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.

April 3, 2007

The Hockey News - Apr-03-07

<div class="byline">charlieteljeur</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-07" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07342/8947675-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

hockeysockpuppettheatre

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03954/8946578-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="565" height="510"></div><p>Would you support increasing the number of teams in the playoffs?</p><p>NO 79%</p><p>YES 21%</p><p>After the lockout ended, there was strong speculation the NHL would expand its playoff pool. If the players have their way, that won&rsquo;t happen anytime soon &ndash; they&rsquo;re perfectly content with their own Sweet 16. Asked if they would like to see more teams qualify for the playoffs, a whopping 79 per cent responded, &lsquo;no.&rsquo; The league has used a 16-team format since 1979-80, when it absorbed four teams from the WHA.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-05614/8946571-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="789" height="994"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KID: LEN REDKOLES/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Do you think a point should be awarded for an overtime or shootout loss?</p><p>YES 75%</p><p>NO 25%</p><p>Compared to 2005-06, how is the NHL product this season?</p><p>ABOUT THE SAME 62%</p><p>BETTER 31%</p><p>WORSE 7%</p><p>To what city would you least like to be traded?</p><p>BUFFALO 16%</p><p>EDMONTON 11%</p><p>NY ISLANDERS 10%</p><p>See pg. 11 for more.</p><p>If you had a son who was an NHL prospect, would you prefer to see him play:</p><p>U.S. COLLEGE 52%</p><p>MAJOR JUNIOR 38%</p><p>EUROPE 10%</p><p>See pg. 38 for more.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04800/8946564-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="835" height="561"></div><p>What&rsquo;s the worst thing about your job?</p><p>TRAVEL 43%</p><p>INJURIES 14%</p><p>NOTHING 10%</p><p>What&rsquo;s the best thing about your job?</p><p>LIVING THE DREAM 43%</p><p>FRIENDSHIPS 12%</p><p>MONEY 10%</p><p>Which most resembles the NHL environment?</p><p>PROGRESSIVE 21%</p><p>OLD BOYS&rsquo; NETWORK 19%</p><p>IN BETWEEN 60%</p><p>Would you be confortable playing with an openly gay teammate?</p><p>YES 67%</p><p>NO 33%</p><p>See pg. 36 for more.</p><p>How often do you read The Hockey News?</p><p>OCCASIONALLY 68%</p><p>REGULARLY 15%</p><p>NEVER 15%</p><p>I SUBSCRIBE 2%</p><p>I LOOK AT THE PICTURES 1%</p><p>See pg. 4 for more.</p><p>Who is the most overrated player in the NHL?</p><p>AVERY 9%</p><p>B. RICHARDS 8%</p><p>McCABE 8%</p><p>Who is the most hated player in the NHL?</p><p>AVERY 66%</p><p>TOOTOO 6%</p><p>TUCKER 4%S</p><p>Are you open to the idea of bigger nets?</p><p>NO 84%</p><p>YES 16%</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05437/8946557-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="800" height="557"></div><p>We asked players if they are open to the idea of larger nets and gave them two options: A) Yes and B) No. One member of a Western Conference team offered us a third choice: C) #@*&% off. We get the point. We aren&rsquo;t sure, but we have an inkling it was a goaltender. Which begs the question, when it comes to the issue of making nets bigger, why do we even bother asking goalies? Isn&rsquo;t that like asking a home run hitter if he thinks the fences should be pushed out further? In any case, 84 per cent of those polled agreed with our adamant respondent, so it isn&rsquo;t just goalies who don&rsquo;t want to tinker with the size of the nets. But, if scoring &ndash; which rose last season, the first in which the NHL cracked down on obstruction to give the league&rsquo;s skilled players more freedom to operate &ndash; starts to trend downward again over the next few seasons, the league may revisit larger nets as an option to increase scoring and scoring chances.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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STANLEY CUP

<h2><b>SOUND OFF</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-012034/8946055-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="826" height="841"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marc Chouinard<span class="photo-credit">(CHOUINARD: JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES; JOHNSON: JOSH HOLMBERG)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Nonis&rsquo; no-no</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>G</span>M Dave Nonis goes on Vancouver sports talk radio and insults passionate Canucks fans by sarcastically referring to them as &ldquo;geniuses&rdquo; and saying they change their minds on issues every other day.</p><p>I agree some fans have no idea what they&rsquo;re talking about, but these are the people putting money into the team&rsquo;s pocket and Nonis should treat them with respect no matter how wrong they are.</p><p>I&rsquo;ve heard Nonis several times on the radio and he&rsquo;s always insulting and making rude comments about the fans who care about the team.</p><p>And Mr. Nonis, I can guarantee you any &ldquo;genius&rdquo; fan would not have signed Marc Chouinard and Tommi Santala to one-way deals (Chouinard for two years), worth a combined $1.5 million.</p><p>GREG YOSHIDA, VANCOUVER</p><h2><b>Go for Broph</b></h2><p>The article by Mike Brophy about the Devils being bad for hockey is by far the best I&rsquo;ve read. (March 6)</p><p>I live in New Jersey and there&rsquo;s nothing I love more than watching the greatest game on earth live and in person. The sad thing is I drive past the Meadowlands where the Devils always seems to win and go to Madison Square Garden to most likely see the Rangers lose.</p><p>That&rsquo;s a better feeling than leaving a Devils game after a 1-0 victory and wondering where the past three hours of my life went. Sadness and anger is far more entertaining than boredom when it comes to sports. I am willing to pay extra for gas, tolls and parking in exchange for exciting hockey.</p><p>BRIAN CHIANDUSSE, MAHWAH, N.J.</p><h2><b>Heart matters</b></h2><p>When I saw Elston&rsquo;s depiction of the Oilers logo with the heart ripped out, I was amazed at how he captured the feelings of Oilers fans everywhere with a simple picture. Once again he nails the heartbeat of a hockey nation with his drawing. (March 13)</p><p>Elston&rsquo;s caricatures almost always make me smile (not this time), usually make me think and always make my day. Thanks to Elston and The Hockey News for sharing his genius with all of us.</p><p>SHARON ANCHIKOSKI, SALMON ARM, B.C.</p><h2><b>Own your failure</b></h2><p>Will Sergei Samsonov please shut up? He has had the opportunity all year with the Habs to put up big numbers (until recently) and he hasn&rsquo;t done anything. I have never seen a player so disinterested and give up so quickly on his team.</p><p>Where&rsquo;s your heart, dude? You&rsquo;re not playing well; stop crying and blaming the team and start working to fix it. Jeez, you&rsquo;re supposed to be a pro hockey player, so start acting like one.</p><p>JASON BELO, TORONTO</p><h2><b>Battle for Seattle</b></h2><p>Bringing an NHL team to Seattle would be great. With Canada being so close to us, we would have plenty of Canadian hockey fans to fill the seats at a new arena.</p><p>Yes, a new arena, if the NBA&rsquo;s Sonics build one in Renton, Wash., it would be a perfect location. There are three teams in California and Seattle can&rsquo;t support one?</p><p>Ever since the WHL has come into Washington State there are plenty of fans waiting for the NHL to call Seattle its next stop.</p><p>CHAD FOSTER, STANWOOD, WASH.</p><h2><b>No apologies</b></h2><p>The NHL has to stop apologizing for isolated incidents picked up by idiots in the U.S. media and used to bash the sport. Sure, Chris Simon did something stupid and deserved a suspension.</p><p>But how often are there incidents in baseball (Yankees-Red Sox, old man thrown to ground), basketball (brawls) or football (pro athletes involved in homicides off the field)?</p><p>These people will never like hockey so stop pandering to them. I sit happily here in Little Neck, Queens, thanks to modern technology watching <i>Hockey Night in Canada</i>. And with XM Radio I have hockey in the car all the time. I don&rsquo;t care what the U.S. media thinks and neither should the NHL.</p><p>MIKE KAVANAGH, QUEENS, N.Y.</p><h2><b>Tootoo much</b></h2><p>Nashville fans were treated to seeing the U.S. goalscoring record set by Mike Modano and responded with taunts. The Preds&rsquo; Jordin Tootoo joined the list of hockey&rsquo;s gutless wonders by following up a high hit on Modano with a sucker punch to the head of Stephane Robidas.</p><p>A no-class team with noclass fans make a persuasive argument the NHL has at least one too many teams.</p><p>PAUL BRAID, OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA.</p><p><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></p><h2><b>POLL RESULTS</b></h2><p><b>IF YOU HAD A SON WHO WAS AN NHL PROSPECT, WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER TO SEE HIM PLAY?</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021460/8946048-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="476" height="783"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jack Johnson</figcaption></div><p><b>U.S. College Hockey 47%</b></p><p><b>Major Junior Hockey 45%</b></p><p><b>European Hockey 7%</b></p><p><b>Other 1%</b></p><h2><b>HOW TO REACH US</b></h2><p><b>E-MAIL</b></p><p><a href="mailto:letters@thehockeynews.com">letters@thehockeynews.com</a></p><p><b>WEB</b></p><p><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></p><p><b>CANADA</b></p><p>Letters, The Hockey News, 25 Sheppard Ave. W., Suite 100, Toronto, Ont., M2N 6S7</p><p><b>USA</b></p><p>Letters, The Hockey News, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947 <i>Include your name, hometown & province/state.</i></p><p><i>Submissions will be edited.</i></p><h2><b>SUBSCRIBE</b></h2><p><b>GET IT AT</b> <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></p><p><b>OR CALL</b> 1.888.361.9768<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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DEPARTMENTS

Got something to say?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012061/8945924-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(COVER: MIKE STOBE/GETTY IMAGES; CONTENTS: DAVE ABEL/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>ight night</b> Leafs and Devils players &ndash; and a packed house at ACC &ndash; watched Wade Belak exact revenge on Cam Janssen following his late hit on Tomas Kaberle earlier this month.</p><h2><b>NOTE TO READERS</b></h2><p>Last week&rsquo;s edition (March 27, 2007) was incorrectly identified as Vol. 60, No. 27. It should have read Vol. 60, No. 26. We regret the error.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Opening Faceoff

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>OR EDITORS, COVER STORIES</b> are like children. Sometimes they make you want to pull your hair out (see photo); other times you cherish them for the gifts they are. This week, the follicles were spared.</p><p>That&rsquo;s because in our NHL players survey we&rsquo;ve leveraged our resources to deliver precisely what you&rsquo;ve told us you want (behind-the-scenes stories) in a way few can match. With nearly 300 responses, the results are impeccable. Call me a geek, but I love this stuff.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012032/8945962-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="826" height="827"></div><p>Here&rsquo;s my take on some of what we learned<i>. (See pg. 12 for survey.)</i></p><p><b>THE SHOOTOUT</b> The &lsquo;gimmick&rsquo; has become accepted by the brethren. More than 90 per cent either like it as is or want to see five shooters per side; a mere eight per cent want it abolished. Categorize this as a win for Gary Bettman.</p><p><b>SHORTER SEASON</b> Players rank travel/time spent away from families as the worst thing about their job, but aren&rsquo;t willing to take a pay cut to spend less time at arenas. With millions at stake, it&rsquo;s tough to find fault.</p><p><b>PUCK-OVER-GLASS RULE</b> While this has gained some acceptance, more than half the players we polled voted to change it &ndash; some want it treated like icings; others want no consequence. Still, there&rsquo;s no indication the league will do anything to alter this rule.</p><p><b>BIGGER NETS</b> &lsquo;Radical&rsquo; ideas rarely have wide support at first (see the shootout), but are often accepted over time. This concept has slowly attracted converts. Forty-four players (16 per cent) say they&rsquo;re open to bigger nets &ndash; that number might have been four 10 years ago.</p><p><b>PLAYING FOR ANOTHER TEAM</b> Considering southern Ontario still provides the deepest talent well, it&rsquo;s not a complete shock Toronto is the most desirable &ldquo;other&rdquo; location for NHLers, but there is a degree of surprise. The media pressure is ultra-intense in Leafland and the team hasn&rsquo;t come close to winning a Stanley Cup in four decades.</p><p><b>JUNIOR VS. COLLEGE</b> Sorry CHL, but from a parents&rsquo; perspective, the NCAA simply has more going for it.</p><p><b>GAY TEAMMATE</b> Confirms a supposition the NHL is less homophobic and more progressive than many give it credit for. Still, we don&rsquo;t anticipate any players coming out of the closet anytime soon.</p><p><b>READING THE HOCKEY NEWS</b> You&rsquo;re reading what the pros do &ndash; more than 85 per cent peruse our pages, at least occasionally. And that doesn&rsquo;t include the one player who just &ldquo;looks at the pictures.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031404/8945955-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="812" height="434"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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What NHLers really think

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021713/8945993-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"></div><h2><b>WE NEED CLARITY ON HITTING</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>or years, the NHL grappled with obstruction, applying crackdowns only to see them inevitably erode. Finally, it got wise during the lockout, clearly setting out obstruction parameters and insisting officials call them as instructed. There would be little to no room for interpretation, no tolerance for slippage or whining. We&rsquo;re still living the success of that action. It&rsquo;s time for the league to do likewise with body contact and enforce crystal-clear boundaries. As it stands, what&rsquo;s legal and illegal can be murky gray. When a players gets hit from behind, sometimes it&rsquo;s whistled, other times it&rsquo;s not because the referees feel a player turned into the check. Occasionally, you&rsquo;ll see a player make like a torpedo and run an opponent into the boards from a distance; sometimes it&rsquo;s a charge, often it isn&rsquo;t. There are times when a player raises his gloved hands while delivering a hit, as Jordin Tootoo did with Mike Modano, and it&rsquo;s considered clean; but, sometimes, it&rsquo;s penalized as roughing. A player leads with his shoulder, then extends his arm on the follow-through: fair or foul? It varies. But it shouldn&rsquo;t. We suggest the NHL follow its own lead, apply the Grecian Formula solution, and get the gray out.</p><p>How often do you read The Hockey News?</p><p>OCCASIONALLY 68%</p><p>REGULARLY 15%</p><p>NEVER 15%</p><p>I SUBSCRIBE 2%</p><p>I LOOK AT THE PICTURES 1%<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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To the Point

<div class="byline">&#x2013; KEN CAMPBELL</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HERE&rsquo;S A GOOD CHANCE</b>&nbsp;the American League will experiment next season with one-minute minor penalties in overtime and depending on the results, they could be a reality in the NHL by 2008-09.</p><p>And that will be great news for some GMs and coaches who believe the prospect of killing off a 4-on-3 for two minutes with the game on the line is a disproportionate penalty.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a really good chance you&rsquo;re going to lose if you get a penalty in overtime,&rdquo; said Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke.</p><p>The numbers back up Burke&rsquo;s claim. Through late March, there had been 32 power play goals scored in overtime on 82 chances, for a 39.0 per-cent success rate. Compare that with the NHL average of 17.4 per cent in the first 60 minutes of games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021490/8946093-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="315" height="348"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">There&rsquo;s a really good chance you&rsquo;re going to lose if you get a penalty in overtime<br>Brian Burke</blockquote><p>(Penalties called with fewer than two minutes left in regulation are counted as power plays in regulation.)</p><p>That means even though teams are half as likely to get a power play in overtime &ndash; referees call one minor penalty for every 12.1 minutes of play on OT as opposed to one in every 6.15 minutes during regular time &ndash; they&rsquo;re twice as likely to score if they get one.</p><p>There&rsquo;s no doubt killing off the 4-on-3 in overtime is a difficult challenge. In fact, Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said he&rsquo;d rather be faced with a 5-on-3 penalty kill than a 4-on-3.</p><p>&ldquo;I would say 95 per cent of the 4-on-3s are the same,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;They get one guy in front of the net, three across the top and they just hammer it. The rockets are coming from everywhere. On a 5-on-3, everybody is standing still and they&rsquo;re trying to make plays through people.&rdquo;</p><p>San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson doesn&rsquo;t like 4-on-3s in overtime either, saying the majority of 5-on-3s are for short periods, while the 4-on-3s in overtime last an entire two minutes.</p><p>And there&rsquo;s the rub, according to Burke, who tabled the proposal at the recent GMs meetings. Burke reasons that if a player gets a tripping penalty in the first period, the minor takes up 10 per cent of the period and is played at 5-on-4. If the player gets that penalty in overtime, it eats up 40 per cent of the period at 4-on-3.</p><p>Wilson said one way to make things more equitable would be to go back to 5-on-4 power plays in overtime, then play 5-on-5 from the time the player comes out of the box until the next stoppage in play.</p><p>If Burke&rsquo;s concept is accepted by the AHL, which would have to ratify the change at its board of governors meetings this summer, each minor in overtime would be one minute. Any minor incurred with fewer than two minutes to go in regulation would have the remaining time cut in half for overtime, rounding up to the nearest second. Major penalties and misconducts would not be reduced.</p><p>Burke said some GMs pointed out two-minute minors in OT are beneficial because they lead to more goals and fewer shootouts.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;re hoping to study it,&rdquo; Burke said.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012251/8946086-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="997" height="1995"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>OUT OF TIME</b> One-minute power plays in OT wouldn&rsquo;t give the Kings&rsquo; Lubomir Visnovsky much time to set up. <span class="photo-credit">(NOAH GRAHAM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>11 Games lost by four goals or more by Boston through 72 games this season</b></p><p><b>6 NHL games played by Oilers &lsquo;D&rsquo; pair of Bryan Young, Sebastien Baisillon</b></p><p><b>5 Number of games it took Chicago&rsquo;s David Koci to pile up 72 PIM</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Hold on for a minute

<div class="byline">&#x2013; LES BROSZKOWSKI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-05388/8946145-1-eng-US/f0007-052.jpg" title="f0007-05" width="459" height="281"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-06302/8946152-1-eng-US/f0007-062.jpg" title="f0007-06" width="127" height="134"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><b>MANY PLAYERS</b> have been traded, but only a couple know what it&rsquo;s like to skate for four NHL teams in one season.</p><p>In 1977-78, defenseman Dennis O&rsquo;Brien suited up for the Minnesota North Stars, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Barons and, finally, the Boston Bruins.</p><p>&ldquo;Within a matter of 12 or 13 weeks, I played with four teams after almost eight years with one organization,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Brien, who embarked on his NHL career with Minnesota in 1970-71.</p><p>O&rsquo;Brien shares the record with Dave McLlwain, who played for four teams in 1991-92 (Winnipeg Jets, New York Islanders, Buffalo and Toronto).</p><p>The Hockey News is celebrating its 60th anniversary and looking back at memorable moments in hockey.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021367/8946138-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="408" height="558"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dennis O&rsquo;Brien</figcaption></div><p>With all of those moves, O&rsquo;Brien was lucky his wife Janice was understanding. After being traded to Colorado, Janice rented a U-Haul and took all their possessions to Denver.</p><p>&ldquo;You have to have a pretty strong woman to do that,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Brien, who acknowledged the moves are often tougher on the family than the player. &ldquo;There are lots of guys who got traded and had to go home and straighten things out, but I had a very independent wife who could handle all that and not get too upset, so I was lucky.&rdquo;</p><p>The one good thing that came out of all the deals was the chance to play for the Stanley Cup.</p><p>&ldquo;After bouncing around and playing on four teams&hellip;and then ending up in Boston and going to the final, it was kind of a nice feeling,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Brien, now 57. The Bruins lost to Montreal 4-2 that year.</p><p>O&rsquo;Brien read The Hockey News and remembers being interviewed by co-founder Ken McKenzie.</p><p>&ldquo;He was a great guy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He knew his hockey. There was a hockey magazine for us players and there weren&rsquo;t a lot of hockey magazines out back then.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03864/8946131-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="1280" height="1728"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-04555/8946124-1-eng-US/f0007-042.jpg" title="f0007-04" width="928" height="504"><figcaption class="caption-body">SHUT OUT Columbus has been blanked 15 times this season, the most by an NHL team since 1928-29. <span class="photo-credit">(BELAK: DAVE ABEL/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Dealing with trades

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012030/8946183-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="684" height="535"></div><p>&#9632; On the same day Toronto&rsquo;s <b>Wade Belak</b> is treated like a hero by the fans and media after battling New Jersey&rsquo;s <b>Cam Janssen</b> the night before, Philadelphia&rsquo;s <b>Todd Fedoruk</b> is carried off the ice on a stretcher for the second time this season after being knocked out in a fight. And by the end of the night the same media that made light of the Belak-Janssen tilt were questioning, once again, the validity of fighting in hockey. Therein lies the dilemma facing the NHL.</p><p>&#9632; NHL tough guys can be forgiven if they think there is one set of laws for them and another for the stars. <b>Mike Modano</b> of the Stars was not punished for his one-handed slash across the back of <b>Jordin Tootoo</b> after he was checked by the Nashville fourth-liner. Granted. Modano let up at the last second, but the NHL has vowed to cut down on stick work. Tootoo received five games for punching <b>Stephane Robidas</b> who came to Modano&rsquo;s defense. One game for Modano would not have been out of line.</p><p>&#9632; For further evidence teams don&rsquo;t need to play each other eight times a year to develop a good hate-on, see: Nashville-Dallas, Ottawa-Pittsburgh, New Jersey-Toronto.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

SNAPSHOTS FROM AROUND THE NHL

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BRIAN COSTELLO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021612/8946214-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Patrick Kane <span class="photo-credit">(CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012148/8946221-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="127" height="134"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</b> have been a last-place team virtually all season, but have a less than 50-50 chance of getting the first pick in the 2007 NHL entry draft.</p><p>The draft drawing takes place in mid-April after the end of the regular season. The 14 non-playoff teams are part of the lottery to decide the right to pick first overall at the June 22-23 draft in Columbus with the odds of winning the lottery ranging from 25 per cent for the 30th-place team to 0.5 per cent for the 17th-place team.</p><p>The team winning the draft lottery can move up a maximum of four positions, meaning only the bottom five clubs have a chance at No. 1. Should a team from sixth-worst to 14th-worst win the lottery, they still move up four spots, but the worst team &ndash; the Flyers &ndash; keeps the slot to select first overall.</p><p>So in essence, the Flyers have a 48.2 per-cent chance of picking first, with the slight favorite being London (OHL) winger Patrick Kane, a small, but explosive offensive talent. The 2007 draft is considered deep at the top, but lacks the can&rsquo;t-miss superstar of years past when Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin were shoo-in selections for first overall.</p><p>Candidates for the first pick this year are forwards James van-Riemsdyk, Kyle Turris, Sam Gagner, Angelo Esposito, Alexei Cherepanov and Jakub Voracek and defenseman Karl Alzner.</p><p>Philadelphia has five selections in the first three rounds, obtaining bonus picks from Nashville (first and third rounds) and Chicago (third round).</p><p>St. Louis and Edmonton each have three first-rounders, while Washington, Phoenix and Montreal join Philadelphia with two each.</p><p>Eight teams are without picks in the first round: Atlanta, Buffalo, Dallas, Nashville, New Jersey, the Islanders, San Jose and Tampa Bay.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-02

Flyers poised for draft day

<p><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04613/8946259-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="250" height="353"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-05430/8946252-1-eng-US/f0008-052.jpg" title="f0008-05" width="112" height="121"></div><p><b>RW 28</b></p><p><b>Dennis Lewis from Orillia, Ont., asks Have you ever run into a player in a social situation shortly after fighting him on the ice?</b></p><p><i>Always. You&rsquo;ll see a guy in a social situation or when you get traded. But what happens on the ice stays on the ice. I&rsquo;m friends with a lot of guys I&rsquo;ve fought.</i></p><p><b>Zac Rasmussen from Kamloops, B.C., asks What was your favorite part of playing in Kamloops?</b></p><p><i>It was a really good city with great fans. A great junior hockey town.</i></p><p><b>Clint Bauer from Buffalo asks How hard was it to make the NHL after going undrafted and what did you do to get there?</b></p><p><i>It was hard. I started skating at age 11, so I did a lot of extra work to get here.</i></p><p><b>Keigan Sack from Shubenacadie, N.S., asks If you could fight any-body from the NHL&rsquo;s past, who would it be?</b></p><p><i>Bob Probert. He was a brawler and someone I watched while growing up.</i></p><p><b>Mike McCarthy from New Fairfield, Ct., asks What has been your career highlight so far?</b></p><p><i>Playing for the New York Rangers and scoring my first NHL goal.</i></p><p><b>Derek Creppin from Ottawa asks Do you study other fighters like goalies study shooters?</b></p><p><i>Not too much, but I do recognize who they are.</i></p><p>Visit <b><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></b>&nbsp;to ask your questions of NHL stars!<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0008-04

FAN SHOOTOUT WITH Colton Orr

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021529/8946290-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="992" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PANDA-MONIUM</b> The University of Alberta Pandas won their second straight Canadian Interuniversity Sport title.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012116/8946297-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="127" height="134"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ALBERTA DEFENDS TITLE</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>andas are tough to knock off the block. The University of Alberta Pandas won their second straight Canadian Interuniversity Sport women&rsquo;s title with a 4-0 victory over the top-ranked McGill Martlets in the final. Pandas forward Lindsay McAlpine followed up her CIS player-of-the-year award by nabbing tournament MVP honors. Alberta claimed its sixth gold medal in the event&rsquo;s 10-year history.</p><h2><b>GARTNER GONE FROM UNION</b></h2><p>Unrest in the union continues. Mike Gartner resigned from the NHLPA after eight years as director of hockey affairs. The Hall of Famer said he did a lot of thinking before stepping down following allegations NHLPA executive director Ted Saskin was accessing players&rsquo; e-mail accounts. &ldquo;These are difficult times for the association and I feel at this point I can best serve the future of a changing union by stepping aside,&rdquo; Gartner said. &ldquo;I will continue to fully support all efforts to restore the integrity of the NHLPA.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>KAZMAIER PANEL CHOOSES CHU</b></h2><p>Two-time U.S. Olympian Julie Chu is the winner of the 2007 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, which honors the top player in women&rsquo;s college hockey. The senior forward from Harvard was chosen from a group of three finalists, including Meghan Agosta, a freshman forward from Mercyhurst, and Sara Bauer, a senior forward from Wisconsin. Bauer won the award in 2006. Chu, 25, led the league with 48 assists and was named Ivy League player of the year. The Fairfield, Conn., native is the fifth Harvard student in 10 years to win.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-02

HOCKEY WORLD IN BRIEF

<div class="byline">&#x2013; PAUL ROMANUK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03955/8946328-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BEST ON BEST</b> The IIHF wants to see one of its top teams, such as Ak Bars Kazan, play the Stanley Cup winner.</figcaption></div><p><b>RENE FASEL,</b> president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, has an intercontinental hockey dream.</p><p>&ldquo;We must have a club championship, the winner of the Stanley Cup against the winner of the European (championship tournament),&rdquo; Fasel said. &ldquo;It is a must for the NHL and it is a must for us. It is a must for hockey fans and for the game of hockey. Hockey needs it on both sides.&rdquo;</p><p>But does the NHL and its commissioner, Gary Bettman, see it the same way?</p><p>&ldquo;They are not against it,&rdquo; Fasel said. &ldquo;It was not a &lsquo;No&rsquo; from Gary.&rdquo;</p><p>The question the NHL would have is: &lsquo;What&rsquo;s in it for us?&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;It would be another open door into the European market,&rdquo; Fasel said. &ldquo;There are nearly 500 million people in the European Economic Union&hellip;There is a financial market here for the NHL and for all of us to benefit from.&rdquo;</p><p>One of Fasel&rsquo;s major achievements as IIHF president has been to help broker co-operation between the NHL, IIHF and the International Olympic Committee. Under his and Bettman&rsquo;s watch, we&rsquo;ve seen a full complement of NHLers participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time in history. Fasel wants that to continue beyond 2010 in Vancouver.</p><p>&ldquo;It is the biggest platform, it&rsquo;s the biggest stage, it&rsquo;s the biggest sports event in the world,&rdquo; Fasel said. &ldquo;They have to be there. Do it for the hockey fan. Give them the opportunity to see the best on best. Do it for the billions of TV viewers around the world. Do it for the game.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-03

Stanley vs. Europe?

<p>Which injuries had a major effect on this season?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04659/8946359-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="977" height="1174"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PANDAS: PHIL MACCALLUM/HHOF; OBUKHOV: ALEXANDER DROZDOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; GABORIK: JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>10 Dan Cloutier</b> Insult to this injury was the fact Kings couldn&rsquo;t recall LaBarbera.</p><p><b>09 Jarret</b>&nbsp;<b>Stoll</b> Just one of a slew of Oilers to go down at the wrong time.</p><p><b>08 Marian Gaborik</b> Has made up for lost time by returning with a vengeance.</p><p><b>07 Jay McKee</b> Blueliner&rsquo;s absence and Blues&rsquo; horrible start no coincidence.</p><p><b>06 Cristobal Huet</b> Playoff push was no time to severely pull a hamstring.</p><p><b>05 Chris Pronger</b> How do you stop Anaheim? Cut down a tree.</p><p><b>04 Todd Bertuzzi</b> Panthers essentially got seven games of service for Luongo.</p><p><b>03 Peter Forsberg</b> Philadelphia&rsquo;s worst season ever came down to an ankle.</p><p><b>02 Evgeni Malkin</b> Think positive: Malkin&rsquo;s shoulder kept Jordan Staal out of junior.</p><p><b>01 Michal Handzus</b> Blackhawks&rsquo; season blew out the same time as his ACL.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-04

The Hockey News COUNTDOWN

<div class="byline">Tim Graham</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021333/8946390-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scotty Bowman<span class="photo-credit">(BUFFALO: ROBERT NICKELSBERG/GETTY IMAGES; BOWMAN: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011847/8946397-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="213" height="222"></div><p>Worst place to play in the NHL? Try living in Buffalo &ndash; you&rsquo;ll be pleasantly surprised.</p><p>To what city would you least like to be traded?</p><p>BUFFALO 16%</p><p>EDMONTON 11%</p><p>NY ISLANDERS 10%</p><p><b>T</b>he clock&rsquo;s hands were rotating their way toward 4 a.m., but a group of hockey reporters were committed to sprinting through the last-call wire at a gritty Buffalo institution called the Swannie House, a couple blocks from HSBC Arena.</p><p>Philosophical questions about covering the NHL were being bandied and bantered about: most quotable players, most difficult front offices, best sources for off-the-record material, finest restaurants on the road.</p><p>John Vogl, who had just joined me on the Sabres beat at the Buffalo <i>News</i>, asked me which NHL city was the worst to visit.</p><p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re living in it,&rdquo; I replied.</p><p>Before you whip out pen and paper to fire off a scathing letter about how insulting my response was, hang on a moment. While I&rsquo;m not a native Western New Yorker, I&rsquo;m proud to call it home. I actually chose to move here seven years ago from Las Vegas &ndash; in January, no less &ndash; because of what the area had to offer. I&rsquo;ll probably never leave.</p><p>Neither will Scotty Bowman or Harry Neale or Dave Andreychuk or Rick Dudley or the dozens of other famous hockey folks who could live practically anywhere in the world yet choose to call the Buffalo-Niagara region home.</p><p>Even legends without ties to the Sabres have set down roots. Darryl Sittler raised his family here. Marcel Dionne began his memorabilia business in a suburban mall.</p><p>But it wasn&rsquo;t shocking to learn, in The Hockey News&rsquo;s poll of 283 current NHL players, the city they would least like to be traded to was Buffalo, garnering a whopping 16 per cent of the vote. Edmonton was second at 11 per cent and Long Island third at 10 per cent. Call it the Michael Peca hat trick.</p><p>So why the discrepancy between the opinions of those who live in Western New York and passers through? Mostly it&rsquo;s because overnight visitors aren&rsquo;t able to experience the thriving communities  in a place known as &lsquo;The City of Good Neighbors.&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re in the hockey business and travel to other cities, you don&rsquo;t really get to see and experience the cities,&rdquo; said Bowman, who raised five children in Buffalo and still lives in the suburbs. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re in the night before, go out to dinner, go to the rink, play the game and get out of town.</p><p>&ldquo;Buffalo gets a bum rap.&rdquo;</p><p>Bowman checks off the plusses as if he has been asked the question &lsquo;Why Buffalo?&rsquo; a gazillion times. He praises the medical establishment and schools. He lauds unfathomable housing prices. He loves the summers, when boats dot Lake Erie and the Niagara River. It&rsquo;s close to Southern Ontario and the fans are tremendous.</p><p>&ldquo;What else is there to have, really?&rdquo; Bowman asked. &ldquo;They can get bright lights in other cities when they travel.&rdquo;</p><p>Perhaps Buffalo&rsquo;s charm can&rsquo;t be fully experienced without an extended stay or residency.</p><p>The first hurdle Buffalo has to clear is its global reputation. Once an industrial center known as the gateway between the Erie Canal and Great Lakes &ndash; and the eighthlargest city in the U.S. &ndash; Buffalo mostly is seen as a downtrodden, rust-belt, blizzard-beaten town in steady decay.</p><p>Sadly for the Buffalo Convention and Visitors Bureau, the main impression visiting NHL teams get is of a bleak downtown. While the Sabres boast many star players, the hotels in the vicinity of HSBC Arena are anything but five-star digs &ndash; some have more stains on the carpet than your average crime scene. Extremely limited lodging options are the main reason why the All-Star Game might never be held in Buffalo.</p><p>&ldquo;You would look at the schedule and say &lsquo;Aw, we&rsquo;re going to Buffalo.&rsquo; It was kind of sad,&rdquo; said Sabres defenseman Jaroslav Spacek, who signed as a free agent last summer. &ldquo;The way you go (into downtown)  from the airport, you see those bad houses and it&rsquo;s kind of a poor area. The impression about downtown is not really nice. They always say &lsquo;There&rsquo;s no restaurants. There&rsquo;s nothing.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s your picture of Buffalo.&rdquo;</p><p>Spacek turned down an offer to skate for Buffalo two summers ago, but always wondered if he made the right choice. Everywhere Spacek turned, he found a proud Western New York resident to consult. He played with Matthew Barnaby in Chicago. While with Edmonton, he sought out Peca. He contacted his old Columbus teammate, Todd Marchant.</p><p>&ldquo;If somebody says it&rsquo;s not a nice city to be traded to, I would believe them before I played here,&rdquo; Spacek said. &ldquo;Now that I&rsquo;ve been here six months, it&rsquo;s unbelievable for hockey and for life. My wife and I are very happy.&rdquo;</p><p>So are an awful lot of other people who know better.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-02

Buffalo winged, but also loved

f0012-01

The Hockey News Player Poll

<div class="byline">Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011544/8946609-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WILD WEST</b> Stephane Robidas of Dallas is wheeled off the ice after getting popped by Jordin Tootoo. <span class="photo-credit">(CP IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-021172/8946616-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="221" height="240"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span></b>lmost 28 years ago, the Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings engaged in a brawl so disgusting, superstar Marcel Dionne threatened to quit the game.</p><p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the league waiting for,&rdquo; asked Dionne back in April of 1979, &ldquo;somebody to die out there?&rdquo;</p><p>Almost three decades later, that&rsquo;s exactly what the NHL seems to be waiting for before it will address the fighting issue. Someone will die in a hockey fight sometime in the future, that much is all but certain. It might happen in the game you plan to watch tonight, it might happen two weeks or six months from now or it might not happen for another decade. But it will happen. You can&rsquo;t have 6-foot-4, 230-pound behemoths pumped up on, ahem, protein shakes and lots of time in the gym pounding at each other on skates and not experience the inevitable.</p><p>Whether that actually prompts the NHL to take action on fighting is debatable. There&rsquo;s certain to be a sizeable contingent out there that rationalizes it &ndash; the way they defend and rationalize everything when it comes to fighting &ndash; by pointing out there have been thousands of hockey fights over the years and to have just one player die in one shouldn&rsquo;t force NHL players into becoming a bunch of tutu-wearing wussies.</p><p>And really, if the NHL hasn&rsquo;t learned its lesson from things such as the Todd Bertuzzi incident by now, will it ever? (And don&rsquo;t give me this nonsense the Bertuzzi incident had nothing to do with fighting. The culture of violence and retribution in the NHL, of which fighting is an enormous part, was a huge factor in what happened that night.)</p><h2><b>YOUR FUNERAL</b></h2><p>But the bigger question is, should any of us care? Why should we be concerned with the welfare of NHL players when it&rsquo;s clear they don&rsquo;t themselves &ndash; and have absolutely no interest in being saved from their own stupidity?</p><p>In our issue this week, THN asked players for their opinions on a number of issues and when it came to fighting, not a single one of the 283 who responded thought fighting should be penalized with a game misconduct. A vast majority of them accept it as &lsquo;part of the game&rsquo; and talk about how much they respect each other after the punches are thrown. So why should we care if one of them is carried off, not the way Todd Fedoruk was on a stretcher after a fight with Colton Orr March 21, but in a body bag someday?</p><p>Why should we be concerned with the welfare of a guy such as Fedoruk, who has nine titanium plates in his face holding his cheek and orbital bones together, then goes out and gets in five fights after his surgery before being knocked cold by Orr and sent to the hospital? Why should anyone have a soft spot for a player who doesn&rsquo;t seem to get the message he can&rsquo;t fight? According to <a href="http://www.hockeyfights.com">www.hockeyfights.com</a>, Fedoruk has been involved in 10 fights this season. Of those, two have been draws and eight have been defeats.</p><p>Why should we care about players and their safety when 77 per cent of them stated in our survey wearing a visor should be optional? Why should we have any sense of compassion for players who pay lip service to respecting each other, then go out and charge their opponents from the other side of the ice with their elbows up?</p><p>The only extent to which any fans should care about any of these guys is in how it affects them. If a star player sustains an eye injury because he wasn&rsquo;t wearing a visor and his team misses the playoffs because of it, fans should be howling. The owners, who pay the athletes millions of dollars to perform and not sit on the sidelines, should be even more incensed.</p><p>But as far as having concern for the health of these guys as human beings, well, they&rsquo;re on their own. Until NHLers start caring about themselves and each other, they can go on beating each other senseless, hitting each other with sticks and driving their elbows into each other&rsquo;s heads and none of us should be the least bit concerned about their welfare.</p><h2><b>PLANET BELAK</b></h2><p>After getting into a well-publicized fight with Cam Janssen in late March, Wade Belak of the Maple Leafs was treated like a celebrity. He&rsquo;s so popular now he might even get more than five minutes of ice time one of these days. After the scrap, Belak joked to a media corps that could hardly contain its glee over the whole thing he was glad he didn&rsquo;t get scarred because he was concerned about his future modeling career.</p><p>No worries. If he&rsquo;s the one who ends up dying on the ice, there should be plenty of insurance money to make him look nice and respectable for the showing.</p><p>So consider yourselves warned. Yes, you, Brian McGrattan, Andrew Peters, Colton Orr, George Parros, Cam Janssen and Wade Belak. One of you or somebody who wants to be like you is going to die in a hockey fight someday.</p><p>Nobody should be shocked, but there will be tears.</p><p>Especially from the guys at <a href="http://www.hockeyfights.com">www.hockeyfights.com</a>. After providing a blow-by-blow account of the fight, complete with video, they had the following message: &ldquo;Our best wishes go out to Fedoruk for a full recovery.&rdquo;</p><p>How nice.</p><p>What is an appropriate penalty for fighting?</p><p>5 MINUTES 97%</p><p>10 MINUTES 2%</p><p>20 MINUTES 1%</p><p>GAME MISCONDUCT 0%<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-01

If players don’t care, why should we?

<div class="byline">BY THN CORRESPONDENTS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03775/8946654-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021068/8946661-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="122" height="138"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011460/8946647-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="1677" height="1081"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SCARY SCENE</b> Todd Fedoruk of the Flyers lays prone on the ice after a fight with the Rangers&rsquo; Colton Orr. <span class="photo-credit">(MIKE STOBE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span></b>ixteen games after leaving the ice on a stretcher with a concussion in a collision with Philadelphia&rsquo;s <b>Mike Knuble</b>, the Rangers&rsquo; <b>Brendan Shanahan</b> returned March 21 against the Flyers only to see another player wheeled off in the same manner. This time it was Philadelphia&rsquo;s <b>Todd Fedoruk</b>, who was knocked out by Rangers enforcer <b>Colton Orr</b> in a fight 21 seconds into the match. &ldquo;It was eerie,&rdquo; Shanahan said. Added Orr: &ldquo;It was a fair fight. I hope he&rsquo;s all right. It could happen to me, too.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>NORTHEAST DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>BOSTON</b> A 7-0 loss to the Rangers March 17 was Boston&rsquo;s 11th defeat of the season by four goals or more&hellip;The Bruins weren&rsquo;t shut out once in their first 35 games. They were blanked five times in the next 37 &ndash; three times in March alone, including consecutive shutouts against the Rangers and Montreal.</p><p><b>BUFFALO Ryan Miller&rsquo;s</b> careerlong games played streak ended at 13 when <b>Ty Conklin</b> got his first start as a Sabre March 15. Miller showed signs of fatigue down the stretch, but Conklin provided relief with a stellar 42-save effort to beat Florida and snap Buffalo&rsquo;s seasonlong four-game losing streak.</p><p><b>MONTREAL</b> Goalie <b>Cristobal Huet</b> spent about 15 minutes at practice March 19. He didn&rsquo;t face any shots, but Huet&rsquo;s progress from hamstring surgery has led to the hope he&rsquo;ll return before the end of the regular season.</p><p><b>OTTAWA</b> GM <b>John Muckler</b>&nbsp;said he was confident the Sens have the pieces in place for the playoffs. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s still doubt whether we can win in the playoffs or not,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s always going to be there until we do win. The players know that&hellip;It&rsquo;s nice not to be the favorite. Talk about Buffalo. Just leave us alone and let us carry on.&rdquo;</p><p><b>TORONTO</b> Captain <b>Mats Sundin</b> recorded two assists March 20 in a 2-1 win over New Jersey to reach 900 points in a Leafs uniform. Sundin needed 17 points in the final nine games to pass <b>Darryl Sittler</b> for the franchise record.</p><h2><b>ATLANTIC DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>NEW JERSEY Brian Gionta</b> was placed on long-term injury with a groin pull, giving the Devils $4 million in cap room to bring up replacements from Lowell (AHL) after groin injuries to <b>John Madden</b> and <b>Patrik Elias</b>&hellip;<b>David Clarkson</b> recorded his first NHL goal and assist against Carolina in his second game March 17 and played in his hometown of Toronto March 20.</p><p><b>NY ISLANDERS</b> Backup goalie <b>Mike Dunham</b>&nbsp;gave up 18 goals in parts of three games (6.62 GAA) starter <b>Rick DiPietro</b>&nbsp;missed following a head-first collision with Montreal&rsquo;s <b>Steve Begin</b> March 13. DiPietro, who sustained minor neck and head injuries, returned March 20 in a 4-3 overtime loss to Tampa Bay&hellip;Defenseman <b>Drew Fata</b> scored his first NHL goal March 15 at Ottawa.</p><p><b>NY RANGERS</b> The Rangers outscored opponents 14-1 in a threegame win streak March 17-21.</p><p><b>PHILADELPHIA</b> Todd Fedoruk&rsquo;s season could be over after he sustained a concussion in that fight with the Rangers&rsquo; Colton Orr March 21. Fedoruk has lost five fights since joining the Flyers in December. He&rsquo;s also had facial surgery for plate inserts three times since 2004. GM <b>Paul Holmgren</b> said he had no problem with the fight.</p><p><b>PITTSBURGH</b> Mayor <b>Luke Ravenstahl</b> asked NHL commissioner &nbsp;<b>Gary Bettman</b> to bring the All-Star Game to Pittsburgh in 2011 or 2012. The Pens&rsquo; new arena is scheduled to open in 2009-10&hellip; The Pens had gone to overtime 26 times in 72 games, more than any team in the NHL. They won 16 of those games, including shootouts.</p><h2><b>SOUTHEAST DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>ATLANTA</b> The Thrashers won eight of 10 games after acquiring  veterans <b>Keith Tkachuk</b> and <b>Alexei Zhitnik</b>, including a teamrecord seven straight at home&hellip; <b>Marian Hossa&rsquo;s</b> team-record point streak ended at 11 games (seven goals, 18 points).</p><p><b>CAROLINA</b> Asked to play center for the first time in his NHL career, &nbsp;<b>Chad LaRose</b> responded with his first two-goal game in a 7-2 win at New Jersey March 18.</p><p><b>FLORIDA Ed Belfour</b> broke <b>Roberto Luongo&rsquo;s</b> franchise record for consecutive starts by a goalie with his 22nd straight March 17&hellip;<b>Chris Gratton</b> played his 1,000th game March 22.</p><p><b>TAMPA BAY</b> The Lightning announced a mutual agreement to part ways with its AHL affiliate in Springfield after this season. The Falcons had not made the playoffs while a Tampa affiliate. Norfolk is a likely new affiliate.</p><p><b>WASHINGTON Alex Ovechkin</b> wore his normal visor March 21 even though he was expected to wear a full face shield following a stick to the mush by Tampa Bay&rsquo;s <b>Dan Boyle</b> that necessitated 16 stitches inside his mouth.</p><h2><b>CENTRAL DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>CHICAGO</b> The Hawks announced a 10-year agreement with the new AHL franchise granted to Rockford, Ill. Rockford is a 90-minute drive from Chicago. The Hawks left Norfolk after a sevenyear affiliation with the Admirals.</p><p><b>COLUMBUS</b> In goalie <b>Fredrik Norrena&rsquo;s</b> 19 losses this season, the Jackets have scored 19 goals and been shutout 10 times.</p><p><b>DETROIT Pavel Datsyuk</b>&nbsp;didn&rsquo;t falter in the absence of injured linemate <b>Henrik Zetterberg</b>, putting together a career-best 11-game point streak (four goals, 17 points)&hellip;Left winger <b>Kyle Calder</b> made an immediate impact after being acquired Feb. 26, picking up two goals and 10 points in his first eight games.</p><p><b>NASHVILLE</b> The Predators disputed the NHL&rsquo;s March 19 decision to suspend right winger <b>Jordin Tootoo</b> five games for punching Dallas&rsquo;s <b>Stephane Robidas</b>. &ldquo;Robidas was coming at him with his arms up and certainly looking like he was ready to engage in an altercation,&rdquo; said GM <b>David Poile</b>. &ldquo;Jordin reacted and threw a punch.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ST. LOUIS</b> The Blues were livid about two goals that replays showed were in against Ottawa March 20, but weren&rsquo;t counted by the refs. St. Louis lost 4-2. Team president <b>John Davidson</b></p><p>said the league acknowledged to him mistakes were made. &ldquo;What does an apology do for us right now?&rdquo; asked coach <b>Andy Murray</b>.</p><h2><b>NORTHWEST DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>CALGARY</b> With <b>Jarome Iginla</b>, <b>Daymond Langkow</b>&nbsp;and <b>Kristian Huselius</b> all reaching the 30-goal mark, it&rsquo;s the first time the Flames have had three 30-goal scorers  since 1993-94. Should <b>Dion Phaneuf</b> reach 20 &ndash; he had 17 in 72 games &ndash; it&rsquo;ll mark the first time the club has had six 20-goal scorers since that same season.</p><p><b>COLORADO</b> Rookie <b>Ben Guite</b>, son of former WHA forward <b>Pierre Guite</b>&nbsp;won 12 of 17 draws in a 5-1 win at Edmonton March 21, and has been good ever since being recalled from Albany of the AHL&hellip;Center <b>Paul Stastny&rsquo;s</b> points streak was stopped at 20 games, an NHL record for rookies.</p><p><b>EDMONTON Petr Nedved</b>, who played two games since Feb. 12, and the Oilers have agreed to part ways early&hellip;Because loss No. 10 came in overtime, the NHL informed the Oilers their 12 straight losses does not count as a new franchise record. It&rsquo;s now a &ldquo;winless streak&rdquo;&hellip;After two years without a minor league team, the Oilers have struck an agreement with Springfield (AHL).</p><p><b>MINNESOTA</b> With a 3-2 win over Phoenix March 20, the Wild won a franchise-record 43rd game with its record seventh straight victory&hellip;After serving as the backup for six straight games, goalie <b>Manny Fernandez</b> aggravated his knee injury in practice and will be kept off the ice until late March.</p><p><b>VANCOUVER</b> Left winger <b>Daniel Sedin</b> surpassed his career-high in points (71) when he reached 73 with eight games to go&hellip;Center <b>Henrik Sedin</b> hit the 60-assist mark for the first time, becoming only the second Canuck all-time to achieve that plateau. <b>Andre</b>&nbsp;<b>Boudrias</b> set the club record of 62 in 1974-75.</p><h2><b>PACIFIC DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>ANAHEIM</b> With two goals in a 5-2 win over Chicago March 16, <b>Teemu Selanne</b> pushed his career total to 535, passing <b>Frank Mahovlich</b> for 26th place all-time.</p><p><b>DALLAS</b> Stars president <b>Jim Lites</b> ripped Nashville after a March 17 game for not honoring <b>Mike Modano&rsquo;s</b> feat of breaking <b>Joe Mullen&rsquo;s</b> record for goals by an American-born player (502). Modano scored twice, including No. 503, to a chorus of boos. It was the same game in which <b>Jordin Tootoo</b> charged Modano and cold-cocked <b>Stephane Robidas</b>.</p><p><b>LOS ANGELES</b> With two home games left, the Kings had yet to be shut out at Staples Center. It would be the first time since 1995-96.</p><p><b>PHOENIX</b> Phoenix was eliminated from the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season after losing to San Jose 5-1 March 15. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very disappointing,&rdquo; said captain <b>Shane Doan</b>, the only player left from Phoenix&rsquo;s last playoff team. &ldquo;We had a lot higher hopes for this year and felt we had a pretty good team. Right now, we&rsquo;re a ways away from where we need to be.&rdquo;</p><p><b>SAN JOSE Ron Wilson</b> became the 13th NHL coach to reach 1,000th regular season games March 18&hellip;The Sharks set a franchise record with their 45th win March 21&hellip;<b>Mike Grier</b> missed his first game March 16 to witness the birth of his second child, a girl named <b>Brooklyn Kendall</b>.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-03

Shanny returns, Fedoruk KO’d

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05275/8946699-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="523" height="1148"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(FEDOROV: JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>TWO FOR ONCE</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>ack-to-back victories against Toronto and Tampa March 16-18 were Washington&rsquo;s first consecutive wins since a three-game streak from Jan. 4-9.</p><h2><b>MOBILE D-MAN</b></h2><p><b>Sergei Fedorov</b>, who saw some blueline duty with Detroit in 1996-97, will likely play defense the rest of the season for Columbus, due to team injuries.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02781/8946692-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="591" height="591"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SMYTH: PHILLIP MACCALLUM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>WRONG DIRECTION</b></h2><p>The Islanders were 2-6-2 in the first 10 games after acquiring winger <b>Ryan Smyth</b> from Edmonton.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-05

Quick Hits

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03513/8946737-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="705" height="533"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dylan Yeo</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011189/8946744-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="122" height="138"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>IN THE NICK OF TIME</b></h2><p>Minnesota Wild goalie <b>Nicklas Backstrom</b> wins six games in a row, with a 1.62 goalsagainst average and .934 save percentage in that span.</p><h2><b>CANADIAN IDOL</b></h2><p>Calgary Hitmen captain <b>Dylan Yeo</b> does an excellent job singing the Canadian national anthem prior to a Flames-Red Wings game.</p><h2><b>JOHNNY BE GOOD</b></h2><p>Sixteen-year-old <b>John Tavares</b> of the Oshawa Generals finishes second in OHL scoring with 72 goals and 134 points in 67 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04392/8946730-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="776" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jordin Tootoo <span class="photo-credit">(TOOTOO: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>TOO + TOO = FIVE</b></h2><p>Nashville&rsquo;s <b>Jordin Tootoo</b> is suspended five games by the NHL for lambasting <b>Stephane Robidas</b> of the Dallas Stars with a punch to the head.</p><h2><b>NO GOAL, NO GOAL&hellip;</b></h2><p>The St. Louis Blues are understandably upset after having two goals that should have counted disallowed in a 4-2 home loss to Ottawa.</p><h2><b>&hellip;SPEAKING OF WHICH</b></h2><p>Get it right. If it becomes obvious a goal has gone in after play has resumed, then stop the play, count the goal and roll back the clock.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-03

Plus/Minus

f0022-02

Rookie Report

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011310/8947044-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"></div><p><b>SEE PG. 33 FOR INJURIES | TOP TWO PLAYERS ON PP UNIT PLAY THE POINTS</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

NHL Depth Charts

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04461/8947117-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RISING STAR</b> Drew MacIntyre has filled in nicely between the pipes as Manitoba&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie. <span class="photo-credit">(JONATHAN KOZUB, MANITOBA MOOSE)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011251/8947124-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="88" height="88"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><b>T</b>he Manitoba Moose must continue their quest for the first division title in franchise history without their star goalie.</p><p>But it&rsquo;s not like the Moose are in dire straits because of the torn medial collateral ligament in <b>Wade Flaherty&rsquo;s</b> right knee. Finally given a chance this season to play on a regular basis, <b>Drew MacIntyre</b> has emerged as a rising star.</p><p>A fourth-year veteran, MacIntyre has the American League&rsquo;s second-best goals-against average (2.16), a 20-8-2 record and .925 save percentage.</p><p>Now MacIntyre is the clear No. 1 for the Moose, just as he was for a month at mid-season when Flaherty hurt his other knee.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05316/8947110-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="268" height="325"></div><p>&ldquo;Obviously you&rsquo;d like to have that 1-2 punch and I really do feel for Flats (Flaherty), but we&rsquo;re still a good hockey team,&rdquo; said Moose coach <b>Scott Arniel</b>. &ldquo;MacIntyre has been there for us all year long.&rdquo;</p><p>MacIntyre, Detroit&rsquo;s fourth round draft pick in 2001, spent his first three pro seasons with Toledo of the ECHL and Grand Rapids of the AHL. He was acquired during training camp by the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a conditional pick.</p><p>Manitoba has been the AHL&rsquo;s best team since Dec. 6, going 29-5-4-2. That includes winning 18 of 19 games heading into the last week of March.</p><p><b>VOLO-SLUMPO</b> As a rookie last year, <b>Roman Voloshenko</b>&nbsp;looked like the next great AHL goal-scorer. Playing on a line with <b>Kirby</b>&nbsp;<b>Law</b> and <b>Patrick O&rsquo;Sullivan</b>, Voloshenko scored 24 goals in his first 35 pro games.</p><p>This season, he can&rsquo;t find the net, in part because he doesn&rsquo;t always go to high-traffic areas. Midway through March, the 20-year-old was mired in a 13-game drought, had scored one goal since Feb. 2 and had just 10 in 63 games.</p><p>&ldquo;Last year he got off to a great start and then struggled a bit in the second half (nine goals in the final 34 games),&rdquo; said Aeros coach <b>Rob Daum</b></p><p>of the Minnesota Wild&rsquo;s 42nd pick overall in 2004. &ldquo;Unfortunately, this year he picked up where he left off last year.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a confidence thing. He&rsquo;s still getting chances but they&rsquo;re not going in the net. There&rsquo;s a little more pressure on him to find a way to score.&rdquo;</p><p><b>BREAKTHROUGH</b> After going 10 games without a goal, thirdyear right winger <b>Marius Holtet</b> single-handedly carried Iowa to a 5-4 win at San Antonio.</p><p>With the Stars trailing 4-2 and under 11 minutes to play, Holtet scored the game&rsquo;s final three goals in a span of just 8:42. That matched his output for the previous seven weeks and gave him 15 goals and 30 points for the season.</p><p>A native of Norway, Holtet was drafted 42nd overall in 2002 by Dallas.</p><p><b>TRUST ME</b> He&rsquo;d been on the ice close to a minute already, but rookie center <b>Cal O&rsquo;Reilly</b>&nbsp;(14 goals and 52 points in 66 games) extended his shift even more and scored the overtime goal in Milwaukee&rsquo;s 3-2 win over Grand Rapids March 18.</p><p>&ldquo;The boys were calling me off,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Reilly, on a point-a-game pace since Jan. 23, &ldquo;and I was like, &lsquo;No, I want a goal.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><h2><b>POWER RANKINGS</b></h2><p>As of March 22, 2007</p><h3><b>AHL TOP 10</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-06234/8947103-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="603" height="750"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-07192/8947096-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="280" height="376"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SHAWN BELLE</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03633/8947089-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="165" height="143"></div><p><b>GOALS 5</b></p><p>ATTEMPTS 5</p><p><b>TOP SHOOTOUT GOALS</b></p><p><b>PLAYER GOALS</b></p><p>David Krejci, Pro 9</p><p>Ryan Vesce, Bin 8</p><p>Kip Miller, GR 7</p><p>Andrei Kostitsyn, Ham 7</p><p>Andrei Taratukhin, Oma 6</p><p>Roman Voloshenko, Hou 6</p><p>Shawn Belle, Hou 5</p><p>Mike Glumac, Peo 5</p><p>Daniel Corso, Spr 5</p><p>Erik Westrum, Tor 5</p><h2><b>CHICAGO WOLVES</b></h2><p><b>6th Season in AHL</b></p><p><b>Best Season</b></p><p>Calder Cup in 2001-02</p><p><b>Arena</b></p><p>Allstate Arena</p><p><b>GM</b> Kevin Cheveldayoff</p><p><b>Coach</b></p><p>John Anderson</p><p><b>Career Leaders</b></p><p>(GP-G-A-Points)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-10118/8947082-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="151" height="145"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1195/8947075-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="380" height="379"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-04

Mighty Mac does the job

<div class="byline">&#x2013; KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02872/8947162-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="280" height="367"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-08165/8947155-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="131" height="116"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>Project to prospect</b></h2><p>When the season began, John Scott was more of a laboratory experiment than anything.</p><p>At 6-foot-7 and 255 pounds, the Minnesota Wild were intrigued by Scott&rsquo;s potential and signed the former Michigan Tech defenseman to an American League contract.</p><p>They wanted to know if he could overcome and improve his below-average skating; whether he could really play the pro game and whether his decent package of skills could be cultivated into NHL potential.</p><p>They had their answer before Jan. 1, signing Scott to an NHL contract that will allow the work to continue next season.</p><p>&ldquo;He has gone from project to prospect,&rdquo; said Aeros coach Rob Daum. &ldquo;That said, there&rsquo;s still a lot of work to do. But he has come a long way in a relatively short time. If you saw him at the beginning of the year and saw him now, there&rsquo;s no comparison.&rdquo;</p><p>The Wild expect Scott&rsquo;s development to continue.</p><p>&ldquo;One of the reasons we traded Peter Ratchuk (to Wilkes-Barre) at the trade deadline was so we could play Scott more,&rdquo; Daum said. &ldquo;He defends well. He has stick on puck inside the zone the majority of the time, his positioning is pretty good.</p><p>&ldquo;And he&rsquo;s not going to shrink&hellip;He&rsquo;s a strong man and he&rsquo;s only going to get stronger.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-02

AHL PROFILE WITH John Scott

<div class="byline">&#x2013; PHIL JANACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02909/8947200-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="280" height="390"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03684/8947193-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="162" height="113"></div><h2><b>Hardware on horizon</b></h2><p>Jason LaBarbera can start clearing some room in his trophy case.</p><p>Stuck in the AHL by new rules governing the recall of veterans, LaBarbera has made the most of his time with the Manchester Monarchs.</p><p>Not only is he favored to be voted the league&rsquo;s top goal-tender, LaBarbera is in line for AHL MVP honors as well.</p><p>&ldquo;To not be able to be called up and still perform at such a high level under those circumstances is tremendous,&rdquo; said Monarchs assistant coach Scott Pellerin. &ldquo;I know a lot of players who couldn&rsquo;t handle the situation he has handled with the utmost class.&rdquo;</p><p>LaBarbera, 27, played in 53 of Manchester&rsquo;s 64 games and led the AHL in games and minutes played (3,138), wins (33), saves (1,619), save percentage (.934) and shutouts (seven), ranking fifth with a 2.20 goals-against average.</p><p>The workload is nothing new for the 6-foot-2, 230-pound LaBarbera, who won the Les Cunningham Award as AHL MVP in 2003-04 with Hartford.</p><p>&ldquo;He shows up every day and takes care of his preparation and all the things he needs to do to be the best he can,&rdquo; Pellerin said. &ldquo;That has had a trickle-down effect on our guys, to see how a guy like this, a former AHL MVP, takes care of business.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-02

AHL PROFILE WITH Jason LaBarbera

<div class="byline">BY PHIL JANACK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04493/8947238-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CLEAN SLATE</b> Coaches Scott Pellerin and Mark Morris from Manchester aren&rsquo;t concerned about the past. <span class="photo-credit">(SPORTS ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011295/8947245-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="196" height="90"></div><p><b>E</b>ven as they approach the end of their fourth straight non-playoff season, the Springfield Falcons have reason for hope.</p><p>On March 19, the Falcons formally announced an amicable split with the Tampa Bay Lightning and a new three-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers, beginning in 2007-08.</p><p>Last in the Atlantic Division, Springfield never reached the postseason under Tampa&rsquo;s watch, which began in 2004-05. Overall, the Falcons have made just one playoff appearance since 1999-2000.</p><p>&ldquo;The bottom line is, we haven&rsquo;t had any success here in the last three years,&rdquo; said Springfield GMpresident <b>Bruce Landon</b>. &ldquo;It has been downright ugly on the ice and it had begun to erode our fan base because, quite honestly, we haven&rsquo;t given them much.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05385/8947231-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="268" height="325"></div><p>&ldquo;That is not to be disrespectful to (Tampa GM) <b>Jay Feaster</b>&nbsp;and his staff. They put some money into it and made an effort to do some things, but it just didn&rsquo;t work. It&rsquo;s a tough business and we needed to move forward.&rdquo;</p><p>The Oilers, who will be responsible for the entire roster and coaching staff, last had a full affiliation in 2004-05.</p><p>&ldquo;It is important to the success of the Oilers to have our own affiliate in a competitive league where our young players can develop their skills for the NHL,&rdquo; said Oilers GM <b>Kevin Lowe</b>. &ldquo;Springfield has a long and storied hockey history and I always think keen fans in hockey environments are positives when players are in the development system.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>MONARCH TRANSFORMATION?</b></h2><p>For the past five seasons, the Manchester Monarchs have been the best team in the AHL never to win a playoff round.</p><p>The rookie coaching staff of <b>Mark Morris</b>&nbsp;and assistant <b>Scott Pellerin</b> are out to change the perception of Manchester being post-season pushovers.</p><p>&ldquo;Mark doesn&rsquo;t talk about it, but the media does,&rdquo; Pellerin said. &ldquo;That was in the past. We&rsquo;re all about positive things and positive thoughts and that&rsquo;s the way we&rsquo;re going to look at it. What happened before was before. We&rsquo;re moving ahead.</p><p>&ldquo;If you start talking about it, then you start feeding on that and we&rsquo;re not going to let anybody feed on that. Playoff hockey is different hockey and it&rsquo;s just as fresh for us as any other team. Of course, there&rsquo;s going to be pressure on us, but I think we have the players and the confidence that we can get it done.&rdquo;</p><p><b>RECORDS FALL</b> East Division powers Norfolk and Hershey have both added new entries to their franchise record books.</p><p>The Admirals beat Binghamton March 9 for their 44th win, breaking the single-season mark of 43 set in 2004-05 and matched last year.</p><p>That same night, the Bears earned a 3-2 victory at Portland, their 21st away from home. The previous team record of 20 road wins was set in 1973-74 and equalled in 1999-2000.</p><p><b>A WINNER</b> Defenseman <b>Patrick Traverse</b> had five goals in 40 games for Worcester, all of them game-winners.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-04

Oil country expands

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MASTOVICH</div><p>After 46 seasons as a Johnstown season ticket holder, Tom Dunkleberger isn&rsquo;t surprised very easily.</p><p>Dunkleberger, 73, has watched Jets, Wings, Red Wings and Chiefs play in various pro leagues at Cambria County War Memorial Arena.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06334/8947276-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="181" height="174"></div><p>Dunkleberger never missed a game during a streak dating to the mid-1950s in the old Eastern League.</p><p>But a life-threatening lung ailment has limited him to watching four games this season, prompting the Chiefs to instead make a surprise &lsquo;road trip&rsquo; to Dunkleberger&rsquo;s home March 16. Twenty players presented Dunkleberger a black and gold jersey with his name and the No. 46 on the back.</p><p>&ldquo;We wanted to honor him,&rdquo; said Chiefs forward Jean Desrochers. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s too bad he&rsquo;s really sick this year and can&rsquo;t come to the games. If he can&rsquo;t come and see the players, we&rsquo;ll take the players to him.&rdquo;</p><p>The players wore their game jerseys and presented Dunkleberger an autographed stick and several pucks. They posed for photographs with Dunkleberger, his son Dave and two grandsons.</p><p>&ldquo;This means a great deal to him,&rdquo; Dave Dunkleberger said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a diehard hockey fan and he never missed games. To see the players come to his house means the world to him.&rdquo;</p><p>The elder Dunkleberger thanked the players and talked hockey with the group.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to miss,&rdquo; Tom Dunkleberger said. &ldquo;We listen on the radio. I only was at four games this year, but I&rsquo;m still a season ticket holder.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-06

Special road trip

<div class="byline">BY ELIZABETH ETUE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02784/8947349-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="817" height="1560"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>FAMILY FUN</b> Having her parents present made winning gold all the sweeter for Cassie Campbell. <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>TYLER STEWART,</b> drummer for the Barenaked Ladies, is a self-confessed &lsquo;hockey junkie&rsquo; who packs his hockey gear for concert tours.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011148/8947356-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="184" height="141"></div><p>The band performed at the Salt Lake City Olympics, where he met some Canadian female players and learned a few things.</p><p>&ldquo;The women get very little financial aid and are making a ton of sacrifices,&rdquo; Stewart said. &ldquo;I remember talking to Vicki Sunohara in 2005. She was about to drive across the country to get to Calgary for centralization, plus find a place to live.&rdquo;</p><p>Stewart was approached by the Ladies First Hockey Foundation and decided working with this group was &ldquo;a way for him to bring awareness, funds and support&rdquo; to the women&rsquo;s team. In 2006, LFHF gave $2,500 each to 22 families as part of the &lsquo;friends and family&rsquo; program, which provides funds for players&rsquo; parents and friends traveling to the Olympic Games.</p><p>For Cassie Campbell, former Canadian captain, having her parents at the Olympics in 2006 meant the world to her. share such a proud moment with them. It was difficult to get to Turin and a lot of parents wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to go without some financial help.&rdquo;</p><p>Since 2003, LFHF has raised more than $250,000 through events like the &lsquo;good as gold open&rsquo; golf tournament.</p><p>&ldquo;The extra funding is huge,&rdquo; Campbell said. &ldquo;We have a lot of players who are struggling, so it keeps more girls playing which means longevity in the program.&rdquo;</p><p>Sunohara reinforced that point at a recent fundraiser when she pointed out the total of the men&rsquo;s salaries from the &rsquo;06 Canadian Olympic team was $97 million; the women&rsquo;s was $650,000.</p><h3><b>Eye on Europe</b></h3><h2><b>Sundstrom surges after return home</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03554/8947342-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="190" height="115"></div><p>MoDo fans hope Niklas Sundstrom can do what Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins have never been able to do: Get them to the top. Sundstrom, known for defensive play in the NHL, enjoyed the offensive liberties he got this season. His 38 assists is third most in the league and his 48 points put him in the top 20 scorers. His team-leading plus-21 rating is second in the league. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really have any problem adjusting back to the Swedish League, except that I&rsquo;ve switched from wing to center here,&rdquo; said Sundstrom, 31. &ldquo;I knew it was a great league and I wanted to prove to myself that I could still play at a very high level.&rdquo; His 750 NHL games make him a crucial leader off the ice as well, especially now that MoDo has advanced to the semifinal. &ldquo;Naturally, the more experienced players are supposed to lead the team and be our best players now,&rdquo; he said.</p><p><b>&ndash; RISTO PAKARINEN</b></p><h3><b>United League</b></h3><h2><b>Power play outage lasts nearly a month</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04408/8947335-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="187" height="83"></div><p>Flint&rsquo;s power play was so bad during an 11-game stretch it would have been better off declining penalties. The Generals set a team record by going 0-for-59 with the man advantage before finally breaking the streak when Mike Kinnie scored on a power play in a 6-5 shootout loss to Port Huron March 11. What&rsquo;s the old saying: 60th time is the charm? &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what to say,&rdquo; said Flint coach Kevin Kerr. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m dumbfounded.&rdquo; The drought lasted more than 30 full periods for a total time of 606 minutes, 56 seconds covering 24 days. Surprisingly, when the streak ended, Flint still ranked No. 2 in power play efficiency and led the UHL with 81 power play goals. The team was outscored 2-0 by opposing penalty-killers over the streak.</p><p><b>&ndash; BRENDAN SAVAGE</b></p><h3><b>Central League</b></h3><h2><b>League honors best in 46 categories</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05337/8947328-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="176" height="125"></div><p>The motion picture industry has the Oscars. The Central League has its annual &lsquo;best of the best&rsquo; poll, which consists of 46 categories voted on by coaches, players and team staff members. Several players and teams earned multiple honors, including Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs captain Dan Wildfong, who was named best leader and most annoying player. Other notable winners: Youngstown Steelhounds left winger Jeff Christian (best overall player). Colorado Eagles left winger Ryan Tobler (best power forward and best fighter &ndash; heavyweight) and Oklahoma City Blazers left winger Graham Dearle (best fighter &ndash; pound for pound). For the fourth year in a row, Wichita Thunder fans were voted most annoying.</p><p><b>&ndash; DAVID HENRY</b></p><h3><b>Southern Pro League</b></h3><h2><b>Continuity key for Cottonmouths</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06279/8947321-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="169" height="133"></div><p>The fact Columbus has used just 22 players &ndash; four above the roster limit and about a dozen below the league average &ndash; is testimony to coach Jerome Bechard&rsquo;s ability to put a championship contender together and get it right the first time. The Cottonmouths, who got off to their typically slow start, have the league&rsquo;s best record. Bechard summed up the success this way: &ldquo;Two good goaltenders (Chad Rycroft and Ryan Senft) who can play any night; good, physical defensemen and I&rsquo;ve got three lines that can be a No. 1 line on any other team.&rdquo; Added Cottonmouths winger Tim Green: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re the team with the fewest moves (in the league) by a long shot. The guys in the room know each other and take it on the ice.&rdquo;</p><p><b>&ndash; NICK GATES</b></p><h3><b>United States League</b></h3><h2><b>Olver follows family to Wildcats country</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-07225/8947314-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="189" height="61"></div><p>By mid-March, the Omaha Lancers topped the United States League standings. For that, they had leading scorer Mark Olver to thank. A 19-year-old in his second season with Omaha, the 5-foot-11, 158-pound Olver scored 23 goals and 48 points in 44 games. Beyond that, Olver has taken the phrase &lsquo;all in the family&rsquo; to a new level. Undrafted (but still eligible for this year), Olver is the son of second-year Northern Michigan assistant coach John Olver. And come next season, the son will be playing for the dad. Olver committed to the Wildcats two years ago, knowing full well his father would be joining the Wildcats ranks. Olver is also following the footsteps of older brother Darin, who was Northern&rsquo;s senior captain this year.</p><p><b>&ndash; PAUL SHAHEEN</b></p><h3><b>Canadian University</b></h3><h2><b>Top francophones build UQTR dynasty</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-08192/8947307-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="165" height="111"></div><p>For the sixth time in nine years, the Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres Patriotes won the Queen&rsquo;s Cup &ndash; on the road. The Quebec-based program battles Ontario universities for the title each season, as do the McGill Redmen, because their own province has too few teams to warrant a playoff. UQTR always travels for the final upon qualification because league rules stipulate the Queen&rsquo;s Cup must be contested in Ontario. Coach Jacques Laporte partially attributes UQTR&rsquo;s success to the fact his school, as the lone French-speaking university in CIS hockey, gets first dibs on the top franco-phones. &ldquo;For those French-speaking players who choose university life over life on the road, we&rsquo;re the No. 1 choice,&rdquo; Laporte said.</p><p><b>&ndash; JEFF RENAUD</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-02

Ladies drummer helps the cause

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02884/8947415-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="813" height="1115"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>THE BIG QUESTION</b> facing the London Knights as they entered the 2006-07 season: Would they have the goaltending?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011303/8947422-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="190" height="64"></div><p>Unheralded Steve Mason was being thrust into the leading role after only 647 minutes on an OHL stage as the understudy to Adam Dennis, who set a singleseason league record with 44 victories in 2005-06. But Mason answered all doubts when he eclipsed Dennis&rsquo; record with 45 victories.</p><p>&ldquo;I had to come in here and prove myself this year,&rdquo; said the Columbus Blue Jackets third-rounder, who played 62 of 68 games to lead the league. &ldquo;I learned a lot as backup to Adam and it really helped me get to where I am now.&rdquo;</p><p>Mason has become what many feel is the best bigsave goalie in the league after being selected by London in the 11th round in 2004.</p><p>The Blue Jackets consider Mason a prospect after drafting him a year ago, despite limited playing time.</p><p>&ldquo;He was a hard kid to get to see for a lot of people, but (Knights coach and GM) Dale and Mark (Hunter) were pretty good at letting us know when he was going to play,&rdquo; said Blue Jackets player personnel director Don Boyd. &ldquo;We got lucky and saw him early and then asked (former goalie coach) Rick Wamsley to pay some attention to him. Rick watched some practices and we did our homework.&rdquo;</p><p>Some teams originally felt Columbus stepped up rather high to take Mason, &ldquo;but he has carried himself really well,&rdquo; Boyd said. &ldquo;Our concern was on the night of the draft we asked Dale and Mark, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re going to play him this year, aren&rsquo;t you?&rsquo; It has been a great experience that he played as much as he did and a tremendous opportunity for him to grow.&rdquo;</p><p>In addition to his league wins record, Mason also set a new Knights goalie standard with eight assists. It helps Mason played forward his first three years of youth hockey and he still goes out early for practice and shoots pucks with teammate Patrick Kane.</p><p>Mason was on the Canadian junior team&rsquo;s radar, but suffered a concussion three days before the selection camp when he was run over by Windsor&rsquo;s Cory McGillis. Then, adding insult to injury, Mason was snubbed for the OHL All-Star Game.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing because it costs you the recognition,&rdquo; he said at the time.</p><p>Recognition is certainly no longer a concern.</p><h3><b>Spotlight</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03645/8947408-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="966" height="231"></div><h3><b>Western League</b></h3><h2><b>Thunderbirds migration looking more certain</b></h2><p><b>BY ROB VANSTONE</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04474/8947401-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="153" height="116"></div><p>The Seattle Thunderbirds are likely to change their home base, but not their name.</p><p>Thunderbirds GM, president and governor, <b>Russ Farwell</b>, hopes the team will be able to play in the proposed Kent Events Center by the fall of 2008. Kent is 18 miles south of Seattle, where the Thunderbirds play in KeyArena.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to leave the (Seattle) name,&rdquo; Farwell said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very much the Seattle area. From a league standpoint, it would be preferred and for us, selling sponsorships and everything else in this area, we represent the area so we&rsquo;re not changing our name.&rdquo;</p><p>The 6,500-seat Events Center would cost about $60 million (U.S.). The city of Kent has embraced the project, but additional governmental support is needed.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re a long ways toward having made a final decision,&rdquo; said Farwell, who cited high rent as one reason the team would leave KeyArena. &ldquo;They need state participation in order to make the thing work and they&rsquo;re kind of waiting to see what that&rsquo;s going to end up being.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTES</b> Former Brandon Wheat Kings owner <b>Bob Cor</b><b>nell</b> is the 2007 recipient of the WHL&rsquo;s Governors Award, which honors exemplary contributions to the league.</p><h3><b>Ontario League</b></h3><h2><b>Tavares tops The Great One, scores the most goals at 16</b></h2><p><b>BY JIM CRESSMAN</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05361/8947394-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="190" height="65"></div><p>Move over <b>Wayne Gretzky</b>, you have been bumped from one entry in the Ontario League record book.</p><p>Oshawa Generals center <b>John Tavares</b> broke Gretzky&rsquo;s record for most goals by a 16-year-old. His record-breaking 71st goal came in his third-last game, a 7-4 loss in Ottawa March 16. The pro-67&rsquo;s throng of 9,501 acknowledged the moment with a standing ovation after Tavares scored. Tavares finished the regular season with 72 goals.</p><p>Ottawa goalie <b>Brady Morrison</b> even flipped the souvenir puck to an appreciative  Tavares. The phenom finished second in the OHL scoring race with 134 points in 67 games, 11 behind <b>Patrick Kane</b> of the London Knights.</p><p>Kane, a potential first overall pick in the coming NHL draft, made it a natural hat trick for London after Knights <b>Rob Schremp</b> and <b>Corey Perry</b> won the previous two scoring titles.</p><p><b>NOTES</b> The Knights entered the playoffs without forwards <b>David Jarram</b> and <b>Josh Beaulieu</b>, suspended 15 games and 10 games for physically abusing linesmen. Coach <b>Dale Hunter</b> was suspended five games and fined $5,000 for not controlling his players during a fight-filled game with Kitchener.</p><h3><b>Quebec League</b></h3><h2><b>Moncton building legacy after five strong seasons</b></h2><p><b>BY NEIL HODGE</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06295/8947387-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="148" height="136"></div><p>The Moncton Wildcats earned at least 80 points a fifth consecutive season, the longest current streak in the Canadian Hockey League.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something to be proud of,&rdquo; said <b>Christian Gaudet</b>, captain of the defending league champs. &ldquo;I think it all starts with our owner. <b>Mr. (Robert) Irving</b> definitely brings in the right guys who can do the job as coaches. This season everybody thought we were going to be rebuilding.&rdquo;</p><p>Moncton, 39-25-4-2, surpassed expectations and finished fourth overall in the 18-team league under <b>John</b>&nbsp;<b>Torchetti</b>, who has an NHL coaching background in Florida, Tampa Bay and L.A.</p><p>Moncton, the 2006 Memorial Cup runner-up, averaged 92.2 points the past five seasons &ndash; the best in the QMJHL during that span.</p><p>&ldquo;It builds a reputation for the franchise when you&rsquo;re near the top of the league every season,&rdquo; said Wildcats defenseman <b>Andrew Mac-Donald</b>, an Islanders draft pick. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re building a legacy of having good teams that compete every season.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTES</b> Baie-Comeau right winger <b>Francois Bouchard</b>, 18, won the scoring title with 125 points, including 45 goals, in 68 games. He was selected 35th overall by Washington in 2006.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0030-02

Knight first in record book

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02799/8947488-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="775" height="1065"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVID SILVERMAN)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>DARTMOUTH SENIOR</b>&nbsp;defenseman Grant Lewis will never be mistaken for Nicklas Lidstrom.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011200/8947495-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="149" height="149"></div><p>While the latter is one of the NHL&rsquo;s topscoring defenseman, Lewis prefers his own end of the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;I fly under the radar, I guess,&rdquo; said the 6-foot-3, 197-pound native of Upper St. Clair, Pa.</p><p>Even more so after tearing ligaments in his ankle during the first game of the season. The injury came after a summer of indecision, when Lewis attended the Atlanta Thrashers prospects camp and speculation arose he would turn pro rather than return for his senior season at Dartmouth.</p><p>&ldquo;They (the Thrashers) already had a crowd of young defensemen coming in and it just wasn&rsquo;t the right time for me,&rdquo; said Lewis, a touted Atlanta defensive prospect, but not on the Thrashers top-10 list in Future Watch.</p><p>Then came the mental aspect of dealing with his first serious injury.</p><p>&ldquo;It was tough,&rdquo; Lewis said. &ldquo;I was excited about coming back and was in great shape. But the second or third shift of the first game, someone fell on my ankle when I was skating backward and it tore ligaments  in my ankle. Doctors said I would be in a boot from five to eight weeks, but I got out in four.&rdquo;</p><p>Lewis returned to the lineup after the Christmas break and helped Dartmouth finish fourth.</p><p>Although Lewis&rsquo; offensive production has steadily declined since his freshman year &ndash; which can be attributed to injuries &ndash; he has been Dartmouth&rsquo;s defensive leader for four years.</p><p>&ldquo;He sees the ice so well, and makes good outlet passes, tape to tape, to our forwards coming out of our own end,&rdquo; said Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet.</p><p>Lewis has a defense-first mindset.</p><p>&ldquo;I just try to play solid defensive hockey,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I get points, it&rsquo;s a huge bonus. My plus-minus has been good and I&rsquo;ve been making a good first pass out of the zone. That&rsquo;s the kind of defenseman I am.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;He always seems to be in good defensive-side position to block a shot or a pass and to start our transition the other way,&rdquo; Gaudet said. &ldquo;He has good size with excellent mobility and a long reach, all good attributes at the next level.</p><p>&ldquo;The other important area that will help Grant at the next level is his work ethic. Grant works hard at his game every day both on and off the ice.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>Spotlight</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03604/8947481-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="966" height="231"></div><h3><b>Central Collegiate</b></h3><h2><b>Falcons&rsquo; flight path interrupted by storm</b></h2><p><b>BY PHILIP COLVIN</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04462/8947474-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="193" height="72"></div><p>Bowling Green traveled to Alaska, New York and Northern Michigan this season, but nothing could have prepared the Falcons for their 47-hour bus trip to Nebraska-Omaha to face the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. After leaving their Ohio campus, the team spent the night in Iowa and woke up to a winter storm that closed all roads in the state. The stranded Falcons stayed over in Des Moines and started out again the next day before their bus got stuck in snow. After a tractor pulled them out, the team made it to Omaha two and a half hours before the 7 p.m. game. The Falcons lost in overtime that night and Nebraska-Omaha completed the sweep in Game 2. &ldquo;It was a difficult trip,&rdquo; said Bowling Green coach <b>Scott Paluch</b>, whose team finished last in the standings but showed character down the stretch. &ldquo;But our guys handled it well. They were ready to play. It just didn&rsquo;t work out.&rdquo;</p><h3><b>Hockey East</b></h3><h2><b>Rookie Purcell excels, nabs freshman honor</b></h2><p><b>BY LARRY MAHONEY</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05365/8947467-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="197" height="89"></div><p><b>Teddy Purcell</b> didn&rsquo;t know what to expect as a rookie in Hockey East. &ldquo;I figured I would learn slowly and contribute less (than I have),&rdquo; said Maine&rsquo;s right winger, who led all freshmen with 16 goals and 40 points to earn top rookie honors. He also had a team-high five game-winners. &ldquo;I knew he was our one elite freshman and we lost some key forwards so we put him in situations (on a top line) to succeed right away and he has made us look good,&rdquo; said Maine coach <b>Tim Whitehead</b>. &ldquo;I love his composure with the puck and his hockey sense. He has the ability to make plays in traffic. He has been a very dynamic player for us.&rdquo; The undrafted 21-year-old credited the staff and his teammates for making the award possible. The other major award winners were Boston University goalie <b>John Curry</b> (player of the year) and New Hampshire&rsquo;s <b>Dick Umile</b> (coach of the year).</p><h3><b>Eastern College</b></h3><h2><b>Parade of Saints take home hardware</b></h2><p><b>BY TOM BOGGIE</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06303/8947460-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="208" height="77"></div><p>Since the beginning of the year, St. Lawrence coach <b>Joe Marsh</b> has been touting senior defenseman <b>Drew Bagnall</b> as the best player in the league. People listened. Bagnall, a 6-foot-3, 215-pounder whose rights are held by the Florida Panthers, became just the ninth defenseman to be named ECAC player of the year. In addition, Bagnall was also named the league&rsquo;s outstanding defensive defenseman and is one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award. The Saints had to rent a truck to take home all their hardware. Marsh was named the <b>Tim Taylor</b> coach of the year, receiving the honor a fourth time; and senior winger <b>Kyle Rank</b> was selected the outstanding defensive forward. The <b>Ken Dryden</b> Award for goaltender of the year went to Clarkson&rsquo;s <b>David Leggio</b> and <b>Brandon Wong</b> of Quinnipiac and <b>Sean Backman</b> of Yale were co-winners of the top rookie award.</p><h3><b>Western Collegiate</b></h3><h2><b>Title defense ends early as Badgers bounced</b></h2><p><b>BY ANDY BAGGOT</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07254/8947453-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="212" height="47"></div><p>For the second straight season, the defending NCAA champion fell fast. A year after Denver was upset in the opening round, Wisconsin fell to Minnesota in the semifinal and saw its season end. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing,&rdquo; Badgers coach <b>Mike Eaves</b> said after his team fell outside the 16-team cut-off as defined by the NCAA pairwise ranking formula. Only three WCHA schools &ndash; Minnesota, North Dakota and St. Cloud State &ndash; are in the national tournament. The WCHA was uniquely competitive this season. Wisconsin was a combined 4-1-1 vs. North Dakota and St. Cloud State, but 1-3 vs. Minnesota. North Dakota was 4-0-2 vs. Minnesota and St. Cloud State, but 1-3 vs. the Badgers. St. Cloud State was 2-0-2 vs. Minnesota, but 0-1-1 vs. Wisconsin and 0-2-2 vs. North Dakota. How does a league that evenly matched get only three teams in the NCAA tournament? &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the biggest question I have,&rdquo; Eaves said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-02

Defensive standout

f0032-01

BLADEMASTER

<div class="byline">Adam Proteau</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02778/8947571-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WHO&rsquo;S NEXT?</b> Don&rsquo;t expect an NHLer to follow in John Amaechi&rsquo;s steps any time soon. <span class="photo-credit">(ROCKY WIDNER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011185/8947578-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="221" height="233"></div><p>Read Adam&rsquo;s blog daily on <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></p><p>Would you be confortable playing with an openly gay teammate?</p><p>YES 67%</p><p>NO 33%</p><p><b>DON&rsquo;T GET ME WRONG.</b> I think it&rsquo;s a clear sign of progress that 67 per cent of NHLers questioned in the league-wide player poll by The Hockey News indicated they would be comfortable with an openly gay teammate.</p><p>However, I wouldn&rsquo;t start preparing the press releases in anticipation of a major news announcement just yet. There&rsquo;s a perfectly good reason hockey is the last of the so-called &lsquo;Big Four&rsquo; pro sports leagues without an out-of-the-closet former player and it&rsquo;s not because there hasn&rsquo;t been so much as a single homosexual NHLer in the history of the game.</p><p>This is a league where, in 2002, some racist chump at Montreal&rsquo;s Molson Centre threw a banana in the direction of then-Hurricanes goalie Kevin Weekes. This is an environment where Ted Nolan and Theoren Fleury, among others, have been subjected to anti-native chants and repulsive catcalls from fans.</p><p>This is a culture where, if you don&rsquo;t subscribe to the fighting-as-natural-part-of-the-game credo, you get very specific homophobic hate mail (trust me). This is a game where Don Cherry can appear on <i>Hockey Night In Canada</i> with a limp wrist and a feigned lisp that would make Truman Capote look straighter than Tom Cruise &ndash; OK, bad comparison &ndash; and nobody bats an eye.</p><p>A sizeable section of the hockey masses, it seems, are particularly unwashed. But let&rsquo;s forget about them for the moment. Instead let&rsquo;s focus on the other 33 per cent of NHLers polled who said they wouldn&rsquo;t be comfortable with a gay teammate. <i>(See pg. 12 for cover story on NHL player poll.)</i></p><p>Remember &ndash; this was an anonymous poll and still more than one in three players basically identified themselves as homophobes.</p><p>Doesn&rsquo;t that say there are more Tim Hardaway types in the hockey business than anyone would hope for? And wouldn&rsquo;t their presence in NHL dressing rooms completely outweigh the good vibrations from the enlightened majority?</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">What if the guy was as flamboyant as a fashion designer?</blockquote><p>Here&rsquo;s another question: Just how &lsquo;gay&rsquo; a player are we talking about, anyway? What if the guy was as flamboyant as a fashion designer and enjoyed bragging out loud about some of his sexual conquests, as more than a few hockey players have been known to do when the cameras and microphones aren&rsquo;t around?</p><p>Something tells me a significant portion of that 67 per cent of NHLers wouldn&rsquo;t be so welcoming. Something tells me they&rsquo;d prefer a policy along the lines of the U.S. military&rsquo;s &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t Ask, Don&rsquo;t Tell&rdquo; before they&rsquo;d be prepared to completely accept an out player.</p><h2><b>WEEDED OUT BY SYSTEM?</b></h2><p>Another reason to doubt we&rsquo;ll see an openly gay elite NHLer: the amateur hockey system, never a bastion of compassion and understanding to begin with, excels at establishing the accepted &lsquo;us&rsquo; and the unfamiliar &lsquo;other&rsquo; in young players&rsquo; minds.</p><p>In such a system, those who look or act differently than the &lsquo;norm&rsquo; quickly find themselves ridiculed and pressured to conform to it, or forced out.</p><p>&ldquo;My question is, have good hockey players been weeded out through the developmental systems because they were gay and didn&rsquo;t want to put up with the homophobia any more?&rdquo; asked Kaj Hasselrijs, executive director of Egale Canada, which promotes equality and justice for lesbians and gays. &ldquo;There may have been gay players who could play at an elite level, but who felt there wasn&rsquo;t a place in the game for them.&rdquo;</p><p>Hasselrijs isn&rsquo;t wrong. The systemic attempts (fighting, hazing rituals that are oddly homoerotic) to make hockey players more &lsquo;manly&rsquo; have likely driven away many players who could have added a great deal to the sport.</p><p>Besides, it&rsquo;s a lot easier to say you&rsquo;ll be a wellspring of acceptance toward gay players when it&rsquo;s only a question on a survey and not a reality putting his skates on in the stall beside you.</p><p>&ldquo;Homophobia, like racism, is hard to truly get at in a survey,&rdquo; Hasselrijs said. &ldquo;The majority of people today probably don&rsquo;t want to think they&rsquo;re anti-gay, but when an actual situation with a gay coworker presents itself, it can be a very different story.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Hey,&rdquo; you might say, &ldquo;this is 2007. <i>Queer Eye For The Straight Guy</i> was a TV success. R. Kelly&rsquo;s <i>Trapped In The Closet</i> hit the top of the music charts. Hetero men are getting all gussied up in spas and eating quiche without reservation. This is a different era we&rsquo;re in.&rdquo;</p><p>No argument here. It is indeed a better world for the gay/lesbian community, which has made great advances in securing and promoting rights for all human beings.</p><p>But as most people know, the hockey world operates virtually independent of reality &ndash; and that&rsquo;s why, for the present and foreseeable future, the welcome mat for gay players will remain firmly ensconced in the NHL&rsquo;s closet.</p><p>With apologies to Jerry Seinfeld, there is definitely something wrong with that.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-02

Accepting gays far away for NHL

<h2><b>2 MINUTES IN THE BOX WITH</b>&nbsp;<b>Carlo Colaiacovo</b></h2><p>Toronto Maple Leafs</p><p>PosD Age24</p><p>Birthplace Toronto, Ont.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011056/8947644-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="281" height="377"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02721/8947637-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="163" height="174"></div><h2><b>START THE CLOCK</b></h2><p><b>What was your &lsquo;welcome to the NHL&rsquo; moment?</b></p><p>I was 19 when I played my first game. At training camp, I wasn&rsquo;t even expecting to play in exhibition games. That&rsquo;s when I knew.</p><p><b>If you had your own theme song, what would it be?</b></p><p>Any of the <i>Rocky</i> songs.</p><p><b>Why do your wear No. 8?</b></p><p>I&rsquo;ve had it since the minors. Plus, it&rsquo;s easy to sign autographs &ndash; it&rsquo;s two O&rsquo;s.</p><p><b>What&rsquo;s the worst road trip you&rsquo;ve ever been on?</b></p><p>When I played for the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs every road game was a three-and-a-half hour flight and <i>then</i> you got on a bus.</p><p><b>How about the best trip?</b></p><p>Las Vegas. Some buddies and I went down and spent the week.</p><p><b>Favorite junk food?</b></p><p>Wine gums.</p><p><b>Favorite video game when you were a kid?</b></p><p>I was always into the sports games, like <i>NHL Hockey</i> or <i>John Madden Football</i>.</p><p><b>Which NHLer do you admire most?</b></p><p>You gotta look at the older guys, like Chris Chelios and their continued work ethic. They&rsquo;re pushing into their late 30s, even 40s and still competing at such a high level.</p><p>TIME&rsquo;S UP!</p><p>&ndash; RYAN KENNEDY</p><h2><b>CROSSWORD</b></h2><h3><b>ACROSS</b></h3><p>1 Flames goalie ___ Kiprusoff<br>4 He&rsquo;s coach in Chicago<br>9 Steve ___ once tended net in San Jose<br>10 Spoils<br>11 Goad: 2 words<br>12 Andy ___ spent a couple of seasons with Nashville, pictured<br>13 Newest Islander ___ Smyth<br>15 The Kings&rsquo; ___ Avery<br>18 Tossed out<br>21 The Red Wings&rsquo; Andreas ___<br>23 Chris ___ was once involved in a swap for Eric Lindros<br>24 Brian Burke&rsquo;s former team<br>25 Pulled<br>26 Darren ___ and Bob Froese shared the Jennings Trophy in 1986</p><h3><b>DOWN</b></h3><p>1 Jacques Plante was hockey&rsquo;s first ___ man<br>2 Sending the puck the length of the rink<br>3 The Sabres&rsquo; Dmitri ___<br>5 The opening playoff month<br>6 State that got NHL hockey in 1996<br>7 The ledge at the top of the boards<br>8 Not new (like your first skates?)<br>14 He was Conn Smythe winner in 1998<br>15 He took the inaugural Rocket Richard Trophy<br>16 Sweater<br>17 A team from ___ City challenged for the Stanley Cup back in 1905<br>19 Tight<br>20 Hall of Famer ___ Duff<br>22 Puts on one&rsquo;s skates, ___ up</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03579/8947630-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="1025" height="1025"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(By Larry Humber Answers in next issue & online @thehockeynews.com)</span></figcaption></div><p>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION <b>ACROSS</b> 1. SAVARD, 4. HAVLAT, 9. UNLACED, 10. TIGER, 11. ARENA, 12. MONTANA, 13. SLID, 15. REDS, 18. ALBERTA, 21. BLAKE, 23. ROMAN, 24. LORIMER, 25. STRAYS, 26. HORTON. <b>DOWN</b> 1. SOURAY, 2. VILLE, 3. RICHARD, 5. ANTON, 6. LEGWAND, 7. THREAD, 8. ADAM, 14. LUBOMIR, 15. ROBERTO, 16. HARRIS, 17. PERRON, 19. RANDY, 20. AULD, 22. ADMIT.</p><h2><b>SEPARATED AT BIRTH</b></h2><p>Have you spotted these two personalities in the same room at the same time? Submitted by David Howell of Harrisburg, Pa.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04487/8947623-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="276" height="260"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PAUL MAURICE</b></figcaption></div><p>Big break came with Canes, a spin-off of the Hartford Whalers</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05438/8947616-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="252" height="272"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DAVID HYDE PIERCE</b></figcaption></div><p>Big break came on <i>Frasier</i>, a spin-off of <i>Cheers</i></p><p>Submit ideas for Separated at Birth to <a href="mailto:separated@thehockeynews.com">separated@thehockeynews.com</a></p><h2><b>JERSEY HOUND</b></h2><p><b>Quebec Aces (1967)</b></p><p>Look into even the most fleeting American League teams and you&rsquo;ll find some fascinating history.</p><p>For the Quebec Aces, the history includes legends such as Jean Beliveau and Punch Imlach.</p><p>First playing in the Railway-Paper League in 1928, the Aces were made up of employees from the Anglo-Canadian Pulp and Paper company (Ace is an acronym of &lsquo;Anglo Canadian Employees&rsquo;).</p><p>The Aces joined the AHL in 1959 after playing in many Quebec leagues, sporting several cool logos involving playing cards. They became the Richmond Robins in 1971.</p><p>&ndash; Ryan Kennedy</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06386/8947609-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="415" height="823"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JERSEY: COURTESY LELAND&rsquo;S)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0037-01

Last Minute of Play

<div class="byline">Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="C0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-02190/8947706-1-eng-US/c0004-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Yzerman <span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-01304/8947713-1-eng-US/c0004-012.jpg" title="C0004-01" width="221" height="237"></div><p>If you had a son who was an NHL prospect, would you prefer to see him play:</p><p>U.S. COLLEGE 52%</p><p>MAJOR JUNIOR 38%</p><p>EUROPE 10%</p><p><b>I</b>&nbsp;wanted to be Fred Speck. No. 18. Tough guy. Captain. My hero.</p><p>Fred Speck was Darcy Tucker before Darcy&rsquo;s mom and dad ever held hands.</p><p>When I would go to sleep at night, I would dream about playing for Speck&rsquo;s Hamilton Red Wings. I had it all planned out&hellip;play three years with the Junior Red Wings and then I&rsquo;d sign a contract with Detroit, the NHL team that sponsored them.</p><p>I&rsquo;d heard about American college hockey back then, but who would ever choose to play at Michigan State, Cornell or the University of Denver when you had the opportunity to play for the Peterborough Petes, Quebec Remparts or New Westminster Bruins? Not a chance.</p><p>Back in the 1970s, junior hockey was definitely the way to go.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the way it was when you went to watch Hamilton play every Thursday night and then saw the replay of the game Sunday morning on TV. I still get chills thinking about Norm Marshall and Sandy Hoyt calling the action with Joe Watkins of the Hamilton <i>Spectator</i> joining the broadcast crew at the game&rsquo;s conclusion to pick the three stars.</p><p>It&rsquo;s funny, though, how things change as you grow older. I&rsquo;m not saying I wouldn&rsquo;t want to play major junior hockey. But if I were a teenager hell-bent on becoming a pro hockey player, the decision to play junior wouldn&rsquo;t be as automatic as it once was. The NHLers who took part in The Hockey News player poll, in fact, indicated they&rsquo;d opt for college over junior by a margin of 52 per cent to 38 per cent. <i>(See pg. 12 for complete cover story.)</i></p><p>I still believe the Western, Quebec and Ontario Leagues are the best place for future NHLers to serve their apprenticeship. The day-to-day routine for players in those leagues is similar to that of the pros. And as much as it has become a business, junior hockey best conditions young men to play pro.</p><p>That said, I&rsquo;d think long and hard about combining my education with my desire to play hockey for a living given the opportunity today. That&rsquo;s not to suggest you can&rsquo;t do both while playing junior, but let&rsquo;s be honest. College puts more emphasis on school and, times have changed: The NHL now scouts the NCAA as heavily as it does junior. If you can play the game, you are not going to slip through the cracks by playing university hockey in the U.S.</p><p>That was the fear a lot of kids had a few decades ago.</p><p>Today? Two of the first three picks in last year&rsquo;s NHL entry draft &ndash; Erik Johnson and Jonathan Toews &ndash; play in the NCAA.</p><h2><b>TRAINING THE BEST</b></h2><p>I was blessed with the opportunity of covering OHL hockey for 13 years in Peterborough. It proved to be an invaluable opportunity to both learn the game and to see first-hand what players go through. The pressure on young men, many of them living away from home for the first time in their lives, is enormous.</p><p>In my time in Peterborough I was fortunate to see Larry Murphy, Steve Yzerman and Chris Pronger in their formative years. It was a delight watching these future NHL stars playing the game with unbridled passion. I also witnessed many young men who came to town with high hopes, only to be relegated to the press box night after night as their dreams quickly faded away. It was heartbreaking to watch quality people come to the realization a pro hockey career was not in the cards for them.</p><p>If playing major junior was good enough for Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, my guess is it should be good enough for anybody.</p><p>What bothers me about junior hockey, though, is the high number of trades that take place each season. I am not naive and I know players accept the possibility of being traded when they sign on, but that doesn&rsquo;t make it any easier a pill to swallow. Some players are traded twice in the same season. Try keeping up on your studies when that happens. Ottawa Senators tough guy Brian McGrattan played for six teams in the OHL, including four (Mississauga, Owen Sound, Oshawa and Sault Ste. Marie) in one season. That&rsquo;s not right.</p><h2><b>NO FREE RIDES</b></h2><p>College hockey has issues, too. First, scholarships are not guaranteed. A player may think he is on a four-year ride, only to have his scholarship revoked for one reason or another. Players sometimes get red-shirted, which means they are kept out of action for an entire season in order to retain a year of eligibility. This is good when a player is recovering from a major injury, but not so good if he is healthy.</p><p>Also, a player who has a conflict with his coach doesn&rsquo;t have many options. A trade is out of the question, so if the relationship cannot be healed, the player could be forced to quit or switch schools. And if the player does switch schools, he must sit out a year before suiting up for his new team.</p><p>At the end of the day, there is no definitive answer as to whether junior or NCAA is better. One thing I do know, however: If faced with the opportunity of playing one or the other, it is certainly not the easy decision it would&rsquo;ve been when I was a teen in the &rsquo;70s.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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April 3, 2007

hockeysockpuppettheatre

STANLEY CUP

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Opening Faceoff