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Yearbook 2004-05
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
Coyotes moving in right direction
Halfway through the 2003-04 season, the Phoenix Coyotes had plenty of reason to be encouraged. Despite a brutal early schedule (25 of the first 41 games played on the road) and the loss of leading scorer Mike Johnson to a season-ending injury, Phoenix was playing .500 hockey and holding down a Western Conference playoff spot. The team had just opened its new $180-million arena and was riding the wave of goalie Brian Boucher’s record-breaking run of five consecutive shutouts. A month later, it was all gone. The Coyotes lost David Tanabe and Ladislav Nagy with severe injuries. Their new arena turned into a house of horrors. Boucher went from the penthouse to the outhouse, while coach Bobby Francis went from Jack Adams winner to the unemployment line. By March, the Coyotes had once…
FROM COLLEGE TO CUP
BRADY LEISENRING REMEMBERS THE heated debates with hometown buddy and future University of Vermont teammate Spencer Morton: Who was the better hockey player, Martin St-Louis or Eric Perrin? Back in the mid-1990s, years before Leisenring became the 2003-04 assistant captain of the University of Vermont Catamounts and St-Louis was the leading scorer in the NHL, St-Louis and lifelong pal Perrin burst onto the UVM hockey scene with an energy and excitement rarely seen in U.S. college hockey. As youth hockey players in the ski town of Stowe, Leisenring and Morton did as many youngsters in northern Vermont: whether it was street hockey or shinny on a pond, they emulated their Catamount heroes rather than Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux. “With Spencer, he wore No. 8, so he got to be Martin St-Louis,” says…
Search for identity Blues’ big mission
As their payroll climbed and pressure to perform mounted, as their franchise’s winningest coach was fired and yet another early post-season exit came to pass, the Blues became something they never expected: stale. In many ways the 2003-04 season was a washout for the Blues. Captain Al Maclnnis missed all but three games because of injury. The team went through its worst losing stretch in decades, costing longtime coach Joel Quenneville his job. The Blues inched into the post-season - their 25th consecutive playoff berth - and celebrated with a hasty, first-round retreat. The regressing franchise was clearly frayed. “We have to re-establish our identity,” said coach Mike Kitchen. “We had always been known as a hard-working team that was always hard to play against. That’s something we lost and that’s something…
A DOSE OF CBA REALITY*
IT IS BOTH IMMENSELY DESIRABLE and highly unlikely the following three events will mesh in a mind-bending cosmic crescendo: i) you’re reading this story; ii) you haven’t finished Christmas or Hanukkah shopping; iii) the 2004-05 NHL season has been saved. But if they do come together, just for the record, the crow in Vienna is supposed to be quite tasty at this time of year. Speaking of Vienna, the agent dropped off another pile of job openings last week. There’s a new post from an outfit in Davos called The Swiss Hockey Experience. They want someone for the Page 2 hockey column hole. It includes a weekly lunch date with Joe Thornton and Lonny Bohonos on 24/7 speed dial. Not bad, except they’re contractually bound to stamp a Bulova Watch decal on all…