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Yearbook 1996-97

The Hockey News Yearbook 1996-97

<div class="byline">By Jason Key</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0062-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-01264/10256665-1-eng-US/f0062-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Mark Buckner)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-01206/10256658-1-eng-US/f0063-012.jpg" title="f0063-01" width="1499" height="2000"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

BANK ON BOURQUE

f0217-01

STATS

1996-97 NHL SCHEDULE

<div class="byline">By Um Sassone</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0339/10257229-1-eng-US/f0087-032.jpg" title="f0087-03" width="640" height="1031"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-01102/10257236-1-eng-US/f0087-012.jpg" title="f0087-01" width="131" height="129"></div><p>If the Chicago Blackhawks had a slogan for 1996-97, it would have to be &rsquo;Now or never.&rsquo;</p><p>The Blackhawks are a team running out of time and chances to win the Stanley Cup. Norris Trophy defenseman Chris Chelios, the club&rsquo;s heart and soul, will be 35 when the playoffs start and Ed Belfour becomes a 32-year-old unrestricted free agent at season&rsquo;s end. As hard as it is to believe, Chelios will eventually begin to slow down. And who knows just where Belfour will land next summer?</p><p>In addition, Brent Sutter, Steve Smith, Murray Craven, Gary Suter and Bob Pro-bert are all 30-something with not too many more glory days ahead of them.</p><p>Now or never.</p><p>Ultimately how the Hawks do depends on the way GM Bob Pulford goes about filling several key holes. The Hawks said good-bye to unrestricted free agent center Bernie Nicholls, then saw inconsistent, but skilled right winger Joe Murphy sign with the St. Louis Blues as a free agent.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0087-0257/10257222-1-eng-US/f0087-022.jpg" title="f0087-02" width="1434" height="2174"><figcaption class="caption-body">GOALTENDER ED BELFOUR</figcaption></div><p>Left winger Kevin Miller, a 28-goal scorer last season, was brought over from the Pittsburgh Penguins to help plug the offensive gap.</p><p>Finding a second line center to play behind Jeremy Roenick has been an off-and-on problem for years. If Pulford can&rsquo;t find a center and some scoring help on the wing, make it 36 years and counting without a Stanley Cup in the Windy City.</p><p>1995-96 record: 40-28-14, second in Central, sixth overall, lost Western Conference semifinal 4-2 to Colorado. Power play: 17.7 per cent (15th overall). Penalty killing: 85.5 per cent (third overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: Kevin Miller, LW.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Ethan Moreau, LW; Mike Prokopec, RW; Jean-Yves Leroux, LW; Ravil Gusmanov, RW.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. The men in the middle. When the Hawks opted not to re-sign Nicholls, it left a big hole in the middle of the second line. Roenick and Brent Sutter are set. but Denis Savard may or may not be back to see spot duty and Jeff Shantz might be a better winger than center. If the Hawks want to beat the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings in the west, they need to get better at center.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0088-01118/10257215-1-eng-US/f0088-012.jpg" title="f0088-01" width="2188" height="3092"></div><p>2. The power play. The Hauks never did get it togeth-er on the power play last year and losing Nicholls, their quar-terback, won&rsquo;t help. Chelios and Gary Suter are terrific point men. but they &rsquo;re depend-ed on too much. Finding a big body to camp in front of the net would help and perhaps Eric Daze is that guy. Daze wasn&rsquo;t used much on the power play in 1995-96. which tells you why 28 of his 30 goals were at even strength.</p><p>3. The youth movement. Last year Daze blossomed as a 20-year-old and now the Hau ks need more out of their farm system. It would help greatly if 1994 first draft pick Ethan Moreau can be the physical left winger the Hawks desperately need. It&rsquo;s also time Sergei Krivokrasov and Shantz. drafted in 1992. be-come consistent offensive contributors.</p><p>State of goaltending: Beifour is still the man. although nagging back problems limited him to 50 games a year ago. Beifour was a so-so 22-17-10 with a 2.74 goals-against average, but he did have a fine playoff for the second year in a row. Nevertheless. Beifour will be an unrestricted free agent after this season so his future in Chicago is in question.</p><p>With Beifour fighting injuries last year, it was important that backup Jeff Hackett play well and he responded in a big way. Hackett was 18-11-4 with four shutouts and his 91.5 save percentage was the third-best in the NHL. Jimmy Waite remains in the organization, although he is 27 years old now and has spent most of his career playing behind Beifour.</p><p>Most pressing need: Assuming a second-line center is found, there has been a need for a power winger ever since the days of Al Secord. The Hawks must find a tough left winger to play with Roenick and take some of the heat off him to be the most physical guy on his line.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-01106/10257208-1-eng-US/f0089-012.jpg" title="f0089-01" width="1103" height="1819"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Chelios will be 35 when next season&rsquo;s playoffs begin.</figcaption></div><p>Sleeper pool pick: Am-onte had 31 goals and 63 points last season, but could be a point-a-game man or better in 1996-97. Roenick would hardly be a sleeper pick, but after a 67-point season, he could be primed to make the jump back to die 100-point club.</p><p>Top draft choice: The Hawks traded their first round pick to the San Jose Sharks for two second-rounders and got Remi Royer 31st overall with the first of their three second round choices. Royer, a de-fenseman for the Rouyn-Nor-and-a Huskies of the Quebec League, had 22 goals and 289 penalty&rsquo; minutes last season.</p><p>Coach/GM: Craig Harts burg (40-28-14. .573) earned solid re-views in his rookie season as a coach in the NHL. Hartsburg&rsquo;s honest and fair approach went over well with the players. With a season of experience, the best may be yet to come.</p><p>Except for a brief two-year stint in the early 1990s when Mike Keenan sat in the GM&rsquo;s chair. Bob Pulford (583-550-192, .512) has been run-ning the Hawks since 1977 with little real success. The Hawks did reach the final in 1992, but Keenan was the GM. Pulford&rsquo;s teams have never missed the playoffs, but he has failed to put the Hawks over the top.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: After losing in the first round in 1993, the Hawks lost the Western Conference final to Detroit in 1995 and lost in the second round to Cup champion Colorado last season.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 6 (1, 1993-94; 3, 1994-95; 2. 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-0265/10257201-1-eng-US/f0089-022.jpg" title="f0089-02" width="1028" height="1204"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0089-0343/10257194-1-eng-US/f0089-032.jpg" title="f0089-03" width="544" height="686"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-01113/10257187-1-eng-US/f0090-012.jpg" title="f0090-01" width="2114" height="2148"></div><p>Central Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0090-02_ad4/10257180-1-eng-US/f0090-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0090-02_Ad" width="2159" height="826"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-01_ad/10257173-1-eng-US/f0092-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0092-01_Ad" width="1148" height="1694"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-02_ad/10257166-1-eng-US/f0092-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0092-02_Ad" width="1169" height="1700"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0092-03_ad/10257159-1-eng-US/f0092-03_ad2.jpg" title="f0092-03_Ad" width="2394" height="1647"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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NHL TEAMS

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0354/10256947-1-eng-US/f0073-032.jpg" title="f0073-03" width="639" height="1017"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-01141/10256954-1-eng-US/f0073-012.jpg" title="f0073-01" width="126" height="124"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>unny thing about people who follow the Boston Bruins. They didn&rsquo;t seem to mind their hockey club was neither Big nor Bad in the springs of 1990, &rsquo;91 or even &rsquo;92, because those teams all overachieved their way to at least as far as the semifinal.</p><p>Times have changed. The 1995-96 Bruins exited the playoffs for the fourth straight spring without so much as a growl-this time in five first-round games- and both paying public and management have seen enough. So the &rsquo;96-97 Bruins, though not necessarily huge, will have a lot more snarl to them.</p><p>Whether the off-season additions of Jeff Odgers and Trent McCleary will make Boston a significantly better club remains to be seen. The offense took a couple of big hits over the summer and right winger Cam Neely was expected to be forced into retirement by a hip injury.</p><p>Memorial Cup most valuable player Cameron Mann was the only addition tai-ented enough to fill some of the gaps, so there&rsquo;ll be a huge burden up front on Adam Oates (92 points), Rick Tocchet (29 goals) and Jozef Stumpel (54 points), who tailed off sharply at the end of the season. The rest of the Bruins&rsquo; defense will hope to match the 80-90 points Ray Bourque al-ways scores.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0073-0292/10256940-1-eng-US/f0073-022.jpg" title="f0073-02" width="1430" height="2136"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DEFENSEMAN RAY BOURQUE</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamiton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Bruins&rsquo; streak of 29 straight playoff appearances could be in jeopardy this year. Of course, people say that every year and the Bruins always find a way to get there.</p><p><b>1995-96 record:</b> 40-31-11; second in Northeast, eighth overall, lost Eastern Con-ference quarterfinal 4-1 to Florida. Power play: 18.7 per cent (11th overall). Penalty killing: 80.4 per cent (20th overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisitions:</b> Sheldon Kennedy, RW; Barry Richter. D; Troy Mallette, LW; Trent McCleary, RW; Jeff Odgers, RW.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion:</b> Cameron Mann, RW; Mattias Timander, D.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0074-01142/10256933-1-eng-US/f0074-012.jpg" title="f0074-01" width="2304" height="3068"></div><p><b>Three pivotal factors: 1.</b> Scoring. The Bruins didn&rsquo;t have a 30-goal scorer last sea-son and with the expected retirement of Neely (26 goals in 49 games), the trade of Shawn McEachern (24) for McCleary and the departure of Dave Reid (23) via free agency, three of the seven who scored 20 or more are gone. Others have the talent to pro-duce more, but in the cases of Stumpel and Todd Elik, con-sistency is a big question. That&rsquo;s why Mann, who followed a 102-point regular-sea-son for the Peterborough Petes with an astonishing 27 goals in 24 playoff games, has an opportunity to stick.</p><p>2. Special teams. Boston dropped from fourth to 11th in power play last season, but far more alarming was the Bruins 20th-place finish in penalty killing after leading the NHL two straight years. Part of the problem was goaltending (particularly before Bill Ranford arrived), but shorthanded regulars from Oates and Ted Donato up front to Bourque and Don Sweeney on defense had trouble picking up a new system installed by first-year coach Steve Kasper. Either play the system better, or the system must be modified.</p><p>3. Play of the defense. Bourque was at his two-way best from October to April, but of Boston&rsquo;s regulars could truthfully say the same. Kyle McLaren&rsquo;s all-rookie team season was a bright spot, but for the most part, the defensive play was spotty. Boston&rsquo;s top four of Bourque, Sweeney, McLaren and Jon Rohloff should be fine. Mattias Timander should crack the lineup and there are hopes for a healthy season from Dean Chynoweth.</p><p><b>State of goaltending:</b> The Bruins are so sure they intend to play nobody but Ranford in their crease that they bought out Blaine Lacher, the No. 1 goalie at the start of last season, and Craig Billington, who won 10 games in a backup role. Leaning on Ranford is logical, but if he is injured, they&rsquo;re in trouble. The potential backups are Scott Bailey (5-1-2 in a call-up last year) and Rob Tallas, who have a combined 12 games of NHL experience.</p><p><b>Most pressing need:</b> Scoring on the wings. Assuming Neely is gone, the only consistent threat on the wing is Tocchet, with 29 goals in 71 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0075-01123/10256926-1-eng-US/f0075-012.jpg" title="f0075-01" width="1122" height="1798"><figcaption class="caption-body">Boston will lean heavily on workhorse goalie Bill Ranford. <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Sleeper pool pick:</b> Stumpel slid at season&rsquo;s end, but could be a good late round-er. Sandy Moger, who man-aged 15 goals in his first full season despite almost zero ice time in the first half, is worth considering.</p><p><b>Top draft pick:</b> The Bruins like to compare Johnathan Aitken to McLaren, but they don&rsquo;t expect to see the eighth overall pick in the lineup this season. He&rsquo;ll almost certainly head back to the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western League.</p><p><b>Coach/GM:</b> Kasper&rsquo;s first season was more explosive than his solid record (40-31-11, .555) indicates. It will be remembered forever for the January night he left Neely and Kevin Stevens on the bench for the whole game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Kasper also got a club that underachieved through February to charge through the toughest part of its schedule and finish fifth in the Eastern Conference.</p><p>GM Harry Sinden (1,038-610-246, .613) is respected in NHL ranks for putting together a perennial play-off team on a small budget. On the other hand, the Bruins haven&rsquo;t won the Cup in his 24 seasons as GM. There&rsquo;s a chance he&rsquo;ll step aside after his 25th year in favor of assis-tant GM Mike O&rsquo;Connell, who has taken a larger role in trades and neg-otiations.</p><p><b>Three-year playoff history:</b> The Bruins have gone out early the the past two years to teams that made it to the Stanley Cup final and haven&rsquo;t been past the second round in three years.</p><p><b>Number of playoff rounds past three years:</b> 4 (1, 1993-94; 2, 1994-95; 1, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0075-0279/10256919-1-eng-US/f0075-022.jpg" title="f0075-02" width="1048" height="1190"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0075-0347/10256912-1-eng-US/f0075-032.jpg" title="f0075-03" width="559" height="685"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-01137/10256905-1-eng-US/f0076-012.jpg" title="f0076-01" width="2111" height="2131"></div><p>Northeast Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0076-02_ad/10256898-1-eng-US/f0076-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0076-02_Ad" width="2145" height="821"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-01_ad/10256891-1-eng-US/f0078-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0078-01_Ad" width="642" height="923"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-02_ad3/10256884-1-eng-US/f0078-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0078-02_Ad" width="624" height="932"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-03_ad/10256877-1-eng-US/f0078-03_ad2.jpg" title="f0078-03_Ad" width="637" height="937"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0078-04_ad/10256870-1-eng-US/f0078-04_ad2.jpg" title="f0078-04_Ad" width="692" height="957"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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BOSTON BRUINS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012330/10256059-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; goalie Dominik Hasek sweeps aside a shot during our 49th year.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bill Wippert/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>This issue marks the end of one era for The Hockey News and the dawn of another.</p><p>Look at the mast on the cover of this Yearbook and you will see the notation: Vol. 49, No. 42. Longtime readers will know instantly what that means.</p><p>THN is about to turn 50.</p><p>This is our final effort before entering a year of celebration to mark a half-century of covering the hockey world for you.</p><p>There will be many special projects before we officially turn 50 on Oct. 1, 1997. We count this Yearbook, our 21st, as one of them. THN launched its first full-fledged Yearbook in 1976-77 after several seasons of publishing an annual.</p><p>This year&rsquo;s book is, in our estimation, the best ever. The stories, pictures and statistics provide a complete and compelling preview of the 1996-97 NHL season.</p><p>A few of the highlights:</p><p>&#9633; Newly appointed associate editor Bob McKenzie makes his return to THN-he is a former editor-in-chief-with a peek into the soul of Stanley Cup hero Patrick Roy.</p><p>&#9633; Senior writer Mike Brophy talks about the changed man St. Louis Blues&rsquo; defenseman Chris Pronger has become.</p><p>&#9633; Writer Mark Brender profiles wild and crazy NHL star Brendan Shanahan.</p><p>&#9633; Contributor Kevin Allen ranks the Top 40 players in the NHL, a source of controversy and consternation among fans and players alike.</p><p>&#9633; More in-depth information about all NHL teams, including an assessment of each team&rsquo;s best performers in 10 categories.</p><p>&#9633; Increased color photos and improved statistics.</p><p>These stories are but a few reasons why we hope you agree the 42nd and last issue of our 49th year is a special one.</p><p>The hockey world has always called THN <i>The Bible of Hockey</i> and we take that as high praise. Moreover, we intend on continuing to earn that lofty standing, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year.</p><p>We look forward to growing with the game, forever looking ahead, but never forgetting our roots or the sport&rsquo;s.</p><p>Hockey is in the midst of a remarkable transformation and so is THN. We don&rsquo;t believe life begins at 50-after all we&rsquo;ve had 49 wonderful years-but we do believe life begins anew at 50.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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THN approaches special birthday

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen and Steve Dryden</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012567/10256156-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ickey Mantle or Willie Mays? Elvis Presley or John Lennon? Marvel or DC? Ginger or Mary Ann? Wilma or Betty? Dirty Harry or Indiana Jones? <i>Star Trek</i> or <i>Star Wars?</i></p><p>Life is full of tough choices.</p><p>If you don&rsquo;t like the challenge of debate, if you aren&rsquo;t rigid in your con-victions and firm in your beliefs, if you can&rsquo;t take the heat in your kitchen, if can&rsquo;t decide whether you like Eric</p><p>Lindros or Paul Kariya better, then you won&rsquo;t be allowed to play with us today.</p><p>Today is our annual day to pick the NHL&rsquo;s top 40 players. This is not an exercise for the wishy-washy or the lily-livered or those with weak hearts or milquetoast constitutions.</p><p>This is an exercise for those with passion, those who are willing to pound their fists on the table and announce: &ldquo;I would take Keith Tkachuk over Pat LaFontaine every I month, every week, every day, every moment of my life.&rdquo;</p><p>Remember the rules: this is a list about today, not tomorrow, and certainly not yesterday. Don&rsquo;t tell us what players will do, or what they&rsquo;ve done in the past. This is the only day of the year when we don&rsquo;t recognize the meaning of the word &ldquo;potential&rdquo; and we don&rsquo;t honor the past. The question is: if you held the most important game the universe has ever known today, which 40 guys should play it?</p><p>If you play this game, do so at your own risk: Remember, some of the players you may leave off your list, such as Mike Modano, Jim Carey. Valeri Kamensky, Trevor Linden or Nikolai Khabibulin may make you look ridiculous this season.</p><p>But also remember John F. Kennedy once said in a speech that the hottest spots in Hades are reserved for those &ldquo;who maintain their neutrality.&rdquo;</p><p>Here&rsquo;s our top 40. Take a stand. Let the debate begin.</p><p><b>1. Mario Lemieux</b>: Even if he&rsquo;s a step slower. Lemieux is still two lengths in front of the rest of the field. His hands are still superb and he continues to embarrass defensemen with his long reach and quick release.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021753/10256149-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="1188" height="1158"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>THN&rsquo;s No. 1-ranked Mario Lemieux</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Robert Laberge/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>2. Jaromir Jagr:</b> He&rsquo;s probably the NHL&rsquo;s best 1-on-l player. He&rsquo;s quick enough to move around many, strong enough to over-power some, slick enough to outmaneuver others and skilled enough to create major offensive chances out of minor openings.</p><p><b>3. Patrick Roy:</b> He&rsquo;s a regular goaltender until springtime, when he dons cape and mask to become Super Goalie. When money and honor are at stake. Roy will cash in.</p><p><b>4. Eric Lindros</b>: The fact he ranks only No. 4 should be disappointing to Lindros, who should be in the top three picks, if not No. 1. He still needs to take his game to the next level.</p><p><b>5. Peter Forsberg:</b> Colorado Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix said it best: if Forsberg wasn&rsquo;t one of the league&rsquo;s best offensive players, he could probably be the league&rsquo;s best checker. He&rsquo;s tough, strong, tenacious and balanced on his skates.</p><p><b>6. Paul Kariya</b>: If you wanted more goals from Kariya, all you had to do is ask. He responded to Mighty Ducks of Anaheim coach Ron Wilson&rsquo;s request to shoot more by producing the franchise&rsquo;s first 50-goal season.</p><p><b>7. Chris Chelios:</b> He may not be quite as nasty as he once was, but the three-time Norris Trophy winner still fights for the puck as if his life depended upon the outcome. His durability and stamina put some younger players to shame.</p><p><b>8. Mark Messier:</b> His captain-cy is the yardstick by which all others are judged. Few professional athletes command more respect from their teammates and opponents. He&rsquo;s more of a finesse player now, but his elbow still finds a nose regularly.</p><p><b>9. Dominik Hasek:</b> He wins more games than any goaltender in the league. When he&rsquo;s on- and he&rsquo;s on most of the time-he can dominate the game with the same level of proficiency as Mario Lemieux.</p><p><b>10. Ray Bourque:</b> If he was a baseball player, he would smack 30 home runs, hit .300 and win the Gold Glove. Very few players can match his excellence in all three zones. He&rsquo;ll play 30 minutes a game until he retires.</p><p><b>11.</b> Sergei Fedorov: Fans in still two THN&rsquo;s No. 1-ranked Mario Lemieux Detroit seem down on Fedorov&rsquo;s performance in the playoffs, but he&rsquo;s still churning out Picasso-style plays in a world where some guys are still painting by numbers.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012246/10256142-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="2595" height="3484"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>Eric Lindros Philadelphia Flyers</b></p><p><b>Panthers&rsquo; John Vanbiesbrouck checks in at No. 15.</b></p><span class="photo-credit">(Lindros photo by Rocky Widner; Vanbiesbrouck by Richard Lewis/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>12. Pavel Bure</b>: When Bure is healthy, he flies up-ice with the moxie and bravado of a downhill skier. His speed is difficult to contain because of his powerful acceleration.</p><p><b>13. Theoren Fleury:</b> There are many 6-foot-3 players in this league who don&rsquo;t play as large as Fleury. His offensive game remains sweet for a player whose overall game contains plenty of vinegar.</p><p><b>14. Joe Sakic:</b> Sakic finally shed the label of a non-playoff per-former by winning the Conn Smythe. He has stealth-like ability to avoid defenses. You don&rsquo;t see him and then in the next instant he&rsquo;s flying into the slot for a one-timer into the upper-left hand comer.</p><p><b>15. John Vanbiesbrouck</b>: Say what you will about the Florida Panthers&rsquo; Stanley Cup drive, but they would have gone nowhere if Vanbiesbrouck wasn&rsquo;t as spectacular as he was.</p><p><b>16. Brian Leetch:</b> No defenseman outperforms him as a creator of offensive chances. And his defensive work is often underrated. He has learned through the years to be a very dependable 1-on-l defender.</p><p><b>17. Keith Tkachuk:</b> Six million bucks does-n&rsquo;t buy what it used to, or does it? Tkachuk was the only 50-goal scorer in the league last sea-son who had more than 100 penalty minutes.</p><p><b>18. Teemu Selanne:</b> Right after he was paired with Paul Kariya, Selanne might have been the best player in the league for one 10-game span last season. The Ducks would be happy if he was consistently in the top 40.</p><p><b>19-Ron Francis:</b> Want a goal? He&rsquo;ll get it. Need a pass? 4*7 He&rsquo;ll make it. Desire a check? He&rsquo;ll throw it. Time for a faceoff? He&rsquo;ll win it.</p><p><b>20. Brendan Shanahan:</b> TV producers are itching to get the colorful Shanahan into the announcer&rsquo;s booth to take advantage of his natural charm and off-the-wall sense of humor. But it won&rsquo;t happen as long as the gritty and talented left winger continues to control the comers and produce at the 40-goal level, which should be for some time to come.</p><p><b>21. Alexander Mogilny:</b> In the last 60 feet to the goal, Mogilny is like a top fuel dragster at the Grand Nationals. Before a defender realizes what has happened, Mogilny has charged off the line and slammed the puck into the net.</p><p><b>22. Peter Bondra:</b> In this jungle of talent, he&rsquo;s the cheetah: lightning fast, a danger ous predator who feeds off defensive mistakes.</p><p><b>23. Jeremy Roenick:</b> He&rsquo;s hockey&rsquo;s version of Pete Rose-Charlie Hustle. Roenick is willing to pass, score, fight, check, grind or fly&mdash;if that&rsquo;s what it takes to win.</p><p><b>24. Brett Hull:</b> Hull has become a better all-around player over the past two seasons and let&rsquo;s not forget he has 452 goals over the past eight seasons.</p><p><b>25. Steve Yzerman:</b> Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; fans didn&rsquo;t know what they had until they almost lost Yzerman in a trade to the Ottawa Senators. He&rsquo;s playing a better all-around game now than when he recorded 155 points in 1988-89.</p><p><b>26. Adam Oates:</b> He&rsquo;s still among the league&rsquo;s best playmakers, although the Boston Bruins don&rsquo;t have many snipers worth feeding.</p><p><b>27. Pat LaFontaine:</b> Although he has plenty of mileage on his body, his bursts up ice are still turbo-charged. He might look better playing on a better team.</p><p><b>28. John LeClair:</b> Great speed. 97 miles per hour slapshot, great desire to score goals. He is the player scouts hoped he would be when they saw him as a teenager.</p><p><b>29. Martin Brodeur:</b> When he spreads his wing-span in his butterfly, there doesn&rsquo;t look like there&rsquo;s any room to shoot.</p><p><b>30. Vladimir Konstantinov</b>: He has become one of the league&rsquo;s most intimidating presences on the blueline. He plays on the outside edge of the rule book and he&rsquo;s not spooked by tough opponents.</p><p><b>31. Doug Weight:</b> The hockey world is awakening to the idea Weight is among the league&rsquo;s better offensive players. His quickness and deft moves still seem to surprise defenders, even though he has been in the league since 1990-91.</p><p><b>32. Vincent Damphousse:</b> This guy is a consistent 30-goal scorer whose defensive efficiency is often overlooked, except by those who must play against him.</p><p><b>33. Bill Ranford:</b> The Bruins probably would not have extended their playoff appearance streak if they hadn&rsquo;t acquired Ranford. Consistency is Ranford&rsquo;s trademark.</p><p><b>34. Alexei Zhamnov:</b> We wave our magic wand over him and say he&rsquo;s free from all ailments. Then you have yourself one dynamite hockey player.</p><p><b>35. Wayne Gretzky:</b> In the past. The Great One has used his top 40 ranking in The Hockey News as inspiration. He should be fully inspired this season. While everyone recognizes Gretzky&rsquo;s value to hockey, he&rsquo;s simply just not as dominant as he once was.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012451/10256135-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="1628" height="2658"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gifted Avalanche center Peter Forsberg is also an accomplished defensive player.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Rocky Widner)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>36. Nicklas Lidstrom:</b> Not many in this league have a better understanding of the role of an offensive defenseman. Lidstrom has learned to be much better defensively than many realize and he&rsquo;s still one of the more dangerous players in Detroit&rsquo;s high-powered attack.</p><p><b>37. Pierre Turgeon:</b> We don&rsquo;t usually look at style points for this honor, but the puck slickness the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; captain possesses in heavy traffic is a valuable asset.</p><p><b>38. Grant Fuhr:</b> Give Fuhr full credit for reviving his career. Some say he&rsquo;s playing almost as well as he did during the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; glory years.</p><p><b>39. Claude Lemieux:</b> You may not like his tactics, but you&rsquo;ve got to like his resume: three stops in the NHL, three Stanley Cup rings.</p><p><b>40. Daren Puppa:</b> The Tampa Bay Lightning&rsquo;s presence in the playoffs was a reflection of Puppa&rsquo;s rise among the NHL&rsquo;s premier netminders.?</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-012166/10256128-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="2419" height="3212"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mark Messier is a big shot in our estimation; speed, strength and skill puts him No. 8 on the list of best players in the NHL.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Jon Hayt/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>THN&rsquo;S TOP 40 PLAYERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012429/10256121-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="1395" height="1837"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-012019/10256114-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="1430" height="1850"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>No. 24-ranked Brett Hull has scored more than 50 goals five times, including a career-high 86 goals in 1990-91 with St. Louis.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Robert Laberge/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0006-01

FEATURES

TOP 40

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012368/10256208-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Patrick Roy&rsquo;s many acts of defiance play much better when he does.</p><p>Let in nine goals, effectively flip the bird at fans who bestowed upon him sainthood, walk by the coach like he&rsquo;s not even there on the way to delivering an either-he-goes-or-I-go ultimatum to the president of the Montreal Canadiens in mid-game on national television in Canada and it&rsquo;s liable to be interpreted as&hellip; what?</p><p>Petulant? Arrogant? Out of line? Over the top? Would you believe all of the above?</p><p>But win the Stanley Cup while trash talking Jeremy Roenick, diss the NHL&rsquo;s most dominant team like they&rsquo;re some rag-tag outfit up from the Colonial League or brazenly skate around the Miami Arena for no other reason than to give 14,000 rat-throwing maniacs a target and it&rsquo;s&hellip;well, it&rsquo;s confidence, pride, honor.</p><p>You know, walking the walk after talking the talk.</p><p>It&rsquo;s funny, really. Doctors took out Patrick Roy&rsquo;s appendix a few seasons back, but they never took from him one ounce of his ample gall. There have been occasions in his career when Roy&rsquo;s stellar net-minding skills have deserted him, but the same cannot be said of his overwhelming confidence and pride which manifests itself in an array of ways.</p><p>There are precious few supers-tars-legitimate, larger-than-life superstars-in the NHL, but there can be no doubt, not after last spring&rsquo;s Cup win by the Colorado Avalanche, Roy is one of those special players whose presence transcends the game he plays.</p><p>It has been that way from the time he broke into the league and backstopped the Canadiens to a Cup win in his rookie season. He has carried himself, off the ice as much as on it, with an aura of grandeur, too much so at times according to some ex-teammates such as Mathieu Schneider (with whom Roy had a dressing-room dust-up). But when his talent gets in sync with his psyche, stand back because he&rsquo;s a sight to behold.</p><p>And so it was in the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs. Oh, Joe Sakic was full value for his Conn Smythe Trophy victory as playoff MVP. And there are few superlatives to aptly des cribs the sheer dominance and dedication of Peter Forsberg.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-012062/10256201-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="1150" height="1784"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Patrick Roy believes he makes himself &ldquo;hard to beat.&rdquo; Many in the NHL agree,</b></figcaption></div><p>But when the game ended, so, too, did Sakic&rsquo;s and Forsberg&rsquo;s desire to be in the spotlight. Enter Roy, who perhaps was not as consistently brilliant in the 1996 playoffs as, say, he was in Montreal&rsquo;s shocking march to the Cup three years earlier. But he was there every time his team really needed him on the ice and never, not once, failed when someone had to put into words the Avalanche challenge and mindset.</p><p>In his much celebrated trade from Montreal to Colorado, Roy was brought in for one reason and one reason only-to win the Avalanche the Cup.</p><p>Though his game was, more or less, in the tank at the time of the trade, Roy quickly established his &ldquo;I&rsquo;m-the-man&rdquo; mindset.</p><p>&ldquo;Of course, it&rsquo;s a big part of my play, my game,&rdquo; Roy said. &ldquo;A goalie has to show he&rsquo;s confident, to his teammates as well as himself. You are the last guy before that special red line. You make yourself confident. You make yourself hard to beat.&rdquo;</p><p>He was that and he has been that for much of his career. Roy&rsquo;s playoff numbers and accomplishments don&rsquo;t lie.</p><p>&#9633; His 136 career playoff games are the most of any NHL goalie, four more than former New York Islander Billy Smith.</p><p>&#9633; His 86 career playoff wins (against 48 losses) are No. 2 on the all-time list, just two sky of Smith. Roy passed Ken Dryden&rsquo;s mark of 80 last spring.</p><p>&#9633; His career playoff overtime record of 28-8 is remarkable and unrivaled.</p><p>&#9633; He went 16-6 in last spring&rsquo;s playoffs with a 2.10 GAA and 92.1 save percentage. In the four-game final against the Florida Panthers, his GAA was an incredible 0.84 with a 97.4 save percentage.</p><p>It was 20 minutes into Game 2 of the Western Conference final at Joe Louis Arena and Canadiens&rsquo; assistant coach Steve Shutt was in the house.</p><p>&ldquo;The only puck that will beat him tonight,&rdquo; Shutt said, &ldquo;is one that he doesn&rsquo;t see. I&rsquo;ve seen this act before. Patrick is in that zone.&rdquo;</p><p>The game ended 3-0.</p><p>But even before the Avalanche got on a playoff roll, Roy was exercising his ego, steeling himself into that state of invincibility. And it may well be argued the big goaltender rediscovered that certain <i>je ne said quoi</i> of his game on the night of Feb. 5. It was his only meeting against his former team, a 4-2 Colorado win over Montreal at McNichols Arena, a victory punctuated by Roy flipping the game puck at Montreal coach Mario Tremblay as the two crossed paths on their way off the ice.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012348/10256194-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="1733" height="3603"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>No class? The fans and media in Montreal thought so. Roy might concede it wasn&rsquo;t the proper thing to do, but he couldn&rsquo;t help him-self. It felt so right.</p><p>&ldquo;It made me feel so good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know in Montreal it didn&rsquo;t make me look too good. What can I say? It was a mistake, but I don&rsquo;t regret it. I know I shouldn&rsquo;t have done it, but, you know, it&rsquo;s the way I am. I&rsquo;m an emotional person. I let my emotions go. I know sometimes it gets me in trouble, but I know it sometimes helps me to play better, too.&rdquo;</p><p>It was a hint of things to come.</p><p>If there was odious pressure on Roy to per-form for his new team, the weight on the entire team&rsquo;s shoulders was perhaps just as great. The Avalanche (nee Quebec Nordiques) had settled into the role of chronic under-achievers and it looked as though a lack of a killer instinct might be its downfall yet again in a tough opening-round series against the Vancouver Canucks.</p><p>Colorado prevailed in six and Roy could sense something special was unfolding before him.</p><p>&ldquo;The toughest part was getting through the first round,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That team (Quebec) didn&rsquo;t do too well for nine years. There was a lot of pressure on us, but as soon we as beat Vancouver, we started playing better.&rdquo;</p><p>It was against the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round the Avalanche began to take on the look and feel of a champion, at about the same time the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings were looking like anything but against the St. Louis Blues.</p><p>Chicago&rsquo;s Ed Belfour was brilliant in a series that saw four of the six games go into overtime. But as good as Belfour was, Roy bettered him.</p><p>The only crack that showed was when he and Blackhawk star Roenick engaged in a spirited bit of trash talk that will forever be remembered for Roy claiming not to be able to hear Roenick because of the ringing, courtesy of two Stanley Cup rings, in his ears.</p><p>It clearly demonstrated Roy was loose and happy, back on top of his game-physically, emotionally and mentally.</p><p>&ldquo;All he needed was to get out of Mont-real,&rdquo; Shutt said. &ldquo;He just needed to get some-where where all he had to worry about was stopping the puck. He needed that change of scenery.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-012114/10256187-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="2378" height="1819"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Roy was brilliant in the Stanley Cup final as the Avalanche swept the Florida Panthers and kept rat throwers at bay.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Benet/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Roy won&rsquo;t argue the point.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess the biggest thing I got back (from the trade) was the fun of playing the game,&rdquo; Roy said. &ldquo;Just going to the arena and having fun. We&rsquo;ve got a great bunch of guys here in Colorado. I enjoy going out with these guys. It&rsquo;s something I probably missed for the last couple of years in Montreal.&rdquo;</p><p>With Chicago out of the way, it was time for the inevitable Western showdown with the regular season champion Red Wings, the team that chased Roy out of the Canadiens&rsquo; net back on Dec. 2. Were it not for Detroit, it&rsquo;s quite possible Roy would have finished the season in Montreal.</p><p>The Wings could have been Roy&rsquo;s bugaboo, but he was a much different goaltender in May than he was in December.</p><p>Not even after his Game 2 shutout over Detroit was followed by an abysmal effort, a Red Wing win in Game 3, would he crack. Not even after another sub-par effort in Game 5 that forced Game 6 in Denver, would he flinch.</p><p>You had to be there on the day between Games 5 and 6. It was vintage Roy, huffing and puffing up himself and his team while sniffing with indifference at the Wings.</p><p>&ldquo;They won more games than any team in NHL history,&rdquo; Roy said of the regular season Wings. &ldquo;I guess it&rsquo;s okay to let them win one game from us on their home ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Roy couldn&rsquo;t have been more condescending or disrespectful. He laughed the Wings off that day. He wouldn&rsquo;t give them the benefit of the doubt for anything they did for their win in Game 5. His implication was quite clear. They wouldn&rsquo;t, couldn&rsquo;t, do it again to him in Game 6.</p><p>And they didn&rsquo;t. An over-the-top effort by Sakic certainly had something to do with that, but no one ever said confidence wasn&rsquo;t a two-way street. If Roy&rsquo;s confidence was contagious, don&rsquo;t think for a moment it&rsquo;s not a lot easier for a goaltender to be confident when Sakic and Forsberg are doing their thing.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess maybe I should thank (the Wings),&rdquo; Roy said immodestly in victory. &ldquo;If it wasn&rsquo;t for them, I wouldn&rsquo;t be here.&rdquo;</p><p>Take that.</p><p>Roy was somewhat more respectful with the upstart Panthers in the Cup final, but only just. When the Avs won the first two games in Denver, Roy all but said there was no way they would be denied their destiny-his destiny.</p><p>But there was for Roy one final symbolic gesture of defiance that so typified his re-emergence in Colorado.</p><p>When Ray Sheppard scored in the first period of Game 3 at Miami Arena, pre-distally, hundreds and hundreds of rats rained down, sending the on-ice officials and Avalanche players running for cover. All but Roy, that is.</p><p>He skated all around his own end, allowing the plastic rats to pelt down on him.</p><p>Asked why he would not make like Tom Barrasso of the Pittsburgh Penguins and wait out the rat delay safely tucked inside his own goal, Roy bugged out his eyes, puffed himself up and declared: &ldquo;I will never do that. I will never hide in my net. That is not me, that is not my style.&rdquo;</p><p>Winning triple OT Cup clinchers is, though.</p><p>&ldquo;What is that, 28 overtime wins out of</p><p>what, 80-something career playoff wins?&rdquo; Roy mused. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s pretty good, eh? I didn&rsquo;t</p><p>realize it was so many. Wow, that surprises me.&rdquo;</p><p>It was tough to tell whether it was a rare moment of modesty for Roy or his not-so-subtle way of underlining the obvious.</p><p>&ldquo;The performance he had (in the playoffs) puts him up there with the greatest goalies of all time,&rdquo; said Panther goalie John Vanbiesbrouck. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not afraid to say that.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

HE’S THE MAN

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011805/10256253-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span></b>itting in a revolving restaurant on the 38th floor, Chris Pronger has, alternately, a view of the city of Toronto and Lake Ontario. The morning sun is shining and the water is bright blue. The sky is clear. So is Chris Pronger&rsquo;s head.</p><p>&ldquo;I went out last night with the boys, had a couple of beers, came back to my room and got a good night&rsquo;s sleep like a good boy,&rdquo; says Pronger, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, a confident gleam in his eye. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m allowed to do that, right? I am speaking coherently. Aren&rsquo;t I speaking coherently?&rdquo;</p><p>Pronger, 21, has always been a cheeky so-and-so; his intelligence, wit and sense of humor are often mistaken for cockiness. At 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; defenseman is difficult to miss.</p><p>Entering the elevator on his way to the restaurant, he is approached by a white-haired woman: &ldquo;Do you play basketball?&rdquo; she asks.</p><p>&ldquo;Raptors,&rdquo; he replies.</p><p>When the woman gets off on the 27th floor, she asks again, &ldquo;Do you really play basket-ball?&rdquo; so she&rsquo;ll have her story straight when she tells the grandchildren.</p><p>&ldquo;No ma&rsquo;am, I&rsquo;m just a punk kid,&rdquo; Pronger says, giving her a big smile and another of his customary winks. &ldquo;Just a kid having&rsquo; fun.&rdquo;</p><p>Life for Pronger is indeed fun again. His career is on an upswing. He served notice in the 1996 playoffs, especially in the seven-game Western Conference semifinal against the Detroit Red Wings, he is as advertised.</p><p>Pronger, a native of Dryden, Ont., in the province&rsquo;s north country, is focused on what he must do to be successful. He is also at ease discussing both the perception and reality of what has been a rocky three-year NHL apprenticeship.</p><p>Yes, he felt extreme pressure because of high expectations. Yes, he got in trouble because of boozing in his first two years in the NHL. twice ending up in jail. No, he did not go out every night in Hartford. (&ldquo;C&rsquo;mon, we&rsquo;re talking about Hartford,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Where would you go?&rdquo;) No he did not, and does not, drink every day.</p><p>&ldquo;You know the big joke among my teammates after the Buffalo incident was, I hardly ever went out, but whenever I did, I wound up in jail,&rdquo; Pronger says.</p><p>Pronger, a number of teammates and assistant coach Kevin McCarthy spent the night in a Buffalo jail after a barroom punch-up two seasons ago. A few months later, he was convicted of driving while under the influence of alcohol in Ohio following an argument with his brother, Sean. That same season, he was involved in a single-vehicle crash after returning from a road trip.</p><p>If Pronger wasn&rsquo;t giving Whalers&rsquo; hockey reporters much to write about with his indifferent play, he was certainly keeping the police reporters on their toes.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying I was a friggin&rsquo; angel in Hartford,&rdquo; Pronger says, &ldquo;but it was never as bad as people made it out to be.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011992/10256246-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="1623" height="2770"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Chris Pronger, shown on previous page standing in front of the 18-foot-high Dryden moose, is at his best standing up forwards like Toronto&rsquo;s Mats Sundin.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Last summer was a different story, Pronger admits. Traded to the Blues for popular left winger Brendan Shanahan in the off-season, Pronger should have been working hard in preparation of his first year under coach-GM Iron Mike Keenan. Instead, he partied. And partied. And partied.</p><p>&ldquo;I sort of lost it,&rdquo; Pronger says. &ldquo;I was out of control. I don&rsquo;t even know why. The summer is a blur. I worked out, but I thought a good workout was getting on the (stationary) bike for a half hour.&rdquo;</p><p>Did he seek counselling?</p><p>&ldquo;Yeah, I got Mike Keenan counselling-the best kind you can get,&rdquo; Pronger says.</p><p>The truth about his lack of commitment to game came out when Pronger showed up in St. Louis for fitness testing. A good VO2 max rating to measure endurance is 60-plus; Pronger rode the stationary bike for Keenan and his was an alarmingly low 47.5.</p><p>Keenan went nuts as only Keenan can. He unleashed a lengthy tirade that stopped Pronger dead in his tracks. The gist of the conversation, accentuated with language that would curl your hair, was: do you want to be a star or do you just want to have fun?</p><p>Walking away from Pronger in disgust, Keenan turned back and screamed, &ldquo;Get on the bike and stay out of the bars!&rdquo;</p><p>There would be season-long reminders-any time Keenan sensed Pronger was slipping into a comfort zone-about how much money he was being paid ($1.4 million in 1996-97), who the Blues traded to get him and exactly where he might end up if he didn&rsquo;t get his act together.</p><p>&ldquo;I could trade you for Alexei Yashin,&rdquo; Keenan would scream. &ldquo;Do you want to play in Ottawa?&rdquo;</p><p>St. Louis fans didn&rsquo;t make it any easier for Pronger. From Day 1 he was seen as the reason Shanahan was traded, not as one of the brightest young prospects in the game.</p><p>&ldquo;I have never in my life seen a person more harshly and wrongly treated for something that was out of his control,&rdquo; says former Blues&rsquo; teammate Dallas Eakins. &ldquo;Right away, the crowd got on his case, not for the way he played, but because he wasn&rsquo;t Brendan Shanahan. I felt terrible for Chris.&rdquo;</p><p>It didn&rsquo;t help matters when Pronger flippantly suggested, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll make people forget about Brendan Shanahan.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;To be truthful. I don&rsquo;t remember saying that, although it does sound like something I would say,&rdquo; Pronger says. &ldquo;I really had no idea how big a star he was in St. Louis. I knew he was popular, but I didn&rsquo;t know Brendan was <i>the man&rsquo;&rsquo;</i></p><p>Pronger, an outstanding junior with the Ontario League&rsquo;s Peterborough Petes, arrived in the NHL with much fanfare. Many felt he was better than No. 1 pick Alexandre Daigle, but the Ottawa Senators took the bilingual, charismatic Daigle over Pronger.</p><p>The Whalers traded up from sixth pick in the 1993 entry draft to select Pronger second overall. And Pronger rode on the coattails of Daigle&rsquo;s ridiculous five-year, $12.25 million contract to sign a four-year deal worth $7 million. The Blues re-wrote the deal after acquiring Pronger, giving him a six-year contract extension worth $14 million.</p><p>Pronger&rsquo;s junior coach, Dick Todd, now an assistant with the New York Rangers, suggested it would be three years before the blueliner emerged as a bona fide star.</p><p>Pronger scored five goals and 30 points as a rookie with Hartford, was named the Whalers&rsquo; best defenseman and made the NHL&rsquo;s all-rookie team. He was good, but hardly a savior.</p><p>He didn&rsquo;t put up the points people expected and didn&rsquo;t always play with passion. Whalers&rsquo; owner Richard Gordon accused Pronger&rsquo;s agent, Pat Morris, of selling his team a bill of goods. The supposed next Larry Robinson wasn&rsquo;t even the next Larry Hillman.</p><p>Pronger says Whalers&rsquo; management was just as guilty as anyone for raising premature and unrealistic expectations.</p><p>&ldquo;From Day 1, (management) is telling people I am the savior,&rdquo; Pronger says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m thinking to myself, &rsquo;Woe, I don&rsquo;t know about that.&rsquo; Look at (Mario) Lemieux; he wasn&rsquo;t the savior in Pittsburgh until they got good players for him to play with.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought they wanted to knock their goals-against down. So I mainly concentrated on D-just get the puck out of our end and don&rsquo;t get scored on. I think we cut 100 or so (88, actually) goals off our goals against from the year before.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011735/10256239-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="780" height="1455"></div><p>But Pronger didn&rsquo;t improve in his sophomore year. Some nights he would look like he was ready to carry the Whalers; others he looked intimidated and out of his element. His off-ice troubles added to the frustration. When the Whalers got the chance to dump him for a proven 50-goal scorer with considerable toughness, they jumped.</p><p>&ldquo;When he got to St. Louis, he was a kid with a whole lot of money, but not a great handle on his mind,&rdquo; says Blues&rsquo; teammate Tony Twist. &ldquo;He has been handed a great opportunity. He didn&rsquo;t have to earn it. What he must decide now is where he wants his place in the game to be. Does he want to be one of the best in the league? If he does, he has to work at it. That part, nobody can hand to him.&rdquo;</p><p>Pronger spent the first half of the season in Keenan&rsquo;s crowded doghouse. His final numbers, once again, were unspectacular-seven goals, 25 points, minus-18. His play improved gradually in the second half, but not enough to satisfy the exasperated Keenan who threatened him: &ldquo;You had better do something in the playoffs, or else&hellip;&rdquo;</p><p>We will never know what <i>or else</i> meant.</p><p>Pronger was the Blues&rsquo; best defenseman in the post-season. A strong skater for a big man with a better-than-average shot, he displayed toughness and consistency. One-on-one he was virtually unbeatable. He used his 747 wingspan to keep opponents to the outside.</p><p>&ldquo;The offense will develop as he gets strong,&rdquo; Keenan says. &ldquo;He can be as good as he wants to be. It&rsquo;s all up to him. He can be a Norris Trophy winner in the next few years.&rdquo;</p><p>Keenan showed faith in Pronger, playing him 37 minutes (15 in the third period) in one non-overtime playoff game against the Red Wings. And the nasty streak Pronger has displayed from time to time, arrived and never left.</p><p>Pronger scored a goal and six points in 13 games and was even in the plus-minus department. He was also a central figure in one of the most controversial incidents in the playoffs when he gave Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; left winger Nick Kypreos a shot from behind with his stick only to have Kypreos flop on goalie Grant Fuhr. Fuhr was knocked out of the playoffs with a knee injury.</p><p>&ldquo;(Kypreos) looked me right in the eye when I hit him and then he lunged at Grant,&rdquo; Pronger says.</p><p>&ldquo;Chris wasn&rsquo;t intimidated in the playoffs,&rdquo; Twist says. &ldquo;Prior to that he would take shots at guys, but wasn&rsquo;t confident in his ability to handle ensuing confrontations. In the playoffs, that&rsquo;s not a factor. You can act like a complete ass and know you won&rsquo;t be held accountable. Guys just don&rsquo;t fight.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I will play the same way next season,&rdquo; Pronger says. &ldquo;If I get beat up, well, it only hurts for a while. Really, only your ego hurts. If a tough guy wants to go, you gotta go. You have to make sure he knows, even if he beats the crap out of you, you&rsquo;re going to show up and play the same way.&rdquo;</p><p>Pronger must use his performance in the playoffs as a building block. With that in mind, he works out daily with renewed passion. He keeps a little black day-planner that indicates when he will allow himself to &ldquo;be like other 21-year-old kids.&rdquo;</p><p>If he enjoys a night out on the town, he gets right back on the bike the next day and rides hard. He is building a gym at his summer home in Dryden, and is determined not to be the target of another Keenan tantrum at training camp.</p><p>&ldquo;As crappy a year as it was for me, except for the playoffs, that was the biggest thing I learned: how to get my priorities straight,&rdquo; Pronger says. &ldquo;Mike did that for me.&rdquo;</p><p>Pronger also did an awful lot for himself.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

CALL OF THE WILD

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011628/10256298-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve Yzerman has transformed himself into a first-rate defensive player.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Benet/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>It was just a groin pull, the type of injury a player can usually grit his teeth and endure.</p><p>But for Steve Yzerman, it was also the latest frustrating chapter in the book of misfortune that has defined his career.</p><p>The Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; captain leaves Game 1 of the 1996 Western Conference final against the Colorado Avalanche 13 minutes into the second period April 17, misses Game 2 and plays Games 4 through 6, but is not the same effective player many considered the best two-way forward in the NHL last season.</p><p>Another bolt of lightning struck from the little black cloud that hovers over Yzerman&rsquo;s head.</p><p>This was supposed to be the year the Red Wings finally lived up to their vast potential. The was supposed to be the year when Yzerman, 31, finally led his team to glory.</p><p>Obviously, it wasn&rsquo;t to be.</p><p>A few years ago we pondered, Stevie Why&hellip;don&rsquo;t you get more respect? Now it&rsquo;s more like, Stevie Why&hellip;are you so unlucky?</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m unlucky,&rdquo; Yzerman says. &ldquo;Things happen. Not just to me, to all players. A lot of good things have happened to me.&rdquo;</p><p>And a number of not so good things, too. Consider:</p><p>&#9633; Sept. 1, 1984: In the opening game of the Canada Cup, 19-year-old Yzer-man crashes into the boards at the old Montreal Forum, suffering a hip pointer that knocks him out of the next four games. He returns to help Canada win, but doesn&rsquo;t register a point in four outings.</p><p>&#9633; March 1, 1988: Yzerman tears ligaments in his right knee (the same night he scores his 50th goal of the season) and misses the final 15 games of the regular season as well as the first two rounds of playoffs. With Detroit down 2-0 to the Edmonton Oilers, Yzerman returns, but plays at about 50 per cent.</p><p>&#9633; April 14, 1994: Yzerman sprains his knee on the final night of the regular season. There&rsquo;s just two minutes remaining in the game. He misses the first four games of the playoffs and returns for three, but Detroit is upset by the San Jose Sharks, who are huge underdogs in the series.</p><p>Then there&rsquo;s the herniated disc in his neck that reduced his effectiveness until he had it surgically removed June 21,1994.</p><p>No black cloud, huh?</p><p>But Yzerman is back <i>in</i> these days. Last season, he answered his critics by leading the Red Wings to an NHL-record 62 regular sea-son wins and played the best two-way hockey of his career. Trade rumors hung around him like a shadow, but now the prospect of the</p><p>Red Wings trading him seems ludicrous.</p><p>According to Red Wings&rsquo; owner Mike Hitch, Yzerman is a Red Wing for life- or as long as he wishes to remain with the team. It was Hitch who approved a con-tract extension of $13.8 million for four years, Yzerman&rsquo;s reward for years of faithful and productive service.</p><p>In spite of finishing second in team scoring to Sergei Fedorov last season, Yzerman was arguably the best all-around forward on a team that won more regular season games than any team in NHL history. There are those who insist Yzerman, not Fedorov, deserved to win the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defensive forward.</p><p>&ldquo;He plays hard game in and game out,&rdquo; says linemate Bob Errey. &ldquo;He cer-tainly doesn&rsquo;t have the natural talent some of the other players on our team have, but he&rsquo;s definitely the guy who makes the most of his ability.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;He has developed into one of the classiest and most complete players in the league,&rdquo; adds Boston Bruins&rsquo; center</p><p>Adam Oates.</p><p>Playing on a checking line with Errey and Darren McCarty, Yzerman still fin-ished 19th in NHL scoring with 36 goals (including No. 500 of his career Jan. 17) and 95 points. He was his team&rsquo;s best player in the playoffs and, after being left off Team Canada in the &rsquo;87 and &rsquo;91 Can-ada Cups, teams that were selected main-ly by Mike Keenan, will play in the World Cup.</p><p>This year&rsquo;s pulled groin was the least serious of his numerous injuries, but it</p><p>might have had the most damaging effect on the Red Wings&rsquo; potential to win their first Stanley Cup since 1955.</p><p>The Wings remain the team with the longest gap between championships. With 13 years of service, Yzerman is coming dangerously close to joining a club that includes elite NHLers who played 15 or more seasons and didn&rsquo;t win the Stanley Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011388/10256291-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="1499" height="2000"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Dean Prentice is, forgive us, the dean of the club, having played 22 big-league seasons without sipping from the Cup. So did Doug Mohns. Jean Ratelie and Harry Howell were right behind at 21.</p><p>Norm Ullman and Bill Gadsby bowed out of the race after 20 years; Leo Boivin cashed in his chips after 19. There were other huge impact players who made their mark on the game-Marcel Dionne, Brad Park and Darryl Sittier among them-but never played on a Cup winner.</p><p>It is ridiculous to measure a player&rsquo;s worth on whether he plays on a Cup winner, but some people do. Who would you rather have on your team, Gilbert Dionne, who won a Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 or older brother Marcel, a Hall of Famer and the third highest scorer in NHL history, but who never won the Cup?</p><p>&ldquo;There are guys who play on Stanley Cup winners who are labeled winners,&rdquo; Yzerman says. &ldquo;Teams will say, &rsquo;Let&rsquo;s get that guy; he&rsquo;ll lead us to the Cup.&rsquo; Then there are a lot of outstanding players who don&rsquo;t win Cups. That&rsquo;s just the way it is. Does that make them losers? I don&rsquo;t think so. One player can only do so much.&rdquo;</p><p>Boston Bruins&rsquo; defenseman Ray Bourque has been an NHL all-star in each of his 17 years and hasn&rsquo;t won a Cup. Yzerman&rsquo;s teammate Dino Ciccarelli joined the 500-goal club two years ago, but hasn&rsquo;t won a Cup.</p><p>Yzerman is satisfied with his standing in the game. It wasn&rsquo;t his fault he played in an era dominated by three of the best centers to ever play in the NHL, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Mario Lemieux. Yzerman has scrambled for recognition in a second tier of pivots that includes Oates, Doug Gilmour and Pat LaFontaine.</p><p>Yzerman was hampered by injuries the two years prior to last season and his play was inconsistent. During the lockout-shortened &rsquo;94-95 season he suffered through a 15-game goalless drought, scored in back-to-back games and then scored just once in his next 12 games.</p><p>From 1987-88 through &rsquo;92-93, Yzerman was one of the most dominating players in the league, scoring 331 goals and 732 points, an average 55 goals and 122 points per season for six years. That included single-season highs of 65 goals and 155 points in &rsquo;88-89, the year he was awarded the Lester B. Pearson Award as the top performer in the league as voted by his peers, members of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.</p><p>Yzerman was hampered by injuries the two years prior to last season and his play was inconsistent. During the lockout-shortened &rsquo;94-95 season he suffered through a 15-game goalless drought, scored in back-to-back games and then scored just once in his next 12 games.</p><p>Through it all, Yzerman&rsquo;s attitude never swayed. If anything, he became more determined. Adding the element of defense to his repertoire has made him a more complete player and many say he never played better than last season-to which he chuckles and says, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s not get carried away.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Not only is he great in terms of how he has played, he has been an inspiration to others because they see him playing in pain,&rdquo; says Red Wings&rsquo; assistant GM Ken Holland. &ldquo;There have been times when it was almost like he grabbed the team and said, &rsquo;I will find a way to lead you to victory&rsquo; and then he did it.&rdquo;</p><p>So now it&rsquo;s down to winning the Cup. Will it happen?</p><p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t count him out yet,&rdquo; Errey says. &ldquo;Obviously, he&rsquo;ll be here next season and we&rsquo;re a good team. Steve works so hard, he deserves a Cup. He&rsquo;s genuine; not a phony in a game full of them.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;My approach is to have fun,&rdquo; Yzerman says. &ldquo;My desire to win the Cup hasn&rsquo;t changed at all, but I&rsquo;m not consumed by it now. I want to experience the celebration of winning the Cup, of getting to carry it around the ice. I&rsquo;ve dreamed about it since I was a kid.&rdquo;</p><p>Now if only he could shake that little black cloud.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011364/10256284-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="2700" height="1731"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Yzerman is comfortable with what he has accomplished in the game, but still yearns for a Stanley Cup championship.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-01

YZE ON PRIZE

<div class="byline">By Len Hochberg</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011449/10256343-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Mark Hicks/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>They skate on the same line. They kill penalties together. They room on the road together. Heck, they even hold out together. No, Peter</p><p>Bondra and Michal Pivonka of the Washington Capitals are not joined at the hip. Over the past two seasons, however, in the relative hockey anonymity of Washington, they have become among the NHL&rsquo;s most productive tandems.</p><p>Bondra, a right winger, has made the bigger splash. After leading the league in goals with 34 during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, he proved it was no fluke by registering 52 (in just 67 games), fourth-best in the NHL, last year. Alongside him was his center and close friend Pivonka, who assisted on more than 60 per cent of those goals (32) on route to finishing 13th overall with 65 assists-playing in only 73 games for one of the league&rsquo;s lowest-scoring clubs.</p><p>&ldquo;Of everything we&rsquo;ve tried during the times that they&rsquo;ve been here, they&rsquo;ve always been better together than separately,&rdquo; says Capitals&rsquo; GM David Poile.</p><p>&ldquo;I do believe, however, that they&rsquo;re getting to the stage that it&rsquo;s not the end of the world for different reasons if the coach breaks them up. They are reaching the level of maturity and confidence that they know they can be successful with other people.&rdquo;</p><p>The Capitals have found out-courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs-that if a team concentrates on Bondra and Pivonka, they have no one else to pick up the offensive burden.</p><p>While the linemates may be split up on occasion, the Capitals realize it would be more prudent to add offense to another line. Bondra, with his blazing speed and breakneck offensive style, is not the easiest guy with whom to play. Pivonka has not only the skill, but the temperament to be the perfect silent partner.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s so fast, darting in and out,&rdquo; Poile says of Bondra, &ldquo;you need to be a good player to be able to find him.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;You have to use what (Bondra) has,&rdquo; says Pivonka, who edged Bondra for the team scoring title last season, 81 points to 80. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a playmaker, but he uses his speed as well as anybody. He&rsquo;s learning that; that&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s a lot better the last couple of years. He always had the speed. He didn&rsquo;t learn how to skate faster, but he learned where to go, how to use his speed. He also got a little bit stronger, but he&rsquo;s also playing with a lot more confidence.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011558/10256336-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="1264" height="2045"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Michal Pivonka is the brains in one of the NHL&rsquo;s most deadly combinations.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Benet/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Says Bondra: &ldquo;He knows he has to pass it to me. I know I have to score the goal. Some-times he&rsquo;s shooting too much and I say, &rsquo;Give it to me.&rsquo; Just kidding, no, no, no.&rdquo;</p><p>Actually, Bondra does say that on occasion- and only half-jokingly. He relishes media attention, whereas Pivonka shies away from it. (Told The Hockey News wanted to do a story on the duo, Pivonka said: &ldquo;They write about every team&hellip;Oh, you mean this is special? Well, they wrote about me the first year I came and now after 10 years. I guess that&rsquo;s good.&rdquo;)</p><p>When Bondra and Pivonka are in sync, they are as phenomenal to watch as any pair this side of Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. The Capitals&rsquo; duo turned in some spectacular performances last season.</p><p>Only two players had at least four hat tricks in &rsquo;95-96: Bondra and Lemieux. Only two had at least two four-goal games: Bondra and Lemieux. Lemieux is otherworldly; Bondra, as great as he has become, could not have done it without Pivonka.</p><p>In Bondra&rsquo;s first four-goal effort, Feb. 3 against the New York Islanders, he connected for a hat trick in the third period to rally the Capitals from a 5-2 deficit. Pivonka assisted on each of Bondra&rsquo;s goals, then scored the winner in overtime, with Bondra assisting. Bondra wound up with four goals and two assists, Pivonka with two goals and three assists.</p><p>&ldquo;Everybody has something. We have chemistry,&rdquo; Pivonka says. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t mean we can&rsquo;t play without each other, but there is some kind of chemistry between us.&rdquo;</p><p>To wit: on April 3 against the Buffalo Sabres, Bondra hit the 50-goal plateau in incredible fashion, scoring four goals in a 5-1 win over the Sabres. Each time, Pivonka got him the puck.</p><p>Then there was the Jan. 11 night against the Ottawa Senators when Pivonka had a career-high six points, three goals and three assists, with Bondra totaling five points, three goals and two assists.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011568/10256329-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="2488" height="1989"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Speedy Peter Bondra, above, and his center Michal Pivonka often speak Czech on the ice simply to confuse the opposition.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Bondra and Pivonka are also in tune with each other on the ice. Often, they talk in Czech to keep opponents guessing.</p><p>&ldquo;Before the faceoff, I&rsquo;ll stand up and say something to Peter,&rdquo; Pivonka says. &ldquo;The other guys have no idea what I&rsquo;m talking about. Maybe I didn&rsquo;t say anything. Maybe I said, &rsquo;Where are we going to go for dinner?&rsquo; and they still think we&rsquo;re going to try something.&rdquo;</p><p>That common language is part of the natural off-ice bond between Bondra and Pivonka. They both grew up in the former Czechoslovakia, with Pivonka arriving from what is now the Czech Republic in 1986 and Bondra coming over from the current Slovakia four years later. When Pivonka defected, he spoke little English and knew barely a sole in the United States. When Bondra arrived in 1990, he had Pivonka to help him make the transition.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost like Michal has been Peter&rsquo;s mentor in terms of his adjustment both on and off the ice in North America,&rdquo; Poile says.</p><p>Pivonka, 30, and Bondra, 28, live about 20 minutes apart in Maryland and, while their families don&rsquo;t see each other all the time, they do get together on occasion- and spend much of their time talking hockey.</p><p>Pivonka triggers many of those talks. He&rsquo;s more of a hockey thinker than Bondra, who usually just lets his natural ability take its course. While Pivonka has talent-Capitals&rsquo; strength coach Frank Costello says Pivonka is the best athlete on the club-he is almost like a coach on the ice. Back home, his father was a world-class javelin thrower and a track and field coach. Pivonka followed, becoming a star in the javelin (as a teenager, he used to regularly beat Jan Zelezny, the 1992 Olympic champion).</p><p>&ldquo;Playing center since being a kid just makes you-ah, I don&rsquo;t think out there,&rdquo; says Pivonka, again shying away from a compliment. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been on so many teams, little teams, national teams, juniors. You go through so many coaches and from each you learn something. You try to use it to your advantage. That&rsquo;s how you learn the game.&rdquo;</p><p>Pivonka, in turn, passes along what he learns to Bondra. But Pivonka maintains their relationship isn&rsquo;t one-sided; it&rsquo;s a two-way street.</p><p>&ldquo;Sometimes I call him and I say, &rsquo;Peter, what do you think, what do you know about this?&rsquo; It doesn&rsquo;t have to be hockey, but from the life outside.&rdquo;</p><p>Both players, represented by Edmonton-based agent Rich Winter, were on the outside last season as they held out-together-for new contracts. In the interim, they left their families to play for the International League&rsquo;s Detroit Vipers and virtually spent 24 hours a day together. They returned to their families, and the Capitals&rsquo; lineup, seven games into the season. But still, they were roommates on the road.</p><p>&ldquo;(Pivonka) is kind of quiet,&rdquo; Bondra says. &ldquo;We know the rules. We know when to sleep or when to watch TV.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;(Bondra) is good,&rdquo; Pivonka says. &ldquo;He just clicks the channels too quick sometimes. He&rsquo;s fast. He&rsquo;s a little hyper, that&rsquo;s all.&rdquo;</p><p>It sounds like Bondra on the ice. And it sounds like Pivonka knows how to deal with him off the ice just the same.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

CZECH AND MATE

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011547/10256402-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Lobster Carnival in Summerside, P.E.I., took on an air of celebrity this past summer. The guest of honor, Doug MacLean, is a big-time NHL coach now, don&rsquo;t yak know. He even came home on Wayne Huizenga&rsquo;s private jet.</p><p>It&rsquo;s enough to make a guy get a little uppity. Yeah, right.</p><p>&ldquo;After I became a coach in the NHL, I went out with my buddies back home and I was telling them it wasn&rsquo;t as easy it looks,&rdquo; says</p><p>MacLean, the Florida Panthers&rsquo; coach. &ldquo;I said the travel was tough&hellip;you know, it&rsquo;s a grind. And they told me,</p><p>&rsquo;Don&rsquo;t ever come back here and tell us how hard it is to be an NHL coach.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>MacLean was boom and raised in Summerside, a town of 8,000 that sits on the west coast of Canada&rsquo;s smallest province. Through all of his NHL travels, something keeps bringing MacLean back. More than 770,000 tourists come to P.E.L each year and many stop in Summerside to walk along the Harbourfront boardwalks to buy lobsters and tour the homes built by the fox traders who settled in the area to take advantage of its water access. Agriculture is still the No. 1 industry and potato boats often line the harbor.</p><p>&ldquo;I want my kids to get the feeling of what it was like to grow up in P.E.L,&rdquo; MacLean says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty special here.&rdquo;</p><p>The people of Summerside evidently feel the same way about MacLean. The night he flew home on Huizenga&rsquo;s private jet 200 people showed up at the airport to greet him. MacLean was then escorted through town in an eight-vehicle procession that included a police car, fire trucks and emergency vehicles.</p><p>The procession stopped at the Silver Fox Curling Club, where Mayor Basil Stewart and another 500 people welcomed MacLean and his family. This was all organized in one night.</p><p>It was more than he had expected. &ldquo;He choked up,&rdquo; said MacLean&rsquo;s wife, Jill.</p><p>MacLean spends summers in Summerside each year, yet he really never leaves. The small community- and in particular its attitudes and values-is tattooed onto his being. It&rsquo;s in his heart, his thinking and in the way he coaches.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011361/10256395-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="732" height="700"></div><p>As he guided the Panthers through their wild trip to the Stanley Cup final, he was hobnobbing with millionaire coaches such as Pat Riley of the Miami Heat and Jimmy Johnson of the Miami Dolphins. But back home, his closest friends are a high school teacher, a civil servant and the manager of the local radio station. MacLean maintains strong ties to his longtime friends, George Matthews, Paul Schurman and Jim Clark.</p><p>&ldquo;Doug is a loyal person, very loyal,&rdquo; Schurman says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll phone us the morning of a Stanley Cup final game. That&rsquo;s why people in P.E.L are excited about what he was doing.&rdquo;</p><p>When the MacLean&rsquo;s had their first child, a son, they named him Clark. When the Clarks had their first daughter, Jim&rsquo;s wife Natalie wouldn&rsquo;t allow him to name her Maclean.</p><p>&ldquo;If Doug has a bad year,&rdquo; Natalie says, &ldquo;they all have a bad year. They don&rsquo;t do anything without calling each other first and when they get together, they just reminisce and giggle all the time.&rsquo;</p><p>MacLean, who has a master&rsquo;s degree in educational psychology from the University of P.E.I, has always been motivated to improve himself on and off the ice. &ldquo;If he got a 90 in a class,&rdquo; recalls his father, Jim, &ldquo;he wanted a 92.&rdquo;</p><p>There have been some low points along the way. Being fired from the St. Louis Blues as an assistant coach in 1987 and as an assistant GM by the Detroit Red Wings in 1994 were particularly tough to take.</p><p>After spending a season coaching at the University of New Brunswick in 1985-86, he was hired as an assistant by Blues&rsquo; coach Jacques Martin, with whom he had worked summer camps.</p><p>MacLean&rsquo;s biggest break may have come while he played junior hockey in Brockville, Ont. There he met Jill, although their relationship didn&rsquo;t bloom immediately. She wasn&rsquo;t overly impressed by hockey players. &ldquo;He was annoying,&rdquo; she recalls.</p><p>Over time, he got to her and she eventually asked him to a Sadie Hawkins Dance. &ldquo;Couldn&rsquo;t you just write he came to me on bended knee?&rdquo; she says.</p><p>The other break of playing for Brockville was making an all-star team coached by Bryan Murray. The impression he made was enough for Murray to recommend him for a Canadian Hockey Association scholarship to college.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011570/10256388-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="2244" height="1710"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>After missing the playoffs in each of their first two seasons, the Panthers soared to new heights under Doug MacLean.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>MacLean didn&rsquo;t see Murray again for 10 years, not until Murray was coaching the Washington Capitals and MacLean was an assistant in St. Louis. On the day he was fired in St. Louis, his initial thought was that his NHL career was over and that he would probably have to return to the college game. But that same day, Murray called him up and said he wanted to talk to him about an assistant&rsquo;s post in Washington.</p><p>&ldquo;Fifteen minutes after we met, I knew the situation was right,&rdquo; MacLean says. &ldquo;We hit it off immediately.&rdquo;</p><p>Murray thought of him as a perfect assistant. &ldquo;He was a great buffer with the players,&rdquo; Murray recalls. &ldquo;He could talk to them. They liked him.&rdquo;</p><p>When Murray became coach-GM in Detroit, he took MacLean with him as associate coach. They discussed the possibility MacLean might someday replace him behind the bench when Murray decided to give up coaching.</p><p>But Red Wings&rsquo; owner Mike Hitch made it clear when the time would come he wanted a person with a long track record and MacLean</p><p>wasn&rsquo;t to be considered. Murray made MacLean an assistant GM, &ldquo;but I knew he was frustrated about the decision,&rdquo; Murray said.</p><p>But he was more concerned about finding a job when he and Murray were fired by Detroit. He found closed doors until Murray gave him a player development job with the Panthers. When Murray fired Roger Neilson, it wasn&rsquo;t a lock he was going to give the job to MacLean.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&rsquo;Doug, to me, was the best guy for what we were trying to do&rsquo;</b></blockquote><p>&ldquo;I considered other guys, but Doug, to me, was the best guy for what we were trying to do,&rdquo; Murray says.</p><p>Murray wanted to infuse some younger talent into the lineup and MacLean&rsquo;s teaching background was very attractive. He believed</p><p>MacLean had the qualities of a head coach, although he wondered whether MacLean, who has always been close to the players, would be tough enough as a head guy.</p><p>&ldquo;Sure, you wonder,&rdquo; Murray says, &ldquo;but when he called every player after he was named coach, I knew it was going to be fine.&rdquo;</p><p>Murray received ample criticism for hiring his friend. Few people even considered that MacLean might be a good coach and most pundits picked the Panthers to take a step backward after two straight years of missing the playoffs by one point. After winning 14 of their first 20 games and compiling a 27-12-2 record in the first half, the Panthers finished fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 41-31-10 record.</p><p>Under Neilson in the lockout shortened 1994-95 season, the Panthers scored 115 goals, which prorates to 196 for an 82-game schedule. Under MacLean, the Panthers scored 254 goals and gave up just 234, just 17 more than their prorated total in 1994-95. And more importantly, MacLean managed to work talented youngsters such as Ed Jovanovski and Radek Dvorak into the lineup, while giving third year forward Rob Niedermayer a more prominent role.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011474/10256381-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="1536" height="3280"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>What he did,&rdquo; says Panthers&rsquo; defenseman Gord Murphy, &ldquo;was give us more freedom to play&rdquo;</p><p>That may sum up MacLean&rsquo;s coaching style. Although the Panthers have a strong, disciplined defensive scheme, MacLean seems to have more tolerance for individual creativity than some coaches. At one point in March, the Panthers&rsquo; had the highest-scoring defense corps in the league, a noteworthy accomplishment considering Brian Leetch, Phil Housley or Paul Coffey is nowhere to be found on the Florida blueline.</p><p>Once, when he was dressing down Stu Barnes for making a risky play to create an offensive chance, he turned to assistant coach Lindy Ruff said: &ldquo;I hate it when he cheats, but I love it when he scores.&rdquo;</p><p>When he was formulating his plan to coach in the NHL, one of the opinions he sought was from Gerard Gallant, a former NHLer and Summerside native. &ldquo;Gallant is one of those guys who had to work for everything he got,&rdquo; MacLean says. &ldquo;I asked him what would be the one trait he would want to see in a coach and he told me it was honesty.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-021000/10256374-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="691" height="1079"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ed Jovanovski, left, emerged as a rookie standout under MacLean.</b></figcaption></div><p>He says he tried to remember that in his first season. He had his share of battles with players, but says he never lost sight of the fact players make a coach. &ldquo;Nothing happens for you unless the players do it for you,&rdquo; MacLean says. &ldquo;My players were the hardest-working group I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&rdquo;</p><p>And MacLean isn&rsquo;t about to change any-thing because of his quick rise to prominence. I&rsquo;m not going to be Mike Keenan or Scotty Bowman, or anyone else,&rdquo; he says.</p><p>He&rsquo;ll just be plain old Doug MacLean. That&rsquo;s good enough for the Florida Panthers and certainly for the good folks of Summer-side, P.E.l.Q<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

P.E.I.’S PANTHER

<div class="byline">BY MARK BRENDER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011427/10256447-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>She&rsquo;s having a bit of trouble, Clark explained. In the hospital, pretty serious. Could be touch and go. See you at practice.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s somewhat of a stoic character,&rdquo; Mil-bury says. &ldquo;Maybe it comes from where he is from as a country kid-it just</p><p>That&rsquo;s the way life works with Wendel Clark, who was bom and raised on a farm in Kelvington, Sask., population 1,100: things just <i>are.</i></p><p>You can mull things over until you&rsquo;re too tired to think, but in the end it won&rsquo;t make any difference, so why do it? No need to worry about things you can&rsquo;t control.</p><p>&ldquo;She was basically born dead and they revived her and brought her back,&rdquo; Clark says. &ldquo;She had lost half her blood. She had to have trans-fused blood, jump-start her heart, bring her back to life. Then because everything was such emergency in the hospital, they couldn&rsquo;t use the same type of blood as hers quick enough. They took her mother&rsquo;s blood, which is the wrong type, so she got jaundice in the hospital fighting off different types of blood.&rdquo;</p><p>Kylie Lee Clark was sent home for the first time after two weeks living on the edge in two New York hospitals. A week later, on March 13, the Clark family-Kylie, Wendel and then-fiance Denise-was sent home, too, back to the Toronto Map-le Leafs.</p><p>There&rsquo;s no place Clark would rather play hockey and there&rsquo;s no place that so desperately wanted to see the revered left winger do his part to revive Toronto&rsquo;s moribund season.</p><p>Leafs&rsquo; GM Cliff Fletcher hoped Clark could provide an inspirational jump-start of his own: goal-scoring to help out Mats Sundin, Doug Gil-mour and Co.; and added toughness to back up Tie Domi and Nick Kyp-reos.</p><p>In the shadow of Toronto&rsquo;s 1996 first round playoff loss to the St. Louis Blues, in which local newspapers sent out All-Points Bulletins on the former Leaf captain, the move was a short-term flop.</p><p>Hampered by a sore neck, Clark was a playoff disappointment. His two-goal, two-assist, minus-6 performance in six games was not well received. It didn&rsquo;t help support Fletcher&rsquo;s contention the Leafs, in trying to recapture Wendelmania, didn&rsquo;t sacrifice a good part of their future (defenseman Kenny Jonsson, prospect Sean Haggerty and a 1997 first-round pick) to get Clark and defenseman Mathieu Schneider.</p><p>Critics say Clark&rsquo;s physical game is a fond memory, that at 29 he is the most injury-prone $2-miIlion a year player in the league. Some within the organization privately suggest he has lost his drive.</p><p>Stories surfaced Leafs&rsquo; owner Steve Stavro and the MLG board of directors pressured Fletcher into bringing Clark back to pull the Leafs out from a dreadful winter slide. Fletcher denied it, insisting he had been trying to make the deal since December.</p><p>&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t go anywhere without people asking me, &rsquo;When&rsquo;s Wendel coming back?&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-011025/10256440-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="1058" height="1782"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Wendel Clark soldiers on, but is he durable enough to win the battles?</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Fletcher says. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no second-guessing the contribution he makes to a team. To the Toronto Maple Leafs, he&rsquo;s a more important player than he was to Quebec or the Islanders.&rdquo;</p><p>Yet Milbury says the first time Fletcher mentioned Clark&rsquo;s name was in late-January, the day Kirk Muller was traded to Toronto.</p><p>Clark&rsquo;s attitude: who cares?</p><p>Criticism and controversy roll off his battle-weary back like scrap sheet metal on its way to the recycling bin.</p><p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re either a God or a dog, you can spell it any way you want,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re never as good as people say you are or as bad as people say you are. It&rsquo;s like farming. Your crops may be great one year and the next year they&rsquo;re nothing. The growing season, if it&rsquo;s not a good year, it&rsquo;s not because you&rsquo;re a bad person the crops didn&rsquo;t show up.&rdquo;</p><p>Clark says there are only three things he can control: getting to the game on time, earning the respect of his teammates and giving an honest effort.</p><p>He can&rsquo;t remember a time when he hasn&rsquo;t done all three.</p><p>&ldquo;People put a high value in having Wendel in the room,&rdquo; Milbury says. &ldquo;They defer to him. They know he has been through the wars.&rdquo;</p><p>So Clark the loyal soldier marches on, but is he still durable enough to win the battles? After last season&rsquo;s playoffs there are doubts in the hearts of Leaf faithful.</p><p>Clark, of course, won&rsquo;t admit to harboring any such thoughts. Even if he did, he wouldn&rsquo;t waste time thinking about it. He&rsquo;s a family man now-he and Denise, a country girl from Dauphin, Man., were married in Saskatoon June 29- and the summer is reserved for family bonding.</p><p>Clark sits on the couch in the wives&rsquo; room at Maple Leaf Gardens and circles his hand around the top of Kylie&rsquo;s biondish head, as if trying to make her hair grow. He scoops her up and holds her overhead like an umbrella. He holds her in his lap and her head wobbles from side to side, but Clark isn&rsquo;t fazed. He can&rsquo;t stop smiling at her.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re more durable than you think they are,&rdquo; Clark says. &ldquo;She has been a fighter. She&rsquo;s stronger than anybody.&rdquo;</p><p>Perseverance and the ability to adapt are family hallmarks.</p><p>Kylie squirms and begins to cry as Denise changes her clothes for a photo shoot. &ldquo;Oh, come on, you&rsquo;re not hurt,&rdquo; Clark says. &ldquo;Now you sound like Tie.&rdquo;</p><p>Papa <i>used</i> to sound like Tie Domi-listen for the thud of knuckles meeting chin-back when his long-term survival instincts took a backseat to short-term pugilistic ones. He ran up 227 and 271 penal-ty minutes in his first two NHL seasons, regularly taking on the heavyweights with a 5-foot-11, 194-pound middleweight body. He was regarded as one of the toughest rookies to come along in years.</p><p>His determination made him THN&rsquo;s rookie of the year and a second-place finisher in voting for the Calder Trophy, but the price it exacted on his body was a mortgage on his future. Clark learned early not to complain about his hurts, but he could never hide their damage.</p><p>The time he spent on the sidelines between 1987-88 to 1989-90, when he played in only 71 of a possible 240 games for Toronto, made him realize his game had to change.</p><p>No more running around &ldquo;with my head cut off,&rdquo; he decided. His back simply couldn&rsquo;t take it.</p><p>Despite having only 76 penalty minutes and four fights last season-none in his Second Coming with the Leafs-Clark assures he can still take care of business, shall we say, when the time is right.</p><p>Last season, Clark fought heavyweight Marty McSorley twice in a November game against the Los Angeles Kings. The outcome was already decided halfway though the second period, with the Kings leading 6-2, at the time of the first fight. It was 7-2 in the third when they went at it again. Clark gives up about two inches and 35 pounds to McSorley. Fighting him twice in a game is not the kind of thing someone who has lost his drive is usually terribly willing to do.</p><p>But at the time, it was a matter of pride for Clark.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about picking situations, timing,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;and yes, I can still do it.&rdquo;</p><p>The change in attitude-fighting and hitting on his own terms-had already taken place when Fletcher pulled off the blockbuster deal that sent him and defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre to the Quebec Nordiques for Mats Sundin in the summer of 1994. He was at the height of his value then, coming off two inspired playoff performances in 1993 and 1994 that helped him win back adoration that had faded during the bleak injury years.</p><p>The neck injury that put a damper on his 1996 playoff came in his first game back in Toronto, March 15 against the Dallas Stars. Typically, he didn&rsquo;t mention anything-be-sides, he had scored a goal on his second shift back and everybody in the building was all weepy from the <i>Welcome Back Kotter</i> theme song in the third period-but the neck burners flared up badly in the playoffs and Clark looked out of step.</p><p>It&rsquo;s at times like this when his lumbering skating, average playmaking skills and questionable commitment to defense can make it seem he isn&rsquo;t trying, especially since it&rsquo;s his physical game that suffers most when he&rsquo;s hurt. It&rsquo;s not in his nature to resort to Gilmourian back-alley slash-and-sneer tactics to compensate, either. So what in the name of Peter Puck is Clark doing out there?</p><p>And that&rsquo;s when criticism begins.</p><p><i>He has lost it. He doesn&rsquo;t care. He won&rsquo;t hit any more.</i></p><p>That Clark doesn&rsquo;t respond to the whispers doesn&rsquo;t mean he isn&rsquo;t burning inside with disappointment; only that he&rsquo;s not going to let his frustration overrun him.</p><p>&ldquo;1 love hockey more than anything in the world,&rdquo; Clark says. &ldquo;People can be unhappy when I&rsquo;m injured, but you&rsquo;re not as unhappy as I am. You&rsquo;re not even close to as unhappy as I am.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01888/10256433-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="1608" height="2160"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>She may never have her dad&rsquo;s penalty minute totals, but Kylie Clark is a fighter.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>And according to Islanders&rsquo; captain Pat Flatley, the detractors would be wrong.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just not possible for a guy like Wendel Clark to ever hurt a team,&rdquo; Flatley says. &ldquo;Aside for what he brought to the (Islanders) on the ice, the intangibles that he brought, the value can&rsquo;t really be measured. We miss that.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the few people capable of taking his game to a much higher level when all the chips are on the line,&rdquo; Fletcher says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s how he shows his emotions.&rdquo;</p><p>Flatley says Clark was probably the best Islander last season before he was traded. He still has one of the deadliest wrist shots in the game and when healthy, 30-35 goals a season is still a realistic target. He had 32 goals and 58 points in 71 games last season.</p><p>Clark says picking his spots to go after the big hit has made him into a better positional player, which allows him more scoring opportunities.</p><p>&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve got more offensive prowess now than I ever had my first few years,&rdquo; he says.</p><p>In fact, the only difference in his two incarnations as a Maple Leaf, Clark says, is he left town a single man and came back with a wife at his side and a baby in his arms. Through Quebec and Long Island and back again, his game, personality and desire returned intact and unchanged, the same as they always were.</p><p>But these are trying times in Toronto and the feeling is it&rsquo;s up to Clark to prove he didn&rsquo;t lose something in the move. There is pressure, but it doesn&rsquo;t seem to bother the family man.</p><p>If that&rsquo;s the way they feel it&rsquo;s no problem with Papa. Kylie is in his arms again, horizontal with the ground as he lies on his back, nose to nose, all smiles. Papa&rsquo;s not worrying.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-01

BORN TO PLAY IN TORONTO

<div class="byline">By Mark Brender</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01913/10256499-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"></div><p>Some of them might even be true.</p><p>Like the one about Brendan, the bus-driving flower child.</p><p>Flashback to mid-October, 1992, the start of Shanahan&rsquo;s second year with the St. Louis Blues. His teammates call him &rsquo;Big,&rsquo; as in the movie <i>Big:</i> about a little boy stuck inside a man&rsquo;s body. On Oct. 17, Big scores the winner in a 6-5 road win over the Quebec Nordiques.</p><p>So far, so good.</p><p>When the Blues return, there are a dozen roses waiting at the rink. The card is addressed to &rsquo;Bussy.&rsquo; The Blues don&rsquo;t employ anybody called Bussy. Someone figures out the roses are from Eric Lindros, the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; rookie who that summer won a frustrating campaign to be traded from Quebec. Big, at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, is a good friend of Lindros (who, had he been with the Blues, would have been Bigger). Shanahan reads the card.</p><p>&ldquo;To Bussy. Good job scoring the winning goal in Quebec. Love, Jethro.&rdquo;</p><p>Now Shanahan has a dozen roses in his arms and some explaining to do. The truth is out: Big, Brendan and Bussy are one. Why? Because Lindros and Paul Coffey call Big, Bussy. The three of them played together for Team Canada at the 1991 Canada Cup. Shanahan wore these black leather loafers that made him look like he was 52 instead of 22.</p><p>&ldquo;They said I looked like a bus driver,&rdquo; Shanahan says. &ldquo;Eric&rsquo;s too big to say anything about to make him stop and Coffey&rsquo;s too fast for me to catch him.&rdquo;</p><p>Get it, bus driver flower child? So it&rsquo;s a bit of a stretch, Shanahan&rsquo;s dark side loves to play fast and easy with the truth. Just listen to him: Brendan as a multi-sport Deion Sanders. Brendan as a movie star. Brendan as a pro musician, blah, blah, blah.</p><p>Try Brendan as Pinnochio.</p><p>This much we can tell you for certain. Shanahan, a left winger considered one of the elite power forwards in the game, was traded to the Hartford Whalers last summer for</p><p>defenseman Chris Pronger. There are strong rumors he will be traded again. Wherever he goes, his initials (B.S.) will go with him.</p><p>The deviance started when Shanahan signed with St. Louis as a free agent in the summer of 1991 and Blues&rsquo; public relations people scrambled to get his personal bio for the 1991-92 media guide. Shanahan and former publicist Jeff Trammel hooked up by phone during the pre-season and Trammel asked the new kid what he did that summer.</p><p>Shanahan said he played in the Canada Cup, worked out and hung out with friends and family. Trammell said that sounded boring. Doesn&rsquo;t the guy know he cost us Scott Stevens?</p><p>There was a brief pause on the line.</p><p>&ldquo;Boring?&rdquo; Shanahan thought. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t even know me yet in St. Louis.&rdquo;</p><p>OK, Shanahan relented, maybe he did a few things, but they weren&rsquo;t anything out of the ordinary. He spent a couple weeks on a cattle ranch and was a lifeguard at Lake Stock in Toronto. He also bought a getaway cottage in Bantree, Ireland, and named it the Falcone.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01835/10256492-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="1000" height="2040"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ladies, take note: Brendan Shanahan is looking to lose his bachelor status,</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>That was great stuff, just what Trammell was looking for, and Shanahan&rsquo;s high school buddies Phil Falcone and Karen Stock got a great laugh when they received Blues&rsquo; media guides in the mail back home in Toronto.</p><p>Truth be known, Stock is a school teacher, Falcone a businessman, and Bantree Bay, Ireland, the birthplace of Donal Shanahan, the late father of hockey&rsquo;s best fibber.</p><p>Shanahan says he can swim, but he&rsquo;s hardly qualified to save anyone who can&rsquo;t. He has ridden a horse, &ldquo;but I usually fall off.&rdquo;</p><p>When an Irish film crew wanted to travel to Bantree to do a feature on Falcone, Shanahan told them the getaway was the one place he could go for some quiet time and he wasn&rsquo;t really interested in the publicity.</p><p>It was all so much fun, making things up and then making more things up to cover his hide, there was no reason to stop.</p><p>So, two summers later Shanahan played saxophone in the Canadian Jazz Festival and auditioned for Dino&rsquo;s role in <i>The Flintstones</i> movie.</p><p>ESPN pulled out a sax from under-neath a towel during a pre-game interview, but with cameras rolling Shanahan declined because he was under direct orders from coach Bob Berry: no sax on game days.</p><p>Fans lining up for autographs at Shanahan&rsquo;s public appearances would leave him stuffed Freds and Barneys and Dinos and say how sorry they were he didn&rsquo;t get the part. Next time, he would be a diamond miner.</p><p>The summer of 1994 was the busiest of all. Shanahan revived his film career with an appearance in the football scene of Forrest Gump, was a ballman at one of Andre Agassi&rsquo;s U.S. Open matches and Ireland&rsquo;s backup goalie in the World Cup.</p><p>He played only one organized soccer game in his life, as a goalie in high school, but he didn&rsquo;t give up the game without a fight.</p><p>On the fateful play, Shanahan sprinted out of the goal area with his head up to catch a corner kick and ended up running over an attacker, who picked himself up and charged back at the keeper screaming in rage.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought he was coming to fight me,&rdquo; Shanahan claims. &ldquo;He came running at me and said he was going to kill me, but his arms were by his side.&rdquo;</p><p>Shanahan didn&rsquo;t know that&rsquo;s what they do in soccer-just scream in each other&rsquo;s faces. He tried that earlier the previous winter during his rookie season with the Ontario League&rsquo;s London Knights and ended up on his butt, flattened when his opponent stopped talking and slugged him.</p><p>&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to make that mistake twice,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Once he got within arms distance I thought, from my hockey training, I thought swing!&rdquo;</p><p>It&rsquo;s believed to be the first game-ending soccer brawl in Michael Power High School history. A year later, he was selected second overall in the 1987 NHL entry draft by the New Jersey Devils, where his punching prowess was properly respected. He developed into a rugged power forward with outstanding leadership skills, which prompted St. Louis to sign him to a free agent offer sheet. It was a move that cost the Blues all-star defenseman Stevens, but soon there was no question, in the eyes of the fans, anyway, it was a fair trade.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01727/10256485-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="1499" height="2000"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Shanahan provides scoring and punching power, a lethal combination in a game that values guts and goals so very highly.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Scott Levy/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Older men who appreciated his style took to him like a son in St. Louis; the screaming 14-year-olds girls who couldn&rsquo;t speak when they got a chance to meet him treated him like a sex symbol. Back-to-back 50-goal seasons in 1992-93 and 1993-94 cemented his reputation as one of the city&rsquo;s most likeable athletes. He hosted his own two-hour radio show on Monday afternoons on a St. Louis all-sports radio station. His annual summer softball tournament continues to attract 5,000 people.</p><p>It&rsquo;s Shanahan&rsquo;s personality, as much as his play, that left Blues&rsquo; fans up in arms when coach-GM Mike Keenan traded him to Hartford last summer. His personality might also have been the cause of the trade. There&rsquo;s speculation they never got along because Shanahan stood up to Keenan in ways other players wouldn&rsquo;t dare.</p><p>&ldquo;I was always respectful to Mike Keenan,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There were players we had who were far more boisterous in their confrontations with Mike. Sometimes certain actions I wasn&rsquo;t going to blindly follow him. I would ask for an explanation. If that means you&rsquo;re not a Keenan-type player, then I&rsquo;m not.&rdquo;</p><p>At 27, Shanahan believes he is now entering his hockey prime, and it would seem the prime of his life. He&rsquo;ll play for Canada in the World Cup, he&rsquo;s rich, good looking and yes, he&rsquo;s single-which he wants to change at least by the time he retires. He wants a family.</p><p>Shanahan&rsquo;s father died of Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease in 1990. The youngest of four boys, Shanahan was close to his dad. His mother, Rosaleen, still lives in the same house where he grew up in Mimico, Ont.</p><p>&ldquo;I think that all of us in the NHL are lucky to be doing what we&rsquo;re doing,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Still, looks are deceiving. Everything looks all neat and tidy from the outside, but it&rsquo;s never that simple when you&rsquo;re the person.&rdquo;</p><p>Shanahan had a great summer in 1995 while he, &ldquo;crossed continents, swam rivers and climbed mountains,&rdquo; but his first three months in Hartford brought frustration.</p><p>When the season opened Oct. 7, after so much hope, hype and expectation, he was tackled by New York Rangers&rsquo; defenseman Ulf Samuelsson and tore ligaments in his left wrist. He didn&rsquo;t score for his first 10 games and had only five goals by mid-December.</p><p>&ldquo;The first impression I made was that I couldn&rsquo;t shoot the puck or score goals or play physical,&rdquo; he says. Only after he sat out eight games did the wrist get better.</p><p>Shanahan ended up with 44 goals and 78 points in 74 games to lead the Whalers, which makes rumors about Hartford trading him difficult to understand from a hockey standpoint. Economically, though, it makes perfect sense. The move to slash payroll is on in Hartford after the team announced in June they would be staying put two more seasons, but without the state subsidy they requested. Shanahan&rsquo;s $3 million salary this season and $4 million in &rsquo;97-98 are at the top of the scale.</p><p>Whalers&rsquo; GM Jim Rutherford says there are no untouchables on the team. The Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens</p><p>were in hot pursuit at the NHL entry draft.</p><p>Shanahan won&rsquo;t give a clear answer when asked what he would like to see happen on the trade front. He only says he wants to win a Stanley Cup and the chances of that happening are better some places than others.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know of a player on our team who thought (at the beginning of last season) they&rsquo;d be in the Stanley Cup final,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It would be an extreme optimist or an extreme liar if they admitted that now.&rdquo;</p><p>Hmm. What&rsquo;s going on? Shanahan is an extreme liar, but he&rsquo;s not saying he thought the Whalers were going to win the Cup at all. Could the chameleon be changing his colors?</p><p>&ldquo;I was thinking this year I might tell the truth,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ll tell some strange truths, so people will think they&rsquo;re lies.&rdquo;</p><p>Yeah, right. True lies. Sounds like a movie.</p><p>Catch him in the sequel.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01747/10256478-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="2214" height="1466"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>When it comes to rest and relaxation away from the rink, Brendan Shanahan has been known to stre-e-e-etch the truth a bit.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Brian Winkler/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0043-01

SHAN THE MAN

<div class="byline">By David Johnston</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0048-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01533/10256544-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Robert Laberge/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Avalanche had won the Stanley Cup just a week before and the boy was obviously happy, unlike the 58 per cent of respondents to a <i>Journal de Montreal</i> poll who had said two weeks earlier they hoped Roy wouldn&rsquo;t be re-united with the Cup. Plainly, there are still some hard feelings in Montreal against Roy, who was compared to the risen Christ in a Montreal entertainment magazine after Colorado&rsquo;s Cup victory. His sweater number is 33, observed the magazine, the age at which Christ died. He was persecuted in his homeland. He walks on (frozen) water. His last name means King in English. He saves.</p><p>It&rsquo;s tough following the footsteps of a deity. The Christians tried, but the Romans just threw them to the lions, in the Forum, no less. Sort of what happened to Jocelyn Thibault last December after the mid-season block-buster trade that sent Roy and Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; captain Mike Keane to Colorado for Thibault and forwards Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko.</p><p>The boy in the Avalanche sweater didn&rsquo;t know it at the time, but as he emerged from the video shop, Thibault was in a hangar at the far end of the air strip, taking flying lessons-with GM Rejean Houle&rsquo;s permission, you should know. After his lesson was over, Thibault sipped grape juice in a nearby restaurant and talked about his transition from promising backup goaltender in Colorado to starting goaltender in his native Montreal. He&rsquo;s clearly aware of the pressure on his shoulders and how it was the sarcastic jeering of Roy by Montreal fans last Decem-ber-despite 10 outstanding seasons in Mont-real-that provoked Roy&rsquo;s outburst and the star goaltender&rsquo;s departure from Montreal.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s so different in Montreal,&rdquo; Thibault said. &ldquo;But then again, the atmosphere in any rink is really just a reflection of the society you&rsquo;re in. Look at Colorado. It&rsquo;s very relaxed there. Hockey there is fun for the fans. It&rsquo;s a show. In Montreal- and Quebec City (where Thibault&rsquo;s career started in 1993-94) it was much the same-people want to win. They&rsquo;re usually not just happy with a good game. Sometimes they are, but usually not. So I know what happened to Patrick could happen to me if we go five, six games without a win.&rdquo;</p><p>But Thibault weathered the storm well, winning 23 games and registering a 2.83 goals-against average with Montreal after the trade. Thibault&rsquo;s overall GAA of 2.86 was well below the league average of 2.99 and placed him 16th among goalies. His 90.7 save percentage placed him 14th. Roy&rsquo;s GAA was just slightly better at 2.78 and his save per-centage was virtually the same at 90.8.</p><p>While their statistics were similar, Roy was leading the Avalanche to rarified heights while Thibault was getting his first flying les-sons. In Montreal, Roy was the star and lead-er on and off the ice. Thibault rarely speaks in the dressing room, deferring to veterans such as Lyle Odelein, Vincent Damphousse and Marc Bureau.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01522/10256537-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="1465" height="2921"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jocelyn Thibault is just 21, but he has already played in three different cities.</b></figcaption></div><p>Roy exudes confidence. After the Florida Panthers scored two quick goals to take a 2-1 lead early in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final, Roy skated to the bench and calmly said to his teammates, &ldquo;No more rats.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s difficult to imagine Thibault ever having that kind of presence.</p><p>But he is happy to be back home-he is from nearby Laval-to live out his boyhood dream, even if it means filling the void left by one of the greatest goalies ever.</p><p>&ldquo;I was real happy in Colorado,&rdquo; said Thibault, now 21 and entering his fourth season. &ldquo;I liked it; I bought a home there. But I was-n&rsquo;t playing a lot and I&rsquo;d always said in junior that my dream was to play for the Montreal Canadiens. So I have to thank (Colorado GM and Thibault&rsquo;s former agent) Pierre Lacroix for making my dream come true. On the other hand, he didn&rsquo;t feel comfortable that he could win with me. But I like to focus on the positive: he made my dream come true.&rdquo;</p><p>Thibault is entering the option year on his first professional contract. That contract paid him $350,000 last year, ranking him No. 501 on the NHL salary list and 43rd among goaltenders. The Canadiens are expected to negotiate a new contract with him before the beginning of the coming season that will pay him in excess of $1 million a year. If he continues to improve with age and can cut down on the rebounds and learn to control the puck better, he should be a force in the NHL for a decade to come.</p><p>&ldquo;He has got a good reading of his own capabilities and he&rsquo;s a down to earth boy,&rdquo; Houle said. &ldquo;He proved he can play a lot of games. He played 50 last year, mostly all good performances. We certainly hope he can keep it up for the next 10 years.&rdquo;</p><p>When Thibault arrived in Montreal after the trade, a lot was made of the fact he was, as one sports columnist put it, &ldquo;good between the ears.&rdquo; Intelligent, articulate, well-mannered and fluently bilingual, Thibault maintained an 85-90 per cent average throughout his school years, even during his last year of junior hockey in Sherbrooke, where he did post-secondary studies in commerce. That year, he was the Canadian junior goaltender of the year and winner of the Quebec League&rsquo;s award for scholastic excellence.</p><p>For the past three years, he has regularly attended NHL Players&rsquo; Association meetings even though he isn&rsquo;t a team representative. &ldquo;I just like to have first-hand knowledge,&rdquo; he said. Now he has his eyes set on a private pilot&rsquo;s license and is looking to spend $50,000 to $75,000 on a used, 15-year-old, four-seat Cessna 172.</p><p>&ldquo;When I signed with the Nordiques, I promised myself I would go back to school one day, no matter what,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It has taken a couple of years and it has turned out to be flying school. I like to keep my brain active. I&rsquo;d developed an interest in flying during my first season in Quebec City. What impressed me were the instruments, how you can find your way somewhere through the air using instruments.&rdquo;</p><p>Returning to Montreal has also brought Thibault back into intimate contact with the political situation in Quebec. Two months before he returned, Quebec&rsquo;s referendum on independence was defeated by a margin of 51 to 49 per cent. Asked for his views on the subject, Thibault replied, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to say what I think, because of the fans. I think it&rsquo;s important for me, as a public person, not to talk about that. But it&rsquo;s tough, you know. Everybody&rsquo;s concerned about what&rsquo;s going to happen. With Lucien Bouchard as premier, there&rsquo;s going to be another referendum. But I should add that it&rsquo;s not something the players really talk about within the team.&rdquo;</p><p>Thibault is optimistic about the Canadiens&rsquo; prospects in the coming few years. The club ended last season with the youngest roster in the league, having seven 21-year-olds in the lineup, including Thibault and center Saku Koivu, and nobody over the age of 29. While Thibault was capably seconded by Pat Jablonski, the Canadiens have a formidable young goaltending talent waiting in the wings: 20-year-old Jose Theodore, goaltender</p><p>for last year&rsquo;s gold-medal-winning Canadian national junior team. If Theodore is as good he looks, Thibault could have a fight on his hands in a year or two for the No. 1 job.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something I really worry about right now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Jose is a great goal-tender, but he&rsquo;s probably going to have to spend one or two years in the minors. Let me put it another way. Patrick (Roy) played here for 10 years and during that time nobody really came to Montreal and gave him a good</p><p>fight. Nobody was really ready to be No. 1. When I came to Montreal, I even didn&rsquo;t know if I could be No. 1.1 was just thrown in there. And I think I did the job.&rdquo;</p><p>He did. Now all he has to do is go out there and do it over and over and over again. Like the persecuted, banished king who preceded him.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01403/10256530-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="2211" height="1276"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Jim Leary/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0048-01

FLYIN’ HIGH

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor in Chief</div><p>Vai Fonteyne&rsquo;s place in NHL history could one day be threatened.</p><p>He was the last player to play an entire sea-son without earning so much as a minor penalty. Fonteyne did it in 1971-72 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.</p><p>If things work out for the NHL&rsquo;s cur-rent most gentlemanly player, he may repeat Fonteyne&rsquo;s feat.</p><p>&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m playing the game properly,&rdquo; Paul Kariya says, &ldquo;I should never get a penalty.&rdquo;</p><p>Fonteyne, like Kariya, was 5-foot-9 and fleet of foot. He did it five times during one seven-year stretch, a mark that will never be equaled.</p><p>But Fonteyne, a career journeyman, and Kariya, a first-team all-star in only his second year, have little else in com-mon.</p><p>Kariya, 21, will have a difficult time matching Fonteyne&rsquo;s mostly penalty-free existence in the NHL. But, barring mishap, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim left winger will surpass Fonteyne&rsquo;s career scoring totals this season.</p><p>Fonteyne had 75 goals and 230 points in 820 career NHL games. Kariya had 68 goals and 147 points in 129 games and is penciled in for at least 100 more points this year after a sensational sophomore season.</p><p>Kariya was named winner of the Lady Byng Trophy in 1995-96 for combining playing excellence and good sportsmanship. He earned 108 points (including 50 goals) and 20 penalty minutes.</p><p>&ldquo;All the penalties I took could have been avoided by playing smarter,&rdquo; says Kariya, who collected five of his 10 minors while the Mighty Ducks were playing with the man advantage.</p><p>Fonteyne, now a 63-year-old retired postal worker in Wetaskiwin, Alta., seldom faced defensive dilemmas in those offensive situations. &ldquo;I never had to worry about any power plays,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;They never had me out on any power plays. He&rsquo;s in a different class.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01390/10256589-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="936" height="1118"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Brian Winkler/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Indeed. Kariya, ranked the sixth-best player in the NHL by The Hockey News <i>(see pg. 6 for story on Top 40)</i> scored 20 goals and 41 points on the power play in 1995-96.</p><p>His first penalty of the season came in Game 15; he was assessed a delay of game minor for shooting the puck into the stands. Such savagery.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t go out thinking I want to be the cleanest player in the league,&rdquo; Kariya says. &ldquo;But it makes sense if you&rsquo;re an offensive player and one of the leaders on the team, you can&rsquo;t be stuck in the penalty box for 200 minutes during the season. Even the tough two-way players, if they&rsquo;re in the box for 150-200 minutes, think about all the opportunities they&rsquo;re missing.&rdquo;</p><p>About the only thing Kariya didn&rsquo;t earn last year-he also drew rave re-views for a one-goal, one-assist performance in the 1996 All-Star Game-was a place in the playoffs. Despite his best efforts, the Ducks missed the Stanley Cup tournament because they had few-er victories than the eighth-place Winnipeg Jets. Both teams had 78 points.</p><p>Kariya finished the season on a nine-game point-scoring streak and scored two goals in the final game. But he takes no special pride in delivering down the stretch.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought I played well,&rdquo; Kariya says, &ldquo;but obviously it wasn&rsquo;t enough. Producing in the clutch was making the playoffs and we didn&rsquo;t do that. All of us have to look back and say whether it was at the end of the year or any other point, that we didn&rsquo;t do enough.&rdquo;</p><p>How much more Kariya can do is a matter of conjecture.</p><p>With the addition of right winger Teemu Selanne from the Jets, Kariya has a linemate who thinks, skates and plays at the same superstar level. They finished the season together. Each is extraordinarily fast, creative and possesses atomic blasts for shots.</p><p>It&rsquo;s a partnership-in-progress.</p><p>Kariya&rsquo;s point production improved from 1.19 per game to 1.57 after Selanne&rsquo;s arrival in February and his goals-per-game average rose from .54 to .75. Just how explosive they will be this season depends, in part, on whether a compatible center can be found; veteran Anatoli Semenov played between them last season.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01341/10256582-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="1499" height="2000"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Although Kariya is considered a great playmaker and Selanne burst upon the NHL with a 76-goal rookie season-Kariya&rsquo;s no-look, behind-the-back feed to Selanne late last season resulted in a picture-perfect goal that made all the highlight reels-Kariya may be more the finisher than the Finn.</p><p>Selanne&rsquo;s passing skills are nearly as breathtaking as his speed. He won&rsquo;t just be competing with Kariya for the goal and point leads this season; he could also be in a turtle race for penalty minutes with his teammate.</p><p>The Finnish Flash was third in voting for the Lady Byng-Boston Bruins&rsquo; center Adam Oates separated Selanne and Kariya- and he was one minor away from a zero in the penalty minute column during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season. (Kariya had four minutes.)</p><p>Mind you, there was an asterisk for Selanne.</p><p>He was only assessed a minor for slashing Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; defenseman Dmitri Mironov, but then given a three-game suspen-sion in supplemental discipline.</p><p>That&rsquo;s one thing Kariya doesn&rsquo;t need-more discipline. He has enough for the entire North American penal system.</p><p>Kariya&rsquo;s focus is singular. Hockey con-sumes all his energies. His commitment to off-ice preparation is a source of amusement for friends. They kid him about the length of workouts-2 1/2 hours in the weight room-but Kariya credits that regimen with taking him to a new level last season and has no intention of undermining all his hard work with carefree living habits.</p><p>It leads to a somewhat sedentary lifestyle away from the rink or training room.</p><p>&ldquo;If after my workout I don&rsquo;t sit down and rest and relax, then I&rsquo;m going to be a basket-case,&rdquo; Kariya says. &ldquo;With the kind of lifts and weights I&rsquo;m doing I need the time to rest.&rdquo;</p><p>Kariya, already one of the NHL&rsquo;s most sell-able players, doesn&rsquo;t even do endorsement deals-outside of one with Easton-because he doesn&rsquo;t want his routine disrupted by extraneous activities.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still trying to prove myself on the ice and I don&rsquo;t feel taking a lot of things off the ice and doing a lot of promotional things, selling yourself, is going to be helpful,&rdquo; he says.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather sit at home and work out. People will say, &rsquo;Just come down here and do a two-hour appearance,&rsquo; but if it&rsquo;s in another city, then it&rsquo;s a day&rsquo;s travel and a day&rsquo;s travel on the way back. Then you&rsquo;ve got three days and, in my opinion, losing time either to relax or enjoy yourself or work out. I just prefer not to do anything like that for now.&rdquo;</p><p>Instead, he spent the summer training for an appearance with Team Canada in the first World Cup of Hockey, the eighth time he will have represented his country in international competition.</p><p>He weighed 183 pounds by July, but planned to slim down in the weeks before training camp. Kariya started the 1995-96 season at 170; he doesn&rsquo;t know how much his weight fluctuated during the season.</p><p>He does not get on the scales.</p><p>Oddly, for such a serious student of the game, Kariya believes ignorance is bliss in such matters. He doesn&rsquo;t read hockey reports in the newspaper. He only knows his goal total because it&rsquo;s announced after each one.</p><p>Kariya views information of that nature as clutter that can only distract him from reaching his outer limits. Not that he acknowledges they are out there. He doesn&rsquo;t set personal objectives because he believes that achieves nothing but establish ceilings on performance</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01299/10256575-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="729" height="1287"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Paul Kariya doesn&rsquo;t step on scales, but he tilts them in his team&rsquo;s favor.</b></figcaption></div><p>If he sets 50 goals as a target, will self-satisfaction at that number keep him from 60 or 70? He admits to taking some pleasure from last year&rsquo;s gaudy numbers, but doesn&rsquo;t dwell on them. Why? &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t accomplish anything by looking backwards,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Life isn&rsquo;t lived backwards.&rdquo;</p><p>If Kariya were one to examine the past, he might better understand his contribution to Anaheim&rsquo;s success last season. The third-year team finished the season with a 12-3-2 flourish and had a franchise-best .476 winning percentage.</p><p>Kariya&rsquo;s 108 points represented goals or assists on 46 per cent of all Mighty Duck goals. Only league MVP Mario Lemieux, who participated in 49 per cent of the goals the Pittsburgh Penguins scored in the games he played, registered a higher such mark.</p><p>But about the only number that fascinates Kariya is <i>five-as</i> in an average number of shots to shoot for each game.</p><p>Kariya, heralded as the NHL&rsquo;s purest new playmaker since Wayne Gretzky when he arrived in 1994, transformed himself from passivist to shootist when it became evident the Mighty Ducks had no natural scorers to complement his style of play.</p><p>Now, Kariya is committed to shooting the puck as quickly, as hard and as often as possible. He averaged 4.26 shots per game in 1995-96 and totaled 349, fourth-highest in the league. Only Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ray Bourque of the Boston Bruins and Theoren Fleury of the Calgary Flames outshot him.</p><p>No player in the league averaged five shots per game.</p><p>Kariya sees shooting as part of the process that so intrigues him. Scoring is the end result, the finished product. Shooting is part of the production line and that&rsquo;s where Kariya concentrates his efforts and intellectual energies.</p><p>At the NHL Players&rsquo; Association summer meetings in Phoenix, Kariya peppered executive director Bob Goodenow with questions after being told elite level trap shooters and biathletes are at the highest end of the spectrum for fitness.</p><p>&ldquo;When I heard that I was just flabbergasted,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I thought those guys were just pudgy guys who could shoot well. Apparently they&rsquo;re the best athletes of all. You can pick things up from different sports, but you&rsquo;ve always got to bring it back to your sport. There&rsquo;s no sense training aerobically, like those guys do or marathon runners, because at the most you need 30 minutes.&rdquo;</p><p>For the record. Kariya has no plans to adapt competitive shooting strategy to his brand of shooting. That is, slow down his pulse and shoot between heartbeats.</p><p>As it is, Kariya has an exceptional shot, releasing the puck with Brett Hull-like quickness after cradling it momentarily on his stick. Fine tuning that part of his game was July&rsquo;s work at his parents&rsquo; home in North Vancouver, B.C.</p><p>He set a pair of cinder blocks six feet ap-art-the width of goalposts-in the backyard and aimed for the holes in the concrete.</p><p>Shooting is only part of that workout. The rest of it is in picking up the pucks. His normal puckboy, brother Martin, is 14 now and growing weary of the job. Some moral persuasion is sometimes needed to encourage Martin.</p><p>&ldquo;I got him some golf clubs this year,&rdquo; Kariya explains, &ldquo;so I always say, &rsquo;Well I might take those clubs away,&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>Somehow, it seems an empty threat.</p><p>As empty as the penalty column may be one day.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0054-01

NO CHEAP SHOTS

<div class="byline">BY Lisa Dillman</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0059-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-01255/10256627-1-eng-US/f0059-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Benet/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>hasen&rsquo;s was the traditional Hollywood place to be seen, a place where gossip columnists picked up their best scoops, movie deals were cut and pictures of all the big stars hung on the wall.</p><p>Eight years later, Chasen&rsquo;s is boarded up-a likely target for redevelopment.</p><p>And the Los Angeles Kings? You might say the same thing.</p><p>The high-flying, anything-is-possible Gretzky era officially ended Feb. 21, 1996, when he was traded to the St. Louis Blues for three players and two draft choices. But in reality, those days were long gone even before Gretzky left Los Angeles.</p><p>&ldquo;Everything I built has crumbled,&rdquo; says former Kings&rsquo; owner Bruce McNall, the man who brought Gretzky to Los Angeles. &ldquo;All the dreams we had hoped for are not going to happen. My dreams. His dreams. I always dreamed that after Wayne left we would have built a strong enough foundation that it would last after he was gone.&rdquo;</p><p>Never mind the foundation was built on shifting sand and the smoke and mirrors from McNall&rsquo;s illegal banking activities started a full-scale brushfire, ultimately landing the hockey team in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the fall of 1995. McNall previously entered a guilty plea to four federal felony counts in December, 1994, and will likely serve a prison term.</p><p>New owners, Denver billionaire Philip F. Anschutz and Southern California real estate developer Edward P. Roski Jr., bought the Kings out of bankruptcy in October, succeeding interim owners Jeffrey Sudik-off and Joseph Cohen.</p><p>On the ice, the Kings enter their new era having finished out of the playoffs the past three seasons. Sellouts were once a given at the Great Western Forum, but last year the Kings&rsquo; average attendance dropped almost 2,000 a game to 13,556. It was the biggest drop of any team in the league. The Kings&rsquo; payroll, which was highest in the NHL during McNall&rsquo;s free-spending days, was 19th by the end of last season.</p><p>Los Angeles was once a destination of choice for NHL veterans, but when Ray Ferraro was traded from the New York Rangers to the Kings last season, he reacted with bitterness and anger.</p><p>During the final days of the McNall era, even routine payments to one of the team&rsquo;s stick suppliers were stopped until the company threatened to halt deliveries. On two separate occasions, fans waited months for refunds of playoff ticket deposits for games that were never played.</p><p>Former Kings&rsquo; coach Barry Melrose remembered sitting on buses and not moving until payment was made up front. The same often went for hotels. &ldquo;We used to eat at Spago, now we can&rsquo;t get into a Sizzler,&rdquo; Melrose says.</p><p>It was a far cry from the early Gretzky days. There was the party at Chasen&rsquo;s to cele</p><p>brate his arrival and the next season there was another bash at McNall&rsquo;s art gallery in Century City to commemorate Gretzky&rsquo;s first 100 games in Los Angeles.</p><p>Players and celebrities stood awkwardly among ancient pieces and a loud crash brought a halt to the noisy proceedings. A reporter had knocked over and broken a rare piece worth in excess of $200,000. Gretzky went pale. And McNall? He laughed, cracked a joke and acted as though someone busted a plate from Sears.</p><p>Meanwhile, the largesse carried over to the team&rsquo;s payroll. When Gretzky first joined the Kings, he and McNall held a reverse negotiation in which the player kept insisting for less money and the owner kept insisting he pay the player far more.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-01273/10256620-1-eng-US/f0060-012.jpg" title="f0060-01" width="714" height="1376"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bruce McNall tried to build an extravagant empire without a foundation.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Benet/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>As for the Kings, prominent, high-priced players were unveiled every pre-season, almost like opening Christmas presents every September. Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Robinson, now the Kings&rsquo; coach, signed as a free agent the season after Gretzky came to Los Angeles. Two more former Edmonton Oiler teammates, Jari Kurri and Charlie Huddy, joined the Kings in the 1991-92 sea-son.</p><p>The players, meanwhile, were ferried from point to point in luxury in a 1966 Boeing 727-100 McNall purchased from the president of Mexico. The jet once transported Hollywood celebrities to Toronto Argonaut football games and even carried future president Bill Clinton on the campaign trail in 1992.</p><p>The plane held 24 leather first-class seats, 36 regular fabric-covered seats and 12 television monitors.</p><p>Players, once aboard, were confronted with truly weighty questions: red or white wine? One Haagen-Daaz bar or two?</p><p>But ultimately, the plane was grounded for a lack of money and eventually auctioned off to the highest bidder. It was another relic of McNall&rsquo;s free-spending days and the Kings found themselves squeezed in the final days of his majority ownership and the short reign of owners Sudikoff and Cohen.</p><p>Sudikoff and Cohen purchased a 72 per-cent stake in the Kings from McNall for $60 million and had hoped to build a $150-million arena. But those plans were scuttled when Sudikoff&rsquo;s company, IDB Communications Group, went into a freefall on the stock market in a dispute over IDB&rsquo;s accounting. It was later revealed Sudikoff was being investigated by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles.</p><p>The chaos during that regime and the Kings&rsquo; subsequent summer-long slide into bankruptcy last summer hurt the organization with its fan base and the uncertainty prevent-ed any serious perusal of free agents.</p><p>A year later, new ownership has been able to slow the flow of red ink and the long rebuilding process has begun. In addition to the Gretzky trade, the team parted ways with veterans such as Rick Tocchet, Marty McSorley, Kurri, Pat Conacher and Kelly Hrudey. Off the ice, the owners got serious by hiring a new team president, Tim Leiweke, formerly of U.S. Skiing and the Denver Nuggets, who comes to Los Angeles with a strong reputation in sales and marketing.</p><p>The future doesn&rsquo;t exactly look sparkling, but there is reason to keep the faith. In dealing Gretzky to St. Louis, the Kings received a first round pick in 1997-a draft touted as the best in years. Should the Kings continue to flounder and the Blues take a dive, Los Angeles could be looking at two lottery picks.</p><p>As well, defenseman Rob Blake is expect-ed to return after missing all but six games last season with a knee injury. The Kings also picked up what they feel is a No. 1 goalie in Stephane Fiset from the Colorado Avalanche.</p><p>Kings&rsquo; GM Sam McMaster says the new owners have given management a bigger bud-get to make trades and pursue free agents. In fact, the Kings were in the running to sign Pat Verbeek before the Dallas Stars signed him for $3 million a year. The Kings signed Ed Olczyk, to a reported two-year, $4 million deal, and Paul DiPietro.</p><p>&ldquo;We feel very confident going into this sea-son,&rdquo; McMaster says. &ldquo;We feel we&rsquo;ve put together a pretty good young team. In Fiset, we have a No. 1 goalie and in Blake, we have a No. 1 defenseman.</p><p>&ldquo;By the time we move into our new rink in 1999, we want to have a team with playoff experience that&rsquo;s ready to take a run at the Cup.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0059-01

FROM RICHES TO RAGS

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-01225/10256717-1-eng-US/f0065-012.jpg" title="f0065-01" width="367" height="534"></div><p>The Montreal Canadiens couldn&rsquo;t do it in 1994. Neither could the New York Rangers in &rsquo;95, nor the New Jersey Devils in &rsquo;96.</p><p>In fact, 32 teams in NHL history were unable to turn the difficult feat.</p><p>So what makes us believe the Colorado Avalanche will buck the recent trend and repeat as Stanley Cup champion?</p><p>Simple, it only has one team in the Western Conference to beat to make it to the final again-the Detroit Red Wings, who are due to slip a bit- and once it returns, it has all the elements in place to be champion.</p><p>The Avalanche has solid management, an outstanding young coach who is player friendly, one of the best one-two punches at center in the NHL with Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg and depth few organizations in the league can match. And, most importantly, it has Patrick Roy. Saint Patrick might not be the NHL&rsquo;s best goalie any more, but who would you rather have in goal when the Cup is within reach?</p><p>The early grades are in on the 1996-97 season. Individual grades for goaltenders and players are on team pages. Overall marks include management&rsquo;s contribution.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0065-02160/10256710-1-eng-US/f0065-022.jpg" title="f0065-02" width="2311" height="3056"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DETROIT&rsquo;S SERGEI FEDOROV</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Rocky Widner)</span></figcaption></div><p>No team has repeated as a Stanley Cup champion since the league eclipsed the 21-team mark in 1991-92. But we think Colorado has what it takes to survive in the NHL&rsquo;s brave new world.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re flattered if people pick us to win it again, but if they didn&rsquo;t pick us, that wouldn&rsquo;t affect the way we do business,&rdquo; said Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re focusing on our own vision as we have for two years.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Philadelphia will rule East</b></h2><p>Lacroix has assembled an outfit that boats character, speed, toughness and a nice blend of youth and experience for coach Marc Crawford. The moves Lacroix made last season-acquiring Roy, rugged right winger Claude Lemieux and offense-minded defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh-were designed to help the team beyond just one season. As a result, the Avalanche is the only team entering this season without a specific need to be filled.</p><p>The team is also young. Superstars Sakic and Forsberg are 27 and 23, while impact players Mike Ricci, Adam Foote and Adam Dead marsh are on the rise. One of the main stumbling blocks for recent Cup winners is desire, but that shouldn&rsquo;t be a concern with Colorado&rsquo;s young turks.</p><p>While the Western Conference produces the class of the league in the Avalanche, the Eastern Conference is where you&rsquo;ll find the better playoff race. The Penguins, Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals (that&rsquo;s right, the Capitals; we think they have playoff moxy and Vezina Trophy winner Jim Carey will shed his reputation as a post-sea-son patsie) and last year&rsquo;s finalist, the Florida Panthers, are all legitimate contenders</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-01227/10256703-1-eng-US/f0066-012.jpg" title="f0066-01" width="682" height="921"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Let it B: Goaltender Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s St. Louis Blues earn a B grade.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Dan Hamilton/VPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>And let&rsquo;s not forget the Devils, who, despite missing the playoffs, had the NHL&rsquo;s second best team defense.</p><p>We&rsquo;re putting our money on the Flyers, more specifically, on Eric Lindros and GM Bob Clarke. Clarke has been working to put a support staff for Lindros in place. The defense is solid, if unspectacular; the potential for a contributing second line exists if Mikael Renberg returns to good health and the Legion of Doom; and veteran goalie Ron Hextail made believers out of us with his best NHL season.</p><p>This is the Big E&rsquo;s fourth season and the NHL&rsquo;s most lethal combination of size, skill and toughness is poised to lead his team to the promise land.</p><p>We polled a number of NHL executives and asked them to grade teams defense, forwards and goaltending and overall. In arriving at the final grade we also factor in coaching and management. Last season we identified one &rsquo;A&rsquo; team, the Devils. They went &rsquo;A&rsquo;WOL.</p><p>This year there are three, the Avalanche, Red Wings and Penguins. We&rsquo;ll see if they can make the grade.</p><h2><b>YOUR GUIDE TO THN ABBREVIATIONS</b></h2><h3><b>GLOSSARY</b></h3><p>Here&rsquo;s a key to abbreviations, short forms and statistical designations that appear over the next 120 pages in NHL team and league pages.</p><h3><b>STATISTICS</b></h3><p>Record: W-wins; L-losses; T-ties; Pts-points, Pct.-winning percentage. <b>Roster:</b> No.-sweater number; Ht.-height; Wt.~ weight. 1994-95 <b>Statistics:</b> &rsquo;-rookie; GP-games played, G-goals, A-assists. P-points; PIM-penalty minutes; +/-, plus-minus, PP-power-play goals, SH-shorthanded 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,</p><p>GA-goals against, GAA-goals-against average, SO-shutout.</p><h3><b>LEAGUES AND COUNTRIES</b></h3><p>Alberta Jr. Hockey League (AJHL); American Hockey League (AHL); British Columbia Jr. Hockey League (BCJHL); Central Ontario Jr. Hockey League (COJHL); Central (Ont.) Jr. B Hockey League (CJHL); Czech Republic (Czech.); Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA); East Coast Hockey League (ECHL); Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC); Finland (Fin.); Germany (Ger.); Hockey East (HE); International Hockey League (IHL); Manitoba Jr. Hockey League (MJHL); Midwestern Ontario Jr. Hockey League (MOJHL); North American Jr. Hockey League (NAJHL); Ontario Hockey League (OHL);Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL); Russia (Rus.); Saskatchewan Jr. Hockey League (SJHL); Slovakia (Slo.); Sweden (Swe.); Switzerland (Switz,); United States Hockey League (USHL); United States High School (USHS); Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA); Western Hockey League (WHL); Western Ontario Jr. B Hockey League (WOJHL).</p><h3><b>NHL TEAM ROSTERS</b></h3><p><b>How Acquired:</b> Comp.-compensation for free agent signing; CP-cross-pollination draft between San Jose and Minnesota. Exp.-expansion draft; FA-free agent; Sup:</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-02_ad3/10256696-1-eng-US/f0066-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0066-02_Ad" width="2207" height="832"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0065-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE TEAMS

<div class="byline">By Robyn Norwood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-02100/10256832-1-eng-US/f0067-022.jpg" title="f0067-02" width="763" height="1174"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-01164/10256839-1-eng-US/f0067-012.jpg" title="f0067-01" width="137" height="136"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he giddiness inspired by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim&rsquo;s 1996 finish-a mere three losses in their final 17 games-subsided a bit after their expansion cousins, the Florida Panthers, advanced to the Stanley Cup final.</p><p>For the first time, the pressure is on for the Ducks to make the playoffs- and maybe even make it past the first round. How can they not with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne?</p><p>Ducks&rsquo; coach Ron Wilson has two probable 50-goal scorers and a dwindling list of reasons why the Ducks are not a playoff team.</p><p>They were one point away from making the playoffs last season, leaving GM Jack Ferreira&rsquo;s summer assignments clear: find a center who can get the puck to Kariya and Selanne and compensate for the defensive deficiencies; and shore up a rather anonymous defense that contributed precious little offensively and was shaky on its defensive assignments, too.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0067-0369/10256825-1-eng-US/f0067-032.jpg" title="f0067-03" width="1594" height="2379"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RIGHT WINGER TEEMU SELANNE</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Art Foxall/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Ferreira&rsquo;s uneasiness about going into 1996-97 with last season&rsquo;s defense showed when he used the team&rsquo;s first round draft pick on 21-year-old defenseman Ruslan Salee who played for the Las Vegas Thunder in the International League last season.</p><p>Kariya and Selanne are a can&rsquo;t-miss offensive combo, but they can&rsquo;t be on the ice all the time and as many pucks as they will put in the net, they still need help keeping some out.</p><p><b>1995-96 record</b>: 35-39-8, fourth in Pacific, 18th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 14.1 per cent (25th overall). Penalty killing: 80.9 per cent (17th overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisitions</b>: Warren Rychel, LW.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion</b>: Johan Davidsson, C; Mike Leclerc, LW; Ruslan Salei, D; Nikolai Tsulygin, D.</p><p><b>Three pivotal factors</b>: 1. Ferreira&rsquo;s success in the trade market. The GM must make acquisitions to strengthen a team whose talent drops off precipitously after Kariya and Selanne. The third and fourth leading scorers on the team at season&rsquo;s end were Roman Oksiuta and Steve Rucchin. A center for Kariya and Selanne would be a start.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0068-01177/10256818-1-eng-US/f0068-012.jpg" title="f0068-01" width="2290" height="3120"></div><p>Darren Van Impe, D, 23: Played 16 games in Anaheim last season. Logged lots of ice time, played in all situations in Baltimore.</p><p>2. Goaltending. Guy Hebert needs to be sharp from the start, not just down the stretch. If he hadn&rsquo;t started the season 1-6-1 with a 3.82 goals-against average and an 88.6 save per-centage, the Ducks probably would have picked up the one point they needed to make the playoffs.</p><p>3. Defensive improvement. All the Ducks&rsquo; defense corps needs is more defense, more offense, more mobility and more experience. Name recognition isn&rsquo;t everything, but the only Duck defenseman who has any at all is Fredrik Olausson.</p><p><b>State of goaltending:</b> Hebert had some shaky mom-ents and he and Wilson had a tumultuous year, but things seemed pretty well ironed out at the end. When all was said and done, Hebert had a 2.83 GAA and a 91.4 save percent-age-the second time in three years he has had a GAA under 3.00 and a save percentage over 90.0. Mikhail Shtalenkov is a solid backup and some-times starter, but the organization needs young goaltending prospects. Right now, the only one in view is Tom Askey of Ohio State.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-01150/10256811-1-eng-US/f0069-012.jpg" title="f0069-01" width="1078" height="1784"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Guy Hebert was spectacular for Anaheim down the stretch.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Reyes/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Most pressing need:</b> The team needs help on defense. Two minor leaguers were in the top six at the end of last season and Olausson is the closest thing the Ducks have to an offensive defenseman. The team traded young gun Oleg Tverdovsky to get Selanne and some unforeseen developments contributed to the shallow depth chart. Milos Holan underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia and Don Mc-Sween&rsquo;s career was derailed by nerve damage to his wrist in a skate blade incident.</p><p><b>Sleeper pool pick:</b> Kariya and Selanne will be gone early, but Oksiuta will last into the deep rounds and could be a productive player. He settled in well in Anaheim-his third team in two seasons- and had seven. goals and 12 points in 14 games after arriving in a late-season trade. The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder should get plenty of power play time. Oksiuta had a quiet 51-point season in 70 games, the first 56 with the Vancouver Canucks.</p><p><b>Top draft choice:</b> The Ducks used the ninth pick overall to try to get immediate help for their defense. They ended up with Salei, a native of Minsk, Belarus, who had 30 points for Las Vegas last season. He isn&rsquo;t guaranteed a spot on the NHL roster, but the Ducks want him to make it. A two-way player, he should add toughness and mobility to a thin blueline.</p><p><b>Coach/GM:</b> Wilson (84-112-18, .435) was almost fired during Anaheim&rsquo;s third season, but he survived a couple of bad stretches by the hair of his chin and might be there for a while now that Kariya and Selanne are poised to carry the Ducks to the playoffs. If they somehow don&rsquo;t make it, though, Wilson won&rsquo;t either.</p><p>Wilson coached the U.S. to a surprise bronze medal in the World Championship and will guide the U.S. team in the World Cup.</p><p>Ferreira (164-247-43, .409) put himself and the team in good position for a few years to come when he pulled his first major deal in Anaheim, acquiring Selanne for youngsters Chad Kilger and Tverdovsky, who were both top-five draft picks. And after two years in the league, Kariya has proven to be a brilliant selection with the fourth overall pick in 1993.</p><p><b>Three-year playoff history:</b> The Ducks came as close as they could without actually making the playoffs last season and have yet to participate in the big dance</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-02103/10256804-1-eng-US/f0069-022.jpg" title="f0069-02" width="985" height="1181"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0069-0360/10256797-1-eng-US/f0069-032.jpg" title="f0069-03" width="533" height="679"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-01156/10256790-1-eng-US/f0070-012.jpg" title="f0070-01" width="2194" height="2263"></div><p>Northeast Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0070-02_ad4/10256783-1-eng-US/f0070-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0070-02_Ad" width="1955" height="873"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-01_ad/10256776-1-eng-US/f0071-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0071-01_Ad" width="1168" height="1690"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-02_ad/10256769-1-eng-US/f0071-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0071-02_Ad" width="1182" height="1697"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0071-03_ad/10256762-1-eng-US/f0071-03_ad2.jpg" title="f0071-03_Ad" width="2402" height="1641"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-01_ad/10256755-1-eng-US/f0072-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0072-01_Ad" width="1381" height="924"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0072-02_ad/10256748-1-eng-US/f0072-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0072-02_Ad" width="1312" height="920"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0067-02

MIGHTY DUCKS OF ANAHEIM

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-0341/10257034-1-eng-US/f0079-032.jpg" title="f0079-03" width="634" height="1004"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-01117/10257041-1-eng-US/f0079-012.jpg" title="f0079-01" width="132" height="128"></div><p>The Buffalo Sabres have a few things going for them entering 1996-97, including:</p><p>&#9633; Their brand new Marine Midland Ar-ena.</p><p>&#9633; An infusion of cash from a new busi ness partner, John Rigas.</p><p>&#9633; Goaltender Dominik Hasek signed to a new long-term contract.</p><p>&#9633; Captain Pat LaFontaine back at peak form and defenseman Richard Smehlik and scorer Donald Audette rehabilitated from serious knee injuries.</p><p>&#9633; A bright young coach in Ted Nolan.</p><p>&#9633; A prospects list The Hockey News rated as the best in the NHL.</p><p>So why isn&rsquo;t anyone in Buffalo smiling?</p><p>It could have something to do with the fact there&rsquo;s feuding throughout the organization and the chances of the Sabres missing the playoffs for a second consecutive year are good.</p><p>In addition to in-fighting at the top of the organization, there appears to be friction between GM John Muckier and the franchise&rsquo;s star forward, LaFontaine. There have also been a series of disputes between Muckier and Nolan.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0079-0266/10257027-1-eng-US/f0079-022.jpg" title="f0079-02" width="1423" height="2133"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CENTER PAT LaFONTAINE</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Harry Scul Jr)</span></figcaption></div><p>Last season, the Sabres worked hard and played hard and missed the playoffs by a whopping 15 points. They appear determined to put their fate in the hands of the young and the recently healed.</p><p>&ldquo;I think we have a pretty good young team,&rdquo; Muckier said. &ldquo;Will we be good enough to make the playoffs? I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;</p><p>1995-96 record: 33-42-7, fifth in Northeast, 11th in Eastern Conference, 20th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 15.9 per cent (20th overall). Penalty killing: 83.9 per cent (sixth overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: None.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Curtis Brown, C; Wayne Primeau, C; Vaclav Varada, RW; Sergei Klimentiev, D; Rumun Ndur, D; Steve Shields, G.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Play of the wingers. LaFontaine is 31 and though he led the team in goals (40), assists (51) and points (91), he can no longer carry the load alone. Audette is a crafty and capable scorer on the right side, but keeping him in the lineup (three major knee operations) is a challenge seldom met.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0080-01117/10257020-1-eng-US/f0080-012.jpg" title="f0080-01" width="2250" height="3070"></div><p>2. The blueline. There were times last season when the pairing of rookie Mike Wilson and journeyman Darryl Shannon was the Sabres&rsquo; No. 1 unit. That tells you as much as you need to know about the state of the blueline. Wilson and Shannon will again get the bulk of the work and Garry Galley and Bob Boughner will also have jobs. Alexei Zhitnik looked lost much of last year, and must bounce back.</p><p>3. Relations between Muckier and Nolan. The coach and GM had lots of spats last season, but now it seems to be bordering on personal as the two men seem to disagree about what direction the team should go and how to get there. Leadership starts at the top and if the players pick up the idea the bosses are at odds, it will make for a long and painful season.</p><p>State of goaltending: Dominik Hasek led the league in save percentage (92.0) for the third year in a row, but wasn&rsquo;t anywhere near the leaders in wins (he had 22) or goals-against average (2.83). Of course, you have to remember we&rsquo;re talking about a guy who saw the fourth-most shots in the NHL (a whopping 2,011 in just 59 games). To put that in perspective, Jim Carey, the 1996 Vezina Trophy winner, faced 1,631 shots in 71 games. Hasek will be the starter most every game, leaving the backup battle to Andrei Trefilov and Steve Shields.</p><p>Most pressing need: Obviously the defense needs to get better, but that&rsquo;s just the start. The Sabres had almost no scoring off the wings last season. In addition, they have precious little speed on the wings and almost no big men beyond Brad May. Somewhere, Muckier has to find a veteran defenseman or two and at least one scorer with some size and speed.</p><p>Sleeper pool pick: Michal Grosek or Curtis Brown if either gets the left wing slot with LaFontaine.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-01127/10257013-1-eng-US/f0081-012.jpg" title="f0081-01" width="1185" height="1962"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Donald Audette averaged more than a point per game for the first time in his six-year career./cap&gt;</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p>Top draft choice: University of Minnesota center/left winger Erik Rasmussen, picked seventh overall, was the Sabres&rsquo; reward for missing the playoffs, but the power forward appears to be at least two years away.</p><p>Coach/GM: Nolan (33-42-7, .445) proved he was a leader and his team played hard and tough, but it was also the most penalized team in the league, a sure sign that it wasn&rsquo;t very talented or disciplined. His second-year challenge will be tougher as the veterans know the hard work speech inside and out and won&rsquo;t be that willing if they know no help is on the horizon.</p><p>Many blame Muckier (98-93-23, .512) for the state the Sabres are now in because of the influence he had as director of player personnel before he became GM. He has been widely criticized for not getting enough from the Vancouver Canucks for a superstar scorer in Alexander Mogilny. He gets more blame if you figure he was the driving force behind sending Dave Andreychuk, Daren Puppa and a first round draft pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Grant Fuhr. But Muckier has also drafted the core of the Sabres&rsquo; future and is being given high marks for potential (if still untested) talent such as Primeau, Brown, Varada, Jay McKee and Martin Biron.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: First round losses to the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers preceded their non-playoff finish last season.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 2 (1 in 1993-94; 1 in 1994-95:0 in 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0284/10257006-1-eng-US/f0081-022.jpg" title="f0081-02" width="1014" height="1195"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0081-0355/10256999-1-eng-US/f0081-032.jpg" title="f0081-03" width="540" height="677"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-01118/10256992-1-eng-US/f0082-012.jpg" title="f0082-01" width="2116" height="2119"></div><p>Northeast Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0082-02_ad4/10256985-1-eng-US/f0082-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0082-02_Ad" width="2148" height="828"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0079-03

BUFFALO SABRES

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-0346/10257121-1-eng-US/f0083-032.jpg" title="f0083-03" width="639" height="1040"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-01105/10257128-1-eng-US/f0083-012.jpg" title="f0083-01" width="130" height="131"></div><p>After years of following a strong regular season with a do-nothing playoff, the Calgary Flames modified their script last spring.</p><p>They followed a mediocre regular season with a do-nothing playoff.</p><p>If you&rsquo;re keeping score at home, that means the Flames are oh-for-the-&rsquo;90s in post-season play and every season, they manage to slip just a little further down the NHL ladder.</p><p>It didn&rsquo;t help that star left winger Gary Roberts retired in early summer because of the ongoing problems with his surgically repaired neck, leaving the Flames with only one player-right winger Theo Fleury-from their 1988-89 Stanley Cup championship team.</p><p>Roberts&rsquo; retirement, while anticipated, delivered a severe body blow to an organization that has seen its talent pool diminish with each passing year. When Roberts returned to the lineup last season, the Rames ings. By the time he reinjured his neck, they were sixth.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0083-0267/10257114-1-eng-US/f0083-022.jpg" title="f0083-02" width="1409" height="2205"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RIGHT WINGER THEO FLEURY</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Rocky Widner)</span></figcaption></div><p>were 11th in the Western Conference standings. By the time he reinjured his neck, they were sixth.</p><p>Without him in the playoffs, they were the first team to be eliminated, exiting the post-season in four easy steps losing to the Chicago Blackhawks.</p><p>Just squeezing into the playoffs next season promises to be a challenge for a franchise that boasted one of the best cumulative records in the NHL over the previous decade.</p><p>Pacific, 15th overall, lost Western Conference quarterfinal to Chicago 4-0. Power play: 18.4 per cent (12th overall). Penalty killing: 80.1 (22nd overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: Dave Gagner, C; Robert Reichel, C.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Jarome Iginla, RW; Cale Hulse, D; Jamie Allison, D; Marty Murray, C; Chris Dingman, LW-RW.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0084-01108/10257107-1-eng-US/f0084-012.jpg" title="f0084-01" width="2550" height="3465"></div><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Scoring depth. Once you get past Theo Fleury and German Titov, no Flame produced more than 55 points last sea-son. If Gagner can rebound from an injury-filled &rsquo;94-95 season and Robert Reichel successfully returns from a one-year hiatus in Germany, then perhaps they can balance the scoring onto two lines.</p><p>2. Developing a power-play quarterback. Once upon a time, the Flames generated more offense from defense than any team in the NHL. Then Gary Suter, Al Maclnnis and Phil Housley all moved on, leaving the power play un-settled. They tried Zarley Zal-apski, Steve Chiasson and Tommy Albelin back there, with limited success.</p><p>3. The kids. In the early stages of last season, as many as six first-year players dotted the Flames&rsquo; lineup. When the team didn&rsquo;t register a win until its 11th game of the season, they were farmed out on masse and replaced with more experi-enced NHLers. This year, the Flames&rsquo; commitment to youth must be stronger, based on the off-season decision to part with eight veterans: Trent Yawney, Kevin Dahl, Dean Evason, Bob Sweeney, Claude Lapointe, Jocelyn Lemieux and Sheldon Kennedy.</p><p>State of goaltending: The Flames started last season with a definite No. 1 in Trevor Kidd and ended up with a two-goalie system. That was largely because of Rick Tabaracci&rsquo;s emergence after November when coach Pierre Page instituted a play-until-you-lose rotation. Tabaracci actually had more wins (19) than Kidd (15), although his goals-against average (2.94) was slightly higher than Kidd&rsquo;s (2.78). In a year when a lot of things went badly for the Flames, they frequently received above-average goaltending from both players, one of the reasons for their second-half surge.</p><p>Most pressing need: Another front-line player. After losing Roberts, Joe Nieuwendyk and Housley, the Flames lack star power. The solution may eventually be Jarome Iginla, a 1995 first-round draft choice, but he just turned 19 and his NHL experience is limited to the two play-off games in which he appear-ed last spring.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-01104/10257100-1-eng-US/f0085-012.jpg" title="f0085-01" width="1096" height="1780"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve Chiasson remains a solid competitor on the blueline.</b></figcaption></div><p>Sleeper pool pick: Gagner, acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a third-round draft choice, was penciled in as the team&rsquo;s No. 1 center and expects to get lots of quality ice time on the power play and even strength. Gagner&rsquo;s effectiveness last season was limited by a pair of concussions and a broken collarbone, but he has been a historically durable player, usually good for 75 points a season.</p><p>Top draft choice: The Flames chose Derek Morris 13th overall, despite a comparatively low Central Scouting rating (85th) to fill a specific need-someone to anchor the power play. However, Morris started last season in midget hockey before moving on to the Regina Pats of the Western League, so he doesn&rsquo;t even have a full junior year behind him.</p><p>Coach/GM: Pierre Page (195-217-60, .477) has the misfortune of joining teams right at the bottom of their cycles-Minnesota North Stars, Quebec Nordiques- and last year&rsquo;s decision to sign with Calgary found him in exactly the same position. But he coaxed a 34-37-11 record out of a so-so club.</p><p>Al Coates (33-29-8, .529) took over from Doug Risebrough as GM 12 games into the season. Coates employed a conservative philosophy in the early days of his career, making only one deal of consequence-trading Housley (who would have been an unrestricted free agent anyway) to the New Jersey Devils.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: The Flames have lost in the first round in each of the past three seasons.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds the past three years: 3 (1, 1993-94; 1, 1994-95; 1, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-0264/10257093-1-eng-US/f0085-022.jpg" title="f0085-02" width="1018" height="1187"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0085-0341/10257086-1-eng-US/f0085-032.jpg" title="f0085-03" width="541" height="674"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-01113/10257079-1-eng-US/f0086-012.jpg" title="f0086-01" width="2118" height="2119"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0086-02_ad4/10257072-1-eng-US/f0086-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0086-02_Ad" width="2148" height="827"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0083-03

CALGARY FLAMES

<div class="byline">By Adrian Dater</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0327/10257316-1-eng-US/f0093-032.jpg" title="f0093-03" width="653" height="1013"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0197/10257323-1-eng-US/f0093-012.jpg" title="f0093-01" width="132" height="128"></div><p>Only once in NHL history have six different teams won the Stanley Cup in successive years.</p><p>The Colorado Avalanche wants to make sure it doesn&rsquo;t happen again next season.</p><p>Just when it looked like parity had hit the NHL with five different winners in the past five seasons, along came the Avalanche, who looks like it has what it takes to be the NHL&rsquo;s next dynasty.</p><p>The Avalanche went into the 1995-96 season with a talented team, but one critics said was lacking in three key areas: nastiness, goaltending and offense from the blueline.</p><p>GM Pierre Lacroix filled all three voids with the acquisitions of Claude Lemieux, Patrick Roy and Sandis Ozolinsh.</p><p>Combine that with a core of young players that is the envy of the league, depth at every position and a bright young coach and you have the makings of a perennial contender.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0093-0256/10257309-1-eng-US/f0093-022.jpg" title="f0093-02" width="1414" height="2121"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CENTER JOE SAKIC</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Avalanche has the best 1-2 punch at center in the NHL with Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic and the team is deep at forward. The defense, led by Cup hero Uwe Krupp, got better through the playoffs. And in Roy, the Avalanche has the best money goaltender of all time.</p><p>About 450,000 people lined the streets of Denver for the Avalanche&rsquo;s first ever Stanley Cup parade in June. There&rsquo;s a good chance they&rsquo;ll get to do it all over again next June.</p><p>1995-96 record: 47-25-10, first in Pacific, second overall, won Stanley Cup 4-0 over Florida. Power play: 21.3 per cent (tied for second overall). Penalty killing: 83.8 per cent (seventh overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisition: Eric Lacroix, LW.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Marc Denis, G; Landon Wilson, LW.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Dealing with the complacency factor. The past two Stanley Cup champions-the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils-suffered big let-downs the season after taking the big prize. It&rsquo;s hard to be-lieve that would happen to the Avalanche, but who in their right mind expected the Devils to miss the playoffs last sea-son?</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0094-01105/10257302-1-eng-US/f0094-012.jpg" title="f0094-01" width="2128" height="3080"></div><p>The Avalanche must not get bogged down in ego problems or salary bickering if it is to repeat.</p><p>2. Play of the defense. For a unit that was thought to be too soft, it proved to be a tough group to score on in the second half of the year. Colorado showed it could muscle defensively with anybody in the playoffs. That made things easier on Roy and allowed the Avalanche forwards to gamble a little more through the neutral zone. That high level of play must be maintained.</p><p>3. Contracts. The contracts of coach Marc Crawford, Fors-berg, Sakic and Roy all expire after this season. Although all four will honor the last year of their deals, the team will face a major distraction if they&rsquo;re not signed to new deals sometime this season.</p><p>State of goaltending: Roy would have won his third Conn Smythe Trophy if it weren&rsquo;t for the outstanding play of season, Roy went 16-6 in the post-season to up his career playoff record to 86-48, and posted a 2.10 goals-against average and 92.1 save percentage. Roy is 30 and should have a couple of great seasons left, but there should be concern about the long-term future. Promising youngster Jocelyn Thibault was trad-ed for Roy and backup Stephane Fis-et was dealt over the summer. That leaves 1995 first round pick Marc Denis, who gets a shot at backing up his boyhood idol.</p><p>Most pressing need: There are no alarming needs on this team, but if Roy gets hurt and Denis isn&rsquo;t ready yet, another veteran presence in goal will be necessary.</p><p>Sleeper pool pick: Left winger Valeri Kamensky had a career-high 85 points last season and was the NHL&rsquo;s fourth-leading scorer in the playoffs with 22 points. Assuming he again plays on the left side with Forsberg and Lemieux as linemates, Kamensky might even reach the 100-point barrier this season.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0095-01101/10257295-1-eng-US/f0095-012.jpg" title="f0095-01" width="1105" height="1786"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Peter Forsberg was fifth in scoring in just his second year</b></figcaption></div><p>Top draft choice: With Ozolinsh just coming into his prime, it seemed odd the Avalanche would select an offensive defenseman. But that&rsquo;s the kind of player it got in Peter Ratchuk with the 25th overall pick. The Buffalo native will play the next next few years at Bowling Green University. Colorado management thinks it may, someday, have something close to Ozolinsh in the 19-year-old Ratchuk.</p><p>Coach/GM: Coach Marc Crawford (77-38-15, .642) has quite a resume his first two years in the league: a Jack Adams Award and a Stanley Cup. There was talk Crawford would leave Colorado to take the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; job in the off-season, but he opted year, to stay. Crawford has a sharp hockey mind and has managed the talent-laden squad very well by not letting players develop bad habits on the ice.</p><p>Lacroix (77-38-15, .642) was The Hockey News&rsquo; choice as NHL executive of the year in 1995-96-with good reason. His three major trades last year turned out perfectly and made him look like a genius. The former player agent raised some eyebrows by trading for his son in the off-season, but Lacroix has never shied away from making bold moves to help the team.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: After not making the playoffs three years ago and losing in the first round the year after as the Quebec Nordiques, the Avalanche won the franchise&rsquo;s first ever Stanley Cup last season.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 5 (0, 1993-94; 1, 1994-95; 4, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0095-0254/10257288-1-eng-US/f0095-022.jpg" title="f0095-02" width="1031" height="1174"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0095-0338/10257281-1-eng-US/f0095-032.jpg" title="f0095-03" width="540" height="671"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0096-01116/10257274-1-eng-US/f0096-012.jpg" title="f0096-01" width="2112" height="2132"></div><p>Pacific Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0096-02_ad/10257267-1-eng-US/f0096-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0096-02_Ad" width="2140" height="804"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0093-03

COLORADO AVALANCHE

<div class="byline">By Mike Helka</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0097-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-0267/10257403-1-eng-US/f0097-022.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-01108/10257410-1-eng-US/f0097-012.jpg" title="f0097-01" width="136" height="129"></div><p>Bob Gainey looks at the Dallas Stars&rsquo; roster and knows just about every one of his players will improve over the 1995-96 season.</p><p>&ldquo;After last year,&rdquo; said the Stars&rsquo; GM, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how we can&rsquo;t be better.&rdquo;</p><p>A team that set a franchise record with 97 points in 1993-94 endured its second straight sub-,500 season. But last year-from the trade of top prospect Jarome Iginla for Joe Nieuwendyk to Gainey handing the coaching reigns to Ken Hitchcock-the Stars bottomed out.</p><p>&ldquo;On paper, I liked last year&rsquo;s team better than (the 1993-94 team),&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;But teams are exactly that and getting the most out of the group is what&rsquo;s important, not who the individuals are.&rdquo;</p><p>The Stars have attempted to at least make sure the right individuals are in place and have truly embraced change. In the past calendar year, they have added Nieuwendyk, Pat Verbeek, Bob Bassen, Benoit Hogue, Sergei Zubov, Dave Reid and Darryl Sydor. But pulling them together as a team will be the big challenge for the Stars.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0097-0342/10257396-1-eng-US/f0097-032.jpg" title="f0097-03" width="647" height="1012"><figcaption class="caption-body">CENTER MIKE MODANO</figcaption></div><p>The team this season will be Hitchcock&rsquo;s from the beginning and that should help him implement his coaching style more easily. Hitchcock is more offensively inclined than Gainey and should give the Stars more creative freedom on offense. And with the acquisitions of Zubov and Verbeek, he has more offensive tools with which to work. Only three teams in the NHL scored fewer goals than Dallas last season.</p><p>1995-96 record: 26-42-14, fifth in Central, 22nd overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 15.1 per cent (24th overall). Penalty killing: 80.4 per cent (21st overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: Arturs Irbe, G; Dave Reid, LW; Pat Verbeek. RW; Sergei Zubov, D.</p><p>Candidate for promotion: Sergei Gusev, D; Jamie Langenbrunner, C; Roman Turek, G.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Offense. For all the emphasis Hitchcock put on scoring, the Stars were a team with no finish. Nieuwendyk and Modano have to rebound from terrible years. Verbeek, who scored 41 goals for the New York Rangers last season, is a big help. The bottom line is the top-money guys have to pay the price to get to the places on the ice where they can put the puck in the net. And then they have to do it.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0098-01131/10257389-1-eng-US/f0098-012.jpg" title="f0098-01" width="2180" height="3040"></div><p>2. Passion. Perhaps a visit to the Wizard of Oz can help this tin team find a heart. Losing Bob Bassen to injury hurt more than it should have and Modano, 3. 3. Nieuwendyk and the Hatcher brothers stepped down instead of up in the face of adversity. Kevin Hatcher&rsquo;s trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins should be good for both sides, giving Hatcher a better fit for his offensive style and taking his &ldquo;What, Me Worry?&rdquo; attitude out of the dressing room.</p><p>3. The goaltending situation. The Stars believe they have two solid netminders in Andy Moog and Roman Turek. But the truth is Moog is only as good as his 36-year-old body will allow and Turek has never played an NHL game. Arturs Irbe provides the Stars with depth at that position and gives them NHL experience at backup should Turek not be ready.</p><p>State of goaltending: The Stars are banking on Turek, a 26-year-old who led the Czech Republic to the World Championship, blossoming early. Turek will also play at the World Cup so he&rsquo;ll get an early start on facing NHL shooters. Moog still believes the No. 1 job is his and he can be quite feisty about it. When he wasn&rsquo;t battling a sore hip or knee, Moog was solid, with a 2.99 goals-against average and 90.0 save percentage. With a reduced workload next season, Moog just might even be better. The Stars signed Irbe to a one-year contract for insurance.</p><p>Most pressing need: The Stars need grit and scoring from the wings, who last season were among the most anonymous group in the NHL. Signing free agent Verbeek to a three-year, $9.3 million contract was a start, but the team still requires a little more grit than what the trio of er&rsquo;s coach, but also knows this team needs a kick in the pants after under-achieving. Look for him to follow the latter plan and bring a no-non-sense attitude to training camp.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0195/10257382-1-eng-US/f0099-012.jpg" title="f0099-01" width="1139" height="1787"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Joe Nieuwendyk is coming off a career-low 14-goal season.</b></figcaption></div><p>Sleeper pool pick: He&rsquo;s hardly a traditional sleeper, but look for Nieuwendyk to bounce back from a horren-dous season. He should be paired with Verbeek, a Gary Roberts-like player who could push Nieuwendyk. Lehtinen wouldn&rsquo;t be a bad late-round pickup either if he gets a full season on Modano&rsquo;s right.</p><p>Top draft choice: With their first top-five pick since 1988, the Stars picked up de-fenseman Richard Jackman from the Sault. Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario League. Jackman played in every situation in his first OHL season and will be a leader on the team this year.</p><p>Coach-GM: Hitchcock (15-25-5.407) has some tough decisions to make about his direction with the team this season. He likes being a play-</p><p>Gainey (121-132-45 .481) has tom apart the team&rsquo;s forwards and rebuilt two or three times, so what lies before him is his responsibility alone. If you base his performance on last season&rsquo;s team, he looks bad. If you base it on the names on this year&rsquo;s roster, he looks a lot better. But Gainey&rsquo;s true test will be how those players perform for him this season.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: The Stars were derailed by a hot Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; team in 1994 and were fodder for the Detroit Red Wings in 1995. Last season, they weren&rsquo;t even close to making the playoffs.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 3 (2, 1993-94; 1, 1994-95; 0, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0247/10257375-1-eng-US/f0099-022.jpg" title="f0099-02" width="1042" height="1176"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0099-0338/10257368-1-eng-US/f0099-032.jpg" title="f0099-03" width="557" height="670"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-01104/10257361-1-eng-US/f0100-012.jpg" title="f0100-01" width="2073" height="2141"></div><p>Central Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0100-02_ad/10257354-1-eng-US/f0100-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0100-02_Ad" width="2107" height="820"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0097-02

DALLAS STARS

<div class="byline">By Cynthia lambert</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0255/10257518-1-eng-US/f0101-022.jpg" title="f0101-02" width="647" height="1009"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0194/10257525-1-eng-US/f0101-012.jpg" title="f0101-01" width="133" height="130"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>fter losing the Stanley Cup final in 1995, the Detroit Red Wings said it would be different in 1996. Little did they know at the time the difference would be losing the Western Conference final instead.</p><p>First the gtxxl:</p><p>A record 62 wins in the regular season, a second straight Presidents&rsquo; Trophy, Paul Coffey&rsquo;s I,(XX)th career assist, Steve Yzer-rnan&rsquo;s 5(X)th goal, coach Scotty Bowman setting a new mark for games coached.</p><p>Now the bad:</p><p>All of those accomplishments amounted to little from a team perspective because the Red Wings failed in the playoffs again.</p><p>Following the loss, changes, some major, were expected. But Bowman, also in charge of player personnel, stood pat during the rush by teams to sign the top unrestricted free agents. He also maintained his stance that the team&rsquo;s Russian unit could still be successful, led by Sergei Fedorov, who won his second Selke Trophy in three seasons.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0101-0333/10257511-1-eng-US/f0101-032.jpg" title="f0101-03" width="1447" height="2115"><figcaption class="caption-body">GOALTENDER CHRIS OSGOOD</figcaption></div><p>As the summer wore on. Detroit lost more players than it gained-all by design. Bowman stated. Two of the losses were defensemen. Veteran Mike Ramsey retired and free agent Marc Bergevin, a Group V free agent, was signed by the St. Louis Blues.</p><p>Despite its inability to win the big one. Detroit enters this season as a team to beat with top returning players Yzerman. Fedorov Ctuis Osgood. Coffey, Nick Lidstrom and Vladimir Konstantinov.</p><p><b>1995-96 record</b>: 62-13-7, first in Central, first overall, lost Western Conference final 4-2 to Colorado. Power play: 21.3 per cent (tied for second overall). Penalty killing: 88.3 per cent (first overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisitions</b>: None.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion</b>: Anders Eriksson. D; Kevin Hodson. G; Jamie Push-or. D; Aaron Ward. D.</p><p><b>Three pivotal factors: 1. The playoff</b> bogeyman. For the past two seasons, the Wings dazzled in the regular season only to fizzle in the post-season. The Red Wings either have to ease up in the regular season or get more players who have won it all. Maybe they need to do both.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0102-0199/10257504-1-eng-US/f0102-012.jpg" title="f0102-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. The defense corps. Adding two rookies to the mix adds a level of unpredictability, though both have played a substantial amount at the minor league level. Anders Eriksson is big, a strong skater and skilled puck-handler. Jamie Pushor is a stay-at-home defenseman who also can hit and is big. They join Coffey, Lidstrom, Bob Rouse, Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov.</p><p>3. Goaltending. Even though he had a spectacular season, Chris Osgood was still considered Mike Vernon&rsquo;s partner in 1995-96. This year he will be the undisputed No. 1 man and he&rsquo;ll have to prove he can shoulder the load during the season and in the play-offs.</p><p><b>State of goaltending:</b> Vezina Trophy finalist Osgood is No. 1, but there is an interesting situation for the backup role. Vernon has one year left on his contract, but Adiron-dack Red Wings&rsquo; goaltender Kevin Hodson cannot be re-turned to the minors this year without clearing waivers. Either Vernon or Hodson will have Keith Primeau was part of the league&rsquo;s third-best offense to be traded or Detroit must leave one of them unprotected for the waiver draft. Bowman has said the goalie situation likely won&rsquo;t be addressed until the fall.</p><p><b>Most pressing need:</b> Though he said it didn&rsquo;t happen because of the money involved, Bowman was reportedly keen on acquiring rugged defenseman Marty McSorley last year. And in the playoffs, it was obvious the Wings could have used a physical force on the blueline. This year they will add Pushor, who is a Rouse-type of player. That means the Wings have added a bit of a mus-cle, but likely not enough.</p><p><b>Sleeper pool pick:</b> If goalies are included in your pool, the real sleeper could be Hodson, who might end up playing up to 30 games behind one of the league&rsquo;s best teams. Up front, expect Mathieu Dandenault to get more ice time than he did last year. Eriksson has a chance to put up some big numbers if he plays on the power play.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0103-0190/10257497-1-eng-US/f0103-012.jpg" title="f0103-01" width="1119" height="1798"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Keith Primeau was part of the league&rsquo;s third-best offense.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>Top draft choice:</b> Picking last for the second straight year, the Wings again went for a big defenseman, landing 6-foot-2, 190-pound Jesse Wallin of the Western League&rsquo;s Red Deer Rebels 26th overall. Wallin likens his style to that of Kevin Lowe. The Wings don&rsquo;t expect to see Wallin in the lineup until the turn of the century.</p><p><b>Coach/GM:</b> Scotty Bow-man (975-434-245, .664) enters his fourth year as coach and third as director of player personnel. As a coach, Bow-man has reached every signifi-cant milestone and has won six Stanley Cups. But he has yet to take the Wings all the way. He received a one-year extension for this season and if he does-n&rsquo;t deliver now, it could be his last year as coach.</p><p>The GM position for the Red Wings is shared by three men-Bowman, assistant GM Ken Holland and senior vice-president Jimmy Devellano. The tribunal often confuses other GMs and agents who want to conduct busi-ness. Sometimes it even confuses itself, as evidenced by the lack of communication over the summer when Bowman told Bergevin he wanted him back, yet Devellano never contacted Bergevin to discuss a contract after the Blues made their offer.</p><p><b>Three year playoff history</b>: After losing to the San Jose Sharks in 1994, the Red Wings went to the final in 1995 and were ousted by the Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference final last year.</p><p><b>Number of playoff rounds past three years:</b> 8 (1, 1993-94; 4, 1994-95; 3, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0103-0247/10257490-1-eng-US/f0103-022.jpg" title="f0103-02" width="1032" height="1179"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0103-0333/10257483-1-eng-US/f0103-032.jpg" title="f0103-03" width="556" height="675"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0104-01102/10257476-1-eng-US/f0104-012.jpg" title="f0104-01" width="2263" height="2241"></div><p>Central Division Wcstcni</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0104-02_ad/10257469-1-eng-US/f0104-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0104-02_Ad" width="2160" height="832"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0106-01_ad2/10257462-1-eng-US/f0106-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0106-01_Ad" width="1039" height="1488"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0106-02_ad4/10257455-1-eng-US/f0106-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0106-02_Ad" width="1012" height="1497"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0106-03_ad2/10257448-1-eng-US/f0106-03_ad2.jpg" title="f0106-03_Ad" width="1043" height="1494"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0106-04_ad/10257441-1-eng-US/f0106-04_ad2.jpg" title="f0106-04_Ad" width="1005" height="1428"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0101-02

DETROIT RED WINGS

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0107-0250/10257605-1-eng-US/f0107-022.jpg" title="f0107-02" width="628" height="1017"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0107-0189/10257612-1-eng-US/f0107-012.jpg" title="f0107-01" width="136" height="142"></div><p>The Edmonton Oilers continue to show promise, but they just haven&rsquo;t been able to keep many of them the last four seasons.</p><p>And that makes GM Glen Sather&rsquo;s postseason declarations even bolder than they appeared in April when the Oilers failed to make the playoffs a fourth straight season. Not only did he promise he would sign free agents Jason Arnott and Doug Weight, he told fans they might as well purchase playoff tickets now. Take it to the bank. &ldquo;I promise,&rdquo; Sather said. He also said the Oilers will not miss the playoffs again in his tenure as GM.</p><p>Now it should be pointed out he made these statements while the Oilers were in the throes of a race to sell 13,000 season tickets by May 31 and qualify for financial assistance from the NHL. They made it over the mark and will dip into the pool of TV money made available by the league.</p><p>That should make it easier to sign Arnott and Weight to million-dollar deals, of course, just because Sather has the money doesn&rsquo;t mean he wants to spend it.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0107-0332/10257598-1-eng-US/f0107-032.jpg" title="f0107-03" width="1412" height="2141"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GOALTENDER CURTIS JOSEPH</b></figcaption></div><p>Along with another free agent, Zdeno Ciger, the trio forms the backbone of the forward ranks. If all three players re-turn- and Ciger was making the loudest noises about not coming back-the Oilers would have a solid base up front.</p><p>Depth comes in the form Miroslav Satan, Mariusz Czerkawski, Todd Marchant, Dean McAmmond and Ryan Smyth. All have promises to keep. Just like the GM.</p><p><b>1995-96 record:</b> 30-44-8, fifth in Pacific, 21st overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 15.9 per cent (21st overall). Penalty killing: 80.8 percent (18th overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisition:</b> Bob Essensa, G.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion</b>: Jason Bonsignore, C; Dennis Bonvie, D; Georges Laraque, LW.</p><p><b>Three pivotal factors</b>: 1. Jason Arnott&rsquo;s contribution. If his head is bolted on properly, Arnott can dominate a game like no other Oiler. He is mean and physical, gifted offensively, responsible de-fensively and has of one of the heaviest shots in the game. But it was a rare night when he brought the entire package to a game last season.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0108-01106/10257591-1-eng-US/f0108-012.jpg" title="f0108-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. Doug Weight&rsquo;s contribution. This is a given. He will be there every single night and he will lead the team in scoring. But how much better than 104 points can this star be in 1996-97? With the right mix of scoring and skating wingers and a little better touch around the net, Weight is easily a 120-point player in the making. He&rsquo;s durable-hasn&rsquo;t missed a game as an Oiler in more than three seasons.</p><p>3. Emergence of all that youth. Arnott and Weight need a supporting cast and it will again be young. And perhaps fans will be told to be patient again. But the Oilers&rsquo; young forwards are gaining in experience and it&rsquo;s time for McAmmond. Marchant, David Oliv-er, Satan and Czerkawski to make the leap from young players with potential to bona fide NHLers. Jason Bonsignore must also demon-strate he has what it takes to be a pro.</p><p><b>State of goaltending:</b> The Oilers have not been this solid in goal since the days of Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog, then Fuhr and Bill Ranford. They have always had an impeccable No. 1 netminder, but for the past several seasons their backup support has been average at best and incompetent at the worst of times, particularly late in the past two seasons when poor backup performances by Fred Brathwaite and then Joaquin Gage helped kill their playoff chances. This season Curtis Joseph will be backed up by Bob Essensa. Lurking on the sidelines is Steve Passmore, still determined to beat a mysterious muscle cramping condition that has seriously threatened his brief pro career.</p><p><b>Most pressing need</b>: Defensive depth. Edmonton&rsquo;s strengths on the blueline are based on the reliability of Luke Richardson, the antics of Bryan Marchment and the offensive ability of Jeff Norton. After the top three, roll the dice with the erratic Boris Mironov, Jiri Slegr, Donald Dufresne and unproven Bryan Muir and Greg de Vries.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0109-0195/10257584-1-eng-US/f0109-012.jpg" title="f0109-01" width="1095" height="1811"><figcaption class="caption-body">Center Doug Weight is a 120-point player waiting to happen.</figcaption></div><p><b>Defensive Defenseman</b> Luke Richardson</p><p><b>Sleeper pool pick:</b> Weight was last year&rsquo;s best bargain, but the cat is out of the bag after a 104-point season. So look at Satan to break out. The tricky Slovak showed flashes of offensive brilliance last season, though his num-bers-18 goals and 35 points in 62 games-weren&rsquo;t all that great. But he was an even plus-minus player on a team that finished with 64 fewer goals for than against.</p><p><b>Top draft choice:</b> The Oilers made the smart choice with their sixth overall selection&hellip;literally. They picked Canadian junior hockey&rsquo;s scholastic player of the year, center Boyd Devereaux. Count on him to return to junior.</p><p><b>Coach/GM:</b> Coach Ron Low&rsquo;s (35-51-9, .439) first full season at the helm turned into a rocky ride. The carefree assistant has become the frustrated head man. Low&rsquo;s strength lies in motivation and the ability to work with youngsters. He has the respect of his players and last year had the benefit of the doubt from the fans, media and management, who were still incredibly patient with a young and inexpensive lineup. This season, there may not be as much forgiveness.</p><p>Sather (627-476-155, .560) has promised Oiler fans his team will make the playoffs in 1996-97. Easy for him to say of course, sitting in the press box. And it won&rsquo;t be Sather who gets fired if the team is out of the race in March, either. He has to deliver a better talent base for Low.</p><p><b>Three-year playoff history:</b> Oilers have not qualified for playoffs the past four seasons.</p><p><b>Number of playoff rounds past three years</b>: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0109-0256/10257577-1-eng-US/f0109-022.jpg" title="f0109-02" width="998" height="1182"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0109-0337/10257570-1-eng-US/f0109-032.jpg" title="f0109-03" width="534" height="683"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0110-0198/10257563-1-eng-US/f0110-012.jpg" title="f0110-01" width="2255" height="2231"></div><p>Pacific Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0110-02_ad4/10257556-1-eng-US/f0110-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0110-02_Ad" width="2234" height="856"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0107-02

EDMONTON OILERS

<div class="byline">By David Neal</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0111-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0111-0334/10257692-1-eng-US/f0111-032.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0111-0196/10257699-1-eng-US/f0111-012.jpg" title="f0111-01" width="133" height="133"></div><p>The only thing more foolish than saying the Florida Panthers <i>can&rsquo;t</i> repeat their success from last season is <i>expecting</i> them to do it.</p><p>Miraculous, incredible, unbelievable-use whatever adjective you want to describe the Panthers&rsquo; wild run to the Stanley Cup final in 1995-96-but don&rsquo;t use fluke. In the playoffs, the Panthers did what they did all season: they used a systematic, four-line approach to beat teams that had better talent.</p><p>The season that started with Scott Mellanby killing a rat and causing rubbei rats to replace flak jackets as South Florida&rsquo;s biggest cottage industry, ended with the Panthers defeated in four straight games, but satisfied with the gains they made.</p><p>Still, there are concerns.</p><p>There will be further tinkering with the lineup as Panthers&rsquo; management continues to precariously balance adding talent while not losing character.</p><p>Without the minor league depth of several drafts, the Panthers are vulnerable to even a small run of injuries. Except for rookie center Steve Washbum, the Panthers call-ups seemed out of their element.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0111-0248/10257685-1-eng-US/f0111-022.jpg" title="f0111-02" width="640" height="1020"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEFENSEMAN ED JOVANOVSKI</figcaption></div><p>That said, the Panthers still have one of the league&rsquo;s best goaltending tandems in John Vanbiesbrouck and Mark Fitzpatrick. Their forward speed allows them to forecheck heavily while not giving up much defensively. Having Ray Sheppard for a full season might bring the franchise&rsquo;s first 50-goal scorer and there&rsquo;s an impressive array of young players already taking key roles.</p><p><b>1995-96 record:</b> 41-31-10, third in Atlantic, fourth in Eastern Conference, seventh overall, lost Stanley Cup final 4-0 to Colorado. Power play: 17.3 per cent (16th overall). Penalty killing: 83.0 per cent (ninth overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisitions:</b> None.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion: Per</b> Gustafsson, D; David Nemirovsky, RW; Jason Podollan, RW; Steve Washburn, C.</p><p><b>Three pivotal factors: 1. Play of the</b> John Vanbiesbrouck laid to rest any notion he can&rsquo;t perform under pressure in the &rsquo;96 playoffs. youngsters. The cornerstones of the Panthers&rsquo; future-third-year center Rob Niedermayer and second-year men Ed Jov-anovski, Radek Dvorak and Rhett Warrener-all had strong seasons. But Niedermayer&rsquo;s willingness to impact a game, Jovanovski&rsquo;s hockey sense and Dvorak&rsquo;s use of his prodigious offensive talents all must continue to grow.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0112-01109/10257678-1-eng-US/f0112-012.jpg" title="f0112-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. How they handle the transition from fad to favorite. No longer are the Panthers cute upstarts sneaking up on over-confident opponents. They&rsquo;ll be a marked team throughout the Eastern Conference. Also, South Floridians aren&rsquo;t known for being the most patient fans, new to hockey or not. Now the Panthers have been the talk of the town, the next slump could make them the town whipping boys.</p><p>3. Team toughness. Nobody pushed the Panthers around in the playoffs, but late in the regular season opponents took liberties without fear of retribution. Defenseman Paul Laus could handle some forward help in the tough guy role.</p><p><b>State of goaltending:</b> 1996 was Springtime for Beezer. Not only did Vanbies-brouck establish himself as a playoff performer-Philadel-phia Flyers&rsquo; GM Bob Clarke said Vanbiesbrouck&rsquo;s playoff The Panthers hope Rob Niedermayer can build on 1995-96.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0113-0191/10257671-1-eng-US/f0113-012.jpg" title="f0113-01" width="1079" height="1779"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Panthers hope Rob Niedermayer can build on 1995-96.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>Top draft choice:</b> The Panthers failed to move up to get Swedish center Marcus Nilson, then found him avail-able when their pick came up at No. 20 overall. The competi-tiveness, hands and hockey sense Nilson showed as a 17-year-old at the 1996 World Junior Championship in Bos-ton allowed scouts to overlook his marginal skating. He&rsquo;s still at least a year away from joining the Panthers&rsquo; system.</p><p><b>Coach/GM:</b> It was a season of vindication for both coach Doug MacLean (41-31-10, .561) and GM Bryan Murray (231-174-53, .562).</p><p>MacLean&rsquo;s exuberant per-sonality and wisdom in knowing when to leave his closely knit team alone won him res-pect and loyalty in the dressing room and accolades as The performance ranked with those of Bernie Parent and Ken Dryden-but he nailed down the No. 1 goalie spot. It&rsquo;s easy to forget that until the last month of the season, Vanbiesbrouck didn&rsquo;t have an edge on Fitzpatrick for even that. Fitzpatrick isn&rsquo;t happy being No. 2 and Vanbiesbrouck has two more years left on his contract.</p><p><b>Most pressing need</b>: A de-pendable scorer. The Panthers all-for-one approach assumes somebody will make the big play because ev-erybody is trying. But everybody doesn&rsquo;t have the talent to make the big play and too often, the Panthers are helpless when trailing in the third period.</p><p><b>Sleeper pool pick:</b> The Pan-thers want to make Per Gustafsson, an 11th round, 1994 pick from the Swedish Elite League, one of their point men on the power play. Each facet of his offensive game is sup-</p><p>Hockey News coach of the year. He and assistants Lindy Ruff and Duane Sutter didn&rsquo;t misstep during the playoffs.</p><p>No more will Murray have to see his teams&rsquo; playoff records trotted out each April as evidence he&rsquo;s a playoff loser. Not only did the Panthers win several big post-season games, they did so under the coach Murray hired after a contentious 1995 firing of Roger Neilson. Murray also manag-ed to pick up Sheppard and Straka for the net loss of a second-round pick.</p><p><b>Three-year playoff history:</b> After missing the playoffs by a sin-gle point each of the franchise&rsquo;s first two seasons, the Panthers made it all the way to the Stanley Cup final be-fore being swept by the Colorado Avalanche.</p><p><b>Number of playoff rounds last three years:</b> 4 (0, 1993-94; 0, 1994-95; 4, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0113-0253/10257664-1-eng-US/f0113-022.jpg" title="f0113-02" width="1002" height="1180"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0113-0336/10257657-1-eng-US/f0113-032.jpg" title="f0113-03" width="530" height="673"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0114-01101/10257650-1-eng-US/f0114-012.jpg" title="f0114-01" width="2223" height="2221"></div><p>Atlantic Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0114-02_ad4/10257643-1-eng-US/f0114-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0114-02_Ad" width="2170" height="828"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0111-03

FLORIDA PANTHERS

<div class="byline">By Michael Arace</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0115-0246/10257779-1-eng-US/f0115-022.jpg" title="f0115-02" width="622" height="1032"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0115-0189/10257786-1-eng-US/f0115-012.jpg" title="f0115-01" width="133" height="137"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>G</span>o ahead, try to be a Hartford Whalers&rsquo; fan. Plop down in a seat at the Civic Center, wave that &ldquo;Burke is God&rdquo; sign after each of the goaltender&rsquo;s 46 saves and ponder the fate of the home team.</p><p>They&rsquo;re staying, but they&rsquo;re going. Owner Peter Kantianos says he will abide by his lease and remain in Hartford for two more years, but he sure is hot about the circumstances. A season-ticket drive netted over 8,500 customers, which is pretty sound support for a team that needs a subscription to The Hockey News to get a taste of the playoffs.</p><p>However, Karmanos and the state-which runs the arena-couldn&rsquo;t agree on how to open the building&rsquo;s revenue streams to the team. If the two sides remain at loggerheads, it&rsquo;s root, root, root for the lame duck.</p><p>The star is going-or is he staying? Trade rumors surrounding Brendan Shanahan were persistent, but none of them had been generated by the Whalers&rsquo; front office.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0115-0333/10257772-1-eng-US/f0115-032.jpg" title="f0115-03" width="1397" height="2174"><figcaption class="caption-body">LEFT WINGER GEOFF SANDERSON</figcaption></div><p>On the ice, the Whalers are very bad and they&rsquo;re very good. Which will it be this year?</p><p>The Whalers had a 15-10-1 (.596) record against Western Conference teams. Only two Eastern Conference teams-the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers fared better against the West. Against the East, the Whalers were 19-29-8 (.411). Only the Ottawa Senators and the New York Islanders were worse Eastern foes.</p><p>What is going on here? As you can see, it&rsquo;s anybody&rsquo;s guess.</p><p><b>1995-96 record: 34</b>-39-9, fourth in Northeast, 19th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 18 per cent (13th overall). Penalty killing: 80.7 per cent (19th overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisitions</b>: None.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion</b>: Hnat Domenichelli, C-LW; Marek Malik, D; Jason McBain, D.</p><p><b>Three pivotal factors:</b> 1. Getting an identity. The Whalers have no style because they don&rsquo;t yet know what they want to be. Their forwards can fly when they have space, but they&rsquo;ve been rubbed out in the smash-mouth Eastern Conference. Their defensemen can be physical demons when they set their minds to it, but they don&rsquo;t have enough mobility to cover mistakes. The overall effect is unsettling. They have to settle on something.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0116-01103/10257765-1-eng-US/f0116-012.jpg" title="f0116-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. Stability. This is the team that is staying but leaving, with a captain/franchise for-ward who doesn&rsquo;t know whether he&rsquo;s being traded- and isn&rsquo;t sure whether he wants to stay. Weirdness abounds. Given the franchise&rsquo;s murky standing in Hartford- and the fact some of the players have allowed the situation to seep into the dressing room-leader-ship is at a premium.</p><p>3. The situation at center. Andrew Cassels is a fine, finesse, two-way center. He may even be worth the $l million per year the Whalers commit-ted to him midway through last season. But they need big numbers from someone up front, especially if Shanahan is dealt. More is expected of Jeff O&rsquo;Neill, 20, and Andrei Niko-lishin, 23.</p><p><b>State of goaltending</b>: Sean Burke has won the team MVP trophy an unprecedented three consecutive seasons. When Burke was great, the Glen Wesley anchors the Whalers&rsquo; inconsistent defense.</p><p>Whalers could win without even having their A-game. When Burke was decent-to-disaffected, the Whalers had no chance. Backup Jason Muzzatti had a 91.1 save per-centage and a 2.90 GAA, numbers which are nicer than his 4-8-3 record. Manny Legace was the best goalie in the American League and junior goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere is deemed the franchise&rsquo;s goalie of the future.</p><p><b>Most pressing needs:</b> A 100-point center and another defenseman with some offensive pop.</p><p><b>Sleeper pool pick</b>: If you&rsquo;ve got a late-late-round pick and you want to gamble, try Sami Kapanen. The plucky Finn, who survived a career-threatening head injury sustained in training camp and then came out of nowhere to forge a place on the roster, can flat-out shoot the puck. He is going to get ice time to make his first full season interesting.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0117-0185/10257758-1-eng-US/f0117-012.jpg" title="f0117-01" width="1116" height="1807"><figcaption class="caption-body">Glen Wesley anchors the Whalers&rsquo; inconsistent defense.</figcaption></div><p><b>Top draft choice</b>: The Whalers didn&rsquo;t have a first round pick because of the Glen Wesley signing two years ago. They selected Trevor Wasyluk, a fairly large left winger from the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western League, 34th overall. Wasyluk, 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, has displayed a modi-cum of offensive skill (25 goals and 46 points last sea-son), some flexibility (he can play defense) and a dash of elan (he was MVP of the first Canadian Hockey League prospects game). The Whalers claim they had him rated 10th on their scouting list.</p><p><b>Coach/GM:</b> Coach Paul Maurice (29-33-8, .471) took a cautious approach after he re-placed the deposed Paul Holmgren last November. At 29, he is young, but his intelligence and advanced maturity are un-mistakable traits. He took over a team that wouldn&rsquo;t stop skid-ding, decided that major shakeups might be counterproductive and patiently worked the Whalers back into the playoff hunt.</p><p>In two years, president-GM Jim Rutherford (53-63-14, .461) has made a number of infusions, some very costly, some virtually compensatory. Among his imports are Bren-dan Shanahan, Glen Wesley, Gerald Diduck, Steven Rice and Kevin Dineen. Rutherford has cranked the pay-roll from S15 million to over $22 mil-lion. He must now perform the interesting trick of cutting fat while im-proving chemistry and delivering a playoff team to the long-suffering fans.</p><p><b>Three-year playoff history:</b> In the case of the Whalers, this category should read: three years, playoffs history. They haven&rsquo;t seen the post-season in four years.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0117-0251/10257751-1-eng-US/f0117-022.jpg" title="f0117-02" width="1020" height="1187"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0117-0335/10257744-1-eng-US/f0117-032.jpg" title="f0117-03" width="542" height="676"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0118-0196/10257737-1-eng-US/f0118-012.jpg" title="f0118-01" width="2175" height="2209"></div><p>Northeast Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0118-02_ad4/10257730-1-eng-US/f0118-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0118-02_Ad" width="2178" height="864"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0115-02

HARTFORD WHALERS

<div class="byline">By Lisa Dillman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0119-0248/10257866-1-eng-US/f0119-022.jpg" title="f0119-02" width="650" height="1019"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0119-0186/10257873-1-eng-US/f0119-012.jpg" title="f0119-01" width="132" height="126"></div><p>Defenseman Rob Blake will feel like a stranger in a strange land when he joins his new teammates at training camp.</p><p>Instead of Blake leaving the Los Angeles Kings, the Kings left Blake.</p><p>Long gone are Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley, Kelly Hrudey, Rick Tocchet, Pat Conacher, Eric Lacroix, Kevin Todd, John Druce, Darryl Sydor and Jari Kurri. Blake, who was recuperating from season-ending knee surgery, watched nearly the entire team turn over in less than seven months.</p><p>Welcome to home renovation-Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; style.</p><p>There wasn&rsquo;t much of a choice, really, after the decision to trade Gretzky last season. The Kings weren&rsquo;t about to stick one foot in the water and rebuild halfway after missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons. It started when GM Sam McMaster brought in youth and size late in the season in a flurry of trades.</p><p>The second part of the process began inJune when the Kings acquired goalie Stephane Fiset from the Colorado Avalanche for left winger Eric Lacroix. The next month, they picked up some experience to help the youngsters by making their first foray into the free agent market by signing right winger Ed Olczyk, who turned 30 in August.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0119-0333/10257859-1-eng-US/f0119-032.jpg" title="f0119-03" width="1431" height="2137"><figcaption class="caption-body">RIGHT WINGER VITALI YACHMENEV</figcaption></div><p>The age of glitz and glamour is gone, but little of that will matter should the Kings break recent form and reach the playoffs for the first time in four years. But that will be a big challenge.</p><p><b>1995-96 record:</b> 24-40-18, sixth in Pacific, 23rd overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 18.0 per cent (tied for 14th overall). Penalty killing: 81.1 per cent (16th overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisitions</b>: Paul DiPietro, C; Stephane Fiset, G; Brent Grieve, LW; Ed Olczyk, RW.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion:</b> Matt Johnson, LW; Jeff Shevalier, LW; Jamie Storr, G; Roman Vopat, C.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0120-0198/10257852-1-eng-US/f0120-012.jpg" title="f0120-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p><b>Three pivotal factors:</b> 1. Rob Blake&rsquo;s health. Unfortunately for the Kings, that is sounding like the same story every season; Blake has played just 30 games the past two years. A knee injury sidelined him last season and a persistent groin injury put him on the shelf in 1994-95. Some think if Blake had remained healthy, the Kings would not have fallen apart, Gretzky may have re-signed and the fans would still be lining up at the Forum. That&rsquo;s probably a stretch, but it shows how badly the Kings need Blake.</p><p>2. Leadership. The Gretzky circus is behind them and most of the veterans have moved, so the Kings are left with a lot of youth. Kings&rsquo; coach Larry Robinson will need quality contributions in the room and on the ice from the few veterans he does have-notably Ray Ferraro, Kevin Stevens and Olczyk.</p><p>3.The play of Stevens. Should the former 50-goal scorer rebound, even a little bit, it would help the needy offense. Stevens was a shad-ow of his former self last sea-son with the Boston Bruins and the Kings after he was traded for Rick Tocchet. He scored just three goals in 19 games for Los Angeles and was further hampered by a back ailment and a fractured left fibula. Stevens played well at the World Championship for the United States.</p><p><b>State of goaltending:</b> The Fiset acquisition filled an important need and it solidified the position, especially after it became clear the Kings would not retain Kelly Hrudey. Byron Dafoe, had a superb first half, but faltered in the latter stages of the season. Jamie Storr, 20, gained valuable experience last season with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International League and is expected to battle Dafoe in training camp for the backup spot.</p><p><b>Most pressing need:</b> Depth on the right side. Vitali Yachmenev had an outstanding rookie season, but there is little else. Natural center Yanic Perreault could play on that side if he ends up on a line with left winger Stevens and center Ferraro. Olczyk is versatile and can play all three forward positions. A healthy Tony Granato, who became a free agent, would solve the problem if he rejoins the Kings. Granato, who had brain surgery in February, scored 17 goals in 49 games last season and has scored 30 or more goals in a season four times in his career.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0121-0191/10257845-1-eng-US/f0121-012.jpg" title="f0121-01" width="1218" height="1972"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dimitri Khristich led Los Angeles in scoring with 64 points</b></figcaption></div><p><b>Sleeper pool pick:</b> Vladimir Tsyplakov is expected to play on a line with Khristich and Yachmenev. He had 10 points in 23 games last season.</p><p><b>Top draft choice:</b> The Kings had no first round pick and took left winger Josh Green of the Medicine Hat Tigers 30th overall. The 6-foot-3, 197-pounder had 18 goals and 43 points in 46 games last season.</p><p><b>Coach/GM:</b> With the Kings fully committed to the youth movement, Robinson (24-40-18, .402) can concentrate on working with the youngsters. This season, he&rsquo;ll have fewer distractions and presumably more players willing to adhere to his common-sense defensive system.</p><p>Questions about the front office were answered the day of the Gretzky trade when ownership announced that McMaster (40-63-27, .412) would continue in his role. He eventually signed a two-year contract extension. A local radio station talk-show host dubbed the GM &ldquo;McMaster the Disaster&rdquo; and the nickname stuck. The much-vaunted rebuilding phase has begun and McMaster&rsquo;s first trade of the off-season-Fiset for Lacroix-was a step in the right direction.</p><p><b>Three-year playoff history:</b> Since going to the Stanley Cup final in 1993, it has been three straight playoff no-shows for the Kings.</p><p><b>Number of playoff rounds past three years:</b> None.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0121-0256/10257838-1-eng-US/f0121-022.jpg" title="f0121-02" width="1018" height="1187"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0121-0339/10257831-1-eng-US/f0121-032.jpg" title="f0121-03" width="550" height="683"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0122-0195/10257824-1-eng-US/f0122-012.jpg" title="f0122-01" width="2224" height="2207"></div><p>Pacific Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0122-02_ad4/10257817-1-eng-US/f0122-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0122-02_Ad" width="2162" height="841"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0119-02

LOS ANGELES KINGS

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0123-0245/10257953-1-eng-US/f0123-022.jpg" title="f0123-02" width="656" height="1020"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0123-0183/10257960-1-eng-US/f0123-012.jpg" title="f0123-01" width="132" height="126"></div><p>The honeymoon is over in Montreal.</p><p>Canadiens&rsquo; supporters have been patient for three seasons. That may not seem like much, but it&rsquo;s an eternity in Montreal.</p><p>During that span, the team suffered through its first non-playoff season in 25 years and twice was eliminated from the opening round of the playoffs.</p><p>Last season they also traded away their franchise goaltender in Patrick Roy and fired GM Serge Savard, coach Jacques Demers, director of scouting Andre Boudrias and pro scout Carol Vadnais.</p><p>Little wonder people were willing to be patient with their replacements-GM Rejean Houle, coach Mario Tremblay and goalie Jocelyn Thibault.</p><p>But that&rsquo;s now a distant memory.</p><p>This season, the Canadiens must move to the next level. They don&rsquo;t necessarily have to win a Stanley Cup championship, but must at least prove they&rsquo;re legitimate contenders.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0123-0332/10257946-1-eng-US/f0123-032.jpg" title="f0123-03" width="1453" height="2166"><figcaption class="caption-body">LEFT WINGER MARTIN RUCINSKY</figcaption></div><p>The Canadiens&rsquo; prospects for success rest with their defense and goaltending; this is a team that simply doesn&rsquo;t score many goals. Thibault, who went 23-13-3 with a 2.83 average and 91.3 save percentage, must continue to shine. Along the blueline, Patrice Brisebois and Vladimir Malakhov must rebound from inconsistent seasons.</p><p>Offensively, the load will continue to be carried by captain Pierre Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse. The pair tied for the team lead last season with 38 goals.</p><p><b>1995-96 record:</b> 40-32-10, third in Northeast, ninth overall, lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-2 to Rangers. Power play: 19 per cent (eighth overall). Penalty killing: 82.2 per cent (13th overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisitions:</b> None.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion:</b> Craig Conroy, C; Scott Fraser, LW; Darcy Tucker, C.</p><p><b>Three pivotal factors:</b> 1. Offensive performance. Eight players scored 20 or more goals last season, yet not one necessarily struck fear into opponents. A more potent at-tack is needed.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0124-0199/10257939-1-eng-US/f0124-012.jpg" title="f0124-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2.The big three. No one is ready yet to liken them to Sav-ard, Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe, who ruled the Can-adiens&rsquo; blueline in the 1970s, but rookies David Wilkie, Craig Rivet and Rory Fitz-patrick nonetheless made a lasting impression late last sea-son and through the playoffs when pressed into service due to injuries. The trio proved poised and talented, providing the Canadiens with some much-needed depth.</p><p>3.Home ice: Montreal was a mediocre 5-4-1 at home fol-lowing the move from the For-um to the Molson Centre, then lost three straight in the play-offs. The Canadiens need to re-establish their home ice mystique in the new venue.</p><p><b>State of goaltending:</b> Thibault performed admirably under difficult circumstances last season following his Dec-ember acquisition from the Colorado Avalanche. The 21-year-old proved capable and mature in dealing with the pressure and expectations. Backup Pat Jablonski, mean-while, deserved a better fate. He had an excellent 2.94 goals-against average in 23 games, but only a 5-9-6 record due to a lack of offensive support.</p><p><b>Most pressing need:</b> It&rsquo;s be-ginning to sound like a broken rec-ord, but the Canadiens continue to seek a left defenseman and a big winger who can score. The emer-gence of Turner Stevenson, Chris Murray and Donald Brashear im-proved the team&rsquo;s size, but none is particularly adept offensively. Of the organization&rsquo;s top eight defensemen, only two-Malakhov and Rivet-shoot left.</p><p><b>Sleeper pool pick:</b> A pair of European rookies who displayed some offensive flashes will likely be available late. Russian winger Valeri Bure recorded 22 goals and 42 points in 77 games, while Finnish center Saku Koivu had 20 goals and 45 points in 82 games. If both players continue developing as expected, they could be late-round steals.</p><p><b>Top draft choice:</b> The Canadiens surprised some by selecting center Matt Higgins of the Wes-tern League&rsquo;s Moose Jaw Warriors 18th overall. Higgins isn&rsquo;t a great skater, nor is he particularly strong, although he has a good work ethic and hoc-key sense. But the Canadiens appear strong up the middle. Of course, all that could change by the time Higgins, 18, is ready to crack Montreal&rsquo;s lineup in three or four years.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0125-0187/10257932-1-eng-US/f0125-012.jpg" title="f0125-01" width="1102" height="1800"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Vincent Damphousse is one of the Canadiens&rsquo; few snipers.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>Coach/GM:</b> The jury re-mains out on Tremblay (40-27-10, .584), who righted a sinking ship early in the season. The Canadiens lost their opening five games under Demers and interim coach Jacques Laperriere. Tremblay assumed control and immediately guided Montreal to six straight wins and a strong overall sea-son. But Tremblay is emotional and may be too high strung for the job. His confrontation with Roy cost the Canadiens their franchise goalie.</p><p>The appointment of Houle (40-27-10, .584) as GM was largely criticized around the league due to his lack of experience. Houle came to the Canadiens following years in a public relations position with the brewery that owns the team. Nonetheless, he passed a major test by getting a solid return on Roy, despite being backed into a corner and forced to make the trade.</p><p><b>Three-year playoff history:</b> One year following their Stanley Cup triumph, the Canadiens were eliminated in seven games by Bos-ton Bruins in the first round of the 1994 playoffs. They missed the playoffs in 1995 and squandered a 2-0 lead to the favored New York Rangers last season, losing in six games in the first round.</p><p><b>Number of playoff rounds past three years:</b> 2 (1, 1993-94; 0, 1994-95; 1, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0125-0253/10257925-1-eng-US/f0125-022.jpg" title="f0125-02" width="1021" height="1195"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0125-0333/10257918-1-eng-US/f0125-032.jpg" title="f0125-03" width="552" height="684"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0126-0192/10257911-1-eng-US/f0126-012.jpg" title="f0126-01" width="2231" height="2193"></div><p>Northeast Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0126-02_ad4/10257904-1-eng-US/f0126-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0126-02_Ad" width="2202" height="840"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0123-02

MONTREAL CANADIENS

<div class="byline">By Sherry Ross</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0127-0251/10258040-1-eng-US/f0127-022.jpg" title="f0127-02" width="641" height="1025"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0127-0187/10258047-1-eng-US/f0127-012.jpg" title="f0127-01" width="130" height="125"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>s Stanley Cup hangovers go, this one was a doozy. By the time the New Jersey Devils woke up, bleary-eyed and furry-tongued, it was April and they were in a fight for their playoff lives.</p><p>The 1994-95 champions ended their drive and any last chance of defending their title with an ignominious defeat in a 5-2 loss to the lowly Ottawa Senators on the second last day of the regular season.</p><p>The Devils lost some of the competitive character by trading Conn Smythe Trophy winner Claude Lemieux after a contract hassle and losing Bruce Driver after refusing to give him a no-trade contract.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0127-0339/10258033-1-eng-US/f0127-032.jpg" title="f0127-03" width="1420" height="2167"><figcaption class="caption-body">GOALTENDER MARTIN BRODEUR</figcaption></div><p>Trading Chris Terreri, Martin Brodeur&rsquo;s reliable backup and friend, further damaged team chemistry and forced Brodeur to play 52 straight games because of a lack of faith in Terreri&rsquo;s replacement, Corey Schwab.</p><p>The Devils were the first team since the 1969-70 Montreal Canadiens to fail to make the playoffs after winning a Cup.</p><p>Devils&rsquo; coach Jacques Lemaire&rsquo;s season was marred by squabbles with the media and tiffs with key players, including Neal Broten, who defied orders to attend a preallstar break practice. The make-up of the team changed little early in the summer. Defenseman Phil Housley signed with the Washington Capitals as an unrestricted free agent, while assistant coach Chris Nilan was fired and replaced with Robbie Ftorek from the Albany River Rats of the American League.</p><p>1995-96 record: 37-33-12, sixth in Atlantic, 12th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 14.9 per cent (24th overall). Penalty killing: 84.6 per cent (fourth overall). Off-season acquisition: JeffReese, G. Candidates for promotion: Denis Pederson, C; Mike Dunham, G; Ricard Persson, D; Sheldon Souray, D; Steve Sullivan, C.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Offensive performance. The Devils ranked 25th in Fifteen-year veteran Scott Stevens is the key on defense. team offense (only the Ottawa Senators were less productive) as Steve Thomas, Stephane Richer and Bill Guerin failed to perform to expected scoring levels. The woeful power play is a part of this. The Devils lack a legitimate power play quarterback now that Housley has left for Washington.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0128-0199/10258026-1-eng-US/f0128-012.jpg" title="f0128-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. Martin Brodeur&rsquo;s workload. Either Jeff Reese or Mike Dunham will have to take more of the burden off Brodeur, who set an NHL record for minutes played (4,433). Brodeur can handle a lot of work, but the Devils sent him out on consecutive nights on road trips, playing hurt and behind a team that couldn&rsquo;t buy two goals on many nights. Brodeur will be a prime candidate for burnout by Christmas if that trend continues.</p><p>3. Relations with the boss. Jacques Lemaire is by nature and design an aloof coach. Larry Robinson, his former assistant, was the perfect go-between, trusted by the players to plead their case to the head coach while providing his own areas of expertise. Nilan did not fulfill that role, but Ftorek has the respect of the young players, especially, and should help calm a very uptight dressing room.</p><p><b>State of goaltending</b>: Brodeur is among the top three goalies in the league, no matter what the Vezina Trophy voting says. His performance was consistent, with only a few hiccups along the way. Thanks to goalie coach Jacques Caron, Brodeur quickly cures any bad habits that crop up. Brodeur was second in the NHL in shutouts (six), and fifth in goals-against average (2.34). The Devils will go with the veteran Reese or the rookie Dunham as backup. Dunham has proven him-self in the minors, but the team needs to know how he can perform at the NHL level.</p><p>Most pressing need: Housley&rsquo;s rent-a-defenseman stint show-ed just what the Devils are lacking: a mobile backliner with elite offensive skills. Can Scott Niedermayer be that player? This is the year to find out. Niedermayer complains Le-maire wants him glued to his own blueline under the stifling defensive system. Lemaire says Niedermayer can gamble, but only if the conditions are right. The Devils should pair him with a stay-at-home partner and turn him loose.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0129-0188/10258019-1-eng-US/f0129-012.jpg" title="f0129-01" width="1227" height="1977"><figcaption class="caption-body">Fifteen-year veteran Scott Stevens is the key on defense.</figcaption></div><p><b>Sleeper pool pick:</b> Brian Rolston. After a tough season. Rolston helped the United States win a bronze medal at the 1996 World Championship. He played center, his best position (the Devils stick him on the left wing), and was given a lot of ice time and responsibility. If his confidence remains intact-he&rsquo;s a fan of Ftor-ek-Rolston has enough speed to carry him to the next level.</p><p><b>Top draft choice</b>: Lance Ward. The 10th overall pick is one of those rock-solid West-ern League defensive defense-men who is projected as the new Ken Daneyko several sea-sons down the road.</p><p><b>Coach/GM:</b> There was speculation Lemaire (154-113-44, .566) would leave the coaching job and move into a front office spot, but he&rsquo;s an extremely proud man and won&rsquo;t walk away from a failed season.</p><p>Lou Lamoriello (318-288-92, .521) makes up in hockey savvy what he lacks in media and marketing know-how. He has built a deep organization with a farm system that is one of the best. Lamoriello built a champion without getting the Devils into the free agent market frenzy.</p><p><b>Three-year playoff history:</b> The Devils lost a memorable seven-game Eastern Conference final to the eventual champion New York Rangers in 1994 before roaring back to win the Cup in 1995, sweeping the favored Detroit Red Wings in four games. Last year, it was golf in April.</p><p><b>Number of playoff rounds last three years:</b> 7 (3, 1993-94; 4, 1994-95; 0, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0129-0260/10258012-1-eng-US/f0129-022.jpg" title="f0129-02" width="1032" height="1186"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0129-0344/10258005-1-eng-US/f0129-032.jpg" title="f0129-03" width="556" height="681"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0130-0190/10257998-1-eng-US/f0130-012.jpg" title="f0130-01" width="2223" height="2237"></div><p>Atlantic Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0130-02_ad4/10257991-1-eng-US/f0130-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0130-02_Ad" width="2242" height="856"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0127-02

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

<div class="byline">By Jim Smith</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0131-0253/10258141-1-eng-US/f0131-022.jpg" title="f0131-02" width="628" height="1004"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0131-0184/10258148-1-eng-US/f0131-012.jpg" title="f0131-01" width="125" height="128"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>ew York Islanders&rsquo; coach-GM Mike Mil-bury rooted for the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup final because it is a role model for the way he wants to build his team.</p><p>Because the Islanders were 24th in average attendance last season (11,356), they are not awash in revenue and have decided to build through the draft. That is what the Quebec Nordiques did before the Avalanche added veterans Patrick Roy, Claude Lemieux and Sandis Ozolinsh to put it over the top.</p><p>The Islanders&rsquo; nucleus is young: goalie Eric Fichaud; defensemen Bryan Berard, Bryan McCabe, Kenny Jonsson and Darius Kasparaitis; and forwards Todd Bertuzzi, Travis Green and Ziggy Palffy.</p><p>But the team&rsquo;s average attendance over the past five seasons is 11,604 at the 16,297-seat Nassau Coliseum. Losses over the past two years are pegged at $12 million. That ties Milbury&rsquo;s hands and prevents him from trying to sign high-priced veteran free agents.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0131-0346/10258134-1-eng-US/f0131-032.jpg" title="f0131-03" width="1394" height="2133"><figcaption class="caption-body">RIGHT WINGER ZIGGY PALFFY</figcaption></div><p>At least 20 of the 49 players who dressed for the Islanders last season will not return. That includes captain Patrick Flatley, whose $900,000 contract was bought out for $600,000, and 1994 No. 1 pick Brett Lindros, 21, who retired after suffering multiple concussions. The result is one of the NHL&rsquo;s youngest teams and with youth comes inexperience and mistakes.</p><p>All of which means there&rsquo;s a good chance the once-proud franchise will miss the playoffs for the sixth time in nine years.</p><p><b>1995-96 record:</b> 22-50-12, seventh in Atlantic, 24th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 18.8 per cent (10th overall). Penalty-killing: 78.3 per cent (24th overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisition: Craig Fisher</b>. LW.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion:</b> Bryan Berard, D; Craig Fisher, LW; Jason Holland, D; Andrey Vasilyev, LW.</p><p><b>Three pivotai factors: 1</b>. Milbury&rsquo;s ability to wheel and deal. The Islanders re-quire some drastic upgrades in several areas and need some capable veterans who can show the young players the way. Bob Sweeney and Pat Conacher were Milbury&rsquo;s two best checking forwards last season. That has to change.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0132-0191/10258127-1-eng-US/f0132-012.jpg" title="f0132-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. The fragile defense corps. Among the Islanders&rsquo; league-leading 528 man-games lost to injury last season were crease clearing rearguards Rich Pilon (55 games missed) and Dennis Vaske (61 games missed). They must provide stability as the fifth and sixth defensemen or Milbury will be forced to make a trade. Vaske has recovered from head injuries. Pilon said he will try to stop going full bore in practice.</p><p>3. Goaltending. The Islanders allowed the second most goals in the league last season. Poor goaltending was the main reason the club started 4-15-3 and never recovered.</p><p>State of goaltending: Milbury is handicapped by having an untradeable veteran, Tommy Soderstrom, who makes $725,000 on a termination contract. Milbury hopes Eric Fichaud can play 45-50 games and be backed up by Tommy Salo, who has won two straight Turner Cups in the IHL, but has flopped in the NHL. If Salo is not better than Soderstrom in camp, Milbury said he will trade Salo. If Salo wins the No. 2 job, indications are the Is-landers will cut Soderstrom loose.</p><p><b>Most pressing need:</b> The Is-landers are so desperate for goal scoring they signed Fisher, an eight-year pro who has failed to stick in five organizations. Milbury also named Andrey Vasilyev, whose gambling style he hates, as the for-ward prospect with the best chance to make the team. The problem is, goal scorers cost money and the Islanders don&rsquo;t seem to have a lot of it.</p><p><b>Sleeper pool pick:</b> Berard&rsquo;s contract provides about $1.3 million in achievable bonuses, including a reported $600,000 if he wins the Calder Trophy. Berard should get a lot of ice time and has the monetary incentive to get 50 points. Once the Islanders are out of the playoff race, look for Berard to get 25 minutes of ice time a game.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0133-0189/10258120-1-eng-US/f0133-012.jpg" title="f0133-01" width="1121" height="1803"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Islanders need offense from the likes of Todd Bertuzzi.</figcaption></div><p>Top draft choice: Milbury said he was set on taking Russian Alexandre Volchkov until 15 minutes before the draft when he switched to J.P. Dumont with the third overall pick. He said he was scared off by Volchkov&rsquo;s inconsistency and unpopularity with teammates. Dumont is said to have great speed, hands and vision. He will remain with the Vai d&rsquo;Or Foreurs of the Quebec League next season and try to improve his defensive play. Taking Dumont is the Islanders&rsquo; first foray into the QMJHL in the first round since they took Pat LaFontaine in 1983. They drafted nine QMJHL players from 1984-95, but none made the team. Milbury said there is an outside chance Dumont will make the team in 1997-98, but he is not counting on having him in the lineup until 1998-99.</p><p>Coach/GM: Milbury (112-99-31, .527 as coach; 17-35-7, .288 as GM) added the GM&rsquo;s job Dec. 12, 1995,10 days after Don Maloney was fired. Milbury&rsquo;s pilot fight seemed to flicker after the team&rsquo;s poor start. He resolved the Kirk Muller situation at mid-season with a three-way deal by netting Berard. By dealing Wendel Clark and Mathieu Schneider a week before the trade deadline, he left himself with what amounted to an IHL roster and the team went 2-12-2 to end the season, but got an extra first round pick in the 1997 draft. Milbury the coach and Milbury the GM will have to do a better job or this team won&rsquo;t reach .500.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: The Islanders were swept by the New York Rangers in the first round in 1994 and missed the playoffs the past two seasons.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds last three years: 1 (1, 1993-94; 0, 1994-95; 0, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0133-0260/10258113-1-eng-US/f0133-022.jpg" title="f0133-02" width="1016" height="1179"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0133-0339/10258106-1-eng-US/f0133-032.jpg" title="f0133-03" width="547" height="675"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0134-0193/10258099-1-eng-US/f0134-012.jpg" title="f0134-01" width="2262" height="2212"></div><p>Atlantic Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0134-02_ad4/10258092-1-eng-US/f0134-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0134-02_Ad" width="2239" height="827"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0136-01_ad/10258085-1-eng-US/f0136-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0136-01_Ad" width="2279" height="1621"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0136-02_ad/10258078-1-eng-US/f0136-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0136-02_Ad" width="2206" height="1552"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0131-02

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

<div class="byline">By John Dellapina</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0137-0256/10258228-1-eng-US/f0137-022.jpg" title="f0137-02" width="649" height="1023"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0137-0186/10258235-1-eng-US/f0137-012.jpg" title="f0137-01" width="129" height="125"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>n the city that doesn&rsquo;t sleep, patience isn&rsquo;t high on the list of virtues. New York sports fans demand excellence and they demand it now.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can rebuild in New York,&rdquo; said Rangers&rsquo; GM Neil Smith. &rsquo;&rsquo;At least, if you do, you have to do it in the back of the house where nobody can see it.&rdquo;</p><p>So, faced with an aging team in mid-summer that was somewhere between contending and pretending status. Smith had to decide which direction to take. The signing of the greatest scorer in NHL history indicated the Rangers are serious about ending their latest Stanley Cup drought at two years.</p><p>While Wayne Gretzky, 35, is no longer in his prime, he is still dangerous and enters a situation where he isn&rsquo;t necessarily the goto guy. The Rangers possess a strong core, led by captain Mark Messier, who probably has one more highly productive year left in his 35-year-old body. And with defenseman Brian Leetch, goalie Mike Richter and left winger Adam Graves all in their primes, the Rangers have the nucleus to threaten again.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0137-0337/10258221-1-eng-US/f0137-032.jpg" title="f0137-03" width="1449" height="2170"><figcaption class="caption-body">CENTER WAYNE GRETZKY</figcaption></div><p>Whether they do or not may be in the hands of the supporting cast. If veteran defensemen Ulf Samuelsson and Bruce Driver can pick it up after inconsistent first seasons in Ranger blue; if inscrutable forward Alexei Kovalev can ever focus that embarrassment of talent; and if left winger Luc Robitaille reappears after a poor season, then maybe the Rangers will prove you don&rsquo;t have to rebuild, after all.</p><p><b>1995-96 record</b>: 41-27-14, second in Atlantic, fifth overall, lost Eastern Conference semifinal 4-2 to Pittsburgh. Power play: 19.8 per cent (fifth overall). Penalty killing: 82.0 per cent (14th overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisitions</b>: Wayne Gretzky, C.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion</b>: Christian Dube, C; Chris Ferraro, C; Peter Ferraro, RW; Dan Cloutier, G; Lee Sorochan, D.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Messier&rsquo;s</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0138-0188/10258214-1-eng-US/f0138-012.jpg" title="f0138-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. Kovalev&rsquo;s emergence. It is long past time for Kovalev to turn his remarkable good fortune into productive play. Blessed with all the tools, Kovalev can make the difference between the Rangers being an elite team or having to scrape for a playoff berth.</p><p>3. Gretzky&rsquo;s greatness. He doesn&rsquo;t have to be the brightest light on Broadway, but the Rangers need a good return on their investment. Gretzky proved in last year&rsquo;s playoffs with the St. Louis Blues he&rsquo;s still capable of magical moments. The question is, how many more does he have left?</p><p>State of goaltending: Richter was all the way back to his 1994 Cup-winning form when he shredded a groin muscle Dec. 30. After one comeback attempt failed, he made it back for the playoffs and was solid, but not spectacular enough to turn back the Penguins. His load will be even heavier this season as the Rangers try to work youngsters into the lineup and figure to struggle even more to score goals. Physically and mentally, he is up to the challenge. Glenn Healy is still a first-rate back-up, while Dan Cloutier remains a solid prospect.</p><p>Most pressing need: Goals. Pat Verbeek provided 41 of them last season and then signed with the Dal-las Stars. Messier scored an astounding 47, a figure he can&rsquo;t be expected to reproduce. Robitaille is the man most responsible for picking up the slack after a disappointing 23-goal first season on Broadway. Kovalev also must finally break out. After that, it probably will require a trade to provide the scoring depth necessary in the playoffs.</p><p>Sleeper pool pick: As a 20-year-old rookie, center Niklas Sundstrom displayed hockey sense and the on-ice poise of a veteran. As a 21-year-old sophomore, he could very well complete his game and put his gifted hands and keen eyes to even more use by scoring goals.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0139-0171/10258207-1-eng-US/f0139-012.jpg" title="f0139-01" width="1133" height="1815"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Leetch led the Rangers in power play points with 44.</figcaption></div><p>Top draft choice: Trend-setters at other drafts, the Rangers followed the crowd this summer, selecting defense-man Jeff Brown of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Sarnia Sting. The 22nd pick overall is a 6-foot-2, 222-pounder who stays at home, likes to hit and usually makes the high-percentage play. Even though the Rangers lack depth on defense at the major league level. Brown is at the very least a year away.</p><p>Coach/GM: After a difficult rookie season, coach Colin Campbell (63-50-17. .550) grew into his high-profile job last year, displaying greater comfort and confidence while retaining his superb strategic sense. The players both like and respect his approach, which eschews devious mind games in favor of candor and private confrontation. He&rsquo;ll need all that this season.</p><p>Armed with a new six-year con-tract, GM Neil Smith&rsquo;s (271-200-67, .566) place in Rangers&rsquo; history has been assured. His next challenge is to lead a smooth transition out of the Messier Era into the great beyond. He&rsquo;s clearly the right man for the job, but have years of going for the Cup and new, cost-conscious owners left him with too little with which to work?</p><p>Three-year playoff history: Since winning the 1994 Stanley Cup, the Rangers have twice been knocked out in the second round by teams from Pennsylvania (Phil-adelphia Flyers in 1995; Pittsburgh in &rsquo;96) after advancing over teams from Quebec (Quebec Nordiques, 1995; Montreal Canadiens, 1996).</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 8 (4, 1993-94;. 2, 1994-95; 2, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0139-0245/10258200-1-eng-US/f0139-022.jpg" title="f0139-02" width="1025" height="1198"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0139-0333/10258193-1-eng-US/f0139-032.jpg" title="f0139-03" width="562" height="688"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0140-0183/10258186-1-eng-US/f0140-012.jpg" title="f0140-01" width="2264" height="2244"></div><p>Atlantic Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0140-02_ad/10258179-1-eng-US/f0140-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0140-02_Ad" width="2238" height="840"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0137-02

NEW YORK RANGERS

<div class="byline">By Bruce Garrioch</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0141-0247/10258315-1-eng-US/f0141-022.jpg" title="f0141-02" width="655" height="1013"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0141-0171/10258322-1-eng-US/f0141-012.jpg" title="f0141-01" width="130" height="124"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Ottawa Senators fired a GM, two coaches and a director of player personnel last season. And now, after four years of ineptness, they finally look as though they have the foundation for a bright future.</p><p>Now they have to start turning the comer by showing results on the ice.</p><p>GM Pierre Gauthier, armed with a five-year contract, has made this team better. Still, can a franchise simply turn around overnight or is it going to take more patience?</p><p>Remember, this is a team that has undergone massive changes. Gauthier came in after Randy Sexton was fired and dismissed coach Dave Allison shortly after, replacing him with a solid hockey man in Jacques Martin. Director of player personnel John Ferguson resigned early in the season and Gauthier replaced him with Marshall Johnston.</p><p>Even owner Rod Bryden has stepped aside to allow former Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; president Roy Mlakar to take up the same role with Ottawa.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0141-0329/10258308-1-eng-US/f0141-032.jpg" title="f0141-03" width="1438" height="2141"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RIGHT WINGER DANIEL ALFREDSSON</b></figcaption></div><p>While early indications are the Senators&rsquo; players and fans responded well to the arrival of Gauthier and Martin, the fact remains the team didn&rsquo;t do much better with them at the helm and still finished in 26th place overall.</p><p>The Senators have offered a money-back guarantee to fans not happy with the team&rsquo;s performance in the pre-season. If the team wants to avoid a lineup at the ticket office for the wrong reason, it had better show improvement.</p><p>1995-96 record: 18-59-5, seventh in Northeast, 26th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 12.3 per cent (26th overall). Penalty killing: 77.9 per cent (25th overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: Denny Lambert, LW; Shawn McEachern, C-LW; Ron Tugnutt, G; Sergei Zholtok, RW.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Bruce Gardiner, C; Chris Phillips, D; Wade Redden, D; Patrick Traverse, D.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Alexei Wade Redden, D, 19: Doesn&rsquo;t have flair of Bryan Berard, but Redden is intelligent two-way defenseman with high panic point and veteran moxie. Yashin&rsquo;s state of mind. The Senators&rsquo; leading scorer two years ago is armed with a new contract and has to produce on a consistent basis if this team is going to go anywhere. Yashin has the ability to be one of the NHL&rsquo;s top 10 play-errs when he&rsquo;s at his best, but Ottawa management wants to see total commitment. A strong performance at the World Cup should help Yash-in&rsquo;s confidence.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0142-0177/10258301-1-eng-US/f0142-012.jpg" title="f0142-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. The rest of the kiddy corps. Alexandre Daigle, the Senators&rsquo; $12 million center, showed promise under Martin before breaking his arm, but the Senators have seen this be-fore. He has run out of chances and simply must produce this year. Calder Trophy winner Daniel Alfredsson is out to show his performance last year was no fluke. Radek Bonk has to show his improvement at the end of last season wasn&rsquo;t an aberration. Rookie defense-man Wade Redden, signed in the off-season, is expected to play on the club&rsquo;s blueline this season.</p><p>3. Veteran contribution. The Senators have a good core of veterans in captain Randy Cunneyworth, defenseman Steve Duchesne and two-way forward Tom Chorske. They hope the arrival of winger Shawn McEachern from the Boston Bruins will take some of the heat off the young players.</p><p>State of goaltending: Damian Rhodes was outstanding after being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He posted a 2.77 goals-against average and 90.6 save-percent-age. At 26, Rhodes is entering the prime of his career. Signing Ron Tugnutt as a free agent in the off-season gives the Senators two NHL-calibre goalies for the first time in their history. Tugnutt returns to the NHL after leading the Portland Pirates to the American League final last season.</p><p>Most pressing need: There are two. One is a big right winger, something Ottawa hasn&rsquo;t had since Jody Hull signed with the Florida Panthers. They also need a rugged stay-at-home defenseman who can make people pay the price for going to the net.</p><p>Sleeper pool pick: There aren&rsquo;t many Ottawa players who would be popular with pool-sters, but Bonk may be in for a breakthrough year in his third NHL season. He showed a willingness to compete late last season after Martin took over and a touch around the net that had been been sorely missing. He was also a key player on the Czech Republic&rsquo;s gold medal team at the World Championship.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0143-0175/10258294-1-eng-US/f0143-012.jpg" title="f0143-01" width="1087" height="1788"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ottawa is looking for a productive year from Alexei Yashin.</figcaption></div><p>Top draft choice: Prince Albert Raiders&rsquo; defenseman Chris Phillips could be in for an interesting training camp. The first overall pick is bound and determined to make the team, but the Senators aren&rsquo;t sure they want him to play in the NHL this season. Phillips has size, decent two-way skills and a big heart. He&rsquo;s also one of the best leaders in junior hockey.</p><p>Coach/GM: Martin (76-95-27 .452) got the most out of the talent he had. Perhaps if he had been installed earlier, the team may have had 50 or 60 points. The players are excited about next season; it&rsquo;s up to Martin to take this team to the next level.</p><p>Almost everyone believes Gauthier (11-40-4, .236) is taking the Senators in the right direction. He&rsquo;s a qualified hockey man and with his background in scouting, has a good eye for talent. He doesn&rsquo;t like to talk about his plans in specifics and will only speak in general terms. His moves so far have been good ones, but Gauthier will have to decide whether he wants to part with some of the team&rsquo;s young talent for some established players.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: The Senators not only have no play-off history, they&rsquo;ve been out of the playoff race by January&rsquo; every season.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0143-0245/10258287-1-eng-US/f0143-022.jpg" title="f0143-02" width="1012" height="1174"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0143-0331/10258280-1-eng-US/f0143-032.jpg" title="f0143-03" width="552" height="679"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0144-0180/10258273-1-eng-US/f0144-012.jpg" title="f0144-01" width="2273" height="2215"></div><p>Northeast Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0144-02_ad/10258266-1-eng-US/f0144-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0144-02_Ad" width="2229" height="821"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0141-02

OTTAWA SENATORS

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0145-0244/10258423-1-eng-US/f0145-022.jpg" title="f0145-02" width="653" height="1020"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0145-0164/10258430-1-eng-US/f0145-012.jpg" title="f0145-01" width="128" height="122"></div><p>The folks upstairs who make the decisions about the Philadelphia Flyers say they believe the current cast deserves another chance.</p><p>Make that one last chance.</p><p>Two seasons of high playoff hopes have ended in frustration. The first was tolerable. Losing to the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils in the 1994-95 semifinal with an up-and-coming team was no disgrace.</p><p>But last year&rsquo;s elimination by the third-year Florida Panthers in the quarterfinal left a bitter taste-particularly after the Flyers, who finished second in the Eastern Conference last season, took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, only to drop the last three games.</p><p>Disgruntled fans wanted GM Bob Clarke to make changes.</p><p>Clarke, however, says that&rsquo;s not likely to happen. He claims the current nucleus is good enough to win a championship-that one year his team might not run into a defensive monster such as the Devils or Panthers.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0145-0329/10258416-1-eng-US/f0145-032.jpg" title="f0145-03" width="1412" height="2168"><figcaption class="caption-body">CENTER ERIC LINDROS</figcaption></div><p>It will be interesting to see how the core of the team-from fifth-year leader and captain Eric Lindros to veteran goalie Ron Hextall-responds to Clarke&rsquo;s vote of confidence.</p><p>Either it answers the challenge and improves its playoff performance or there undoubtedly will be some major changes to make amends.</p><p>1995-1996 record: 45-24-13, first in Atlantic, third overall, lost Eastern Conference semifinal 4-2 to Florida. Power play: 19.7 per cent (tied for sixth overall). Penalty killing: 85.8 per cent (second overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisition: Scott Daniels, RW; Dominic Roussel, G.</p><p>Candidate for promotion: Janne Nii-nimaa, D.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Mikael Ren-berg&rsquo;s health. Renberg, a very big part of the Flyers&rsquo; Legion of Doom first line, never regained his effectiveness after suffering an abdominal injury Jan. 22. He underwent off-season surgery and is expected to be ready for training camp. The Flyers need a healthy Renberg by playoff time.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0146-0171/10258409-1-eng-US/f0146-012.jpg" title="f0146-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. The second line&hellip;again. The Flyers thought they had solved their second line scoring problems with the acquisition of Dale Hawerchuk last March. However, he wound up on Lindros&rsquo; line for the play-offs and the second line struggled. Assuming Renberg re-turns to the first line, coach Terry Murray&rsquo;s challenge is to get Hawerchuk, Rod Brind&rsquo;-Amour and Pat Falloon playing like one big happy family.</p><p>3. The nastiness factor. The Flyers addressed their need for more instigator-type players by signing free agent Scott Daniels. There&rsquo;s also a feeling enforcer Dan Kordic&rsquo;s minor-league career might be finally over and he will stay with the Flyers. The team is still searching for a knock &rsquo;emdown defenseman and a pest in front of the net.</p><p>State of goaltending: Ron Hextail, 32, enjoyed the best season of his 10-year career with a 31-13-7 mark. His 2.17 goals-against average tied Chris Osgood of the Detroit Red Wings for the NHL&rsquo;s best and his four shutouts were one shy of his career high. Hextail also silenced critics with his playoff performance, a 2.13 GAA and 91.5 save percent-age. Clarke intends to sign him to a new contract. Garth Snow (12-8-4, 2.88 GAA) was a capable backup. Brian Boucher, chosen in the first round in 1995, is playing junior hockey and is still a couple of years away.</p><p>Most pressing need: After two seasons of preaching defense at all costs, Murray admits he might have to open things up a bit. To do that, the Flyers could use another bona fide scorer or two on the wings. The arrival of Niinimaa may spark some scoring from the blueline.</p><p>Sleeper pool pick: It took Pat Falloon a couple months to get his weight and conditioning in order after coming over from the San Jose Sharks last November. Once he did, he started finding the net on a regular basis, scoring 25 goals in 71 games. If the Flyers can stabilize their second line and Falloon stays in shape, a big season could be on the hori-zon.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0147-0160/10258402-1-eng-US/f0147-012.jpg" title="f0147-01" width="1116" height="1794"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Doomer John LeClair needs some second-line assistance.</b></figcaption></div><p>Top draft pick: Dainius Zubrus was the first Eastern European player ever selected in the first round by the Flyers. The 15th overall pick was also the only Jr. A player taken in the first round. Where Zubrus will play next season is un-clear. His junior rights are owned by the Laval Titan of the Quebec League, but he doesn&rsquo;t want to play there and might be traded. He could play in the International League or, if signed by the Flyers, for the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American League.</p><p>Coach/GM: Murray (236-174-45, .568) took some criticism after the Panthers found a way to shut down the Flyers&rsquo;</p><p>attack. But that seemed to quiet some after Florida reached the Stanley Cup final. Murray alluded to some &ldquo;in-house problems&rdquo; after the season, but the hiring of popular former Flyer Dave Brown as an assistant is seen as a move to bring the players and coaching staff closer together.</p><p>&rdquo; Clarke (421-332-101, .552) continues to search for the pieces that will push one of his teams over the top. His teams have been to the final three times in 11 seasons, but have no Stanley Cups to show for it.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: After missing the playoffs for five straight seasons, the Flyers finally made it in 1994-95 and advanced to the semifinal. Last season&rsquo;s loss to Florida in the quarterfinal was a major disappointment.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 5 (0, 1993-94; 3, 1994-95:2, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0147-0234/10258395-1-eng-US/f0147-022.jpg" title="f0147-02" width="1015" height="1181"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0147-0326/10258388-1-eng-US/f0147-032.jpg" title="f0147-03" width="537" height="679"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0148-0168/10258381-1-eng-US/f0148-012.jpg" title="f0148-01" width="2282" height="2237"></div><p>Atlantic Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0148-02_ad/10258374-1-eng-US/f0148-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0148-02_Ad" width="2228" height="907"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0149-01_ad/10258367-1-eng-US/f0149-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0149-01_Ad" width="2419" height="1533"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0149-02_ad/10258360-1-eng-US/f0149-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0149-02_Ad" width="1163" height="1608"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0149-03_ad/10258353-1-eng-US/f0149-03_ad2.jpg" title="f0149-03_Ad" width="1156" height="1719"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0145-02

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0151-0235/10258552-1-eng-US/f0151-022.jpg" title="f0151-02" width="656" height="1021"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0151-0155/10258559-1-eng-US/f0151-012.jpg" title="f0151-01" width="131" height="128"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>hey&rsquo;ve changed their colors, logo, owners, coach and home. It&rsquo;s a marketer&rsquo;s dream, but will it be enough to change the pattern of a team that spent 17 underachieving years in Winnipeg as the Jets and is now reborn as the Phoenix Coyotes?</p><p>During its Winnipeg tenure, the team finished .500 or better five times and won just two playoff series.</p><p>The teams new owners-Richard Burke, Steven Gluckstem and minority partner Jerry Colangelo-appear committed, however, to changing that mediocre tradition. Before the Coyotes played a game in their new digs at the America West Arena, they had signed free agent center Cliff Ronning, defensemen Brad McCrimmon and Jim Johnson and goalie Darcy Wakaluk. They also inked right winger Mike Gartner to a new three-year contract after acquiring him for a pick on draft day.</p><p>New executive vice-president, hockey operations Bobby Smith brought in a fashionable new coach, Don Hay, to run the on-ice show as the Coyotes try to shake away from their past and shine up a future.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0151-0330/10258545-1-eng-US/f0151-032.jpg" title="f0151-03" width="1460" height="2167"><figcaption class="caption-body">LEFT WINGER KEITH TKACHUK</figcaption></div><p>The Coyotes&rsquo; key elements, however, haven&rsquo;t changed. The on-ice leader, left winger Keith Tkachuk, will continue to need broad shoulders on which to carry the team. Defenseman Teppo Numminen has been the lone reliable blueliner for years and a repeat performance by goalie Nikolai Khabibulin is an absolute must if there are any plans for brighter days.</p><p>1995-96 record: 36-40-6, fifth in Central, 17th overall, lost Western Conference quarterfinal 4-2 to Detroit. Power play 19.7 per cent (seventh overall). Penalty killing 79.5 per cent (23rd overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: Mike Gartner, RW; Jim Johnson, Brad McCrimmon, D; Cliff Ronning, C; Darcy Wakaluk, G; Don Hay, coach.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Jason Doig, D.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0152-0158/10258538-1-eng-US/f0152-012.jpg" title="f0152-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Location, location, location. The Colorado Avalanche prov-ed relocation can work instantly. Phoenix hopes to travel down the same road and has made enough changes in many areas to rid the club of the stal-eness and budget-watching it experienced in Winnipeg.</p><p>2. A resolution to the Alexei Zhamnov situation. Zham-nov&rsquo;s future with the team was unclear entering the summer and got murkier when the Coyotes signed free agents Ronning and Craig Janney. A Group II free agent, Zhamnov is making demands that may place him beyond the team&rsquo;s needs. Whether the Coyotes have the multi-talented pivot or somebody else via trade in their lineup, they can&rsquo;t afford to waste an asset such as Zhamnov for long.</p><p>3. Nikolai Khabibulin&rsquo;s play. When Khabibulin went down for seven weeks last sea-son with a knee injury, the Jets were all but lost. With suspect depth at the position-newcomer Darcy Wakaluk and prospect Scott Langkow-there is simply no room for the 23-year-old Khabibulin to take a step backward.</p><p>State of goaltending: Khabibulin&rsquo;s second NHL sea-son was a hit. He posted a 26-age and 3.13 goals-against average on a team that had the fifth worst defensive record in the league. A big problem for the franchise in recent seasons has been getting decent play from a backup. Wakaluk (9-16-5 with the Dallas Stars) should make the team marginally better in that category.</p><p>Most pressing need: Improvement from regulars is an absolute must. Forwards Darrin Shannon (five goals) and Dallas Drake (19 goals, and 39 points) must offer more if they&rsquo;re to remain full-time players. Igor Korolev had 22 goals last season, but he had too many long stretches with zero production. Youngsters Shane Doan, Chad Kilger and Oleg Tverdovsky have paid a year&rsquo;s worth of dues and must spend fewer games as passengers.</p><p>Sleeper pool pick: Many think Shannon could rebound from a horrible season, and some think Doan still or Kilger has the tools to be productive. But it&rsquo;s more likely Tverdovsky could be the team&rsquo;s breakout guy. He&rsquo;s entering his third season and should get power play time.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0153-0151/10258531-1-eng-US/f0153-012.jpg" title="f0153-01" width="1113" height="1778"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Manson still possesses a deadly shot from the point.</figcaption></div><p>Top draft choice: Defenseman Dan Focht of the Western League&rsquo;s Tri-City Americans (6-foot-5, 226 pounds) won&rsquo;t be ready to play in the NHL this season, but the 18-year-old Regina native is big and smooth enough to be considered a solid prospect.</p><p>Coach/GM: Hay will be the rookie coach of the Coy-otes after spending his first NHL season as an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames. Hay has earned the label as a winner at lower levels, guiding the WHL&rsquo;s Kam-loops Blazers to back-to-back Memorial Cups and Team Canada to a gold medal at the 1995 World Junior Champion-possesses a deadly shot from the point Ship.</p><p>John Paddock (52-65-13, .450) continues as the club&rsquo;s GM, though he now answers to vice-president Bobby Smith. Paddock made a daring move last February, dealing charismatic Teemu Selanne and making the team markedly younger with Kilger and Tverdovsky. In the last 12 months, Paddock has also changed the defense considerably and whether or not that will pay dividends should be seen this season.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: The Jets qualified for the playoffs for the first time in three years last season and even then it was by the skin of their teeth. Winnipeg won a tie-breaker with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for the last Western Conference playoff berth, then were eliminated in the first round by the Detroit Red Wings in six games.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 1 (0, 1993-94; 0, 1994-95; 1,1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0153-0239/10258524-1-eng-US/f0153-022.jpg" title="f0153-02" width="1016" height="1182"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0153-0328/10258517-1-eng-US/f0153-032.jpg" title="f0153-03" width="549" height="681"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0154-0155/10258510-1-eng-US/f0154-012.jpg" title="f0154-01" width="2297" height="2196"></div><p>Central Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0154-02_ad3/10258503-1-eng-US/f0154-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0154-02_Ad" width="2214" height="892"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0155-01_ad/10258496-1-eng-US/f0155-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0155-01_Ad" width="2403" height="1609"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0155-02_ad/10258489-1-eng-US/f0155-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0155-02_Ad" width="2434" height="1627"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0156-01_ad/10258482-1-eng-US/f0156-01_ad2.jpg" title="f0156-01_Ad" width="1124" height="1573"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0156-02_ad/10258475-1-eng-US/f0156-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0156-02_Ad" width="1143" height="1620"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0156-03_ad/10258468-1-eng-US/f0156-03_ad2.jpg" title="f0156-03_Ad" width="1115" height="1632"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0156-04_ad/10258461-1-eng-US/f0156-04_ad2.jpg" title="f0156-04_Ad" width="1123" height="1579"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0151-02

PHOENIX COYOTES

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0157-0238/10258639-1-eng-US/f0157-022.jpg" title="f0157-02" width="644" height="1000"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0157-0149/10258646-1-eng-US/f0157-012.jpg" title="f0157-01" width="133" height="130"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>ast season was supposed to be a period of transition for the Pittsburgh Penguins, a time when they learned to live without Kevin Stevens, Ulf Samuelsson, Larry Murphy, Luc Robitaille and Kjell Samuelsson.</p><p>Turns out the Penguins didn&rsquo;t just figure out how to survive without those guys-they thrived.</p><p>Pittsburgh finished first in the Northeast Division and if goalie Tom Barrasso had been able to stop a long-distance shot by Florida Panthers&rsquo; Tom Fitzgerald in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, might well have reached the Stanley Cup final.</p><p>Pittsburgh&rsquo;s forte, predictably, was offense. The Penguins led the league with 362 goals and finished with three of the NHL&rsquo;s top four scorers: Mario Lemieux placed first with 161 points, Jaromir Jagr second with 149 and Ron Francis fourth with 119.</p><p>Those players figure to form the core of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s attack again this winter, but a few new players have been introduced to the mix.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0157-0327/10258632-1-eng-US/f0157-032.jpg" title="f0157-03" width="1420" height="2123"><figcaption class="caption-body">CENTER MARIO LEMIEUX</figcaption></div><p>Perhaps the most intriguing is defenseman Kevin Hatcher, acquired from the Dallas Stars for Sergei Zubov in a move designed to reformulate the team&rsquo;s chemistry.</p><p>If nothing else, Hatcher&rsquo;s shot from the point will add another dimension to a power play that, at times, converts opportunities with the extra man as if they were free throws.</p><p>1995-96 record: 49-29-4, first in Northeast, fourth overall, lost Eastern Conference final to 4-3 Florida. Power play: 26.0 per cent (first overall). Penalty-killing: 83.3 per cent (eighth overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: Kevin Hatcher, D; Kevin Todd, C; Tyler Wright, C.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Stefan Bergkvist, D; Alexei Morozov, RW.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s health. Lemieux&rsquo;s return from a Continued from pg. 157 one-year sabbatical was a rousing success and he might duplicate that showing if he can avoid back and fatigue problems. Motivation certainly shouldn&rsquo;t be an issue, because the opportunity to contend for another Stanley Cup is what has prevented Lemieux from retiring.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0158-0153/10258625-1-eng-US/f0158-012.jpg" title="f0158-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. Commitment to team defense. The Penguins proved at various points during the play-offs they can play effectively in their own zone; the problem is getting them to do it consistently, especially when their post-season survival isn&rsquo;t at stake. At least until the play-offs begin, look for the Penguins to view any game with a score lower than 5-4 as a de-fensive struggle.</p><p>3. Overall depth. The Penguins have some of the game&rsquo;s most gifted players, but their lineup remains largely a collection of haves and have-nots. The shrinking middle class up front became even thinner when Kevin Miller signed as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks. The lack of depth on the blueline proved costly during the Eastern Conference final when Pittsburgh couldn&rsquo;t counter Florida&rsquo;s four-line, six-defenseman rotation. Getting enough role players to complement the Penguins&rsquo; galaxy of stars remains a challenge for management.</p><p>State of goaltending: Tom Barrasso and Ken Wregget have proven to be a fairly effective tan-dem, but it&rsquo;s not certain the pairing will remain intact long. Pittsburgh dangled Barrasso as trade bait during the off-season and is believed to have offered to pick up $1 million of his $2.7 million salary. Wregget, who was 7-2 and outdid Barrasso (6-12 in his past 18 playoff decisions) in every statistical category during the playoffs, is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this sea-son and might be dealt away if he balks at playing behind Barrasso again.</p><p>Most pressing need: The Pen-guins came within five victories of a Stanley Cup last season despite relying on a patchwork defense corps, but getting bigger and tougher on the blueline has to be a priority before the playoffs arrive. An infusion of puck handling and offensive skill wouldn&rsquo;t hurt, either.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0159-0149/10258618-1-eng-US/f0159-012.jpg" title="f0159-01" width="1116" height="1830"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jaromir Jagr led the NHL in even-strength points in &rsquo;95-96.</b></figcaption></div><p>Sleeper pool pick: Sec-and-year left winger Dave Roche could be productive, es-pecially if he lands work on one of the top two lines. He has the potential to become a high-impact power forward and has flashed something of a touch around the net.</p><p>Top draft choice: The franchise&rsquo;s long-term goaltending had become an issue of in-creasing concemboth Barras-so and Wregget are on the far side of 30-but the Penguins hope they began to address it by claiming Craig Hillier of the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s with the 23rd choice in the first round. Hillier plays a classic stand-up style and management believes he could be contending for a job in the NHL in two or three years.</p><p>Coach/GM: Ed Johnston, who agreed to a contract extension in the off-season, (235-225-74, .509) returns for his fourth consecutive campaign behind the Pitts-burgh bench, matching the longest such run in franchise history.</p><p>A few days after the entry draft, Craig Patrick (484-380-108, .553) signed a contract extension that secures his place as GM of the Penguins for the next five years. Patrick made a series of controversial, but ultimately beneficial, deals last summer and can expect to face similar challenges in coming years, as the changing economics of the game put the squeeze on small-market franchises.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: In 1996, Pittsburgh reached the conference final for first time since 1992 after being eliminated in the second round in 1995 and the first round the previous year.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 6 (1, 1993-94; 2, 1994-95; 3, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0159-0228/10258611-1-eng-US/f0159-022.jpg" title="f0159-02" width="1015" height="1186"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0159-0323/10258604-1-eng-US/f0159-032.jpg" title="f0159-03" width="545" height="687"></div><p>Listed are significant 1995-96 team defensive and offensive statistics and how they compare to NHL averages among the 26 league teams) or overall individual totals (among the 855 players who appeared in at least one game). Abbreviations: No.-Number; Avg-average; Pct.-Team total as percentage of league average; NHL rank-NHL overall rank; SA-Average shots against per game; SP-Team goaltender save percentage.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0160-0158/10258597-1-eng-US/f0160-012.jpg" title="f0160-01" width="2172" height="2241"></div><p>Northeast Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0160-02_ad/10258590-1-eng-US/f0160-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0160-02_Ad" width="2159" height="838"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0157-02

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0161-0238/10258726-1-eng-US/f0161-022.jpg" title="f0161-02" width="632" height="1020"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0161-0147/10258733-1-eng-US/f0161-012.jpg" title="f0161-01" width="125" height="126"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>esperate people do desperate things and the St. Louis Blues are a desperate organization. How else to explain short-sighted moves that have stripped the team of star players, prospects and draft picks, forcing them deeper into the free-agent market?</p><p>How deep?</p><p>Start with Joe Murphy. The enigmatic winger scored a mere 22 goals and 51 points for the Chicago Blackhawks last season. He has 166 goals and 380 points in 522 games over nine NHL seasons with three teams. His best season was 82 points five years ago. His average season is 60 points.</p><p>Yet, the Blues plunked down $10 million to sign him as a free agent for three years. That&rsquo;s $3.3 million per year. That&rsquo;s superstar pay. That&rsquo;s Brendan Shanahan pay.</p><p>That&rsquo;s desperate.</p><p>But that&rsquo;s the tip of the iceberg. Consider the Murphy signing was one of eight free-agent signings engineered by the Blues to add depth to the thin organization.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0161-0324/10258719-1-eng-US/f0161-032.jpg" title="f0161-03" width="1409" height="2170"><figcaption class="caption-body">RIGHT WINGER BRETT HULL</figcaption></div><p>In two years at the helm, coach-GM Mike Keenan has stripped the team of its future in an effort to win now, a strategy that has backfired. Despite their best effort, the aging Blues couldn&rsquo;t get past the second round.</p><p>And the biggest and most short-sighted move of last season failed. The Blues gave up three young players and two draft picks to acquire Wayne Gretzky from the Los Angeles Kings, then failed to re-sign him before he became an unrestricted free agent.</p><p>1995-96 record: 32-34-16, fourth in Central, 14th overall, lost Western Conference semifinal 4-3 to Detroit. Power play: 16.5 per cent (18th overall). Penalty killing: 83 per cent (10th overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: Marc Bergevin, D; Jamie McLennan, G; Joe Murphy, RW; Trent Yawney, D.</p><p>Candidate for promotion: Jamie Rivers, D.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: I. Goal scoring. The Blues missed Shan-ahan&rsquo;s goal production, not to mention his inspiration and leadership. They scored only 219 goals, third from the bot-tom in the NHL. After Brett Hull, with 43, the Blues had only one other full-season player with more than 20 goals. And Geoff Courtnall&rsquo;s 24 was a disappointment. Murphy should help, but he has scored more than 30 just twice in his career.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0162-0152/10258712-1-eng-US/f0162-012.jpg" title="f0162-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. Team defense. With so many concerns up front, the Blues have to play a stellar defense. Chris Pronger will have to be a stalwart with Al Maclnnis showing signs of wearing down under enormous loads of ice time. The additions of Marc Bergevin and Trent Yawney help solidify the defense. One through six, the Blues aren&rsquo;t that bad.</p><p>3. Keenan factor. Teams coached by Keenan go a long way when they buy into his theories. The question re-mains, will this group of players follow him? Newcomer Murphy has been known to march to his own beat. There are now seven of Keenan&rsquo;s ex-Blackhawks in the lineup. They know what to expect from him.</p><p>State of goaltending: Grant Fuhr will have to duplicate his remarkable comeback The Blues hope Grant Fuhr has another outstanding season. season. Fuhr came back from the NHL trash heap, not to mention a pre-season weight problem, to start a record 76 straight games and post a career best 2.87 goals-against aver-age. But then he blew out his knee in the playoffs when Nick Kypreos of the Toronto Maple Leafs piled into him. Fuhr underwent reconstructive surgery for what was thought to be a career threatening injury, but he made great progress in the off-sea-son. Backing up Fuhr will be veteran Jon Casey, who was rewarded with a two-year, $2-million contract for carrying the Blues in the playoffs after Fuhr&rsquo;s injury. He had a 2.89 GAA and a 90.5 save percentage in the playoffs after spending most of the season in the minors. The Blues signed 25-year-old Jamie McLen-nan, the former New York Islanders&rsquo; prospect, as insurance.</p><p>Most pressing need: A play-making center. Peter Zezel, Adam Creighton, Craig MacTavish and Mike Hudson don&rsquo;t qualify. That&rsquo;s all the Blues had up the middle in mid-July. They&rsquo;re third and fourth liners.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0163-0145/10258705-1-eng-US/f0163-012.jpg" title="f0163-01" width="1087" height="1823"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Blues hope Grant Fuhr has another outstanding season.</figcaption></div><p>Sleeper pool pick: Court-nail had an off-season with only 24 goals. If he can regain his scoring touch, he&rsquo;d be a nice gamble. When he&rsquo;s on, he can score. When he&rsquo;s not, you see a season like 1995-96.</p><p>Top draft choice: With their first first-round pick since 1989, the Blues selected center Marty Reasoner from Boston College 14th overall. He&rsquo;s a playmaking center who has been compared to Craig Janney. Reasoner will be a sophomore at B.C. this season and won&rsquo;t show up at camp until 1997 at earliest.</p><p>Coach/GM: Keenan (455-301-98, .596 as coach; 150-107-46, .571 as GM) wears both hats with dubious results to this point. His first St. Louis team finished fourth overall, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Vancouver Canucks. Last season, Keenan had only his second losing record as a coach and the Blues went out in the second round. During Keenan&rsquo;s tenure, the Blues have got-ten older, slower and less talented. The well is nearly dry as far as long-term prospects and fans are growing restless. Many talk radio callers and letter writers regularly blast him, but there&rsquo;s no dispute over Keenan&rsquo;s four Stanley Cup final appearances and one Cup winner.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: The Blues reached the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1992-93. The Dallas Stars swept the Blues in the first round in 94 and Vancouver eliminated them in the first round in 1994-95.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds last three years: 4 (1, 1993-94; 1, 1994-95; 2, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0163-0227/10258698-1-eng-US/f0163-022.jpg" title="f0163-02" width="1007" height="1191"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0163-0324/10258691-1-eng-US/f0163-032.jpg" title="f0163-03" width="546" height="689"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0164-0147/10258684-1-eng-US/f0164-012.jpg" title="f0164-01" width="2159" height="2241"></div><p>Central Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0164-02_ad/10258677-1-eng-US/f0164-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0164-02_Ad" width="2143" height="864"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0161-02

ST. LOUIS BLUES

<div class="byline">By Dan Wood</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0165-0232/10258813-1-eng-US/f0165-022.jpg" title="f0165-02" width="648" height="999"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0165-0142/10258820-1-eng-US/f0165-012.jpg" title="f0165-01" width="127" height="125"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>radicating the lingering damage from 1995-96 has been the San Jose Sharks&rsquo; goal since the curtain mercifully closed on last season&rsquo;s 20-55-7 nightmare.</p><p>Changing an attitude that not only accepted losing, but expected it, is GM Dean Lombardi&rsquo;s No. 1 priority. Not only did Lombardi name a new coach-former Mighty Ducks of Anaheim assistant Al Sims-he surrounded him with a new, experienced hockey department.</p><p>Former NHL GMs John Ferguson and Don Maloney were hired as pro scouts and serve as Lombardi&rsquo;s right-hand men. Former Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Wayne Cashman, a teammate of Sims with the Boston Bruins in the 1970s, was lured to be Sims&rsquo; top aide.</p><p>Of course, none of that will mean a thing without on-ice improvement. That&rsquo;s where Sims comes in. A former NHL defenseman who was given much of the credit for the Ducks&rsquo; strong defensive performances the past three years, Sims will focus on the problems that led to the Sharks surrendering a league-high 357 goals last season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0165-0322/10258806-1-eng-US/f0165-032.jpg" title="f0165-03" width="1412" height="2155"><figcaption class="caption-body">GOALTENDER CHRIS TERRERI</figcaption></div><p>The acquisitions of goalie Kelly Hrudey and defenseman Todd Gill should help in that area. Gill carries a reputation for leadership qualities, which was glaringly absent last season. The blueline will also improve if Al lafrate can regain the form that made him a second-team NHL all-star in 1993. He is expected to be ready for camp after missing the past two seasons.</p><p>1995-96 record: 20-55-7, seventh in Pacific, 25th overall, missed playoffs. Power play: 16.2 per cent (19th overall). Penalty killing: 76.7 per cent (26th overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: Todd Gill, D; Todd Ewen, RW; Kelly Hrudey, G; Tim Hunter, RW; Al lafrate, D.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Alexander Korolyuk, D; Vlastimil Kroupa, D; Alexei Yegorov, C.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Team de-fense. San Jose was burned for 42 more goals than the NHL&rsquo;s next-most generous outfit, the New York Islanders. Poor goaltending by Arturs Irbe and Wade Flaherty early in the sea-son was a big part of the problem, but support in front of them was virtually non-existent. Sharks&rsquo; defensemen must grasp the idea that throwing checks in the slot is allowed in the NHL, a concept Gill is being counted on to teach.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0166-0143/10258799-1-eng-US/f0166-012.jpg" title="f0166-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. Resilience. Trades of leaders such as Bob Errey, Igor Larionov, Gaetan Duchesne and Jeff Norton were sorely felt last season. The Sharks lacked the wherewithal to recover from an 0-7-4 start. Gill and veterans Ulf Dahlen, Doug Bodger and Jayson More must step up to fill the monumental leadership void on a team loaded with youth.</p><p>3. Owen Nolan. The right winger signed a two-year, $4.6 million contract in May. San Jose is counting on a bigger re-turn than the 33-goal, 69-point campaign Nolan produced. Something like the 42 goals he scored for the Quebec Nordiques in 1991-92 would be a start. The Sharks are not only banking on the moody Nolan being the centerpiece of their re-building effort, but need him to be more reliable and consistent.</p><p>State of goaltending: The Doug Bodger leads a defense corps that needs to improve. answer. Nolan, a natural right winger, is the Sharks&rsquo; best face-off man. The team will have to upgrade down the middle if it hopes to make any improve-mints on last season&rsquo;s showing.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0167-0142/10258792-1-eng-US/f0167-012.jpg" title="f0167-01" width="1118" height="1799"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Bodger leads a defense corps that needs to improve.</figcaption></div><p>Sleeper pool pick: Beyond Nolan and right wing-er Ulf Dahlen, Whitney might be the best bet. The author of 119 points in 188 career games, Whitney tied for third in team scoring two years ago and was fourth last season.</p><p>Top draft choice: De-fenseman Andrei Zyuzin, chosen second overall, was one of only two supposed sure things in this year&rsquo;s draft class. Known as an offense-minded performer who also possesses solid defensive posture, Zyuzin is at least a year away from San Jose. He is expected to spend a third season with Sala-vat Ufa in Russia.</p><p>Coach/GM: The emergence arrival of Chris Terreri in November was all that kept the Sharks&rsquo; netminding from being absolute chaos last season. Terreri is a solid No. 2 man and perhaps even a capable co-No. 1, but showed wear from playing 46 games, including a club-record 24 in a row. That shouldn&rsquo;t be a problem with the arrival of Hrudey, who is expected to share the duties with Terreri. Both are experienced NHL veterans and give the Sharks the reliable goaltending they lacked before Terreri&rsquo;s acquisition last season.</p><p>Most pressing need: A reliable playmaking center. After last season&rsquo;s late-season trade of Craig Janney and the summer trade of Jamie Baker to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Darren Turcotte is the Sharks&rsquo; No. 1 center. He would be at best No. 2 on most teams in the league. Last year the Sharks experimented with Ray Whitney and Viktor Kozlov at center, but neither proved that he is the a field of candidates that included Brian Sutter and Dave King was well received in San Jose. Sims&rsquo; reputation for coaching strong defense and making the most of generally inferior personnel seems to be a perfect fit.</p><p>Dean Lombardi (83-186-29, .327) knows his neck is next on the chop-ping block if things don&rsquo;t improve rapidly. His dismantling of the 1993-94 club drew heavy criticism in the Bay Area, leaving him in a make-or-break position this year.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: After pulling first-round upsets over the Detroit Red Wings in 1994 (and nearly beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round) and Calgary Flames in 1995, the Sharks were 31 points out of a playoff spot last season.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 4 (2, 1993-94; 2, 1994-95; 0, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0167-0225/10258785-1-eng-US/f0167-022.jpg" title="f0167-02" width="1012" height="1181"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0167-0322/10258778-1-eng-US/f0167-032.jpg" title="f0167-03" width="544" height="683"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0168-0145/10258771-1-eng-US/f0168-012.jpg" title="f0168-01" width="2161" height="2193"></div><p>Central Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0168-02_ad/10258764-1-eng-US/f0168-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0168-02_Ad" width="2172" height="851"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0165-02

SAN JOSE SHARKS

<div class="byline">By Tim Buckley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0169-0223/10258900-1-eng-US/f0169-022.jpg" title="f0169-02" width="641" height="1022"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0169-0138/10258907-1-eng-US/f0169-012.jpg" title="f0169-01" width="131" height="124"></div><p>The Tampa Bay Lightning used to be a cuddly little expansion team. That all changed last season when it made the playoffs- and some noise.</p><p>Once it got into the playoffs, the Lightning turned belligerent and took the Philadelphia Flyers to six games in a physical, nasty first round series.</p><p>&ldquo;When we started all this,&rdquo; said Lightning coach Terry Crisp, &ldquo;we were little fairhaired boys getting patted on the head by people saying, &rsquo;Awwww, nice little boys, they made the playoffs.&rsquo; Now, I read the papers, people hate us, we&rsquo;re goons, we&rsquo;re thuggery. You know what I say to my guys? &rsquo;Boys, we&rsquo;ve arrived.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>How long the Lightning will stay on the scene is another question. Four of its top six scorers- and several of its core players-are over 30. With the exception of Roman Hamrlik and Alexander Selivanov, not many of the team&rsquo;s young players provides much offense.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0169-0318/10258893-1-eng-US/f0169-032.jpg" title="f0169-03" width="1415" height="2152"><figcaption class="caption-body">RIGHT WINGER ALEXANDER SELIVANOV</figcaption></div><p>On the plus side, Rob Zamuner emerged as one of the league&rsquo;s best defensive forwards and goalie Daren Puppa led the band of overachievers with a terrific season. The Lightning&rsquo;s power play, which was 22nd and 24th in the league the past two years, was fourth last season.</p><p>As the Lightning moves into its new rink, it won&rsquo;t be able to count on crowds of 27,000-plus for inspiration. But if it can improve on its 1995-96 feats, that&rsquo;s all the inspiration it will need.</p><p>1995-96 record: 38-32-12, fifth in Atlantic, 11th overall, lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-2 to Philadelphia. Power play: 20.6 per cent (fourth overall). Penalty killing: 84.4 per cent (fifth overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisitions: David Matsos, RW/LW; Corey Schwab, G.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Drew Bannister, D; Daymond Langkow, C; Allan Egeland, C; David Matsos, RW/LW.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Hamrlik&rsquo;s happiness. The Lightning&rsquo;s first overall choice in 1992 showed Norris Trophy potential and finished second in team scoring with 65 points. But he also pouted over ice time and his relationship with Crisp soured early in the play-offs. Tampa Bay needs the Hamrlik who had a team-high 42 power play points, not the one who let outside influences erode his confidence.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0170-0143/10258886-1-eng-US/f0170-012.jpg" title="f0170-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>2. The kids. First rounders Hamrlik, Chris Gratton, Jason Wiemer and 1995 top-choice Langkow form the core of Tampa Bay&rsquo;s hope for the future and each must raise the level of his game. Langkow should make the team this year. Gratton and Wiemer must pick up where they left off in the playoffs.</p><p>3. Defensive depth. The Lightning has a pretty good mix on the blueline, but David Shaw, Bill Houlder. Michel Petit and Rudy Poeschek are either approaching or over 30. Acquiring a big defenseman who can carry the puck is a major priority.</p><p>State of goaltending: Puppa was a deserving Vezina finalist with his 91.8 save per-centage and five shutouts, but the 31-year-old missed 12 games with a knee injury and two big playoff games with lower-back woes. Puppa&rsquo;s ability is unquestioned; his reliability has been debated. The Lightning up-graded its backup goaltending by ac-quiring Corey Schwab from the New Jersey Devils. Derek Wilkinson played four games last season and Zac Bierk, who led the Peterborough Petes to the Memorial Cup final, is several years away.</p><p>Most pressing need: The Lightning needs a bona fide goal scorer, one whose 30-plus goal sea-sons aren&rsquo;t a thing of the past. Tam-pa Bay had six of those types last season (Brian Bellows, Brian Brad-ley, John Cullen, Petr Klima, John Tucker and Paul Ysebaert), and none scored more than 23.</p><p>Sleeper pool pick: Wiemer, a 45-goal scorer in junior hockey, is entering his third season, traditionally a breakout year for players. His rookie season was miserable (he broke his ankle in a Western League game, then had just five points in 36 games after the lockout) and he struggled early last season (no points and 11 non-injury scratches in his first 23 games). But Wiemer showed scoring potential with a hat trick against the San Jose Sharks March 1 and finished with five points in his last 12 games after clicking with Gratton and Bellows as linemates.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0171-0140/10258879-1-eng-US/f0171-012.jpg" title="f0171-01" width="1102" height="1809"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The Lightning needs Roman Hamrlik to be a happy camper.</b></figcaption></div><p>Top draft choice: Drafting lower than it ever has at 16th overall, the Lightning wanted a defenseman with size and it got Mario Larocque from the Hull Olympiques. La-rocque is a strong-skating offensive rearguard who has a mean streak, but needs to fill out his lanky 6-foot-l frame. Larocque is not yet ready to make the jump, and the Lightning has no intention of rushing him.</p><p>Coach/GM: With four full seasons, Crisp (252-220-66, .530) has been with the Lightning longer than any other active NHL coach has been with his cur-rent team. He cashed in with a hefty three-year contract signed in the off-season, the reward from an owner-ship that loves the job he has done so far.</p><p>GM Phil Esposito (215-264-59, .454) also signed a three-year pact. He has had some of his control taken away by team president Steve Oto, but still is the man primarily responsible for defining the makeup of this organization. Esposito has been commendably cautious in drawing those plans, resisting the temptation to give away young talent for a quick fix.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: The Lightning&rsquo;s series against Philadelphia was its first in franchise his-tory.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 1 (0, 1993-94; 0, 1994-95; 1, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0171-0222/10258872-1-eng-US/f0171-022.jpg" title="f0171-02" width="1013" height="1185"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0171-0318/10258865-1-eng-US/f0171-032.jpg" title="f0171-03" width="545" height="685"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0172-0140/10258858-1-eng-US/f0172-012.jpg" title="f0172-01" width="2167" height="2275"></div><p>Central Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0172-02_ad/10258851-1-eng-US/f0172-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0172-02_Ad" width="2259" height="833"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0169-02

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0173-0221/10258987-1-eng-US/f0173-022.jpg" title="f0173-02" width="629" height="1007"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0173-0136/10258994-1-eng-US/f0173-012.jpg" title="f0173-01" width="125" height="127"></div><p>More than ever, it seems the ghost of former eccentric owner Harold Ballard is lurking in the corridors of Maple Leaf Gardens.</p><p>After two seasons of success under GM Cliff Fletcher and coach Pat Bums, things soured for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994-95 and got downright messy last season. Bums was fired, the club finished below .500 for the first time in five years and Fletcher was the target of criticism because of a series of questionable trades.</p><p>On the ice, an expensive, veteran-laden squad had more excuses than answers and was bounced by the St. Louis Blues in a first round, six-game playoff defeat. Off the ice, grocery magnate Steve Stavro tightened his grip on the franchise in a highly controversial takeover. When it later appeared Stavro was also instrumental in several trades, notably the reacquisition of Wendel Clark, it became more and more difficult to figure out who was calling the shots.</p><p>All of this helped create a Ballard-like circus atmosphere around the Gardens with veterans Mike Gartner, Dave Gagner and Todd Gill expunged in a wave of cost-cutting. And with untested rookies expected to jump in and help immediately, the road for new coach Mike Murphy could be bumpy.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0173-0314/10258980-1-eng-US/f0173-032.jpg" title="f0173-03" width="1386" height="2162"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GOALTENDER FELIX POTVIN</b></figcaption></div><p>Salvation could lie in career seasons from Doug Gilmour, Mats Sundin and Felix Potvin. Sundin, in particular, needs to reach a new level after playing well in his first two years as a Leaf, but failing to achieve lofty expectations.</p><p>1995-96 record: 34-36-12, third in Central, 13th overall, lost Western Conference quarterfinal 4-2 to St. Louis. Power play: 18.9 per cent (10th overall). Penalty killing: 82.6 per cent (11th overall).</p><p><b>Off-season acquisition:</b> Jamie Baker, C; Mike Murphy, coach.</p><p><b>Candidates for promotion:</b> Sergei Berezin, RW; Fredrik Modin, LW; Jeff Ware, D.</p><p><b>Three pivotal factors:</b> 1. Stability in the lineup. By design or neces-sity, the lineup has been in a constant state of turmoil the past two seasons. Fletcher has engineered trade after trade, of-ten to correct past errors. Play-ers such as Gagner would ar-rive, then begin worrying im-mediately if they were headed out. The result has been uncer-tainly, particularly among the club&rsquo;s youngsters, who were rarely given time to prove their value. They may take their lumps early, but the Leafs have to settle things down.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0174-0136/10258973-1-eng-US/f0174-012.jpg" title="f0174-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>1. Play of youngsters. To understand how much the Leafs are counting on the kids this season, consider unproven Russian right winger Sergei Berezin, 24, is being asked to replace prolific veteran Mike Gartner, who led the Leafs in goals last season with 35. Swedish rookie Fredrik Mod-in, 21, has been penciled in, although he was hardly a star in Sweden, while Todd Warriner, 22, and Brandon Con-very, 22, will be asked to offer improved efforts up front. On defense, Matt Martin, 25, should be ready, but bumping junior Jeff Ware, 19, up to the NHL already may be a stretch.</p><p>2. Gilmour&rsquo;s contribution. After averaging 1.4 points per game in his first two full sea-sons in Toronto, the Leaf captain&rsquo;s production has fallen drastically to 0.84 points per match the past two campaigns. As a result, Toronto&rsquo;s offense has been on the skids. Is Gilmour a 127-point center as he was in 1992-93, or a 72-point center as he was last season?</p><p>State of goaltending: Potvin has been one of the league&rsquo;s most consistent and durable netminders the past four seasons with 171 appearances. However, he hasn&rsquo;t been able to lift a mediocre club out of the first round of the playoffs the past two springs. Veteran Don Beaupre had a terrible time in Toronto last season in eight appearances (4.64 goals against average and 84.7 save percentage) and No. 3 man Marcel Cousineau is unproven at the NHL level. If Potvin goes down there&rsquo;s major trouble, which is hard to believe for a club that recently owned Potvin, Damian Rhodes and Eric Fichaud. it&rsquo;s Martin, Ware or the addition of a solid veteran, the Leafs badly need help on defense. Larry Murphy, Dave Ellett and Jamie Macoun all had rough campaigns last season, although Macoun picked it up in the post-season. An all-star type campaign from Mathieu Schneider could solve a huge part of the puzzle.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0175-0130/10258966-1-eng-US/f0175-012.jpg" title="f0175-01" width="1091" height="1801"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mats Sundin led the Leafs in points, but was 28th overall.</b></figcaption></div><p>Sleeper pool pick: Given the league-wide paucity of high-scoring left wingers, Warriner might be a decent late-round selection. He had seven goals in 57 games last season, but has the potential to be a 25-goal man.</p><p>Top draft choice: The Leafs didn&rsquo;t have a first round selection at the entry draft, but in 6-foot-5 Czech defenseman Marek Posmyk, they drafted a 17-year-old blueliner (36th overall) who is years away from NHL play.</p><p>Coach/GM: Murphy (20-37-8, .369) jumps behind an NHL bench for the first time since briefly coaching the Los Angeles Kings nine years ago. A former Leaf assis-tant, Murphy is very familiar with the organization.</p><p>GM Cliff Fletcher (891-721-282, .545) is in need of a hot streak. After having dealt away top youngsters such as Kenny Jonsson and Fichaud, and with no first round picks last summer or next June, Fletcher will attempt to now turn to youth. It is an iffy proposition at best.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: Reaching the final four in 1994 and losing in five games to the Vancou-ver Canucks is a distant memory. Despite building a veteran team de-signed for playoff success, the Leafs have lost in the first round the past two springs.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 5 (3, 1993-94; 1, 1994-95; 1, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0175-0213/10258959-1-eng-US/f0175-022.jpg" title="f0175-02" width="1012" height="1184"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0175-039/10258952-1-eng-US/f0175-032.jpg" title="f0175-03" width="541" height="682"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0176-0138/10258945-1-eng-US/f0176-012.jpg" title="f0176-01" width="2283" height="2249"></div><p>Central Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0176-02_ad/10258938-1-eng-US/f0176-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0176-02_Ad" width="2218" height="832"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0173-02

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

<div class="byline">By Jim Jamieson</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0179-0213/10259074-1-eng-US/f0179-022.jpg" title="f0179-02" width="641" height="1016"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RIGHT WINGER ALEXANDER MOGILNY</b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0179-0128/10259081-1-eng-US/f0179-012.jpg" title="f0179-01" width="127" height="124"></div><p>It shapes up as a year of transition for the Vancouver Canucks.</p><p>Whether the direction is up or down remains to be seen.</p><p>Nobody could predict which Canuck team would show up for any given game last season and the organization continued to be full of surprises in the summer. It brought in new head coach Tom Renney, who has a great resume, but no NHL experience, and allowed popular center Cliff Ronning go for nothing, even though he was its No. 3 scorer and second on its depth chart at that position.</p><p>The pressure is clearly on GM Pat Quinn to acquire a quality center and make some changes to a defense that broke down much too often last season.</p><p>The most common criticism of this talented crew was a work ethic that all too often went missing.</p><p>The upside is substantial, though, for a club that has underachieved for the past three regular seasons. The Canucks will get superstar right winger Pavel Bure back after missing most of last season with reconstructive surgery on his right knee. Having Bure the whole season probably would have meant six to 10 more points in the standings, better special teams and may have saved Rick Ley&rsquo;s job.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>As well, right winger Alex Mogilny is coming off a 55-goal season and team captain Trevor Linden will provide his usual all-round contribution.</p><p>1995-96 record: 32-35-15, third in Pacific, 16th overall, lost Western Conference quarterfinal 4-2 to Colorado. Power play: 16.8 per cent (17th overall). Penalty killing: 81.3 per cent (15th overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisition: David Roberts, LW; Tom Renney, coach.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Brian Loney, RW; Lonny Bohonos, C.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Response to the new coach. The polished and articulate Renney has a reputation as a motivator and a coach who preaches sacrifice of individualism for the good of the team. That&rsquo;s exactly what the incon-sistent Canucks need, but the acid test will be how highly paid stars such as Bure and Mogilny buy into the program.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0179-0311/10259067-1-eng-US/f0179-032.jpg" title="f0179-03" width="1414" height="2133"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jyrki Lumme&rsquo;s 8.9 percent shooting percentage was best among top-20 scoring rearguards.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0180-0132/10259060-1-eng-US/f0180-012.jpg" title="f0180-01" width="2458" height="3279"></div><p>1. The play of the defense. The Canucks&rsquo; defense corps simply must be better. Count-less times last season, the defense made critical blunders in its own zone or committed turnovers in neutral ice that resulted in odd-man attacks. Vancouver somehow has to come up with more than four reliable defensemen.</p><p>2. Depth at center. When Quinn cut Ronning loose he also opted not to have Josef Beranek and Jesse Belanger back. The resulting depth chart at center after Trevor Linden: a sore-backed Mike Ridley, who may well retire if he&rsquo;s not 100 per cent by training camp, and fringe players Mike Sillinger and Jim Dowd. Quinn simply can&rsquo;t go into the season with this lineup down the middle.</p><p>State of goaltending: There is a silver lining to the horrendous year through which Kirk McLean suffered. For one thing, rookie Corey Hirsch came through impres-sively when McLean was side-lined for 19 games with minor knee surgery and proceeded to sup-plant the Canucks&rsquo; longtime main man in the playoffs. Hirsch was named to the all-rookie team. Secondly, McLean is too good a goalie and too much of a competitor not to come back with a great sea-son. Vancouver&rsquo;s goaltending could be the envy of the league this sea-son.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0181-0126/10259053-1-eng-US/f0181-012.jpg" title="f0181-01" width="1127" height="1837"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Pavel Bure will be back and hungry after almost a year off.</b></figcaption></div><p>Most pressing need: A kick-butt defenseman who can play in the top-four rotation and a second-line center. Last season, Dana Murzyn was the only Canucks&rsquo; rearguard who made opposing forwards wary of venturing near the goal.</p><p>Sleeper pool pick: The Can-ucks have a bunch of guys who will be popular with poolsters and a bunch who won&rsquo;t. Few of them fit in the middle. Mike Sillinger is closest.</p><p>Top draft choice: The Canucks were pleasantly surprised to find cen-ter Josh Holden of the Regina Pats available at 12th overall. A 6-foot, 170-pounder, Holden scored 57 goals and 112 points in his second year of major junior. Holden&rsquo;s coach, Rich Preston, makes comparisons to Jeremy Roenick, but the Canucks will likely have to wait a couple of years to see if that prediction turns out.</p><p>Coach/GM: There is much anticipation over the debut of new head man Renney, who was also pursued by the Phoenix Coyotes and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Cranbrook, B.C., has been successful at every level, from minor hockey through major junior and the Canadian national and Olympic team programs. Renney, 41, comes into a situation full of uncertainties, but with a substantial upside.</p><p>Quinn (290-317-91, .480) has earned a reputation for being a shrewd trader and the Canuck GM&rsquo;s acumen has allowed him to make up for some spotty drafting. But last season wasn&rsquo;t a banner year for Quinn, who got damaged goods in both the Mike Ridley and Esa Tikkanen deals and then was forced to move disgruntled defenseman Jeff Brown for an inferior package of Frank Kucera and Jim Dowd. With serious depth problems on defense and at center and with no help in the system, Quinn will need to swing some better deals.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: After losing the Stanley Cup final in 1994 to the New York Rangers, the Canucks have stumbled the past two springs. They were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round in 1995 and lost in six games in the first round to the Colorado Avalanche last season.</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 7 (4, 1993-94; 2, 1994-95; 1, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0181-0212/10259046-1-eng-US/f0181-022.jpg" title="f0181-02" width="1035" height="1199"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0182-0311/10259039-1-eng-US/f0182-032.jpg" title="f0182-03" width="557" height="687"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0182-0129/10259032-1-eng-US/f0182-012.jpg" title="f0182-01" width="2211" height="2217"></div><p>Pacific Division Western Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0182-02_ad/10259025-1-eng-US/f0182-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0182-02_Ad" width="2210" height="840"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0179-02

VANCOUVERCANUCKS

<div class="byline">By Len Hochberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0183-0213/10259161-1-eng-US/f0183-022.jpg" title="f0183-02" width="642" height="1013"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0183-0124/10259168-1-eng-US/f0183-012.jpg" title="f0183-01" width="134" height="129"></div><p>The Washington Capitals have shown with teamwork, hard work and defense, they are capable of beating the top teams in the league.</p><p>Now if only they could get their offense in gear.</p><p>Even though dozens of big-time goal scorers have changed teams the past few seasons, none has landed in Washington.</p><p>The team did improve its scoring potential in the off-season, but in typical Capitals&rsquo; fashion it was through the addition of a defenseman. Phil Housley, a 32-year-unre-stricted free agent, signed a three-year deal and should help ease some of the scoring burden-especially on the power play. But his forte is as a playmaker; he can&rsquo;t be expected to make up the difference alone.</p><p>Seemingly, all the Capitals need to compete with the elite on a regular basis is another big gun to augment Peter Bondra, someone to take the pressure off the top line.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0183-0311/10259154-1-eng-US/f0183-032.jpg" title="f0183-03" width="1445" height="2159"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DEFENSEMAN SERGEI GONCHAR</b></figcaption></div><p>GM David Poile likes the makeup of the roster, but acknowledges its shortcoming. &ldquo;You still have to have some players that can score the timely goal,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;With the Capitals, we&rsquo;ve not reached a high enough level to be a force offensively.&rdquo;</p><p>With division rivals Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning on the rise and with a new arena set to open in 1997-98, maybe owner Abe Pollin should consider taking on a big salary to acquire a productive offensive veteran now.</p><p>1995-96 record: 39-32-11, fourth in Atlantic, 10th overall, lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-2 to Pittsburgh. Power play: 15.6 per cent (22nd overall). Penalty killing: 82.6 per cent (12th overall).</p><p>Off-season acquisition: Phil Housley, D.</p><p>Candidates for promotion: Nolan Baumgartner, D; Andrew Brunette, LW; Richard Zednik, LW.</p><p>Three pivotal factors: 1. Develop ment of young players. With the Capitals focusing so much on building from within, it&rsquo;s imperative their youngsters continue to improve. Steve Konowalchuk right now is the best of the lot, although Sergei Gonchar may have the highest upside. The Capitals will need more from Pat Peake and Brendan Witt- and something, anything, from Jason Allison.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0184-0130/10259147-1-eng-US/f0184-012.jpg" title="f0184-01" width="2458" height="3279"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Top draft pick Alexandre Volchkov comes to the Capitals with good skills, but a tainted reputation</b>.</figcaption></div><p><b>Nolan Baumgartner, D, 20: Solid all-around rearguard is very reliable in his own end. Plays a lot like Kevin Lowe. Will be a fixture for years</b>.</p><p>1. The ability to land or develop another good scorer. After Bondra, who had 52 goals, the Capitals&rsquo; next best was Konowalchuk, with 23. Bondra accounted for 22 per cent of the team&rsquo;s offense, the highest figure in the league. He&rsquo;s the real deal, but in the play-offs, the Pittsburgh Penguins showed if they concentrated on him, the Capitals had nowhere else to go.</p><p>2. Playoff goaltending. Despite all their offensive deficiencies, the Capitals could survive in the post-season if Carey played to his regular season form. It&rsquo;s perplexing why he hasn&rsquo;t been able to do the job in the post-season, but the Capitals need him to be-come a playoff goaltender. Now.</p><p>State of goaltending: Carey was runner-up for the Vezina Trophy as a rookie and won it last year. That made him the first player in NHL Jim Carey has struggled in two post-season appearances.</p><p>history to be a Vezina finalist his first two years in the league. Carey seems to have adjusted to the fact playing with this defense, he won&rsquo;t face many shots and must be pre-pared for long idle stretches. Backup Olaf Kolzig has shown in the past two playoffs he can be counted on-unfortunately for the Capitals, Carey had to falter first. Ron Tugnutt was signed by the Ottawa Senators as a free agent, but the Capitals filled that void with the signing of German standout Marc Seliger.</p><p>Most pressing need: The same old story: another goal scorer. He doesn&rsquo;t have to tally 50. Someone who can play wing along-side playmaking center Joe Juneau and put home 35 goals a season would definitely add a new dimension to this club.</p><p>Sleeper pool pick: Coming off a severe heel injury, Pat Peake may not be ready for training camp. So he could be around in late rounds. Peake showed marked improvement last season-when he was healthy.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0185-0125/10259140-1-eng-US/f0185-012.jpg" title="f0185-01" width="1108" height="1796"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jim Carey has struggled in two post-season appearances</b></figcaption></div><p>Top draft choice: With their highest entry draft pick since grabbing Bobby Carp-enter third in 1981, the Capitals selected enigmatic Russian Al-exander Volchkov of the Barrie Colts fourth overall. Central Scouting rated him the top av-ailable forward. Volchkov, who was passed on by the New York Islanders, had 37 goals and 64 points in 47 games, but missed 19 games with a broken ankle. There is some question whether his attitude matches his ability. With their second first round pick the Capitals snared Jaro-slav Svejkovsky of the Tri-City Americans 17th overall. Poile called Svejkovsky, &ldquo;the best pure goal scorer&rsquo;&rsquo; in the draft.</p><p>Coach/GM: Coach Jim Schoenfeld (149-140-45, .513) has grown greatly as a coach since his days with the Buffalo Sab-res and New Jersey Devils. He engi-neered an upset of Pittsburgh three years ago in the playoffs and nearly did it again last year-despite more than a half-dozen regulars missing from the lineup.</p><p>Like Schoenfeld. Poile (561-417-123, .565) is in the last year of his contract. Despite making the play-offs in each of his 14 years with the club, there seems to be mounting pressure on Poile to go deep into the post-season quite quickly-even though Pollin is not providing the necessary resources.</p><p>Three-year playoff history: After beating perennial playoff foe Pittsburgh in the first round three years ago, the Capitals have lost to the Penguins after holding two-game leads in both 1994-95 and 1995-96</p><p>Number of playoff rounds past three years: 4 (2, 1993-94; 1, 1994-95; 1, 1995-96).</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0185-0212/10259133-1-eng-US/f0185-022.jpg" title="f0185-02" width="1012" height="1181"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0185-0310/10259126-1-eng-US/f0185-032.jpg" title="f0185-03" width="548" height="679"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0186-0127/10259119-1-eng-US/f0186-012.jpg" title="f0186-01" width="2285" height="2226"></div><p>Atlantic Division Eastern Conference</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0186-02_ad/10259112-1-eng-US/f0186-02_ad2.jpg" title="f0186-02_Ad" width="2222" height="844"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0183-02

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

<div class="byline">By Murray Townsend</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0189-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0189-0110/10259199-1-eng-US/f0189-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>We predict Adam Oates will break the 100-point mark this season.</b></figcaption></div><p>The times, they-are-a-changin&rsquo;.</p><p>It doesn&rsquo;t really matter whether you think former NHLer Wayne Dillon or former folk king Bob Dylan wrote that line. What is</p><p>important is you remember it when you enter your hockey pool.</p><p>If you go into your hockey pool next season armed with nothing more than last year&rsquo;s NHL statistics, you do so at your own peril. Don&rsquo;t say you weren&rsquo;t warned.</p><p>Luckily, we at The Hockey News are on the cutting edge of all trends in hockey and we&rsquo;re also nice enough to share our knowledge with you.</p><p>The game has changed and strate-gies for poolies have to change with it. Otherwise, you&rsquo;re throwing away good money and opening yourself up to enormous amounts of ridicule among your peers. Just like Mike Keenan.</p><p>While reaching for the dip, you might want to consider the following on pool day:</p><p>Stars rule The days of balanced scoring when teams had six or seven 20-goal scorers have passed. Now, for the most part, all the top offensive players are concentrated on one line. After the first couple names on a team list, there&rsquo;s a huge dropoff in the point parade.</p><p>Poolsters can&rsquo;t just look at a player and figure he has scoring potential. If he&rsquo;s not playing on the No. 1 line, it doesn&rsquo;t matter as much anymore.</p><p>Stay away from rookies</p><p>Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators led all rookies in points last year with 61. With the exception of the lockout shortened 1994-95 season, that&rsquo;s the lowest total for a rookie points leader since 1969-70 when Bill Fairbairn had 56 for the New York Rangers.</p><p>With liberalized free agency and more freedom of movement, more older players are staying in the game longer. That doesn&rsquo;t leave as much ice time for the younger guys.</p><p>Watch for trades Because of high salaries, teams are making more trades for purely financial reasons. For poolsters, everything depends on which team their player goes to and the style of play the team employs. It doesn&rsquo;t matter as much what a player can do offensively, it matters more what he&rsquo;s allowed to do. A player who gets 100 points for one team, might only be worth 60 on another.</p><p>Young defensemen don&rsquo;t score The top five scorers among defensemen last season were Brian Leetch, Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Chris Chelios and Phil Housley. Leetch is the only one under 30.</p><p>Players coming along with hotshot minor league or junior scoring stats are doing little at the NHL level.</p><p>with NHL developments during the summer, your work in August is bound to pay off in October.</p><p>If a team makes a deal for a veteran player or signs a free agent, it might have a big ef-fect on a player you intend to choose. Maybe he&rsquo;ll get bumped down on the depth chart and his point total will suffer.</p><p>Go with Jagr It may be terribly tantalizing to go with Mario Lemieux if you have the first overall pick in your pool, but we suggest you go with Mario Jr. Jagr is a better No. 1 pick for one big reason: his production is guaranteed, Lemieux&rsquo;s is not. Take Jagr and let somebody else sweat out the season.</p><p>If you do nothing else, look at THN&rsquo;s projected top 300 scorers for 1996-97 Our pain-staking research has resulted in who we think will be the top 300 scorers next season. <i>(See pgs. 191 and 193 for the ranking.)</i></p><p>This list includes player and team, prorated point totals for 82 games last season, career point tot-als per 82 games and projected point totals for 1996-97.</p><p>When coming up with our players and projected totals, we carefully considered age, power play time, career patterns, first- and second-half points, injury history, streak scoring from last season and, most importantly, where they fit on their club&rsquo;s depth chart.</p><p>An asterisk accompanies those players who appeared in more than one game, but fewer than 20, either</p><p>for last season or their careers. When using the table, pay attention to differences between last year&rsquo;s points per 82 game totals and point forecasts for this year. Those predictions are more speculative.</p><p>But what&rsquo;s a hockey pool without a little speculation? Rob Niedermayer of the Florida Panthers went from 10 points in the shortened 1994-95 season to 61 last season. We predicted he&rsquo;d score 65 points.</p><p>Of course, we also predicted Lemieux would only get 80. Hey, we can&rsquo;t be expected to do all the work for you, can we?<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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THN’S TOP 300 FOR 1996-97

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Yearbook 1996-97

BANK ON BOURQUE

1996-97 NHL SCHEDULE

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

BOSTON BRUINS