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June 26, 2007
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.
Drawn to hockey
BEING A COLLEGE DROPOUT is no big deal if you can draw cartoons the way Dave Elston can. To commemorate our 60th anniversary, The Hockey News is reflecting on the stories and people who have added color to the game. Elston, whose last cartoon for The Hockey News is in this issue, certainly meets the standard. After dropping out of art school in 1980, Elston landed a gig doing sports cartoons for the Calgary Sun, which was still in its infancy at the time. The newspaper’s sports editor, Al Ruckaber, just happened to be Elston’s old high school football coach. After submitting a few samples of work, Elston had a job. A few years later, Elston branched out. “I thought, what the hell, I’ll send one off to (then-editor) Bob McKenzie at The Hockey News…
Scott Stevens
THE CASE FOR INDUCTION Members of the Hall of Fame selection committee will induct Scott Stevens, if for no other reason than they’re afraid Stevens will come and hunt them down if they don’t. And if you consult with anyone who has been on the receiving end of one of Stevens’s hits, you’ll find out it is something you don’t want to have to endure. But to place a one-dimensional physical label on Stevens just because he has produced some of the most devastating bodychecks in NHL history would not be giving him his due as an all-around player. Hugely underrated for his puck-moving and offensive skills, Stevens tamed the beast that was in him early in his career and managed to score 908 points, which makes him the 10th-highest scoring defenseman of…
Unhappy Zherdev weighs on Jackets
THE STORY Scott Howson, Edmonton’s ex-assistant GM, won’t be wading into his new job as GM of the Blue Jackets. Howson was hired June 15 after Doug MacLean was fired in April on the heels of six straight losing seasons. There were two immediate concerns for Howson: What to do with malcontent right winger Nikolai Zherdev, and how healthy was goalie Pascal Leclaire? Zherdev’s camp has suggested a trade might be in the best interest of both parties. The Jackets, including coach Ken Hitchcock, may agree, but they can’t find a suitor. The Oilers said no earlier this summer to a trade that would’ve sent Zherdev to Edmonton for Joffrey Lupul. (Wonder if Howson regrets that now?) Meanwhile, Leclaire was in town to finish his rehab and prove his surgically repaired left knee…
Isles cut their ties with Yashin, Milbury
THE STORY Now if they only can do something about Nassau Coliseum. In a span of six days in early June, the Islanders officially rid themselves of two longtime lightning rods – albatross center Alexei Yashin and former GM Mike Milbury. Yashin’s long-discussed buyout finally was completed on June 6, with owner Charles Wang admitting “the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make” was swallowing hard and paying Yashin $17.63-million to escape the final four years of the center’s original 10-year deal. With a $2.2-million annual cap hit spread out over the next eight seasons, the buyout will help the Isles fill several holes, and they hope it keeps them in the running to re-sign unrestricted free agents Ryan Smyth and Jason Blake. Milbury’s departure was more low-key; he’ll remain an advisor for a…
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