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 24, 2007

The Hockey News - Apr-24-07

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011301/8900312-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>DUCK!</b> Anaheim&rsquo;s Corey Perry takes out the Wild&rsquo;s Nick Schultz in Game 1.</p><p><b>16 PLAYOFF TEAMS</b> Here are depth charts for the 16 NHL playoff teams. Power play units, spares, injuries also provided.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></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>

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DEPARTMENTS

NHL Depth Charts

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE HOCKEY NEWS AWARDS</b> are new and improved in 2006-07, honoring more players in a wider range of categories. But we have our standards; we didn&rsquo;t want to water things down too much for fear of diluting our cover story. That&rsquo;s a job for the Editor&rsquo;s Notebook.</p><p>The following is the first annual or, perhaps sporadic, awarding of the Fannies &ndash; a name that works on so many levels. It&rsquo;s recognition of some notable/dubious achievements from the past season, set to classic tunes. Feel free to hum along.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012021/8899233-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="826" height="827"></div><p>The Twisted Sister/We&rsquo;re Not Gonna Take It Award goes to&hellip;Chris Chelios for his bulldog tenacity in taking a stand.</p><p>The Foreigner/Cold As Ice Award goes to&hellip;Lou Lamoriello for putting winning ahead of <i>everything</i>.</p><p>The Beatles/Twist and Shout Award goes to&hellip;Carlo Colaiacovo for discovering myriad ways to contort and injure his body.</p><p>The U2/Still Haven&rsquo;t Found What I&rsquo;m Looking For Award goes to&hellip;Doug MacLean for seeking high and low &ndash; and in vain &ndash; for the secret to getting Columbus in the playoffs.</p><p>The Who/Who Are You Award goes to&hellip;Jaroslav Halak. Who is he?</p><p>The Bruce Springsteen/I&rsquo;m on Fire Award goes to&hellip;Paul Stastny for his stunning emergence and late-season points streak.</p><p>The Nirvana/Smells Like Teen Spirit Award goes to&hellip;Jordan Staal, the <i>other</i> terrific Penguins phenom.</p><p>The Clash/I Fought the Law Award goes to&hellip;Ed Belfour. Again.</p><p>The Dire Straits/Money For Nothing Award goes to&hellip;Sergei Samsonov, the $3.5-million winger who was a healthy scratch for the final 13 games of the season. No word on whether he got his chicks for free.</p><p>The Cheap Trick/I Want You To Want Me Award goes to&hellip;Jason Allison, who after a 60-point year couldn&rsquo;t find a home in &rsquo;06-07.</p><p>The Tina Turner/I Don&rsquo;t Wanna Fight Award goes to&hellip;Serge Savard, the raging Hall-of-Fame pacifist.</p><p>The Stealers Wheel/Stuck in the Middle With You Award goes to&hellip;Mats Sundin for surviving another year without top-line wingers</p><p>The Don Henley/Last Worthless Evening Award goes to&hellip;Peter Forsberg for getting the heck out of Philly and into Nashville.</p><p>And the Crowded House/Don&rsquo;t Dream It&rsquo;s Over Award goes to&hellip; the Islanders, the against-all-odds team that we, regrettably, neglected to include in our Playoff Preview <i>(see accompanying story).</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031393/8899226-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="812" height="434"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

Chelios, Stastny earn Fannies

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05310/8900399-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="268" height="268"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04455/8900392-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="1229" height="1331"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>IT&rsquo;LL PLAY IN PEORIA</b> Peter Ferraro&rsquo;s Rivermen teammates can see him in a Stanley Cup commercial. <span class="photo-credit">(DENNIS SIEVERS)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he old marketing catch phrase for Verizon Wireless was: &ldquo;Can you hear me now?&rdquo; <b>Peter Ferraro&rsquo;s</b> new marketing slogan could be: &ldquo;Can you see me now?&rdquo;</p><p>Ferraro&rsquo;s face will become familiar to hockey fans watching the Stanley Cup playoffs in the U.S., thanks to his part in a television commercial for the cellular provider. The ad, set at a hockey practice, began airing on NBC during the final weekends of the regular season.</p><p>&ldquo;Friends are calling and saying, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve seen your commercial,&rdquo; said Ferraro, who was speaking on the phone with twin brother <b>Chris</b> when he first saw the ad himself on TV. &ldquo;This is something Chris and I may opt to get into more when we&rsquo;re done with hockey.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03626/8900385-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="88" height="88"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 88px"><b>West</b></figcaption></div><p>The Ferraros are 34 and in their 13th season of pro hockey. Peter started the year with Bridgeport before being traded to the Peoria Rivermen. Chris spent the season with the San Antonio Rampage. A few years back, they were put in touch with a talent agency, Prestige Entertainment, in New York City. Both were called to take part in the Verizon ad, but Chris&rsquo;s schedule with the Rampage didn&rsquo;t permit a getaway for filming.</p><p>&ldquo;We always hear, &lsquo;You look like a model, you don&rsquo;t even look like a hockey player,&rsquo;&rdquo; Peter said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when we broaden our shoulders and stick our chests out and say, &lsquo;Now do we look like hockey players?&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>Peter flew to New Jersey for the one-day shoot and was at the rink for 10 hours. He has a secondary role and is seen on the bench near the main character.</p><p>Since sister Michelle is part owner of a Las Vegas modeling agency, Red Models & Talent, they may pursue more on-screen opportunities.</p><p>&ldquo;Hockey&rsquo;s still our love and our passion, though,&rdquo; Peter said. &ldquo;We both still love getting up in the morning and heading to the rink.&rdquo;</p><p><b>DEDICATION</b> Manitoba Moose captain <b>Mike Keane</b>&nbsp;was named winner of the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award for sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey.</p><p>A veteran of more than 1,600 games in the NHL and AHL, Keane has eight goals and 25 points in 73 games. The right winger won Stanley Cups with Montreal (1993), Colorado (1996) and Dallas (1999).</p><p>The Winnipeg native turns 40 in May. He has played the past two seasons with the Moose after a 16-year NHL career.</p><p><b>PARSE AND PARCEL</b> Forward <b>Scott Parse</b>&nbsp;has adapted well to the AHL after a four-year NCAA career at Nebraska-Omaha.</p><p>Parse, 22, scored two goals and six points in his first six pro games after signing a tryout contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins.</p><p><b>&lsquo;Q&rsquo; GETS W</b> It took until the first weekend of April, but Houston rookie goalie <b>Tony Quesada</b> finally has a win and shutout.</p><p>Entering the game with an 0-8 record, 5.06 goals-against average and .855 save percentage, Quesada was outstanding as the Aeros, outshot 41-19, blanked Omaha 1-0 in overtime. <b>Curtis Murphy</b> scored the game-winner.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>POWER RANKINGS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1190/8900378-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="502" height="176"></div><p>As of April 12, 2007</p><h3><b>AHL TOP 10</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-06229/8900371-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="366" height="425"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-07187/8900364-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="264" height="373"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRETT STERLING</b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-08160/8900357-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="146" height="140"></div><p><b>TOP ROOKIE SCORERS</b></p><p><b>PLAYER PTS</b></p><p>Brett Sterling, Chi 93</p><p>Troy Brouwer, Nor 78</p><p>David Krejci, Pro 72</p><p>Kris Versteeg, Nor 72</p><p>Andrew Ebbett, Bin 62</p><p>Dustin Boyd, Oma 60</p><p>Cal O&rsquo;Reilly, Mil 60</p><p>Ryan Callahan, Har 55</p><p>Matt Moulson, Man 55</p><p>Janis Sprukts, Roc 54</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>HARTFORD WOLF PACK</b></h3><p><b>10th Season in AHL</b></p><p><b>Best Season</b></p><p>Calder Cup in 1999-2000</p><p><b>Arena</b></p><p>Civic Center</p><p><b>GM</b> Jim Schoenfeld</p><p><b>Coach</b></p><p>Jim Schoenfeld</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/f0027-09132/8900350-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="162" height="152"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-10113/8900343-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="378" height="371"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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New Verizons

<div class="byline">&#x2013; PAUL SHAHEEN</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span></b>orever the question will be asked: Do players make their teammates, or do teammates make the player? For North Dakota sophomore left winger Ryan Duncan, it&rsquo;s clearly a case of both.</p><p>The 20-year-old Duncan is this year&rsquo;s Hobey Baker Award winner after leading the WCHA in goals (31) and points (57).</p><p>The 5-foot-6, 158-pound Calgary native benefited from playing on a line with first-rounders Jonathan Toews and TJ Oshie.</p><p>Having lost in the Frozen Four semifinal the night before winning the award, Duncan was very mindful of his teammates.</p><p>&ldquo;This is bittersweet,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great moment for me, but I&rsquo;d rather be hanging with them, and having them enjoy the moment with me.&rdquo;</p><p>Undrafted, Duncan may test the free agent waters this summer.</p><p>&ldquo;It would have to be an incredible circumstance for me to leave,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I feel like I have unfinished business and I still have a lot to learn.&rdquo;</p><p>Duncan&rsquo;s father, Bob, played at North Dakota from 1968 to 1971.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so proud of him,&rdquo; said Bob, a firefighter back in Calgary. &ldquo;But like Ryan said, it&rsquo;s a reflection of him and his teammates. He&rsquo;s just a compassionate guy who really cares about people.&rdquo;</p><p>Fighting Sioux coach Dave Hakstol agreed.</p><p>&ldquo;Ryan&rsquo;s a fl at-out good hockey player,&rdquo; Hakstol said. &ldquo;He has great hockey sense and great competitiveness. And when you sit down with him for a few minutes, you really get a glimpse of who he is off the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Air Force forward Eric Ehn and Notre Dame goalie David Brown were the other finalists.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03600/8900766-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="746" height="693"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ryan Duncan</figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Duncan’s bittersweet victory

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012050/8899195-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(COVER: LUONGO: JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES; MILLER: BILL WIPPERT; CONTENTS: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>N</span>ab</b>&nbsp;<b>It</b> Evgeni Nabokov lays down the mitt to try and thwart Nashville&rsquo;s Alexander Radulov as the Sharks and Preds went head-to-head in Round 1 for the second straight year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Opening Faceoff

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021702/8899264-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="994" height="855"><figcaption class="caption-body">Park & Campoli <span class="photo-credit">(ANDY MARLIN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>ALL THEY NEEDED WAS A MIRACLE</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t wasn&rsquo;t exactly &ldquo;Dewey Defeats Truman,&rdquo; but our failure to include the New York Islanders in our Playoff Preview (Vol. 60, No. 29, April 17) has left us red-faced. We&rsquo;ll spare you the details of our press time decision, other than to say the Islanders pretty much needed a miracle to qualify for the post-season&hellip;and got one. And we got burned. For that, we raise our hands in accountability. At the same time, their stunning feat prompted us to think of the big &ldquo;No way&rdquo; moments from 2006-07. Here are 10 other jaw-droppers.</p><p>&bull; Rick DiPietro signs a 15-year (yes, 15) contract<br>&bull; Minnesota&rsquo;s Pierre-Marc Bouchard scores a shootout goal using the Savardian spinorama<br>&bull; Ted Saskin takes a paid leave from the NHLPA<br>&bull; Niklas Backstrom becomes Minnesota&rsquo;s go-to guy<br>&bull; Philadelphia plummets to last overall<br>&bull; Patrik Stefan misses a completely empty net, allowing Alex Hemsky to tie a game with two seconds left<br>&bull; Chris Simon viciously clubs Ryan Hollweg<br>&bull; The fi rst-place Devils fi re Claude Julien<br>&bull; Cup fi nalists Carolina, Edmonton <i>both</i> miss the playoffs<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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To the Point

<h2><b>SOUNDING OFF</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021452/8899333-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="912" height="928"><figcaption class="caption-body">Toby Petersen <span class="photo-credit">(PETERSEN: TIM SMITH/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Blood brothers</b></h2><p>Just a note to thank you for your article about Alexi Pianosi (April 10). What he does is amazing.</p><p>As the parent of a child with diabetes who plays hockey, we appreciate hearing about diabetic players.</p><p>However, in your article you mention Bob Clarke and Nick Boynton as role models. Please also give some credit to Edmonton Oilers winger Toby Petersen, who has been a diabetic since childhood.</p><p>When Toby was in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre, he and Alexi had dinner with my 8-year-old son (who had just been diagnosed). Because of this, my son knows he can do anything and doesn&rsquo;t let his diabetes get the best of him. Toby and his family support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation every year &ndash; and every year we support him.</p><p>MAUREEN FINNERTY COURTRIGHT, POCONO SUMMIT, PA.</p><h2><b>Isle be darned</b></h2><p>Congratulations, THN, on picking the Oilers to finish 12th in the West. Pat your-selves on the back and pour a glass of champagne.</p><p>But too bad you&rsquo;ve missed twice already with that ol&rsquo; club from Long Island. Last in the pre-season poll and left out entirely of the playoff preview. Can we put this bias against the Isles to bed already? Maybe THN will strike out when we&rsquo;re talking about the Isles in late June, 16 wins later (probably not).</p><p>DAN MCGOVERN, CARLE PLACE, N.Y.</p><h2><b>Winning ways</b></h2><p>Devil-haters need to lay off GM Lou Lamoriello.</p><p>As a diehard Devils fan, I know as well as anyone his decisions can sometimes leave people scratching their heads.</p><p>But allow me to remind you that the Devils have broken the 100-point barrier in 10 of the past 13 seasons, have not missed the playoffs since 1996 and have won three Stanley Cups, all while your favorite team spends their Aprils on the golf course.</p><p>PETER STERN, MARLBORO, N.J.</p><h2><b>AWOL in USA</b></h2><p>I didn&rsquo;t think it could get worse than a couple of weeks ago when I watched ESPN <i>SportsCenter</i>.</p><p>It was the morning after six NHL games, but there wasn&rsquo;t one hockey highlight. I sat there for an hour and was subjected to 50 minutes of basketball and 10 minutes of football (a sport that&rsquo;s not even in season, mind you).</p><p>And here&rsquo;s one more nail in the coffin: the morning after Michigan State wins the NCAA hockey crown, I was subjected to &ldquo;Trendy trench coats are everywhere&rdquo; and &ldquo;How to get on a game show&rdquo; headlines on the front page of the paper. You know what was on the front page of the sports section? The windy conditions at the Masters golf tournament.</p><p>All this, just 30 minutes from East Lansing, Mich. RIP, USA Hockey.</p><p>DAVE STAMLER, JACKSON, MICH.</p><h2><b>Armed for danger</b></h2><p>I would like to comment on the evolution of the bodycheck. Too often I see an opportunity for a clean check spoiled by players using their arms and throwing the other players head-first into the boards. Last time I heard it was called a &ldquo;body&rdquo; check not an arm check.</p><p>In the game between Vancouver and San Jose April 7, Joe Thornton executed a vicious hit from behind on Matt Cooke. It was called boarding, but besides taking off and leaving his feet, his arm plastered Cooke&rsquo;s head against the glass.</p><p>Slamming someone&rsquo;s head into the glass is just as dangerous as a sucker punch.</p><p>MARK KULCHAR, VANDERHOOF, B.C.</p><h2><b>Capping offense?</b></h2><p>After Olie Kolzig posted a 1-0 shutout over Florida April 3, Washington coach Glen Hanlon made the following comment: &ldquo;This is how we&rsquo;re going to have to play next year. We&rsquo;re going to have to play tight hockey and win 1-0 games.&rdquo;</p><p>Oh joy. I can&rsquo;t wait to renew my season tickets for those snoozefests. Don&rsquo;t say that too loud, coach, or Alex Ovechkin will book the next plane out of town when his contract is up.</p><p>ROBERT MARX, MILLERSVILLE, MD.</p><h2><b>Penguin snubbed</b></h2><p>I saw a commercial for Versus&rsquo; NHL coverage that was dramatizing various players&rsquo; roles in winning the Cup.</p><p>One of their little taglines went, &ldquo;2001: The Stanley Cup engraver finally has to learn to spell &lsquo;Bourque,&rsquo;&rdquo; referring to Ray Bourque&rsquo;s long overdue Cup win with the Avalanche.</p><p>Any hockey network worth its salt would know that Phil Bourque already had his name on the Cup twice, as a Pittsburgh Penguin in the early 1990s.</p><p>STACEY ROSS, HILLSBORO, ORE.</p><p><a href="http://TheHockeyNews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></p><h2><b>POLL RESULTS</b></h2><p><b>WHAT WESTERN CONFERENCE TEAM WILL REACH THE STANLEY CUP FINAL?</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-012025/8899326-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="214" height="152"></div><p><b>Vancouver 22%</b></p><p><b>Anaheim 19%</b></p><p><b>San Jose 18%</b></p><p><b>WHAT EASTERN CONFERENCE TEAM WILL REACH THE STANLEY CUP FINAL?</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04603/8899319-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="214" height="151"></div><p><b>Buffalo 49%</b></p><p><b>Ottawa 15%</b></p><p><b>Pittsburgh 12%</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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Got something to say?

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MIKE BROPHY</div><p><b>THE CALGARY FLAMES</b> had the other seven Western Conference playoff foes exactly where they wanted &ndash; seeded ahead of them.</p><p>And no wonder. The Edmonton Oilers were sitting in precisely the same spot a year ago and they made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final before losing a heartbreaker to the favored Carolina Hurricanes.</p><p>Can history repeat itself?</p><p>We shall see.</p><p>But before Flames fans &ndash; and for that matter, any underdog fans around the league &ndash; get too excited, it&rsquo;s worth noting the Oilers were the first-ever No. 8 seed to make it to the final. And while teams that finished 14th overall (Edmonton, 2006), 12th (Calgary, 2004), 11th (Anaheim, 2003) and 16th (Carolina, 2002) have made it to the final, none of those squads won the Cup.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">There doesn&rsquo;t seem to be that much separation between the top team in the West and the last team that qualifies<br>Craig MacTavish</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021480/8899371-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="307" height="348"></div><p>Of course, that doesn&rsquo;t mean it will never happen and the low seeds are doomed forever. Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish insists his team&rsquo;s magic carpet ride last season really wasn&rsquo;t all that unexpected and the Oilers felt good about their chances in the final.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know that you really need to get on that big of a roll in the playoffs after finishing eighth,&rdquo; MacTavish says. &ldquo;At least it&rsquo;s not as daunting a task in the West as it is in the East. There doesn&rsquo;t seem to be that much separation between the top team in the West as the last team that qualifies.</p><p>&ldquo;Look at last season when the Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8 teams all advanced out of the fi rst round in the West.&rdquo;</p><p>Edmonton also found out the value of getting dependable goaltending in the playoffs. While the Oilers struggled at times in the first three-quarters of the 2005-06 regular season, they were significantly better after acquiring Dwayne Roloson in a trade. And when Roloson got hurt early in the final, Jussi Markkanen stepped in and provided stellar netminding.</p><p>Here are some other numbers to consider from best-of-7 playoff series results since 1967-68:</p><p><b>Home ice</b> In 421 series, the team with home-ice advantage has won 274 times (.651).</p><p><b>Game 1</b> The team that took Game 1 has won 281 of 421 series (.667). In 2005-06, the Game 1 victor won 11 of 15 series (.733).</p><p><b>Game 7</b> The home team has won 62 of 101 series that have gone the distance (.614).</p><p><b>Win fi rst two</b> A team has taken a 2-0 series lead 225 times. And 195 times, they went on to win (.867).</p><p><b>Trailing 3-0</b> It&rsquo;s not impossible to come back from 3-0 in a series, but it&rsquo;s close. Fact is, in 122 instances, only one team &ndash; the 1974-75 Islanders &ndash; were able to rally and win the series.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012241/8899364-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="1267" height="2427"><figcaption class="caption-body">Daymond Langkow <span class="photo-credit">(DALE MACMILLAN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0006-02

It’s all in the numbers

<div class="byline">&#x2013; LES BROSZKOWSKI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-06299/8899423-1-eng-US/f0007-062.jpg" title="f0007-06" width="445" height="272"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>ROM 1971 TO 1979,</b> the Buffalo Sabres had one of the most dominant lines in hockey. Gilbert Perreault, Richard Martin and Rene Robert formed &lsquo;The French Connection&rsquo; and the three forwards used their speed, playmaking skills and ability to finish to dizzy opposing teams.</p><p>&ldquo;We had some great years together,&rdquo; Perreault said. &ldquo;We were together for six or seven years and he had some great times together on the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>The Hockey News is looking back at memorable moments in hockey as part of our 60th anniversary.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03856/8899416-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="396" height="549"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilbert Perreault</figcaption></div><p>When Perreault first heard the line&rsquo;s nickname, he thought nothing of it. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t come up as a surprise&hellip;to me it didn&rsquo;t have any affect, it was just a name,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We were just three French guys.&rdquo;</p><p>Perreault&rsquo;s most memorable moments came when the Sabres went to the Stanley Cup final in 1975. That year, &lsquo;The French Connection&rsquo; combined for 291 regular season points and 43 playoff points.</p><p>Despite the line&rsquo;s production, Philadelphia captured the Cup in six games.</p><p>&ldquo;After fi ve years of the franchise we were in the final&rdquo; Perreault recalled. &ldquo;We thought we were going to be in the final more often, so it was frustrating when we weren&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p><p>The first person to leave was Rene Robert, who was traded to the Colorado Rockies in 1979.</p><p>Perreault knew trades came with the game, but if he had his way, he would have kept the line together.</p><p>&ldquo;From the team that we had, just to play two or three more years with (coach) Scotty (Bowman), I would have loved to see that,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>All three have had their jerseys retired by Buffalo.</p><p>&ldquo;It is something that you&rsquo;re never going to forget and I&rsquo;m sure it was the same for Rick and Rene,&rdquo; Perreault said. &ldquo;It was a beautiful night to remember.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012023/8899409-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="1200" height="1650"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021359/8899402-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="924" height="520"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BIG NIGHT Roberto Luongo faced a record 76 shots in his fi rst playoff game, a 5-4 quadruple-OT win.</b><span class="photo-credit">(LUONGO: JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES; RICHARDS: JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0007-06

‘Just three French guys’

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-04548/8899454-1-eng-US/f0007-042.jpg" title="f0007-04" width="562" height="440"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-05383/8899461-1-eng-US/f0007-052.jpg" title="f0007-05" width="127" height="138"></div><p>&#9632; <b>Sidney Crosby</b> won his first Art Ross Trophy, but it&rsquo;s nothing new in Pittsburgh. His NHL-leading 120 points marked the 12th time in 19 seasons a Penguin has captured the award. <b>Mario Lemieux</b> did it six times, <b>Jaromir Jagr</b> five.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>&#9632; The NHL is a tough place to score. Even top rookie candidate <b>Evgeni Malkin</b> found that out. After scoring seven goals in his first six big-league games, Malkin managed just 26 over the next 72.</p><p>&#9632; The best take on <b>Ed Belfour&rsquo;s</b> arrest belongs to former THN correspondent <b>David J. Neal</b> of the Miami <i>Herald</i>. He wrote: &ldquo;Belfour&rsquo;s face recognition is minimal. He&rsquo;s more likely to be mistaken for someone who just awakened from a 20-year nap in the Everglades than a professional athlete.&rdquo;</p><p>&#9632; Cheap shot of the Women&rsquo;s World Championship belongs to Canada&rsquo;s <b>Gillian Apps</b> for running American goalie <b>Chandra Gunn</b> in the final. Canada dominated the game and event; it didn&rsquo;t need to resort to poor sportsmanship.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-04

SNAPSHOTS FROM AROUND THE NHL

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021602/8899492-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="757" height="593"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KANE JUICE</b> Chicago will have first crack at London Knights star Patrick Kane at the draft this summer.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012138/8899499-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="127" height="138"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>GOALTENDING MENTOR STRELOW DIES</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>an Jose goalies opened the playoffs with heavy hearts after learning of the death of goaltending coach Warren Strelow. The legendary mentor died at 73 after a series of illnesses over the past four years. Strelow was an influential coach who helped dozens of goalies dating back to the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. He spent the past 10 seasons with the Sharks and, despite a series of medical misfortunes, Strelow was insistent upon travelling with the team on the road, making stops in dialysis centers in 15 NHL cities. &ldquo;A goalie is like a car, you&rsquo;ve got to tune them up,&rdquo; Strelow told The Hockey News in 2005. Among NHL stoppers who apprenticed under Strelow are Martin Brodeur, Miikka Kiprusoff and Evgeni Nabokov.</p><h2><b>PANTHERS IN SCUFFLE WITH POLICE</b></h2><p>The Florida Panthers and Miami Beach police are &ldquo;gathering information&rdquo; in the wake of players Ed Belfour and Ville Peltonen getting arrested at a popular South Beach bar after a scuffle with an officer the day after the end of the regular season. Belfour was charged with disorderly intoxication and resisting an officer without violence.</p><h2><b>BLACKHAWKS PROMOTED TO NO. 1 PICK</b></h2><p>Chicago used the eight per-cent solution to secure the first overall position at the June 22 NHL draft. With the fifth-worst record and just an eight per cent chance of winning the April 10 lottery, the Blackhawks bucked the odds and moved up four spots. Philadelphia, which had a 48 per-cent chance of securing first pick, slipped to No. 2, followed by Phoenix, Los Angeles and Washington.</p><h2><b>COYOTES ACCEPTING RESUMES</b></h2><p>The Phoenix Coyotes are in the market for new faces in the front office after they fired GM Mike Barnett, senior vice-president of operations Cliff Fletcher and assistant GM Laurence Gilman three days after finishing their worst season in Arizona.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-02

HOCKEY WORLD IN BRIEF

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MIKE BROPHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031121/8899537-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MILESTONE MEN</b> Vincent Lecavalier was joined by Dany Heatley as the NHL&rsquo;s only 50-goal scorers this season.</figcaption></div><p><b>DON&rsquo;T LOOK NOW</b>, but scoring is down again. Do we hear cries for bigger nets?</p><p>Well, not yet. But don&rsquo;t be surprised if the NHL&rsquo;s competition committee endorses trying them in the pre-season next year as well as in the American League. NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell suggested as much earlier this year, telling The Hockey News that bigger nets were still on the NHL&rsquo;s radar. He said the league would like to see the larger nets tried in games that have meaning.</p><p>When the NHL returned from the 2004-05 lockout determined to crack down once and for all on obstruction, scoring increased from 5.14 goals per game in 2003-04 to 6.05 per game in 2005-06. This season, though, that average dropped to 5.76 goals per game. (Shootout goals are not included in any totals.)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-05425/8899530-1-eng-US/f0008-052.jpg" title="f0008-05" width="231" height="323"><figcaption class="caption-body">Martin Brodeur</figcaption></div><p>There were five 50-goal scorers last season, but just two, Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators, in 2006-07.</p><p>The number of shutouts, not surprisingly, decreases as scoring goes up and increases as scoring goes down. There were 192 shutouts in 2003-04, but only 119 in post-lockout 2005-06. The number increased to 150 this year, with New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur&rsquo;s 12 whitewashes leading the way.</p><p>There were 103 penalty shots awarded in 2005-06, up from 57 the season before. This year, that number fell off to just 70 1-on-1 confrontations.</p><p>Do teams like the shootout? The stats indicate they do: Fewer games that went to overtime were actually decided in the five-minute, 4-on-4 extra session. In 2003-04, 164 of 334 games (49.1 per cent) were decided in OT. The percentage decreased slightly to 48.4 per cent (136 of 281) last season before dropping to 41.6 per cent (117 of 281) this year. Finally, the longest point streak of 2006-07 belonged to Colorado&rsquo;s Paul Stastny, who set a rookie record with points in 20 straight games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Offenses still sputtering

<p>Which surprising goalies crashed the Stanley Cup party?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04605/8899568-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="719" height="863"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KANE: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES; LECAVALIER: PHILLIP MACCALLUM/GETTY IMAGES; HEXTALL: BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>10 Steve Penney</b> Unknown Hab led &lsquo;84 playoffs in shutouts, goals-against average.</p><p><b>09 Johan</b>&nbsp;<b>Hedberg</b> Pens&rsquo; surprising run in 2001 keyed by Euro journeyman.</p><p><b>08 Ron Hextall</b> Rookie Flyers keeper took 1987 Conn Smythe in a losing cause.</p><p><b>07 Cam Ward</b> Rookie Canes keeper took 2007 Conn Smythe in a winning cause.</p><p><b>06 Ken Dryden</b> Lanky stopper won it all in 1971 &ndash; then won Calder the next season.</p><p><b>05 Harry Lumley</b> Detroit rookie posted back-to-back shutouts in 1945 final.</p><p><b>04 Frank McCool</b> Leafs freshman posted three in that same &lsquo;45 final to win Cup.</p><p><b>03 Patrick Roy</b> The legend started in 1986 with a Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup.</p><p><b>02 Hap Holmes</b> Mastered dropping to ice in 1918, the fi rst year goalies were allowed.</p><p><b>01 Chuck Gardiner</b> Led lowest-scoring team (Chicago) to Cup, then died at age 29.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-04

The Hockey News COUNTDOWN

<div class="byline">Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011938/8899599-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ON THE SPOT</b> Martin St-Louis scored more meaningful goals than anyone else in the league this year. <span class="photo-credit">(MITCHELL LAYTON/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021339/8899606-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="221" height="240"></div><p>There&rsquo;s an old saying in hockey that goes something like this: They don&rsquo;t ask how, they ask how many.</p><p>Well, at The Hockey News, we don&rsquo;t ask how many because we don&rsquo;t care. What we want to know is: How many were meaningful?</p><p>That&rsquo;s the theory behind Campbellnomics, a statistic that measures clutch offensive contribution and values goals more than assists. According to the official NHL statistics, Martin St-Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning finished fifth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, but when it came to producing when his team needed it most this season, there was no one better.</p><p>With a total of 78 Campbellnomics points, St-Louis finished first to win THN&rsquo;s first-ever Mark Messier Clutch Performer of the Year award, but his margin of victory was razor-thin. Sidney Crosby was just a half a point behind St-Louis, while Vincent Lecavalier was third at 77 points and Teemu Selanne fourth with 76.5 points.</p><p>And that should come as no surprise. For the Lightning this season, the only two constants in their lineup were St-Louis and Lecavalier and one shudders to think about the depths to which they would have fallen had those two not been in on almost every important Tampa goal.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s how it works. You see, we&rsquo;re not interested in players who pad their stats by scoring &ldquo;blowout&rdquo; goals. Players are awarded one point in each of the following categories: first goal of the game; a goal that puts his team ahead; a goal that pulls his team into a tie; game-winning goals; overtime goals and shootout goals. Players receive a half a point for assists earned on those goals.</p><h2><b>ALL THAT MATTERS</b></h2><p>Clearly, we&rsquo;re that ugly minor hockey dad who pays his kid for scoring and tells him not to listen to that malarkey his coach is telling him about assists being just as important as goals.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">It&rsquo;s not Olli Jokinen&rsquo;s fault he plays for a woeful Florida Panthers team</blockquote><p>The beauty of our system is while meaningless goals are rendered, well, meaningless, clutch goals are magnified and are often worth more than one point. The first goal of a game is worth two points, one for the first of the game and one for putting his team ahead. If that game ends in a shutout, that goal is worth three because it was also the game-winner.</p><p>So a player who scores the game-deciding goal in a 1-0 shootout victory, the way Saku Koivu did Nov. 28 against the Florida Panthers, gets a total of four points on the strength of one goal that doesn&rsquo;t even count in the NHL statistics. In our system, only game-deciding shootout goals are counted as multiple goals &ndash; and are always worth at least three. Any other shootout goals are awarded one point.</p><h2><b>DEFINITION OF CLUTCH</b></h2><p>Many traditionalists will lament that playoff spots this season were decided by shootout results and that&rsquo;s true, which is why it&rsquo;s a mystery the league doesn&rsquo;t seem interested in glorifying players who excel in it. How much more clutch can you get than scoring a 1-on-1 goal with the game hanging in the balance?</p><p>Yes, there are a few flaws in the system, but they&rsquo;re minor ones. For example, a player can receive two points for scoring the first goal of the game, then watch his team go on to lose 10-1. That doesn&rsquo;t mean that first goal wasn&rsquo;t important at the time, it just turned out to be unimportant because of what happened after it.</p><p>The system also obviously favors the better players on good teams because they&rsquo;re most likely to be in situations where they can score important goals. It&rsquo;s not Olli Jokinen&rsquo;s fault he plays for a woeful Florida Panthers team and finished 29th in our ranking, but he could have elevated himself into the top 20 if he had done better than 1-for-6 in the shootout.</p><p>St-Louis may have taken the title, but there were other players who merit honorable mention:</p><p><b>Henrik Zetterberg</b>&nbsp;The Detroit star was flying when he was knocked out of the lineup with a back injury in late February. Despite missing the final 19 games of the season, he still managed to crack the top 20 and had he played all 82 games, would have undoubtedly given St-Louis a serious challenge for first place.</p><p><b>Ryan Getzlaf</b>&nbsp;The Anaheim sophomore finished 87th in the NHL scoring race, but was 30th in Campbellnomics scoring. New Jersey&rsquo;s Zach Parise moved up considerably, going from 66th in the NHL to 13th in Campbellnomics.</p><p>At the other end of the spectrum, Boston&rsquo;s Marc Savard went from ninth in the NHL to 27th in Campbellnomics and lead Shark Joe Thornton dropped from second to 18th, largely because their assist-to-goal production was out of whack.</p><p><b>Jeff Hamilton</b>&nbsp;With a hat trick, including the overtime winner in a 4-3 win over Nashville Dec. 2, the Chicago rookie picked up 6.5 points in one game, an NHL season high.</p><p><b>Sergei Zubov</b>&nbsp;On a Dallas team that struggled to score all year, Zubov led all NHL defensemen with 48.5 points and joined Montreal&rsquo;s Sheldon Souray as the only defensemen in the NHL to lead their teams in Campbellnomics scoring. (<i>See pg. 32 for the final Campbellnomics standings</i>).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

Bolt of inspiration: St-Louis takes title

<div class="byline">BY ELIZABETH ETUE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012106/8899637-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RED RUN</b> Canada downed Team USA to win its ninth title in 10 attempts at the Women&rsquo;s World Championship.</figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span></b>aybe some people are tired of seeing Canada meet the U.S. in the final of the Women&rsquo;s World Championship. Just don&rsquo;t count Hayley Wickenheiser as one.</p><p>&ldquo;This is what we live for,&rdquo; said Wickenheiser after Canada clinched the championship with a 5-1 win over its neighbors to the south. &ldquo;It is the pinnacle of women&rsquo;s hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>A sellout crowd of 15,003 at Winnipeg&rsquo;s MTS Centre April 10 liked what it saw as Canada broke open a scoreless final game with three goals in the second period.</p><p>The win gave Canada nine world titles in 10 tries since the event started in 1990.</p><p>Team USA entered as defending world champions, but with a bitter taste in its mouth from a disappointing bronze medal performance at the last premier women&rsquo;s event, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.</p><p>Wickenheiser, who had eight goals (one in the final) and 14 points, was named the tournament&rsquo;s most valuable player.</p><p>&ldquo;Winning in Canada seems more special the older I get,&rdquo; said the 28-year-old Canadian captain. &ldquo;It really is a good test for us heading into the 2010 Olympics.&rdquo;</p><p>USA coach Mark Johnson, whose squad also dropped a shootout round robin loss to the Canucks, relied heavily on his top two lines and thought his team ran out of gas in the final.</p><p>&ldquo;We just didn&rsquo;t have enough left in the tank,&rdquo; Johnson said.</p><p>Team Sweden earned bronze with a 1-0 win over Finland.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

Back on top of the world

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ELIZABETH ETUE</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>T&rsquo;S AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES</b> and the reason for lopsided scores in women&rsquo;s hockey; the best players in the world reside mainly in Canada and the U.S. Here&rsquo;s a look at the top 10 players in the women&rsquo;s game today:</p><p><b>1. Hayley Wickenheiser (28 years old), Canada</b> A target every game, but uses her explosive speed, strength and puckhandling skills to make the big plays at crucial moments.</p><p><b>2. Krissy Wendell (25), USA</b> Call her Captain Flash. She&rsquo;s a true sniper who also has slick playmaking skills.</p><p><b>3. Jayna Hefford (29), Canada</b> Can score under pressure, like the game-winning goal in the 2002 Olympic final. A two-way veteran, with acceleration and soft hands.</p><p><b>4. Natalie Darwitz (23), USA</b> Wily and quick, she often tees up perfect passes for Wendell, whom she also played with at the University of Minnesota.</p><p><b>5. Jenny Potter (28), USA</b> A gritty, two-way forward who&rsquo;s found time to have two kids during the course of her career.</p><p><b>6. Angela Ruggiero (27), USA</b> Tough blueliner loves challenge of locking horns with Wickenheiser.</p><p><b>7. Carolyn Ouellette (27), Canada</b> Is big and plays big. She is smart and fast, especially as quarterback for the power play.</p><p><b>8. Maria Rooth (27), Sweden</b> A clutch goal-scorer who notched two goals plus the game-winning shootout goal in the historic upset against the U.S. at the 2006 Olympics.</p><p><b>9. Kim St-Pierre (28), Canada</b> Butterfly goalie brings experience and success to the crease.</p><p><b>10. Gillian Apps (23), Canada</b> 6-foot power forward is a force along the boards and down low.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021520/8899668-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="638" height="786"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hayley Wickenheiser <span class="photo-credit">(BOTH: MATTHEW MANOR/HHOF-IIHF IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0010-02

The best in the game

f0012-02

COVER STORY

THE HOCKEY NEWS AWARDS 2007

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05499/8899884-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="422" height="440"></div><h2><b>APRIL: JOE SAKIC</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>C</span></b>ue the Aretha Franklin music, Joe Sakic is coming on the ice. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what that means in today&rsquo;s NHL. A recent survey of 283 NHL players by The Hockey News revealed the Colorado Avalanche center is the most respected player in the game today.</p><p>And that&rsquo;s not just because the 18-year veteran has stayed with one organization his entire career, wears the &lsquo;C&rsquo; like a badge of honor and conducts himself like a gentleman on and off the ice.</p><p>Sakic still plays a terrific game and at 37 hasn&rsquo;t showed any signs of slowing down.</p><p>The Burnaby, B.C., native led all NHL regular season scorers in April with two goals and nine points in four games and almost guided the Avalanche into the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference. Colorado had an impressive 20-game surge the final six weeks and finished just one point behind the Calgary Flames.</p><p>Sakic&rsquo;s goal and three points on the final night of the season gave him an even 100 points for the season, the sixth time he has reached that plateau. In the process, Sakic became the oldest 100-point player in the NHL since Gordie Howe had his only 100-point season at age 41 in 1969.</p><p>&ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t slowed down at all, not that I can see,&rdquo; said Colorado coach Joel Quenneville. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a great year for us. He&rsquo;s our leader. He has never changed his approach to the game, which is just to work hard and keep trying to get better. I think the greatest players are always trying to get better.&rdquo;</p><p>Sakic is the top-scoring active player in the NHL and his 1,589 points ranks 10th alltime, one point behind Phil Esposito. Sakic&rsquo;s 610 career goals is tied with Bobby Hill for 12th all-time and his 979 career assists ranks 11th all-time, one spot behind Mario Lemieux.</p><p>As an encore, Sakic signed a new one-year contract worth $6.75 million the day after the regular season. The Avalanche offered Sakic a two-year deal prior to this season, but the gentleman he is, Sakic said he didn&rsquo;t want to constrict the team in case he decided to retire after the first season. That&rsquo;s not an issue anymore.</p><p>Runners-up for player of the month for April were New York Islanders goalie Wade Dubielewicz (four consecutive wins to qualify for the playoffs) and Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom (three wins, 0.33 goals-against average and .986 save percentage).</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021534/8899877-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="703" height="1071"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>Sakic is the top-scoring active player in the NHL with 1,589 career points.</i></b> <span class="photo-credit">(Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>FACTS & STATS</b></h2><p><b>PLAYER:</b> Joe Sakic <b>TEAM:</b> Colorado Avalanche <b>POSITION</b>: Center <b>AGE:</b> 37</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04731/8899870-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="1750" height="165"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-05

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

<div class="byline">BY THN CORRESPONDENTS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03771/8899922-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011450/8899929-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="122" height="134"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021059/8899915-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="2575" height="1659"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RED LETTER DAY</b> The Wings locked in center Pavel Datsyuk for the next seven seasons. <span class="photo-credit">(JONATHAN DANIEL/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Red Wings locked up center <b>Pavel Datsyuk</b>, signing him to a sevenyear, $46.9-million contract, the longest and most lucrative pact in franchise history. &ldquo;If Pavel left (via unrestricted free agency) this summer, we&rsquo;d have to go on the market and probably spend more money on a player we don&rsquo;t like as much as Pavel,&rdquo; said Wings vicepresident <b>Steve Yzerman</b>.</p><h2><b>NORTHWEST DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>BOSTON</b> Assistant GM <b>Jeff Gorton</b>, who served as interim GM after <b>Mike O&rsquo;Connell&rsquo;s</b> firing last season, had his contract extended through next season.</p><p><b>BUFFALO</b> For the first time since October, the Sabres had an injury list with only one name on it (center <b>Paul Gaustad</b>).</p><p>In a two-week stretch at the end of the regular season, the Sabres welcomed back forwards <b>Maxim Afinogenov</b>, <b>Tim Connolly</b> and <b>Ales Kotalik</b> and defenseman <b>Jaroslav Spacek</b>.</p><p><b>MONTREAL</b> Right winger <b>Michael Ryder</b>&nbsp;scored a natural hat trick in Montreal&rsquo;s 6-5 season finale loss at Toronto, giving the potential restricted free agent a team-leading 30 goals for the second consecutive season.</p><p><b>OTTAWA</b> The Sens re-signed two of their top defenders, inking <b>Anton Volchenkov</b> to a threeyear, $7.5-million deal and <b>Chris Phillips</b> to a four-year, $14-million pact.</p><p><b>TORONTO</b> Right winger <b>Jeff O&rsquo;Neill</b> said his time in Toronto might be over after he was a healthy scratch for the team&rsquo;s final eight games. &ldquo;I want to come back,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I waited 12 years to play at home. But when you sit for that many games, well, it&rsquo;s self-explanatory.&rdquo;&hellip;Captain <b>Mats Sundin</b> made it clear he wants to remain a Leaf.</p><h2><b>ATLANTIC DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>NEW JERSEY Richard Mat</b><b>vichuk</b> (back surgery) played his only game of the season in the finale and the Devils had to send two players to the AHL to find salary cap room&hellip;<b>Martin Brodeur</b> broke <b>Bernie Parent&rsquo;s</b> single-season record with 48 wins, but fell one game short of <b>Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s</b> mark of 79 games.</p><p><b>NY ISLANDERS</b> With No. 1 goalie <b>Rick DiPietro</b>&nbsp;sidelined by a concussion, the Islanders stunningly swiped the final playoff berth in the East behind four straight wins by third-stringer <b>Wade Dubielewicz</b>, including a shootout win over New Jersey on the final Sunday. The undersized 28-year-old was slated to start the Isles&rsquo; playoff opener in Buffalo. &ldquo;I know this little dream can be gone as fast as it came,&rdquo; Dubielewicz said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.&rdquo;&hellip;<b>Jason Blake</b>, a pending unrestricted free agent, became the first Islander to score 40 goals since <b>Ziggy Palffy</b> notched 45 in 1997-98.</p><p><b>NY RANGERS Jed Ortmeyer</b>, who overcame a life-threatening pulmonary embolism last summer and rejoined the Rangers Jan. 2, was awarded the club&rsquo;s Steven McDonald Second Effort Award, named for a New York city policeman &ndash; and Rangers fan &ndash; who was severely injured in the line of duty.</p><p><b>PHILADELPHIA</b> The Flyers, with the fewest points (56) in franchise history and a last-place finish, set an NHL record for the biggest drop in points from one season to the next. They fell 45 points, from 101 in 2005-06.</p><p><b>PITTSBURGH David Morehouse</b>, 46, was named team president after helping to secure the new arena deal. He served as senior adviser on <b>John Kerry&rsquo;s</b> U.S. presidential campaign in 2004&hellip;<b>Sidney Crosby</b>, 19, became the youngest scoring champion in the history of North American pro sports.</p><h2><b>SOUTHWEST DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>ATLANTA</b> The Thrashers said center <b>Steve Rucchin</b>&nbsp;was done for the season due to a concussion sustained against Colorado in February&hellip;Right winger <b>Jon Sim</b> recovered quicker than expected from a broken orbital bone and returned for the final two games of the regular season.</p><p><b>CAROLINA</b> Defenseman <b>Bret Hedican</b>, 36, may be forced to retire due to a hip injury that required surgery last summer and kept him out of Carolina&rsquo;s final 16 games&hellip;Carolina finished 15th in the NHL in attendance, averaging  17,387 fans per game with 19 sellouts, both franchise records.</p><p><b>FLORIDA</b> Goalie <b>Ed Belfour</b> and left winger <b>Ville Peltonen</b> were charged in separate incidents after the Panthers&rsquo; team party April 8. Belfour was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, while Peltonen faces a criminal mischief charge.</p><p><b>TAMPA BAY</b> With <b>Vincent Lecavalier</b> and <b>Martin St-Louis</b>, Tampa was the only team with two 100-point scorers&hellip;Winger <b>Ruslan Fedotenko</b>&nbsp;scored one goal in his final 29 games.</p><p><b>WASHINGTON Jeff Schultz</b> impressed during 38 games in Washington; his plus-5 rating tied for tops among Caps defensemen. He was sent back to Hershey (AHL) because Washington wanted him to get additional ice time with the playoff-bound Bears.</p><h2><b>CENTRAL DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>CHICAGO</b> Center <b>Michal Hand</b><b>zus</b> said he&rsquo;d let the Hawks know by the end of April if he planned to re-sign with them. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m leaning both ways,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to play for a winning team. I know they&rsquo;re trying to win here and I&rsquo;d like to be a part of (it).&rdquo;&hellip;GM <b>Dale Tallon&rsquo;s</b> contract expires July 1, but all indications were he would get an extension&hellip;The Hawks finished 17-20-4 at home, making it seven losing seasons in the past 10 at the United Center.</p><p><b>COLUMBUS</b> The heat is getting turned up on GM <b>Doug MacLean</b>. The Blue Jackets have the worst record in the NHL since they joined in 2000-01 and they&rsquo;re the only club that has never made the playoffs&hellip;The Jackets set a postexpansion NHL record by getting shut out 17 times this season.</p><p><b>DETROIT Mathieu Schneider</b> and <b>Robert Lang</b>&nbsp;led the Wings with 66 penalty minutes each. It&rsquo;s the first time since 1961-62 that a Wings player did not accumulate at least 100 penalty minutes.</p><p><b>NASHVILLE</b> The Preds set franchise  records with 51 wins and 110 points&hellip;Rookie right winger <b>Alexander Radulov</b> notched two goals in his first NHL playoff game.</p><p><b>ST. LOUIS</b> Under coach <b>Andy Murray</b> this season, the Blues went 27-18-9&hellip;After adding a local investor, owner <b>Dave Checketts</b> acknowledged, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ve got a lot of work to do financially. But mostly, what we&rsquo;ve got to do is&hellip;we&rsquo;ve got to have corporate support.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>NORTHWEST DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>CALGARY</b> With an assist in the regular season finale, <b>Tony Amonte</b>, 36, reached 900 career NHL points&hellip;<b>Darren McCarty</b> returned to the lineup for Game 82 after sport hernia surgery for an injury he sustained Dec. 26&hellip;<b>Alex Tanguay</b> surpassed 80 points for the first time in his career.</p><p><b>COLORADO Joe Sakic</b>&nbsp;said he would have no problem making a few calls on the Avs&rsquo; behalf this summer, to woo unrestricted free agents. One of those calls could be to <b>Peter Forsberg</b>, who said he would definitely consider a return.</p><p><b>MINNESOTA Marian Gaborik</b>, who strained his groin on Anaheim&rsquo;s ice Oct. 20 and missed the next 34 games, used several fourletter words to describe Anaheim&rsquo;s ice after his first practice there prior to Game 1 against the Ducks.</p><p><b>VANCOUVER</b> For the first time in seven seasons, left winger <b>Markus Naslund</b>&nbsp;did not lead the Canucks in scoring. <b>Daniel Sedin</b> finished with 84 points, Naslund had 60&hellip;Goalie <b>Roberto Luongo</b> claimed three team awards: MVP, most exciting player and the Molson Cup for three-star selections.</p><h2><b>PACIFIC DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>ANAHEIM</b> The Ducks, with a 48-20-14 record, set club marks for wins and points (110) and claimed the first division title in franchise history&hellip;Anaheim also set a team record with 254 goals (three more than last year) and 89 power play goals (two more than last year).</p><p><b>DALLAS</b> The Stars were one of only two teams that won every game in which they had a two-goal lead at any time. Dallas went 28-0-0; Buffalo was 40-0-0&hellip; Dallas finished second for the Jennings Trophy (goals-against average) for the fifth time in 10 years.</p><p><b>LOS ANGELES</b> Goalie <b>Sean Burke</b>, claimed off waivers in January, allowed two or fewer goals in six of his first nine starts but finished the season with seven consecutive losses.</p><p><b>PHOENIX</b> Associate coach <b>Barry Smith</b> accepted the head coaching job for St. Petersburg-based SKA of the Russian Elite League. Coach <b>Wayne Gretzky</b> said he would not replace Smith until associate coach <b>Rick Tocchet&rsquo;s</b> status with the league becomes clearer. Tocchet&rsquo;s alleged role in a gambling ring is under investigation and he has been on leave from the team since the story broke in February.</p><p><b>SAN JOSE</b> The Sharks set franchise records for points (107), wins (51), wins on the road (26), power play percentage (22.3), power play goals (92) and shutouts (11)&hellip;San Jose sold out its final 27 games and 36 of 41 for the season, playing to 99.6 per-cent capacity for the year&hellip;After alternating starts for much of the season, <b>Evgeni Nabokov</b> led the team into the post-season after <b>Vesa Toskala</b> sustained a groin injury. Nabokov played in all but two of San Jose&rsquo;s final 26 games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-03

Record contract for Datsyuk

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05271/8899967-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="974" height="938"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CONNOLLY & ORSZAGH: MITCHELL LAYTON/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011180/8899974-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="122" height="134"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>BAKED B&rsquo;S</b></h2><p>The Bruins lost their final six games and went 1-10-1 in their final 12 contests.</p><h2><b>QUICK RETURN</b></h2><p>Buffalo center <b>Tim Connolly</b> scored in his first game back after an 11-month absence due to a concussion and stress fracture in his leg.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02772/8899960-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="538" height="538"></div><h2><b>SHELF LIFE</b></h2><p>St. Louis right winger <b>Vladi</b><b>mir Orszagh</b> missed the entire season with a knee injury after missing all but 16 games last season.<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/f0021-03508/8900012-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="931" height="704"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wade Dubielewicz <span class="photo-credit">(DUBIE LEWICZ: ANDY MARLIN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>ROCK ON, SPARTANS</b></h2><p>Michigan State captures the NCAA men&rsquo;s national championship, upsetting favorites Boston College 3-1 in the final at the Frozen Four.</p><h2><b>HEROES EMERGE</b></h2><p>In a do-or-die Game 82, Isles fourthliner <b>Richard Park</b> scores twice while third-stringer <b>Wade Dubielewicz</b> secures the win in a shootout.</p><h2><b>BEST NINE OUT OF 10</b></h2><p>Although the competition and officiating were subpar, Canada receives full marks for winning its ninth women&rsquo;s world championship in 10 tries.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04387/8900005-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="1633" height="1236"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Belfour <span class="photo-credit">(BELFOUR: CP IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>EAGLE LANDS IN TROUBLE</b></h2><p>On the heels of a strong comeback season, Ed Belfour makes headlines for the wrong reasons following his arrest at a Florida nightclub.</p><h2><b>ISLANDERS FOOLED US</b></h2><p>Speaking of guilty, we blew it by not including the New York Islanders in our playoff preview when they were still mathematically alive.</p><h2><b>CANADIANS HOSED</b></h2><p>The NHL again stiffs Canadian TV at playoff time in favor of American TV in an unsuccessful bid to sell the game in places where hardly anyone cares.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-03

Plus/Minus

f0022-02

MVP/Unsung Hero

<div class="byline">&#x2013; KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011243/8900437-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="264" height="373"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02865/8900430-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="186" height="128"></div><h2><b>Fruitful audition</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t took until the second half of his fourth American League season, but Michael Ryan now knows what he always believed: He can play in the NHL.</p><p>When injuries stripped four players off the Buffalo Sabres forward lines, Ryan was recalled from the Rochester Americans in late February and given the first significant NHL playing time of his career.</p><p>The speedy left winger didn&rsquo;t waste the opportunity. He scored three goals and five points and averaged nearly 14 minutes of ice in 16 games.</p><p>&ldquo;This emphasizes with an exclamation point that he can do it and he should feel that way,&rdquo; said Amerks coach Randy Cunneyworth.</p><p>&ldquo;When you only play two or three games and you don&rsquo;t play a lot, it&rsquo;s difficult to show what you can do,&rdquo; said the 26-year-old Northeastern University product. &ldquo;And just playing in the American League isn&rsquo;t the same. You really have to play up there night in and night out and at least play a dozen games to show you fit in.&rdquo;</p><p>Ryan had 24 goals and 47 points in 46 games with Rochester this year. That, coupled with his solid play in Buffalo, will boost his market value this summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.</p><p>&ldquo;It defi nitely gives me a better outlook on things,&rdquo; Ryan said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

AHL PROFILE WITH Michael Ryan

<div class="byline">&#x2013; PHIL JANACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02903/8900475-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="264" height="366"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03678/8900468-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="158" height="139"></div><h2><b>Steady play earns kudos</b></h2><p>What Pat Dwyer lacks in style, he more than makes up for in substance.</p><p>In his second full pro season, and first with the Albany River Rats, Dwyer is a steady, if unspectacular, presence. He had 40 points as one of only two players to see action in each of the team&rsquo;s first 74 games.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a vocal guy,&rdquo; said Albany coach-GM Tom Rowe &ldquo;He leads by example. He quietly goes about his business, but he shows up and competes every game. He has done it all year. He&rsquo;s kind of gone under the radar.&rdquo;</p><p>Dwyer has been one of Albany&rsquo;s most consistent performers, picking up points in 39 games. Thirteen of Dwyer&rsquo;s 16 goals came at even strength and he led the team with five game-winners.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s kind of the player I am,&rdquo; Dwyer said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a two-way forward that takes pride in his D-zone but at the same time, has got to create something in the offensive zone. Usually when I create something, it&rsquo;s nothing flashy, just hard work and determination. It&rsquo;s something I hope to bring every night.&rdquo;</p><p>Dwyer, originally drafted by Atlanta, has one year left on a two-year deal he signed with Carolina last summer.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy we&rsquo;re going to mold into a larger role for next year,&rdquo; Rowe said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-02

AHL PROFILE WITH Pat Dwyer

<div class="byline">BY PHIL JANACK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04487/8900513-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LOADED FOR BEAR</b> Kyle Wilson and the Hershey Bears face stiff competition in the East Division. <span class="photo-credit">(JUST SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011285/8900520-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="196" height="90"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>fter producing the Calder Cup champion the past two seasons, it would be no surprise if the last team left standing came out of the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s East Division again.</p><p>Hershey, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Norfolk spent the regular season battling for not only the division lead, but the best record overall. All three topped 100 points; Norfolk for the first time in team history and the Penguins and Bears for the second straight year.</p><p>&ldquo;One of the things when you&rsquo;re at the top of league where we are, everybody guns for you,&rdquo; said Wilkes-Barre first-year coach <b>Todd Richards</b>. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good thing, because we have to be ready every night. It&rsquo;s a great challenge and I think it prepared us for each and every game and it&rsquo;s preparing us for what&rsquo;s coming up.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05379/8900506-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="268" height="268"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>East</b></figcaption></div><p>Hershey won its AHL record-tying ninth Calder Cup last spring. No team has won back-to-back titles since the 1989-90 and 1990-91 Springfield Indians.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obviously going to be tough to get out of our division,&rdquo; said Bears rookie <b>Kyle Wilson</b>, &ldquo;but if we&rsquo;re lucky enough to do that, it&rsquo;s just going to prepare us that much more for the road to the Calder Cup. We&rsquo;re confident if we keep playing the way we are, we have a great shot at winning it.&rdquo;</p><p><b>POSITIVE INFLUENCE Peter Ratchuk</b> had seven points and was plus-6 in 19 games with Wilkes-Barre since coming over from Houston.</p><p>It is quite a difference from Ratchuk&rsquo;s first tour of duty with the Penguins, when he was an AHL-worst minus-32 in 75 games in 2001-02. After three seasons in Germany, Ratchuk returned to North America in 2006 and was minus-9 with 21 points in 50 games for the Aeros before being loaned out.</p><p><b>WORKING OVERTIME</b> Norfolk star defenseman <b>Dustin Byfuglien</b> kicked off April with five games in four cities and two leagues in five nights.</p><p>Byfuglien played 19:22 and had a goal in the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; win at Nashville April 3, then returned to play for the Admirals at home the next night. He was in Chicago April 5 to face Detroit, seeing 21:38 of ice time before being returned for games at Norfolk April 6 and in Hershey April 7.</p><p>In all, Byfuglien had played 60 AHL games and nine NHL games this season, with 16 goals, 45 points and 152 penalty minutes.</p><p><b>QUICK STUDY Connor James</b> didn&rsquo;t take long to get his name in Wilkes-Barre&rsquo;s record book &ndash; twice.</p><p>James set a franchise record by scoring back-to-back goals 13 seconds apart in the third period of a 3-2 win over Hershey April 1. Only 11 days earlier, James set another Penguins speed record by scoring 15 seconds into a 4-0 win over Philadelphia. Both goals stood up as game-winners.</p><p><b>NOTES</b> Second-year forward <b>Nigel Dawes</b> has been named team MVP in Hartford. He had 25 goals and 56 points in 63 games&hellip; Norfolk&rsquo;s <b>Mike Haviland</b> won the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as coach of the year, while Wilkes-Barre defenseman <b>Matt Carkner</b> earned the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as AHL man of the year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-04

Beasts of East jostle for top

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MASTOVICH</div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen Colton Fretter fractured his ankle during a Valentine&rsquo;s Day game in Florida, the thought of earning an award wasn&rsquo;t exactly a priority.</p><p>The Gwinnett Gladiators forward missed seven weeks and 21 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06328/8900551-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="181" height="174"></div><p>But amazingly, a day after Fretter&rsquo;s return to the Gladiators lineup April 6, he was named ECHL rookie of the year.</p><p>Even after nearly two months out of the lineup, Fretter still led all rookies with 66 points in 50 games.</p><p>&ldquo;The thing that&rsquo;s kind of glaring is he&rsquo;s out for seven weeks and still was the leading rookie scorer,&rdquo; Gladiators coach Jeff Pyle told The Gwinnett <i>Daily Post</i>. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best prospect in this league. That&rsquo;s the best way I can put it.&rdquo;</p><p>Fretter isn&rsquo;t Pyle&rsquo;s only weapon, either.</p><p>The Gladiators had a &ldquo;Schell and Awe&rdquo; campaign en route to a 41-win, third-place finish in the South Division.</p><p>League MVP Brad Schell became the ECHL&rsquo;s first 100-point scorer in four years with 110 points, including 85 assists.</p><p>Jon Awe was named defenseman of the year. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder set a record at the skills competition with a 100.2 mile-per-hour blast. He had 24 goals and 56 points.</p><p><b>IN THE SPOTLIGHT</b> Alaska&rsquo;s Davis Payne was named coach of the year and Dayton&rsquo;s Adam Berkhoel is goaltender of the year. Alaska&rsquo;s Matt Shasby was the plus performer of the year with a plus-43 rating. Las Vegas claimed the Brabham Cup as regular season points leader with 106 points.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-06

Rookie rampage

<div class="byline">BY DAVID HENRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02778/8900624-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="817" height="1560"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HIGH REGARD</b> David Beauregard lost an eye, but never lost sight of his hockey dreams. <span class="photo-credit">(BRAD BRUGGER)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>DAVID BEAUREGARD&rsquo;S</b>&nbsp;<b>CAREER</b> path changed in the blink of an eye; almost literally.</p><p>Beauregard, an 11th round selection of San Jose, was lighting up the Quebec League in 1994 with 15 goals in 14 games when he was inadvertently hit in his left eye by an opponent&rsquo;s stick.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011142/8900631-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="175" height="125"></div><p>The injury was bad and Beauregard&rsquo;s once-promising career seemed finished. Essentially, Beauregard&rsquo;s left eye was gone, replaced surgically by a plastic ball.</p><p>The speedy center with visions of an NHL career now had vision in only one eye.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought my career was over for sure,&rdquo; said Beauregard, who was 18 at the time of the accident. &ldquo;I thought I might play hockey again, but it would be in a beer league or with some friends. I never thought I would play at a high level.&rdquo;</p><p>More than 400 professional goals later, Beauregard has exceeded even his own expectations.</p><p>The 31-year-old Tulsa Oilers captain led the team in goals (39) and points (71) this season. The 1997-98 CHL rookie of the year with the Wichita Thunder scored his 400th goal March 9.</p><p>Not bad for a guy who struggled to perform basic tasks after the surgery.</p><p>&ldquo;My depth perception was gone,&rdquo; Beauregard said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t do anything on the ice. I was dropping bottles and glasses on the table. I couldn&rsquo;t go down the stairs. They looked uneven.&rdquo;</p><p>Beauregard, without any therapy, persevered and adjusted.</p><p>&ldquo;I can feel any kind of presence around me, sort of like an extra sense,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I always know who is around me and what is going on. I didn&rsquo;t have that before (the injury.)&rdquo;</p><p>While he had personal doubt about overcoming injury, Beauregard never doubted his love of hockey.</p><p>&ldquo;For me, 400 goals is just a number,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It took a long time for me to play again. I just love to play.&rdquo;</p><h3><b>Eye on Europe</b></h3><h2><b>Swiss supremacy belongs to Davos</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03549/8900617-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="190" height="115"></div><p>HC Davos won the team&rsquo;s 28th Swiss title and second in the last three years when it beat HC Bern in Game 7 of the final series. Both teams won all their home games. The big hero was Robin Leblanc, who scored the game&rsquo;s only goal in the third period. The Devils third-rounder from 2001 beat Bern goalie Marco Buhrer with a shot to the top shelf. It was especially sweet for Leblanc because he didn&rsquo;t see any action in the first two games of the final. Coach Arno Del Curto &ndash; who discovered Leblanc from the Swiss B League last season &ndash; cited only lineup &ldquo;rotation&rdquo; as the reason Leblanc sat out. Del Curto&rsquo;s rotation also left Alexandre Daigle on the bench in one of the final games. Daigle finished second in league scoring during the regular season with 22 goals and 61 points in 44 games, five points behind Bern&rsquo;s Simon Gamache, but notched only 13 points in 18 playoff games.</p><p><b>&ndash; RISTO PAKARINEN</b></p><h3><b>United League</b></h3><h2><b>Parsons top scorer born in the USA</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04404/8900610-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="187" height="83"></div><p>Quad City right winger Don Parsons became pro hockey&rsquo;s all-time American-born leading goal-scorer March 24, when he scored in the final minute of a 5-2 loss to Flint. It was Parsons&rsquo; 623rd goal, breaking the record he shared with Joe Mullen. &ldquo;To me, all those individual awards will be great when hockey is over and you look back at stuff like that,&rdquo; said Parsons, 38. &ldquo;Later on in life, when I tell my children and grandchildren what I did in my career, obviously those will be some of the first stories along with some championships and MVPs and stuff like that. That&rsquo;s not to say it doesn&rsquo;t mean anything. It means I&rsquo;ve done a lot.&rdquo; The next milestone he&rsquo;ll chase is Kevin Kerr&rsquo;s modern minor-league record of 677 career goals.</p><p><b>&ndash; BRENDAN SAVAGE</b></p><h3><b>Canadian University</b></h3><h2><b>Langager ponders Lethbridge return</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05333/8900603-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="165" height="111"></div><p>Jay Langager has some tough choices to make this summer. Named CIS player of the year, the 26-year-old defenseman signed with the ECHL&rsquo;s Bakersfield Condors after the Lethbridge Pronghorns were eliminated from the playoffs. An education major, Langager is skating weekends with the Condors and returning to university during the week to attend classes. Langager now must decide whether to continue playing pro hockey or return to Lethbridge next year as an assistant coach and finish his degree now that his CIS eligibility has expired. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve already played three seasons in the ECHL and won a championship, so it would have to be a pretty good opportunity for me not to return (to Lethbridge) next fall,&rdquo; he said.</p><p><b>&ndash; JEFF RENAUD</b></p><h3><b>Southern Pro League</b></h3><h2><b>Barracudas bite Cottonmouths</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06275/8900596-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="169" height="133"></div><p>Tyrone Garner, a goalie-turned-forward for a season due to a leg injury, might reconsider his intention to return to the crease for next year. The former Calgary Flame scored a pair of goals &ndash; the equalizer and game-winner &ndash; 2:12 apart in the third period and sixth-seeded Jacksonville rallied for an improbable 4-3 victory over Columbus to reach the President&rsquo;s Cup final. The Barracudas, who lost 10 of 13 games to the regular season champion Cottonmouths, won the best-of-five series, three games to one. &ldquo;It was do or die for us,&rdquo; Garner said. &ldquo;This was our Game 5. We didn&rsquo;t want to go back to Columbus.&rdquo; The Cottonmouths lost just six games all year at home before Jacksonville won Games 1 and 2 of the series in Columbus.</p><p><b>&ndash; NICK GATES</b></p><h3><b>United States League</b></h3><h2><b>LeBlanc&rsquo;s future still up in the air</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-07221/8900589-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="189" height="61"></div><p>Hockey has winners and losers. In the case of Hermantown (MN) High School and the USHL&rsquo;s Chicago Steel, it&rsquo;s yet to be determined which is which. That&rsquo;s because junior forward Drew LeBlanc, who led Hermantown to the 2007 Minnesota state class A title, is still deciding if he&rsquo;ll play high school or junior next year. For now, he&rsquo;s playing out the remainder of this season with the Steel. At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, the 1989-born LeBlanc, who has committed to St. Cloud for 2008, is eligible for the upcoming NHL draft, though not ranked among the top 185 skaters by International Scouting Services. &ldquo;He fi nds pucks others don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Hermantown coach Bruce Plante, father of former NHLer Derek Plante. &ldquo;Drew&rsquo;s a very special player.&rdquo;</p><p><b>&ndash; PAUL SHAHEEN</b></p><h3><b>The Women&rsquo;s Game</b></h3><h2><b>Pacina slows pace, resigns as coach</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-08188/8900582-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="284" height="50"></div><p>Tomas Pacina loves women&rsquo;s hockey, but he&rsquo;s taking a step back from the game. After winning both the Esso Women&rsquo;s National Championship and the Western Women&rsquo;s Hockey League titles with his Calgary Oval X-treme this year, the coach handed in his resignation to spend time with his son, Noah, and partner Hayley Wickenheiser, Team Canada&rsquo;s veteran leader who also plays for the X-treme. &ldquo;I am not going to work full time until 2010 so Hayley has a break and I have more time with Noah,&rdquo; said Pacina, who won seven WWHL titles and three national championships in seven years. &ldquo;I love the game and I wanted to leave on a high note. Working with girls and women made me a better person and coach.&rdquo;</p><p><b>&ndash; ELIZABETH ETUE</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-02

Perseverance and courage

<div class="byline">BY JIM CRESSMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011295/8900690-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="827" height="1135"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PHOTOGUYS.CA)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>&ldquo;WE&rsquo;D RATHER</b> tame a tiger than paint stripes on a kitty.&rdquo;</p><p>That was assistant coach Steve Spott&rsquo;s take after the Kitchener Rangers acquired Steve Downie from the Peterborough Petes midway through this season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02876/8900697-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="189" height="65"></div><p>Taming a tiger isn&rsquo;t always easy, as the Rangers were to learn late in the regular season when Downie drew an eight-game suspension for bullying.</p><p>&ldquo;We paid a heavy price to have him available at this time of the year,&rdquo; said Rangers coach-GM Pete DeBoer as Kitchener began Round 2 with Downie and Oshawa&rsquo;s John Tavares tied at 17 points atop the OHL playoff scoring race. &ldquo;The fact he missed some regular season games is a non-issue with us.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very intelligent and I&rsquo;d say 99 per cent of the time he knows exactly what he&rsquo;s doing. It&rsquo;s those incidents in his career, the handful of them where he crossed the line that&rsquo;s hurt him, but he&rsquo;s getting a handle on that.</p><p>&ldquo;And players like that are a benefit. Their play, when they walk that line &ndash; which is most of the time &ndash; far outweighs the times when they cross over.&rdquo;</p><p>Downie&rsquo;s deportment for Canada in winning two World Junior Championships  was exemplary and he helped lead the Petes to the OHL title last year. But it&rsquo;s a hazing incident and a fight with Akim Aliu while both were with Windsor in October of 2005 &ndash; and the suspensions &ndash; that have prompted many to contend Downie is a loose cannon.</p><p>Downie, drafted 29th overall by Philadelphia in 2005, signed with the Flyers last May.</p><p>&ldquo;The same thing they want him to work on to be a pro is the same thing we&rsquo;re preaching and that&rsquo;s walking that line without stepping over it,&rdquo; DeBoer said.</p><p>Added Downie: &ldquo;It makes me feel comfortable that I&rsquo;m going to an organization that&rsquo;s willing to help me. But while it&rsquo;s nice, I&rsquo;ve also got to learn not to hurt my team in those situations.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been getting better as I&rsquo;m getting older, but there&rsquo;s certainly still a lot of work to be done.&rdquo;</p><p>He learned to deal with adversity early on. At age seven, his father died in a car accident while driving Downie to a practice.</p><p>Downie also wears a hearing aid after being born with a hearing disorder that left him deaf in his right ear.</p><p>&ldquo;You just grow up,&rdquo; he said of the coping process. &ldquo;People ask me that question every day, but I just play hockey for fun and I don&rsquo;t think about my life.&rdquo;</p><h3><b>Spotlight</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03639/8900683-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="966" height="231"></div><h3><b>Western League</b></h3><h2><b>Klinkhammer taking stock of dwindling junior days</b></h2><p><b>BY ROB VANSTONE</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04468/8900676-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="153" height="116"></div><p>Last place is the last place 20-year-old <b>Robert Klinkhammer</b> wanted to be.</p><p>&ldquo;It really hit me when we played our final regular season game,&rdquo; said the Brandon Wheat Kings left winger. &ldquo;I realized my regular season career is over and if I was still in Portland, I wouldn&rsquo;t be playing anymore.&rdquo;</p><p>The Portland Winter Hawks, who finished with the league&rsquo;s worst record, traded Klinkhammer to Brandon Jan. 10. He helped the Wheat Kings win the East Division title and a first round playoff series against Prince Albert.</p><p>Along the way, Klinkhammer  has taken a series of mental photographs, knowing his four years in the WHL will soon be over.</p><p>&ldquo;I kind of find myself doing that, just glancing around,&rdquo; said Klinkhammer, who had two goals in the clincher against Prince Albert. &ldquo;I even took one last look around P.A. because I knew that was probably the last time I&rsquo;ll ever be in that rink. It&rsquo;s kind of sad thinking about stuff like that.</p><p>&ldquo;It sucks. It has been a lot of fun this year and every year in the league. I just really don&rsquo;t want it to end.&rdquo;</p><p><b>NOTES</b> Swift Current Broncos captain <b>Myles Rum</b><b>sey</b>, 20, is recovering from serious ligament damage to his left knee, sustained in his team&rsquo;s final playoff game.</p><h3><b>Ontario League</b></h3><h2><b>Hartsburg handed sentence: &lsquo;London gets what it wants&rsquo;</b></h2><p><b>BY JIM CRESSMAN</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05355/8900669-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="190" height="65"></div><p>The OHL was busy handing out suspensions early in the second round of the playoffs.</p><p>Sault Ste. Marie Grey-hounds coach <b>Craig Hartsburg</b> was banned for Games 3 and 4 against London after tossing a puck to a fan in the seats following a Game 2 loss in London. Hartsburg, who coached Canada to the world junior title, blamed the Knights for his suspension.</p><p>&ldquo;This is ridiculous, it&rsquo;s crap,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very disappointed in the OHL. The London Knights wanted that puck, I took their puck and they&rsquo;re offended. They whined and squawked loud enough and London gets what it wants.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Brett MacLean</b>, who had 47 goals and 100 points for the Oshawa Generals, was suspended six games for his check from behind on Belleville&rsquo;s <b>Bryan Cameron</b> during Game 2. Cameron&rsquo;s nose was broken on the play.</p><p>The Plymouth Whalers were fined $2,500 after coach-GM <b>Mike Vellucci</b> criticized the refereeing in a Game 1 win over Kitchener. The Whalers&rsquo; public-address announcer also commented on the officiating.</p><p><b>NOTES</b> Ironically, a day after he was fined, Vellucci was named coach of the year, beating out London&rsquo;s <b>Dale Hunter</b>.</p><h3><b>Quebec League</b></h3><h2><b>Third time&rsquo;s the charm, but Dogs may deal top pick</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/f0030-06289/8900662-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="148" height="136"></div><p>The Saint John Sea Dogs will have the first overall pick for the third consecutive year at the 2007 QMJHL draft June 2 in Drummondville.</p><p>The Verdun Junior Canadiens of the late 1980s are the only other team in league history to have first overall pick three years in a row.</p><p>Saint John and the Rimouski Oceanic, the two non-playoff qualifiers, were involved in a lottery draw. Rimouski&rsquo;s No. 2 pick goes to the Drummondville Voltigeurs as a result of a trade last summer.</p><p>Saint John coach-GM <b>Jacques Beaulieu</b> didn&rsquo;t dismiss  the idea of trading the first overall pick if the right deal comes along.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going through all kinds of scenarios,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>The Sea Dogs have a solid stable of young defensemen, but have goaltending and forward holes to fill. They also have the third overall pick in the 2007 Canadian Hockey League import draft June 27.</p><p><b>NOTES</b> Halifax Moose-heads  right winger <b>Jakub Voracek</b> jumped back up to No. 1 in the International Scouting Services&rsquo; April rankings for the 2007 NHL draft. The 17-year-old native of the Czech Republic led the QMJHL playoff scoring race after the opening round with 18 points, including four goals, in seven games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0030-01

Walk the line and he’ll be fine

<div class="byline">BY PAUL SHAHEEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02794/8900728-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WINNING STATE</b> Chris Lawrence leads the Spartan celebration after they claimed the Frozen Four title. <span class="photo-credit">(BOTH: ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>&ldquo;Do what must be done. It may not be happiness, but it is greatness.&rdquo;</i></p><p><b>THAT WAS ENGLISH</b> playwright George Bernard Shaw, in 1893.</p><p>Rick Comley followed the advice.</p><p>Michigan State&rsquo;s coach for the past five years, Comley never took the easy route in building a champion, even if it created doubters.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011193/8900735-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="150" height="150"></div><p>But that all proved insignificant after this year&rsquo;s Frozen Four, which the Spartans claimed by stunning heavily favored Boston College 3-1 before a record championship game crowd of 19,432 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.</p><p>&ldquo;In a program like ours I think the timetable is one year,&rdquo; said Comley, who took Northern Michigan to the title in 1991. &ldquo;And if you don&rsquo;t do it in one year then no one is happy. But I inherited a really good program.&rdquo;</p><p>Good, yes, but the road to the title wasn&rsquo;t always a pleasant one.</p><p>Comley took the reins in 2003, succeeding the legendary Ron Mason &ndash; the winningest coach in college hockey history (924 wins) &ndash; who hired Comley in his role as athletic director. For all the success the Spartans had under Mason, Comley had to meld the team into what he wanted, which wasn&rsquo;t exactly how his predecessor had left it. In short order, Comley challenged his players, sometimes even calling them out &ndash; which didn&rsquo;t always go over so well, be it with his players or fans.</p><p>But the Comley road map was more than vindicated after the final whistle in St. Louis.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve enjoyed these five years tremendously,&rdquo; said Comley, now the third coach in NCAA history to lead two schools to a national title. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been disappointed for a couple years, but I could see it coming and growing.&rdquo;</p><p>Michigan State was truly a study in chemistry, not stars.</p><p>Forward Tim Kennedy, a 20-year-old Buffalo Sabres prospect, ended the year on an eight-game scoring streak, which he accented with a goal and an assist versus Boston College. He tied the game on the power play midway through the third, then helped win it with his elegant pass from behind the net to a streaking Justin Abdelkader. A Red Wings pick, Abdelkader one-timed a shot past Eagles goalie (and Vancouver 2004 first-rounder) Cory Schneider with 18 seconds left in the game to give the Spartans the lead.</p><p>Spartan co-captain Chris Mueller sealed the deal with an empty-netter.</p><p>&ldquo;We fought back all season long,&rdquo; Mueller said. &ldquo;We knew in our heart of hearts we could get it done.&rdquo;</p><p>Supporting all this was the brilliance of 5-foot-6, 155-pound sophomore goalie Jeff Lerg, truly a story unto himself.</p><p>A lifelong asthmatic, Lerg, before each and every game, hooks himself to a nebulizer to improve his ability to breath.</p><p>When the Spartans won it, all he could do was exhale, knowing full well his cat-like glove save off 6-foot-7 Boston College blueliner Brian Boyle earlier in the period was the nonpareil play of the match.</p><p>&ldquo;I always tell myself to make a &lsquo;TSN turning point&rsquo; save,&rdquo; Lerg said. &ldquo;I was pretty fired up when I made it. I usually don&rsquo;t show that much emotion when I make a save, but I thought that we&rsquo;d come back after that.&rdquo;</p><p>Even after 34 years of college coaching, Comley admitted to learning some new things.</p><p>&ldquo;This year especially, I wondered if we would need to patch things, but now it seems the glue has worked,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I kept wondering all year if I needed another winger or defenseman, or find a third line. But it&rsquo;s all come together and I&rsquo;ve learned you can&rsquo;t give up on anyone.&rdquo;</p><p>Clearly, the Spartans didn&rsquo;t.</p><p>&ldquo;This is a special group of guys,&rdquo; said senior defenseman Chris Snavely. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have many superstar players, but we all love each other and that&rsquo;s carried us far.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-02

Spartan stunner

f0032-01

BLADEMASTER

<div class="byline">Adam Proteau</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011177/8900842-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>VIKTOR-Y</b> Scott Clemmensen couldn&rsquo;t stop Viktor Kozlov as the surprising Isles made it into the playoffs. <span class="photo-credit">(ANDY MARLIN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02771/8900849-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="220" height="234"></div><p>Read Adam&rsquo;s blog daily on <a href="http://TheHockeyNews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></p><p><b>DEAR AREA LONG ISLANDERS:</b> Don&rsquo;t take this the wrong way, but smarten up and haul butt aboard your NHL team&rsquo;s bandwagon already.</p><p>You remember your NHL team, don&rsquo;t you? They&rsquo;re called the Islanders and they went from fearsomely dynastic in the early 1980s to gruesomely spastic in recent years.</p><p>Now, in the past, you folks could&rsquo;ve been forgiven for wanting to forget about them. They had fraud artists for owners &ndash; figuratively and literally &ndash; and fraud artists for players. They employed a GM who was as adept at drafting future stars as he was at trading those same stars away for little in return.</p><p>For two years, they wore Captain Highliner on the front of their chests. For that fact alone, it&rsquo;s understandable why you&rsquo;d be shy to return to the crusty confines of Nassau Coliseum.</p><p>But this year is a different story. This year, the Isles are the most implausible of the league&rsquo;s 16 post-season squads &ndash; and, for many reasons, the best of the first round&rsquo;s playoff stories.</p><p>Start with their near-death experience just qualifying for the postseason. Think about how they nearly blew it with 0.9 seconds left in regulation during game No. 82 against New Jersey and were forced to go to a shootout to eke out a win and a playoff berth.</p><p>Then look at their ownership and management. Look at Charles Wang, derided by many (present sheepish company included) when he pulled Garth Snow out of the dressing room and put him in the boardroom as the team&rsquo;s GM. Look at Snow, who took the job with a new head coach already selected for him and a goalie on the verge of signing a 15-year deal.</p><p>Look at Ted Nolan, the aforementioned new coach who&rsquo;d been ostracized from the league a decade ago despite sparkling with the Sabres the last time he was afforded the chance. And look at Nolan&rsquo;s collection of players, a dog&rsquo;s breakfast of a roster if there ever was one.</p><p>Start with someone named Wade Dubielewicz, who took over late in the season from concussed goalie Rick DiPietro and basically carried the Isles into the playoffs.</p><p>Then there&rsquo;s the defense corps, currently comprised of: a guy who made $2.5 million this year and had 14 points to show for it (Brendan Witt); a couple guys who&rsquo;ve combined to play for seven different teams in the past five seasons (Sean Hill and Tom Poti); an undrafted guy (Marc-Andre Bergeron); a guy drafted 227th overall in 2004 (Chris Campoli); and, a guy who had been out of the league for three years (Deron Quint).</p><p>We&rsquo;d be remiss in not also hailing the Isles&rsquo; forward unit, which has more than its share of castoffs and forgotten-abouts as well.</p><h2><b>MOTLEY CREW</b></h2><p>Start with Mike Sillinger, who has played on 12 different NHL teams in his 15-year career, a record in any pro sport. At age 35, he had a career season offensively while taking on a leadership role.</p><p>There&rsquo;s Sillinger&rsquo;s linemate Andy Hilbert, who spent forever bouncing between Boston&rsquo;s AHL affiliate and getting half-sniffs in Chicago and Pittsburgh before the Isles took a chance on him. Hilbert, who played 85 NHL games from 2000-06, skated in 81 contests for the Isles this year, set career highs and was plus-10.</p><p>There&rsquo;s Randy Robitaille, an alumnus of seven NHL teams and in his second tour of duty with the Islanders. There&rsquo;s Richard Park, who played in Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Philadelphia, Minnesota and Vancouver prior to hooking up with Nolan&rsquo;s crew this year.</p><p>And, yes, you guessed it: Park also had a career high in points. More significantly, he capped off the regular season by scoring both regulation-time goals in that much-needed win over the Devils.</p><p>There&rsquo;s Viktor Kozlov, Jason Blake, Arron Asham &ndash; all undervalued,  all vindicated as vital components on a team that needs every piston pumping to have any hope of victory.</p><p>The never-say-die attitude so well-cultivated by Nolan is what has allowed the Islanders to survive DiPietro&rsquo;s &ldquo;general body soreness&rdquo; in particular and Alexei Yashin in general. It also was there for them after Chris Simon&rsquo;s descent into momentary madness. And it will be there for them until they&rsquo;re eliminated from the postseason.</p><h2><b>ALL ABOARD</b></h2><p>That&rsquo;s right, even after all that praise, I don&rsquo;t think the Isles stand a chance against the superior upper-tier teams in the East.</p><p>But I still believe you Long Islanders need to board the booster express right now. For the first time in many moons, there is certified, bona fide hope for a return to glory by a franchise that taught those storied Edmonton Oilers teams (and many others) how to dominate the sport.</p><p>The opportunity to witness that kind of rebirth doesn&rsquo;t come along very often. Don&rsquo;t miss your cheering chance, Isles fans.</p><h2><b>SHOOTOUT WINS</b></h2><p>Eight of the Islanders&rsquo; 40 wins this season &ndash; that is, 20 per cent &ndash; came in the shootout.</p><p><b>Pct.</b></p><p>Boston <i>(9 of 35)</i>&nbsp;&gt;25.7</p><p>Tampa Bay <i>(10 of 44)</i> &gt;22.7</p><p>NY Rangers <i>(9 of 42)</i> &gt;21.4</p><p>Pittsburgh <i>(10 of 47)</i> &gt;21.3</p><p>Minnesota <i>(10 of 48)</i> &gt;20.8</p><p>New Jersey <i>(10 of 49)</i> &gt;20.4</p><p>NY Islanders <i>(8 of 40)</i> &gt;20.0<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-01

Isles’ fan base needs to grow

<h2><b>2 MINUTES IN THE BOX WITH</b>&nbsp;<b>Ryane Clowe</b></h2><p>San Jose Sharks</p><p>PosLW Age24</p><p>Birthplace St. John&rsquo;s, Nfld.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011049/8900915-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="265" height="370"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02716/8900908-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="181" height="172"></div><h2><b>START THE CLOCK</b></h2><p><b>What was your &lsquo;welcome to the NHL&rsquo; moment?</b></p><p>In my second game I got into a fight with Chicago&rsquo;s Jim Vandermeer, who&rsquo;s pretty tough. That was kind of &lsquo;welcome to the big leagues.&rsquo;</p><p><b>If you had your own theme song, what would it be?</b></p><p><i>I Love This Bar,</i> by Toby Keith.</p><p><b>What is your favorite NHL city to visit?</b></p><p>Chicago. It&rsquo;s got pretty good shopping, pretty good restaurants and it&rsquo;s a nice city to hang out in for a couple of days.</p><p><b>Funniest encounter with a fan?</b></p><p>A couple weeks ago a woman had our whole team sign the dashboard of her $150,000 Mercedes Benz.</p><p><b>Best concert you&rsquo;ve ever attended?</b></p><p>Bruce Springsteen in Cleveland, when I was in the AHL.</p><p><b>Best vacation you&rsquo;ve ever gone on?</b></p><p>Last year the team went to Las Vegas after, unfortunately, we were knocked out of the playoffs. It was 15 guys and we had a really good time.</p><p><b>What do you do on team flights?</b></p><p>Read, watch DVDs or listen to my iPod. Right now I&rsquo;m listening to (teammate) Mark Smith&rsquo;s band, The Vinyl Trees.</p><p><b>Which NHLer do you admire most?</b></p><p>Joe Sakic. He&rsquo;s an honest player and still gets 100 points in a season.</p><p>TIME&rsquo;S UP!</p><p>&ndash; RYAN KENNEDY</p><h2><b>CROSSWORD</b></h2><h3><b>ACROSS</b></h3><p>1 Butterfly-style netminder dubbed &lsquo;Mr. Goalie&rsquo;<br>8 Officials try to keep players ___ during scraps to prevent further mayhem<br>9 &lsquo;The Rocket&rsquo;s&rsquo; first name<br>10 Marc ___ was involved in one of hockey&rsquo;s most lopsided trades in 1960<br>11 Scott Stevens captained this team for a decade<br>12 He&rsquo;s captain in Colorado<br>14 One of the Sutters<br>17 Eric ___ is a blueliner with the Blues, pictured<br>19 Prince ___ has Western League hockey<br>20 Controlling the puck by clever stickhandling<br>21 &lsquo;___ Jim&rsquo; Henry was another notable netminder<br>22 Mathieu ___ is still going strong in Detroit</p><h3><b>DOWN</b></h3><p>2 Retire<br>3 Trophy won four times by Nicklas Lidstrom<br>4 Chops<br>5 They share the Staples Center with the Kings<br>6 They play at GM Place<br>7 Something used to carry an injured player<br>11 Adam ___ was with the Avs when they won their first Cup<br>13 A ___ goal is probably not deserved<br>15 Gaffes<br>16 Veteran sniper ___ Fedorov<br>17 Muscle<br>18 Former goalie ___ Wakely (or, Bert&rsquo;s buddy)</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03574/8900901-1-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. RYAN SMYTH, 8. EQUAL, 9. BULLARD, 10. BROTEN, 11. AGENTS, 12. KINGS, 14. LOUIS, 17. BRIERE, 19. NELSON, 20. LAFLEUR, 21. HENRI, 22. ARMSTRONG. <b>DOWN</b> 2. YOUNG, 3. NYLUND, 4. MARKS, 5. HENRIK, 6. SUITING, 7. BLINDSIDE, 11. AVALANCHE, 13. CURLING, 15. SCOTIA, 16. MILLER, 17. BEARS, 18. ROUYN.</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 The Hockey News reader Tyler Schmidt.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04482/8900894-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="281" height="265"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DANIEL BRIERE</b></figcaption></div><p>Sabres star center has made the slot his office</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05433/8900887-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="280" height="266"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>B.J. NOVAK</b></figcaption></div><p>Writer and actor has made his mark on TV&rsquo;s <i>The Offi ce</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>Minnesota (third jersey)</b></p><p>The NHL third jersey is going the way of the dodo bird and generally not a minute too soon (remember what the Kings and Ducks wore in the late 1990s?), but Minnesota got it right.</p><p>This sweater has such classic elements it could replace the original (which is what Columbus is doing) and manages to look retro despite the fact the team hasn&rsquo;t existed long enough to have a vintage era.</p><p>Minnesota&rsquo;s logo is divisive among hockey fans, but it&rsquo;s hard to disagree with such a well put-together sweater.</p><p>&ndash; Ryan Kennedy</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06381/8900880-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="415" height="823"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GABORIK: BRUCE KLUCKHOHN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Last Minute of Play

<div class="byline">bycharlieteljeur</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-07" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07339/8900946-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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hockeysockpuppettheatre

<div class="byline">Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011135/8900984-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Thomas Vanek <span class="photo-credit">(JIM MCISAAC/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02758/8900991-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="221" height="238"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03614/8900977-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="1211" height="499"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>E</span></b>ver wonder what it would be like to run your own NHL team? Of course you have. How about putting together a team after the season has been played, but adhering to the NHL&rsquo;s salary cap?</p><p>That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve done here, with the return of the All-Broph Team after a year on the shelf. These are the players I would love to have on my team, based on their play this season. Oh, and the total amount spent on salaries is $40.4 million (based on this year&rsquo;s salary cap hit).</p><h2><b>CENTERS</b></h2><p><b>Sidney Crosby</b> This was not the slam dunk you may have imagined. Joe Sakic also had a remarkable season, but cost $5.75 million compared to Sid&rsquo;s $3.7 million. So, it makes economical sense to stick with &lsquo;The Kid.&rsquo;</p><p><b>Daymond Langkow</b> While Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff share most of the glory in Calgary, Langkow quietly put up career numbers (33 goals, 77 points) while supplying the Flames with a physical presence.</p><p><b>Mike Sillinger</b> The Islanders wisely held on to the NHL&rsquo;s most-traveled player as Sillinger put up career bests in goals (26) and points (59) and proved he is one of the game&rsquo;s better two-way threats.</p><p><b>Maxim Lapierre</b> This youngster showed in half a season that he has the energy and determination to quickly move up on the depth chart. Heaven knows the Habs could use some enthusiasm on their bench.</p><h2><b>LEFT WINGERS</b></h2><p><b>Dany Heatley</b> One of two 50-goal scorers this season (Vincent Lecavalier was the other), Heatley was at his best when Ottawa line-mate Jason Spezza was out with an injury. His grit and tenacity give him the edge in the Heatley-or-Marian-Hossa debate.</p><p><b>Thomas Vanek</b> The sharp-shooting Sabre is the NHL&rsquo;s best sophomore not named Sidney. Going from minus-11 as a rookie to plus-45 speaks volumes about his commitment to be a more complete player.</p><p><b>Dan Cleary</b> Great junior sniper finally broke out and scored 20 goals for the Wings. How? He made the adjustments in his game that will enable him to remain in the NHL for 10 more years as a two-way performer.</p><p><b>Toby Petersen</b> His true value doesn&rsquo;t show up in the stats; he had only six goals and 15 points in 64 games. His work ethic on a struggling Oilers team, though, was inspiring. There was disappointment in Edmonton this year, but not when Petersen was on the ice.</p><h2><b>RIGHT WINGERS</b></h2><p><b>Martin St-Louis</b> Before we get carried away and anoint Lecavalier the NHL&rsquo;s top player, as ex-NHL coach Pat Burns did at the end of the regular season, it should be noted he might not even be the best player on his team. St-Louis gives Lecavalier a run for the honor.</p><p><b>Jason Blake</b> This guy just keeps getting better. The buzzing winger followed a career year in 2005-06 (28 goals, 57 points) with 40 goals and 69 points this year. And to think there was talk the Isles might move him at the trade deadline.</p><p><b>Chris Neil</b> The NHL&rsquo;s best combination of scoring and enforcing, Neil had 12 goals &ndash; including three game-winners &ndash; and 28 points and led Ottawa with 177 penalty minutes. Many fighters insist they can play, but he goes out and proves it.</p><p><b>Drew Stafford</b> The 13th overall pick in 2004, Stafford was called up from Rochester (AHL) by Buffalo midway through the year and made it impossible to send him back down by scoring 13 goals and 27 points in 41 games. A prime example of Buffalo&rsquo;s depth.</p><h2><b>DEFENSEMEN</b></h2><p><b>Chris Pronger</b> Big Duck led all NHL defensemen in scoring by five points and was on his way to the Norris Trophy when he sustained two injuries that caused him to miss 16 games.</p><p><b>Kevin Bieksa</b> Not sure what the Canucks&rsquo; expectations were for a guy who had six assists in 39 games last season, but here&rsquo;s betting they were thrilled with his 12 goals, 42 points and team-leading 134 penalty minutes.</p><p><b>Keith Carney</b> This veteran rearguard rarely gets mentioned in reference to the Wild&rsquo;s success, but his team-leading plus-22 speaks to his defensive dedication.</p><p><b>Ladislav Smid</b> While he appeared to grow tired down the stretch, this youngster gave notice that he&rsquo;ll be a major contributor when the Oilers get good again.</p><p><b>Barret Jackman</b> It&rsquo;s easy to overlook players on lousy teams, especially those who don&rsquo;t put up big numbers. But St. Louis&rsquo; Jackman is a horse who makes life miserable for the opposition&rsquo;s top gunners.</p><p><b>Mike Komisarek</b> Like Carney, Komisarek doesn&rsquo;t generate big numbers. But the Habs defender is becoming a dependable shutdown guy who is tough in front of the net and along the boards.</p><h2><b>GOALTENDERS</b></h2><p><b>Ryan Miller</b> He might not rank No. 1 among goalies, but the sophomore stopper is getting close and is a big reason why the Sabres were able to capture the Presidents&rsquo; Trophy.</p><p><b>Chris Mason</b> He was brilliant when Tomas Vokoun was injured, recording a franchise-record five shutouts while starting 21 consecutive games. Many observers think he could be the goalie that will ultimately lead the Predators to the promised land.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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April 24, 2007

NHL Depth Charts

Chelios, Stastny earn Fannies

New Verizons

Duncan’s bittersweet victory