_ _ _ _ | | ____ ___ | | ____ ___ | | ____ ___ | | ____ ___ | |/ _ / __| | |/ _ / __| | |/ _ / __| | |/ _ / __| | | (_ \__ \ | | (_ \__ \ | | (_ \__ \ | | (_ \__ \ |_|\____\___/ |_|\____\___/ |_|\____\___/ |_|\____\___/ GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY ================================================================ Five Star - ELECTRONIC EDITION - * * * * * ================================================================ VOL. 1 NO. 7 * November 4-18, 1994 Uh, it's free ----------------------------------------------------------------- *********** Players Attention Turns Towards Charity ********* With no end to the lockout in sight, the NHLPA is scheduling various exhibition hockey games and tournaments to raise money for charities. The first such game was held last week when Detroit Red Wings Shawn Burr and Dino Ciccarelli helped organize a game between a team of NHL players and the Sarnia Sting. The NHLPA team featured many Red Wings including Burr, Ciccarelli, Paul Coffey, Slava Kozlov, Kris Draper, and Ray Sheppard. The NHLPA team prevailed 12-8. Other planned charity games include the Montreal Canadiens playng a team made up of native Montreal players. A team made up primarily of Ottawa Senators taking on the Ottawa 67's. And Marty McSorley is trying to organize a game between former Belleville Bulls to play the current OHL team. McSorley has already confirmed that former Bulls Darren McCarty, Bryan Marchment, Rob Ray, and Scott Thornton will play. Kirk Muller has also agreed to take part in the game which is to be held on November 6. However, the biggest charity event will take place in Hamilton between November 10-12 at Copps Coliseum. The NHLPA is planning a three day, round-robin tournament to benefit Ronald McDonald Children's Charities. The tournament will feature four teams made up of NHL stars from the U.S.A., Quebec, Ontario, and Western Canada. Teams will play four-on-four, and all penalties will result in a penalty shot. The November 10 and 11 games will start at 5 p.m. MST, and the November 12 game will start at 6 p.m. CTV plans to show the November 11 game on tape delay, but will show the November 10 and 12 games live. The following are the rosters for the teams taking part in the Hamilton tournament: ONTARIO - Goalie: Curtis Joseph. Defense: Rob Blake, Paul Coffey, Norm Maciver, Larry Murphy, Scott Stevens. Offense: Dave Andreychuk, Jason Arnott, Doug Gilmour, Eric Lindros, Kirk Muller, Brendan Shanahan, Pat Verbeek. QUEBEC - Goalie: Patrick Roy. Defense: Ray Bourque, Eric Desjardins, Steve Duchesne, Garry Galley, Sylvain Lefebvre. Offense: Vincent Damphousse, Benoit Hogue, Joe Juneau, Claude Lemieux, Stephane Richer, Luc Robitaille, Denis Savard. WESTERN CANADA - Goalie: Grant Fuhr. Defense: Doug Bodger, Scott Niedermayer, James Patrick, Darryl Sydor, Glen Wesley. Offense: Geoff Courtnall, Russ Courtnall, Ray Ferraro, Trevor Linden, Paul Kariya, Mark Recchi, Joe Sakic. UNITED STATES - Goalie: John Vanbiesbrouck. Defense: Chris Chelios, Dave Ellett, Phil Housley, Jeff Norton, Gary Suter. Offense: Tony Granato, Brett Hull, Craig Janney, Pat Lafontaine, Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk. ************** It Keeps Going...and Going...and Going... ************ by Jim Iovino The two sides in the NHL lockout have been meeting secretly over the past week with the latest negotiating done in Washington. They are meeting in secrecy to avoid a swamp of media personnel, and attempt to solve some of the issues that have kept the season from starting. The league has now cancelled a total of 14 games from each teams' schedule. The latest round of cuts, 10 games in all, consisted of all the neutral site games that teams were to play in cities such as Phoenix, Arizona and Hamilton, Ontario. As a threatening response to the league's cancellation of games, the players union announced potential plans to refuse playing a number of playoff games if the season were to actually get underway. This would hurt the owners more than the players because of the tremendous revenue that is generated from the selling of playoff tickets. All of the players' salary is based on playing the regular season, so any money that they receive for the playoffs is considerd a bonus. The lockout, now in its second month, seems to have no end in sight. And because of this, more and more players are responding favorably to the idea of finding work elsewhere. Doug Gilmour and Steve Yzerman are the latest stars considering playing in another country. Both are interested in suiting up for teams in Switzerland. Other NHL stars are getting together in a show of solidarity and making arrangements to play in a number of charity games around the world. A group of Russians, including Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure, are planning on scrimmaging a number of teams from the former Soviet Union. Wayne Gretzky has talked about leading a group of stars on a voyage across Europe, and a four-on-four tournament involving many players is scheduled for November 10-12 in Hamilton. With all of this going on, it seems that any hopes of starting the season has been eliminated and the players are planning for a winter without National Hockey League games are the best they can. If the owners won't let them play in the NHL arenas, they'll take their sticks and their pucks and they'll play somewhere else. ------------------------------------------------------------------- CREDITS Michael Dell.........................................Editor-in-Chief Jim Iovino..............................................Ace Reporter Zippy the Wonder Chimp..................................Computer Boy Matthew Secosky...................................Dazed and Confused Alan Tignanelli...............................................Writer Dan Hurwitz...................................................Writer Fred...................................Driver of the Mystery Machine Scooby Doo................................................."Zoinks!" --------------------------------------------------------------------- LCS guide to hockey is published the first and third Friday of every month. Cost: Nothing, but we need some food! Donations are accepted. Send all comments, questions, donations, or cookies to: 632 Hempfield Street, Greensburg, PA 15601. E-mail: bh397@freenet,carleton.ca (I know this is another differnet address, but this should be the permanent e-mail address from now on.) "An Ode to Aromaticity" by Matthew Secosky. Benzene, Benzene, oh what a dream; so unreactive, yet smells peachy keen; your three conjugated double bonds, moving faster than can be seen; a virtual Mexican hatdance inside your six carbon ring. more stable than a cyclohexadiene; you won't undergo electrophilic addition; but without second thought, you'll accept substitution; but it's not as simple as it seems, so just answer me one question, does it go in the ortho, meta, or para position? Benzene, Benzene, more plentiful than the fish in the sea, you make up the compounds that allow me to see; i want to learn all about you, i'll study with all my might, hell, it beats playing Hungry Hungry Hippos, with friends on a cold Saturday night. but i just want you to know, as i engage in pointless chatter; that you're no where near as exciting, as an enthralling game of Chutes and Ladders. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________________________________ News News News News News News News News News News News News News News ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * As the lockout continues, more and more players are looking for employment elsewhere. Alexei Yashin became the first NHL player to sign a contract with a minor league team, when he agreed to terms with the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL. The contract has an escape clause that will allow Yashin to return to Ottawa once the NHL season begins. The steady flow of NHL players to Europe has continued, and shows no signs of slowing down. The Calgary Flames have four players overseas now that German Titov has left for Finland. He will join Michael Nylander in the Finnish Elite League, while Robert Reichel is playing in Germany and Frank Musil is in the Czech Republic. Theo Fleury also appears ready to play in Europe, after ruling out playing in the IHL. Hartford's Geoff Sanderson has just recently signed a contract to play for HPK Hameenlinna in the Finnish Elite League. The contract is for 45 days and will pay him $1,000 a game. Other Whale that have gone over the wall include Franticek Kucera, who is in the Czech League, and Andrei Nikolishin, who is playing with Moscow Dynamo. Originally the Swedish Elite League was not going to allow NHL players to play in Sweden, but reconsidered fearing that Swedish born NHLers would play in neighboring Finland instead. The list of players in Sweden includes Calle Johansson, Tomas Sandstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom, Peter Popovic, Patrick Juhlin, Peter Andersson, Peter Forsberg, and Mats Sundin. Everyone will return to the NHL when the season starts, except for Peter Andersson. He signed a two-year deal with Vasteras, and does not plan on returning to Florida. Ulf Samuelsson, who was planning to play, has decided to wait until after Christmas to see if the labor dispute gets resolved, before returning to Sweden. In the meantime, Ulf is working for a local Pittsburgh advertising agency. Two big time superstars are planning to play in the Swiss A League. Deals are close to being finished that will have Steve Yzerman suiting up fo Lugano and Doug Gilmour for Bern. Yzerman's agent, Larry Kelly, is arranging both of the deals. * The Russian Dream Team is about to take the ice for charity in Russia. Several Russian hockey greats will team up to tour Russia and raise money for youth hockey in their homeland. The team will include Alexander Mogilny, Sergei Fedorov, Pavel Bure, Igor Larionov, and many more Russian stars. Slava Fetisov came up with the idea, and is organizing the tour. Before Pavel Bure arrives in Russia, he will make a stop in Germany to play for Landshut in a German League game. Bure's appearance in Germany will be made possible by a local sponsor who will pay for the insurance. * With so many NHLers in Europe, it was only a matter of time before injuries would become big news. Christian Ruutu, playing for IFK of the Finnish Elite League, was hit in the face with a highstick and lost three teeth, while needing ten stitches to close the gash. A crunching check bruised the ribs of Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr, who was playing for Kladno of the Czech Elite League. Jagr is expected to be out for three weeks with the injury. * Speaking of injuries, NHL teams were to continue paying players who would not have been able to play on Oct. 1. This caused a dispute in Calgary, when Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts both thought they should be payed. Nieuwendyk was suffering from a bad back, while Roberts was still trying to recover from nerve damage in his neck suffered during last year's playoffs. The Flames were not going to pay either of them, but when Nieuwendyk and Roberts protested, the team consulted doctors on both of their cases. When Nieuwendyk's doctor confirmed he would not have been able to play, the Flames agreed to pay Nieuwendyk his normal salary. The Flames were still awaiting medical reports from Roberts' doctor in Toronto before making a decision on his case. * In what might prove to be the biggest mistake the NHL has made during this labor dispute, the league cancelled the players' health insurance as of Oct. 15. That sounds bad enough, but they did not even notify the players of this decision. It wasn't until Tom Kurvers and his wife were taken to the hospital after a traffic accident, that Kurvers found out his health insurance was cancelled. Both the Anaheim defenseman and his wife were alright, but this incident has definitely angered players even more, and makes a fast solution to the labor situation seem even more remote. * Citing unfair labor practices, the NHLPA has issued a letter of protest to the league over the racall of Brian Rolston to the New Jersey Devils. Rolston signed a one-way contract with the Devils that would pay him $250,000 whether he played in New Jersey or with their minor league team in Albany. After being sent to Albany during training camp on September 24, the Devils reacalled Rolston after the lockout began, so he would be a member of the Devils and they would not have to pay him. * Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington brought up the idea of an all Canadian hockey league recently. The idea is that if small market Canadian teams, such as Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Quebec, can't compete with the larger U.S. markets they should form their own league. It's doubtful this will happen, but we'll keep you posted. * The new deadline for this hockey season appears to be January 1. NHL vice-president Brian Burke said that the season will have to start by the first of the year if a meaningful schedule is to be played. Burke could not justify playing a "meaningless" 30-35 game regular season. * Dallas Stars defensemen Craig Ludwig and Mike Lalor are taking advantage of the lockout to learn about the business world. They have been printing T-shirts which feature anti-lockout themes, such as, "Let's Play Hockey. Lockout '94." * The Ducks' Don McSween was the first player to file for unemployment benefits because of the lockout, and the Sharks' Jeff Odgers said he intends to follow McSween's lead. * Jeremy Roenick intends to keep busy during the lockout. Roenick, along with a group of investors which includes former Blackhawk Doug Wilson, opened their Seven Bridges Ice Arena last week in the Chicago area. Besides the new rink, Roenick also has several television appearances scheduled, including a guest spot on the NBC comedy "Wings." * Eric Lindros has gone back to school during the lockout. Lindros has been attending Western Ontario University during the work stoppage. * Max McNab retired from the front office of the New Jersey Devils after a 48 year career as a hockey player, coach, and executive. McNab, 70, was the Devils original vice-president of hockey operations when the team moved to New Jersey in 1982. * Former Quebec Nordiques head coach/GM Pierre Page has hooked on with Toronto. Page will serve as a scout for the Maple Leafs. * The only trade rumor floating around involves the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators. In an attempt to gain the possible French speaking superstar of the future, Montreal would send John Leclair, Valeri Bure, and draft picks to Ottawa in exchange for Alexandre Daigle. Recently, Yashin's name has been involved instead of Daigle's, but if a deal is made it will be for Daigle. Montreal desperately wants to find the next French Canadian superstar before the Quebec Nordiques. ********************* MINOR LEAGUE UPDATE ************************ While the lockout is rolling, we'll keep you up to date on the IHL and AHL. After each team in parenthesis is the NHL team for which they are affiliated. INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE STANDINGS (through November 2) Eastern Conference Northern Division W L SOL PTS GF GA Detroit 8 3 2 18 51 38 Kalamazoo (Dal) 6 2 4 16 40 35 Chicago 5 5 1 11 34 48 Cleveland (Pit) 3 5 1 7 34 47 Midwest Division W L SOL PTS GF GA Peoria (StL) 7 3 1 15 39 29 Indianapolis (Chi) 6 3 1 13 35 35 Cincinnati (Fla) 6 4 1 13 34 34 Fort Wayne 1 8 1 3 31 50 Western Conference Central Division W L SOL PTS GF GA Milwaukee 8 3 2 18 49 43 Kansas City (SJ) 6 5 0 12 46 37 Atlanta (TB) 5 2 1 11 33 26 Houston 4 6 2 10 45 52 Minnesota 3 7 2 8 41 53 Southwest Division W L SOL PTS GF GA Phoenix (LA) 9 6 0 18 69 61 Denver 8 2 0 16 45 27 Las Vegas 8 5 0 16 52 44 San Diego (Ana) 3 7 1 7 30 49 Soviet Wings 0 0 0 0 0 0 AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE STANDINGS (through November 2) Atlantic Division W L T PTS GF GA Fredericton (Mtl) 7 4 1 15 48 48 St. John's (Tor) 6 4 2 14 45 37 Cape Breton (Edm) 5 6 0 10 41 45 PEI (Ott) 4 7 2 10 47 51 Saint John (Cgy) 4 8 2 10 47 54 Northern Division W L T PTS GF GA Portland (Wsh) 11 0 3 25 77 35 Providence (Bos) 7 5 2 16 57 54 Albany (NJ) 6 2 3 15 36 34 Adirondack (Det) 5 8 1 11 52 61 Worcester 3 8 2 8 38 58 Springfield (Har) 2 9 2 6 40 55 Southern Division W L T PTS GF GA Binghamton (NYR) 9 2 2 20 54 36 Cornwall (Que) 5 4 2 12 39 35 Syracuse 4 5 3 11 45 45 Rochester (Buf) 5 8 0 10 48 55 Hershey (Phi) 3 6 1 7 36 47 While we're on the subject of the IHL, our good buddy Alan Tignanelli was at the opening of the Cleveland Lumberjacks new arena. GUND ARENA OPENS IN CLEVELAND by Alan Tignanelli On October 22, the Cleveland Lumberjacks opened the brand-spanking-new Gund Arena. The new rink is part of the Gateway complex in downtown Cleveland that also includes Jacobs Field, the new home of the Cleveland Indians. The new arena is, in a word, impressive. I don't know who was responsible for the design, but whoever it was gets a big "attaboy." The facility holds 19,941, and all the seats looked to have excellent sitelines. There did not appear to be any seats under overhangs, or blocked by pillars. The designers thought of everything. The hallways are wide, there are lots of rest rooms, and concession stands aplenty. There are about a dozen different types of food concessions, from Gretel's (brownies and stuff) to Itta Pizza. There are several types of beer stands, including several that feature the products of microbreweries. And the little details were not forgotten. All of the seats have drink holders available. You've gotta love it. The 'Jacks put the video scoreboard to great use. Instead of showing insipid commercials during breaks, like the Cap Centre, I mean USAir Arena, does, they show movie clips. GOOD movie clips. During the opener, we were treated to clips from "Animal House", "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles", Beetlejuice", and Cab Calloway singing "Minnie the Moocher" in the "Blues Brothers". Classy. That's not to say that there weren't some problems. The net pegs kept coming out of the ice all night. And the speakers in the hallway seemed to be vintage Taco Bell drive-thru models. All in all, it's worth the drive up I-77 to the new joint. The 'Jacks have what looks to be a half-decent team. The prices are more than reasonable ($6 to $9.50 for Youth Tickets, $9 to $19 for Adults). It only costs $5 to park at Tower City, which has a walkway to Gateway, and a really cool Warner Brothers store. And, besides all that, the IHL is playing hockey, which is more than you can say for the NHL. Oh, by the way, the Lumberjacks lost to the Detroit Vipers 4-3 in a shoot-out. This issue marks the debut of Dan Hurwitz as a regular writer. Dan will contribute articles from time to time, sharing his insights and opinions with us. Dan is also the Philadelphia Flyers correspondent for Stan Fischler's Hockey Report. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS By Dan Hurwitz The last thing anybody needs right now is yet another person complaining about why it stinks that we're without the NHL right now. So I've decided to put together some observations and points of ponderance for those of you who are pulling for a hockey fix. *Has anyone else noted the irony of the NHLPA motto, "Be a Player"? Maybe somebody should tell them to be more specific...like "Be a HOCKEY Player." Right noe the only kind of player we see in the NHLPA is the kind in the Tim Robbins flick of the same name. *I am not taking a firm pro-player stance on this whole situation because, in the words of other LCS writers, there are a huge number of weasels playing hockey today. Why should Mark Messier, who is clearly a 70-80 point man now, think he's worth $6 million a season? Where does Paul Kariya get off holding out for a multi-million dollar deal when he wasn't even picked until fourth overall? How can Alexei Yashin or Petr Nedved feel entitled to renegotiations? It's just ridiculous. The guys I feel sorry for in all this are the ones like Doug Weight, one of only three or four NHL-calibre players on his team who makes $200,000 a season. Guys like Stephane Richer, who took a pay cut to sign a longer-term deal with New Jersey, before Canadiens great Jacques Lemaire took over. Guys like Jeremy Roenick, who know there are players making far more for doing less, but who want to play through the contracts they signed in good faith. I'm sorry for these guys and other players like them. *On the other hand, I think the final blame for the entire situation is the owners'. Players are greedy because they've been given a glimpse of what's out there for them. Kelly Miller, Brad May, and Joe Juneau all were signed to multi-million dollar deals after sub 20 goal seasons. I'll admit that Miller is a good player, and integral to the Caps' team system, but I don't think there has ever been a fan who bought a ticket to see Kelly Miller play. And really, that's where the revenue comes from. Nobody forced the owners to sign these huge deals, or to renegotiate in the middle of a contract. Nobody forced the idiots in St. Louis to sign Scott Stevens to a 17+ million dollar contract simply to piss off New Jersey. Things are the way they are because the owners made it that way. No matter how greedy some or even all of the players are, they have every right to look after their own best interests in ways the owners have already established. Who wants to give up a good thing? And now, it's the owners who have the power to start things, but instead they lock the players out. *One guy who comes to mind every time I hear the word "weasel" is David Volek, the left winger who recently retired from the New York Islanders for health reasons. I can't say I'm sorry to see his career cut short. Here's why I think that off-ice, he's the biggest jerk the NHL has ever seen: I first went to work for Stan Fischler at the end of the 1992-93 season. My first game ever as a media member was Game 3 of the Wales Conference Playoffs, before Volek did the unthinkable when his overtime goal in Game 7 of the Patrick Division Finals bumped the defending Cup champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins, from the tournament. The first real assignment I got that night came after the first period. Sure, I had been taking stats on faceoff wins, etc., but none of that got used. But then, after the second period, when the Maven was set to interview Dave Volek on SportsChannel in a prearranged setup, I was assigned to pick him up at the locker room and bring him over to the studio. So I stood out there with sweaty Islander gloves being flung in my direction, and when #25 came by, I called out, "David, I'm here to bring you to your SportsChannel interview." His response was: "Hmmm, grumble, no go, not do, grumble" and he went into the locker room, which was closed off between periods. Frantic, I ran over to Stan to tell him what happened, and was told to "Get somebody!!!" So I wandered the hall and first grabbed Wayne McBean, who, surprise surprise, was not dressed to play. But then a staff person went into the locker room and brought out Mark Fitzpatrick, who I practically kissed as he came with me to the studio. So there you have it. David Volek almost ruined the first game assignment I ever had. And I've been told by those who know that he is, in general, a weasel to all who meet him. *Why can't life imitate fantasy? On my current season on '95, Whaler forward Robert Kron is in the top twenty scorers. And no, I don't play with the Whalers. *The owners should be advised: If this lasts too long, Cam Neely may actually be cast in a movie with Michael J. Fox and Glen Close. The guy can't even sound convincing in an interview... *Anyone who's seen IHL hockey on ESPN or ESPN2 should now appreciate what Gary Thorne brings to a game. Sure, he can't remember a guy's name even when it's on the back of his jersey, ubt Gary has the single best voice in sports, and he made the Thunder/Gulls game last week into an exciting spectacle, without cracking up every time he said "Bonk." *Of course, it's also hard to be anti-owner right now when I have sat in Ed Snider's box for one Flyers game. He loves his team and his players. The strange thing is, they all love him, too. I don't know how long it can last, but maybe somebody should point out that these are people in the negotiations, and not the "NHL" or the "NHLPA". In fact, I bet if you sat the player reps down with the owners, instead of those idiots Goodenow and Bettman (idiots at negotiating, since Bettman was doing pretty well as the Commish before all this), that this would all get done a lot sooner. Anyway, folks, these are my rants and raves. Next time I'll tell you about why Eric Lindros is a lot cooler than the spoiled brat everybody thinks he is. ****************** I HAVE NOTING TO WRITE ABOUT!!! ******************* by Jim Iovino I have now realized that the new NHL season is not going to start just because I have nothing to write about, so I decided to dig into the archives and come up with a little something that might interest you. If it does great. If not, well...I tried. I recently sat down with the latest edition of The Sporting News Complete Hockey Book, which I like to call my big book o' happiness, and read every entry in search of the most amazing facts known to man. I didn't find any, but the following is amusing at least. * Goaltender Stephane Beauregard of the Winnipeg Jets has had quite a journey around the NHL. During his five seasons in the league, he has been traded for Christian Ruutu (twice), Dominik Hasek, two third-round picks in the 1993 entry draft, a fourth-round pick in the '93 draft and two fifth-round picks in the 1994 entry draft. * Newly acquired Hartford Whaler Jimmy Carson has been traded for (in various deals) each of the following: Wayne Gretzky, Joe Murphy, Adam Graves, and Paul Coffey. * Brian Bellows, left winger for the Montreal Canadiens, became the youngest coach in Ontario Hockey League history at the age of 17. While playing for the Kitchner Rangers, Bellows seperated his shoulder and ended up coaching the team for two games while he recovered. * In the wacky family relations category, New York Ranger defenseman Jeff Beukeboom is the cousin of Joe Nieuwendyk, center for the Calgary Flames. Emmanuel Fernandez, a goalie in the Stars organization, is the nephew of New Jersey Devils head coach Jacques Lemaire. Florida Panthers center Brian Skrudland is the cousin of former NHL great Barry Pederson. And, one of the most underrated players in the league, Ron Francis, is the cousin of Mike Liut. * Quebec Nordiques left wing Wendel Clark won the Top Defenseman Trophy in the Western Hockey League after the 1984-85 hockey season. Gary "Eddie Munster" Leeman won the award for the 1982-83 season. * Johnny Cullen was the top scorer in the International Hockey League for the 1987-88 season. He scored 157 points for Flint in 81 games. He also led the league in assists that year with 109. * New York Islander Brad Dalgarno sat out the 1989-90 season in retirement. * Stars defenseman Gord Donnely went loopy for a while during the late '80s. In a span of less than three years he was suspended five games for kneeing, another five and a $100 fine for a pre-game fight, 10 games for hitting another player with his stick, and fined $500 for kneeing. * Some guy named Kevin Evans, who has only played nine games in the NHL during his career, chalked up 648 penalty minutes in just 73 games for Kalamazoo during the 86-87 season. Do some complicated math and that works out to about 8.9 penalty minutes per game. As you probably guessed, he led the league that year. * The Calgary Flames own Theo Fleury holds the NHL single game record for the highest plus/minus rating with an outstanding +9. Fleury also shared the Bob Clarke Trophy (WHL Award for top scorer) with cool Nord Joe Sakic in 1987-88. * Detroit Red Wing veteran defenseman Mark Howe suffered a 5-inch puncture wound to his upper thigh in 1980. If my memory serves me right, this occured when he fell on one of the spike-type objects that the NHL brilliantly used at one time to keep the nets from moving. * Bruins defenseman Alexei Kasatonov suffered from hemorrhoids in December of 1991 and missed three games because of them. * Lightning flash-in-the-pan Chris Kontos holds the NHL single series playoff record for most power play goals. He scored six for the Kings in a 1989 series. * Quebec defenseman Uwe Krupp was banned from international competition for 18 months by the IIHF after failing a random substance test on April 20, 1990. * Marc Laforge, a right wing/defenseman for the New York Islanders, is on a first name basis with league officials all over North America. Here is the list of suspensions he has obtained throughout his career. -Suspended 9 games by OHL (1986) -Suspended 2 years by OHL for attacking several members of the opposing team in game-ending fight (1987) -Suspended 3 games by AHL for headbutting (1988) -Suspended 6 games for leaving bench to start a fight (1988) -Suspended 5 games by AHL for headbutting (1990) -Suspended 10 games by AHL for cross-checking and kneeing (1990) -Suspended 10 games by AHL for cross-checking (1991) -Suspended 6 games by AHL for leaving bench to start fight -Suspended 10 games by NHL * New York Ranger defenseman Kevin Lowe is married to Karen Percy, who is a Canadian Olympic Bronze Medal winning downhill skier. In a related story, as hard as it is to believe, Kevin Lowe was once taken first overall by someone (who shall remain nameless) in a NHL draft league a few years back. * Whale defenseman Brad McCrimmon suffered from a skin rash in February, 1989. * The Great One, Peter Stastny, is one of only three players to score 100 points or more in each of their first six NHL seasons. (Gretzky and Lemieux) * Ottawa Senator Sylvain Turgeon burned both of his eyes with ultraviolet light produced by a welders torch while working on his car in 1989. * Whaler legend Pat Verbeek severed his left thumb between the knuckles in a corn planting machine on his farm and underwent to have the thumb reconnected in 1985. * Pat Verbeek was traded for Sylvain Turgeon in 1989. Coincidence? I think not! _____________________________________________________________________ LCS Music Corner --------------------------------------------------------------------- Last issue we published a little ditty about the NHL which was contributed by one of our valued readers. It was welcomed with such an overwhelming silence, we decided to write one ourselves. This song was written by Matthew Secosky, and can be sung to the tune of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by NIRVANA. Smells Like a Lockout. Turn on the tube and watch ESPN Watch the IHL and try to pretend I squint my eyes and wish real hard Is that Ray Bourque or Guy Lafleur? (chorus) How long, how long, how long, HELLO?!? How long, how long, how long, HELLO?!? How long, how long, how long, HELLO?!? How long, how long, how long... This damn lockout is outrageous circus midgets entertain us Talks are lurid and tumultuos Al Morganti, can you save us? A tax quota Armadillo Gary Bettman is a weasel yeah A salary cap would be the best the players feel the owners must jest this little league has always been but will this finally be the end? (chorus) They must forget who pays their way I hope they realize in a while fans foot the bill, everytime Oh well, there's always '95 (chorus) A proposal, a proposal, a proposal, a proposal, a proposal, a proposal, a proposal. ******************** LETTERS TO LCS ************************* Before we get to the letters this issue, I would like to update the whole NHL '95 video game situation. Basically, the game bites. I stumbled upon an e-mail address where Electronic Arts can be reached, so now is your chance to let them know what you think of the game. The address is EANHL95@EA.COM Good luck, and happy letter writing. Now we would like to thank those of you who took part in our reader survey. The following are only a few examples of the numerous responses we received. If you have yet to respond to the survey, there is still time. Just send your letters and comments to bh397@freenet.carleton.ca ********************** READER SURVEY ************************** 1. What do you like most about LCS? I like getting detailed hockey news via e-mail. LCS has the best format of any e-mail magazine/newsletter that I've seen. 2. What do you like least about LCS? The wait between issues. 3. Do you experience any problems in receiving LCS? Nope... 4. Have you ever been bitten by a monkey? No, but my sister was bitten by a monkey thanks to me!!! :) 5. What features would you like to see in future issues of LCS once the season starts to roll? Some features on the LA Kings, such as Bruce McNall's court troubles or maybe a profile on the new owners of the Kings... 6. How did Rembrandt's use of color and light effect the moods of his paintings? I'll leave that to the experts to decide. 7. While the lockout continues we will continue to put out issues. Is there anything you would like to see during these lockout issues? We will be taking requests, so now is your chance. Profiles of the teams that are supposedly losing money. Maybe the owners financial records. Do they even exist? Great newsletter. Keep up the good work. --Bryan Littlefield LCS: Man, yet another report of a monkey attack. The number of letters received which contained actual testimony of monkey bites was staggering. Perhaps there should be an investigation, maybe Bettman and Goodenow could get to the bottom of this...well, maybe not. 1 - Like the most? I enjoy the blended style of humor with no nonsense information. The info is to the point and as unbias as can be. 2 - Least enjoy? Time delay for some of the info. 3 - Problems receiving? Only the long distance charges. 4 - Monkey bites? Nope. 5 - Future issues? Player updates, player stats. 6 - Rembrandt? He used a style called chiaroscuro which used light, color, and shadows to create an effect of solid form. It helped make his work seem solid and realistic giving a sense of space and emotion usually gloomy. 7 - Future? Enough about Bettman, what about Goodenow's iron fist. Everyone seems to be blind to the fact that Mr. G is really calling the shots for the players. Most players want to play HOCKEY. Bettman has more strings attached to his ability to call the shots than Goodenough. You could also use this medium as a form to gain a fan movement to boycott just one game in each city once they do start. Andrew Reviakin LCS: The idea of a fan "strike" seems to always come up during labor problems in sports. However, none of them ever seem to get off the ground. In principle it's a good idea and would definitely get the attention of the owners and players. The organization needed to pull off such an event is well over LCS's head. Besides, let's face it, no matter how mad we get during the lockout, when the puck drops we'll go running back. 1. What do I like? Sometimes, the paper neglects small trades or gives no summary of what's been going on behind the scenes. Sometimes, the smaller stories are pushed out, just because of space limitations. Living in Ottawa, it's hard to get anyone to tell you if the Isles are playing like dogs, or whether they're just taking a few tough breaks. The player highlights are nice, too, because most sports writers are too caught up in the final score to do research into any single player. You guys can fill in those blanks for me. I like that a lot. 2. Least? Haven't noticed anything that annoys me at all, yet, but if I do, rest assured I'll let you know! :) 3. No problems yet. I just get it off my news reader. I almost missed it this time, because I've been busy, so I thought that I'd get on the mailing list. 4. I have never been bitten by a monkey. I have wrestled with my brother. Is that close enough? 5. Who's hot, who's not for each team. Who's in the the coach's doghouse. I'm asking a lot, I know, but I thought it might be an interesting suggestion. 6. It was the texture more than just the light and color, I think. It gave each tableau a sense of light and depth... All right, I'm making it up. :) 7. Updates on who is playing where. You've been doing that already, ie. the McSorley thing, Selanne, etc. Thanks again! Wallace Stephen LCS: We will try and have a Hot/Cold section if the season ever gets started. If anyone else out there is not on the mailing list, yet somehow gets ahold of LCS, it might be a good idea to sign on the big ol' mailing list. That way you won't miss any issues, and we have some idea of how many readers we actually have. The bigger the number, the more important we seem when we nag people for stories and beg for loans. 1. Like most? The factoids, the dripping sarcasm, the tons o' information you guys seem to get, and Zippy the Wonder Chimp, of course! 2. Like least? Like least? I gotta say it, the unbridled abuse of the Hartford Whalers (although they deserve it! :) 3. Any problems receiving it? Nope. Comes right down the shute! 4. Have you ever been bitten by a monkey? No, damn it! What else do I have to do?!?!? 5. What features would you like to see in the future? Can't really think of any. I like the player profiles, the team info, and the general stats. What else do we need? 6. How did Rembrandt's use of light and color effect the mood of his paintings? It didn't. They all suck. (just kidding) 7. Requests for lockout issues? Live on the edge! Laura J. Mulcahy LCS: I admit we have been a little rough on the Whale in the past, but we kid because we care. In fact, next issue we are planning a tribute to the Hartford Whalers! That's right, a GreenPeace issue with absolutely no Whale bashing! Wait, listen closely, you can almost hear all the Whaler fans in the world screaming for joy. Both of them. ******************************************************************* Well, that about wraps it up for this issue. Next time around we'll have the news of the day, that big Whaler tribute, and the first inductee to the LCS Hall of Fame. It will be sent out on November 18. Until then, check out the LCS Web Site at http://mxs200.rh.psu.edu/httpddoc/sportif.htm The Web Site is now up and running 24 hours a day. Not only does it contain back issues of LCS, but it also has leading scorers from last season, trophy winners, and a few other surprises. Until next time... Take it easy.