scorer, Hextali must prove to be a better stopper.3. Darius Kasparaitis. The belligerent Russian defenseman took the NHL by storm as a rookie with 166 penalty minutes and a penchant for indiscriminate hitting. In a word he was defiant. His slap upside the face to superstar Mario Lemieux in the 1993 playoffs showed he played no favorites. But success went to his belly. Kasparaitis reported to training camp in 1993 overweight, didn&rsquo;t score a point until his 25th game, and even though his play was much improved in the second half of the season, he was considered an overall sophomore flop.State of goaltending: Up in the air. At age 30, with eight years under his belt. Hextali should still have some good years left. But he did average more than six goals a game in three playoff games against the Rangers. At age 23, with one year in the NHL, McLennan offers hope for a bright future. He has demonstrated he can play in the NHLf-compiling an 8-7-6 record-but now McLennan must convince Islanders&rsquo; management he can play up to 50 games a season. Neither goalie has a lock on the No. 1 job heading into this season. Offering a challenge will be Tommy Salo, the Islanders&rsquo; fifth pick in the 1993 draft. He played goal for the gold medal-winning Swedish team at the 1994 Winter Olympics.Most pressing need: The departure of Kurvers and Kruppe leaves the Islanders in the market for an experienced defenseman. They are satisfied with their young talent on the blueline, but feel a steadying influence back there is necessary. General manager Don Maloney said he was going to examine the free agent market in the offseason to fill the need and if he didn&rsquo;t sign one, would consider trading for one to fill the gap.Breakthrough player: The Islanders are firmly convinced defenseman Scott Lachance can develop into the prototypical two-way defenseman they projected him to be when they picked him fourth overall in 1991. But his numbers and ice time decreased in his sophomore season and he was scratched for one playoff game. Lachance has the skills to be an impact player, but simply lacks the confidence. The Islanders are hoping he&rsquo;ll step forward and be the defenseman who runs their power play while continuing to improve on his play in the defensive zone.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0120-0195/10246776-1-eng-US/f0120-012.jpg" title="f0120-01" width="769" height="797"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0120-0251/10246769-1-eng-US/f0120-022.jpg" title="f0120-02" width="1056" height="1548"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darius Kasparaitis (JIM MclSAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0120-0333/10246762-1-eng-US/f0120-032.jpg" title="f0120-03" width="740" height="758"></div>Organization: Bruiser McCabe, a 6-foot-1 and 210-pound defenseman who scored 22 goals and 84 points with 218 penalty minutes in 64 games with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western League last season, was a big hit at the Islanders&rsquo; summer rookie initiation camp. The Islanders are also happy with the progress of top draft choice Todd Bertuzzi, a center selected 23rd overall in 1993. Bertuzzi, who played for the Guelph Storm of the Ontario League, reported to his first training camp a &ldquo;soft&rdquo; 235 pounds, but this summer tipped the scales at 223 pounds and had just seven per-cent body fat. Bertuzzi is being projected as an effective NHL power forward.Coach/GM: Maloney made his greatest move in two years as Islander GM on draft day when he traded up to select Brett Lindros ninth overall, one ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs who coveted him. His biggest decision as GM also came this past off-season when he chose Henning to replace Arbour as head coach. Expect the Islanders to be a more offense-oriented team under Henning, who likes his defenseman to join the offensive rush.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0120-0418/10246755-1-eng-US/f0120-042.jpg" title="f0120-04" width="609" height="1023"></div>Playoff history: The Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1980 and &rsquo;83 before losing the final to the Edmonton Oilers in 1984. Those glory days seem like a long time ago. Having missed the playoffs in three of the last six years, the Islanders pulled off a major upset eliminating the Pittsburgh Penguins in the quarterfinals two years ago. but were dusted in four straight in the opening round last season by the rival Rangers.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0121-0188/10246748-1-eng-US/f0121-012.jpg" title="f0121-01" width="2561" height="3500"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0122-0192/10246741-1-eng-US/f0122-012.jpg" title="f0122-01" width="2412" height="2371"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0122-02_ad2/10246734-1-eng-US/f0122-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0122-02_Ad" width="2386" height="868"></div> &#9632;

f0119-01

Henning in for long season on Long Island

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0127-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0127-0185/10246943-1-eng-US/f0127-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEXEI YASHIN (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div>The Ottawa Senators actually improved last season. You are forgiven for not noticing.The Senators, who won just 10 games and accumulated 24 points their first season, exploded for 14 wins and 37 points in 1993-94.Make no mistake. The Senators were bad. Really bad.How bad were they? Well, consider that the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim earned more points in their first seasons than the Senators did in their first two. In fact, just one team in NHL history, the 1974-75 and &rsquo;75-76 Washington Capitals, amassed fewer points in their first two seasons than the Senators. The Capitals&rsquo; two-year winning percentage of .166 was just marginally worse than the Senators&rsquo; .182.The Capitals, however, busted out in Year III with a 62-point performance. Senator fans would be doing cartwheels on Parliament Hill if that happened this season, but don&rsquo;t expect their acrobatic abilities to be put to the test. The Senators will be awful once again and Ottawa will likely go down in history as the worst first-three-year expansion team in history.The Senators need help everywhere but center, where they have youth and promise in Alexei Yashin, Alexandre Daigle and the third overall choice in the 1993 draft, Radek Bonk.However, none of them will be 21 years old when the season opens Oct. 1. But if the ability to deal with adversity makes a player great, these three will be superstars someday.1993-94 record: 14-61-9, seventh in Northeast, 26th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 14.5 per cent (25th overall). Penalty killing: 73.3 per cent (26th overall).Off-season acquisitions: Randy Cunneyworth, LW; Chris Dahlquist, D; Pat Elynuik, RW; Sean Hill, D; Jim Paek, D.Candidates for promotion: Bonk, C; Pavol Demitra, LW; Claude Savoie, RW.Three pivotal factors: 1. The middle men. For the first time in three years, the Senators should be able to compete with most teams at center. That is, of course, assuming they manage to sign Bonk and come to terms with Yashin, who was threatening to hold out if his contract wasn&rsquo;t renegotiated. Yashin was named The Hockey News rookie of the year and finished fourth in voting for the Calder Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s top rookie, demonstrating the ability to be an impact player with his long stride and great shot. Daigle wasn&rsquo;t as spectacular, but scored 20 goals and performed admirably under a lot of pressure for a kid who didn&rsquo;t turn 19 until Feb. 7.2. Goals against. If for no other reason than to preserve goalie Craig Billington&rsquo;s sanity, the Senators have to cut down on opponent&rsquo;s chances and goals allowed. Ottawa gave up 397 goals last season, two more than its first season and 53 more than the next worst team, the Winnipeg Jets. It isn&rsquo;t going to be easy, considering the Senators&rsquo; defense continues to rank among the league&rsquo;s worst. They added Sean Hill, an offensive-minded blueliner, and Jim Paek, a perennial fifth or sixth defensemen, in the off-season. That should make Billington sleep more comfortably at night.3. Special teams. The Senators were the NHL&rsquo;s worst penalty killers and had the second-worst power play last season-an exact reversal of the year before. Coach Rick Bowness elected to use his young players on the special teams, giving them valuable experience, rather than use more experienced players who won&rsquo;t be around when the Senators turn the comer.State of goaltending: Billington is good-he played in the 1993 All-Star Game-but he doesn&rsquo;t rank among the game&rsquo;s top stoppers. And that&rsquo;s what the Senators desperately need, a Patrick Roy or John Vanbiesbrouck to steal them a game or 10. Billington was 11-41-4 last season with a 4.59 goals against average and .859 save percentage and is the best goalie the Senators have in their system by a mile. Backup Darrin Madeley, 26, was 3-18-5; with a 4.36 GAA and .868 save percentage. Veteran Mark LaForest carried the bulk of the load for Ottawa&rsquo;s farm team, the P.E.I. Senators of the American League, and played five games with the Senators. The Senators signed Mike Bales, who played with the Providence Bruins of the AHL last season and have a glimmer of hope for J.F Labbe, who led the Thunder Bay Senators to the Colonial League title last season.Most pressing need: A stud on defense. The addition of veteran Steve Konroyd late last season, along with Hill and Paek, gives Bowness a new collection of bodies to throw over the boards, but did not significantly upgrade the team&rsquo;s overall talent. Depending on how much money Bonk and Yashin want, the Senators may consider dealing one of them to get defensive help.Breakthrough player: The Senators have high hopes for 19-year-old Demitra. The 6-foot. 185-pound left winger was the surprise performer at last year&rsquo;s training camp. He scored a goal in his first NHL game and showed good defensive instincts, then broke his leg Oct. 14. In 41 games with P.E.I. after recovering, Demitra scored 18 goals and 41 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0128-0196/10246936-1-eng-US/f0128-012.jpg" title="f0128-01" width="750" height="814"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0128-0254/10246929-1-eng-US/f0128-022.jpg" title="f0128-02" width="1047" height="1559"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexandre Daigle (JIM MclSAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0128-0337/10246922-1-eng-US/f0128-032.jpg" title="f0128-03" width="745" height="782"></div>Organization: Left winger Chad Penney had a solid first professional season with P.E.I., scoring 20 goals and 50 points with 66 penalty minutes in 73 games. The Senators&rsquo; second choice in the 1992 draft has the potential to be a decent goal-scorer-he shot 13 in 21 playoff games with the North Bay Centennials of the Ontario League in 1992-and a mucker along the boards and in the comers. Daniel Guerard, a 6-foot-4, 211-pound right winger, capped his junior career with a solid 31-goal, 65-point and 169-penalty minute season with College Francois of the Quebec League. In five AHL games over two seasons, Guerard has two goals and three points with 17 penalty minutes. The Senators are hoping right winger Robert Burakowsky can translate success in the AHL to a full season in the NHL. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound right winger led P.E.L in scoring last season with 29 goals and 67 points in just 52 games. But the speedy Swede managed just two goals and five points in 23 games with the Senators.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0128-0421/10246915-1-eng-US/f0128-042.jpg" title="f0128-04" width="609" height="1051"></div>Coach/GM: There are nights when Bowness must feel like the captain of the Titanic No matter how hard he works-and Bowness is a notorious hard worker-the ship just keeps sinking. Resisting the temptation to try for an extra few points in the standings, Bowness has been faithful to his younger players; hoping someday they&rsquo;ll repay him when they blossom. General manager Randy Sexton added some experience in Kerry Huffman and Phil Bourque and grit in Claude Boivin and Scott Levins to the team in his first season as GM. But he also let tough defenseman Brian Glynn, who performed well in the playoffs for the Vancouver Canucks, go for nothing.Playoff history: None.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0129-0186/10246908-1-eng-US/f0129-012.jpg" title="f0129-01" width="2561" height="3530"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0130-0188/10246901-1-eng-US/f0130-012.jpg" title="f0130-01" width="2333" height="2382"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0130-02_ad2/10246894-1-eng-US/f0130-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0130-02_Ad" width="2302" height="906"></div> &#9632;

f0127-01

Senators could set three-year low mark

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0131-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0131-0182/10247023-1-eng-US/f0131-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIC LINDROS (JOHN GIAMUNDO/BBS)</figcaption></div>The Philadelphia Flyers relied on Bobby Clarke to lead them to two Stanley Cups in the 1970s. Things are different now. Bobby Clarke is Bob Clarke, he has front teeth and the Flyers would be thrilled if he would just lead them to the playoffs.After five years of watching post-season play on the sidelines, the Flyers hired Clarke from the Florida Panthers to be their president, general manager and part owner. He replaces mild-mannered Russ Farwell, whose four-year tenure as GM was highlighted by the acquisition of Eric Lindros and lowlighted by no playoff participation.Clarke inherits a team big on offense. Its top five scorers, including the 20-year-old superstar Lindros and hot-shot rookie Mikael Renberg, out-scored the top five on all other teams. But it&rsquo;s woefully short on defense and goaltending, two rather important ingredients in today&rsquo;s NHL.Clarke was active in the off-season, hiring former Washington Capitals&rsquo; coach Terry Murray to replace Terry Simpson. He also traded offensive defenseman Yves Racine to Montreal for defensive specialist Kevin Haller and signed veteran center Craig MacTavish, 36, one of the mercenaries who helped the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup last season.If Clarke can get another defenseman and a dependable goalie, it will be enough to get the Flyers back into the playoffs. But he may eventually be forced to part with some of his motherlode of firepower to acquire help to keep the puck out of his own team&rsquo;s net.1993-94 record: 35-39-10, sixth in Atlantic, 18th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 20.8 per cent (fifth overall). Penalty killing: 80.7 per cent (18th overall).Off-season acquisitions: Haller, D; MacTavish, C; Shjon Podein, C.Candidates for promotion: Vladislav Boulin, D; Aris Brimanis, D; Patrik Juhlin, LW; Chris Therien, D.Three pivotal factors: 1. Lindros&rsquo; health. In two seasons, No. 88 has missed a total of 42 games because of injury; 23 as a rookie and 19 last season. That&rsquo;s half a season. Statistically, Lindros has provided the Flyers with everything they could possibly expect, scoring 85 goals and 172 points in 126 games while being the intimidating physical force you would expect from a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder with a mean streak. The NHL&rsquo;s premier power forward was a more relaxed and consistent sophomore. He was voted the team&rsquo;s most valuable player.2. Goaltending. Some point directly at Tommy Soderstrom and Dominic Roussel as the reason why the Flyers didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs last season. In his rookie sea-son of 1992-93, Soderstrom recorded a respectable 20-17-6 record with a 3.42 goals against average. He had a bad training camp in his second year and his numbers sunk to 6-18-4 and 4.01 with an embarrassing .864 save percentage. Roussel enjoyed some success early, but was inconsistent and struggled down the stretch when the team needed him most.3. The defense corps. Even Garry Galley, who finished fifth in team scoring with 10 goals and a career-high 70 points couldn&rsquo;t have been pleased with his overall performance. Slowed by chronic fatigue syndrome in the past, Galley was healthy last season, but hit the wall midway through the campaign and was ineffective in the second half. Dmitri Yushkevich suffered through a sophomore slump, matching his rookie total of five goals, but registering two fewer points and his play in his team&rsquo;s zone was unsatisfactory. Acquiring the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Haller was a step in the right direction.State of goaltending: Probably the Flyers&rsquo; biggest concern. If Soderstrom, who was sent to the minors for nine games last season, and Roussel can&rsquo;t do the job, it falls to Scott Lagrand. That is if Clarke doesn&rsquo;t trade to get a legitimate No. 1 goalie. Lagrand, 24, was 16-13-3 with the Hershey Bears of the American League last season. While their immediate situation is bleak, they hope they addressed the future signing Aaron Israel, who was 12-2-2 with Harvard and Neil Little, 16-7-4 with Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute last season.Most pressing need: Dare we state the obvious? A No. 1 goalie. The Flyers still believe Soderstrom can be the man. In his first season, he recorded five shutouts, second best in the league and a club record for rookie stoppers. The 25-year-old Swede was named the outstanding goalie at the 1992 World Championships. Soderstrom must arrive in training camp determined to put last season behind him. He missed games as a rookie because of an irregular heartbeat, but his health is fine going into the 1994-95 campaign. The time is now for him to prove he can do the job.Breakthrough player: The pressure is now on for 5-foot-ll, 190-pound Yushkevich to rebound from last season&rsquo;s disappointing performance. As a rookie Yushkevich was feisty, a great open-ice hitter who nailed two or three opponents each game. He has a good enough shot from the point that he&rsquo;s a logical candidate for power-play duty, not necessarily the quarterback of the extra-man unit, but a scoring threat from the point.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0132-0189/10247016-1-eng-US/f0132-012.jpg" title="f0132-01" width="750" height="797"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0132-0255/10247009-1-eng-US/f0132-022.jpg" title="f0132-02" width="1086" height="1571"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour (JOHN GIAMUNDO/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0132-0327/10247002-1-eng-US/f0132-032.jpg" title="f0132-03" width="738" height="763"></div>Organization: Nineteen-year-old center Vaclav Prospal made a successful transition to the North American game, scoring 14 goals and 35 points in 55 games with Hershey last season. He has been penciled in for a second season in the AHL, but should see action with the Flyers at some point next season. Ryan Sittier, son of Hall-of-Famer and former Flyer Darryl Sittier, is not progressing at the rate the Flyers had hoped when the selected him seventh over-all in 1992. That&rsquo;s partly due to a couple of knee injuries and also, the Flyers believe, because he chose to play at the University of Michigan and not major junior in the Ontario League as they hoped he would. He scored nine goals and 25 points in 35 games as a freshman and nine goals and 18 points in 26 games as a sophomore for the Wolverines.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0132-0417/10246995-1-eng-US/f0132-042.jpg" title="f0132-04" width="607" height="1031"></div>Coach/GM: Clarke just can&rsquo;t seem to get the Flyers out of his system. Believe us, he has tried. The one-time captain of the Flyers has left the organization for what he thought were greener pastures twice before. He was given a lot of credit for putting together a solid first-year team in Florida last season along with former New York Islander GM Bill Torrey. On the surface, the hiring of Murray would seem to be a lateral move from Simpson. Both are quiet teachers. But considering the coaches who were available-the candidates included Jay Leach, Al Sims and Larry Robinson-Murray was the only one who had any head coaching experience in the NHL.Playoff experience: After winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and &rsquo;75, the Flyers have been to the final four times and lost all four. They have been out of the playoffs the past five seasons.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0133-0187/10246988-1-eng-US/f0133-012.jpg" title="f0133-01" width="2601" height="3500"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0134-0191/10246981-1-eng-US/f0134-012.jpg" title="f0134-01" width="2427" height="2372"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0134-02_ad2/10246974-1-eng-US/f0134-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0134-02_Ad" width="2387" height="873"></div> &#9632;

f0131-01

GM Clarke comes home and finds it’s not sweet

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0135-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0135-0183/10247103-1-eng-US/f0135-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARIO LEMIEUX (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>The Pittsburgh Penguins are a team full of questions. None are more important than: Will he or won&rsquo;t he?Nobody knows for sure whether Mario Lemieux can make a healthy return to the lineup. As of early-August, even team officials had no idea what Lemieux&rsquo;s health status was. There was speculation he might sit out the entire season or parts of it to rest his ailing back.If, by chance, Lemieux comes back and approaches his usual level of excellence, the Penguins automatically become a contender to win their third Stanley Cup in five years. If not, general manager Craig Patrick had better get busy on the reconstruction of the team. Dealing for more scoring prowess in Luc Robitaille will help offset the possible loss of Lemieux.Lemieux&rsquo;s health is not the only question facing the Penguins. Others include:&#9633; Is Ed Johnston the right man to coach the Penguins?&#9633; Can Robitaille continue to be one of the most prolific scoring left wingers in the game?&#9633; Can the Penguins&rsquo; aging big three on defense of Larry Murphy and Ulf and Kjell Samuelsson continue to contribute?&#9633; Do the Penguins have a strong enough supporting cast to help the stars?Since winning the Cup last in 1992, the Penguins have won just one of three playoff rounds. They were stunned in the second round by the New York Islanders two years ago and first-round victims at the hands of the Washington Capitals last season.1993-94 record: 44-27-13, first in Northeast, third overall, lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-2 to Washington. Power play: 18.8 percent (13th overall). Penalty killing: 82 per cent (10th overall).Off-season acquisition: Luc Robitaille, LW.Candidates for promotion: Pat Neaton, D; Ed Patterson, LW; Chris Tamer, D.Three pivotal factors: 1. Lemieux&rsquo;s health. No kidding. Lemieux played 22 games last season, scoring 17 goals and 37 points. In six playoff games he led the Penguins with four goals and seven points, but was not the unstoppable threat he was in his prime. The NHL&rsquo;s MVP two seasons ago after making a miraculous recovery from Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease, Lemieux has proven his resiliency. If he does not return, it&rsquo;s not only the Penguins&rsquo; loss; it&rsquo;s hockey&rsquo;s loss.2. The aging defense. Murphy is 33, Ulf Samuelsson is 30 and Kjell Samuelsson is 36. They are all reliable performers, but the time has come to add some youth to the mix. The door is open for Chris Tamer and Pat Neaton, both 23, to make their move. Neaton, an offensive defenseman, played nine games with the Penguins last season and had a goal and three points with 12 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Tamer is a more physical player, registering 160 penalty minutes in 53 games with the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International League last season.3. Motivation. The Penguins must rediscover and display the hunger to win. Two Stanley Cup victories and a bunch of aging players on lucrative, long-term contracts have a way of taking the edge off a team&rsquo;s desire to succeed. Patrick has succeeded in keeping the core of the team together with the league&rsquo;s highest payroll. Now it&rsquo;s up to the players to demonstrate he didn&rsquo;t make a mistake in making them comfortable.State of goaltending: It looks like another year of Tom Barrasso as No. 1 and Ken Wregget as the backup, which is not a bad thing. Barrasso, 29, is a proven winner and Wregget, 30, is comfortable with his standing as the No. 2 man and capable of filling in when Barrasso is out. After that pair, the bottom falls out. Phillipe DeRouville of College Francais was the Quebec League&rsquo;s goalie of the year last season, but he&rsquo;s not ready to challenge Barrasso or Wregget. Pittsburgh&rsquo;s goaltending was so thin last season, it signed 31-year-old veteran Roberto Romano, who played 125 games between 1982-87 with Pittsburgh and the Boston Bruins and spent parts of the past six seasons playing in Italy.Most pressing need: An influx of youth. It&rsquo;s funny how quickly age becomes a factor when a team stojis winning. The Penguins suddenly look like an old team. The average age of top players Lemieux, Murphy, Robitaille, the Samuelssons and Kevin Stevens is 31 years old. We&rsquo;d factor 37-year-old Joe Mullen into the mix except he looks like he could continue to play at the same high level until he turns 65. All still have the potential to be major contributors, but is two consecutive seasons of playoff failure enough of a motivation? Jaromir Jagr represents hope for the future, but there aren&rsquo;t enough young players on the team with his talent.Breakthrough player: Big things were expected from rookie Markus Naslund last season and the 20-year-old Swede failed to deliver. He looked like a rookie-of-the-year candidate the first week-to-10 days of training camp, but then disappeared. The Penguins&rsquo; first choice in 1993 scored just four goals and 11 points in 71 games. He was scratched from the lineup nine games and sent to the minors for five games, where he scored a goal and six points. The Penguins have a huge investment in Naslund, more than $2.2 million over three seasons, and expect a better return on their money. His emergence would certainly help alleviate the team&rsquo;s age problem.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0136-0194/10247096-1-eng-US/f0136-012.jpg" title="f0136-01" width="746" height="802"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0136-0255/10247089-1-eng-US/f0136-022.jpg" title="f0136-02" width="1037" height="1538"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Barrasso (JOHN GIAMUNDO/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0136-0333/10247082-1-eng-US/f0136-032.jpg" title="f0136-03" width="744" height="767"></div>Organization: The Penguins are constructing a team of monsters. Dave Roche, their third pick in 1993, is a 6-foot-4, 225-pound left winger who has averaged 150 penalty minutes the past two seasons with the Peterborough Petes and Windsor Spit-fires of the Ontario League. A 100-point scorer two seasons ago, he slipped to 71 last season, but was Windsor&rsquo;s best forward in the final month of the season. Pittsburgh&rsquo;s first pick last June was 6-foot-6, 215-pound center Chris Wells, who scored 30 goals and 74 points with 150 penalty minutes for the Seattle Thunder-birds of the Western League. Its third pick was 6-foot-5, 201-pound defenseman Sven Butenschon, who played for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0136-0418/10247075-1-eng-US/f0136-042.jpg" title="f0136-04" width="592" height="1044"></div>Coach/GM: Johnston has been described as too nice a guy to get results from the Penguins, as opposed to Scotty Bowman, who was too nasty. They looked pretty good rolling up the third-best record in the league last season, though. Patrick let us down last season. Waiting for his annual big deadline deal has become a favorite pastime and what did we get? Jeff Daniels for Greg Hawgood; Mike Needham for Jim McKenzie.Playoff history: It has been downhill for the Penguins since winning their last Stanley Cup triumph in 1992. They lasted two rounds in 1993 and one round last season.For explanation of 1993-94 scoring see page 66.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0137-0184/10247068-1-eng-US/f0137-012.jpg" title="f0137-01" width="2561" height="3520"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0138-0186/10247061-1-eng-US/f0138-012.jpg" title="f0138-01" width="2359" height="2356"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0138-02_ad2/10247054-1-eng-US/f0138-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0138-02_Ad" width="2314" height="903"></div> &#9632;

f0135-01

As usual, status of Super Mario a mystery

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0139-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0139-0169/10247183-1-eng-US/f0139-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE SAKIC (JIM MclSAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div>A dreamer might suggest the Quebec Nordiques are following a similar formula for success as the New York Rangers.The Rangers won the President&rsquo;s Trophy as regular season champions in 1991-92, missed the playoffs the following season and then bounced back to win the Stanley Cup last spring. They changed coaches and tinkered with the lineup before finding success.The Nordiques went from being the NHL&rsquo;s most improved team in 1992-93 to its biggest disappointment in &rsquo;93-94. One year after setting a record for greatest single-season improvement, placing 52 points higher than the previous season, the Nordiques took a 28-point nosedive and missed the playoffs. Like the Rangers, the Nordiques reacted with sweeping changes.Pierre Page was fired as coach-general manager and replaced by Pierre Lacroix as GM and Marc Crawford as coach.Star center Mats Sundin was traded in a blockbuster draft-day deal, as were veterans Ron Sutter and Garth Butcher.Former Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; captain Wendel Clark, trusty defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre and mammoth New York Islander defenseman Uwe Krupp were brought in as replacements. Center Peter Forsberg, considered the best player outside the NHL last season, also joins the team.We won&rsquo;t go as far as to predict the Nordiques will win the Cup, as we did in last year&rsquo;s Yearbook with the Rangers, but look for vast improvement in La Veille Capitale.1993-94 record: 34-42-8, fifth in Northeast, 19th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 15.6 per cent (22nd overall). Penalty killing: 79.6 per cent (22nd overall).Off-season acquisitions: Wendel Clark, LW; Uwe Krupp, D; Sylvain Lefebvre, D; Landon Wilson, RW.Candidates for promotion: Rene Corbet, LW; Peter Forsberg, C.Three pivotal factors: 1. The power play. When the Nordiques elected not to resign defenseman Steve Duchesne last season, they lost their only real scoring threat from the point. The result? Despite the talent up front, the Nordiques went from fifth in power play success in 1992-93 to 22nd last season. Nordique blueliners scored just 34 goals last season, ranking 20th in the league. They helped themselves tremendously on defense with the addition of Lefebvre and Krupp, but still don&rsquo;t have anyone to run the power play unit.2. Goaltending. None of Stephane Fiset, Jocelyn Thibault or Jacques Cloutier provided the Nordiques with the kind of goaltending they needed last season after trading veteran Ron Hextail. That must change this season if the Nordiques are to become serious candidates for the Stanley Cup. The Nordiques hoped Fiset would emerge as a star, but Thibault will probably have to be the man.3. Team chemistry. The acquisition of 27-year-old Clark should help. His leadership and experience should be a boon to a team that is greatly lacking in both departments. The Nordiques didn&rsquo;t react well to adversity last season, falling to pieces when they fell behind in games instead of working to get back into them.State of goaltending: The Nordiques are comfortable heading into another season with the Fiset-Thibault tandem. Make that cautiously comfortable. Clearly both have to take their games to higher levels. The team doesn&rsquo;t want to rush Thibault, who played 29 games last season as a 19-year-old and doesn&rsquo;t turn 20 until mid-season. Also pressing for work will be Garth Snow, the No. 1 goalie for the Americans at the Winter Olympics. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Snow had a 6-5-3 record with the Cornwall Aces of the American League last season.Most pressing need: Quebec hopes it has addressed one of its most pressing needs-leadership on the blueline-with the arrivals of Lefebvre and Krupp. Although it doesn&rsquo;t show up in the statistics, Lefebvre has quietly developed into one of the NHL&rsquo;s most dependable defensemen. He has never scored more than 23 points a season in his five-year career, but the 28-year-old is a rock in his own zone. However, the Nordiques are sorely lacking offense from the blueline and don&rsquo;t have the offensive defenseman that all great teams have. They may have to sacrifice one of the defensive rearguards to get an offense-minded one.Breakthrough player: Left winger Valeri Kamensky had his best year offensively with 28 goals and 65 points last season, but the Nordiques feel he is capable of much more. At 6-foot-2 and 198-pounds, Kamensky has the potential to be a scoring threat every time he&rsquo;s on the ice. The trouble is he has been injury-prone since joining the Nordiques three years ago. They won&rsquo;t be satisfied with his performance until he turns in consistent 40-goal seasons.Organization: The winner of the mega-deal between the Nordiques and Maple Leafs could hinge on how right winger Landon Wilson develops. If the 6-foot-2, 202-pounder turns out to be the player he is projected to be, the Nordiques won&rsquo;t mind at all having parted with Sundin. A freshman at the University of North Dakota last season, Wilson scored 18 goals and 33 points with 147 penalty minutes. There are those who believe he could step into the NHL immediately. The Nordiques also have high hopes for center Adam Deadmarsh, who scored 43 goals and 99 points with 212 penalty minutes in 65 games in his third season with the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western League last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0140-0181/10247176-1-eng-US/f0140-012.jpg" title="f0140-01" width="744" height="807"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0140-0247/10247169-1-eng-US/f0140-022.jpg" title="f0140-02" width="1043" height="1542"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stephane Fiset (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0140-0332/10247162-1-eng-US/f0140-032.jpg" title="f0140-03" width="723" height="755"></div>Coach/GM: Lacroix and Crawford usher in a new era in Quebec. When Lacroix refused to trade Quebec&rsquo;s ninth overall draft choice to the Leafs, then turned round and dealt it to the Islanders for Krupp, he immediately made his presence known in the NHL. In more than 20 years as a player agent, Lacroix earned the reputation as being fair to deal with; one of his greatest sources of pride being he never demanded a client&rsquo;s contract be re-negotiated.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0140-0418/10247155-1-eng-US/f0140-042.jpg" title="f0140-04" width="594" height="1026"></div>Crawford, 33, becomes the youngest coach in the NHL after beating out about 20 other candidates for the Quebec job. The former grinding left winger with the Vancouver Canucks guided Toronto&rsquo;s American League farm team, the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs, to three straight seasons of improvement, going from 90 points to 95 to 102 last season. He is considered one of the game&rsquo;s top young coaches and is lauded for his ability to work with young players.Playoff history: You need a university degree in ancient history to remember the last time the Nordiques enjoyed playoff success. That was in 1985 when they beat out the Montreal Canadiens in the second round in seven games before losing the Wales Conference championship to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games. They have missed the playoffs six of the last seven seasons.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0141-0169/10247148-1-eng-US/f0141-012.jpg" title="f0141-01" width="2571" height="3510"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0142-0175/10247141-1-eng-US/f0142-012.jpg" title="f0142-01" width="2372" height="2367"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0142-02_ad2/10247134-1-eng-US/f0142-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0142-02_Ad" width="2370" height="894"></div> &#9632;

f0139-01

Following Blueshirts’ blueprint for success

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0143-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0143-0173/10247263-1-eng-US/f0143-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CURTIS JOSEPH (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>Mike Keenan has gone from the best team money can buy to the worst team money hasn&rsquo;t been able to help.The free-spending St. Louis Blues signed free agents Al Maclnnis and Scott Stevens during the off-season-they lost Stevens when the New Jersey Devils exercised their right to match-and upstaged themselves by signing Keenan July 17, just two days after he left the Stanley Cup-champion New York Rangers.Unlike his posting with the Rangers, Keenan now carries the general manager&rsquo;s clout and can make his own changes.Keenan can&rsquo;t officially execute his duties until Sept. 24, but when he does, don&rsquo;t expect him to be idle. That could ultimately lead to a one-way ticket out of St. Louis for some players. The Blues are known around the league as the Millionaires&rsquo; Club, but now one of the millionaires is Keenan. It&rsquo;s tough to believe Keenan, Brett Hull, and Craig Janney will all live in peace and harmony.The signing of Keenan led to a deal which saw the Blues give up Petr Nedved for Keenan, defenseman Doug Lidster and left winger Esa Tikkanen.Keenan replaces GM Ron Caron, who was scheduled to retire after this season; and coach Bob Berry, who was named associate coach.Clearly tired of spending big money and getting little in return, Blues&rsquo; chairman Michael Shanahan wants a winner now. In nine years as an NHL coach, Keenan has been to the finals four times and was victorious with the Rangers torious with the Rangers.1993-94 record: 40-33-1 1, fourth in Central, 11th overall, lost Western Conference quarterfinal 4-0 to Dallas. Power play: 20.5 (eighth overall). Penalty killing: 81.2 (14th overall).Off-season acquisitions: Jon Casey, G; Lidster, D; Maclnnis, D; Tikkanen, LW.Candidate for promotion: Terry Hollinger, D; David Roberts, LW.Three pivotal factors: 1. The newlook defense corps. Maclnnis will provide offense and will be supplemented nicely by Steve Duchesne, but there&rsquo;s a big dropoff in talent after that. Goalie Curtis Joseph complained about the Blues&rsquo; inability to clear the front of the net last season and he&rsquo;ll likely complain louder this season. The Blues traded prospect Maxim Bets to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to get defensive stalwart Alexei Kasatonov, but Kasatonov signed with the Boston Bruins after playing a total of 12 games for St Louis.2. Depth at forward. High priced forwards such as Peter Stastny must accomplish more than they did in last year&rsquo;s playoffs to take the heat off of of Hull, Janney and all-star left winger Brendan Shanahan, the three players who have carried the bulk of the Blues&rsquo; offense the past two seasons. The Blues lost some punch along the blueline when Jeff Brown was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, but Maclnnis more than fills that void.3. Cujo&rsquo;s workload. Joseph must get a break, both in terms of minutes played and number of shots he faces. For the second straight season Cujo was the NHL&rsquo;s favorite target goalie, facing 2,382 shots-an average of 34 per appearance. Joseph is holding up under the pressure, but the Blues don&rsquo;t want to wear out one of the best goalies in the game because of lack of protection. The addition of 10-year pro Jon Casey as a free agent should help. So should Keenan&rsquo;s emphasis on defensive team play.State of goaltending: Joseph had the third-highest number of wins among goalies last season with 36. The fact the Blues won just 40 games tells you something about their lack of depth at the position. At $1.8 million for two seasons, Casey represents expensive back-up help, but the Blues needed someone to take the load off of Joseph. Casey&rsquo;s numbers with the Boston Bruins last season were respectable-a 30-15-9 record and 2.88 goals against average. But his save percentage of .881 was third-worst in the league among No. 1 goalies. The arrival of Casey makes Jim Hrivnak, 4-10-0 last season, expendable. Third-year pro Geoff Sarjeant, the No. 1 stopper for their International League affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, remains a prospect, but the Blues are not exactly renowned for the quality of prospects.Most pressing need: Tied with immediate help on the blueline is some scoring punch on right wing. Beyond Hull, the Blues don&rsquo;t have any offense at that position. Hull scored 57 goals last season, three more than the before, and the rest of the team&rsquo;s right wingers combined for 14 goals in 1993-94.Breakthrough player: If Felsner can stay off the injury list long enough, perhaps the Blues would not have such a desperate shortage of goals from the right side. He missed games with a broken thumb two years ago and last season broke his ankle, limiting him to six games with the Blues and six with Peoria. He scored one goal with St. Louis and eight goals and 11 points with the Rivermen. The 6-foot, 195-pound Felsner was St. Louis&rsquo;s third choice, 55th overall, in the 1989 draft and had back-to-back seasons of 40 and 42 goals with the University of Michigan before turning professional.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0144-0178/10247256-1-eng-US/f0144-012.jpg" title="f0144-01" width="737" height="790"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0144-0241/10247249-1-eng-US/f0144-022.jpg" title="f0144-02" width="1034" height="1547"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brett Hull (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0144-0326/10247242-1-eng-US/f0144-032.jpg" title="f0144-03" width="726" height="767"></div>Organization: For a team that hasn&rsquo;t had a first-round pick since 1989, the Blues have some decent talent in the chain. The best of their prospects is defenseman Jamie Rivers of the Sudbury Wolves, who led all Ontario League blueliners in scoring with 32 goals and 121 points. Ian Laperriere is a gritty center who scored 41 goals and 113 points with 150 penalty minutes for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec League, while 6-foot-2, 197-pound left winger Craig Johnson scored 25 goals and 65 points in 62 games with the U.S. Olympic team.Coach/GM: Say what you will about Keenan the person, Keenan the coach is one of the best ever. A taskmaster with the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks, Keenan toned his act down with the Rangers and went from being universally disliked to openly admired by his players. Ranger captain Mark Messier called Keenan the best coach for whom he has ever played. If the Blues&rsquo; spending habits the past few years are any indication, Keenan should be able to acquire just about anybody he wants in his effort to make the Blues into a champion. His biggest task will be to start to build the Blues through the draft. The Blues don&rsquo;t have a first-round pick again until 1996.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0144-0416/10247235-1-eng-US/f0144-042.jpg" title="f0144-04" width="592" height="1018"></div>Playoff history: The Blues were regular visitors to the Stanley Cup final their first three years in the NHL, when the winner among the six expansion teams met the winner of the established teams for the title. They haven&rsquo;t been back since then and haven&rsquo;t made it out of their division since 1986, when they lost the semifinal in seven games to the Calgary Flames.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0145-0162/10247228-1-eng-US/f0145-012.jpg" title="f0145-01" width="2581" height="3500"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0146-0169/10247221-1-eng-US/f0146-012.jpg" title="f0146-01" width="2303" height="2399"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0146-02_ad2/10247214-1-eng-US/f0146-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0146-02_Ad" width="2274" height="866"></div> &#9632;

f0143-01

Dollar daze continues as Keenan joins club

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0147-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0147-0158/10247343-1-eng-US/f0147-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">IGOR LARIONOV (BRUCE BENETT/BBS)</figcaption></div>The San Jose Sharks came one crossbar away from the semifinals in 1993-94, but they were miles away from the Stanley Cup.After recording one of the biggest upsets in playoff history over the Detroit Red Wings, the Sharks lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games. Johan Garpenlov hit the crossbar in overtime of Game 6.If he had scored, the Sharks would have won the series.But the truth is, the Sharks overachieved and would have stood little chance against the Vancouver Canucks or New York Rangers. History has shown that underdog teams are usually good for only one upset before they come back to earth. The Sharks were no different.Which isn&rsquo;t to say that the Sharks had nothing to celebrate last season. First of all, their 58-point improvement from 1992-93 was the largest in league history and they made the playoffs in just their third season.And there&rsquo;s no reason to suggest the Sharks&rsquo; improvement curve won&rsquo;t continue rising. The Sharks significantly upgraded their talent level last season and the prospects for the franchise&rsquo;s future are very bright.The Sharks boast a talented young defense corps, featuring 26-goal-scorer Sandis Ozolinsh, reliable Jay More and emerging 19-year-olds Michal Sykora and Vlastimil Kroupa. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Kroupa was very effective in the post-season after spending most of the regular season in the minors.1993-94 record: 33-35-16, third in Pacific, 17th overall, lost Western Conference semifinal 4-3 to Toronto. Power play: 16 per cent (20th overall). Penalty killing: 78.6 per cent (25th overall).Off-season acquisitions: None.Candidates for promotion: Alex Cherbayev, LW; Viktor Kozlov, LW; Michal Sykora, D.Three pivotal factors: 1. Special teams. The power play needs a legitimate scoring threat from the point and the penalty killers must be more aggressive. Only four of Ozolinsh&rsquo;s 26 goals came with the man advantage last season. Jeff Norton has the experience to be the quarterback, but his shot from the point doesn&rsquo;t strike fear into the hearts of opposing goaltenders. Someone stepping forward to fill the role would take some of the pressure off forwards Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov.2. The Russian connection. Center Larionov was an especially important cog in the Sharks&rsquo; system. They were 23-18-8 with him in the lineup; 2-15-6 without him in the regular season. Watching this dynamic Russian duo perform with its creativity and imagination was one of the highlights of the playoffs. Larionov led the Sharks in post-season scoring with five goals and 18 points, while Makarov was second with eight goals and 10 points.3. Kozlov&rsquo;s arrival. The Sharks were skeptical about the possibility of signing the 6-foot-5, 210-pound left winger. If he does arrive, the Sharks are not looking for the 19-year-old Russian to be a savior, but would be thrilled if he was able to contribute offensively right away. The sixth pick in the 1993 entry draft has the physical tools to be an impact player. The team has enough veterans that if Kozlov&rsquo;s development is gradual, they would be willing to wait until he&rsquo;s 23 or 24 to hit his stride.State of goaltending: The NHL&rsquo;s busiest goalie, Arturs Irbe, was also one of the league&rsquo;s best during the regular season. Irbe&rsquo;s 4,412 minutes played was the most ever in the NHL and his heroics carried the Sharks into the playoffs. Menatally strong and driven to perfection, Irbe is firmly entrenched as the Sharks&rsquo; No. 1 stopper. If he has one glaring flaw, it&rsquo;s his puckhandling. The Sharks feel they have two competent backups in Jimmy Waite and Wade Flaherty, although Waite still yearns for a shot at being No. 1. The former Quebec League junior star who played the previous four seasons in the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; system performed in 15 games for San Jose last season and had a disappointing 3-7-0 record. Flaherty, a 26-year-old minor leaguer, performed well with the Kansas City Blades of the International League.Most pressing need: In a word-offense. The Sharks&rsquo; success last season came mostly through solid defensive play because they didn&rsquo;t have the personnel to sustain a prolonged forecheck. Their 252 goals was 20th best in the league. Having right winger Ulf Dahlen in the lineup for a full season-he was acquired in a trade from the Dallas Stars March 19-will help. So will Kozlov if the Sharks can sign him and he can make an impact.Breakthrough player: The Sharks have been patient with Pat Falloon in his first three NHL seasons and are now looking to the 22-year-old right winger for payback. There wasn&rsquo;t much pressure on Falloon to step forward the first two seasons because the Sharks were such a poor team. But last season when the Sharks added some experience up front, Falloon slipped from being a key player to one used sparingly in the playoffs. He had one goal and three points in 14 playoff games. The Sharks see Falloon as a potential consistent 30-plus goal scorer who plays 25-30 minutes a game with power play and penalty killing duties. For that to happen, the second overall pick in 1991 must be better conditioned and show more commitment.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0148-0166/10247336-1-eng-US/f0148-012.jpg" title="f0148-01" width="742" height="817"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0148-0236/10247329-1-eng-US/f0148-022.jpg" title="f0148-02" width="1016" height="1536"><figcaption class="caption-body">Johan Garpenlov (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0148-0325/10247322-1-eng-US/f0148-032.jpg" title="f0148-03" width="730" height="775"></div>Organization: The Sharks took Jeff Friesen 11th overall in the 1994 draft and were happy with the dedication showed over the summer. An early candidate for the No. 1 overall spot, Friesen dropped like a rock last season, despite scoring 51 goals and 118 points for the Regina Pats of the Western League. The knock on the 6-foot, 183-pound right winger is a lack of consistency, but the Sharks feel he can be an impact player. Consistency is the trademark of right winger Shean Donovan of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Ottawa 67&rsquo;s. The solid two-way performer has another year of junior eligibility remaining.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0148-0414/10247315-1-eng-US/f0148-042.jpg" title="f0148-04" width="592" height="1039"></div>Coach/GM: Kevin Constantine overcame a horrible debut-one tie and eight losses in his first nine NHL games-to place second in voting for coach-of-the-year honors. A tireless worker, Constantine was forced to go with the team&rsquo;s strengths early to get the Sharks into the playoffs, meaning there wasn&rsquo;t much time set aside for teaching. At 36, Lombardi is considered one of the most thorough young executives in the NHL. Lombardi is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the team and Chuck Grillo concentrates on scouting and player development. What was considered a managerial mess when Jack Ferreira was fired in 1992 has developed into a workable and successful system for the Sharks.Playoff history: The Sharks became the second post-1967 expansion team to win a series in its first playoff appearance when they defeated Detroit last season.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0149-0157/10247308-1-eng-US/f0149-012.jpg" title="f0149-01" width="2581" height="3460"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0150-0163/10247301-1-eng-US/f0150-012.jpg" title="f0150-01" width="2323" height="2408"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0150-02_ad/10247294-1-eng-US/f0150-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0150-02_Ad" width="2295" height="915"></div> &#9632;

f0147-01

Going from pretender to predator in a hurry

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0151-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0151-0153/10247423-1-eng-US/f0151-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAREN PUPPA (SCOTT LEVY/BBS)</figcaption></div>A year ago the Tampa Bay Lightning was the only NHL team in Florida; now it isn&rsquo;t even the best NHL team in the sunshine state.The Lightning showed marginal improvement in its second year. It won seven more games, from 23 to 30, and allowed 81 fewer goals thanks in a big part to the spectacular goaltending of Daren Puppa.But despite acquiring veterans Denis Savard and Petr Klima to bolster the offense, the Lightning scored 21 fewer goals than in its expansion season. Klima scored 28 goals, but Brian Bradley slumped from 42 goals to 24.The acquisitions did little to help the power play, which finished third worst in the league and the Lightning did little to improve in that department in the offseason, so don&rsquo;t look for it to be filling the net this season, either.To make matters worse, 20-year-old defenseman Roman Hamrlik blew out his right knee playing for the Czech Republic prior to the World Championships in April. He tore both the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments and was operated on May 4. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound first overall pick in the 1992 has developed slowly and came nowhere near the success in his second season as second overall pick Alexei Yashin of the Ottawa Senators did as a rookie.Hamrlik is expected to be back next season, but Tampa Bay management is praying the injury doesn&rsquo;t set his development too far back.1993-94 record: 30-43-11, seventh in Atlantic, 21st overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 14.7 per cent (24th overall). Penalty killing: 82.7 (sixth overall).Off-season acquisitions: None.Candidates for promotion: Drew Bannister, D; Eric Charron, D; Cory Cross, D; Aaron Gavey, C; Marian Kacir, RW.Three pivotal factors: 1. Play of Puppa. The former Buffalo Sabre and Toronto Maple Leaf, claimed in the second phase of the NHL expansion draft last summer, might have been the NHL&rsquo;s most underrated player last season. Puppa recorded a 22-33-6 record with a 2.71 goals against average and .899 save percentage. The 29-year-old had a career-high four shutouts.2. Power play. The Lightning boasted the NHL&rsquo;s sixth best penalty killing unit-quite an accomplishment for a 21st place team-but had the third-worst power play. Prospects for the immediate future don&rsquo;t look bright. The Lightning has neither a quarterback to run the extra-man unit nor a 50-60 goal scoring finisher. It had hoped Klima and Savard would be the answer, but the power play dipped from 17.5 per cent efficiency in the first season to 14.7 per cent in 1993-94.3. The veteran players. The Lightning relies heavily on over-30 players, so when they don&rsquo;t come through, the team is in trouble. Nobody expects Savard to score 40 or more goals a season the way he used to for the Chicago Blackhawks, but is 20 out of the question? He is, after all, just 33 years old. Bradley, the NHL&rsquo;s most improved player the season before, must find his form this season. Klima&rsquo;s 28 goals led the team, but that total was still four fewer than the seasons before with the Edmonton Oilers.State of goaltending: Assuming Puppa comes close to duplicating his heroics of last season, goaltending should be the least of the Lightning&rsquo;s worries. Puppa looks every bit as good as he did in 1989-90 when he led the NHL in wins with 31 and was a second-team all-star behind Patrick Roy of the Montreal Canadiens. Wendel Young, 31, missed a good portion of last season with a shoulder injury, but should be healthy enough to serve as Puppa&rsquo;s backup. Tampa Bay is excited about its goalies of the future. The tandem of J.C. Bergeron and Mike Greenlay was the best in the International League with the Atlanta Knights last season. Bergeron played 39 games over two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens before being traded to Tampa Bay in 1992. He was 1-1-1 in three games with the Lightning last season. Greenlay, who turns 26 Sept. 15, had a superb playoff for the champion Knights, recording an 11-1 record with a shutout and 2.32 GAA.Most pressing need: In case you haven&rsquo;t guessed by now, more goals. Only the Ottawa Senators, with 201, scored fewer goals than the Lightning&rsquo;s 224. There&rsquo;s hope for the future in Ottawa because the Senators have three young guns in Yashin, Alexandre Daigle and Radek Bonk. Tampa&rsquo;s two best young players are first-round choices Chris Gratton (fourth overall in 1993) and Jason Wiemer (eighth overall in 1994), who were both accomplished scorers at the major junior level, but are more power forwards than natural offensive talents.Breakthrough player: He&rsquo;ll have to do it on a recovering knee, but the Lightning is looking for Hamrlik to make strides in his third season. He has been a regular on the Lighting defense as a teenager, scoring 21 points in each of his two seasons. He has not been, however, the impact player the Lightning envisioned when it selected him ahead of NHL regulars Yashin and Darius Kasparaitis of the New York Islanders.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0152-0156/10247416-1-eng-US/f0152-012.jpg" title="f0152-01" width="756" height="820"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0152-0235/10247409-1-eng-US/f0152-022.jpg" title="f0152-02" width="1035" height="1541"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Bradley (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0152-0324/10247402-1-eng-US/f0152-032.jpg" title="f0152-03" width="735" height="763"></div>Organization: There is no truth to the rumor the Lightning is contemplating changing its name to Greyhounds, but perhaps it should. The team&rsquo;s best hopes for the future played for the Ontario League&rsquo;s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds last season. Lightning general manager Phil Esposito and brother Tony are from the Northern Ontario town and Phil used to own the Greyhounds. Gavey, a center, has been one of junior hockey&rsquo;s premier two-way players the past few seasons and signed with the Lightning after threatening to go back into the draft. Bannister, a defenseman and the Greyhounds&rsquo; captain, was a key performer with Canada&rsquo;s gold medal-winning team at the World Junior Championships. Left winger Jeff Toms of the Greyhounds was acquired in a trade from the New Jersey Devils for a fourth-round draft pick.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0152-0416/10247395-1-eng-US/f0152-042.jpg" title="f0152-04" width="595" height="1039"></div>Coach/GM: Esposito was rumored to be leaving the Lightning to accept a job as a broadcaster with ESPN, but will be back for his third year running the team. Once known as Trader Phil for his numerous deals as GM of the New York Rangers, Esposito has shown uncharacteristic restraint in in the trade market. Coach Terry Crisp also returns for a third season. The 51-year-old Crisp guided the Calgary Flames to the Stanley Cup in 1989 and spent time with Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team before joining Tampa Bay. Once a fiery, excitable individual behind the bench. Crisp has developed patience, a trait that should continue to serve him well with this organization.Playoff history: None.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0153-0149/10247388-1-eng-US/f0153-012.jpg" title="f0153-01" width="2561" height="3540"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0154-0153/10247381-1-eng-US/f0154-012.jpg" title="f0154-01" width="2338" height="2350"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0154-02_ad/10247374-1-eng-US/f0154-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0154-02_Ad" width="2318" height="878"></div> &#9632;

f0151-01

Beached on the Bay: Troubles continue

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0155-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0155-0148/10247503-1-eng-US/f0155-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG GILMOUR (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>The date was June 28. Let the record show that Pat Bums was actually smiling.It was difficult to see behind the summer growth, but it was there. The reason we&rsquo;re recording it is because it&rsquo;s not something the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; coach does very often.But on this day, even the dour Bums had no reason to be sour. He showed up for the entry draft at the Hartford Civic Center with Doug Gilmour and little else at center, and left trying to figure out how to spread the ice time among three accomplished pivots.That&rsquo;s because Leaf general manager Cliff Fletcher engineered a pair of draft-day trades that brought proven centers Mats Sundin and Mike Ridley to Toronto.The cost was high. Toronto gave up captain Wendel Clark, solid defensive citizen Sylvain Lefebvre and enigmatic young right winger Rob Pearson. There was also the loss of prospect Landon Wilson, who may one-day emerge as a star power forward.It was worth the risk. Sundin is a proven performer with his best years to come. Ridley is a 31-year-old, nine-year veteran who has averaged 76 points the last six sea-sons.Replacing Clark&rsquo;s leadership and Lefebvre&rsquo;s dependability won&rsquo;t be easy. But the Leafs are a better team now than the one that lost in the Stanley Cup semifinal last season.But is it good enough to go beyond the semifinal or will it fall back after two successful seasons?1993-94 record: 43-29-12, second in Central, fifth overall, lost Western Conference final 4-1 to Vancouver.Off-season acquisitions: Garth Butcher, D; Mike Craig, RW; Mike Ridley, C; Mats Sundin, C; Todd Warriner, LW.Candidates for promotion: Patrik Augusta, RW; Kenny Jonsson, D; Eric Lacroix, LW; Matt Martin, D; Martin Prochazka, C.Three pivotal factors: 1. Doug Gilmour. No skater has been more important to his team&rsquo;s cause the past two seasons than Gilmour. Only Adam Oates of the Boston Bruins with 254, has more points the past two seasons than Gilmour at 238. His 63 points in the past two playoff tournaments is No. 1. With Clark gone to the Quebec Nordiques, this is now truly Gilmour&rsquo;s team.2. Performance of the defense corps. Will the additions of veteran Butcher and rookie Kenny Jonsson be enough to offset the loss of Lefebvre and veteran Bob Rouse? And can Todd Gill bounce back from a mediocre season while Dmitri Mironov and Matt Martin continue to move forward? The answer to these questions must be yes if the Leafs are to remain a dependable defensive unit.3. The integration of young players. Fletcher has been able to keep the Leafs competitive through trades, but eventually some of the team&rsquo;s draft picks must step forward and take on more responsibility. That opportunity will be there in training camp for leading candidates Jonsson, Lacroix and Prochazka. Prochazka, who scored 24 goals and 40 points in 43 games in the Czech League last season, is expected to push Mike Eastwood. Defenseman Drake Berehowsky will have a rough time cracking the Leafs&rsquo; top seven defensemen.State of goaltending: Felix Potvin took an unpopular stance when he demanded renegotiation of his contract, but by the end of the season he still looked underpaid. The Cat finished in the top five in only one category-he was fifth in wins-but that was due in large part to a mid-season slump. He remains among the best stoppers in the game. The Leafs like backup Damian Rhodes, who played 22 games, but aren&rsquo;t sold on his potential to be No. 1. Toronto drafted highly touted Eric Fichaud 16th overall, but he will return to junior hockey.Most pressing need: The loss of Clark, Lefebvre and, to a certain degree, Pearson creates a big gap in the team&rsquo;s toughness. Ken Baumgartner is still a feared enforcer, but his contribution to the team&rsquo;s success outside of his fighting is minimal. Butcher is a willing combatant, but he&rsquo;s 31. The Leafs require toughness on the wings from players who don&rsquo;t watch the playoffs from the bench or press box.Breakthrough player: Kent Manderville showed periodically-usually after being benched-why he was considered a good enough prospect for the Calgary Flames to pick him 24th overall in the 1989 draft. The Leafs expect the 6-foot-3, 207-pound left winger to take better advantage of his size and considerable skating ability to be more consistent, both on offense and in the trenches.Organization: The Leafs are pleased with the progress of first-year pro right winger Grant Marshall, who scored 17 goals and 39 points while putting in a bit of time on defense with the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs of the American League last season. There is also cause for excitement by the play of right winger Zdenek Nedved, their third pick in the 1993 draft, who bounced back from an injury-riddled rookie season with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario League to score 50 goals and 100 points as a sophomore. Center Brandon Convery. the eighth overall pick in 1992, was traded from the Niagara Falls Thunder to Belleville Bulls last season and has not yet developed into the game-breaker the Leafs envisioned.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0156-0153/10247496-1-eng-US/f0156-012.jpg" title="f0156-01" width="739" height="793"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0156-0234/10247489-1-eng-US/f0156-022.jpg" title="f0156-02" width="1031" height="1513"><figcaption class="caption-body">Felix Potvin (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0156-0324/10247482-1-eng-US/f0156-032.jpg" title="f0156-03" width="744" height="768"></div>Coach/GM: The tandem of Fletcher as president/GM and Burns as coach has been one of the most effective in the NHL the past two seasons. Fletcher helped restore the Maple Leafs&rsquo; credibility with a series of trades after a sorry 25-year run since Toronto last won the Stanley Cup in 1967. Since joining the Leafs in 1991, Fletcher has pulled off three of the biggest trades in the league to get integral players in Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Dave Andreychuk, Jonsson and Sundin.Bums has extracted more from less than any coach in the league, as evidenced by consecutive berths in the Stanley Cup semifinals. Bums has high expectations for his players and is not above publicly criticizing a player if he feels it will motivate him. The former Montreal cop requested and received a handsome pay raise from management following last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0156-0416/10247475-1-eng-US/f0156-042.jpg" title="f0156-04" width="611" height="1020"></div>Playoff history: After missing the playoffs five of the nine years prior to Fletcher&rsquo;s arrival, the Leafs have made consecutive visits to the Stanley Cup semifinals. They were the only team from the 1993 Final Four, when they came within a game of advancing to the final, to make it back last season. After a strong showing through two rounds, the Leafs were no match for the Vancouver Canucks in the semifinal. The Leafs have the second highest number of Cup wins, 13 to the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; 23, but have not sipped champagne since 1967.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0157-0147/10247468-1-eng-US/f0157-012.jpg" title="f0157-01" width="2621" height="3530"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0158-0151/10247461-1-eng-US/f0158-012.jpg" title="f0158-01" width="2375" height="2376"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0158-02_ad/10247454-1-eng-US/f0158-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0158-02_Ad" width="2354" height="908"></div> &#9632;

f0155-01

Pivot-al problems placed in the past

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0159-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0159-0147/10247583-1-eng-US/f0159-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TREVOR LINDEN (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>The last time the Vancouver Canucks made it to the Stanley Cup final, it took them 12 years to get past the second round again.But most people took the Canucks for what they were in 1981-82: A mediocre team that overachieved at the right time.That&rsquo;s not the case now, or is it?The 1993-94 Canucks had just a slightly better winning percentage than the 1981-82 team, scored 11 fewer goals, allowed just 10 fewer and had a worse home record.The difference now is last season&rsquo;s Canucks, who stumbled their way through the regular season and steamrollered their way through the playoffs, were just one year removed from two first-place finishes.Plus, Vancouver possesses all the elements to be successful-a superstar forward in Pavel Bure, competent goaltending from Kirk McLean, a mobile and offensive defense corps and good size up front and on the blueline.The Canucks were inconsistent through most of the regular season last year, finishing 14th overall despite a 7-1-0 start. Even after the Canucks made the trade with the St. Louis Blues to acquire defensemen Jeff Brown and Bret Hedican and center Nathan LaFay-ette, their record was just 6-5-0.The Canucks came a brilliant save away from first-round elimination, but displayed resilience, twice bouncing back from 3-1 deficits to force Game 7s. Although they ultimately lost to the New York Rangers in the final, they served notice of better things to come.1993-94 record: 41-40-3, second in Pacific, 14th overall, lost Stanley Cup final 4-3 to Rangers. Power play: 18.8 per cent (14th overall). Penalty killing: 81.7 per cent (12th overall).Off-season acquisitions: None.Candidates for promotion: Jassen Cullimore, D; Mike Fountain, G; Mike Peca, LW.Three pivotal factors: 1. Contribution from core players. Pavel Bure was the NHL&rsquo;s top scorer through the second half last season with 65 points and counted 49 goals in his final 50 games. He also placed second in playoff scoring with 31 points in 24 games. Bure was rewarded with a six-year, $25-million (U.S.) contract retroactive to the beginning of the 1993-94 season.Kirk McLean and Trevor Linden also took their games to new levels. McLean, who slumped to 23 regular-season wins from a career-high 38 two years ago, made the save of the season in the first round against Calgary in overtime of Game 7. Linden looked better at center where he is more of a scoring threat and all-around more effective than on the wing.2. How the team responds to its playoff success. The Canucks were two different teams last year: the one that played the regular-season and the one that caught fire in the playoffs. Vancouver finished just one game over .500 in the regular season, losing four of its final six regular-season games. The consistent effort was there in the playoffs and the Canucks were rewarded. Now that they&rsquo;ve emerged as serious Cup threats, sub-par efforts should not be tolerated.3. Young players. After a successful season there might be a temptation to stand pat, but that would be deadly for the Canucks. The team has a host of veterans who must be phased out and replaced by players who have patiently waited for their opportunities. They Canucks have a decent group of prospects highlighted by Fountain, Cullimore and Peca. With the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames making significant off-season improvements, the Canucks will be hard-pressed to keep up.State of goaltending: McLean returns for his eighth season as the team&rsquo;s No. 1 stopper fresh off his best playoff ever. He was 15-9 in playoffs with a 2.29 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. The Canucks have been satisfied with backup Kay Whitmore, 36-22-4 in two seasons as McLean&rsquo;s understudy, but also recognize the need to fit Fountain into the picture. At 27, Whitmore deserves the chance to challenge for No. 1 and that won&rsquo;t happen in Vancouver. Fountain, 22, performed admirably for the Hamilton Canucks of the American League last season and could serve as McLean&rsquo;s backup.Most pressing need: Beyond Bure, the Canucks have little at right wing. They were forced to use left wingers Martin Gelinas and Murray Craven on the portside last season and they would prefer those players at their natural positions. Former roller hockey star Jose Charbonneau started quickly, but faded and was nowhere to be seen in the playoffs. Tim Hunter works hard, but is strictly a fourth-liner.Breakthrough player: If there was any doubt about his potential, LaFayette proved in the playoffs he could be a dependable two-way NHL center in the playoffs. He was a key performer for Vancouver in the final against the Rangers. Much the way many junior scoring stars who have to make the grade in the NHL as defensive forwards first, LaFayette will be us-ed predominantly in a checking role and any offense will be a bonus.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0160-0156/10247576-1-eng-US/f0160-012.jpg" title="f0160-01" width="735" height="794"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0160-0234/10247569-1-eng-US/f0160-022.jpg" title="f0160-02" width="1023" height="1525"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kirk McLean (STEVE REYES/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0160-0325/10247562-1-eng-US/f0160-032.jpg" title="f0160-03" width="734" height="766"></div>Organization: Defenseman Brent Tully captained Canada&rsquo;s gold medal entry at the World Junior Championship and scored a goal in his only game in Hamilton. Center Rick Girard had another solid season with the Swift Current Broncos-he was also a key player for Canada at the WJC-and will likely join Tully in the AHL this season. Defenseman Mattias Ohlund, who was drafted in the first round, is under contract to Lulea of the Swedish Elite League for two more seasons.Coach/GM: After Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, Pat Quinn said he had likely coached his last NHL game. If Quinn does return behind the bench, there will again be concerns that he is spreading himself too thin by also carrying the responsibility of general manager and president. Those concerns would have been more prominent than ever if the Canucks had lost to Calgary in the first round.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0160-0416/10247555-1-eng-US/f0160-042.jpg" title="f0160-04" width="603" height="1030"></div>Even though it took until the trade deadline to resolve the Petr Nedved fiasco, Quinn was applauded around the league for getting such a good deal when Craig Janney refused to report to the Canucks. He finished second in voting for The Hockey News executive of the year behind Neil Smith of the Rangers.Quinn is expected to make good on his promise of stepping down and will likely be replaced by assistant Rick Ley.Playoff history: Ushered on by towel waving fans, the Canucks surprised the hockey world, making it to the Stanley Cup final in 1982. Until this season, those white towels usually represented surrender flags during the playoffs. After the run to the final in 1982, the Canucks missed the playoffs four times, lost in the first round five times and never made it into the Eastern time zone during the post-season.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0161-0145/10247548-1-eng-US/f0161-012.jpg" title="f0161-01" width="2601" height="3520"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0162-0150/10247541-1-eng-US/f0162-012.jpg" title="f0162-01" width="2337" height="2481"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0162-02_ad/10247534-1-eng-US/f0162-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0162-02_Ad" width="2304" height="952"></div> &#9632;

f0159-01

No trip back to the future this year

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0163-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0163-0143/10247663-1-eng-US/f0163-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER BONDRA (JIM LEARY/BBS)</figcaption></div>The Washington Capitals have been the model of consistency over the years: Consistently good in the regular season and consistently mediocre in the playoffs.The formula has been good enough to keep general manager David Poile employed the past 12 years and for him to get a new three-year contract in June. It wasn&rsquo;t so good for coach Terry Murray. Five years after replacing his brother Bryan behind the Capitals&rsquo; bench, Murray was fired and replaced by mattress salesman/NHL coach Jim Schoenfeld Jan. 27.The Capitals are good for an upset occasionally-such as last year when they eliminated Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the opening round. Pittsburgh finished 13 points ahead of Washington in the regular season, but was heavily favored in the series. Next, the Capitals faced the New York Rangers and were lucky to win one game. It was apparent when they were eliminated the Capitals lack the goaltending and scoring punch to be serious contenders.In the off-season, the Capitals did little to change those areas-in fact, they traded away their second-leading scorer in Mike Ridley-or bring themselves any closer to contender status.In their defense, the Capitals were without key players-including defensemen Jim Johnson and Calle Johansson, as well as forwards Michal Pivonka and Peter Bondra-because of injuries during the playoffs. They are all expected to be healthy when the puck drops this season.1993-94 record: 39-35-10, third in Atlantic, 12th overall, lost Eastern Conference semifinal 4-1 to Rangers. Power play: 18.1 per cent (18th overall). Penalty killing: 81.6 per cent (13th overall).Off-season acquisition: Rob Pearson, RW.Candidates for promotion: Jason Allison, C; Sergei Gonchar, D; Jeff Nelson, C; Brendan Witt, D.Three pivotal factors: 1. The goaltending situation. The Capitals need one of the four goalies in their system to push the other three out of the crease and claim it as his own. It was obvious in last season&rsquo;s playoffs when Schoenfeld played musical goalies he doesn&rsquo;t have faith in any one of them. Poile has made numerous moves to address other areas of concern, but until the problem in goal is answered, the Capitals cannot be considered true Stanley Cup threats.2. Offensive contribution from forwards. Two years ago the Capitals scored 286 goals, the bulk of their offense coming from a trio of celebrated defensemen. The Capitals became the first team in NHL history to have three defensemen with 20 or more goals. In an effort to beef up the scoring from the forwards, Poile traded star defenseman Al lafrate to the Boston Bruins for Joe Juneau. The 26-year-old sophomore responded with five goals and 13 points in 11 games for Washington, despite the fact the Capitals were unable to find suitable linemates for him. Peter Bondra, whom the Capitals hoped would build on a career-high 37 goals the season before, dipped to 24, his lowest total since his rookie year.3. The emergence of young players. The Capitals hope the last two winners of the Canadian Hockey League player of the year can be impact players this season. Right winger Pat Peake, the 1993 winner, should build on his 11-goal, 29-point rookie season that was limited to 49 games because of injuries. Allison, who copped the honor last season, should make the leap directly to the NHL from junior if he worked on adding strength in the off-season. Also expected to fill larger roles with the team are young center Steve Konowalchuk and defenseman John Slaney.State of goaltending: Do the Capitals go with old reliables Don Beaupre and Rick Tabaracci or thrust youngsters Byron Dafoe and Olaf Kolzig into the limelight? Beaupre, who turns 34 Sept. 19, was the team&rsquo;s best goalie in last season&rsquo;s playoffs, winning five games and losing two. For his efforts, he was offered a termination contract in the off-season. Dafoe, 23, and Tabaracci, 25, were each 0-2-0. Logically, Kolzig and Dafoe should be making their move to oust the veterans, but both have been highly regarded prospects for quite a while and haven&rsquo;t been able to make the jump. They were drafted 19th and 35th overall, respectively, by the Capitals in the 1989 draft. &rsquo;Most pressing need: Aside from a No. 1 goalie, the Capitals need an infusion of offense, either from within the organization or outside. No player who spent the entire season with Washington averaged as much as a point per game in 1993-94. Of course, it didn&rsquo;t help that virtually every key player had a horrible year. Washington&rsquo;s 277 goals was almost 50 fewer than the season before.Breakthrough player: If it&rsquo;s not Dafoe or Kolzig, then perhaps ex-Toronto Maple Leaf Rob Pearson can provide the Capitals with grit and scoring. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound right winger was acquired in the off-season for Ridley. Pearson got off to a fine start last season, scoring six goals in the Leafs&rsquo; first nine games, but suffered a knee injury and was never the same upon returning. By the end of the season he was a spare part on the team. Skating is his main weakness, but he has a great shot and is tough.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0164-0145/10247656-1-eng-US/f0164-012.jpg" title="f0164-01" width="727" height="792"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0164-0236/10247649-1-eng-US/f0164-022.jpg" title="f0164-02" width="1023" height="1529"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Juneau (BRUCE BENETT/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0164-0320/10247642-1-eng-US/f0164-032.jpg" title="f0164-03" width="718" height="761"></div>Organization: Alexander Kharlamov, the son of the former Soviet great Valeri, was chosen 15th overall by the Capitals in June. The younger Kharlamov played 48 games with the Central Army last season, scoring eight goals and 16 points. In 12 games against International League competition, he added two goals and four points. Right winger Martin Gendron is a longshot to make the Capitals this season after scoring 39 goals and 75 points in 37 games with the Hull Olympics of the Quebec League. He&rsquo;ll likely start the season with the Capitals&rsquo; affiliate, the Portland Pirates of the American League.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0164-0414/10247635-1-eng-US/f0164-042.jpg" title="f0164-04" width="585" height="1021"></div>Coach/GM: Poile took control of a team that hadn&rsquo;t made the playoffs in the first eight years of its existence and has guided it into the post-season in each of his 12 years. Schoenfeld is not known as a tactician; he&rsquo;s an emotional type who has the players believing in themselves by the time playoffs roll around. The Capitals were 19-12-6 under Schoenfeld after starting the season 20-23-4 under Murray. Schoenfeld has had coaching stints with the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils and is best remembered for his run-in with referee Don Koharski in 1988, now known as the donut incident. His effort with the Capitals last season earned him a three-year contract.Playoff history: The furthest the Capitals have ever gone in the playoffs was the Wales Conference championship in 198990, which they lost in four straight to the Boston Bruins.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0165-0140/10247628-1-eng-US/f0165-012.jpg" title="f0165-01" width="2641" height="3520"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0166-0141/10247621-1-eng-US/f0166-012.jpg" title="f0166-01" width="2375" height="2344"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0166-02_ad/10247614-1-eng-US/f0166-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0166-02_Ad" width="2364" height="916"></div> &#9632;

f0163-01

Pick a net: Trouble’s brewing in both of them

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0167-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0167-0140/10247743-1-eng-US/f0167-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NELSON EMERSON (TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>John Paddock took exactly 13 days to set the wheels in motion.Less than two weeks after being named interim general manager of the Winnipeg Jets in mid-January, he made his first trade. European for North American.It was a sign of things to come.In his next two trades, Paddock exchanged three more Europeans in return for three North Americans. The Jets have subsequently added two more North Americans to the fold. In his first draft as GM-coach, Paddock selected seven Canadians, two Americans and two Europeans.Sense a bit of a pattern?Paddock&rsquo;s mandate is clear: change the complexion of the team. The Jets, under GM Mike Smith, were floundering.There&rsquo;s no question the Jets had sufficient talent. But under Smith they missed the playoffs twice and lost in the first round three times.The belief in the dressing room there were too many Europeans on the team had to be addressed. Was it just a crutch being used by a group of underachievers? We&rsquo;ll see this season.Paddock has added size and grit to the fold in defensemen Dave Manson and Neil Wilkinson and if troubled right winger Sheldon Kennedy, obtained in the off-season from the Detroit Red Wings, can get his career back on track, the Jets could be a team to be reckoned with in the Central Division.The Jets will be better this season, if history is any indication. They have a knack for alternating between good and bad years.1993-94 record: 24-51-9, sixth in Central, 25th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 19.4 per cent (11th overall). Penalty killing: 79.6 per cent (23rd overall).Off-season acquisition: Neil Wilkinson, D.Candidates for promotion: Michal Grosek, LW; Russ Romaniuk, LW; Darryl Shannon, D.Three pivotal factors: 1. Teemu Selanne&rsquo;s return to form. The Finnish Flash had his season cut short Jan. 26 when Mighty Ducks&rsquo; of Anaheim defenseman Don McSween inadvertently stepped on the back of his right leg, slicing his Achilles tendon. Even prior to the injury, Selanne was nowhere near the player who burst onto the NHL scene a year earlier, winning rookie-of-the-year honors and setting a freshman record with 76 goals. When Selanne went down, he was on pace for 42 goals.2. Goaltending. The Jets&rsquo; goaltending was horrible through most of the season. Tim Cheveldae, who arrived March 8 from Detroit in a trade for Bob Essensa, played decently enough to offer hope for the future. Poor goaltending wasn&rsquo;t the only reason why the Jets went south last season, but it didn&rsquo;t bail them out of many games either. Cheveldae must return to the form he displayed with Detroit two years ago when he led the NHL in games played (72) and wins (38).3. Team chemistry. How long will it take the new-look Jets to gel? The old Jets had good talent, but no cohesion. If the pieces fall into place the way Paddock hopes they will, Winnipeg could be competitive from Day 1. That would require the Jets becoming one big happy family right from training camp.State of goaltending: Cheveldae enters the season as the Jets&rsquo; No. 1 goalie. His numbers with the Jets weren&rsquo;t spectacular-5-8-1, 3.96 goals against average and .893 save percentage-but neither was the help he received. By the time Cheveldae arrived, the Jets were out of the playoffs and defensive play was not a high priority. He will have to perform as well or better to retain his hold on the job. The Jets claim they are satisfied with Mike O&rsquo;Neill as their back-up although his numbers in 17 games with them-0-9-1, 4.15 GAA, .866-do not instill confidence. O&rsquo;Neill also played 12 games with the Moncton Hawks of the American League. Stephane Beauregard, who has a 19-39-11 NHL record, ranks third on the depth chart. The Jets have invited Nikolai Khabibulin, who played last season with Central Army in Russia, to training camp. In 12 games against International League competition last season, Khabibulin was 2-7-0 with a 4.41 GAA.Most pressing need: Alexei Zhamnov has game-breaker potential, but after him, there&rsquo;s a big dropoff at center. The Jets need someone to help out on the attack.Thomas Steen has been a reliable pivot for 13 seasons, but is declining. Dallas Drake had a good rookie season with the Detroit Red Wings two years ago, only to suffer through a sophomore jinx last season and Mike Eagles contributes nothing offensively.Breakthrough player: Zhamnov has demonstrated occasional signs of brilliance in two seasons with the Jets, but needs to be more consistent. He doesn&rsquo;t always show up to the job prepared to do a full day&rsquo;s work. Paddock believes Zhamnov has the potential to be one of the NHL&rsquo;s premier scorers-he was third in league scoring with 51 points when a strained back forced him out of the lineup in mid-January.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0168-0143/10247736-1-eng-US/f0168-012.jpg" title="f0168-01" width="735" height="808"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0168-0222/10247729-1-eng-US/f0168-022.jpg" title="f0168-02" width="1020" height="1535"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teemu Selanne (JIM MclSAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0168-0319/10247722-1-eng-US/f0168-032.jpg" title="f0168-03" width="726" height="766"></div>Organization: Having traded away some of the organization&rsquo;s young talent for immediate help, the Jets lack depth in the system. There are, however, a few players with promising futures. Goalie Scott Langkow, the second goalie selected in the 1993 entry draft, completed his second full season with the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western League, compiling a 27-9-1 record. Left winger Larry Courville captained the Ontario League&rsquo;s Newmarket Royals and scored 20 goals and 39 points with 134 penalty minutes in 39 games.Coach/GM: There was never really much doubt when Smith was fired that Paddock would be handed the dual role as coach and GM. The Jets are still responsible for Smith&rsquo;s salary, worth about $ 1 million over the next two years. A small market Canadian-based team was hardly going to compensate Smith and then bring in a high-priced replacement. Paddock has jumped into his new post as GM with both feet and is not afraid to take risks. That was clear when he traded rookie Boris Mironov, who made the NHL&rsquo;s all-rookieteam last season, first and fourth round draft choices and the rights to first-round pick Mats Lindgren to the Edmonton Oilers for Manson and a sixth round draft choice. Some feel he gave up too much for Manson, a 27-year-old with a history of undisciplined play. Acquiring Kennedy, with his history of alcohol abuse, is also a risky proposition. But as the coach, Paddock has made moves he feels will help his team immediately.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0168-0414/10247715-1-eng-US/f0168-042.jpg" title="f0168-04" width="587" height="1036"></div>Playoff history: The Jets, who missed the playoff last season, have won just two of 11 playoff rounds in their 15 years in the NHL. They are a dismal 17-39 in the postseason and have never made it past the second round.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0169-0136/10247708-1-eng-US/f0169-012.jpg" title="f0169-01" width="2621" height="3520"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0170-0141/10247701-1-eng-US/f0170-012.jpg" title="f0170-01" width="2339" height="2376"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0170-02_ad/10247694-1-eng-US/f0170-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0170-02_Ad" width="2317" height="907"></div> &#9632;

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Euro-Jets hit new landing Pad(dock)

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0171-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0171-0138/10247788-1-eng-US/f0171-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0172-0138/10247781-1-eng-US/f0172-012.jpg" title="f0172-01" width="2571" height="3530"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0173-0135/10247774-1-eng-US/f0173-012.jpg" title="f0173-01" width="2613" height="3530"></div> &#9632;

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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0178-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0178-0134/10247850-1-eng-US/f0178-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0180-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0180-0130/10247881-1-eng-US/f0180-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0182-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0182-0127/10247912-1-eng-US/f0182-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0184-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0184-0128/10247943-1-eng-US/f0184-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0186-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0186-0126/10247974-1-eng-US/f0186-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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QUEBEC HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0188-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0188-0115/10248019-1-eng-US/f0188-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0190-0116/10248012-1-eng-US/f0190-012.jpg" title="f0190-01" width="5243" height="3490"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0192-0115/10248005-1-eng-US/f0192-012.jpg" title="f0192-01" width="2461" height="3480"></div> &#9632;

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Yearbook 1994-95

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

HIGH IQ

Two much too soon? Don’t bet against it

DALLAS STARS