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.

December 18, 2007

The Hockey News - Dec-18-07

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011166/9058125-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">No European has been as productive as Jaromir Jagr. <span class="photo-credit">(JAGR: CHRIS MCGRATH/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>1<sup>ST</sup> TEAM</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02801/9058118-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="185" height="235"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOMINIK HASEK</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03571/9058111-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="185" height="236"><figcaption class="caption-body">NICKLAS LIDSTROM</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04424/9058104-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="185" height="249"><figcaption class="caption-body">BORJE SALMING</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05352/9058097-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="185" height="249"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAROMIR JAGR</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06293/9058090-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="185" height="236"><figcaption class="caption-body">JARI KURRI</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-07236/9058083-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="185" height="250"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER STASTNY</figcaption></div><h2><b>2<sup>ND</sup> TEAM</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-08202/9058076-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="185" height="241"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIIKKA KIPRUSOFF</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-09165/9058069-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="185" height="229"><figcaption class="caption-body">SERGEI ZUBOV</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-10145/9058062-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="166" height="245"><figcaption class="caption-body">VIACHESLAV FETISOV</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-11122/9058055-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="185" height="241"><figcaption class="caption-body">SERGEI FEDOROV</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-12103/9058048-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="185" height="239"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAVEL BURE</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1385/9058041-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="185" height="247"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER FORSBERG</figcaption></div><h2><b>3<sup>RD</sup> TEAM</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1476/9058034-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="185" height="241"><figcaption class="caption-body">NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1568/9058027-1-eng-US/f0029-152.jpg" title="f0029-15" width="185" height="232"><figcaption class="caption-body">TEPPO NUMMINEN</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1664/9058020-1-eng-US/f0029-162.jpg" title="f0029-16" width="185" height="238"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEXEI ZHITNIK</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1758/9058013-1-eng-US/f0029-172.jpg" title="f0029-17" width="185" height="239"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEXANDER MOGILNY</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1849/9058006-1-eng-US/f0029-182.jpg" title="f0029-18" width="185" height="239"><figcaption class="caption-body">MATS SUNDIN</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1944/9057999-1-eng-US/f0029-192.jpg" title="f0029-19" width="185" height="238"><figcaption class="caption-body">TEEMU SELANNE</figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-01

IN THIS ISSUE

NHL’s ALL-TIME EUROS

<blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;Am I missing something? Why all the talk to make the nets bigger?</blockquote><h2><b>PARK PLACE</b></h2><p>Your &lsquo;Top 10 Players in Team History&rsquo; was great (Nov. 20)! I&rsquo;m ashamed to admit I forgot Paul Coffey played for the Penguins.</p><p>One beef: How does Brad Park get left off the Rangers&rsquo; top 10? He had the bad luck of playing at the same time as Bobby Orr and then Denis Potvin, otherwise he would have won a few Norris Trophies himself.</p><p>Poor Brad, always a bridesmaid. Frank Boucher was such a gentleman. He probably wouldn&rsquo;t mind getting bumped for No. 2.</p><p>STEPHEN FOLAN, GLEN COVE, N.Y.</p><h2><b>NO TIME FOR CHANGE</b></h2><p>Am I missing something? Why all the talk about making the nets bigger to increase scoring? Does a high-scoring game equate to a more exciting game?</p><p>Does no one see a close game as exciting? Am I the only one who hears the crowd roar when the puck goes off the post? What am I missing?</p><p>Leave the game alone. It&rsquo;s watered down so much now and is getting worse with every change, and that&rsquo;s reflected by the empty arenas.</p><p>KEVIN JEFFERS, TORONTO</p><h2><b>TIME FOR CHANGE</b></h2><p>Let&rsquo;s make the net bigger. The goaltenders are twice the size they were 30 years ago.</p><p>Since I don&rsquo;t believe the league will successfully reduce the size of goalie equipment, just increase the size of the net.</p><p>Take a photo from 25 years ago and calculate how much net the shooter had to shoot at compared to now. Then increase the size of the net by that amount. Years ago, Guy Lafleur could score off the rush with a slapshot from the top of the faceoff circle; you hardly ever see that now.</p><p>MIKE KAVANAGH, LITTLE NECK, N.Y.</p><h2><b>SAVE OVECHKIN</b></h2><p>Alex Ovechkin needs to be traded out of Washington.</p><p>The league is looking for someone to try and break its goalscoring records&hellip;well, Ovechkin is the one to do it. But that won&rsquo;t be possible as long as he&rsquo;s playing for the Capitals.</p><p>There is no one on that team who is playing the same level of hockey that he is.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s an example of what he&rsquo;s dealing with every game: Ovechkin is skating through the neutral zone, waiting for an outlet pass. Defenseman Mike Green is on the Capitals&rsquo; side of the red line. Instead of passing to an open Ovechkin, he takes a slapshot to blast it down the ice, but he did it when Ovechkin was in front of him so the puck ends up hitting Ovie.</p><p>Those are the kind of decisions by teammates that he has to deal with in every game.</p><h2><b>THE BOTTOM LINE</b></h2><p>Why are Leaf fans so surprised the season is turning into a disaster?</p><p>Shouldn&rsquo;t it have spoken volumes about what is wrong with the organization when Scotty Bowman refused in the summer to work for them?</p><p>Team president Richard Peddie has made it clear that the No. 1 priority for the Toronto Maple Leafs is to deliver good profits for the shareholders&hellip;winning is No. 2.</p><p>STEPHEN LANG, PERTH-ANDOVER, N.B.</p><h2><b>OPTICS ARE EVERYTHING</b></h2><p>Watching a recent Devils home game, I thought they missed a great opportunity when building their new arena.</p><p>I noticed the empty seats and thought rather than the plain old fabric used on the seat backs, the team should have had seat backs that looked like their home/road jerseys. That way, the place would look more full than it actually is.</p><p>I dare say any new arena should try it; that way, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman can pump up the league&rsquo;s attendance numbers even more than he does now.</p><p>JOHN WALBY, SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

THE STANDARDS

CROWD SHOTS

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BROPHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011331/9057968-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JENNIFER POTTHEISER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>NICKLAS LIDSTORM</p><p> DEFENSEMAN</p><p>DETROIT RED WINGS</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011268/9057961-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="2550" height="3225"></div><p>MATS SUNDIN SWEARS <b>he has never heard anybody say a bad word about Nicklas Lidstrom.</b></p><p><b>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know him that well, but every time he&rsquo;s around the group, he&rsquo;s a guy you love to have on your team,&rdquo; says the Toronto Maple Leafs captain.</b></p><p><b>P-J Axelsson smiles when asked about Lidstrom&rsquo;s dark side.</b></p><p><b>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; says the veteran Boston Bruins winger with a laugh, &ldquo;I do not believe you&rsquo;ll ever find anybody to say a bad word about Nicklas Lidstrom.&rdquo;</b></p><p><b>Oh yeah?</b></p><p><b>Remember last season when that computer dude from Vancouver tried to get Canucks spare part Rory Fitzpatrick voted onto the starting lineup for the</b></p><p><b>Western Conference in the NHL All-Star Game? He ran a rather humorous smear campaign against some of the best defensemen in the game &ndash; Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer and, of course, Little Nicky:</b></p><p><b><i>&ldquo;Nicklas Lidstrom&hellip;He claims to be an all-star defenseman, but the stats show otherwise. On November 3 of the year 2000, Nicklas Lidstrom was a minus-4 in a 6-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Those aren&rsquo;t all-star numbers. What else is Nicklas Lidstrom hiding?&rdquo;</i></b></p><p><b>Gotcha, Nick!</b></p><p><b>Truth is, it is next to impossible to say anything bad about the Detroit Red Wings superstar. As great a player as the 37-year-old defender is on the ice, he is every bit a wonderful person off it.</b></p><p><b>Right, Annika?</b></p><p><b>&ldquo;Yes, of course he is,&rdquo; says Lidstrom&rsquo;s wife. &ldquo;The only thing I can say is, he might be a little bit spoiled. He has a wonderful mom who does everything for everybody. He also has three sisters, so of course he was the golden boy.&rdquo;</b></p><p><b>Golden boy to his family and pure gold for the Red Wings.</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011317/9057954-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="2364" height="1582"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lidstrom was plus-338 in 1,176 NHL games entering this season. <span class="photo-credit">(JAMIE SABAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The European invasion, which started in the early 1970s, has brought many colorful and skilled hockey players to the NHL &ndash; from super snipers such as Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne, Peter Stastny and Pavel Bure to extraordinary two-way threats such as Jari Kurri, Peter Forsberg and Sergei Fedorov to an acrobatic stopper such as Dominik Hasek. They are all worthy candidates for the title of best-ever European-raised and -trained NHLer.</p><p>Then there is Nicklas Lidstrom. Not the fastest or flashiest skater, perhaps. Not the biggest or roughest defenseman in the NHL, most definitely. But when you add up all the good things he does, from his responsible play in his own zone to the calculated offensive contributions, you have the best and most complete European player to ever skate in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you what I told Nick the last three or four times I negotiated contracts with him,&rdquo; says Detroit GM Ken Holland. &ldquo;If every player in the league was an unrestricted free agent and I had the first pick in the draft and my mandate was to compete for the Stanley Cup in one year, hands down my first pick is Nick Lidstrom.</p><p>&ldquo;For the last 10 years we&rsquo;re near the top of the league in points, he plays almost 30 minutes a game, always against the other team&rsquo;s best players, he&rsquo;s always one of the highest-scoring defensemen, most years we&rsquo;re near the top of the league in power play, most years we&rsquo;re near the top of the league in penalty-killing and most years we&rsquo;re near the top of the league in goals against. He plays every critical situation. We won three Stanley Cups and five Presidents&rsquo; Trophies. We&rsquo;ve been to the final four times in the last 12 seasons and he has been the one constant.&rdquo;</p><p>Lidstrom&rsquo;s ascent to the top of the mountain was gradual. After being chosen 53rd overall in the third round of the 1989 draft &ndash; behind defenders such as Adam Bennett, Doug Zmolek, Jason Herter, Jason Marshall, Lindsay Vallis, Jason Soules and Steve Bancroft &ndash; Lidstrom scored an impressive 11 goals and 60 points and was named to the NHL&rsquo;s all-rookie team in 1991-92.</p><p>Over the years he has displayed a level of consistency that ultimately gained him recognition as not only one of the league&rsquo;s most dependable performers, but one of the best all-around defensemen in the history of the game. Beginning in 1997-98, he was runner-up for the Norris Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman three straight years. In the past six seasons, Lidstrom has laid claim to the award five times, third-most all-time behind Bobby Orr (eight) and Doug Harvey (seven).</p><p>He has led the Red Wings to Stanley Cups, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2002 and has been a first-team allstar eight times.</p><p>&ldquo;He is so smart,&rdquo; Holland says. &ldquo;If somebody who didn&rsquo;t really know hockey went to Joe Louis Arena and you told them they were going to see one of the best defenseman to ever play the game, they might not get it. You&rsquo;re not going to see him whipping up the ice and making highlight-reel rushes. If you watch him and you really understand hockey, you&rsquo;ll be overwhelmed and in awe because of his ability to pay attention to detail and his patience with the puck.&rdquo;</p><p>And he plays the game fairly, too. In his 15 seasons, Lidstrom was assessed a paltry 372 penalty minutes in 1,176 games. Although he has never won the Lady Byng Trophy, given annually to the player who exhibits sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct with a high standard of playing ability, he has been a runner-up four times. A defenseman hasn&rsquo;t won the honor since Red Kelly in 1954.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good skater,&rdquo; Axelsson says. &ldquo;He gets himself in the right position so he doesn&rsquo;t have to cheat and take penalties.&rdquo;</p><p>The 6-foot-1, 193-pound Lidstrom has one career fighting major to his credit, way back in his first month in the NHL, against Buffalo&rsquo;s Brad Miller on Oct. 30, 1991. Fact is, Lidstrom took a career-high 50 PIM two years ago, followed by 46 last year. Getting a little cranky in his old age?</p><p>&ldquo;Not really,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;They just call things a little tighter now.&rdquo;</p><p>Ask Lidstrom and he&rsquo;ll tell you the way he plays today is pretty much the way he has played the game all his life.</p><p>&ldquo;My positional game is why I have become the player I am,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not an overly physical player. I won&rsquo;t run guys into the boards or knock them over. Positional play is one of the things I have worked on over the years to get better and better at. Even back when I was a kid, that was the way I played. I was good at reading plays and I developed that as my style of play.&rdquo;</p><p>Lidstrom moved away from home when he was 16 to attend a school where playing hockey was part of the curriculum.</p><p>&ldquo;We had five hours a week where you could replace one subject with hockey,&rdquo; Lidstrom says. &ldquo;All we worked on during those practices were our skills. We didn&rsquo;t do any hard skating. Instead we worked on little things like developing handeye coordination. At night we would do our regular skates. I think most of the skill I have today comes from working at it back then.&rdquo;</p><p>Lidstrom&rsquo;s father, Jan-Erik, worked for the road commission in Sweden, while his mother, Gere, worked in the school kitchen. Raised with two older sisters and one younger sister, Lidstrom says he appreciates how his parents were there every step along the way in his hockey career.</p><p>&ldquo;The most important thing I got from my parents was their support,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;They were always there for me at my practices and games. Even if I was terrible in a game, they were there for me telling me it was OK. Even now, when they come over to visit, I find myself looking up into the stands to see them, just like I did when I was younger.&rdquo;</p><p>Those who play with him have great appreciation for his understated skill. You might not see him on the highlight reels every night, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean he has been any less effective than the other great offense-minded defensemen.</p><p>&ldquo;He reads the play and sees the ice probably better than anyone in this league,&rdquo; Axelsson says. &ldquo;The main thing is he is so calm and always in the right position. You think you have him beat and all of a sudden he&rsquo;s got the puck.&rdquo;</p><p>Adds Sundin: &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s got the quiet confidence you look for in a superstar. There&rsquo;s nothing missing in his game, but I think his biggest asset is consistency. He just brings it every night, day in and day out, year in and year out, whether it&rsquo;s with Detroit or the national team, he brings the same game. His worst game is a pretty darn good hockey game.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011322/9057947-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="1436" height="1251"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lidstrom is chasing his sixth Norris Trophy in seven seasons. <span class="photo-credit">(GREGORY SHAMUS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Red Wings coach Mike Babcock knows what it&rsquo;s like to coach against Lidstrom and, frankly speaking, he&rsquo;s much happier being the one sending Lidstrom out over the boards than trying to keep him in check.</p><p>&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t a word of a lie: It is humbling to be his coach,&rdquo; Babcock says. &ldquo;He came to me a while ago and said his wife was going to be out of town, could he bring his kids on our trip to Columbus. I said, &lsquo;Why not?&rsquo; It is amazing to see him around his kids, around the veterans. He is impressive. He is so laid back. He comes to the rink so relaxed. He is a perfectionist who does everything right. He has a calmness about him.&rdquo;</p><p>While Babcock says he has never had the occasion to sit Lidstrom down to point out, on video, little things that might improve his game, he does use some of his captain&rsquo;s actions to educate his teammates.</p><p>&ldquo;We call it Nickisms,&rdquo; Babcock says. &ldquo;When we see him do something special we get it on tape and show it to the other players. He never drops his head when he shoots, never forces anything and that&rsquo;s why he doesn&rsquo;t turn over the puck. He is simple, patient. He knows at times things are taken away so he doesn&rsquo;t force it where other guys don&rsquo;t get that&hellip;they try to force things and that leads to turnovers.&rdquo;</p><p>To absolutely nobody&rsquo;s surprise, the Red Wings once again find themselves in the thick of things, atop the Western Conference standings, early contenders for both the Presidents&rsquo; Trophy and a fourth Stanley Cup in 11 seasons. With three goals and 20 points through 23 games, Lidstrom was showing absolutely no signs of slowing down and was on pace for 11 goals and 71 points &ndash; similar numbers to those he has put up in previous Norris Trophy-winning seasons. If that comes as good news for the Red Wings, it&rsquo;s bad news for the opposition.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s totally unflappable,&rdquo; says Anaheim GM Brian Burke. &ldquo;There is no panic in his game. He&rsquo;s got ice water for blood. Also, he&rsquo;s as good a passer as there is in the game.&rdquo;</p><p>Lidstrom says he&rsquo;s having as much fun playing the game now as he ever did and there are no immediate plans to shut things down. He&rsquo;ll be 38 at the end of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I can do the Chelly thing,&rdquo; he says, referring to teammate Chris Chelios who is still going strong as he approaches his 46th birthday, &ldquo;but right now I feel fresh. I have been fortunate enough to not have had any major injuries. The way I play is not overly physical so that helps.</p><p>&ldquo;I also take care of myself in the off-season, preparing for the long year. I still feel like I am 28 or 29.&rdquo;</p><p>So is he the best European NHLer of all-time?</p><p>&ldquo;You could make the case for Borje Salming,&rdquo; Burke says. &ldquo;You could make the case for Bure and Jagr, too. But I think in terms of overall game, as a lawyer, I would like to take that case.&rdquo;</p><p>To which we would like to add: Case closed.</p><p>WHO IS THE BEST ALL-TIME EUROPEAN NHLER?</p><p>JARI KURRI 63 %</p><p>NICKLAS LIDSTROM 13 %</p><p>JAROMIR JAGR 11 %</p><p>PETER STASTNY 5 %</p><p>DOMINIK HASEK 4 %</p><p>PAVEL BURE 4 %</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02896/9057940-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="510" height="704"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jari Kurri <span class="photo-credit">(KURRI: BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>KURRI CROWNED BY FINNISH FANS</b></h2><p>Finns aren&rsquo;t far behind Canada when it comes to hockey hero worship. Ten thousand fans came to see Teemu Selanne and the Stanley Cup last summer. They call Saku Koivu &lsquo;The Captain.&rsquo; And then there&rsquo;s Jari Kurri, Finland&rsquo;s &lsquo;Mr. Hockey,&rsquo; whose sweater has been retired by the national team and Jokerit, his Finnish club.</p><p>Everybody in Finland knows Kurri is the bestever European NHLer, so when The Hockey News had a poll on its website and a Swede (Sweden being Finland&rsquo;s nemesis) was leading, the nation responded.</p><p><i>Iltalehti</i>, one of the leading newspapers in the country, ran a story on its website urging Finns to go to the THN site and cast a vote for Kurri. Before the story, Kurri was third in voting, at 14 percent, behind Nicklas Lidstrom and Jaromir Jagr. (Lidstrom peaked at 37 percent.) Two days later, it was a rout for Kurri. He was up to 63 percent; Lidstrom was next at 13 percent. There may only be five million Finns, but that&rsquo;s enough to take over an online poll.</p><p><b>&ndash; RISTO PAKARINEN</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

SAINT NICKLAS

<div class="byline">BY PHIL JANACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01758/9058630-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="888" height="1092"></div><p>GREG MOORE SPENT his entire rookie season feeling like someone else.</p><p>Following a successful college career at Maine and strong initial debut with Hartford, Moore struggled to find his way in first full season for the Wolf Pack as a rookie last year.</p><p>&ldquo;It was very frustrating,&rdquo; said Moore, 23. &ldquo;I knew I had more to offer. I wasn&rsquo;t getting the points. It basically came down to my weight and my conditioning. All last year, I felt burnt out and run down, not really having the speed and endurance I needed to play at the intensity level I know I can play at.</p><p>&ldquo;This year, I&rsquo;ve gotten myself to feeling more like I did my senior year at Maine. I think it&rsquo;s really helped me with the type of power game I like to play and to be able to do it at this level.&rdquo;</p><p>These days, Moore is feeling more like himself. A strict off-season training regimen, fortified by the experience gained from his first year, paid huge early dividends for the right winger. He had 18 points through 18 games, his 10 goals already surpassing the eight he scored in 2006-07.</p><p>The 6-foot-1, 209-pound Moore also dramatically reversed his plus-minus ratio, ranking among the AHL leaders, and was one of Hartford&rsquo;s best penalty-killers in addition to being a consistent offensive threat.</p><p>&ldquo;I had a good summer of training,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I kind of reinvented my body and physically got myself into better condition for this season. It&rsquo;s been very nice. To have those kinds of results has just capped things off knowing I didn&rsquo;t make all these changes and adjustments for nothing.&rdquo;</p><p>Drafted 143rd overall by Calgary in 2003, Moore was acquired by the Rangers along with Jamie McLennan and Blair Betts in a March, 2004 deal that sent Chris Simon to the Flames.</p><p>Moore played his final two seasons at Maine, scoring 28 goals in 41 games and being one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award as the top U.S. college player his senior year. Following that, he had four goals and nine points in 15 regular season and playoff games for Hartford in the spring of 2006.</p><p>&ldquo;Last year was a good learning experience for me,&rdquo; said Moore, who has twice been called up to the Rangers this year only to be scratched after the pre-game skate. &ldquo;I had played 80-game seasons my two years with the U.S. development program in Michigan in high school, but after four years at Maine it was tough the first year back with the long schedule, just the adjustment of how to take care of your body with that type of schedule and the importance of diet and really making sacrifices to play at that level.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02451/9058623-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="209" height="210"></div><h2><b>GREG MOORE</b></h2><p>Hartford</p><p>Ht. 6-1</p><p>Wt. 209</p><p>Pos. RW</p><p>Age 23</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03344/9058616-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="210" height="210"></div><p>AND COUNTING</p><p>+14</p><p>Moore has been a plus player for the Pack all season</p><h3><b>NOTES FROM THE EAST</b></h3><h2><b>Devils must care about vacancies</b></h2><p>Another season of lagging attendance figures has city council members in Massachusetts-based Lowell concerned.</p><p>The New Jersey Devils farm team has averaged only 1,740 fans through 12 home games at Tsongas Arena, last of all 29 AHL teams and nearly 1,500 per game behind Springfield at No. 28.</p><p>Devils officials will be invited to attend a meeting of the council&rsquo;s economic development subcommittee to address its concerns. In August, New Jersey extended its arena lease through 2009-10.</p><p>BROTHERS ON ICE Facing his brother for the first time, the Bears&rsquo; Grant Potulny had a goal in Hershey&rsquo;s 2-1 win at Philadelphia.</p><p>Ryan Potulny assisted on the Phantoms&rsquo; only goal, by Alexandre Picard. The victory came in Bob Woods&rsquo; first game as Bears interim coach.</p><p>Born four-and-a-half years apart in Grand Forks, N.D., the Potulnys were teammates at the University of Minnesota in 2003-04, when Grant was a senior and Ryan a freshman.</p><p>GOAL-DEN BOY It was the last goal in a 6-0 rout of Worcester, but for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman Ryan Lannon, it was his first in nearly two years. Lannon had gone 128 games between goals, last scoring on Dec. 28, 2005.</p><p><b>&ndash; PHIL JANACK</b></p><h3><b>TOP GAA</b></h3><h2><b>ON</b>&nbsp;<b>TOP</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04278/9058609-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="182" height="259"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEFF GLASS</figcaption></div><p>Binghamton Senators</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05238/9058602-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="208" height="210"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CHRIS RUTSCH)</span></figcaption></div><p>1.87</p><p>GOALS-AGAINST AVERAGE</p><p>Scott Munroe, Phi 2.04</p><p>Michael Leighton, Alb 2.09</p><p>Drew MacIntyre, Mtb 2.16</p><p>Ty Conklin, WBS 2.34<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0040-01

MOORE LIKE IT FOR PACK WINGER

<div class="byline">with Jason Kay</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012055/9057056-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="695" height="583"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>OCKEY FANS WILL REMEMBER 2007 for Sidney Crosby&rsquo;s coming out party, the fighty Ducks&rsquo; first Stanley Cup and the Ryan Smyth trade, among other top storylines.</p><p>At The Hockey News, we&rsquo;ll reflect back on our 60th Anniversary as the year we truly embraced our website. Like Homer Simpson, we finally grasped the concept that the Internet is now available on computers.</p><p>The evolving e-planet forced our hand to become more unique, hence the re-design of the magazine. We deleted things such as the NHL team-by-team stats and depth chart pages, items that were either very dated by the time our readers received them or are widely available online or both.</p><p>We did get a handful of complaints and we&rsquo;ve responded with a solution: we&rsquo;re continuing to assemble the depth chart pages and the team-by-team stats and posting them as PDFs on our site and including them in our digital editions. The PDF versions are in the Downloads & Wallpaper section of the site. It&rsquo;s one click to download, one more to print and all 30 teams are part of one file. In the digital editions &ndash; which are available to all subscribers in the All-Access Pass component of the site &ndash; they&rsquo;re at the back of the magazine beginning with this issue.</p><p>Here are a few more cool features of our re-launched website:</p><p><a href="http://thehockeynews.tv">THEHOCKEYNEWS.TV</a> Miss last night&rsquo;s action? Click here to get video highlights of every game.</p><p>DAILY DISH All the news in one click, including scores, game stories and highlights and team-by-team news and views.</p><p>BLOGS, BLOGS, BLOGS We keep these piping fresh, with new content from our writers and experts posted frequently. It&rsquo;s a place to read opinions, learn new information and get interactive. For example, if you want to know why we could be headed for another lockout; why the CBA has been an albatross for Daniel Alfredsson; or get the scoop on Sean Avery&rsquo;s arbitration case, read player agent Rand Simon&rsquo;s entries. Other insiders include Chris Pronger, Mike Milbury, Barry Smith, Mike Smith, Milan Lucic, Brian Duff, Steven Stamkos and James van Riemsdyk.</p><p>PHOTO GALLERY The best shots of the week from around the NHL. In addition, we have a regular rotation of columnists, fantasy tips, an office pool tool, a rumors round-up, transactions, stats, comprehensive player salary information and cap data, message boards and much more.</p><p>If you haven&rsquo;t checked it out, we suggest giving it a try and letting us know what you think.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021734/9057049-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="408" height="219"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MARK WILSON)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

A STATS SOLUTION AND SO MUCH MORE

<div class="byline">JOE BEEBER, HUNTSVILLE, ALA.</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-012055/9057142-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="881" height="1018"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021481/9057135-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="160" height="161"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith regards to the recent Hall of Fame inductees, I feel that, due to the two-line pass rule, the league and fans were robbed of what could have been one of the best power forwards the modern era has ever seen.</p><p>After watching footage from the mid-1980s to the present, I have seen many forwards absolutely crushed by opposing defenders standing at the red line and the offensive blueline.</p><p>In light of the Scott Stevens hit, if Eric Lindros had played most of his career in the post-lockout era, that career could have ended the way it started.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-01

WRONG ERA FOR ERIC

<div class="byline">WITH JOSH HARDING</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021511/9057187-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="519" height="485"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012274/9057180-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="99" height="64"></div><p><i>DEVIN CORNIA FROM EGG HAR-BOR TOWNSHIP, N.J., ASKS</i> Is it easier to start on short or long notice?</p><p>Short notice. Even when you&rsquo;re on the bench, you can just hop in there and not think too much about it, just play the game you love.</p><p><i>ADAM</i>&nbsp;<i>STANKIEWICZ FROM GUELPH, ONT., ASKS</i> How do you increase the speed of your reflexes?</p><p>I play around with tennis balls, play ping pong &ndash; do fun things that improve hand-eye co-ordination.</p><p><i>SERGE PEREZ FROM LAREDO, TEX., ASKS</i> Who inspired you to become a goalie?</p><p>My dad. He&rsquo;s the main reason that I&rsquo;m in the NHL and he inspired me.</p><p><i>ALY FARHAT FROM EDMONTON, ASKS</i> How do you stop a puck in traffic if you can&rsquo;t see it?</p><p>You&rsquo;ve got to put yourself in a position to see at least part of it. If you just catch the last of where it&rsquo;s coming from, then use that. If there&rsquo;s a big guy in front of you, get him to move or try to look around him. If you can&rsquo;t see it, you can&rsquo;t stop it.</p><p><i>JAKE MCGHEE FROM WOODSLEE, ONT., ASKS</i> Do you have any special pre-game routines?</p><p>I&rsquo;ll listen to music on my iPod &ndash; country music. I&rsquo;d rather be relaxed than hyped up.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03878/9057173-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="76" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>Visit <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a> to ask your questions of NHL stars!<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-02

FAN SHOOTOUT

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05415/9057225-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="564" height="425"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04539/9057232-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="179" height="179"></div><p>THN, Would you be able to give me a brief summary about the rules regarding collecting a player on waivers?</p><p>Ken Van Kuster, Winnipeg</p><p>Ken, If an eligible player (generally not those on entrylevel contracts, but there are other exemptions) is sent down to the minors, any team in the league has 48 hours to put a bid in to claim him. The team with the lowest amount of points in the standings when the player is first demoted wins and must pay his full salary.</p><p>If a team tries to promote a waivereligible player on the way back up and he is claimed, the player&rsquo;s original club pays half his salary, which is why someone like Kings goalie Jason LaBarbera spent all of last season in the AHL; Los Angeles didn&rsquo;t want him getting picked off on the way back up.</p><p>THN, Why are the captains and alternates on Detroit wearing their letters on the right side of the jersey this year?</p><p>Kyle Erb, Wellesley, Ont.</p><p>Kyle, Due to the design of the new jerseys and the location of the &lsquo;winged wheel,&rsquo; Detroit had to move to the right. The Wings wore letters on the right when Ted Lindsay was captain, too.</p><p>SEND YOUR BURNING QUESTIONS TO <a href="mailto:experts@thehockeynews.com">experts@thehockeynews.com</a></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-06288/9057218-1-eng-US/f0006-062.jpg" title="f0006-06" width="86" height="83"></div><p>Need more of your questions answered? Read Proteau&rsquo;s &lsquo;Ask Adam&rsquo; column every Tuesday and Friday at <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0006-05

ASK THE EXPERTS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-08106/9057277-1-eng-US/f0006-082.jpg" title="f0006-08" width="496" height="92"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-07171/9057284-1-eng-US/f0006-072.jpg" title="f0006-07" width="123" height="114"></div><p><i>Would you like to see the NHL take part in the 2014 Olympics?</i></p><p>Yes 69 %</p><p>No 31 %</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-0975/9057270-1-eng-US/f0006-092.jpg" title="f0006-09" width="458" height="640"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HARDING: BRUCE KLUCKHOHN/GETTY IMAGES; ZETTERBERG: GREGORY SHAMUS/GETTY IMAGES; NASLUND: BRIAN BAHR/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>SPIT IT OUT!</b></h2><p>GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST</p><p><i>SEND US AN E-MAIL</i></p><p><a href="mailto:letters@thehockeynews.com">LETTERS@THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a></p><p><i>OR LOG ON</i></p><p><a href="http://www.thehockeynews.com">WWW.THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a></p><p><i>SEND US SNAIL MAIL</i></p><p>Letters, The Hockey News 25 Sheppard Ave. W., Suite 100 Toronto, ON., M2N 6S7, Canada</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-1055/9057263-1-eng-US/f0006-102.jpg" title="f0006-10" width="75" height="74"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>BONUS!</b></h2><p>All subscribers get exclusive content on <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a> with an ALL-ACCESS PASS!<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-08

POLL RESULTS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021636/9057322-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Fabian Brunnstrom</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012173/9057329-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="165" height="188"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>EING PASSED OVER in the National Hockey League draft can be devastating for a young player, but it&rsquo;s probably the best thing that could have happened to Fabian Brunnstrom.</p><p>To be sure, it will almost certainly make him a wealthier man. That&rsquo;s because the 22-year-old Swede is an unrestricted free agent and has earned the attention of a number of NHL teams for his play. Because Europeans are now subject to the same draft rules as North American juniors, Brunnstrom is too old to be drafted and thus is unrestricted.</p><p>The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder has made the jump from First Division in Sweden to Farjestad of the Elite League and has emerged as a legitimate NHL prospect. He&rsquo;ll likely get an offer very close to the rookie salary cap and it will now be a matter of placing him in the situation that is best for him. Given that Swedish countrymen Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Mikael Samuelsson, Johan Franzen and Andreas Lilja are in Detroit, the Red Wings are believed to have the inside track on Brunnstrom.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s coming pretty much from nowhere,&rdquo; said Farjestad GM Hakan Loob. &ldquo;Mentally, he has grown strong in the past year, but he has the potential to become mentally stronger. He looks like he has been in the Elite League for a couple of years the way he moves the puck and skates and everything like that.&rdquo;</p><p>Brunnstrom, in fact, has come so far so quickly that he is being represented by J.P. Barry of the CAA Sports, a firm that doesn&rsquo;t normally spend its resources on marginal players. Because Brunnstrom is under contract to Farjestad beyond this season, according to the NHL-IIHF agreement he has from the day after his season ends next spring until June 15 to sign an NHL contract.</p><p>Brunnstrom is the start of what many NHL scouts think will become a trend because of the current collective bargaining agreement. It used to be European players were drafted and stayed home for several years while they developed their talents. That&rsquo;s what Teemu Selanne did, playing a full four seasons in Finland after the Winnipeg Jets drafted him 10th overall in 1988. Now, they have to be signed within two years just like North American players, so many will either get passed over and become free agents, or be signed much earlier than they were before and be brought to North America.</p><p>Brunnstrom, who had 13 points through 21 games this season, has drawn favorable comparisons to Daniel Alfredsson, another Swedish late-bloomer who was drafted 133rd overall by the Ottawa Senators as a 21-year-old in 1994.</p><p>Brunnstrom is one of a number of intriguing players in Europe to watch this season.</p><p>Some of the others are:</p><h2><b>VICTOR HEDMAN, D</b></h2><p>The 16-year-old defenseman isn&rsquo;t eligible for the NHL draft until 2009, but the 6-foot-5, 212-pounder was playing a regular shift for MoDo until recently when he sustained a serious concussion. According to reports, he was having a strong season prior to the injury.</p><h2><b>ALEXEI MOROZOV, RW</b></h2><p>The former Pittsburgh Penguin led the Russian League with 83 points last season and remains the best player in the league. But since he&rsquo;s making $4.5 million playing for Ak Bars Kazan, there&rsquo;s little chance of seeing the 30-year-old return to the NHL anytime soon.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011956/9057315-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="612" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alexei Morozov left Pittsburgh to lead the Russian League in scoring.</figcaption></div><h2><b>DANNY MARKOV, D</b></h2><p>Unable to find a suitable NHL contract this season, Markov, 31, is playing for Moscow Dynamo and hoping to find a way back into the NHL next year. He was plus-25 with the Red Wings last season.</p><h2><b>NIKOLAI KULEMIN, LW</b></h2><p>Amid the wreckage that is the Toronto Maple Leafs lies 21-year-old winger Nikolai Kulemin, one of the best young players outside the NHL. Drafted 44th in 2006, Kulemin had 29 goals last season for Magnitogorsk in Russia and had 14 in 30 games so far this season. He also played for the Russian team in the recent Karjala Cup in Finland. He&rsquo;s still Toronto property.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-02

LATE-BLOOMER TURNING HEADS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021354/9057374-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="281" height="250"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-03828/9057367-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="428" height="428"></div><p>&lsquo;BOUT TIME After years in the minors, Bruce Boudreau finally gets NHL coaching gig in Washington.</p><p>REACHING OUT NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly initiated good relations with the league by attending the NHL board of governors&rsquo; meeting.</p><p>NEW SKED Everybody plays everybody after much-needed schedule change.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-04630/9057360-1-eng-US/f0009-042.jpg" title="f0009-04" width="429" height="429"></div><p>SHAMELESS Notoriously tough Flyer fans went too far booing Boston&rsquo;s Andrew Alberts when he picked himself up after Scott Hartnell&rsquo;s cheap hit.</p><p>OWN UP Botched sale of Lightning just latest ownership fiasco (Pittsburgh, Nashville) for NHL.</p><p>FLAMING OUT What happened to Calgary being a Stanley Cup contender?<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-02

PLUS/MINUS

<p>10 JIM PAEK brought home a Stanley Cup with Pens, the first Korean to do so.</p><p>9 Current Islander RICHARD PARK also has &lsquo;Seoul&rsquo; in his heritage.</p><p>8 He may have played for Team USA, but ROD LANGWAY was born in Taiwan.</p><p>7 The son of missionaries, ex-Flame RICHIE REGEHR was born in Indonesia.</p><p>6 Ditto for brother and current Flame ROBYN REGEHR, the only Brazil-born NHLer.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-05471/9057405-1-eng-US/f0009-052.jpg" title="f0009-05" width="518" height="404"></div><p>5 CLAUDE VILGRAIN was raised in Quebec, but he&rsquo;s still a Haitian sensation.</p><p>4 Former Hab and King RICK CHARTRAW still the only Venezuelan-born NHLer.</p><p>3 Japan&rsquo;s YUTAKA FUKUFUJI has always been a top-10 list favorite.</p><p>2 Cane CRAIG ADAMS, born in Brunei, married a U.S. ambassador&rsquo;s daughter.</p><p>1 His passport says German, but Caps goalie OLAF KOLZIG is a native of South Africa.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-05

Starting from 10

<div class="byline">&#x2013; KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012142/9057485-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ilya Bryzgalov</figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>HEN ILYA BRYZGALOV WAS working his way through the ranks of Russian professional hockey, the advice he used to receive from his coach with the Lada Togliatti farm team was, well, let&rsquo;s just say, a little unorthodox.</p><p>&ldquo;He told me, &lsquo;Hey, you can&rsquo;t stop every shot,&rsquo;&rdquo; Bryzgalov recalled. &ldquo;&lsquo;Just work 15 minutes, five minutes take a break. If you want to give up a goal, give one up.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>Luckily, Bryzgalov survived the, ahem, unconventional coaching methods to find himself in the NHL. And in doing so, he is part of a wave of European goalies that is so pronounced the league has never seen the likes of it before.</p><p>As of late November, 69 goalies had played at least one NHL game this season and 25 of them, or 36.2 percent, were born and trained in Europe. Among starting goalies, the numbers are even more impressive. Europeans are holding down 14 of the 30 starting jobs (46.7 percent) in the NHL this season. (Counted on that list is Dominik Hasek, who is clearly the No. 1 man in Detroit, despite playing fewer games than Chris Osgood.)</p><p>And that doesn&rsquo;t even include Boston Bruins&rsquo; No. 1 man Tim Thomas, who spent parts of five seasons in Finland and Sweden before finally finding work as an NHL regular at 31. Nor does it count Olaf Kolzig, who lived in Germany as a youngster and plays for that country in international competitions. That&rsquo;s because the Capitals goalie, who was born in South Africa, had moved to Canada by the time he was old enough to start playing hockey.</p><p>Finland leads all European nations with eight netminders who have played in the NHL this season. Three of them are No. 1 stoppers &ndash; Miikka Kiprusoff in Calgary, Vesa Toskala in Toronto and Minnesota&rsquo;s Niklas Backstrom. Kiprusoff has already won a Vezina Trophy and Backstrom, who came to the NHL last year at 28, looks like he&rsquo;s in line to win one soon.</p><p>The country that has really been coming on strong in producing goalies has been Sweden, a nation that had long been maligned for its sub-par goaltending in international play. (Just ask Tommy Salo about that quarterfinal game against Belarus in the 2002 Olympics&hellip;)</p><p>The Swedes &ndash; like their Scandinavian rivals &ndash; also have three No. 1 NHL netminders: Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers; Johan Holmqvist of Tampa Bay; and Johan Hedberg of Atlanta. Lundqvist is making an excellent case to become the first Swede since Pelle Lindbergh to win the Vezina after being a finalist for the award in each of his first two NHL seasons.</p><p>Only the Czechs (Hasek and Florida&rsquo;s Tomas Vokoun) and the Russians (Bryzgalov and Chicago&rsquo;s Nikolai Khabibulin) join the Finns and Swedes as European countries with more than one No. 1 goalie, although Kazakhstan-born and -trained Evgeni Nabokov, with San Jose, is considered a Russian for international hockey purposes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021549/9057478-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="208" height="252"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03970/9057471-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="133" height="132"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ROCKIN&rsquo; OUT</b></h2><p>with Zach Parise</p><p>The young Devils star has more than 1,000 songs on his iPod.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04670/9057464-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="193" height="190"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>NAME</p><p>What it is to Burn</p><p>ARTIST</p><p>Finch</p><p>ZP: &ldquo;I have a pre-game playlist full of Creed and Finch.&rdquo;</p></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-05485/9057457-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="193" height="190"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>NAME</p><p>The Taste of Ink</p><p>ARTIST</p><p>The Used</p><p>ZP: &ldquo;I love this song. I have some of their new stuff, too.&rdquo;</p></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-06368/9057450-1-eng-US/f0010-062.jpg" title="f0010-06" width="193" height="190"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>NAME</p><p>Set this Circus Down</p><p>ARTIST</p><p>Tim McGraw</p><p>ZP: &ldquo;I always listen to songs from this album.&rdquo;</p></figcaption></div><h2><b>BEST OF THE BOOKS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-07262/9057443-1-eng-US/f0010-072.jpg" title="f0010-07" width="40" height="256"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-08195/9057436-1-eng-US/f0010-082.jpg" title="f0010-08" width="262" height="389"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRYZGALOV: JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h3><b>KING OF RUSSIA</b></h3><p>by Dave King w/Eric Duhatschek $34.99 CDN/$24.95 U.S. Former Flames and Blue Jackets coach Dave King travelled to Russia two years ago to take over bench duties for Mettalurg Magnitogorsk. What follows is a fascinating inside look at Russian hockey. From sketchy doctors to white-knuckle plane rides, King experiences it all, including the ascent of a certain young Mettalurg star named Evgeni Malkin. An excellent page-turner, to be sure.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

EURO GOALIES RISE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-031045/9057516-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="511" height="793"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SPORTS ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012085/9057530-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="120" height="122"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021626/9057523-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="89" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>TUUKKA RASK</b></h2><p>BOSTON BRUINS, G</p><p>DEBUT Nov. 20, 2007</p><p> VS. Toronto (4-2 win)</p><p> ICE TIME 60:00</p><p> KEY STAT 30 saves, .938 SP</p><p>&ldquo;MY FIRST GAME came against the team that drafted me, the Maple Leafs, so there was definitely an added incentive to prove my NHL skills.</p><p>I gave up the first two goals of the game, including a Mats Sundin curveball that I thought was going past the net. On another night, maybe I stop that one.</p><p>I really liked the way the guys played to get the goals we needed in our 4-2 win. I kept the puck from the game. That&rsquo;s going on my wall at home somewhere.</p><p>After starting the year in the AHL, the speed of the game didn&rsquo;t bother me so much, but the players are definitely smarter and make better passes, so you have to be on your toes.</p><p>I was happy with my first game and it is something that I will watch again when I&rsquo;m older.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-03

FRESH LEGS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04629/9057575-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="345" height="372"></div><p><b>T</b>here&rsquo;s no need to look any further than Tampa Bay Lightning star Vincent Lecavalier for player-of-the-month honors in November.</p><p>The 27-year-old Bolts center set a torrid pace with eight consecutive games in which he collected multiple points; in all, Lecavalier racked up seven goals and 21 points in that white-hot stretch from Nov. 3-19, including a hat trick and five points against Carolina on Nov. 14 (he was also plus-5 against the Canes).</p><p>Lecavalier had points in 10 of 14 games in November, and responded with big efforts following games in which he didn&rsquo;t make the scoresheet. After going pointless against the Islanders on Nov. 1, Lecavalier had three assists against Atlanta Nov. 3 to kick-start his eightgame multi-point binge. And then when the Rangers finally held him off the scoresheet on Nov. 21, he returned with back-to-back efforts of one goal and two points against Carolina and New Jersey on Nov. 23-24.</p><p>&ldquo;Once you start scoring, it seems like you can really see the net,&rdquo; Lecavalier said. &ldquo;Right now, my confidence is pretty good. When I get in front of a goalie, it&rsquo;s all about confidence, I think. If you&rsquo;re calm and you don&rsquo;t squeeze your stick, good things will happen.&rdquo;</p><p>With nine goals and 25 points in November, Lecavalier also climbed to the top of the NHL scoring ladder, leapfrogging the likes of Sidney Crosby, Henrik Zetterberg, Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk.</p><p>&ldquo;You look at Crosby, (Alex) Ovechkin&hellip; these guys are going to be the best players in the league for the next 15 years,&rdquo; Lecavalier said. &ldquo;Zetterberg this year is doing unbelievable.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t compare myself to these guys. I just play my game and do the best that I can.&rdquo;</p><p>Which, so far, has been pretty darn good. Lecavalier was named player of the week not once, but twice in November &ndash; back-to-back weeks, in fact &ndash; and don&rsquo;t let the modest superstar act fool you. Lecavalier, the No. 1 overall draft pick by Tampa in 1998, has a puck pedigree that&rsquo;s as impressive as anybody&rsquo;s in the NHL. The native of Ile Bizard, Que., broke out for 52 goals and 108 points last season &ndash; his previous bests were 35 goals (2005-06) and 78 points (2002-03) &ndash; and he has a Stanley Cup ring from Tampa&rsquo;s 2004 run to the final.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05447/9057568-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="880" height="1399"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>Lecavalier racked up 21 points in 17 days.</i></b> <span class="photo-credit">(Andy Marlin/Getty Images)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>FACTS & STATS</b></h2><p><b>PLAYER:</b> Vincent Lecavalier <b>TEAM:</b> Tampa Bay Lightning <b>POSITION</b>: Center <b>AGE:</b> 27</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-06364/9057561-1-eng-US/f0012-062.jpg" title="f0012-06" width="1413" height="193"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-04

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012062/9057627-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="889" height="634"><figcaption class="caption-body">The NHL&rsquo;s recent games in London may be a sign of bigger things to come. <span class="photo-credit">(MIKE HEWITT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>HE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE already has made one foray into Europe this year, kicking off the 2007-08 campaign with a pair of games in London.</p><p>According to Gary Bettman, it likely won&rsquo;t be the last trip the league sets up overseas.</p><p>&ldquo;There are rumors rampant that we might go to Prague or Stockholm next,&rdquo; said Bettman Nov. 27 at the Reuters Media Summit in New York City. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re looking at the options.</p><p>&ldquo;I could envision a point in time in the future to maybe go to a dozen different (European) cities over time. There are lots of hockey markets with tremendously avid fans throughout Europe.&rdquo;</p><p>Other cities cited as potential game hosts by the NHL commissioner included Helsinki, Moscow, St. Petersburg and a number of locations in Germany.</p><p>Bettman also commented on the probability the league will continue sending NHLers to compete in the Winter Olympics. And Russian fans in particular surely won&rsquo;t enjoy what sounded like a warning the practise could come to an end after the 2010 Games in Vancouver.</p><p>&ldquo;It is a strain,&rdquo; said Bettman when asked why the league might choose to stop players from competing in the 2014 Games, which will take place in Sochi, Russia. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a strain on our players, on the schedule and on our (North American) fans. It has an impact on the momentum of the season and the benefits we get tend to be greater when the Olympics are in North America than when they&rsquo;re in distant time zones.&rdquo;</p><p>Though some may see Bettman&rsquo;s tough stance as incentive for Russia to sign a player transfer agreement with the NHL, geography may have as much, or more to do with the eventual decision.</p><p>&ldquo;Vancouver was an easy call because we&rsquo;re going to play the games in Canada,&rdquo; Bettman said. &ldquo;After Vancouver we&rsquo;ll have to take a deep breath, debrief and make sure we balance the pros and cons of going to the Olympics.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>SNAPSHOTS</b></h2><p>FROM AROUND THE NHL</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021554/9057620-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="121" height="121"></div><p>IT&rsquo;S GREAT to see Chicago&rsquo;s Jake Dowell make his NHL debut. His father, John, is battling Huntington&rsquo;s disease, an incurable genetic brain disorder that leads to regression in mental and physical capabilities. Death typically comes 10 to 20 years after diagnosis. Jake has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the gene, but won&rsquo;t be tested until he&rsquo;s 35.</p><p>DOES BEING successful in the shootout mean a lot? Well, the Edmonton Oilers are the best in the NHL this season, going 6-1, but still ranked second-last the standings.</p><p>TORONTO&rsquo;S JASON Blake, who averaged about 18 goals a season his first five-plus years, is on pace for just seven this season. The aberration was the 40-goal output with the Islanders last season. He parlayed that into a four-year, $20-million deal with the Maple Leafs.</p><p>VS.</p><p>EURO GOALIES ARE NARROWING THE GAP</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-031070/9057613-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="1286" height="736"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>Roberto Luongo</p><p>Henrik Lundqvist</p><span class="photo-credit">(LUONGO: JEFF VINNICK/GETTY IMAGES; LUNDQVIST: ANDRE RINGUETTE/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>When Europeans first broke into the NHL, their numbers were few and goalies among them were rare. Now Europe is supplying almost half of the top goaltenders, whose statistics are on par with their North American counterparts.</p><p>NORTH AMERICA VS. EUROPE</p><p>TALE OF THE TAPE</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04739/9057606-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="905" height="562"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-01

EURO PLANS MAY EXPAND

<div class="byline">RISTO PAKARINEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021431/9057714-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">When the title was on the line, Modo leaned on five ex-NHLers to bring it all home. <span class="photo-credit">(STEFAN JERREVANG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011839/9057721-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="187" height="222"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>HE FIRST EUROPEANS ENTERED THE NHL in the 1970s, the big boost was seen in the &rsquo;80s and by the late &rsquo;90s, winning the Stanley Cup had become the biggest dream for little boys in Finland, Sweden, Russia and the Czech Republic.</p><p>That&rsquo;s not news. Ever since Inge Hammarstrom skated into a corner with a basket of eggs and back out without breaking them, the discussion about Europeans in the NHL has been lively.</p><p>Mostly, though, the debate has been about the European players&rsquo; influence on the NHL.</p><p>Meanwhile, the increased contact between the two hockey worlds has also left an imprint on the European leagues. In fact, the first steps were taken even before the first European player, Tommi Salmelainen, was drafted to the NHL in 1969, when Carl Brewer took a year to play with IFK Helsinki in the Finnish league. Brewer created the spirit of the club which, to this day, is known for its straightforward North American style of physical play, perseverance and guts.</p><p>After the first wave of NHL Euro-stars came their natural return home in the early &rsquo;90s. The Swedish league got back Hakan Loob, Borje Salming and Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, the Finnish league was made tougher and more skilled by the returns of Pekka Rautakallio, Kari Eloranta and Kari Takko. All but Salming are still active in the game, as coaches or GMs.</p><p>Today, Europe is no longer simply the end of the road for aged European hockey stars. These days, players can go back and forth &ndash; try their luck in the NHL, return to Europe to develop some more and then make another attempt a few years later.</p><p>It&rsquo;s not even a dead end or last frontier for North Americans. The Red Wings&rsquo; Brian Rafalski, the Bruins&rsquo; Tim Thomas and the Panthers&rsquo; Cory Murphy are good examples of players who have skated through Europe en route to the NHL.</p><p>The same applies to coaches. Several former NHL bench bosses &ndash; Pierre Page, Barry Smith, Dave King, to name a few &ndash; work in European leagues, mixing it up with their North American way of doing things.</p><p>With the improved hockey market in Europe and higher salaries (especially in Sweden and Russia), there are more former NHLers in their prime playing in Europe. They all know what it takes to make it to the NHL and they know what they need to do to get back. And their work ethic is contagious.</p><p>The best example of that was seen last season when Modo clinched its first Swedish title in 28 years. For the last shift in the final game, the coach sent out these five players: Hans Jonsson, Mattias Timander, Per Svartvadet, Andreas Salomonsson and Niklas Sundstrom, all former NHLers.</p><p>The biggest influence, however, may be the one that&rsquo;s seen off the ice. The game operations are modeled after NHL games and team merchandising is also copied.</p><p>The NHL influence also is obvious when looking at the European top nations&rsquo; management teams: Finland&rsquo;s GM is Jari Kurri; Russia&rsquo;s is Pavel Bure; Sweden&rsquo;s coach is Bengt-Ake Gustafsson while the team manager is Mats Naslund; and, Slovakia&rsquo;s GM is Peter Bondra.</p><p>The European NHL pioneers are still at it, shaping the future of European hockey, if not with the national teams, then as coaches and GMs on club teams. Many more, like Hammarstrom, are working for NHL teams as scouts, shaping the future of the NHL and the European leagues.</p><p>The NHL is the yardstick against which all hockey work is measured in Europe. Players are evaluated according to their potential to play in the NHL and the front offices&rsquo; actions are measured against the more abstract &ldquo;What would an NHL team do?&rdquo; There&rsquo;s no expert commentator or journalist who wouldn&rsquo;t use the NHL trump card to criticize the league or team management, however absurd it sometimes may be, when the journalists have no first-hand experience of how NHL teams work &ndash; and the owners and managers are just beginning to get it.</p><p>Peter Forsberg was instrumental when his alma mater, Modo, built a new arena last year. The Flyers&rsquo; Sami Kapanen and Kimmo Timonen are co-owners of KalPa in the Finnish Elite League and more players will soon be following in their footsteps.</p><p>European hockey wouldn&rsquo;t be the same without the NHL. It would be smaller and even more introverted.</p><p>Meanwhile, Loob, having built a Swedish powerhouse in Farjestad, is dreaming the ultimate European dream. He wants to see his club, of which he will be the CEO next year, play in a Pan-European professional hockey league. If he gets his way, as he&rsquo;s used to, maybe the true convergence of the NHL and European leagues will become more concrete.</p><p>That&rsquo;s one thing the NHL won&rsquo;t be able to do alone, and neither will the Europeans. If past experiences about European Cups, or co-operation between different leagues in Europe is any indication, it may not be Loob who will be building the European league.</p><p>It will be his grandson.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11261/9057707-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="1440" height="2092"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hakan Loob was a champion in Calgary and has brought his success back home to Sweden. <span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Old face, new place</b></h2><p>Here are 2006-07 leading scorers in the top European leagues, with NHL experience.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-031068/9057700-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="97" height="63"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>GERMANY</b></h3><p><b>Dave McLlwain</b></p><p><i>501 NHL games, 1987-97</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04808/9057693-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="97" height="62"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>RUSSIA</b></h3><p><b>Alexei Morozov</b></p><p><i>451 NHL games, 1997-04</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05580/9057686-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="97" height="61"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>SWITZERLAND</b></h3><p><b>Simon Gamache</b></p><p><i>48 NHL games, 2003-present</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06476/9057679-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="96" height="63"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>CZECH REPUBLIC</b></h3><p><b>Petr Sykora</b></p><p><i>12 NHL games, 2005-06</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07414/9057672-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="97" height="61"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>SWEDEN</b></h3><p><b>Fredrik Bremberg</b></p><p><i>8 NHL games, 1998-99</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08358/9057665-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="97" height="62"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>FINLAND</b></h3><p><b>Martin Kariya</b></p><p><i>84 AHL games, 2003-present</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09311/9057658-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="97" height="62"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>SLOVAKIA</b></h3><p><b>Erik Weissman</b></p><p><i>No North American experience</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-02

NHL HAS CHANGED EUROPE AS WELL

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06347/9057864-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teemu Selanne quickly achieved supertsar status in North America. <span class="photo-credit">(JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>Y</span>OU CAN BET THERE AREN&rsquo;T a whole lot of hockey scouts who go around regularly quoting Mark Twain, but when they go to Europe looking for players, they do so espousing the philosophy behind one of the American humorist&rsquo;s many famous sayings.</p><p>&ldquo;Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.&rdquo;</p><p>Or as one NHL executive put it: &ldquo;I have seen as many lazy, selfish dogs come from Western Canada as I have from the Czech Republic.&rdquo;</p><p>It may have been the case at one time, but the days of cookie-cutter players coming from European countries are over. When scouts travel to Europe now, they&rsquo;re just as likely to find an Ulf Samuelsson as a Nicklas Lidstrom, a Sergei Zubov as a Vladimir Konstantinov, an Esa Tikkanen as a Teemu Selanne or a Bobby Holik as a Jaromir Jagr.</p><p>Europeans have done much for the NHL since they began arriving in the mid-1970s. Primarily they&rsquo;ve raised the skill level significantly, but they&rsquo;ve also taken from the North American system and now are producing players who can play all roles at all positions.</p><p>&ldquo;Whoever thought there would be top goaltenders coming out of Finland?&rdquo; one scout said. &ldquo;We always thought the big thing was going to be Quebec, but now they&rsquo;re coming out of Finland.&rdquo;</p><p>The majority of players are still coming from the traditional hockey-playing European countries, but nations such as Denmark, Norway, France, Switzerland and Slovenia are producing players for a league that is still challenged to stock 30 teams with top-shelf talent. When a scout goes to Europe circa 2007, he goes there with the same checklist as he would for a junior or college game and that&rsquo;s simply to find players whom he projects can play at the NHL level.</p><p>Some countries are doing better than others on that front. Most scouts acknowledge that the most top-level talent exists in the Russian Super League, but the best all-around hockey in Europe can be found in Sweden. The problem with Russia, said one scout, is there is far too much disparity between the top teams and lower ones. The Russian League is flush with money in many markets and the richest teams are stocking the best talent, sometimes even luring players back to Russia from the NHL.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011718/9057857-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="1298" height="1020"><figcaption class="caption-body">Former Flyer and Leaf Mikael Renberg is back playing in Sweden. <span class="photo-credit">(IHA)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;You have to make a distinction between the best players and the best hockey,&rdquo; the scout said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a big gap between the best teams in Russia and the worst teams and there&rsquo;s a big gap in the style of play. Some people say the top teams in Russia are NHL-like. I don&rsquo;t know if I buy that totally, but I can see where it&rsquo;s coming from.</p><p>&ldquo;When you get into the lower levels of the league, it&rsquo;s senior hockey-like. And they don&rsquo;t seem to care about development anymore. They just want to buy what they can buy so they can win now.&rdquo;</p><p>Developing players seems to be far more important in Sweden and Finland, where salaries for the top players are not as high as in Russia. For example, it&rsquo;s believed Alexei Morozov makes $4.5 million taxfree per season as Russia&rsquo;s highestpaid player, while Jan Hrdina makes about $350,000 as the highest-paid player in Sweden.</p><p>&ldquo;Clearly the conditions, the coaching, the professional approach to hockey in (Sweden and Finland) is outstanding,&rdquo; a scout said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re doing it right. They&rsquo;re training off the ice right and they&rsquo;re being well coached. They&rsquo;re drawing well and they&rsquo;re doing a good job.&rdquo;</p><p>One scout said his organization looks to Russia now only for toplevel talent because with no transfer agreement in place, it is increasingly difficult to get players out of the country and keep them in North America. One of the enormous problems facing the NHL is the fact young Russian players face the decision of advancing their NHL careers by playing for $75,000 in the minors, or going back home to play for $1 million tax-free. It has become a vexing situation for NHL teams and some of them are backing off drafting Russians because of it.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a valid point, but that&rsquo;s an after-the-fact point,&rdquo; one scout said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for the best players first and then if it becomes an impractical situation to bring him over, then I deal with it. If I&rsquo;m sending (one of my scouts) over to Russia, I&rsquo;m telling him, &lsquo;That&rsquo;s my problem, not your problem.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">I&rsquo;m looking for the best players first and if it becomes an impractical situation to bring him over, then I deal with it. &ndash; NHL scout</blockquote><p>Another challenge facing both the NHL and the European leagues is posed by the new collective bargaining agreement. That&rsquo;s because European players are now subject to the same draft regulations as North American junior players, so they must be signed within two years of being drafted. It used to be that teams could draft a European player at 18 and basically hold his draft rights in perpetuity, meaning they would often leave him in Europe to develop for four or five years, before determining whether he was an NHL-caliber player. Now teams are rushing to sign European players, rather than lose them and teams that would normally draft more European players are using more late picks on U.S. high school and college players, because they don&rsquo;t have to be signed within the two-year period.</p><p>The Czech Republic and Slovakia, meanwhile, have suffered in recent years because of a lack of money in their programs and the fact that a good number of their best young players come over to play in North American junior leagues as teenagers. Neither country had a first round pick in last year&rsquo;s draft and, shockingly, didn&rsquo;t have a single player drafted until the Phoenix Coyotes took Vladimir Ruzicka 103rd. Once a constant producer of highly skilled players, Slovakia hasn&rsquo;t produced a firstrounder since Vladimir Mihalik was chosen 30th overall in 2005 and hasn&rsquo;t churned out much in the way of skill since Marian Gaborik.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011365/9057850-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="1259" height="967"><figcaption class="caption-body">Koeln&rsquo;s Ivan Ciernek (shooter) plays in an improving German League.</figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;The Czechs and Slovaks are falling off the face of the earth,&rdquo; one scout said, &ldquo;except for the high-end guy and he&rsquo;s escaping.&rdquo;</p><p>Switzerland and Germany have been much more aggressive with their domestic programs in terms of putting money into them and they are starting to get results. A number of rosters around the NHL are dotted with German players and Switzerland has shown a proclivity for producing goaltenders and defensemen, but not much in the way of forwards.</p><p>&ldquo;In Switzerland, their best players now rival the best foreign import players,&rdquo; a scout said, &ldquo;which has never been the case.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021313/9057843-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="411" height="254"></div><h2><b>CZECH REPUBLIC</b></h2><h3><b>TIPSPORT EXTRALIGA</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03954/9057836-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="342" height="380"><figcaption class="caption-body">Turek</figcaption></div><p><b>FOUNDED:</b> 1936</p><p><b>TEAMS:</b> Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague, Litvinov, Liberec, Znojomo, Zlin, Ceske Budjovice, Karlovy Vary, Vitkovice, Trinec, Pardubice, Usti nad Labem, Plzen, Kladno</p><p><b>MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS:</b> Dukla Jihlava (12)</p><p><b>ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER:</b> Milan Novy (555 pts)</p><p><b>DEFENDING CHAMPION:</b> Sparta Prague</p><p><b>PROMINENT FORMER NHLERS:</b> Robert Reichel, Josef Beranek, Roman Turek, Jan Caloun</p><p><b>ESTIMATED AVERAGE SALARY:</b> $100,000</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04646/9057829-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="214" height="371"></div><h2><b>FINLAND</b></h2><h3><b>SM-LIIGA</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05441/9057822-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="343" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hrdina <span class="photo-credit">(TUREK/HRDINA: GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>FOUNDED:</b> 1975</p><p><b>TEAMS:</b> Assat Pori, Espoo Blues, IFK Helsinki, HPK Hameenlinna, Ilves Tampere, Jokerit Helsinki, JYP Jyvaskala, KalPa Kuopio, Karpat Oulu, Lukko Rauma, Lahti Pelicans, SaiPa Lappeenranta, Tappara Tampere, TPS Turku</p><p><b>MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS:</b> TPS Turku (9)</p><p><b>ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER:</b> Arto Javanainen (792 pts)</p><p><b>DEFENDING CHAMPION:</b> Karpat Oulu</p><p><b>PROMINENT FORMER NHLERS:</b> Jan Hrdina, Clarke Wilm, Jani Rita, Jussi Markkanen</p><p><b>ESTIMATED AVERAGE SALARY:</b> $67,000</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011207/9057815-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="287" height="363"></div><h2><b>GERMANY</b></h2><h3><b>DEL-DEUTSCHE EISHOCKEY-LIGA</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02794/9057808-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="342" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">Warriner</figcaption></div><p><b>FOUNDED:</b> 1957</p><p><b>TEAMS:</b> Augsburg Panthers, Berlin Ice Bears, EV Duisburg, Dusseldorf Metro Stars, Frankfurt Lions, Hamburg Freezers, Hannover Scorpions, ERC Ingolstadt, Iserlohn Roosters, Cologne Sharks, Krefeld Penguins, Mannheim Eagles, Nurnberg Ice Tigers, Straubing Tigers, EHC Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams</p><p><b>MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS:</b> EV Fussen (10)</p><p><b>ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER:</b> Erich Kuhnhackl (1,363 pts)</p><p><b>DEFENDING CHAMPION:</b> Mannheim Eagles</p><p><b>PROMINENT FORMER NHLERS:</b> Dan McGillis, Rico Fata, Todd Warriner</p><p><b>ESTIMATED AVERAGE SALARY:</b> $150,000</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04399/9057801-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="525" height="380"></div><h2><b>RUSSIA</b></h2><h3><b>SUPERLIGA</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05279/9057794-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="343" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">Yashin</figcaption></div><p><b>FOUNDED:</b> 1946</p><p><b>TEAMS:</b> Amur Khabarovsk, Avangard Omsk, Ak Bars Kazan, CSKA Moscow (Central Army), Dynamo Moscow, Khimik, Lada Togliatti, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Metallurg Novokuznetsk, MVD Tver, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, Ufa Salavat, Severstal Cherepovets, Sibir Novosibrirsk, SKA St. Petersburg, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, Traktor Chelyabinsk, Vityaz Chekhov</p><p><b>MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS:</b> CSKA-Red/Central Army (32)</p><p><b>ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER:</b> Sergei Makarov (710 pts)</p><p><b>DEFENDING CHAMPION:</b> Metallurg Magnitogorsk</p><p><b>PROMINENT FORMER NHLERS:</b> Alexei Morozov, Alexei Yashin, Danny Markov, Oleg Tverdovsky</p><p><b>ESTIMATED AVERAGE SALARY:</b> $400,000</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-021015/9057787-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="391" height="224"></div><h2><b>SLOVAKIA</b></h2><h3><b>T-COM EXTRALIGA</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03772/9057780-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="342" height="378"><figcaption class="caption-body">Palffy</figcaption></div><p><b>FOUNDED:</b> 1993</p><p><b>TEAMS:</b> Slovan Bratislava, Kocise, Trencin, Martin, Poprad, Skalica, Zvolen, Kezmarok, Zilina, Nitra, Liptovsky Mikulas</p><p><b>MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS:</b> HC Slovan Bratislava (6)</p><p><b>ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER:</b> Vlastimil Plavuchka (463 pts)</p><p><b>DEFENDING CHAMPION:</b> HC Slovan Bratislava</p><p><b>PROMINENT FORMER NHLERS:</b> Ziggy Palffy, Ivan Droppa, Robert Dome</p><p><b>ESTIMATED AVERAGE SALARY:</b> $75,000</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04572/9057773-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="228" height="434"></div><h2><b>SWEDEN</b></h2><h3><b>ELITSERIEN</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05437/9057766-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="342" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sundstrom</figcaption></div><p><b>FOUNDED:</b> 1975</p><p><b>TEAMS:</b> Farjestads BK, HV-71 Jonkoping, Modo, Lingkopings HC, Timra IK, Brynas, Lulea, Mora, Frolunda HC, Djurgarden, Skelleftea AIK, Sodertalje</p><p><b>MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS:</b> Farjestad (7)</p><p><b>ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER:</b> Jorgen Jonsson (607 pts)</p><p><b>DEFENDING CHAMPION:</b> Modo</p><p><b>PROMINENT FORMER NHLERS:</b> Mikael Renberg, Pavel Brendl, Niklas Sundstrom, Mattias Timander</p><p><b>ESTIMATED AVERAGE SALARY:</b> $200,000</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06352/9057759-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="364" height="252"></div><h2><b>SWITZERLAND</b></h2><h3><b>NATIONALLIGA A</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-07295/9057752-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="342" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">Daigle<span class="photo-credit">(LARS BARON/BONGARTS/GETTY IMAGES; ALL OTHERS: GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>FOUNDED:</b> 1937</p><p><b>TEAMS:</b> HC Ambri-Piotta, EHC Basel, SC Bern, HC Davos, HC Fribourg-Gotteron, Geneve-Servette HC, Kloten Flyers, SCL Tigers, HC Lugano, Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, EV Zug, ZSC Lions</p><p><b>MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS:</b> HC Davos (28)</p><p><b>ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER:</b> Peter Jaks (783 pts)</p><p><b>DEFENDING CHAMPION:</b> HC Davos</p><p><b>PROMINENT FORMER NHLERS:</b> Alexandre Daigle, Mariusz Czerkawski, Paul DiPietro, Patrik Stefan</p><p><b>ESTIMATED AVERAGE SALARY:</b> $170,000<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-06

ACROSS THE POND

<div class="byline">with Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011183/9057895-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CHARLIE TELJEUR)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011318/9057909-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="187" height="222"></div><p>&ldquo;GOOD EVENING, I&rsquo;M JARMO KEKALAINEN and I&rsquo;d like to call to order this meeting of the Society of European NHL Power Brokers.</p><p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s take attendance. OK. Kekalainen?&rdquo;</p><p><i>&ldquo;Here.&rdquo;</i></p><p>&ldquo;Samuelsson?&rdquo;</p><p><i>&ldquo;Here.&rdquo;</i></p><p>&ldquo;Dahlen?&rdquo;</p><p><i>&ldquo;Present.&rdquo;</i></p><p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be smart, Dahlen, saying &lsquo;present&rsquo; when everyone else says &lsquo;here.&rsquo; And move over a bit, some guy needs to make a call.&rdquo;</p><p>Get it? All the Europeans who hold positions of power in NHL hockey departments could conduct a meeting in a phone booth. But, hey, at least it would have to be a big phone booth.</p><p>A quick perusal of the <i>NHL Official Guide & Record</i> book indicates there are 249 hockey management jobs out there in the NHL, encompassing GMs, assistant GMs, directors of hockey operations, directors of player personnel, head scouts, coaches and assistant coaches. And exactly three of those posts are held by Europeans &ndash; Kekalainen is the assistant GM of the St. Louis Blues; Ulf Dahlen is an assistant coach in Dallas and Ulf Samuelsson is an assistant coach in Phoenix;. That&rsquo;s 1.2 percent for a segment that makes up roughly 30 percent of the players in the league.</p><p>There has never been a European GM in the NHL and there is no danger of one snagging the keys to the executive washroom any time soon. In the 90-year history of the NHL there have been exactly two European head coaches, Alpo Suhonen and Ivan Hlinka, who were both disasters. But did the NHL give up on Canadian coaches when George Kingston led the San Jose Sharks to a sterling 28-129-7 record over two seasons or on American GMs after Mike O&rsquo;Connell traded Joe Thornton from Boston?</p><p>And it&rsquo;s not as though there are no qualified candidates out there these days. Former Calgary Flames star Hakan Loob is GM of the Farjestad team in Sweden that is a perennial powerhouse (with the exception of this season) and has won four league championships in 11 years. But he has never received so much as a phone call from an interested NHL team.</p><p>If Peter Stastny ever gave up politics, he&rsquo;d have the potential to be a great GM, as would Igor Larionov or Slava Fetisov. Toronto Maple Leafs scout Thommie Bergman has a terrific eye for talent, as does New Jersey Devils Euro scout Dan Labraaten. Mats Naslund does a commendable job running Sweden&rsquo;s national team program and Jari Kurri has had great success running the hockey program in Finland.</p><p>So why aren&rsquo;t there more Europeans occupying the halls of power in the NHL? Well, it&rsquo;s likely a combination of things. There is little doubt the NHL establishment is a North American old boys&rsquo; network that is very difficult to infiltrate. And then there are the European stereotypes, some of which the Europeans in hockey perpetuate themselves.</p><p>Consider the case of Kekalainen, who came to North America as a teenager to play at Clarkson University, then in the NHL, and went back to run IFK Helsinki in Finland before joining the Ottawa Senators as a director of player personnel in 1999. If the impression among North Americans is that Europeans are too meek to seize power in hockey, certainly Kekalainen and Loob have done little to dispel the notion.</p><p>Generally speaking, they&rsquo;re not self-promoters and seem rather unwilling to suck up to the power brokers in the hockey establishment.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little frustrating because any time a GM job opens up, it seems like all the same names circulate,&rdquo; Kekalainen said. &ldquo;You have to have a campaign manager to get your name mentioned in these stories and I certainly don&rsquo;t have one. Maybe I should have a campaign manager. I don&rsquo;t enjoy that part of it and I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s the right way to do it, but maybe you&rsquo;ve got to play the game the way it&rsquo;s played.&rdquo;</p><p>Loob goes a step further.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really up to us because we&rsquo;re a little bit careful, people in Europe and especially in Sweden,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you want to get something, you have to be more aggressive and tell people you&rsquo;re capable and stand up for yourself a bit. I think maybe we don&rsquo;t have the mental toughness to say those things. We have the mental toughness to do a good job, but not maybe to present ourselves as capable as we are. You hope without saying anything, somebody is going to ask you and it&rsquo;s not that easy.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">Any time a GM job opens up, all the same names circulate.</blockquote><p>Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke said a large factor in all of this is that Europeans tend to go back home after their playing careers end and it&rsquo;s pretty difficult to work for an NHL team from there. But perhaps that&rsquo;s because nobody asks them to stay.</p><p>And while there is no overt bias against Europeans, a good number of power brokers in the game simply still don&rsquo;t understand European culture enough to appreciate what makes them tick.</p><p>The good ones such as Burke and many others have been to Europe countless times and take time to see the countries they visit and spend time with the people there, forging lasting relationships. But too many NHL execs simply go to the big tournaments such as the World Junior Championship and Sweden Games and when they&rsquo;re not at the rink, spend almost all their time in the hotel lobby bar talking hockey with other North Americans.</p><p>&ldquo;There are obstacles, no doubt about it,&rdquo; Kekalainen said. &ldquo;But there was a first player, there was a first coach and I&rsquo;m sure there will be a first manager one of these days.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02952/9057902-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="77" height="77"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>For Ken&rsquo;s web-exclusive Campbell&rsquo;s Cuts column visit <a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-01

IT’S TIME FOR NHL TO PHONE EUROPE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011216/9058156-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MIKE STOBE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ere are the 10 top-scoring NHL defensemen since Nicklas Lidstrom&rsquo;s rookie season of &rsquo;91-92. Lidstrom leads the way in games, goals, assists and points.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-01

TOP 10 SINCE ‘91

<div class="byline">with Adam Proteau</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03628/9058201-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Swedish fans didn&rsquo;t exactly flock to see Canada win the Four Nations Cup.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011299/9058208-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="187" height="222"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>O EUROPEAN-THEMED ISSUE would be complete without an appraisal of women&rsquo;s hockey on that continent. Although I&rsquo;d feel better about appraising it if the appraisal weren&rsquo;t so damned dismal.</p><p>But it is, and there&rsquo;s no getting around it. Not when the 2007 Four Nations Cup &ndash; held in Leksand, Sweden &ndash; was played before crowds numbering in the low hundreds. Not when you&rsquo;ve heard from Canadian female hockey officials whom some European administrators view as novelty acts. And certainly not when you speak to Safiya Muharuma, a spirited young Canadian who adores the sport, yet is being systematically squeezed out of a playing career in Switzerland thanks to one-step-forward, two-steps-back rules newly implemented by the Swiss Hockey Federation.</p><p>&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t seem right,&rdquo; said Muharuma of the stipulation, which dictates that women&rsquo;s teams must obtain costly work visas for import players and pay them 3,500 Swiss Francs per month. &ldquo;I really want to be part of a championship team here, but I&rsquo;m not allowed to. It&rsquo;s a very frustrating situation.&rdquo;</p><p>The Toronto native and former member of Canada&rsquo;s national under-22 team had been with Eissportverein Zug in the premier Swiss women&rsquo;s league the past two years, before the team&rsquo;s owners folded shop after last season. She and her teammates moved to Kussnacht, a small town in central Switzerland, with the hope of continuing their on-ice careers.</p><p>Most of her European-born teammates still can. But not Muharuma, who has been scrambling frantically to stay and help grow the women&rsquo;s game outside of North America.</p><p>&ldquo;This new rule has really ruined everything,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s impossible for me to play now. When I first came to Zug, the team paid my expenses. But in terms of actually getting paid to play? No way. Even the women who play in Canada don&rsquo;t get paid. I just don&rsquo;t understand the thinking (behind the rule).&rdquo;</p><p>Me neither. To some, the Swiss Federation&rsquo;s stipulation could be seen as an effort to coax teams into employing more homegrown players. But most of the best young Swiss women are currently on U.S. college scholarships, or playing in Sweden, where there are no such constrictive rules governing their off-ice lives.</p><p>So why stop foreign players from supporting themselves by working in bars, or as teachers or nannies, the way they had done before the new rule was instituted? And why make a business that already had difficulties staying financially solvent all but prohibitively expensive?</p><p>&ldquo;I wish I knew,&rdquo; said Muharuma, 27. &ldquo;The girls here have talked a lot about it and none of us have a good answer.&rdquo;</p><p>No wonder, then, that the Swiss women&rsquo;s league has shrunk to six teams from an eightteam operation in 2005. No wonder only two of those teams are employing North Americans this season. No wonder Muharuma and other &ldquo;import&rdquo; players are considering the weaker &ndash; and, more importantly, less regulated &ndash; Italian League as a last resort.</p><p>And, considering the struggles women have had establishing a viable pro league on this side of the Atlantic, it&rsquo;s no wonder many can sympathize with her, even without in-depth knowledge of her predicament.</p><p>&ldquo;The problem is, no country is making itself the place to play women&rsquo;s hockey,&rdquo; said Team Canada star Jennifer Botterill, a driving force behind the recently formed Canadian Women&rsquo;s League. &ldquo;It seems everyone is having similar problems, where you can&rsquo;t bring in good players because they don&rsquo;t have any way of supporting themselves.</p><p>&ldquo;And nobody&rsquo;s really coming together to figure out what&rsquo;s best for player development. How can you get the game to grow and get people involved when there aren&rsquo;t decent options for girls to continue playing?&rdquo;</p><p>For Team Canada coach Melody Davidson, the uphill battle that women&rsquo;s hockey faces isn&rsquo;t based simply on finances or nationalities.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s incredibly important to build the game internationally, but the issue we face has nothing to do with sport &ndash; it&rsquo;s about culture,&rdquo; Davidson said. &ldquo;We face it here in North America, (for example, in) the battles to (have women) considered for the Hall of Fame.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04462/9058194-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="512" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">Safiya Muharuma <span class="photo-credit">(CANADA: IHA)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;There are people in other countries involved in women&rsquo;s hockey who are as passionate and as determined to help the game grow as anyone in North America. (But) many of the people in those decision-making power positions (in Europe) are still very much male-oriented and that determines a lot of the fate.&rdquo;</p><p>Muharuma&rsquo;s fate hasn&rsquo;t yet been finalized. She&rsquo;s still hanging around her team, lobbying to stay, even in the face of near-constant letdown.</p><p>When I hear people call hockey players the toughest athletes around, I think of her, not some pampered NHLer with an ironman record. The game&rsquo;s real warriors fight simply to play, not for pay.</p><p>&ldquo;I just want to be on the ice,&rdquo; Muharuma said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never watched hockey, I&rsquo;ve always been playing. And it&rsquo;s such an eye-opener being on the other side, filling up water bottles and opening up doors. I never thought I&rsquo;d be there.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a positive person, but something&rsquo;s got to give.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02864/9058187-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="77" height="77"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>For Adam&rsquo;s web-exclusive Screen Shots column visit <a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-03

SWISS MISS HURTS CANUCK

f0033-01

NHL TEAM REPORTS

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02687/9058571-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="889" height="1091"></div><p>JACK SKILLE PLAYED FOOTBALL as a kid for the hitting. He loved to lower his shoulder and make the big, open-field tackle.</p><p>He just rarely got the chance.</p><p>&ldquo;They made me be quarterback because I had the best arm,&rdquo; said Skille of that eighth-grade experience on the football field at home in Madison, Wis. &ldquo;In practice, I played middle linebacker sometimes, but they made me stop because I kept hitting guys.&rdquo;</p><p>So Skille stopped playing football. If he couldn&rsquo;t hit, he&rsquo;d rather concentrate on hockey, where they wanted him to run into people.</p><p>&ldquo;I love it, it&rsquo;s so much fun,&rdquo; Skille said of the banging, barge-into-the-corners style. &ldquo;I was never the guy afraid of being hit. I love when a guy hits me.&rdquo;</p><p>The parent Chicago Blackhawks, of course, would prefer that Skille do most of the hitting. As an AHL rookie with the Rockford IceHogs, the Blackhawks are grooming the speedy, 6-foot-1, 205-pound right winger to be a power forward.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to define his role for him and what suits him,&rdquo; said Rockford coach Mike Haviland. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to take away from his offensive abilities, but we want him to use his speed to be creating turnovers and finishing checks on the forecheck.&rdquo;</p><p>Skille&rsquo;s reaction to their suggestion: Just point me in the direction.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I love, I&rsquo;m used to just going 100 miles per hour in the corners,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I told my linemates, &lsquo;Dump it in my corner and I&rsquo;ll do all the work. I&rsquo;ll get the puck and you can snipe.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>While much of his game will be played on the wall, Skille must still use his tremendous speed to drive wide and dart to the net. His skills are still a big part of his power-forward package.</p><p>Skille was drafted in the first round (seventh overall) by the Blackhawks in 2005. He played two seasons at the University of Wisconsin, then agreed with the Hawks it was time to turn pro.</p><p>&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t an easy decision,&rdquo; Skille said. &ldquo;I left my family, I left my home city. I got to play in front of family and friends for two years and that was an honor.&rdquo;</p><p>He knew it was time for the rink to become his classroom.</p><p>&ldquo;The game is way more controlled,&rdquo; Skille said. &ldquo;In college, everyone is running around full speed. I&rsquo;m learning that sometimes less is more.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t regret my decision (to turn pro) at all. It&rsquo;s fun, that&rsquo;s the best word for it.&rdquo;</p><p>Makes sense. How could a kid who always loved contact not enjoy getting paid to run into people?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03534/9058564-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="209" height="209"></div><h2><b>JACK SKILLE</b></h2><p>Rockford IceHogs</p><p>Ht. 6-1</p><p>Wt. 205</p><p>Pos. RW</p><p>Age 20</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04441/9058557-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="210" height="210"></div><p>AND COUNTING</p><p>10</p><p>Skille had 10 points through 19 games this season</p><h3><b>NOTES FROM THE WEST</b></h3><h2><b>Making some noise</b></h2><p>The American League prides itself as the premier development locale, with scores of prospects advancing to the NHL after an AHL apprenticeship.</p><p>But the league also serves as a second-chance circuit for players who couldn&rsquo;t climb to the NHL with one organization to prove to another team they&rsquo;re worthy.</p><p>Here are four summertime free agent signees who are using their play to say: &lsquo;Hey, don&rsquo;t forget about me.&rsquo;</p><p><b>Barry Brust, G, Houston</b> Brust, who played 11 NHL games with L.A. last year, has been a workhorse for the Aeros and ranked among the AHL&rsquo;s top 10 in goals-against average.</p><p><b>Joey Tenute, C, San Antonio</b> After two years with Washington&rsquo;s affiliate in Hershey, Tenute signed with Phoenix. He had 11 goals in 22 games and was among the league leaders in plus/minus.</p><p><b>Kris Beech, C, Syracuse</b> Drafted seventh overall pick by Washington in 1999 and already traded three times, he was producing a point per game, can play an all-around game and earned a late-November promotion to Columbus.</p><p><b>Garrett Stafford, D, Grand Rapids</b> He spent four years in San Jose&rsquo;s system before signing with Detroit. He&rsquo;s creating offense from the blueline for the Griffins.</p><p><b>&ndash; KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06309/9058550-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="178" height="172"></div><p>HEY MIKE IGGULDEN, EXPECT THE CALL</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05367/9058543-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="177" height="164"></div><p>Worcester center makes his presence felt at both ends of the ice and is showing an offensive upside. He is ahead of the point-per-game barrier for the first time in his career.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07276/9058536-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="182" height="252"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08236/9058529-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="286" height="83"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JIM ORLANDO)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011068/9058522-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="85" height="90"></div><p>For more on hockey&rsquo;s best prospects, check out Ryan Kennedy&rsquo;s Hot List in the feature section on <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0039-02

PROSPECTS UNLIMITED

FUN STARTED AT FIRST CONTACT

<p>THE REGINA PATS BRASS has an expression to describe the fate of someone who absorbs an open-ice hit by defenseman Nick Ross: He was Nicked.</p><p>&ldquo;He explodes people coming over the middle,&rdquo; said Pats GM Brent Parker.</p><p>That tendency makes Ross the Pats&rsquo; DH &ndash; Devastating Hitter.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always kind of a thrill,&rdquo; said the 6-foot-1, 192-pound product of Lethbridge, Alta. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how to describe it. You see it coming, you make the hit and the crowd cheers.</p><p>&ldquo;You always have to keep your head up because you don&rsquo;t know if someone is going to come after you.&rdquo;</p><p>The NHL&rsquo;s Phoenix Coyotes came after Ross, selecting him with the final pick of the first round at the 2007 draft. At training camp, Ross was introduced to Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky.</p><p>&ldquo;It was definitely a little nerveracking,&rdquo; said a chuckling Ross. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a legend. After you talk to him a little bit, you realize that he&rsquo;s a really nice guy and a good person. It&rsquo;s good to know him.&rdquo;</p><p>Ross was introduced to the Western League as a 16-year-old in 2005. From the outset, opponents had to be wary of a crunching hit. That was part of his seamless transition to major junior.</p><p>&ldquo;Sometimes you forget he&rsquo;s 18,&rdquo; Parker marvelled. &ldquo;It seems like he has been here forever.&rdquo;</p><p>While full of praise for Ross, Parker observed his game, naturally, requires some refinement. His composure can sometimes be to his detriment. There is a tendency to hang on to the puck, waiting for the perfect opening to unfold, instead of making the simple play.</p><p>Ross has also had to learn to be more judicious about when to &ldquo;Nick&rdquo; people. There is a danger in taking himself out of position while pursuing contact. Ross also cites a need to quicken his first two strides, something that was underlined at Coyotes camp.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a boatload of talent that hasn&rsquo;t been completely tapped yet,&rdquo; Parker said after lauding Ross&rsquo; physicality, passing ability and offensive instincts. &ldquo;His game has matured immensely. He has the full package. If he keeps developing like he has, he&rsquo;s going to be a really good pro.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01646/9058703-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="703" height="925"></div><p>That is Ross&rsquo; aspiration, but he&rsquo;s not one to tout his attributes. He is pleasant, but reserved. Unlike his hits, his demeanor is anything but robust.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a shy person at first,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but once I know someone, I&rsquo;m the complete opposite.&rdquo;</p><p><b>&ndash; ROB VANSTONE</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02393/9058696-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="255" height="137"></div><h2><b>NICK ROSS</b></h2><p>Regina Pats</p><p>Ht. 6-1</p><p>Wt. 192</p><p>Pos. D</p><p>Age 18</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-08156/9058689-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="374" height="94"></div><h3><b>Draft Status</b></h3><p> Selected 30th overall by Phoenix in 2007</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04269/9058682-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="162" height="129"></div><p>AND COUNTING</p><p>57</p><p>Points Ross is on pace for, 26 more than last year</p><h2><b>Full circles in Kamloops</b></h2><p>The Kamloops Blazers have retired Greg Hawgood&rsquo;s jersey, but not the man himself. Hawgood &ndash; a former star defenseman  with Kamloops &ndash; has resurfaced as coach of the Blazers. He took over from Dean Clark, who was fired Nov. 7. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty unique and special,&rdquo; said the ex-NHLer, who wore No. 4 for Kamloops from 1983 to 1988. &ldquo;I still have a lot of pride in being a Blazer.&rdquo; As a Blazer, Hawgood was a teammate of Mark Recchi &ndash; one of four alumni who make up part of the team&rsquo;s new ownership group. The others are Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan and Darryl Sydor. Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi is the principal owner. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not going to get any more passionate people about owning the team,&rdquo; said Hawgood, 39.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05244/9058675-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; ROB VANSTONE</b></p><h2><b>O&rsquo;Reilly set for center stage</b></h2><p>If all the world is a stage, the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is the perfect venue for Erie Otters center Ryan O&rsquo;Reilly, the first pick of the 2007 OHL draft. &ldquo;This is really good for us because we get to see all those players head-to-head against their age group,&rdquo; said Washington Capitals scout Steve Bowman of the six-nation event being held in London, Ont., from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4. &ldquo;And in the case of O&rsquo;Reilly, whose team is having a really tough season, Ontario usually has one of the best teams so this is a chance for him to shine.&rdquo; Bowman said it&rsquo;s also a stage for 16-year-old goalies, &ldquo;who barely play (with their junior teams). Then in their (draft) year, if they get behind a 19-year-old star, you never see them.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06220/9058668-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="211" height="212"></div><p><b>&ndash; JIM CRESSMAN</b></p><h2><b>Shawinigan eyes dream season</b></h2><p>The Shawinigan Cataractes will move into a new home next season, but it&rsquo;s not yet determined whether it will keep the Jacques Plante namesake. The $14-million stadium will have 4,500 seats, including 15 luxury boxes, and an undetermined amount of standing room. It will also have retractable boards so the ice surface can either be Olympic or regulation size. &ldquo;Next season is the 40th anniversary for both the QMJHL and the Cataractes,&rdquo; said Pat Dunn, the team&rsquo;s director of operations. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re the only team that&rsquo;s been in the league since Day 1, we should be peaking next season and we&rsquo;re moving into a new arena. We believe the stars are aligned, so that&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;ve submitted a bid to host the 2009 Memorial Cup.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-07192/9058661-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="209" height="209"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GREG JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>&ndash; NEIL HODGE</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0041-01

PATS’ DH A MONSTER

<p>WHEN BRENDAN SMITH was 15, he skated regularly on a line with two future NHL first round draft picks in Sam Gagner and John Tavares.</p><p>&ldquo;I was the grinder, the first guy back,&rdquo; said Smith with a laugh, referring to his midget days with the powerhouse Toronto Marlies. &ldquo;I was pretty much the third defenseman.&rdquo;</p><p>Three years later, Gagner is playing in Edmonton, Tavares is ondeck as the next NHL wunderkind and Smith is a full-time rearguard and a NHL first-rounder himself.</p><p>From Mimico, Ont., Smith was taken 27th overall by Detroit last summer before embarking on his U.S. college career at Wisconsin.</p><p>The freshman recalls making the transition from go-get-the-puck winger to rush-the-puck defenseman during a major midget tournament in Ohio.</p><p>&ldquo;One of our defensemen got hurt and coach asked me if I wanted to go back and even up the lines,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I felt comfortable. I felt like I was in my own element.&rdquo;</p><p>Now, the 18-year-old Smith, is trying to get comfortable in a new, more difficult element.</p><p>In the first two months of the season, Smith has shown flashes of why the Red Wings are so high on him.</p><p>Listed at 6-foot-2 and 174 pounds, Smith had two goals and nine points in his first 12 games. In addition to working a regular shift, his intelligence, strong skating ability and offensive instincts earned him a spot on the Badgers&rsquo; No. 1 power play unit.</p><p>Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves was asked what skills he&rsquo;s trying to cultivate in Smith.</p><p>&ldquo;If you can skate with it, go,&rdquo; Eaves said. &ldquo;If you can support the rush with your physical presence, be there. He has the ability to get his shot through and he&rsquo;s got the ability to score.&rdquo;</p><p>On the flip side, Smith is learning he can&rsquo;t always hold the blueline and his physical gifts aren&rsquo;t always enough to make up for his risky tendencies.</p><p>Eaves said Smith has a narrow view of the position, one the coach hopes can be expanded. For example, Eaves said Smith sometimes watches the puck instead of the carrier and he doesn&rsquo;t always see the play unfolding around him.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01676/9058783-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="704" height="925"></div><p>The good news, Eaves said, is that Smith knows what he did wrong as soon as his shift is over.</p><p>&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve been playing pretty good,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I just have to touch up on some of those mistakes and complete my game a little better.&rdquo;</p><p><b>&ndash; ANDY BAGGOT</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02412/9058776-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="135" height="135"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>BRENDAN SMITH</b></h2><p>Wisconsin Badgers</p><p>Ht. 6-2</p><p>Wt. 174</p><p>Pos. D</p><p>Age 18</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03320/9058769-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="344" height="84"></div><h3><b>Draft Status</b></h3><p> Selected 27th overall by Detroit in 2007</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04253/9058762-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="135" height="133"></div><p>AND COUNTING</p><p>7</p><p>Smith, a former forward, had seven helpers in 12 games</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>Feeling good all over in Miami</b></h2><p>Miami has spent most of the season as the top-ranked team in the nation by rolling four lines, limiting mistakes and playing a relentless style at both ends of the ice. The RedHawks also have a varied attack &ndash; junior forward Justin Mercier has emerged as a clutch goal-scorer, captain Ryan Jones is a force down low and freshman forward Carter Camper runs a dangerous power play &ndash; and junior goaltender Jeff Zatkoff has been outstanding. &ldquo;It all comes from coach (Enrico) Blasi,&rdquo; said Miami senior forward Nathan Davis. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a fiery guy and it rubs off on everyone.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05218/9058755-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; PHILIP COLVIN</b></p><h2><b>Vermont pair an inspiration</b></h2><p>That Vermont redshirt freshman center Chris Atkinson and redshirt sophomore defenseman Tim Geverd are still playing is a credit to their courage, determination and love of the game. Atkinson survived an incident in which a teammate&rsquo;s skate sliced his jugular vein and caused severe nerve damage to his shoulder. Geverd lost an eye as a child; underwent heart surgery and sufferedtwoseriousankle injuries. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re an inspiration to all of us. They are great locker room guys who do everything with a smile,&rdquo; said Catamounts&rsquo; coach Kevin Sneddon.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-06200/9058748-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="210" height="210"></div><p><b>&ndash; LARRY MAHONEY</b></p><h2><b>Marsh deep in goalie options</b></h2><p>Joe Marsh basically has a starting rotation worth of stoppers. The St. Lawrence coach is finding playing time for all four of his goalies. The rotation includes sophomores Kain Tisi and Alex Petizian, who emerged as the No. 1 last season, senior Justin Pesony and graduate student John Hallas, who only played 27 seconds last season, but came up with a shutout in his first start this season. The rotation is beneficial in that it allows time for injuries to heal, or for personal matters, like when Pesony left the team to be with his wife, Amanda, when she gave birth to their daughter.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-07170/9058741-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="210" height="210"></div><p><b>&ndash; TOM BOGGIE</b></p><h2><b>Big five set for faceoff</b></h2><p>Preliminary talks are underway to see the five biggest schools in U.S. college hockey &ndash; Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin &ndash; play one another annually. The two Michigan schools, as well as Ohio State, are members of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Minnesota and Wisconsin are Western Collegiate Hockey Association rivals. In all other sports, they are members of the Big Ten Conference. WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod and CCHA counterpart Tom Anastos discussed reducing schedules to accommodate Big Ten matchups.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-08143/9058734-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="210" height="210"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GREG ANDERSON)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>&ndash; ANDY BAGGOT</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0042-01

FROM TOP LINE TO BLUELINE

<h3><b>ECHL</b></h3><h2><b>Standards bar officially raised</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>irector of officiating Bryan Lewis intends to put the league on par with the NHL in terms of on-ice calls and rule interpretation. &ldquo;We will conduct ourselves in the same manner as we did in the National Hockey League,&rdquo; said Lewis, who worked more than 1,000 NHL games and was that league&rsquo;s director of officiating for 11 years before his retirement in 2000. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s bring the professionalism into the ECHL officiating.&rdquo; <i>Referee</i> Magazine named him among &lsquo;The 52 Most Influential Individuals in Officiating History.&rsquo; Lewis, who joined the ECHL in 2005, was &ldquo;integral in developing the details of the two-referee, twolinesmen system.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01569/9058863-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; MIKE MASTOVICH</b></p><h3><b>NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h3><h2><b>Tough approach gets noticed</b></h2><p>Plenty are ranked ahead of him, but as far as 2008 draft eligibles are concerned, few will pay the physical price more than 17-year-old David Warsofsky. Skating with the U.S. national team development program under-18 squad in Ann Arbor, Mich., the 5-foot-10, 180 pound Warsofsky is ranked 97th overall by Red Line Report for the &rsquo;08 draft. &ldquo;David&rsquo;s a talented player with a blue-collar mentality,&rdquo; said his coach John Hynes. &ldquo;For as talented as he is, he doesn&rsquo;t rely on his talent to get by. That&rsquo;s special.&rdquo; A strong skater with fine footwork, through 18 games, he led his team in blueline scoring with four goals and 10 points.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02343/9058856-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; PAUL SHAHEEN</b></p><h3><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h3><h2><b>Love Guru seduces winger</b></h2><p>Bloomington winger Leo Thomas passed up an invitation to an AHL camp and missed the first few weeks of the IHL season to be part of <i>The Love Guru</i>, a Mike Myers movie set to debut next summer. Thomas plays the on-ice double for Romany Malco, star of the TV show <i>Weeds</i> and movie <i>The 40-Year-Old Virgin</i>. Thomas was invited to audition when a casting director spotted him in a hockey tournament last summer. &ldquo;It was amazing, just seeing the stars and hanging out with them,&rdquo; Thomas said. The film also stars Justin Timberlake and Jessica Alba, and includes former NHLers Bob Probert and Jimmy Thompson.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03252/9058849-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; BRENDAN SAVAGE</b></p><h3><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h3><h2><b>Charity wins in lopsided game</b></h2><p>In Tulsa, hockey is more than fun and games. As part of a charity promotion for the Tulsa Burn Camp, local police officers and firefighters laced up their skates for &ldquo;Guns and Hoses Night.&rdquo; The event raised more than $2,600 and featured a game, won 14-4 by the firefighters. It wasn&rsquo;t a fair fight, though, when local anesthesiologist, Don MacIver, joined the firefighters. He played six NHL games with Winnipeg in 1979 and three seasons with the Tulsa Oilers.&ldquo;Well, Don was known as an enforcer and no one could get the puck away from him,&rdquo; said local policeman Chris Lawrence. &ldquo;Next year we have vowed revenge.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-04198/9058842-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; DAVID HENRY</b></p><h3><b>SOUTHERN PRO LEAGUE</b></h3><h2><b>Reigning champs all shook up</b></h2><p>The defending-champion Fayetteville FireAntz didn&rsquo;t get off to the start coach Tommy Stewart expected, so he decided to shake things up. &ldquo;This is not something I like to do, but I feel like I need to make a move to spark the boys and show them they&rsquo;ve got to be accountable for the way they play,&rdquo; Stewart told the Fayetteville <i>Observer</i> after his team went winless in its first four home games. &ldquo;They have nobody to blame but themselves.&rdquo; Enter forwards Rob Sich and Jordan Black, and defensemen Dan Pszenyczny and Matt Curley; exit blueliner Keith Detlefsen. &ldquo;I just wanted to let them know that the country club is over,&rdquo; Stewart said.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-05168/9058835-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; NICK GATES</b></p><h3><b>EYE ON EUROPE</b></h3><h2><b>Out with the old, in with the new</b></h2><p>When Leif Boork, 58, was fired as coach of Brynas in the Swedish League, he was the oldest bench boss in the league. His successor, Olof Ostblom, 29, is now the youngest in a league that seems to appreciate youth over experience. The average age of a coach in Sweden is 44 and only four coaches are over 50, the senior man being 57-year-old Per Backman, coach in Frolunda. Lulea&rsquo;s Roger Ronnberg, 36, Mora&rsquo;s Magnus Arvedson, 36, and Timra&rsquo;s Charles Berglund, 42, are also rookies this year. A potential positive omen for Ostblom; when Boork entered the league, he was also the youngest coach on the Swedish circuit.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-06145/9058828-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; RISTO PAKARINEN</b></p><h3><b>CANADIAN UNIVERSITY</b></h3><h2><b>Rob&rsquo;s records now adding up</b></h2><p>University of New Brunswick&rsquo;s Rob Hennigar, who has more career points than any other current Atlantic University Sport conference player, has already set two school records this season and is on pace to break two others. Earlier this year, the fourth-year forward established new UNB career marks for most regular season assists and most total (playoffs included) assists. The former Windsor Spitfire should also catch Dax McLean (1995-99) as the Varsity Reds&rsquo; career leader for most regular season points and most total points. Hennigar and new linemate Hunter Tremblay, formerly of the Barrie Colts, are both having tremendous seasons.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-07129/9058821-1-eng-US/f0044-072.jpg" title="f0044-07" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; JEFF RENAUD</b></p><h3><b>THE WOMEN&rsquo;S GAME</b></h3><h2><b>Clarkson Cup in legal dispute</b></h2><p>The Inuit sea goddess, Sedna, grips a hockey stick and puck surrounded by ancient engravings and provincial flowers. Canada&rsquo;s former governor general, Adrienne Clarkson, commissioned three Inuit artists and a jeweler, Beth Biggs, to create the exquisite Clarkson Cup. It was donated to Hockey Canada in July, 2006 for the top senior women&rsquo;s team. Unfortunately, there has been legal wranglings between Clarkson and the artists, who insist there was an understanding their work included a licensing agreement with royalties payable beyond the original price. Hockey Canada will not use the Cup until the legal rights are settled.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0895/9058814-1-eng-US/f0044-082.jpg" title="f0044-08" width="210" height="211"></div><p><b>&ndash; ELIZABETH ETUE</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0044-01

BEST OF THE REST

<div class="byline">by Nicolas Chabot</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0045-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01489/9058908-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Can&rsquo;t get enough numbers? Visit our online &lsquo;Stats&rsquo; section every day at <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01475/9058901-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="2805" height="3544"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01455/9058894-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="2721" height="985"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0045-01

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

<div class="byline">BY PAVEL BARTA</div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>ONG BEFORE IT HELD scouting combines and mock NHL drafts, the scouting fraternity quietly compiled notes on the best teenage prospects in the game. In 1981, most scouts gave the nod to an unknown 19-year-old named Jiri Dudacek.</p><p>But getting talent out of Czechoslovakia or the Soviet Union was a shot in the dark. In NHL drafts from 1969 to 1980, only six Czechoslovaks or Russians were picked. It was just the year before Dudacek&rsquo;s draft, in the summer of 1980, that Peter and Anton Stastny had to defect from Czechoslovakia to play with Quebec in the NHL.</p><p>So with the first pick overall in 1981, the Winnipeg Jets weren&rsquo;t likely to take a gamble on Dudacek, even though scouts said he was the best of the bunch. The Jets took Dale Hawerchuk instead and a Hall of Fame career unfolded.</p><p>Dudacek? No team had the gumption or patience to stickhandle the blonde phenom out of Czechoslovakia. At least not until Sabres GM Scotty Bowman took him 17th overall.</p><p>The <i>modus operandi</i> at the time: Just wait. Eventually, Bowman believed, the door would open for the best Europeans to play in the NHL if they chose. So if and when that happened, the Sabres would have dibs on a well-groomed Czech star.</p><p>Except for the fact Dudacek was either unaware of the opportunity that awaited him in North America, or was just happy being himself in Czechoslovakia.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01312/9058946-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="889" height="1026"><figcaption class="caption-body">At 19, Jiri Dudacek was a projected star. Now 44, he has just one regret. <span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know anything that I was drafted,&rdquo; said Dudacek, now 44 and an employee at a window factory. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t even know that there is something like this and what it&rsquo;s all about.</p><p>&ldquo;There hadn&rsquo;t been any information about this in the media, I just heard some rumors later. First time I found out was maybe one year later when Sabres officials came over to Kladno to negotiate with my club. I didn&rsquo;t recognize the interest in myself was so immense.&rdquo;</p><p>Dudacek was an up-and-coming star in the Czech system. He started with Kladno in the Czech League as a 16-year-old. He played in three world championships and represented the national squad at the 1981 Canada Cup, leading the team with four goals and six points in six games as a 19-year-old. No scout doubted his abilities, but nobody ever believed Dudacek would come to North America. Nobody, that is, but Bowman. It was Bowman who employed Czech Jaroslav Jirik in the St. Louis system in 1969-70. Jirik was the first player to emerge from behind the Iron Curtain to play in the NHL. But Bowman was naive in believing he might get the young Dudacek while negotiating through official channels. At 30 in 1969, Jirik was permitted to leave. But Dudacek was only 19 in 1981. Communists were far more rigid on power plays in what was then called Czechoslovakia than they were back in 1969.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02199/9058939-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="872" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LUBOS LANG/THOLL)</span></figcaption></div><p>Older Czech vets Ivan Hlinka, Jiri Bubla and Milan Novy were released to NHL teams in the 1980s.</p><p>But the Sabres chose not to attempt defection. Rather than trying to sneak Dudacek out of the country, Bowman negotiated with Czechoslovakian authorities to give up the young forward in return for money. All efforts were declined. When the communist government was finally dethroned in 1989, Dudacek&rsquo;s body was sadly too old and sick to be an effective NHLer.</p><p>After the 1981 Canada Cup, Dudacek&rsquo;s name melted away from major tournaments. In following seasons, he missed world championships held in Finland and West Germany. It was a political power play: take away the risk of defection by taking the player off the team.</p><p>&ldquo;It really never came to my mind to leave (Czechoslovakia),&rdquo; said Dudacek, whose father was a lieutenant colonel at the Department of Home Affairs and brother a pilot for the police. Dudacek&rsquo;s emigration would have caused huge conflict.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t care about (defecting) and not because I feared for my family. It didn&rsquo;t even occur to me to defect.&rdquo;</p><p>In his early 20s, injuries and illness caught up to Dudacek.</p><p>After no points in four games at the 1984 Canada Cup, Dudacek toiled for Jihlava. He was the last cut on the 1988 Olympic team, then played in France and Germany.</p><p>He retired from even local hockey in 2004, but Dudacek doesn&rsquo;t bemoan the fact he was born a decade too early.</p><p>&ldquo;The manager of the plastic-products company comes from Velke Pritocno, the same village as me,&rdquo; Dudacek said. &ldquo;So he gave me a job. My only regret is I didn&rsquo;t get a chance to try the NHL. I think it would have been fine.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0048-01

THE STAR WHO NEVER MADE IT

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-03133/9059005-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="914" height="914"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02186/9059012-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="142" height="143"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>CROSSWORD</b></h2><p>By Larry Humber</p><h3><b>ACROSS</b></h3><p>1 A senior writer for THN (or a former Leafs coach)</p><p>4 To the NHL&rsquo;s top ___ goes the Art Ross</p><p>9 Dany Heatley is one, as is Jason Spezza</p><p>10 Heatley, Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson are one of hockey&rsquo;s top ___</p><p>11 The NHL says hockey is the &lsquo;Coolest Game on __&rsquo;</p><p>12 League with teams in Calgary and Kamloops</p><p>13 Former Red Wing ___ Larionov</p><p>15 Boo</p><p>18 Brian Burke&rsquo;s alma mater</p><p>21 Defeat unexpectedly</p><p>23 Begins a game</p><p>24 Darryl ___ had a record, 10-point game, pictured</p><p>25 Some call a tie a &lsquo;___-kisser&rsquo;</p><p>26 One of late Charles Schulz&rsquo;s best-loved characters</p><h3><b>DOWN</b></h3><p>1 Leaf legend ___ Jackson</p><p>2 Craig Leipold is Nashville&rsquo;s</p><p>3 Derian ___ won a Cup with Dallas</p><p>5 Nickname of Barrie&rsquo;s Ontario League team</p><p>6 Jaromir Jagr&rsquo;s current team</p><p>7 Climbing</p><p>8 Face-off</p><p>14 Toronto&rsquo;s old arena, Maple Leaf ___</p><p>15 An American League city</p><p>16 Directs the puck at the net</p><p>17 Red ___ is a Hall of Fame referee</p><p>19 Some prefer ___ seats (for easy entry and exit)</p><p>20 Another word for puck</p><p>22 Flurry of shots</p><p>Answers available in next issue</p><p>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION</p><p><b>ACROSS</b> 1. BOULERICE, 8. RICCI, 9. TURNING, 10. SPIRIT, 11. MAJORS, 12. SERGE, 14. NOLAN, 17. BERARD, 19. SHELVE, 20. BANTAMS, 21. THIRD, 22. ARMSTRONG. <b>DOWN</b> 2. ODUYA, 3. LONDON, 4. RINKS, 5. ERUPTS, 6. SCORERS, 7. SID THE KID, 11. MINNESOTA, 13. ALBELIN, 15. NEVADA, 16. WRITER, 17. BEARS, 18. ROMAN.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-04115/9058998-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="1592" height="753"></div><p>by Ryan Kennedy</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0579/9058991-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="142" height="142"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>HOMETOWN HOCKEY</b></h2><p>DALLAS, TEX.</p><p>The explosion of youth hockey in Texas is proof you can wear burnt orange and skates at the same time, but the Lone Star state has been on the board since the Original Six expansion year. Even before that, the Dallas Texans made in-roads in the 1940s in several minor leagues. In 1968, the Dallas Black Hawks (moved from St. Louis with the creation of the NHL Blues) joined the old Central League, winning a championship that first season and two more after that, one under coach John Muckler. Roger Nielson also spent time with the Hawks.</p><h2><b>TIPS FROM</b>&nbsp;<b>THE POINT</b></h2><p>WITH CAREY PRICE</p><p>BUTTERFLY REFLEXES</p><p>Quick leg reflexes are crucial to covering the bottom of the net, so I do a couple things to keep sharp.</p><p>Off the ice, I do a lot of ladder work training. When it comes to practice, we have drills set up where the other guys will shoot pucks at my feet. Working on rebounds is key as well.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0662/9058984-1-eng-US/f0049-062.jpg" title="f0049-06" width="226" height="305"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0748/9058977-1-eng-US/f0049-072.jpg" title="f0049-07" width="108" height="77"></div><p>MONTREAL CANADIENS</p><p><b>AGE:</b> 20</p><p>&nbsp;<b>POS:</b> G</p><p>&nbsp;<b>NUMBER:</b> 31<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0049-03

LAST MINUTE OF PLAY

<div class="byline">with Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="c0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-02193/9059050-1-eng-US/c0004-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Borje Salming <span class="photo-credit">(BBS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-03116/9059057-1-eng-US/c0004-032.jpg" title="c0004-03" width="207" height="246"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;We thought we could take advantage of him, scare him, but he didn&rsquo;t let us.<br>&ndash; Bobby Clarke</blockquote><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>MAGINE YOURSELF AT WORK, just trying to do your job, and there&rsquo;s 15 men standing within spitting distance screaming at you; saying if you do what is expected of you, they&rsquo;ll collectively kick your butt from Toronto to Stockholm.</p><p>That is pretty much what Borje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom faced when they joined the Maple Leafs in 1973 as part of the first wave of European NHLers. Hammarstrom lasted 427 games, scoring 116 goals and 239 points, but never became the impact player the Leafs were certain they had imported.</p><p>Salming, meanwhile, not only became an NHL star, he was a trailblazer &ndash; a European who took all the crap that was flung his way, stood up to the intimidation, and paved the way for other Europeans to leave home for the best hockey league in the world.</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t easy.</p><p>&ldquo;I heard a lot of bad things,&rdquo; says Salming, now 56 and a respected businessman in Sweden. &ldquo;Every game, players on the other team would scream at me. Most of the times in Philadelphia, when the faceoff was near the Flyers bench, everybody was hanging over their bench screaming, &lsquo;Salming, if you touch the puck, we&rsquo;re going to #@$%#& kill you! If you touch the puck, you&rsquo;re dead!&rsquo; It wasn&rsquo;t easy.&rdquo;</p><p>Game after game, Salming was targeted by angry opponents who resented him being in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;Those damn Europeans are stealing our jobs,&rdquo; was the common refrain from the simple-minded.</p><p>Though only 6-foot-1 and 193 pounds, Salming took everything dished his way and then some. He never backed down, playing 17 seasons and scoring 150 goals and 787 points with 1,344 penalty minutes. He was a first-team all-star in 1977 and a second-team all-star five times. But it&rsquo;s those games against the Flyers &ndash; the Broad Street Bullies &ndash; Salming remembers most.</p><p>&ldquo;Every time we played them, it was the same thing,&rdquo; Salming recalls. &ldquo;They had a couple of guys whose job was to take me out. I knew that and I had to be prepared. When the Flyers came up to me and tried that stuff, I was ready for it. I had my stick up high, too. A few times, I had to drop my gloves.&rdquo;</p><p>Bobby Clarke, leader of the Bullies, says he has nothing but the utmost respect for Salming.</p><p>&ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t a player from Europe,&rdquo; Clarke says. &ldquo;He was a player from anywhere. When he came over, we thought we could take advantage of him&hellip;scare him&hellip;but he didn&rsquo;t let us. We figured if we hit the Europeans, they wouldn&rsquo;t hit back. If he was unnerved, he didn&rsquo;t show it.&rdquo;</p><p>Having starred for Sweden in international play, Salming was an established world-class player when he joined the Leafs. A year earlier, in the midst of the 1972 Summit Series, Team Canada stopped in Sweden on its way to Russia to play a pair of exhibition games against the national team. Salming was a standout in both games.</p><p>&ldquo;I think he was their player of the game both games,&rdquo; says Ron Ellis, a member of Team Canada and Salming&rsquo;s teammate in Toronto. &ldquo;I remember telling the guys (in Toronto) we had a real good one.&rdquo;</p><p>Salming wasn&rsquo;t the first European to play the NHL, but his bravery in the face of adversity and his excellent play opened the door for others to follow in his footsteps.</p><p>&ldquo;He was a super giant,&rdquo; says Hall of Famer Peter Stastny. &ldquo;Maybe not too many people in Europe were aware of him when he joined the NHL, but I was. He had a bullseye on him, but he was a star anyways. He knew how to survive.&rdquo;</p><p>Salming says even his teammates were a little skeptical of him when he arrived in Toronto, but they soon changed their tune.</p><p>&ldquo;I had to prove myself in camp,&rdquo; Salming says. &ldquo;The thing that helped Inge and me was the fact we were in great shape. We had trained with our old team for two months before coming to Toronto, which helped us because we could skate so much better than the others. I don&rsquo;t think they had skated at all. Once it looked like we were going to make the team, the guys treated us well.&rdquo;</p><p>The NHL is now a universal league with most teams carrying at least four or five Europeans. Funny thing is, in today&rsquo;s NHL, a Hammarstrom would probably be a star. Hockey is a better sport since Europeans brought their skill and training methods to North America. And while Salming might not be the best Euro to play in the NHL, he&rsquo;s one of the most important imports in the history of the league.</p><p>&ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t the biggest guy in the world, so he didn&rsquo;t go around hitting guys,&rdquo; Clarke says. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;d carry his stick pretty high, which you did in those days. If you didn&rsquo;t respect a player like that, you didn&rsquo;t respect hockey players.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-01307/9059043-1-eng-US/c0004-012.jpg" title="c0004-01" width="77" height="77"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>For Mike&rsquo;s web-exclusive Double OT column visit <a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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December 18, 2007

NHL’s ALL-TIME EUROS

CROWD SHOTS

SAINT NICKLAS

MOORE LIKE IT FOR PACK WINGER