On the night of the Lightning's home opener against the New York Islanders, Cullen received a standing ovation when his name was announced as the starting center. For the Lightning, it was the only highlight of the evening as they lost 2-0.
"At the beginning it was great. Everybody showed their support and got real loud. I remember the first day I stepped on the ice last year at training camp. I remember my first exhibition game, and this game, especially because I got to play in front of the fans in Tampa. The way they supported me through the last year-and-a-half has been overwhelming at times, and I really appreciate it," said Cullen.
For Cullen, the road back to the NHL has been a long and sometimes painful one. After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1997, Cullen underwent extensive chemotherapy to eliminate a tumor in his chest. When this procedure did not work, his bone marrow was harvested from his body and reintroduced at a later date.
Immediately following the procedure, Cullen's heart stopped as he was being wheeled back to his room. It took doctors more than a minute to regain a pulse. At that time it was doubtful that Cullen, a father of a three-year old daughter, would ever play hockey again.
"I still have a battle for recovery with the big 'C' word," said Cullen. "It takes a couple of years to clear your mind, but for me to start training camp, and to play in a couple of games, it sure makes my recovery process a lot more enjoyable.
"If I wasn't playing the game, maybe I would think about it a lot more. Now, I really have to concentrate on hockey. Sometimes I think 'was that me?', but now I can sit here and talk about the game, and that is a lot more fun."
Since Cullen last played for the Lightning, there have been quite a few changes. There is a new owner, a new general manager and coach, and fifteen new players. But one thing is for certain, it does not matter how many shifts or how many goals Cullen scores this season, it's the fact that he has rebounded from a serious illness that makes him special in the minds of his fans.
Sadly, John Cullen is not the only athlete in recent history to battle cancer. Former teammate Mario Lemieux, and golfer Paul Azinger have also fought the dreaded disease and both returned to their sport.
On the eve of their playoffs, Major League Baseball was shocked at the news of Darryl Strawberry's announcement that he will have to undergo surgery for colon cancer. When asked what advice he can give Strawberry, Cullen replied: "I would tell him to stay positive, have some kind of hope, some faith. I am not sure if he knows about my story, but I went through the most extensive treatment anybody can go through with cancer. I was telling somebody this morning that he (Strawberry) got lucky because his best friend (Eric Davis of the Baltimore Orioles) just went through it, and look at the year Eric Davis had, it was amazing.
"When I was diagnosed with Lymphoma, I had a chance to talk with Paul Azinger, who also had Lymphoma, and Mario Lemieux, who had Hodgkin's Disease. They both came back to play and that helped me in my recovery."
Although Cullen has made a return to the ice, his time with the Lightning was a brief one. He appeared in four games and failed to register a point. On October 26, he was assigned to the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League after refusing an offer to remain with the Lightning as an assistant coach.
The Lightning signed Cullen to a one-year, $500,000 contract last month. The agreement contained clauses that would pay him $300,000 if he played in at least 50 games and another $200,000 if he was one of the team's top three scorers. The coaching position would pay him $110,000. Lightning general manager and coach Jacques Demers said the offer of an assistant coaching position is still open if Cullen changes his mind about playing.
Cullen, a two-time All-Star, was the Lightning's third-leading scorer during the 1996-97 season, with 18 goals and a team-leading 37 assists in 70 games. In nine NHL seasons, he has 197 goals and 362 assists in 617 games with the Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Hartford Whalers.
----------------------------------------------------------------- CREDITS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Dell........................Editor-in-Chief Zippy..................................Computer Boy Jim Iovino.............................Ace Reporter Matthew Secosky.......Does Not Have a Police Record Nicole Agostino.........Was Right About the Calcium Dan Hurwitz.........................Featured Writer John Alsedek........................Featured Writer Alex Carswell.................Anaheim Correspondent Matt Brown.....................Boston Correspondent Mark Zampogna.................Buffalo Correspondent Simon D. Lewis................Calgary Correspondent Vacant.......................Carolina Correspondent Thomas Crawford...............Chicago Correspondent Greg D'Avis..................Colorado Correspondent Jim Panenka....................Dallas Correspondent Dino Cacciola.................Detroit Correspondent Aubrey Chau..................Edmonton Correspondent Vacant........................Florida Correspondent Matt Moore................Los Angeles Correspondent Jacques Robert...............Montreal Correspondent Jeff Middleton..............Nashville Correspondent Eric Witzel................New Jersey Correspondent David Strauss...............Islanders Correspondent Alex Frias....................Rangers Correspondent The Nosebleeders..............Ottawa Correspondents Eric Meyer...............Philadelphia Correspondent Bob Chebat....................Phoenix Correspondent Tom Cooper..................St. Louis Correspondent Al Swanson...................San Jose Correspondent Seth Lerman.................Tampa Bay Correspondent Jonah Sigel...................Toronto Correspondent Jeff Dubois.................Vancouver Correspondent Jason Sheehan..............Washington Correspondent Tricia McMillan...................AHL Correspondent ----------------------------------------------------------------- LCS Hockey - Issue 106 - October 28, 1998. All rights reserved because we, like, called ahead and stuff. Email address: info@lcshockey.com Street Address: 406 Sheffield Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601. Web Address: www.lcshockey.com Direct Address: Something from the meat case, Linda? ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Colorado Will Be Fine ----------------------------------------------------------------- by Michael Dell One of the most shocking elements of the new season is the early struggles of the mighty Colorado Avalanche. The former Stanley Cup champs started the campaign 0-4-0 before salvaging a miraculous last-minute tie against the Los Angeles Kings and then barely holding on for a 6-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Their current 1-4-1 mark places them near the bottom of the league, even behind the likes of the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders.
So what's wrong with the men with feet on their shoulders? Not much, really. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of Colorado's demise have been, like, wrong and stuff.
People love to panic. And overreaction seems to be a matter of civic pride in Denver. Going winless in five games is never anything to celebrate with a commemorative plate, but even Chicken Little got stampeded in the streets of the Mile High City as doubting souls ran for cover from the Avalanche's falling record.
The 0-4-0 start, which was the worst in franchise history, was actually a little deceiving. Despite the four straight losses, the Avalanche really didn't play all that bad. They opened the season with a 4-3 loss at home to Ottawa. The game seemed destined for a 3-3 tie until Wade Redden flipped a harmless shot on net from the left point that struck a Colorado defender in front and deflected past Patrick Roy for the game-winner with 1:22 left in regulation.
Next up was Dominik Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres. The Avalanche outshot the hairy behemoths 32-27 but couldn't solve the Dominator, losing 3-2. Hey, Hasek does that to people. It happens.
Now, things did start to get a little silly when Boston came into McNichols Arena a couple nights later and handed the Avalanche their second consecutive 3-0 defeat. Once again, Colorado held the advantage in shots, this time 34-23, yet couldn't get a puck through Byron Dafoe. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Avs dominated the game from the second period on, carrying the physical play to the Bears and testing Dafoe more frequently than a demented tenth grade science teacher. However, any hopes of a comeback were dashed when a brilliant goal by rookie Milan Hejduk in the third period got whacked by the punk- ass goal crease rule. Not long after Hejduk got jobbed, a routine dump-in by the Bruins took a zany hop off the boards, catching Roy behind the cage, and created an empty-net tap-in for Joe Thornton. Game over.
The fourth loss came the very next night in Phoenix. The Avalanche skated like mission men and grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second period on goals by Joe Sakic and Adam Deadmarsh. But the Coyotes drew even before the end of the middle frame, getting the equalizer when Alexei Gusarov cleared an ordinary centering attempt by Teppo Numminen off Deadmarsh's leg and into his own net. Yeah, that'll suck. The goal seemed to deflate the Avalanche. Craig Billington, who got the start in net over Roy, then let the game slip away by yielding two questionable goals 29 seconds apart in the third. An empty-netter by Mike Sullivan made the final 5-2.
Could the Avalanche have played better in the four games? Absolutely. Did they deserve to lose all four times out? Probably not. Take away the wacky bounces and the horror that is the punk-ass goal crease rule and it wouldn't have been totally out of the question for the Avalanche to be 2-1-1. The Avalanche players may not have been displaying their old championship swagger, but the losses were hardly due to a lack of effort. They worked hard without getting much in the way of results... sort of like Frank Stallone's agent.
As is the usual custom, the initial drought put even the slightest imperfection under the intense microscope of public opinion. First up on the examining slide was rookie head coach Bob Hartley. A wizard in the junior and minor-league ranks, Hartley's ability to motivate and discipline a somewhat jaded group of veterans immediately came into question. Suddenly, people were trying to remember exactly why Marc Crawford was fired.
Obviously, Hartley's ideal beginning behind the bench did not include dropping his first four decisions. After all, he was handed a team many predicted to challenge for the Cup. But the young coach didn't wilt under the searing heat of criticism. Instead, he made it perfectly clear who was running the show by taking Claude Lemieux and Valeri Kamensky off the top line and drastically cutting their ice time. A message was being sent. Play hard or else. This was one coach who wasn't going to be taken advantage of, no matter the players involved.
As important as it was for Hartley to prove he could drop the hammer in disciplinary actions, he was also quick to show that hard work would pay off. Almost to reward them for good behavior, Hartley reunited both Lemieux and Kamensky with Peter Forsberg in the game against Edmonton. Lemieux responded with a pair of goals. Lesson learned. Hartley's ability to handle the situation has to be seen as encouraging.
Even if Hartley had been providing little more than material for old Bob Newhart Show references, there's only so much a coach can do, especially a coach in his first few days on the job. Ultimately, it's the players that decide the outcome of games. And it's the players that have to accept the responsibility for losing. Peter Forsberg did just that.
In a refreshing change from the modern sports world where athletes often shun blame, Forsberg stepped up after each loss and said that he was terrible. Always citing himself as the worst player on the ice, the Swedish superstar vowed to play better. Of course, the act of contrition was as false as it was courageous.
Forsberg has been solid. While he has yet to notch his first goal, he does have seven assists and has been his usual splendid self at both ends of the ice. Witnessing even the most casual of Forsberg shifts is a treat for the discerning hockey fan. Everything he does is worthy of awe. There's as much beauty in watching him angle off a puck-carrier or disrupt a pass at center ice as there is in seeing him orchestrate the offense with his miraculous array of skills.
It would have been easy for Forsberg to say that everything was okay and that the club was just the unlucky recipient of some bad bounces, but he didn't hide behind the security of his own strong play. Instead, he demanded more from himself and his teammates. That's what makes him a great player. And it's that type of desire and leadership that will ensure Colorado's safe passage through this brief battle with mediocrity.
While Forsberg has been strong, Colorado's best player so far this season has been Joe Sakic. The quiet captain has been phenomenal. He finally seems fully recovered from the leg injuries that hampered him the past two seasons and his skating like the Sakic of old; exploding through seams and stretching the defense with his speed. Sakic already has a league-high three short-handed goals and leads his team in scoring with five goals and 10 points. This is easily the best he's looked since carrying the Avalanche to the Cup in 1995-96.
Yes, the team's two premier superstars, while eager to accept responsibility, are not the reason for the early woes. Of the other notable stars, Lemieux and Kamensky were clearly not playing up to par. Lemieux was hardly noticeable on the ice. He wasn't playing with the fire and passion that has defined his career. If Claude isn't being nasty, he isn't being Claude. As for Kamensky, he fell into his usual trap of being content to skate on the periphery. He needs to work in traffic to be at his best. Hopefully the wake-up call by Hartley will get them both back on track.
The only other real scoring threat up front is Adam Deadmarsh. After missing the first two games of the season due to a strained rib cage muscle, Deadmarsh bagged a goal in each of his first three contests. He was an absolute terror against the Oilers, registering a goal and an assist while also dropping the gloves with Kelly Buchberger and Sean Brown. It's hard to find fault with anything Deadmarsh has done since returning. He's reportedly in the best shape of his life, and it shows. A consistent effort like the one against Edmonton and Deadmarsh will be an All-Star.
Hidden amidst the disappointment of the dismal start has been the undeniable promise of rookies Milan Hejduk and Chris Drury. Plain and simple, Hejduk is just a scorer. He's more than a little reminiscent of Luc Robitaille, except faster. Hejduk has exceptional hands, sees the entire ice, and owns a goal-scorer's touch around the net. He's going to be an offensive force. The same can be said for Drury. The former Hobey Baker winner isn't quite the shooter that Hejduk is, but he makes up for it with an abundance of quickness. Drury can flat out fly. Keep an eye on these two as the season progresses, they could provide the youthful exuberance the offense has lacked in the past.
The rest of the supporting cast, which includes Stephane Yelle, Keith Jones, Eric Lacroix, and Rene Corbet, is perfectly fine. Sure, Mike Keane and Mike Ricci may be missed, but their legends have been bolstered by their absences. And while everyone would like to point to the day that Chris Simon left as the beginning of Colorado's downfall, that's simply not true. Ask the Washington Capitals how much of an impact Simon makes on a regular basis. On the rare occasion when he isn't injured, Simon does little to warrant skating on anything but a fourth line. Warren Rychel and Jeff Odgers are perfectly capable of providing fourth-line toughness.
Of course, the obvious reason for Colorado's befuddling beginning would be the absence of Sandis Ozolinsh. The Latvian blueliner, who is the best offensive defenseman on the planet, remains unsigned. Any negotiating leverage GM Pierre Lacroix had was destroyed by the club's slow start. Ozolinsh's price is only going to increase with each passing loss. Now Lacroix is almost forced to be patient, waiting for the team to prove it can be successful without Sandis before restarting contract talks.
Trading Ozolinsh should be completely out of the question. There just isn't another player in the league that can bring what he can to this team. He needs to be signed. Colorado desperately misses his presence at the point. The Avalanche power play was 2-for-27 on the season before ripping the Oilers for three man- advantage goals in their lone win. In place of Ozolinsh, Hartley has been forced to employ Aaron Miller, Jon Klemm, and even recent call-up Ted Crowley at the point. Oh, the horror.
Aside from his tremendous offensive talent, Ozolinsh's absence further weakens an already depleted group of defensemen. The Avalanche blue line has taken some serious hits recently, losing Uwe Krupp to free agency, Eric Messier to a broken elbow, Pascal Trepanier to the waiver draft, and Wade Belak to a groin injury.
In need of more defensive depth, Lacroix acquired Greg de Vries from Nashville on October 25 in exchange for a third-round draft choice in 1999. A rather steady stay-at-home guy, de Vries should help solidify the top six with Adam Foote, Alexei Gusarov, Sylvain Lefebvre, Miller, and Klemm. But would someone please hand Ozolinsh a pen?
Even though the defense has seen better days, there's still no excuse for Patrick Roy's performance this season. He's been just awful, boasting a goals-against average of 3.69 and a league- worst .860 save percentage. Patrick could have his sainthood recanted if he continues to play such uninspired hockey.
Some would like to attribute Roy's numbers to the new restrictions on goaltending equipment, but that just isn't the case. No, it's nothing physical. All Roy's problems to this point have been between the ears. Maybe those Stanley Cup rings are getting in the way? He's openly admitted that he isn't as focused as he should be, often appearing completely uninterested in net. Whatever the reason for the malaise, it likely won't last. Patrick Roy didn't become Patrick Roy by not competing each and every night. He'll respond to the challenge.
With Forsberg and Sakic already rolling, and Lemieux and Kamensky on the verge of finding their strides, Colorado will be as good as new once Roy snaps out of it. Add Ozolinsh and they're right back in Contendersville.
When all is said and done, this time of grief could be the best thing that ever happened to the Avalanche. Hartley and the club could be forged through fire, creating the valuable team chemistry that was missing the past two years. Plus, it's always better to get this sort of thing out of the way now then during the postseason stretch. Let's face it, the Avalanche could probably forfeit all their games until Christmas and still make the playoffs. Remember, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. No sense getting all worked up over a few false steps in an 82-game marathon.
While the opposition is hoping that Colorado's miserable start is a sign of a true collapse, there's no need for the faithful to sweat it. Things will be just fine. When the Avalanche finally does fall, it's the rest of the league that will be buried.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The above article was written before Phoenix throttled Colorado 5-1 Monday night. In light of these new developments, one thing must be added to the story... ahem... PANIC! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING! MAKE IT STOP! OH, PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP! FOR THE LOVE OF CULLEN, MAKE IT STOP!)
----------------------------------------------------------------- Problems in Pittsburgh ----------------------------------------------------------------- by Michael Dell Yes, it's true. The Pittsburgh Penguins have filed for bankruptcy. But don't let the business problems fool you. The Penguins are bankrupt on the ice, too.
Focusing on the business end of things first, the Pittsburgh front office situation is a complete mess. Co-owners Howard Baldwin and Roger Marino are at each other's throats. About the only thing they've agreed on is the decision to file for Chapter 11, which will protect them from creditors. And, oh Jackson, are there a lot of creditors. The team has lost a reported $37 million dollars the past four years.
While most fans around Pittsburgh see Marino as public enemy number one for his refusal to pay Mario Lemieux the $30 million he's still owed by the club, the current financial state of the franchise is not Marino's fault. That blood is on Baldwin's hands.
Now I'm not an electrician or some other fancy boy in a suit, so I don't know much about no high-falootin' business deals. Although, word on the street is that Baldwin doesn't, either. He's apparently done some things that would make even a first- year business major laugh like a chimp.
Not only did Baldwin take beatings on disastrous investments such as the Russian Penguins, the Pittsburgh Phantoms roller hockey team, and an equally short-lived indoor soccer franchise, he also lacked the cash necessary when he first purchased the Penguins and agreed to a few concessions with the SMG Corporation - the entity that runs the Civic Arena - in order to make up the difference. Those concessions are part of the reason why the Pens have been losing $10 million a season and the SMG Corp. continues to average $3 million in annual profits from the arena.
The team really had no other choice but to file for bankruptcy. It was the only real way to keep the franchise in the Steel City. However, unless something gets worked out with the Civic Arena and SMG, the team's future would seem to have moving vans in it.
Baldwin and Marino appear to be using the bankruptcy filing as a scare tactic to get the city to heft the bill for a new arena. Partial agreements were made with two of the team's most significant creditors - Lemieux and Fox Sports TV - in the days before the decision to go broke. That meant the arena situation was the only other significant matter left unresolved. The Burgh recently approved proposals to build new stadiums for the Steelers and Pirates, now the Penguins want a piece of that action.
The only problem is that when the citizens voted on the stadium plan several months ago, both Baldwin and Marino were mute. Neither one asked that the Penguins be tacked on to the end of the motion. Now they're attempting to hit the city with a guilt trip to try and gauge a new arena. The ploy likely won't work. After all, it was only a couple years ago that Baldwin went to the city and asked for $12 million to renovate the Igloo. Baldwin assured everyone involved that the $12 million would be enough to make the Civic Arena competitive in the modern day NHL. The wish was granted and improvements made. It wasn't enough.
To come back only two years later and complain about the arena again makes Baldwin and Marino seem more than a little ungrateful. The Penguin brass, tho', does have two things in its favor.
First, once Maple Leaf Gardens closes later in the season, the Igloo will be the oldest barn in the NHL.
Second, any proposed new arena would be much more versatile than the new football and baseball parks. Aside from hockey, the Civic Arena is also a popular venue for music concerts, puppet shows, and the like. All things combined, the arena is busy well over 100 dates a year. That's quite the little revenue maker for the city, especially compared to the limited work schedules of the football and baseball stadiums. That alone could be enough to sway support. But don't count on it.
At the moment, Pittsburgh City Council is considering revoking the Penguins' amusement permit because of back taxes owed. The Pens are arguing that bankruptcy should protect them from such action, but if successful, the council could bar the Guins from playing at the Civic Arena. That would certainly complicate matters. But it's highly unlikely, considering all the tax- paying ticket-holders that would be screwed by such an occurrence.
At this point, there really hasn't been too much serious talk about the team leaving town. Marino was seen meeting with officials in Kansas City and Houston, but he says that it was completely unrelated to the Penguins. Whatever. It's doubtful that the league would allow the team to split, but who knows what will happen if a new arena doesn't get built? No one thought Kate Jackson would leave the cast of "Charlie's Angels", either, but it happened. Of course, her demands for a new arena were a bit excessive.
The one thing that every mouthpiece of the Penguin organization keeps saying is that all these off-ice concerns will not affect the team on the ice. So far that promise seems on target, since the Birds opened up the season with a 3-2-1 record. Unfortunately, there isn't much of a "team" to affect.
Along with losing money, the Penguins have also been hemorrhaging talent. Jaromir Jagr and Tom Barrasso are the only two remaining members from the Stanley Cup days. Pittsburgh's current roster would do Fred Sanford proud.
The top line is anchored in the middle by Marty Straka and features Jagr and Stu Barnes on the wings. Straka has incredible speed and is really a nifty little player, but a top line center? Let me think for a... no.
Barnes is a great finisher around the cage. Too bad that's the only place he can finish. Unless he's parked at the left post for a tap-in, Barnes won't score many goals.
That leaves Jagr. Despite losing linemates the caliber of Lemieux and Ron Francis in consecutive seasons, the Czech Wonder Kid just keeps on truckin'. He leads the league in points-per- game average, piling up a pair of goals and 11 points in his first six games.
Even with Jagr's production, Pittsburgh's best line has been the second unit of Robert Lang, German Titov, and Aleksey Morozov. The trio has created scoring chances on a regular basis, combining for six goals in the first six games.
Morozov could be a breakthrough player this season if Kevin Constantine ever takes the binders off him. Never used in special teams situations, Morozov often plays as little as nine minutes a night. Tough to become a superstar without decent ice time. The kid just needs to play more. There's no excuse for him not working the power play. He usually watches from the bench while the likes of Kip Miller and Robby Brown steal his time on the man-advantage.
And what would be so terrible about using Morozov to kill penalties? The best way to get a young player to learn to play defense is to use him on the kill. Who cares if he costs the club a power-play goal or two? Over the long haul, the experience gained will be worth any momentary setbacks. The Penguins need Morozov to develop into a complete player, not just a pure skill threat. Jagr wouldn't be the player he is today if he didn't learn to kill penalties. It's time Morozov receives more responsibilities. Turn him loose.
Pittsburgh's third and fourth lines are made up of strictly bush leaguers, including Miller, Brown, Patrick Lebeau, Jan Hrdina, Dan Kesa, Ian Moran, and Tyler Wright. Hey, LCS loves itself some Tyler Wright, but he doesn't even get to play most nights. That's jive.
The picture on defense isn't much better. With Darius Kasparaitis still on the mend, Pittsburgh's top defensive pair has been Jeff Serowik and Victor Ignatjev. If you've never heard of them, don't worry. No one has. Serowik, 31, and Ignatjev, 29, are career minor-leaguers that are getting their first serious cracks at the big show. Both are known for powerful slap shots, but have done little in the early going to distinguish themselves even though they are serving as the pointmen on the top power-play unit. Yes, the same points that were once manned by Paul Coffey and Larry Murphy are now in the hands of Serowik and Ignatjev. Oh boy.
Kevin Hatcher and Brad Werenka are the second pair. This begs the obvious question, why is Hatcher still on the team? It's hard to believe, especially considering the bankruptcy and whatnot, but Hatcher, who pulls down $2.8 million a year, still calls Pittsburgh home. He should have been traded yesterday. The only reason he's still in town could be that no one else wants him. But that might change. Lately there have been rumors that Anaheim, San Jose, and even the Rangers are showing some interest.
Bobby Dollas has been pretty solid as the number five guy. The six spot hasn't been nearly as reliable. Jiri Slegr, Chris Tamer, and Neil Wilkinson have all taken turns in the lineup.
Slegr obviously has the most talent, but he's been in the doghouse for taking stupid penalties. Slegr's main problem is that, like most skill guys, he has to play a lot to play his best. He was All-World at the Olympics as a lead blueliner for the Czech Republic. It just seems that he makes a mistake with the Pens and never gets a chance to redeem himself. And speaking of guys that should be playing the power play, there's no doubt in my mind that Slegr can outperform Serowik, Ignatjev, and Werenka in that role. He's just never given the chance.
Tamer is in kind of a similar bind as Slegr. He's just not getting the ice time to be effective. Remember when Tamer was paired with Sergei Zubov in 1995-96? Remember that? That was awesome. Tamer seemed to be that oh so rare commodity in the NHL of a big, physical defender that can play 20+ minutes. Since that time, injuries have hampered his game. The departure of Zubov has also made Tamer's average skating ability all the more glaring since the pimp smooth Russian is no longer around to watch his back and race down any mistakes.
The news will only get worse for Slegr and Tamer once Kasparaitis returns from his knee injury, which could happen in the next few days. Darius will step in and grab a huge chunk of ice time. He'll also add an element of coolness to the club since he is, without doubt, the coolest player in the NHL. Darius makes every game entertaining. You just never know when he might render a member of the opposition useless. And hey, if things go as planned, Kasparaitis should be back in the lineup in time for Pittsburgh's first meeting with Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers. Eric, keep your head up. Seriously, don't look down. Like, even when you're just stepping outside to get the morning paper... safety first. Kaspar could strike at any moment.
Outside of Jagr's sheer offensive brilliance and Kasparaitis' unbridled coolness, the other main thing the Penguins have going for them is the goaltending of Tom Barrasso. No doubt, Barrasso's good. He's the only reason they bagged wins over the Islanders and Devils this season. It's just too bad he's as fragile as he is great. Barrasso is currently out of action with a groin injury. And I think we all know how painful that can be.
Without Barrasso, the goaltending chores fall to Peter Skudra and Jean-Sebastian Aubin. Doh! Skudra has exceptional reflexes and quickness but lacks the basic fundamentals of a true NHL goaltender. Aubin, well, Aubin is just there to fill out a roster spot. Needless to say, the Birds are beat if Barrasso goes out for any extended period of time.
And even though he could use some help selecting his power play, Constantine is a heck of a coach. He also has a wonderful support system in assistants Mike Eaves, Don Jackson, and Troy Ward. They get the most out of their players. Hell, they have to, otherwise the club would never win a game.
It seems like only yesterday that the Birds were celebrating back-to-back championships. Yet those days are solid gone. Names like Lemieux, Francis, Murphy, Coffey, Kevin Stevens, Mark Recchi, Rick Tocchet, Joey Mullen, and Ulf Samuelsson have been replaced by Straka, Barnes, Brown, Lang, Serowik, Ignatjev, and Werenka. Time can be cruel.
But the real sad thing is that this Penguin team can actually be competitive in today's NHL. Back in the day, this squad would get whacked Goodfellas style every night. Aw, I miss those days... little bit, little bit. Where did I put that damn 1991- 92 highlight tape, anyway?
----------------------------------------------------------------- No. 1 Goalie, Fans Missing in Carolina ----------------------------------------------------------------- by Jim Iovino When the thought of writing a feature on the Carolina Hurricanes first crossed my mind, I had my doubts. I mean, I haven't even seen the Hurricanes play a game yet this season.
But wait a minute, I said. No one else has watched the Canes, either.
For the second straight season, the former Hartford Whalers are playing in a temporary home in Greensboro, N.C., while their permanent home is being built in Raleigh. And for the second straight season the Hurricanes are playing in front of fewer fans than they were several years ago on Realtor of the Year Day in the Insurance Capital of the World.
Despite signing the big-name free agent of the offseason, Ron Francis, and suiting up one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, the Hurricanes still aren't drawing fans to Greensboro Coliseum.
Last year the Hurricanes saw an average of 9,100 fans scattered throughout the cavernous 21,000-seat Coliseum, which was the lowest average in the league. This season the numbers are even smaller despite the team reducing the capacity of the Coliseum by almost half (11,500) by placing black curtains around the upper deck of the arena and reducing ticket prices by about 25 percent. The curtains, they say, are to make the place more intimate. I'm not sure even Christopher Lowell and his Interior Motives could make an arena with less than 6,000 people in it the least bit intimate... (A few hanging plants and an armoire might help, though.)
The new seating capacity makes it the lowest in the league. However, the Canes still couldn't manage a sellout crowd on opening night. Just 8,195 fans showed up to watch the Hurricanes face the Tampa Bay Lightning. Last season's opening-game crowd was 18,661. The team's other home games have seen similar results. Against Dallas, the team drew 5,531 fans, against Vancouver the crowd was 5,573. Carolina's latest home game against Los Angeles drew 5,569 people. The largest audience at the Coliseum so far this season was 10,063 when Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers came to town.
However, rumor has it that some of those "announced attendances" aren't exactly representative of the actual number of fans in the arena. Several play-by-play announcers from around the league have alluded to the supposed inflated numbers the league or team has been providing to the public.
Unlike Hartford, where poor attendance was based mostly on a bad team on the ice, the small audience in Greensboro can't be blamed on the same thing. The Hurricanes have talent. Besides the aforementioned Francis, the Canes also have offensive stars like Big Keith Primeau, LCS idol Gary Roberts, Sami Kapanen and Ray Sheppard. And those players are producing just like they were expected to.
The offense has been good. The same can't be said for a key member of the Carolina defense. To say goaltender Trevor Kidd is a disappointment is an understatement.
Expectations for Kidd were high coming into this season. Kidd sparkled for the Canes late last season as the team made a surge for the playoffs. Carolina came up short for a postseason berth, but Kidd was outstanding, nonetheless. The 26-year-old goalkeeper finished the season with three shutouts and a 2.17 goals-against average.
Carolina acquired Kidd from the Calgary Flames because they knew he could be a quality No. 1 goalie. But very early in the new season questions arose about Kidd's play. In the first game of the season, Kidd stopped 21 of 25 shots, but let in three third-period goals to the ever-powerful Tampa Bay Lightning offense. The Canes had a 3-1 lead heading into the third but ended up with a disappointing 4-4 tie.
Game two of the season was a road trip to Nashville. Kidd was awful in the early going, letting in three goals on eight shots. At 12:18 of the first Kidd was replaced by Arturs Irbe, who stopped all 22 shots he faced. The Hurricanes, however, weren't able to climb out of the early hole and lost 3-2.
Carolina had two easy early-season games that should have been wins, but instead the Canes could only manage to get one out of a possible four points. Things didn't look any better with two of the league's best teams coming to town - Dallas and Philadelphia.
Hurricane coach Paul Maurice, whose job will be on the line the entire season, saw Irbe had the hot hand in the loss to Nashville and went with him in the following game against Dallas. His hunch paid off, as Irbe was "like wall" as he chomped up 36 Dallas shots en route to a 2-2 tie against the Stars. Irbe, who was picked up as a free agent backup in the offseason from Vancouver, was back in net the next game against Philadelphia. And once again he was up to the challenge, matching the higher-paid free agent goalie, John Vanbiesbrouck, shot for shot. Irbe and the Beezer both finished the night with 18 saves in a hard-fought 1-1 tie.
So in two of the most important games of the early part of the season, against two of the best teams in the league, it was Irbe in net, not Kidd. Does that tell ya something about which goaltender the team is more comfortable with between the pipes?
After those two games against the league's elite, Irbe was penciled in the lineup again the next game against his former team, the Canucks. Irbe was like wall again, stopping 16 of 17 shots in a 3-1 win. Same starting goaltender, same score four days later as Irbe stopped 27 of 28 against the Senators.
For those who cared to pay attention in Greensboro, the Hurricanes had a goaltending controversy on their hands. No matter how many times the head coach said Kidd was still the No. 1 goaltender in Carolina, there was no denying that Irbe was starting to make a name for himself. And he was doing it in a big way.
Kidd finally got another chance to start Sunday when the Canes hosted Los Angeles. Unfortunately for Kidd, his return to action didn't go as planned. With the score tied 2-2 late in the third period, Kidd let in a Sandy Moger shot from 50 feet away to hand the Kings a win, 3-2. Kidd stopped 22 of 25 shots in the game.
So for now it looks like Arturs Irbe is the man in Carolina while Trevor Kidd is relegated to backup duty until he can prove he deserves the No. 1 spot again. For those of us who chose Kidd in a hockey pool, that's bad news.
But for most people in Greensboro who are more concerned about what tires Dick Trickle or Ricky Rudd will be using next week in the big race, the Hurricanes goaltending situation is the last thing on their minds.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Putrid Power Plays Perturb Teams ----------------------------------------------------------------- by Jim Iovino Remember the days when the Pittsburgh Penguins juggernaut of the early 1990s often flirted with a 35-40 percent rating on the power play?
Well if you don't, too bad bucco, because numbers like those won't be put up again in the NHL any time soon.
That's right. The mediocrity of the NHL has even affected the power play units of most teams. The power play was once reserved for the league's elite players. In their heyday, the Penguins could easily scare the opposition into submission by sending out the big guns. Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Rick Tocchet up front, with Ron Francis and Larry Murphy at the points. All Super Mario had to do was sneeze and the red light would go on. The Penguins' power play unit was automatic.
But in today's NHL, playing with the man-advantage just doesn't seem so threatening. The power play unit the Penguins send out on the ice these days is a far cry from those in years gone by. Today Jagr is still working his magic down low. But in place of Lemieux is Stu Barnes. Tocchet could be several players, from Martin Straka all the way down to former IHL supastar Rob Brown.
But at least Penguin fans can be thankful that they still have Jagr on ice. Thanks to expansion, most teams would kill just to find players who can make two consecutive passes without falling over, let alone a player of Jagr's caliber who can weave his way through traffic and score with ease.
Power-play efficiency has gone down significantly since the early 1990s. As a matter of fact, the current trend seems to be that the overall power-play percentage in the NHL is slipping by about one percentage point per year.
In 1996-97, the average power play in the league scored on 16.3 percent of its chances. Last season the number dropped to 15.1 percent. This season the downward spiral has continued through the early portion of the season, with the average power play scoring just 14.4 percent of the time (through Oct. 22).
This year's figures have to be quite puzzling to league officials. After all, the league did a lot over the off- season to help increase scoring in the league. Power plays were supposed to get a big boost by the extra room to maneuver in the offensive zone. More room was added behind the goal line. In order to do that without taking away some very expensive seats around the rink itself, the neutral zone was shortened to make up the difference.
In theory, the extra room gives skilled players more space to conjure up some magic. But this theory left out one key factor - thanks to expansion, the skill players in the league are now spread more thin than they used to be. Since these skill players have less talent around them per team, they have fewer quality shooters to pass to and fewer gifted playmakers to get them the puck.
If you watch a power-play unit in the NHL today, you'll rarely see two or three clean passes in a row from tape-to-tape. One-timers are as rare as a San Jose win. And end-to-end rushes, well, who can remember the last time someone made one of those?
Power-play opportunities are ideal situations for the game's great players to display their talents. Unfortunately, great players are few and far between. Never will a team like the offensively gifted Pittsburgh Penguins of the early 90s be assembled again so it can work its magic on the power play. There are too many teams in the league and not enough superior talent to go around. And even more unfortunate is the fact that the talent level will decrease even more as the league backs its way into the new millenium.
Increase the rink to twice its original size, put eight players on the ice per team at one time...no matter what you do to increase scoring, you won't be able to recreate the two essential components desperately needed - talent and skill.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- The Art of the Trade --------------------------------------------------------------------- by John Alsedek How many times have you checked out the Sports Ticker on ESPN2 (or your local newspaper, for those poor unfortunates without 'the Deuce') and seen an announcement for an NHL trade? Now, how many times have you looked at said trade and thought, "What was Bob Clarke smoking, trading Janne Niinimaa for Dan McGillis?", to pick an example at random. Ever think you could do a better job as GM than, say, Phil Esposito? Well, maybe you could, but only if you understand a few things about how to make trades...and how to make them work for you.
First of all, the definition of 'trade' is, to paraphrase Mr. Webster (no, not Emmanuel Lewis), 'to barter; i.e., to exchange or give in exchange.' Therefore, what a GM does is give up one commodity, be it a current player, prospect, or draft pick, in exchange for someone else's.
Trades are done for a variety of reasons, and different general managers have their own reasons for making them. The best reason to make a trade is to improve the team at a certain position, ala Edmonton's Glen Sather, who spent most of last season turning his defensive corps into the envy of the league. There are other factors to consider, however. Trades can also be made to dump salaries (Mike Milbury), add depth players (George McPhee), to clear out roster slots (Clarke), to get rid of perceived troublemakers (Lou Lamoriello), or to just look busy (Esposito).
In any given trade around the league, at least two of these factors are likely to apply. Take the recent trade of winger Tom Chorske from the Isles to Washington. The Isles did it to save a couple hundred thou' in salary and pick up a spare draft pick, while the perennially injured-as-all-get-out Capitals did it to get an experienced and moderately useful body on the roster. That's two reasons, for the addition-impaired. It was a deal that made sense for both sides, so it got done. As Spock would say, "Flawlessly logical."
But not everyone sees trading that way, particularly the body-painted, foil Stanley Cup-toting sweaty masses who shelled out $60.00 US to see their team play the likes of Kip Miller and Dan Kesa. If their teams are playing at less than Cup contender level, they want changes, and they want them yesterday. Talk to any Colorado or Rangers fan, and he'll (note: I use the masculine, rather than 'he or she' in this case because I'm just pretty darn lazy. Please forgive me, ladies) tell you exactly what's wrong with the team, and who they should trade - and trade for - to change it. Unfortunately, a large number of these guys have an, um, unrealistic approach when it comes to trading...
During 1996-98, every time I went over to see my folks, my ma would have a stack of stuff she'd printed off the Flyers fan page sitting there for me to peruse. Most of it was pretty dumb, but, occasionally, I'd find something that would make me want to soil my diaper (figuratively speaking) in laughter: the trade suggestions. Among my personal favorites were:
- Trade Ron Hextall to Phoenix for either Nikolai Khabibulin or a tough defenseman (first, Hextall had a no-trade clause; second, anybody who tried to trade Khabibulin for Hextall would likely end up being locked up for their own protection; and third, Phoenix isn't exactly overflowing with hard-nosed, crease-clearing blueliners)
- Shjon Podein, Chris Therien, and a fifth-round draft pick for Kirk McLean (the Latin for such a deal would be 'horribilis overpayis').
- Pat Falloon, John Druce, and Paul Coffey for Theo Fleury (oh sure, Flames GM Al Coates would be thrilled to part with one of the best right wingers in the NHL for a bust, a fourth-liner, and a has-been with a big contract and a bad back).
- Rod Brind'Amour for Sean Burke (see the previous Latin phrase above).
- Eric Lindros for Keith Tkachuk (that's sort of like moving from Seattle because it rains a lot...to a hurricane zone).
The common thread of all of these is that they involve the Flyers either giving up way too much, or else expecting other teams to take a bunch of guys that no one is likely to want. Either way, they ain't gonna happen. If Bob Clarke feels a little dumb for having traded Niinimaa, just think of how he'd feel if he'd traded Brind'Amour, Podein, Therien, and a fifth-rounder for a goaltending tandem of Burke and McLean, which, ironically, is exactly what the Florida Panthers have now.
Of course, in all fairness, it isn't just the fans who come up with bonehead trades. Anyone who has ever read the New York Post or the Toronto Sun knows that their beat writers don't have to take a back seat to anybody when it comes to dumb. The Toronto press has had Felix Potvin in Florida, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Long Island, and Edmonton, among other places, and at least four of those destinations make zero sense.
Florida came close, but weren't willing to let Rob Niedermayer be examined by an independent doctor, so they went with Burke instead.
Vancouver probably wouldn't mind having him, but their only trading chip is Pavel Bure, and the Canuckleheads will want another good player in the deal - a player the Leafs don't have to spare.
Calgary has already committed to Jean-Sebastian Giguere.
The Islanders brought in Tommy Salo's old coach from Sweden in the hopes that he'll play well enough to hold down the fort 'till Roberto Luongo arrives.
Edmonton would probably like to have Potvin, since they don't have any potential No. 1 goalies under age thirty-two in their system; however, Toronto would want one of the Oil's young stud d-men in exchange, and, given Glen Sather's rep, they're probably terrified he'll convince them to take the one who turns out to be a bust.
And as for the Post... Not only do they have Adam Graves going to everyplace but Ottawa in one half-baked deal after another, but they have an endless supply of suggestions on how to 'improve' the team. One suggestion was to send a package of Marc Savard or Christian Dube, Maxim Galanov, and Eric Cairns to Pittsburgh for unsigned free agent Petr Nedved. It's not a bad deal for the Rangers, who'd pick up an adequate second-line center (at least until times got tough). However, why would the Penguins do it? To get a center who can't even play for the center-starved Rangers? To get a young, relatively immobile defender in Eric Cairns who, with hard work, might turn out to be a serviceable fifth or sixth man (incidentally, since Jay Greenburg suggested that trade, the Pens picked up Galanov on waivers, thereby ruining an otherwise crappy trade proposal).
Then, of course, there is Larry Brooks' endless pursuit of Pavel Bure. He and Greenburg have suggested that the Rangers give up the following package to get the Russian Rocket: Alexei Kovalev, Adam Graves, Nicklas Sundstrom, and Dan Cloutier. That would give Gretzky the finisher he needs. It would also give the depth-poor Blueshirts exactly two-thirds of a scoring line, and absolutely no one else to play in their top six. They suggest that it's okay to deal Cloutier, because Mike Richter can buy the Rangers enough time to develop another young goalie. Richter is 33 years old. In four years, he'll be 37, and New York's only really good netminding prospect, Jason Labarbera, will be a whopping 22 years old - kinda young to be thrust into the top spot, assuming he actually develops into an NHL netminder. See the problem? Too bad the Post-boys don't.
Having said all this, let me give you a couple of trade ideas that would work. They would work because each team would get something that they need, and keep within their financial restrictions in the bargain. In fact, don't be surprised if at least one of these happen: remember where you heard it first...
- Alexandre Daigle for Theoren Fleury: I'd say that the Flyers' love affair with Daigle is over, but there was never much of one to begin with. While showing tremendous speed and flashes of goal-scoring prowess in the orange-and-black, Daigle has essentially continued where he left off in Ottawa - and that's not a good thing. Bob Clarke might be willing to deal him off for Fleury, a proven right winger (something the Flyers currently don't have) with speed, skill, and grit. Since Fleury is unrestricted at the end of the 1998-99 season, Calgary would probably have to hock up a conditional draft pick in case Theo goes elsewhere. And as for Daigle? The Flames might be willing to gamble that coach Brian Sutter can scare him into acting like a hockey player (incidentally, that's a play on words, since Daigle has made it well-known that he's interested in pursuing an acting career).
- Chris Gratton for Boris Mironov: the Fly-boys don't want to admit it, but they've got a logjam at center. In Rod Brind'Amour and Chris Gratton, they've got two second-line centers. Brindy can and does play left wing, but has always been more comfortable at center. Gratton, meanwhile, has proven ineffective at any position but center, and the chemistry between he and Brindy/he and Zubrus/he and Daigle has been somewhat less than spectacular. That's not to say that he's a bad player, but he would likely be more comfortable as the No. 2 pivot on a team with some fast, skilled wingers.
That's where Edmonton comes in. Since the bulk of Gratton's contract (a $9 million signing bonus) has already been paid, the Oil would only be on the hook for about $2 million per for the next three-plus years - about what they're paying blueliner Boris Mironov. It would also give Edmonton a big, tough center to take some of the pressure off the Weight line. And as for Mironov, he is only three years older than Gratton, and would give the Flyers the power-play QB they are in need of; as he showed in the playoffs last year, he's also a highly mobile and punishing defender who can put some big hits on some big players. Hey, it's a win-win situation.
- Petr Nedved for Nick Sundstrom or Manny Malhotra: by now, it's pretty clear that Petr Nedved won't be playing for the Pens anytime, um, ever again. With that in mind, and with the Rangers dying for another center who can actually score the occasional goal, New York looks like a reasonable trading partner for the skilled, but terminally gutless, Czech. If the Pens could get back either Sundstrom or Malhotra, they'd do pretty well. Sundstrom probably won't ever top 30 goals a season, but he's a young, hard-working second-liner with good defensive instincts and a great attitude - basically, everything that Nedved isn't (except the young part). Malhotra projects as basically the same kind of player, just bigger, younger, and further behind on the learning curve. Either one would be a great addition.
And as for Nedved... well, say what you will about him (it's no skin off of my nose), but he's a proven 40-goal, 90-point guy, and there aren't too many of those available, particularly in the expansion NHL.
- Kevin Hatcher for Steve Rucchin: Anaheim's power play guy is Fredrik Olausson, and a blind chimp could play between Kariya and Selanne and rack up 60 points. Anaheim gets an upgrade of sorts on the blue line, and Pittsburgh gets a solid second-line pivot. Enough said already.
Oh, and if you're wondering what makes me so damn smart about trades, just bear this in mind: I'm a trained professional, just like Stan Fischler and Jay Greenburg and Larry Brooks and... oh, never mind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- My Thoughts On... --------------------------------------------------------------------- by Dan Hurwitz Ow, my aching groin! No, this isn't the U.S. President getting his just desserts, it's the goaltending corps of the Los Angeles Kings. More on that later, plus a fishing trip, a successful bit of tip-toeing around some sleeping giants, and another case made for the evils of expansion. So without further ado, let's see who ran the scoreboard, who put up a goose egg and who played to another 2-2 tie this week.
CONDITION: OUCH!
Just when things looked promising for the Los Angeles Kings as they
attempted to build off last season's first playoff appearance in
four years, the injury bug has taken a bite out of the soon-to-be-
former tenants of the Great Western Forum.
Top center Josef Stumpel, after enduring public blasting from head coach Larry Robinson, finally admitted he's been hurt and has sat out to nurse a hip injury. Steve Duchesne, who was added in the offseason to what is arguably now one of the top defensive groups in all hockeydom, sat out with a bad groin. But the worst nightmare any coach has to deal with in terms of injuries hit last week during LA's 5-5 tie with the Colorado Avalanche: Both goalies injured their groins in the third period, causing the Kings to blow a two-goal advantage to the previously pointless Avs. After starter Stephane Fiset left the ice with a groin injury, backup Jamie Storr suffered a similar, and, in fact, worse injury. Storr, who could barely stand, let alone make a decent diving save, was victimized for two goals in the final minute, and both netminders were shelved.
So up came the minors: Long Beach sent Manny Legace, who before this year had toiled away in the Carolina/Hartford system. And some Russian kid was plucked from a Canadian Jr. team in a fairly uneventful story which involved Kings GM Dave Taylor having to fly to Toronto to arrange a work visa and then accompany the kid to Carolina, where he sat on the bench.
This past week, the Kings acquired Ryan Bach from the Red Wings, who has now taken over the backup role, even though Fiset has traveled with the team.
So what's the point of telling you all this? I want to highlight the fact that an entire organization is responsible for a win. It's easy to look at the players and we all tend to put coaches and GMs under the microscope. But for two people playing the same position for the team to hurt themselves in the same manner in the same game suggests the Kings still have a glaring weakness: training. Hopefully Legace's heroics (he has been stellar, by the way, 1.53 GAA) will give the organization a chance to fix this problem.
ROTTEN APPLE
A new feature in my columns, starting this week, will be the "Rotten Apple" award, where I single out one sinner in the sport who did something positively bad for the game's good name. This week, the award is given as part of the continuing saga of the Los Angeles goaltending situation.
When Los Angeles traveled to Tampa Bay for a game against the Lightning, Legace again got the start. He was playing his little heart out when this week's "Rotten Apple," Darcy Tucker, plowed right into Legace, giving the goalie a concussion. In came Bach, fourth on the depth chart, and Tucker proceeded to plow right into him, too, though, thankfully, there was no injury.
The reason Tucker deserves this week's award is that he has violated the crease. And that's bad. Let me elaborate. Of all the rule changes the NHL instituted this season, the shrinking of the crease was perhaps the most scientific. Too many goals were disallowed the past two years because of infractions on the fringe of the goal crease, which had little or no direct impact on the game or the goal that was scored.
That's why Tucker's blatant disregard for the safety of the Kings' goalies is such a bad thing. The last thing the NHL, which correctly wants to see an increase in scoring, needs is to have to re-expand the crease to protect the goalies.
BETWEEN THE LINES
While I admit the new dimensions of the goal crease make for a great
change, I am firmly against the new rink dimensions.
More room behind the net has not really led to an increase in playmaking. Power plays are no more potent than they were a year before. And while it is certainly true that the extra room has prevented goalies from playing the puck, rather than eliminating the "third defenseman," it seems the curtailing of motion has persuaded goalies to stay in position. Goalies who play the angles better decrease scoring, not the opposite.
But the biggest backfire of all seems to be the new dimensions of the neutral zone. I can't figure out whose bright idea it was in a league where "trap" is a dirty word to take a sizable chunk out of the center ice area. After all, it is a "neutral zone trap," and taking pieces of the neutral zone away makes it easier to spring traps. Furthermore, the neutral zone used to be used for acceleration. With a length that has been cut by four feet, that simply doesn't work. And there have been precious few players like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Steve Yzerman who seem capable of using their own end of the ice as a neutral zone extension. Players are not adjusting to these new dimensions, and, as a result, scoring is down.
THAT WASN'T MUCH OF A BITE
I just want to put out an invitation. I want an explanation. Why
do the Sharks suck? They have a great coach in Darryl Sutter.
There's plenty of talent there with Owen Nolan, Jeff Friesen, Mike
Ricci and Bernie Nicholls as well as strong goaltending from Mike
Vernon. So why are they so very very bad?
As of right now, San Jose is the only team in the NHL without a win.
REMEMBER WHEN?
Granted, the Red Wings are showing no signs of slowing down after
two straight Stanley Cups. But the previous three champs,
Colorado, New Jersey and the Rangers, are off to miserable starts.
The Avalanche finally got their first point in the game against Los Angeles when Jamie Storr's impression of a pylon after injuring his groin allowed them two last-minute goals. They eventually got a win, too, but then got humiliated by the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-1.
New Jersey got off to their worst start since, well, since the year they won the Cup. It wasn't until they had games against the Rangers and Flyers, two teams they seem to own in the latter half of the decade in the regular season, that they finally put some points on the board.
And the Rangers? Remarkably, they've simply gotten older without getting better. Wayne Gretzky has no support on the scoreboard and no protection on the ice. Like New Jersey, the Rangers are showing signs of improvement, but they also have gaping holes showing through their years of tradition. And frankly, Esa Tikkanen and Ulf Sammuellson have acts that are getting old, fast.
New Jersey and Colorado have parallel problems. Both teams have had their ranks gradually thinned since their Cup wins, with key players gradually trickling away to other teams. Both teams are lacking their top rushing defenseman, as Colorado's Sandish Ozolinsh and New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer are both holdout Type II Free Agents. Both teams have seen their premiere goalies (New Jersey's Martin Brodeur and Colorado's Patrick Roy) put up sub- pay numbers as the defenses have lost key figures over the years. And both teams have first-year coaches who replace veterans of several seasons (Mark Crawford and Jacques Lemaire are both gone from the Avs and the Devils, respectively).
Fortunately for both teams, it is still early in the season. And they still rank high in terms of depth and talent. But if the growing pains with the new coaches don't go away soon, it's going to be long seasons for Colorado's current Avalanche and former Rockies.
ATTENTION MONEY MEN
The owners and management of the NHL have welcomed expansion because
of increased exposure in new markets, fees paid to existing clubs,
and a few more people to sell TV spots to. But here is a breakdown
of a major economic disadvantage to continued expansion in hockey:
Let's say you have 26 teams in the league. To simplify the math, let's assume only one game's roster (20 players) per team. That adds up to 520 players in the league. Now you add another team. You now need 20 more players, not to mention the people you would normally need to replace the likes of Pat LaFontaine and Mike Gartner who retired in the offseason. Where do those bodies come from? Why, many of them are the career minor-leaguers and perpetual scratches who previously didn't earn much money.
Now, these players come up and play full-time, and because they're doing the jobs previously held with considerable skill by the Mike Keanes, Doug Browns and even Sandy McCarthys of the league, their agents demand that kind of money.
Now an Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya or Jaromir Jagr goes and compares himself to a Brent Fedyk or Jeff Nielsen. Hey, he's a lot better. A whole lot. Boom! The top players' salaries go sky-high. And then the Mark Recchis do some comparisons, and realize they're much more like a Lindros than a fourth-liner, so now they deserve $4 or $5 million a year.
For the love of Pete and the good of the game...stop expanding!!!!
MISCELLANY
*Mathieu Schneider's arrival in his home town, Manhattan, seems to
be the best thing for him. The Rangers may not be so strong, but
Schneider has looked great.
*I'd like to see one general manager simultaneously pick up Pavel Bure, Scott Niedermayer, Sandis Ozolinsh, Zigmund Palffy and Petr Nedved. These guys are not playing, and that's a crime.
*The reason defensemen such as Rob Blake deserve the same pay scale as forwards: the past couple of seasons, the top scoring defensemen have remained at the 60-70 point range, which is standard, whereas the top scoring forwards are down to 90-100 points from the old 150-point seasons of the 1980s.
*I'd love to be the Capitals' team doctor. I'd hate to be his family. Why do injuries keep hitting this squad?
*Anybody miss basketball? Me neither.
*Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne have awakened. It's amazing how much better Craig Hartsburg seems as a coach then he did, say, last year with Chicago.
*"Hi, unemployment office? My name's Paul, Paul Maurice. And this is my pal Bob Hartley." "Oh, we'll be with you as soon as we finish with Jim Schoenfeld."
--------------------------------------------------------------------- A Modest Proposal --------------------------------------------------------------------- by Simon D. Lewis Do you find yourself losing interest in the NHL season somewhere around the end of November? You know the feeling of ennui of which I speak. It starts when you realize that the two to four teams that are going to dominate the season are already doing so. The five teams that have no chance of any success are mired in their respective cellars. The middle of the pack teams are, well, the middle of the pack.
This feeling is further enhanced when you look at your TV Guide.
"Oh, good," you say. "This week I can watch the Nashville Predators versus the Carolina Hurricanes in front of a crowd of 5,000. Then I can watch the fly carcasses on my window sill slowly dehydrate as the Caps and the Sabres try for another 1-0 result."
Welcome to parity in pro hockey in the 1990s. Welcome to an 82-game season that turns into playoffs in June. Welcome to the NHL marketing phenomenon that has teams changing their uniforms every couple of years just so there's more stuff to sell.
I have an answer. I know it will never be adopted, but I have the solution that will make more of the games throughout the season a hell of a lot more interesting. What hockey should do is adopt the style of football...Association Football that is...soccer.
First you have to add some teams to the NHL. You take the IHL, the AHL and any number of other minor pro leagues and you incorporate them into one big system. Then you divide the teams into three divisions seeded by their quality. That means that the NHL clubs would start in Div. I and the minor pro teams would form Div. II and Div. III. There might be 20 to 25 teams in a division playing each other home and away. That would be your league season.
There would be no inter-divisional play. Instead, just like soccer, teams would vie within their division to finish first, second or third so that they could be promoted to the next division for the following season. Award your Prince of Wales Trophy to the Div. I champs and the Clarence Campbell Bowl to Div. II. The three last place teams would be dropped down a division.
The teams in Div. I would compete to see who would get to play in international club play the next year. Again, the top two or three teams could move on. With any luck you could get the Swedes, Finns, Russians, Czechs, Slovaks, Germans, Swiss, Italian, French, Belarussians etc. to send their club champions into some kind of international club super league.
This plan could have benefits for international championships. Because all leagues would be working in concert, a World Cup could be held every four years without having to be held in September when no one really wants to see hockey.
But let's get back to domestic play for a second. Parallel to the league there could also be a knockout competition played throughout the season. All teams in all three divisions would be thrown in a hat. Pairs would then be drawn. At the end of the first round you would throw the names back in the hat and generate second round pairings. These could be best of three or five series culminating in the last couple of rounds going to best of seven. Award the Stanley Cup to this champion. Imagine the excitement when one of the minor league teams knocks of one of the big NHL clubs!
Can you see how this would make the season more interesting? With only 40 or 50 games, each game would actually be important. As teams advanced in the Stanley Cup knockout tournament they would have to shepherd their resources very carefully to avoid burnout during their crucial, late season efforts. A team might have lost out in the league but still have a chance in the cup. Fans would maintain their interest levels. What if a team had a shot to win both league and cup?
If the team was successful last year, that means they'd also be playing in the International Super League. Combine that with the league and a successful Stanley Cup run and they could wind up playing a lot of games. The reward for success would be more revenue from more games. In the knockout tournament, a lowly minor league team could make some big bucks by hosting a marquee team. They could do even better by beating them and ensuring themselves another gate.
A lot of those minor league teams would find themselves out of the money at the end of the year. For fan interest there would still be divisional promotion and relegation battles. There could also be minor post-season tournaments of the kind that many adult teams play at the end of their seasons.
One last positive thought about this plan. That's sponsorship. There would be lots of opportunities for sponsors to buy into a setup like this. The League, the Cup, and the International League would provide all kinds of windows of opportunity for advertising.
I know, it'll never happen. Guys who have paid $50 million or more for a franchise in the NHL would never take the chance of having their team relegated to Div. II. The NHLPA would only go for it if they got to absorb all those European club players and make sure that salaries could go even higher.
It's a cool concept though. I'd really like to see some mid-season games that mean something.
Thank God the Leafs and the Habs are in the same division this year!
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More Stuff
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by Michael Dell
MORE GRIEF FOR COLORADO
As if starting the season 1-5-1 wasn't bad enough, the Colorado
Avalanche have a contract problem with one of the game's elite
defensemen. And, no, I don't mean Sandis Ozolinsh.
Adam Foote, who is in the final year of a contract that pays him a paltry $1,087,500, recently came out and said that it's highly unlikely he will return to Colorado next season. With the average NHL salary being $1.2 million, Foote is one of the best bargains in show business. He may not produce the points, but he's the kind of nasty, physical defenseman every team covets. Colorado can't afford to lose him.
The reason that Foote is so sour on the Avalanche isn't that he doesn't want to honor the final year of his deal, it's just that he feels the club should at least be working on a new contract extension with him. And when GM Pierre Lacroix did approach Foote about hammering out a new pact, the numbers proposed were less than favorable to the eight-year veteran. No word on the exact amount of Lacroix's offer, but Foote could easily command $3 million on the open market. Anything less, especially coming from his own boss, could be construed as an insult.
Lacroix is under some major heat in Colorado, what with the terrible start and his failure to get Ozolinsh signed and all. Losing Foote would just further diminish his public image... if that's possible.
600 AIN'T NO JOKE
Mark Messier recorded his 600th career goal the other night in a
5-0 pounding of the Panthers. Only nine other players in the
history of the planet have bagged 600 goals in the NHL. Of
course, Wayne Gretzky leads the way with 886 career goals. The
Great One's mark is a bit out of Messier's reach. But, barring
injury or a horrendous slump, good ol' number 11 should finish
the season in fifth place on the all-time goal-scoring list,
passing the likes of Jari Kurri (601), Dino Ciccarelli (602),
Bobby Hull (610), and Mario Lemieux (613).
Messier should be a lock to move up the list because of his linemates this season in Vancouver. While Pavel Bure pouts, Messier is skating with Alexander Mogilny and Todd Bertuzzi on his wings. This is really a perfect line. It's got speed in Mogilny, veteran smarts in Messier, and toughness in Bertuzzi. And all three know how to finish. Now if they could just parlay Bure into a second-line center, another talented winger, a proven goaltender, and some magic beans, the Canucks could be a contender.
SYDOR SCORIN' LIKE A CHIMP
Dallas defenseman Darryl Sydor is currently tied for the league
lead in scoring with four goals and 11 points. That deserves a
wow...
At 26, Sydor has quietly become one of the game's best all-around defensemen. He's posted back-to-back 40-point seasons and appears well on his way to a third. Sydor often gets overlooked in Dallas since he's not as flashy as Sergei Zubov or as punishing as Derian Hatcher, but he's an integral part of the best team in hockey. Sydor's a tremendous skater that moves the puck with confidence. Combine those attributes with his bullet shot, and Sydor makes a damn fine point man on the power play. The quick start will bring a whole lot more attention his way, so get used to hearing his name.
And do you think the Los Angeles Kings are kicking themselves? Both Sydor and Alexei Zhitnik started out in the Los Angeles organization before the Royalty traded them away. Imagine a blue line featuring Sydor, Zhitnik, and Rob Blake... that could have been great, that could have been fun.
DARCY TUCKER MANIA
Darcy Tucker is a bad man. The newest LCS Hockey cult hero has
started the season in style. In Tampa's first eight games,
Tucker has notched three goals and three assists, racked up 23
minutes in penalties, and rubbed out a pair of Los Angeles
goaltenders. Aw, that's good stuff. Tucker is great. All hail
Tucker.
GARAGE LEAGUE
Despite all the rule changes, scoring is once again down. In
1997-98, the average game contained about 5.2 goals. That
average has dropped to 4.7 so far in 1998-99. It's a garage
league.
That's why this past Saturday, October 24, seemed like a gift from the gods. That special night featured two nine-goal contests and two more 10-goal games. What have we done to deserve such riches? But never fear, the league quickly came to its senses. By Tuesday night things were back to normal, with three of the four games scheduled having final scores of 2-1, 1- 0, and 0-0. Yippee.
CORRECTIONS
Hey, I just realized that Joel Otto retired. I'm always the last
to know. Joel, my phone rings dude. My phone rings. Anyway, a
couple issues back in the Season Preview I was talkin' like he
was still playing. So just forget all that. And while we're on
the subject, I also want to retract what I said about Stan Mikita
being in store for a big season. Apparently he no longer plays
for Chicago. And Mike Bossy? Retired. C'mon, people, work with
me here...
--------------------------------------------------------------------- AHL News --------------------------------------------------------------------- by Tricia McMillan Player of the Week (Oct. 12): It was feast or famine the first weekend of the AHL, with some tremendous offensive performances, most notably from Jason Podollan, Byron Ritchie and Shane Willis, plus several shutouts including a double shutout. The AHL settled on giving the award to Cincinnati goaltender Tom Askey, who was responsible for one of the shutouts as he blanked Hershey on the Mighty Ducks' opening night. Askey stopped 33 shots for his fifth career shutout.
Player of the Week (Oct. 19): Fortunately the glaring error of the previous week was rectified the next week, as the AHL finally recognized Jason Podollan's amazing beginning to the season. The St. John's winger had six points during the second week of the season, including a hat trick which was his second of the season. He also had another goal plus two assists and stands atop the AHL scoring list.
Player of the Week (Oct. 26): This time last year, he was in the NHL. But he didn't last long before going back to Finland, so he's still a rookie for Springfield and now Olli Jokinen has more hardware for his shelf. Jokinen had a six-point week for the Falcons, including five assists and a four-game point streak that lands him third on the rookie scoring list. The 1997 third overall pick in the draft has won the Finnish Elite League's Rookie of the Year award and appears to be aiming for another.
Yakety-Yak: The AHL will host live chat sessions with the Players of the Week each week this season, subject to the player's availability but generally on Thursday evenings. Askey, Podollan and Jokinen have already been grilled by the fans; if you want to send them a question or just listen in, go to the AHL Official Web Page (www.canoe.ca/AHL) and join the party. If you miss the party, chat transcripts are also available on the site.
C What?: The Saint John Flames' season has begun just swimmingly, as they lost their first game and haven't lost one since. But they do have a problem. Their captain, Steve Bancroft, doesn't want to be there and has openly expressed his wish to be in the IHL. (Which would lead one to openly question what they were thinking when they gave him a C, but...) After much dilly-dallying, Calgary arranged to loan Bancroft to the IHL's Cincinnati Cyclones. The day Bancroft was to leave for Cincinnati, the Bruins called Calgary and asked if Bancroft could be loaned to Providence - and Calgary agreed. Not only is Bancroft still not in the IHL, but he played for Providence against Saint John the day after the loan.
Time To Move On: The Tampa Bay Lightning's front office purge left them in need of an assistant general manager, a position which has now been filled by Hershey Bears President and Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Sports and Entertainment Group (HERSEG) VP Jay Feaster. Feaster has a pretty darn good hockey resum‚ to his credit, having been responsible for the Hershey Bears as well as HERSEG, and bringing with him recommendations from half the GMs in the NHL. However, his departure is well-timed given improprieties regarding HERSEG's acquisition of the State High School Football championship game, compounded by Feaster's retaliatory attacks on a witness who testified during state investigations. According to local media, Feaster antagonized several state legislators during the hearings, jeopardizing the Bears' attempts to get funding for a new arena. Feaster is also noted for firing LCS photographer Kevin Fischer and banning him from Hersheypark.
You Belong To Me: Nor is the football game the only legal problem facing Hershey at the moment. The OHL's Sarnia Sting filed a lawsuit against the Bears claiming that Evgeny Lazarev is rightfully their property. The Sting also filed suit against Lazarev himself, his agent, and the Colorado Avalanche. The Sting had drafted Lazarev in this year's CHL Import Draft, so in theory he should be playing there despite being drafted by Colorado and assigned by the Avalanche to Hershey. However, somewhere in the myriad regulations regarding the CHL and NHL, Europeans aren't always subject to those rules and in some circumstances 18 and 19 year-old European draft picks can be and are assigned to the AHL. Colorado thought Lazarev fit the exemption and sent him to the Bears. Sarnia believes Lazarev isn't subject to the exemption and obtained an injunction preventing Lazarev from playing for Hershey until a court hearing on the matter scheduled for October 29. One does have to wonder just how interested Lazarev would be in playing for a team that sued him - can't blame him if he's not.
Bear With Me: The bad news just kept on coming for Hershey as they lost their fifth straight game to Kentucky, 5-1, on Oct. 24. Steve Guolla had a three point night and John Nabokov stopped 34 of 35 shots before beating Marc Denis - with his fists. Yep, we had a bench clearing brawl with fighting goaltenders. Kentucky's Garrett Burnett (you thought someone else?) started the mess by fighting Hershey's Troy Crowder. That in itself wasn't the problem. The problem was that Burnett continued to punch Crowder long after Crowder had lost consciousness and the linesmen had separated them. Hershey's Scott Parker was unamused and left the bench to get at Burnett. Then everybody on both teams left their respective benches. Parker was ejected from the ice but returned twice, earning him a double game misconduct and eventually a seven game suspension; Burnett picked up a match penalty and accompanying five game suspension. Both teams were fined. Meanwhile Crowder suffered a serious, career-threatening concussion that required hospitalization and Kentucky's Christian Gosselin has a concussion as well, compliments of Parker. And the players weren't even the most juvenile people involved in this one - Kentucky PR director Tim Woodburn deliberately misspelled Hershey coach Mike Foligno's name into an insult in the game writeup.
Turnstiles: The AHL started off the season with the second best opening weekend in the league's history. That's the good news. The bad news is that a few teams, most notably Kentucky, opened with record setting crowds, which means that other teams...well...New team Lowell opened strong, as did defending champs Philadelphia and the troubled Albany River Rats. The Wolfpack drew five figures to their opener and Worcester came close. But Hamilton, Providence and Syracuse were disappointing. Second week openers were better, as Rochester set a new attendance record with 10,319 at the opening of the newly renovated War Memorial and Hershey tied their opening night record with 7,075 in attendance.
Bonus Babies: The AHL's opening rosters (the rosters effective October 9th) looked pretty good in terms of the draft picks placed on them. 34 first rounders and 45 second rounders graced opening night, a new record for the league. Saint John featured the most top picks, with eight. The rest:
Team 1st 2nd Tot. Adirondack 2 2 4 Albany 0 4 4 Cincinnati 1 2 3 Fredericton 0 2 2 Hamilton 4 3 7 Hartford 3 4 7 Hershey 2 1 3 Kentucky 0 2 2 Lowell 1 2 3 New Haven 2 1 3 Philadelphia 2 3 5 Portland 3 2 5 Providence 2 1 3 Rochester 1 3 4 Saint John 3 5 8 Springfield 2 1 3 St. John's 3 3 6 Syracuse 2 2 4 Worcester 0 2 2 Totals 34 45 79
Forever Young: Some teams are really rookie-heavy this season, but the Syracuse Crunch are ridiculous. Syracuse has so many rookies, 19-year-old Robert Dome has more professional playing experience than 75% of his teammates. Ouch. There are 15 true rookies on the Crunch, plus three players who have played professionally before this year but below the AHL level. Only six players on the team have more than one years' experience playing at a high level of hockey. The average age on the team is 21 years, four months - 19 months below the league average.
Speaking of which, that's 22 years, 11 months for the whole league, the youngest in AHL history. The second youngest team is the Beast of New Haven at 22 years even; the old farts of the league are the Hartford Wolfpack at 24 years, nine months, followed by Rochester at 24 years, four months.
Franchising: One of the first things to shake loose from the Penguins' Chapter 11 filing is the long dormant Cornwall Aces franchise. As you may recall, the Penguins bought the franchise rights, spent several years looking for a place to put it, then bought an expansion team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA, which will start up next season. That left the dormant franchise, well, still dormant. As part of the early stages of restructuring of the Pens, the Wilkes-Barre team will remain property of the Penguins, while the Cornwall franchise is now exclusive property of original Pens owner Howard Baldwin. And it still isn't going anywhere.
The franchise that may be going somewhere, most likely pending some vague resemblance of recovery for the Canadian dollar, is the equally dormant Prince Edward Island franchise. The Ottawa Senators still own it and are presently exploring the possibility of landing it in Quebec City, the same place that just lost another team, the IHL's Rafales. Given that QC seems to be poison for hockey teams these days and Ottawa's lack of both cash and players, don't hold your breath on that one.
Stuff: Hartford goaltender JF Labbe passed the century mark in career wins and moved into the AHL's all-time top ten in wins...
The only one of the AHL's five rookie coaches to win his coaching debut was Providence's Peter Laviolette. However, Kentucky's Roy Sommer managed to get through his first three games without losing at all...
The P-Bruins' Tim Sweeney, who was the second leading scorer in club history and had a pretty decent year in New York last season, announced he was retiring after just two games...
For trivia purposes, the first goalscorer in the history of the Lowell Lock Monsters is Mark Lawrence. The first winning goaltender is Marcel Cousineau...
The Pirates' J.P. Dumont made his professional debut against Lowell - playing against the player he was traded for, Dmitri Nabokov...
St. John's scored seven goals in their opening game. They only managed that many goals once all of last season...
The Phantoms' Shawn McCosh had a hat trick on opening night...
Dennis Maxwell scored for St. John's against Fredericton on Oct. 13 with just 28 seconds left in regulation, sending the game into OT where the Leafs won on a Ladislav Kohn goal...
Worcester's Shane Toporowski was suspended for two games by the league for an attempt to injure penalty...
An Oct. 16 game between Fredericton and St. John's featured seven goals, five of them from the Canadiens, and four fights - in the first period. The final was 8-4 Fredericton, as Terry Ryan had two goals and two assists...
Kentucky blew another lead in the third period, this time allowing Albany three goals in the last ten minutes to lose 4-2 Oct. 16...
Chris Ferraro set up four goals to keep Hamilton ahead of Cincinnati, 7-3, the same night...
Rochester scored five goals in the first ten minutes against Hershey in their home opener. Scott Nichol had three points and Martin Biron faced only 17 shots, stopping 15...
The Hartford Wolfpack scored twice unassisted in the last minutes of their game with Springfield Oct. 17 to win 3-1. Springfield's Sylvain Daigle still stopped 37 shots...
Saint John's Eric Landry scored a pair en route to the Flames' 3-1 win over Syracuse Oct. 17...
Steve Guolla picked up where he left off last season, picking two goals and an assist against Albany Oct. 17. Albany, however got two goals out of defenseman Ken Sutton...
Benoit Gratton scored a pair for the Pirates against Adirondack Oct. 17, but Portland still lost again...
For that matter, Hershey hasn't won a game yet and that's the first time in seventeen years the Bears couldn't pick up a win in their first five games...
Lowell took a two goal lead on New Haven and then allowed the Beast five unanswered goals to lose, 5-2...
Worcester played the first half of their Oct. 17 matchup against Hershey without a backup goaltender. Scott Roche, recalled from Peoria the same day, was at the airport waiting for his luggage to be found...
Syracuse rookie netminder Mike Valley turned away St. John's Lonny Bohonos on a penalty shot Oct. 20, but that was the only time Bohonos was stopped as he was involved in three of the Leafs' five goals...
Syracuse's other rookie goaltender, Craig Hillier, broke out of the gate 1-1-1 with 1.31 GAA and a .953 save percentage...
Beast of New Haven rookie Shane Willis leads AHL rookies in points, with 11...
Saint John youngster Chris Clark is leading the AHL in assists, having posted nine to date. He also leads the Flames in plus/minus, but hasn't scored a goal yet...
In Fredericton, rookie goaltender Mathieu Garon briefly led the league in minutes played and is still just off the pace...
The WolfPack's Marc Savard and Derek Armstrong have yet to play a game without getting at least a point....
Hartford has the AHL's best goal differential at the start of the season at +11...
New Haven's power play success rate is already at 30.6%, and they lead the league in extra man scoring with 15...
Providence has been outscored 12-2 in the first period and outscored their opponents 7-3 the rest of the way in their first few games...
The IceCats presently hold the league's best shot differential, at +48...
The Hershey Bears led the AHL in power play goals last season with 106 and topped the AHL the season before too. This season, they've scored exactly one...
Remember that amazing Phantoms offense? The defending champs have already managed to go 103 minutes plus with scoring a goal...
Adirondack is already averaging 17.3 more penalty minutes a game than at this time last year. Better start practicing the penalty kill...
Speaking of which, Albany River Rat Colin White is averaging 12 penalty minutes a game. That would be 960 for the season if he keeps it up...
Bulldog Chris Ferraro set the club mark with five assists in a game October 16...
Syracuse Crunch scored three power play goals in the first period and went four for seven overall with the extra man against St. John's Oct. 21...
Portland goaltender Mike Rosati stopped 57 of 60 Albany shots Oct. 21 for the Pirates' first win of the season. Of the three goals the Rats did get past him, one was on a shorthanded, four-on-one break...
Albany's Steve Brule scored that goal and became the Rats' all-time goal scoring leader in the same game, scoring two goals to bring him to 214...
Marcel Cousineau picked up his first shutout for Lowell, stopping 23 Cincinnati shots while Mike Kennedy scored twice...
Jean-Sebastian Giguere stopped 33 of 34 shots from the baby Leafs as they played to a 1-1 tie Oct. 23. The only guy to get a puck past him? Jason Podollan, of course...
Giguere leads the league in GAA with a 1.22 and hasn't lost a game yet...
Sergei Klimentiev and Peter White both had three point nights while pouring it on the hapless Bears 6-2 on Oct. 23. The Phantoms also set a team record for power play goals in a game, with five...
Former Pirate Jim Carey had 33 saves against his old team Oct. 23 for a 3-1 win...
Fredrik Lindquist had two goals and an assist for Hamilton as they took down Adirondack Oct. 23, 5-2...
Rochester's Mike Harder had a hand in all three Amerks goals against Kentucky Oct. 23, setting up the first two and scoring an empty netter at the end...
If Worcester and Springfield are playing, it's gonna be wild. The Icecats were down 4-2 in the third but came back to tie it, then the teams twice traded goals before settling for a 6-6 tie Oct. 23. Worcester's Derek Bekar scored twice and Springfield's Greg Phillips had a hat trick...
New Haven lost in Hartford...again...
Syracuse came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie Lowell Oct. 23, then gave one up to Dane Jackson with 27 seconds left in regulation to lose. Warren Luhning had two goals, Dane Jackson scored the game winner and Crunch goalie Tim Keyes saw just 13 shots - and stopped only nine of them...
Mike Fountain made 47 saves as New Haven topped Worcester 3-2 Oct. 24. Craig Ferguson scored two of the Beast goals...
Lowell blueliner Mike Gaul scored a pair against Providence Oct. 24, the third straight win for the Lock Monsters...
Hamilton and Fredericton were tied 3-3 at the 19:43 mark of the third period Oct. 25. Hamilton won, 5-3. Joe Hulbig and Chris Ferraro both scored in the final seconds. Ferraro was making up for missing on a penalty shot against Mathieu Garon earlier in the game...
Philadelphia's Peter White scored two goals, one shorthanded and the other the game-winner, against Kentucky Oct. 25...
Think the goaltenders are doing well so far this season? You're right. Last year the best GAA was Rich Shulmistra's 2.31. There are 12 goaltenders ahead of that already and six have GAAs under two...
On October 25, 1998, for the first time in a long time in the AHL, every road team lost...
As a whole, home ice isn't meaning much this year. Road teams have a 49.2% win percentage, in other words, a statistically negligible number...
Syracuse's Valentin Morozov is third in the AHL in scoring with 12 points, and like the rest of the guys on the leader boards, he's a rookie...
The Hartford WolfPack became the last AHL team to lose a game, finally dropping one to Albany Oct. 24...
For the record: Hartford has yet to beat Albany ever. The Rats are 3-0-2 against the Pack...
Providence and Kentucky are each averaging 41.5 penalty minutes a game...
Providence isn't having any luck when they're not shorthanded either. They've scored just 15 goals all season and only four on the road...
Reed Low has scored three goals for the IceCats so far. That wouldn't be strange, except that last season he needed the whole year to score one...
Lowell's Marcel Cousineau leads the AHL in wins (5) and minutes (360) and is third in saves (141)...
The second worst penalty killers in the league are the Portland Pirates, killing off only 68.9% and they have allowed 14 power play goals, worst in the league...
Saint John's Eric Landry is second in goalscoring with seven and fourth in overall scoring with 11 points. Teammate Chris O'Sullivan lead the league in defense scoring, with nine points...
The top two scorers in the AHL are both on The Rock. St. John's Jason Podollan and Ladislav Kohn rank first and second with 14 points and 13 points, respectively. They are also 1-2 in goalscoring...
The Hamilton Bulldogs are now 4-0 with Fredrik Lindquist in the lineup. Lindquist is in the top five for scoring and goals...
Rochester and Philadelphia have each allowed only 13 goals in their first six games...
--------------------------------------------------------------------- College Hockey Report --------------------------------------------------------------------- by James Clippinger The rinks have been flooded. The Zamboni blades have been sharpened. The flasks have been filled. The ultimate offensive phrase that rhymes with "Prestifilippo" has been coined.
Ah yes, the Division I college hockey season is upon us.
It's been a fairly normal off-season, with only a few coaching changes (with the oddest being Union head coach Stan Moore resigning to retake his assistant's post at Colgate) and the usual plethora of talented players leaving for the pro ranks. This included such notables as Boston College's Marty Reasoner, whose 69 points led the nation last season, and North Dakota's Aaron Schweitzer, who was demoted to the second string after having backstopped the Sioux to the 1997 NCAA title.
Ah, but there's still plenty of action out on the rinks, so I'll still have to prognosticate. Here's my top 10 for the upcoming season:
1. NORTH DAKOTA
The Fighting Sioux lost only four players in the off-season.
Yes, one was Schweitzer, but NoDak still has the best goaltender
in the nation in sophomore Karl Goehring. Yes, WCHA Player of
the Year Curtis Murphy has graduated, but the Sioux still come at
opponents with the finest, fastest and most balanced forward
attack in the nation, featuring Jason Blake, David Hoogsteen, Jay
Panzer and Adam Calder, any one of whom would be a huge,
team-defining star at nearly any other school. Another team
might take the NCAA title, but there's little doubt that North
Dakota's squad is one of the finest of the decade.
2. OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are my sleeper out of the CCHA this year. Put a
strong offense led by Hobey Baker candidate Hugo Boisvert and
clutch scorer extraordinaire Chris Richards together with the
terrific goaltending tandem of Ray Aho and Jeff Maund and you've
got magic. Ohio State will also get a mid-season boost from
opening the brand-spankin'-new Schottenstein Center, which will
replace a decrepit OSU Ice Rink and perhaps give the squad some
much-needed self-respect. The Buckeyes will not dominate, nor
will they be flashy, but this team may end up as consistent
winners.
3. MICHIGAN
Against all odds, the Wolverines walked away with the NCAA title
last year, with then-frosh Josh Langfeld putting away Boston
College. In overtime. In Boston. Although Red Berenson's squad
loses two-time national champion goaltender Marty Turco and
uberforwards Bill Muckalt and Matt Herr, they return much of the
same young team that swiped the title from a better-on-paper BC
side last year. Blue-chip prospect Josh Blackburn replaces Turco
in nets, and if he pans out the Maize and Blue could dominate.
4. BOSTON COLLEGE
Everyone's picking BC to win it all this year, but (probably
dooming myself to be wrong here), I just don't see it. Yes, they
return sophomore wunderkind Brian Gionta and a stellar scoring
defensive corps, but this team ain't going nowhere with Scott
Clemmensen in net. With defensemen pinching in constantly to
keep a now Reasonerless offense on track, Clemmensen will be the
weak link in what could be a very streaky team. The good news
for the Eagles: Hockey East is weak as hell this year.
5. HARVARD
Once again this year, the ECAC is completely up for grabs.
Harvard returns the Craig Adams/Steve Moore/Chris Bala line that
could be the best in the East if Adams regains his form from last
year's season-ending shoulder injury and sophomores Moore and
Bala continue their development. Add a strong defense headed by
Ben Storey and J.R. Prestifilippo's smooth-as-Shaft goaltending
and Harvard could contend for the national title if everything
goes just right.
6. MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans are defensive all-stars, but with the exception of
Mike York there ain't much scoring. The graduation of Hobey
runner-up Chad Alban in net dooms this team, since sophomore Joe
Blackburn (no relation to archrival Michigan's new netminder) can
only hope to match Alban's stopping skills, and not his
extraordinary puckhandling. Alban drove this team for the past
couple of years, and now it's time to pay.
7. COLORADO COLLEGE
The all-everything line of Brain Swanson/Darren Clark/Toby
Peterson does not a team make. Don Lucia overplayed these guys
last year, and he'll have to keep at it since a shaky defense and
outmatched goaltender Colin Zulianello won't keep the Tigers
close against quality opposition. This team is the Mighty Ducks
of elite college hockey.
8. NORTHERN MICHIGAN
They'll crack some heads and score enough to do well in the CCHA,
but their real forte will be the NCAAs. Probably the only team
hoping to be sent to the opposite regional, since the Wildcats'
huge, clean hits will decimate nearly any Eastern team.
9. MAINE
The Black Bears have the best recruiting class in the country,
but it includes a bunch of transfers and former junior players.
It might take the Downeasters a while to gel, but watch for a
strong second half once they do.
10. VERMONT
The Catamounts are probably a first-half team that will take
people by surprise. The real question is whether Mike Gilligan
can actually coach a pretty talented team into contention. Since
he couldn't do it with an astoundingly talented team a few years
back, I kinda doubt it, but some gritty scorers and a packed
Gutterson Field House could do it.
Others Considered:
PRINCETON: Too much of a question in goal.
UNH: Too little returning scoring.
CLARKSON: It's time for an off year.
RPI: Losing top forward Matt Garver to Division III RIT cannot be a good sign for an already inconsistent team. Coach Dan Fridgen is on the bubble.
MINNESOTA: They'd be great if NHL teams stopped signing their players away.
WISCONSIN: Solid team in need of goaltender. Does Jim Carey have any eligibility left?
YALE: Alex Westlund does not a team make.
BOSTON U.: Rebuilding, but still a threat.
COLGATE: If they find a finisher, my alma mater could contend in the ECAC.
================================================================ TEAM REPORTS ================================================================ EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC DIVISION ----------------------------------------------------------------- NEW JERSEY DEVILS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Rob Ftorek Roster: C - Bobby Holik, Bob Carpenter, Denis Pederson, Petr Sykora, Jason Arnott, Sergei Brylin, Brendan Morrison. LW - Dave Andreychuck, Brian Rolston, Scott Daniels, Jay Pandolfo, Sasha Lakovic. RW - Patrik Elias, Randy McKay, Vadim Sharifijanov, Krzysztof Oliwa. D - Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko, Lyle Odelein, Kevin Dean, Sheldon Souray, Brad Bombardir. G - Martin Brodeur, Chris Terreri. Injuries: None. Transactions: Assigned Scott Daniels, lw, to Albany (AHL). Game Results: 10/14 Pittsburgh L 3-1 10/16 at Rangers W 2-1 10/17 Edmonton L 4-2 10/22 at Philadelphia W 3-2 10/24 Boston W 3-1 TEAM NEWS by Eric P. Witzel The Devils avoided going 0-3 for the first time in their history by defeating the New York Rangers by a score of 2-1. Bobby Holik opened the scoring 22 seconds into the first period, and Patrik Elias tallied the game-winner half way through the third when he poked a rebound past rookie Ranger goalie Dan Cloutier. It took another stellar performance from goaltender Martin Brodeur who made 24 saves, including two breakaways in the third period by Kevin Stevens and Niklas Sundstrom, to solidify the Devils first win of the season.
The Devils started off the season rather slow, but improved their record to 3-3-0 by putting together back-to-back victories over the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins, 3-2 and 3-1, respectively. The game against the Bruins marked the first start for goalie Chris Terreri in a Devil uniform since the 1995 season. Terreri was solid while allowing only one goal on 21 shots.
Making History
On October 16, 1998, the Devils-Rangers game was the first regular season game to implement the two-referee system. Denis Larue and Mark Faucette called a tight game, allocating nine power-play opportunities (seven for the Rangers, two for the Devils). "I was in the way all night," Faucette admitted. The overall first impression of the new dual-ref system is thought to be "different, but fair."
This new system will certainly cut down on several of the obstruction penalties, and will decrease the pushing and shoving away from the play. I just hope it doesn't get to the point that every time a smaller guy is touched, or a faster skater is slowed down that a penalty will be called. That's all we need - Slow the game down even more!
Falling Into Their Own Trap
The Devils put the "neutral zone trap" on the map, and perfected this system to win them their first-ever Stanley Cup in 1995. Over the next several years, many teams adopted the trap to the point that it got out of control. Stop me if you heard this one, but the Devils fell victim to their own system after they got bounced from the 1998 playoffs in the first round to the Ottawa Senators, who handily beat the Devils at their own game. Now, almost four years after New Jersey's initial success, something is being done to try and limit the trap.
Even though the officials are cracking down on the clutching and grabbing, the Devils continue to play the same defensive style. Sure, Rob Ftorek is slightly more offense-oriented then Jacques Lemaire ever was, but the Devils defensive system will not change. The result? Well, let's just say, get ready to kill some penalties.
In their first six games, the Devils have had 16 power-play opportunities, compared to their opponent's 32 power plays. So far, special teams haven't burned them. The Devils are 3/16 on the man-advantage and opponents are a meager 5/32. If they continue to play this system, and the referees keep calling the games as tightly as they have been, the Devils will eventually get burned. Time will tell.
Status Quo on the Niedermayer Front
Scott Niedermayer and Devils GM Lou Lamoriello are still about one year and $250,000 apart in the most recent contract negotiations. Niedermayer, a Group II restricted free agent, signed a 25-game contract with the Utah Grizzlies of the IHL last Monday. One day later, Lamoriello was quoted as saying, "We're always talking, hopefully, we'll get this worked out." Scott Niedermayer is the "total package" and is easily this team's best all-around player. Hey, Lou... do whatever it takes to get this guy back in the lineup.
----------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK ISLANDERS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Mike Milbury Roster: C - Robert Reichel, Trevor Linden, Bryan Smolinski, Claude Lapointe, Sergei Nemchinov. LW - Mike Watt, Mike Hough, Ken Belanger, Tom Chorske, Gino Odjick. RW - Zigmund Palffy, Jason Dawe, Joe Sacco, Mariusz Czerkawski, Kevin Miller, Mark Lawrence. D - Kenny Jonsson, Bryan Berard, Scott Lachance, Richard Pilon, Eric Brewer, David Harlock, Barry Richter. G - Tommy Salo, Wade Flaherty. Injuries: Gino Odjick, (groin strain, day to day... but you didn't hear it from me) Transactions: 10/27 Recalled RW Mark Lawrence from Lowell (AHL). Game Results 10/14 Tampa Bay W 2-0 10/17 St. Louis W 1-0 10/21 Edmonton L 4-2 10/22 NY Rangers L 3-2 10/24 Buffalo W 5-4 10/27 Los Angeles W 1-0 TEAM NEWS by David Strauss In 1814, a group of really famous and well-dressed guys, quaffed to the moon, gathered in Vienna for one of the most famous meetings ever held in western civilization.
Approximately 184 years later, there was another meeting in Vienna, this one between a "moron" and a "liar."
Paul Kraus, who represents unsigned free agent winger Zigmund Palffy, met with Islanders' GM and Coach Mike Milbury in a Vienna hotel to discuss the Islanders' latest contract offer, which Kraus rejected quickly.
The latest offer from the franchise was a two-year deal identical to the $7.75-million one signed last week by Edmonton Oilers star Doug Weight, with substantial bonuses based on performance.
The Islanders had originally offered Palffy a three-year, $12.75-million deal, but withdrew that offer last week. Palffy, who has scored 40 goals three times, is seeking a three-year deal worth at least $6 million per season.
Weight's contract calls for him to receive base salaries of $3.45 million and $4.3 million. The offer to Palffy contains incentives that could boost his salary to over $5 million a season for the next two years, with incentives such as $250,000 if he scores 39 goals and $650,000 if he scores 52 goals or has more than 100 points. Palffy, who Kraus has called one of the five best wingers in hockey, has never reached 50 goals or 100 points, though he hasn't exactly had the '56 Canadiens or '82 Islanders around him either.
"What do I call this?" Kraus said. "Bad-faith negotiation, a publicity stunt. Maybe a little of both. This is not what I would construe as any kind of an effort to sign Ziggy Palffy. It is either a publicity stunt or an insult to fans of the New York Islanders - whatever remaining fans there are. What Mike told Zigmund was that the sky is going to fall on him if he doesn't sign tomorrow."
Though Milbury made no public comments, the Islanders released a statement from him that read: "My goal in meeting with Zigmund face-to-face is to bring this issue to a conclusion."
Palffy, who went 44-43-87 in 1995-96 and 48-42-90 in 1996-97, was 45-42-87 last season. His 136 goals over the last three seasons is the sixth-highest total in the league.
Kraus said: "You know, the Congress of Vienna lasted what, 20 years, before there was an agreement? Well, we have no intention of waiting that long for something to happen."
Meanwhile, the Isles, against all expectations, are actually playing some decent hockey. Tommy Salo's 1-0 shutout over the Kings raised the Isles' record to 4-4-0, and was the Swedish netminder's third blanking of the young season. This came one game after the low-scoring Isles did the impossible and scored five times on all-world goalie Dominik Hasek in a 5-4 victory.
----------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK RANGERS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: John Muckler Rosters: C - Wayne Gretzky, Manny Malhotra, Scott Fraser, Harry York, P.J. Stock. LW - Esa Tikkanen, Adam Graves, Kevin Stevens, Brent Fedyk, Darren Langdon. RW - Niklas Sundstrom, Alexei Kovalev, Todd Harvey, John MacLean, Michael Knuble. D - Brian Leetch, Ulf Samuelsson, Jeff Beukeboom, Mathieu Schneider, Peter Popovic, Eric Cairns, Jan Mertzig, Geoff Smith. G - Mike Richter, Dan Cloutier. Injuries: None. Transactions: Traded Alexander Karpovtsev, d, and fourth-round draft pick to Toronto for Mathieu Schneider, d. Game Results: 10/16 New Jersey L 2-1 10/17 at Pittsburgh T 3-3 10/20 Edmonton W 3-2 10/22 Islanders W 3-2 10/24 at Philadelphia T 2-2 TEAM NEWS by Alex Frias Wow, what a difference a hot goaltender makes.
Four games into the season, the Rangers were 0-4 and looked like they were shooting for the top pick in the entry draft. Now after eight games, they look competitive and willing to fight you in a back alley for those two points. See what good goaltending does to a team.
Searching for the turning point at which Mike Richter's goaltending went from uncertain to razor sharp? Look no further than the moment referee Dan Marouelli turned and pointed to center ice last Thursday night, awarding a penalty shot to the Islanders' Claude Lapointe with 5:08 left in a game the Rangers led, 3-2, and would win by the same score.
"I think it's a springboard not only for him but our whole hockey club," Wayne Gretzky had said of Richter's save on Lapointe, which prompted a roar not heard from Garden fans in a long time. "Rickey made a great save and it wasn't only a springboard for him but for our whole team and the arena. We haven't used the arena to our advantage since the '96-97 season."
It's a springboard that has the Blueshirts unbeaten in their last four. Todd Harvey has been jumping the highest off that springboard with a couple of timely goals, drawing key penalties and showing an uncanny ability to effectively get underneath the opponent's skin; skills that have made him the team MVP in this early season.
And fortunately for the Rangers and the Garden faithful, Harvey's play has seemed to rub off on former power forward Kevin Stevens. If Stevens can give John Muckler a solid 20-25 goals on the third line, it'll really go a long way in helping to take some of the offensive burden from the Gretzky line, at least until Neil Smith goes out and picks up a Pavel Bure or Petr Nedved.
Karpovtsev Leafs: After three games and an 0-3 record, GM Neil Smith traded away inconsistent Alexander Karpovtsev to Toronto for Mathieu Schneider, who immediately was signed to a one-year deal worth $2.75 million.
An underrated mobile defensemen whose luck has gone downhill (Islanders, Leafs) since winning the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993, the 29-year-old will improve the Rangers puck handling and passing skills from the blue line and give Brian Leetch a true offensive defensemen to work the power play point with since Sergei Zubov was in Ranger blue.
"We've been talking since last season to get a player who can handle the puck and play on the power play and move the puck up and get us out of the zone quickly," said Smith. "We even brought Zarley Zalapski, because he had those attributes, and that didn't work. Mathieu had been somebody I talked to the Leafs about even going back to last season. Not since we had Sergei Zubov here have we had as good a twosome on the point as Matty and Brian. It helps us through the game five-on-five, and it gives us a dramatic upgrade on the power play."
Having Schneider back on the point helps Leetch because Schneider possesses a low, hard shot that allows Leetch to wander around in the offensive zone. In five games with the Rangers, Schneider already has scored a power-play goal and been involved in numerous other ones.
"I wish I had asked for a trade sooner, knowing the outcome," he said. "I stressed to Neil and my agent (Steve Reich) that this is where I want to be for the rest of my career, and I think the feeling is kind of mutual, as long as everything goes smoothly."
Notes: Muckler scratched rookie center Manny Malhotra for the second time in two games versus the Flyers.
Harry York also sat out for the sixth straight game.
Scott Fraser, who has yet to have an impact after being signed to a big three-year $4.3 million deal, also was scratched as winger Brent Fedyk returned and P.J. Stock got a rare chance to dress.
Brian Leetch logged a whopping 31:56 of ice time against Philly - the fifth time in eight games he's topped 30 minutes. But he was held without a shot on goal for the first time this season, and for the second time in three games, blocked a shot with his foot, requiring ice afterward.
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PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
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Head Coach: Roger Neilson
Roster: C - Rod Brind'Amour, Marc Bureau, , Eric Lindros, Mike
Sillinger, Dainius Zubrus. LW - Colin Forbes, Chris Gratton, Dan
Kordic, John LeClair, Shjon Podein, Valeri Zelepukin. RW -
Alexandre Daigle, Jody Hull, Mike Maneluk. D - Dave Babych, Eric
Desjardins, Dan McGillis, Luke Richardson, Petr Svoboda, Chris
Therien, Dmitri Tertyshny. G - Ron Hextall, John Vanbiesbrouck.
Injuries: Mike Sillinger, c (sprained knee, day to day).
Transactions: Traded Trent Klatt, rw, to Vancouver in exchange
for a 6th-round draft pick in 2000. Acquired Ryan Bast, d, and an
8th-round pick in 1999 from Calgary in exchange for the Flyers
3rd-round pick in 1999.
Game results:
10/16 at Tampa Bay W 5-2
10/13 at Carolina T 1-1
10/20 San Jose W 3-1
10/22 New Jersey L 3-2
10/24 Rangers T 2-2
TEAM NEWS by Chuck Michio
SAME OLD, SAME OLD
Mice can be taught to negotiate mazes. Chimpanzees can learn sign
language. Hell, Andy Katzenmoyer managed to pass Golf, Music
Appreciation, and AIDS Awareness. And yet the Philadelphia Flyers
can't figure out how to beat the New Jersey Devils. Does that put
it in perspective or what?
The Flyers' October 22 loss to the Devils, their first of the season, runs their winless streak against New Jersey to six games (0-5-1). And since that loss mirrored every other loss to the Devils in the recent past, maybe it's time to wonder if the Flyers' fast start wasn't an illusion created by a soft early-season schedule.
How can you get off to a bad start when your first three games are against the Rangers, Anaheim, and Tampa Bay? Those kindly NHL czars couldn't be much nicer without slipping the Muskegee Industrial Institute for the Blind on the schedule somewhere.
I'm sure a lot of readers are thinking it's too early to panic about this. But perhaps those optimistic souls should consider this: when the Devils came into Philly, they weren't exactly setting the world on fire. They were 1-3-0 with six goals scored. For the math-impaired, that's 1.5 goals per game. Yet they still managed to look like their old selves against the Flyers, turning innocuous-looking rushes into crushing goals. And NO, NO, NO, Ron Hextall wasn't in the net. So it's definitely time for the Flyers to find a new excuse.
What is it about the Devils? The gritty work ethic? Martin Brodeur? The pungent stench of North Jersey that never washes out of their jerseys? The pure, unadulterated ugliness of Ken Daneyko? Hell if I know.
LACK OF SCORING DEPTH
It's bad enough that the Flyers aren't scoring much, 18 goals in
seven games. But what's worse is that three players have
accounted for 14 of them. Throw out those three players, Lindros,
LeClair, and Brind'Amour, who sometimes appear on the same line
and almost always make up the first power-play unit, and the team
has scored 0.57 goals per game. That's disturbing -- particularly
because this Flyers team has been heralded for their depth.
Still, there are some reasons to be optimistic. Although the "Wasted Potential" line of Alexandre Daigle, Chris Gratton, and Dainius Zubrus has just one goal (by Daigle) so far, the line generated numerous quality scoring chances against the Rangers on the 24th. That's well and good. But it would be nice to see them finish some of them. Good chances don't feed the bulldog.
In an effort to get more goals from the young underachievers, the short-lived Daigle to center experiment is temporarily over. Zubrus will take over at center for now and Daigle will return to his former home on the right wing. Sure, a more rational solution might be to keep the three biggest malingerers on the team off of the same line. But then again, at least this beats another year or waiting for Pat Buffoon (Falloon) to "unlock" his potential.
THEO?
With Mike Maneluk struggling to score goals on the first line,
the Theo Fleury to the Flyers rumors are starting to intensify.
Pierre McGuire, a color analyst for the Canadians, reported on
the air that Bob Clarke has had preliminary discussions with
Flames GM Al Coates. Clarke, of course, denies that report. He
also denies that the sky is blue and that Liberace was fruitier
than Hawaiian Punch. So stay tuned.
GOODBYE, TRENT
The writing was on the wall for Trent Klatt. When the Flyers
placed him on waivers to add Jody Hull to their roster, it didn't
take a rocket scientist to figure out that Klatt's stock with the
club had fallen off the map. But doesn't it seem a little odd
that a club struggling for offense essentially gave away a guy
who scored 38 goals in the past two seasons? Sure, Klatt isn't
Mike Bossy. But last I checked, Jody Hull wasn't the guy who
scored all those goals for the Blues. And Valeri Zelepukin and
Marc Bureau aren't exactly renowned as scoring machines, either.
Maybe this was a case of Bob Clarke returning the favor the Canucks did for him last spring when they traded Mike Sillinger to the Flyers for the proverbial used puck bag. That explanation makes sense, except for the fact that Clarke isn't exactly known for his warm, fuzzy streak.
----------------------------------------------------------------- PITTSBURGH PENGUINS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Kevin Constantine Roster: C - Martin Straka, Robert Lang, Jan Hrdina, Tyler Wright, Kip Miller. LW - Stu Barnes. German Titov, Patrick Lebeau, Ian Moran. RW - Jaromir Jagr, Aleksey Morozov, Robby Brown, Dan Kesa. D - Darius Kasparaitis, Kevin Hatcher, Brad Werenka, Jiri Slegr, Chris Tamer, Bobby Dollas, Neil Wilkinson, Jeff Serowik, Victor Ignatjev, Maxim Galanov. G - Tom Barrasso, Peter Skudra, Jean-Sebastian Aubin. Injuries: Darius Kasparaitis, d (knee, day-to-day); Tom Barrasso, g (groin, day-to-day). Transactions: None. Game Results 10/14 at New Jersey W 3-1 10/17 NY Rangers T 3-3 10/21 at Tampa Bay L 5-0 10/24 Toronto L 6-4 TEAM NEWS by Jerry Fairish Ooooooooooooh ffffffffffuuuuuuudge!
Only the Pens aren't saying fudge. The play the Pens experienced the first three games of the season is starting to slip away. After starting off with a 2-0-1 record, the Pens have lost their last two games and haven't looked pretty doing it. After being blanked 5-0 Wednesday night by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Pens were unable to stop Mats Sundin, who put home a goal and added three helpers, as the Leafs topped the Penguins 6-4 Saturday night.
With Tommy Barrasso going down with a groin injury, all the goaltending pressure has been placed on Peter Skudra. Now I've got nothing against Skudra, however, I feel that he's not the type of goalie that can be a consistent starter day in and day out. And so far it's showed, as Skudra has allowed eight goals on 42 shots in his two starts since Barrasso was injured during the 3-3 tie with the New York Rangers on October 17.
I must admit that it's unfair to place all the blame on Skudra, I mean he's not getting any help in front of him. Kasparaitis' injury combined with Barrasso nursing himself back to health, not to mention that the Pens have only two home games in the month of October, could spell disaster for the Penguins.
The Pens are going to have to find ways to win games without relying on the strong goaltending of Barrasso. Jaromir Jagr has only found the back of the net once this season. He does have eight assists, but he really needs to score and set an example for the rest of team to follow. That's what being captain is all about. Anywho...
Mario Lemieux and SMG Pittsburgh were named earlier this week to a committee that will head up an investigation into the Penguin's Chapter 11 filing. Lemieux still has $28 million coming to him from a contract he signed back in 1992. The team has lost a total of $37 million over the last two years and needed protection to keep all the creditors off their back. I know how it feels, tho'. Sometimes when the repo man comes to my house I turn all the lights off and hide on the floor. It sounds immature, but trust me it's actually pretty fun. I'll break it down for you so you too can...
HIDE FROM THE REPO MAN
1. Most important! Make sure the car is in the garage!!!! I can't stress this enough. If you don't follow this step, there's no need to go through the rest.
2. When you hear the knock on the door, turn off all the lights in the house. (The faster, the better)
3. Crawl on your hands and knees to the front door, and very, very carefully look through the window to see if it's "him."
4. If it is him, lay back down on the floor and don't move.
5. When you hear him say, "I know you're in there. I saw you turn the lights off." Giggle to yourself. Have fun with it
6. Don't answer the phone! It's just the repo man trying to fool you.
7. Wait until he leaves, resume watching Dawson's Creek. If that's what you watch. I don't watch it. But I bet somebody does. Not me. Never.
8. Write to LCS Hockey and let us know how you hid from the repo man.
These steps also work for any friends, co-workers, or relatives that you don't want to see. Try it on everyone. It's great fun!
Peace.
================================================================= ================================================================ TEAM REPORTS ================================================================ EASTERN CONFERENCE NORTHEASTERN DIVISION ----------------------------------------------------------------- BOSTON BRUINS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Pat Burns Roster: C - Jason Allison, Anson Carter, Joe Thornton, Ted Donato, Tim Taylor, Chris Taylor. LW - Sergei Samsonov, Ken Baumgartner, Rob Dimaio, Peter Ferraro, Antii Laaksonen. RW - Dimitri Khristich, Steve Heinze, Per Johan Axelsson, Peter Nordstrom. D - Ray Bourque, Don Sweeney, Dave Ellett, Kyle McLaren, Hal Gill, Darren Van Impe, Grant Ledyard, Dennis Vaske, Jonathan Girard. G - Byron Dafoe, Rob Tallas. Injuries: None. Transactions: None. Game Results 10/14 at Colorado W 3-0 10/16 at Los Angeles L 2-1 10/18 at San Jose W 3-0 10/19 at Phoenix L 3-1 10/21 at Anaheim L 3-0 10/24 at New Jersey L 3-1 TEAM NEWS by Matt Brown Everybody else in Boston is comparing this season's west coast road trip to last year's season opening west coast road trip, so let's not go there. Instead, let's talk about Anson Carter and Kyle McLaren, whom Pat Burns won't talk about, at least publicly.
It looks like Anson Carter will play for the IHL Utah Grizzlies instead of signing with the Bruins, and Kyle McLaren may soon follow Anson into the I. Why isn't being taken seriously, as a major problem, by Bruins management? It isn't as if these players are demanding Mario Lemieux numbers. Both were a big part of the Bruins' turnaround last year, and having them out of the lineup weakens the team. Given that Jonathan Girard, the Bruins' first pick in the NHL draft, doesn't seem quite ready for prime time defensively, and is being sent back to his Junior team, Laval, you'd think that signing McLaren would be a priority.
This column last discussed, dispassionately and analytically, the reasons why Harry Sinden and Mike O'Connell, the Bruins' financial brain trust, might not be anxious to sign McLaren and Carter for hefty pay hikes. Now let's talk about the emotional side, from a fan's perspective. Harry, will ya' just sign the guys and move on. What you pay them now will look cheap in two years. If the team keeps losing, you'll be lucky to sell those new $15 bargain basement season tickets, let alone the high-priced fancy seats with the gold tickets. Nothing like coming off of a season-starting road trip with a 3-4-1 record and major holes in your lineup to keep the fans at home. At least you had sense enough to sign Jason Allison and Ted Donato at the last minute, knowing that going into the home opener with four key players absent would not sit well with the faithful.
Well, at least, that's what all the guys standing around outside the vacant lot that used to be the Boston Garden are saying, in between trying to reach under the fence to grab pieces of what used to be Boston's shrine to hockey, before the rich WASPs built the FleetCenter to keep out the common man.
Pat Burns, talking about the Bruins in general - but he could just as well have been talking about the unsigned players, said "We're going to go out and play hard and hope. If the guys here can't do it, we'll have to go to Providence and get guys to replace them."
Burns also said that he had a meeting upcoming with Harry Sinden and Mike O'Connell, and though the topic is ostensibly the farm team in Providence, one would hope that Pat would try to impress upon the bosses the importance of bringing Carter and McLaren back on to the roster.
In the short term, though, it looks like youngbloods and retreads, as the Bruins brought up several players from Providence for the next game in Montreal. Center Marquis Mathieu, left wing Jay Henderson and defenseman Dennis Vaske were expected to join the team, while Peter Nordstrom and left wing Antti Laaksonen were sent to Providence. Defenseman Jonathan Girard was returned to his junior team in Quebec - everybody, even his mentor Ray Bourque, agreed that he would be far better off playing in Quebec rather than collecting splinters in Boston. Mathieu was just signed, Henderson was a 12th pick last year, and Vaske has been with the Islanders for ages, but only played in 19 games last year because of injuries. Frankly, none of these non-household names is likely to make up for the absence of Carter and McLaren.
Oh, the season?
The Bruins started the season with a 3-3 comeback tie against the powerful St. Louis Blues, who still look like a hull of a team even without the Golden Brett. Jason Allison looked up to his old form, setting up Steve Heinze for a power-play goal. Sergei Samsonov had a pretty goal, and the shocker was Ken Baumgartner's first goal as a Bruin to knot the game. Suffice to say, it was not a goal-scorer's goal. A Blues defenseman inexplicably passed the puck back to Fuhr, well out of the crease, who fumbled while trying to play the puck with Baumgartner bearing down on him. The Bomber tapped the puck away from Grant Fuhr and backhanded it home.
Against the Isles, Byron Dafoe was impenetrable, and it was a good thing, because the former fishsticks were all over the Bruins. The Isles outshot the Bruins 28-17, and thoroughly outplayed everyone except Lord Byron. Fortunately, Islander Tommy Salo was doing his Tommy Salo best, and the Bruins were able to score early, if not often. Dimitri Khristich started things off with a power-play goal six minutes into the game, and Steve Hienze netted his second of the year a little more than a minute later, and the Bruins coasted the rest of the way. That was precisely the problem, however, according to Pat Burns.
"It's pretty evident out there to me that our goaltender won the game, because, if we play that way any other night, we lose the game. We have to learn not to rely on our goaltender." The season so far has proved Pat to be more prophetic in saying this than he could have ever wanted.
You couldn't tell, however, against the hapless Colorado Avalanche. While it has been rare to see "hapless" and "Colorado" in the same sentence since the Quebec Nordiques went west, their season thus far has been a series of rock slides. With only one win in seven games, they have got to be the flop of the year so far. Against the Bruins, the Avalanche came knockin', but Byron Dafoe wouldn't let them in. Dafoe registered his second straight shutout, while the Bruins got power-play goals from Ray Bourque and Joe Thornton to bury Colorado. Colorado had a goal disallowed because rookie Chris Drury was in the crease (it doesn't matter how small they make the crease, forwards will still stand in it). On the other hand, Jason Allison took full advantage of the extra ice behind the net to set up a neat wraparound goal against a Patrick Roy left defenseless by Adam "Slow" Foote(d). Allison's incentive-laden contract should be a cinch for him to fulfill if he plays up to his ability, given the extra room behind the cage.
Against the Kings, the Bruins were robbed twice of apparent goals by the twin zebras, and went on to lose 2-1 in overtime for their first loss of the year. Rob DiMaio scored early in the second period but the goal was disallowed because teammate Chris Taylor had his skate in the crease. Barely. And he was pushed in. But the replay judge giveth (in Colorado) and taketh away (in LA). Chris was filling in on DiMaio's line because his brother Tim was injured against Colorado. Last year in the playoffs, the Bruins had a goal disallowed because Tim's skate was in the crease. It's nice to know that NHL talent runs in the Taylor family, but this is perhaps taking things too far. Pat Burns, thinking of the flap over the first Taylor non-goal in the playoffs, wisely said "I'm just going to get myself in trouble, so don't talk to me about it."
Later in the game, another officiating travesty occurred, showing that the two-referee system will do little more than double the number of questionable calls. Jason Allison had the puck alone in front of the net and backhanded it past goaltender Stephane Fiset. But the Kings' Steve Duchesne crashed into the net and referees Kevin Maguire and Bill McCreary ruled it was intentional, assessing a delay-of-game penalty against Duchesne, but not counting the goal. The Bruins argued unsuccessfully that the goal should stand because of Duchesne's action, but Maguire blew his whistle immediately when the net went off. The Bruins position was that the penalty should have been delayed until the offending team gained possession, rather than denying the team that was fouled a scoring chance. The rulebook in fact says that the referee can allow a goal even if the net is off in such a case. But the whistle rules all, and Maguire blew it, in more ways than one.
Two nights later in San Jose, the Bruins were again fortunate to have Mr. Maguire as chief arbitrator, but this time they left little doubt or room for "officiating" by blanking the Sharks 3-0. Robbie Tallas got his 1998 season debut in net, and made his "What About Rob?" statement by posting a Dafoe-like shutout. Again, the Bruins were outshot, but plunking two goals past Mike Vernon in four shots pretty much made up for the lack of numbers. Vernon was yanked, and the Bruins treated Steve Shields little better, with Dimitri Khristich scoring a power-play goal in the second. Tallas and the Bruins withstood a 13-shot Shark attack in the second, and the Sharks were toothless after that, with only three shots in the third. No skates in the crease, either.
Against the Coyotes in Phoenix, the Bruins were outshot (is this a litany or something) and were positively toothless on the power play, squandering five opportunities. The Bruins can usually handle Nikolai Khabibulin, but not when they get only three shots on goal in the first period.
The Bruins were short-handed at the end of the first period and the start of the second because Rob DiMaio was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for an elbow to the head of Dallas Drake. Rob admits that his elbow was a conscious retaliation because Drake nailed a Bruin from behind. DiMaio was perhaps a little sensitive because his own surgically replaced nose was busted up in his first game back this season, even though he was wearing a shield, by a flagrant hit that was not called. Rob said "Obviously, the league is concerned with things that happen to the head and rightfully so." It doesn't give DiMaio the license to vigilante justice, though, and Rob was handed a two-game suspension by Sheriff Colin Campbell. Thank the hockey gods that Drake didn't get a concussion, or we would never hear the end of it.
The Bruins west coast fall from grace continued with a 3-0 whitewashing at the hands of the Mighty Ducks. Quack! Boston was a miserable 0-6 on the power play, adding to a dismal stretch of ineffectiveness that reached 1 for 21 with this game. Obviously, their even-strength offense was nothing to write home about, so we won't. Guy Hebert turned aside 26 shots, and the Ducks got a goal from Paul Kariya on a 5-on-3 advantage in the second period. The Bruins were outshot again, 30-26. If the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim last for 100 years, and become one of the storied franchises in NHL history, there will still be something humiliating about being shut out by a Disney cartoon character.
A return from the left coast didn't help all that much, as the Bruins went into New Jersey and lost to the Devils 3-1. Chris Terreri made his first Devils start since Nov. 11, 1995, after returning from exile in Chicago and San Jose. The Bruins at least managed to score a goal, and a power-play one at that, when Sergei Samsonov potted his second of the year, but there was nothing else happening. Tim Taylor missed his fifth game with an ankle injury, and despite his brother Chris' efforts, he is missed by the Bruins' top checking line of Rob DiMaio, P.J. Axelsson, and a Taylor-to-be-named-later. But clearly, he isn't all that is missing.
The Bruins are now gearing up to face archrival Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, and if the team doesn't get more charged up for the Canadiens than for Ducks, Devils, and Desert Dogs, the Canadiens will make short work of them. Reinforcements like Dennis Vaske won't make the difference by themselves.
----------------------------------------------------------------- BUFFALO SABRES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Lindy Ruff Roster: C - Michael Peca, Brian Holzinger, Curtis Brown, Wayne Primeau, Derek Plante. LW - Dixon Ward, Geoff Sanderson, Michal Grosek, Paul Kruse. RW - Vaclav Varada, Miroslav Satan, Matthew Barnaby, Rob Ray. D - Richard Smehlik, Alexei Zhitnik, Jason Woolley, Jay McKee, James Patrick, Darryl Shannon, Rumun Ndur. G - Dominik Hasek, Dwayne Roloson. Injuries: Placed Dixon Ward's nose on injured reserve. Transactions: Assigned Jason Holland, d, to Rochester (AHL). Game results 10/12 at Colorado W 3-0 10/16 Florida T 2-2 10/17 at Montreal W 4-3 10/23 Washington L 1-0 10/24 at Islanders L 5-4 TEAM NEWS by Mark Zampogna Lindy Ruff shuffles across the well-worn carpet trying to figure out where the hell he is, who the hell is knocking on his hotel room door at this hour and what the hell time it is anyway.
In the pitch dark, Ruff manages to get his glasses to stay on his face long enough to see the annoyingly glowing numbers on his bedside travel clock.
3:12
Ruff fumbles with the unfamiliar latch, opens the door just a crack and squints into the brightly lit hallway.
A hotel employee stands in the doorway with a blank expression on his face and a VCR in his hands.
Shaken from REM sleep in the middle of the night, the scene makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to the bleary-eyed coach of the Buffalo Sabres.
"The VCR you asked for, sir."
The words seem distant and distorted, then Ruff blinks hard and remembers he asked the front desk to send up a VCR by 8 a.m. so he could do some tape study on the New York Islanders power play.
The delivery is just five hours early, that's all.
Ruff did somehow manage to get back to sleep, but he cautioned reporters the next day before the Sabres game with the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum not to ask any stupid questions or sleep deprivation might cause him to high-stick an annoying writer just to make his point.
After losing to the Islanders 5-4, Ruff surely suffered through another restless night as the team stayed in the New York City area to prepare for its game with the Rangers three days later.
Ruff had to be tossing and turning as he replayed in his mind's VCR the turnover defenseman Jay McKee made at center ice and Islander Claude Lapointe's subsequent breakaway goal with 41 seconds left that won the game and negated four unanswered goals the Sabres had scored to tie it.
Expecting McKee to shoot the puck deep into the New York zone, the coaches called for a change of his defense partner. But after McKee backhanded the puck off Lapointe's hip at the red line, all the oncoming Richard Smehlik could do was skate like crazy and watch Lapointe slip a backhand shot through the falling Dominik Hasek's five-hole.
If Ruff ever got to sleep at all, he woke up on Sunday morning in a sour mood. And in last place in the Eastern Conference.
No wonder they call it the city that never sleeps.
I know, I know, the season is still in diapers: the Sabres have played only six games. But after suddenly losing two straight in the regular season for the first time since last December - the Sabres were shut out 1-0 by Olaf Kolzig and the Washington Capitals in Buffalo the night before losing on Long Island - the slow start that Ruff wanted to avoid like a registered letter from the IRS might have been FAXed to the hotel overnight.
At least they didn't wake him up to deliver it.
Contributing to Ruff's insomnia is one problem no one is surprised about: the Sabres aren't scoring many goals, only four at even strength in the first five games (fewest in the NHL) before breaking out against the Islanders' Tommy Salo with three.
And another that surprises almost everyone: Dominik Hasek just isn't Dominik Hasek yet. He has allowed 12 goals in three Saturday night games on the road against Dallas, Montreal and the Islanders, but just three in the other three games. Though he played brilliantly in Colorado and matched Kolzig save for save in Buffalo, Hasek has struggled at times, especially in giving up five goals to the Isles.
On New York's third goal, Jason Dawe stepped around fallen Sabre defenseman Jason Woolley at center ice and waltzed down the left wing before slapping the puck through Hasek's pads. Then Bryan Smolinski stole the puck from Vaclav Varada at center ice, walked in on Hasek and wristed the puck high to the stick side for the Islanders' fourth goal. Finally, on the winning goal, Lapointe pulled Hasek down to the ice with an unexpected backhand move and then slipped the puck between the goaltender's legs.
The Islanders had accomplished something three times in one game that Canada couldn't do once in its shootout with the Czech Republic in the recent Olympics: beat Hasek one-on-one.
Another sleep-disturber is the Sabres lack of an intimidating home-ice advantage at Marine Midland Arena. They failed to win on an emotional opening night when the team's late co-founder was remembered and could not even get on the scoreboard in a much-anticipated rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals with Washington.
After losing that contest, the Sabres had gone five games without winning at home dating back to last year's playoffs. Part of the problem is a late-arriving crowd that is one of the quietest in the NHL. Without piped-in sound, there might not be any noise or enthusiasm in the building at all.
Add it all up, and it's starting to smell a lot like October 1997, without the stench of front office chaos and Hasek getting booed, of course. Last season, the Sabres won their opening game then quickly fell apart under the weight of off-ice problems and Hasek's poor play and never broke over the .500 mark again until February.
Not even the best record in the NHL after New Year's Day could allow the Sabres to catch the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Northeast Division, although they carried that incredible second-half momentum into the playoffs and surged all the way to the conference finals.
And this is essentially the same team that charged from well back to win the Northeast Division in 1996-97 with win after win during a prolonged homestand in February.
So, how in the world does Ruff explain to his players the critical importance of a good start when his team knows from personal experience you can begin your season the day after dressing up like Dick Clark in drag and drinking massive quantities of alcohol? (Wait, that's how the LCS staff celebrates New Year's Eve.)
Starting slowly - in seasons and, recently, in games - then making dramatic comebacks is becoming the Sabres modus operandi.
For that reason, as the Sabres prepared for their October 27 game at Madison Square Garden, you could find Ruff in front of his TV at three in the morning watching infomercials for Incision Micro Hair Grafting. Not that he needed it, unless he was already starting to pull out what was left of his thinning blond hair.
And when he did get to sleep, you would find him dozing only lightly, fearing another knock on his door in the middle of the night: the Ghost of Autumn Slumps Past.
We'll leave the light on for ya, Lindy.
Highlights of the Fortnight
Goal - Oleg Kvasha, the Florida Panthers impressive rookie, scored an incredible goal in the second period of the Sabres-Panthers game on October 16. The 6'5 forward pulled the puck around defenseman Darryl Shannon and whipped a brilliant backhand shot past Dominik Hasek to tie the game at 2-2. Oleg put the Kvasha on Hasek. It's just fun to say.
Save - Olaf Kolzig made a ton of brilliant saves in shutting out the Sabres on October 23, including a sliding, pad-stacking save on Wayne Primeau's slamming shot from the side of the net with only a few seconds left in the second period. But his best pair of saves was on Geoff Sanderson's quick backhand from right in front, then Michal Grosek's point-blank rebound from deep in the crease. Ollie Mackerel!
Hit - Defenseman Jay McKee tried to add Capital Mike Eagles to the endangered species list in the first period of the Caps game. Eagles was soaring freely on a current of warm air into the Sabres zone when McKee played NFL linebacker and rattled him with a forearm and shoulder hit that sent Eagles into the partition at the end of the Sabres bench and then sprawling to the ice.
Screamin' Eagles!
Game - Sabres 4, Canadiens 3
Off the opening faceoff, the Habs Scott Thornton made a b (for Barnaby)-line for Matt and mugged him at center ice, stealing Barnaby's purse and even beating him with it.
Sure, the Habs took a 2-0 first period lead and kept up their assault that somehow was supposed to pay the Sabres back for the Eastern Conference semifinals sweep they had the audacity to complete in the Holy City itself.
Montreal even took a 3-0 lead. That's when the Sabres didn't get mad, they got even (and took the lead), thanks to four hideously ugly goals.
On the power play, Brian Holzinger knocked down a bouncing puck just inside the Canadiens line and shot it through three Habs players while Miroslav Satan cruised toward the front of the net. The puck hit something, obviously not the Unibrow-mer, and slipped past goaltender Jocelyn Thibault.
Montreal 3, Buffalo 1
The Sabres were on another power play two minutes later when Michael Peca broke in on a quickly developing 2-on-1 with Matthew Barnaby to his left. Peca sent a pass across that deflected off the stick of Montreal defenseman Stephane Quintal and blooped over Thibault into the net.
Montreal 3, Buffalo 2
Early in the third period, Vaclav Varada kept the puck in the Montreal zone by chipping it to Dixon Ward in the corner. With Varada cutting to the slot, Ward skated behind the net and threw the puck out front. Varada took a wild, turnaround shot that sailed wide and bounced harmlessly off the glass behind the net. Harmless, except Ward gathered in the rebound and banked the puck off Thibault to tie the game.
Montreal 3, Buffalo 3
Less than eight minutes later, Varada broke in over the Habs blue line and was crunched to the boards by defenseman Brett Clark, then spilled by Clark in the corner. Before he went down, Varada managed to one-hand the puck to Peca in the opposite corner. Cycling the puck magnificently, Peca hacked the puck back to Varada, who was still being pestered by Clark. Varada left the puck for Ward, then cut to the front of the net. Ward's goal-mouth pass was fanned on by Peca, then bobbled by Thibault. But Varadastein was there to shovel the loose puck over Thibault.
Buffalo 4, Montreal 3
Four ugly goals in 14 minutes gave the Sabres an unlikely victory that Dominik Hasek, to no one's surprise, secured in the final minutes with typically brilliant save after brilliant save.
It was a beautiful thing to see.
Other Games:
Sabres 3, Avalanche 0
Dominik Hasek was in rare form in recording his first shutout of the season in just his second game. When Hasek is emotionally involved in a game, he is practically unbeatable. He was that and more in McNichols Sports Arena against the Avalanche.
Hasek jumped out of his crease to join a melee between Sabres defenseman Richard Smehlik and the Avalanche's Valeri Kamensky and picked up a two-minute penalty.
He skated well out to poke the puck away from a penetrating Claude Lemieux, then charged halfway to the blue line to play the puck and was bowled over by Joe Sakic. With no penalty called, Hasek kept his cool instead of throwing his blocker like he did when Peter Bondra of the Capitals ran him in the corner in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals.
"Even I was pushing guys tonight," said Hasek. "When I see my teammates playing hard in front of me it makes me play even harder."
Sabres 2, Panthers 2
By the time the line of center Derek Plante, left winger Geoff Sanderson and right winger Miroslav Satan waited through a lengthy introduction of the entire Sabres roster, a pregame ceremony and banner-raising honoring the late co-founder of the Sabres, Norty Knox, and a delay so that maintenance workers could sweep up some residue from the requisite opening night pyrotechnics show - a wait that seemed to last even longer than this sentence - well, they could hardly wait another second to display some fireworks of their own.
Make that 11 seconds. That long into the Sabres first home game of the season at Marine Midland Arena, Satan stole the puck at center ice, took a return pass from Derek Plante just inside the Florida line and found Sanderson drag-racing down the left wing. Sanderson accepted Satan's angle pass, skated to the bottom of the right circle and beat goaltender Sean Burke with a quick wrist shot low to the stick side.
But the Panthers Oleg Kvasha would tie the game (see Goal of the Fortnight above), and the Sabres would have to settle for a Monica Lewinsky tie.
Capitals 1, Sabres 0
A near-sellout crowd at the Marine Midland Arena was primed to heap some proverbial payback on the team that eliminated the Sabres in the Eastern Conference Finals last spring.
Payback? Olaf Kolzig turned out to be the bitch.
The not-so-plush-and-lovable goaltender of the Washington Capitals did his very best to make sure the last easy score of the night for the home team and its fans was when 5,000 kids under 12 snatched up all of the available Beanie Babies in the lobby of the Marena before the game.
Kolzig was absolutely Grinch-like in making 30 saves, most of them spectacular, to earn his second shutout of the young season and key his injury-depleted team's 1-0 win.
Islanders 5, Sabres 4
The Sabres trailed 4-0 with time running down in the second period when a deflected shot from the point by Curtis Brown on the power play sparked an incredible comeback.
A little over a minute later, Wayne Primeau finagled a short shot between the pads of Salo with 16 seconds left in the period and the comeback was really on.
The Sabres dominated the early part of the third period, tying the game on Dixon Ward's deflection of Mike Peca's goal-mouth shot and Holzinger's wrister under Salo's arm on a give-and-go with Geoff Sanderson 35 seconds later.
The Isles had lost a four-goal lead for the first time in 20 years, and the Sabres were poised to take the lead on a team that was reeling like the crusty seaman who used to adorn their sweater.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Hasek was seeing very little action, and on an off night for the Dominator, you figured the next good chance for the Islanders had to go in.
It did. Claude Lapointe stole the puck at center ice and scored on a breakaway with 41 seconds to go.
In the (Buffalo) Wings
October 30, 31 - Home-and-home series with the Toronto Maple Leafs signals the renewal of a great QEW rivalry and the return of the hybrid chant: "Let's go Leafs go Buffalo!" Finally.
November 7 - At Philadelphia. Lindros and Barnaby. LeClair and Peca. Vanbiesbrouck and Hasek. Let the bad blood flow again in one of the league's fiercest rivalries.
Team Notes
Winger Donald Audette and defenseman Mike Wilson are still unsigned. Audette's agent met with Sabres GM Darcy Regier, but the negotiations are going nowhere. Even though the Sabres need Audette's goal scoring desperately, they seem to be willing to play hardball with Rat Boy. Wilson? Who cares. Meanwhile, center Derek Plante might as well be holding out. He watched from the press box for four of the first six games.
Although Lindy Ruff shook up his lines after the Sabres were shut out against Washington, the combinations have been largely unchanged for the first six games:
Dixon Ward-Mike Peca-Vaclav Varada
Michal Grosek-Curtis Brown-Matthew Barnaby
Geoff Sanderson-Brian Holzinger-Miroslav Satan
Paul Kruse-Wayne Primeau-Rob Ray
Northrup R. Knox
The Sabres raised another banner to the top of Marine Midland Arena before their home opener against the Florida Panthers. The initials NRK joined SHK and the French Connection in the rafters of the Marena, banners that recognize the five men who were largely responsible for growing the Sabres franchise in the early 70s.
NRK is Northrup R. Knox, co-founder of the Sabres along with his brother, the late Seymour H. Knox (SHK). Norty's death, on July 23 in Buffalo, just months after new owner John Rigas took over the team, was the final aftershock of an earthquake that has rocked Sabres hockey since 1996.
The spring and summer of 1996 saw the most dramatic changes. The crossed-sabres logo and blue-and-gold unies were scrapped in favor of a sleek white buffalo with trendy black and red colors. Memorial Auditorium, the Depression-era building with the steep stairways and small ice surface, saw its final game. Owner Seymour Knox passed away, and Ted Darling, the voice of the Sabres since 1970, died from a brain disorder that forced him out of broadcasting in the early 90s.
Stunning change even continued once the team moved to its new home one block from the old Aud. In 1997, the general manager, John Muckler, was fired, the coach of the year, Ted Nolan, was effectively let go, and the captain and arguably the most popular Sabre ever, Pat LaFontaine, was traded. By the beginning of 1998, the team had a new owner, cable television magnate John Rigas.
Now Norty Knox.
It's a new millennium of Sabres hockey, and the changes have been refreshing, tragic deaths notwithstanding. But what any fan taking his seat in the Marine Midland Arena instantly recognizes by looking up is that the people who built the Sabres are well remembered.
Those men laid the foundation for any success the team will have in the future. Really, they are the only reason there is NHL hockey in a market as small as Buffalo.
There is only one banner left to raise, and if a Stanley Cup banner ever goes up in Buffalo, it will be due largely to the work of men like Seymour and Norty Knox.
The Voice of Hockey
One icon of the Sabres does live on: Rick Jeanneret. RJ, the portly gent in the suspenders who is a spitting image of Rodney Dangerfield, has been broadcasting hockey games since the Sabres second season, on radio for many years, then on TV the past four. Jeanneret has brought his frenetic style and passion for the game to several generations of Sabres fans. Best known for his "May Day...May Day...May Day" call of Brad May's overtime goal in 1993 that eliminated the Bruins and his classic "La-la-la-la-la-la-la Fontaine," Jeanneret's distinctive two-pitched voice is the voice of hockey itself: excitable, emotional, passionate. Jeanneret is a final link to the Sabres deep past, and he is a treasure.
Wacky Stuff
Dixon Ward, the Skating Pinata, is the early-season league leader in broken noses. He has had the old beak smashed some three times already, the second time on a vicious elbow by the Habs Turner Stevenson. Ward is Chasing History: Vancouver's Tiger Williams holds the modern-day record for broken noses with his magical 29 breaks in 1980. We'll keep you posted. Come to think of it, maybe the jinxed Dixon should have kept the number 17 he started the season with. Ward played the opening game in Dallas with Jason Dawe's old number, then switched back to his regular number 15 after reporting he just didn't feel comfortable. Dixon, how comfortable does it feel being on the National Nose Transplant List?
The Sabres Director of Information Technology confirms that the team will replace the central processing unit implanted in Dominik Hasek's brain next month in order to make the four-time Vezina and two-time Hart Trophy winner safe from the Year 2000 Bug. Dwayne Roloson is expected to get a start in mid-November while Hasek's hard drive is reformatted. The team feared that during the first game in 2000, Hasek's thought processes would malfunction and he would scream, "I want pudding, tapioca pudding!" instead of his traditional "Must see!" and other bizarre utterances.
Happy Halloween
In the Avalanche game, Matthew Barnaby skated through the Colorado crease and elbowed Roy in the side of the head. Patrick's head twisted to the side in a scene hauntingly reminiscent of "The Exorcist," and the goalie tumbled backwards into the crease, semi-conscious and stick-less. Referee Rob Shick missed it, but it's no wonder: Barnaby had his head turned away from Roy and made no striking motion with his shoulder or elbow. He just stuck out his Buffalo Wing, cocked his head and pretended Roy's mask was a dish of bleu cheese dressing. Perfect, just like the Sabres best game of the season.
What's Your Beef-alo?
The Capitals game saw a pair of coincidental penalties for hooking and diving. Peter Bondra pulled down Dixon Ward and got a penalty for hooking, but Ward also went for diving. Then Mike Peca and Brian Bellows turned the rare double play later in the game, this time Bellows going for embellishing. Does this make any sense to anyone? Can you say "over-officious jerk"?
----------------------------------------------------------------- MONTREAL CANADIENS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Alain Vigneault ROSTER: C - Saku Koivu, Vincent Damphousse, Scott Thornton, Matt Higgins, Trent McLeary, Sergei Zholtok. LW - Shayne Corson, Martin Rucinsky, Benoit Brunet, Terry Ryan, Patrick Poulin, Andrei Bashkirov, Dave Morissette. RW - Mark Recchi, Brian Savage, Turner Stevenson, Jonas Hoglund. D - Vladimir Malakhov, Stephane Quintal, Patrice Brisebois, Brett Clark, Brad Brown, Miloslav Guren, Stephane Robidas, Craig Rivet, Igor Ulanov, Dave Manson. G - Jocelyn Thibault, Jose Theodore. Injuries: Shayne Corson, lw (torn rib cartilage, day-to-day). Transactions: 10/19: Terry Ryan recalled from Fredericton (AHL); 10/24: Les Canadiens return forwards Terry Ryan and Jonathan Delisle to Fredericton. Game Results 10/13 Anaheim W 1-0 10/16 at Washington T 2-2 10/17 Buffalo L 4-3 10/19 at Chicago L 2-1 10/21 Ottawa W 3-2 10/24 Detroit L 3-0 TEAM NEWS by Jacques Robert Fans Expecting More Offense From Savage and Rucinsky
It is a done deal, folks! From now on, the Habs are playing at full strength as the Montreal Canadiens signed financial deals both with Brian Savage and Martin Rucinsky. But, those millionaires have to deliver soon because their team is far from being a major force in the NHL this season, judging from their average performances thus far.
It's quite an understatement to say that Les Canadiens digged deep into their pockets to convince those wingers to remain in Montreal. A two year-contract worth $3.5 million for Savage and a three-year deal aimed at making Martin Rucinsky wealthier by almost $7 millions over the next three seasons. Wow! Needless to say that Montreal went over budget. By the same token, the message is clear: the Canadiens realized they had no depth offensively despite the tremendous start they posted against the NY Rangers for the season opener (7-1). In the wake of this offensive feast, the Habs came back down to earth as they played average games.
TBO! TBO! TBO! TBO!
To begin with, the win in Anaheim wasn't one to be proud of. Jocelyn Thibault was the only good Canadien as he made 10 of his 30 stops in the last six minutes of the game. On the other hand, Koivu & Co recorded only 12 shots in the first half of the game. At this time, the Ducks were looking to avoid an 0-3-0 start... It speaks volumes of the Montreal lack of offensive power. Fortunately, Vladimir Malakhov scored the only goal as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Ducks 1-0 while Tbo received a standing ovation and recorded his seventh career shutout. Finally, Tbo took his revenge on those fans who wanted him out when he struggled in the last playoff.
Speaking of the 97-98 postseason, the Habs had not yet swallowed the severe loss suffered against the Sabres as they met them for the first time this season after being tied at Washington the day before. In both occasions, Montreal surrendered the lead. Thus, Buffalo handed Montreal its first loss of the season after being led 3-0 in a game that was designed for tough guys. Stevenson got a two-game suspension and was fined $1,000 by the NHL after hitting Dixon Ward in the face - the poor guy had already suffered a broken nose earlier this season! Well, those two teams hate each other and to make things even worse, Barnaby had never been so mean. Hockey wise, Damphousse, Recchi and Malakhov contributed to the score while Koivu remained idle.
Stevenson Suspension
From one game to the other, the line made of Brunet-Damphousse-Stevenson was becoming stronger but the Stevenson two-game suspension turned out to be costly in Chicago, two days later. Even tough Montreal outshot Chicago 27-20, the Hawks defeated Montreal 2-1 and Jose Theodore was handed his first defeat on his first appearance this season. Damphousse scored his 4th goal of the season as Montreal was missing six regulars - Defensemen Patrice Brisebois (back), Dave Manson (hip) and winger Shayne Corson (rib), Stevenson (suspended) not to mention Rucinsky and Savage who hadn't stroke a deal yet.
Brian Savage Scores
The third Habs win took place at the Molson Center against the Ottawa Senators (3-2). Brian Savage scored the winner in the third as he resumed play after being away due to contract negotiations. Koivu and Malakhov contributed to the score while Mark Recchi got one assist. Jocelyn Thibault held the fort, stopping 26 shots.
It goes without saying that taking on the Stanley cup winners is never a piece of cake. He! Montreal was given a lesson of discipline and defense by the Detroit Red Wings who scored (Yzerman) late in the third, taking advantage of a power play, courtesy of captain Damphousse who took a silly penalty (nothing new!). Well, the Habs posted a very disappointing performance even though Brisebois, Manson and Rucinsky were back to work (Rucinsky played on the 4th line along with Higgins and McLeary).
Hey, guys! the golf season is over, right?
ON MY NOTE PAD
Poor Thibault!
Despite Tbo's good performances thus far, the rumor mill cannot be stopped as to whether or not the Habs' #1 goalie will be traded to Toronto for Felix Potvin anytime soon. The deal would involve three players - and Tbo would be sent to Toronto and then be traded to Edmonton.
Rucinsky is Fair
Rucinsky, who signed a $7-million dollar deal for the next three years with the Montreal Canadiens last week, didn't ask GM Reggie Houle to be paid for the 13 days he missed as he was staying in his native country waiting for a deal. In other words, Rucinsky will have lost $135,000...
----------------------------------------------------------------- OTTAWA SENATORS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Jacques Martin Roster: C - Alexei Yashin, Vaclav Prospal, Radek Bonk, Shaun Van Allen, Bruce Gardiner. LW - David Oliver, Shawn McEachern, Marian Hossa, Magnus Arvedson, Andreas Johansson. RW - Daniel Alfredsson, Stephen Leach, Andreas Dackell, Chris Murray, Phil Crowe. D - Lance Pitlick, Patrick Traverse, Chris Phillips, Sami Salo, Wade Redden, Radim Bicanek, Stan Neckar, Jason York, Janne Laukkanen, Igor Kravchuk. G - Damian Rhodes, Ron Tugnutt. Injuries: Janne Laukkanen, d (off-season abdominal surgery, out until Dec. 1); Sami Salo, d (pulled groin Oct. 18, day-to-day); Marian Hossa, lw (torn ACL left knee, out until Dec. 1); Daniel Alfredsson, rw (torn MCL left knee, out until mid-November, placed on IR Sept 16); Jason York, d (shoulder strain Oct. 1, day-to-day); Stan Neckar, d (Oct. 24 broke bone in right foot, 3-4 weeks); Bruce Gardiner, c (thumb, day-to-day). Transactions: None. Game Results 10/17 Nashville W 3-1 10/21 at Montreal L 3-2 10/22 St. Louis L 5-3 10/24 Caroline L 3-1 TEAM NEWS by The Nosebleeders Message to Mr. Dudley
It's early, less than a month since you visited the fine forests of the old elk country - referred to as Banff on most maps - where you allowed the team some bonding time. We are aware of the naming of Alexei Yashin as captain and of his fine herd of assistant captains Lance Pitlick, Shawn McEachern, and Daniel Alfredsson. We are aware of the current injury situation and its impact on team spirit and team play. And yes, we are aware that there has been only a wee-bit of time to allow the changes that you have made to take root or bond so to speak.
Mr. Dudley we write to you today as your faithful. Ones who look to you to guide the team towards the Holy Grail. Mr. Dudley we write to you to make but three small suggestions as we end this month of October and enter into the first full month of the season. Since you are new to the team we are sure that you have read the "new hires" guide that talks of the woes of Novembers past.
Our suggestions are:
* Get an enforcer or two. Yes, there are new rules, but the game is played by the same old players and intimidation is as much a part of the game on October 25th, 1998 as it was October 25th, 1997. It will be more so in April, 1998 when the playoffs start.
Let's not go through another season where we let the team's stars be subject to unnecessary physicality. For the sake of the future, we cannot let acts of disrespect go unpunished. The Senators are a young team and have many, many players who are skating below the market value for their talent. Contract renewal time for many of these players is but two short years away (Yashin, for instance, can probably expect to see his pay jump to two or three times what it is today). Can we afford not to show these players that we are willing to pay to protect them as other teams would? The Senators were 24th in a league of 26 teams last season when it came to scoring. Correct us if we are wrong, Mr. Dudley, but could perhaps a lack of bench strength be causing just a little hesitation when it comes to giving the effort out there?
* Deal with the goalie situation. Damian Rhodes is not yet a starter. He will be someday and we wish him the best of luck. The Senators were 9th last season in goals-against - not too shabby. The start of this season, especially the last two weeks, have left us thinking that maybe the defense had a lot to do with the goals-against situation last season.
Rhodes entered the season with a great deal of confidence and now has none. His record since joining the Sens (95-96 acquired in a trade with Toronto) and basically stepping into the number one goalie position suggests that he is on the edge of stardom - we are just not sure how close to the edge.
* Add a sniper. Playmakers and diggers we have. We need a proven 30 or 40 or 51 (hint - Pavel Bure) goal scorer.
Mr. Dudley, there are currently a number of options open to you in terms of solving some or all of the above woes - look for help in perhaps Toronto, Pittsburgh/Las Vegas or further west to holdouts in Vancouver or Colorado.
Mr. Dudley, we know that it's not Christmas and we are asking for a lot. We also know that Christmas has a price. We do want to remind you of the time when you were a little boy and you got a great toy but it didn't come with batteries. Without batteries the toy didn't operate as expected so you did your best to play with it anyway. Soon this wore thin. The day the batteries came, you had to search for the toy and finally found it at the bottom of the toy bin. When you got it out and put the batteries in, it never seemed to operate properly.
We are here to help. Call on us anytime and we will most humbly partake our knowledge as we recharge our batteries with a $4.50 beer or two.
Yours faithfully,
The Nosebleeders.
Quick Hits
* The Sens early season defensive pairings have been shaken up with the injuries and coach Martin's effort to have everyone see ice time. This has meant a few on ice errors leading to goals, including two against Montreal. With one or two of Radim Bicanek, Stan Neckar and Patrick Traverse riding the sidelines, expect to see a deal made soon.
* A bond is growing slowly in the gym as an injured group of Senators train together. The group's core includes Janne Laukkanen, Marian Hossa, and Daniel Alfredsson, but it's growing quickly with the addition of Stan Neckar and Sami Salo.
* Heard off the ice: "That's the good thing about not being famous, it gives you more free time."
- Patrick Traverse on being passed up for autograph requests as fellow defensemen Wade Redden and Chris Phillips are hounded.
* Roy Mlakar (properly pronounced muck-lower we think), the president and chief executive officer of the Ottawa Senators and the Corel Centre, signed a three-year extension to stay with the team through the 2001-02 season. Mlakar joined the team in the 1995-96 season from Ogden. He is a past president of the Los Angeles Kings.
The Start of Something Wonderful?
For their home opener, the Senators welcomed the expansion Nashville Predators (NHL scheduling centre is reported as telling Senator brass "somebody had to draw them"). Ron Tugnutt got the start and the play of the Senator defense combined with the play of the Andreas Johansson, Vinnie Prospal, Stephen Leach line led the team to a 3-1 victory.
* The game marked Denny Lambert's return to Ottawa. Lambert, one of, if not the top Senator enforcer, was picked up in the expansion draft.
* Yashin played a spirited game. He worked very hard but seemed to be trying to do everything himself. He could not, or would not, find his wingers Andreas Dackell and Shawn McEachern. His play reminds us of times to come at our local rink when we see great players fail to make the easy pass and all of a sudden look not so great.
* Andreas Johansson had nine shots in the game and seven in the first period. His seven shots were a team record for a period.
* Sami Salo lasted two shifts before pulling his groin and is expected to be out for two weeks. Picking up the slack was Stan Neckar who played more than 21 minutes. This was Stan's first game with the team in five months after his contract squabble netted him a one-year $700,00 U.S. deal.
Some early season changes in the former Kanata farmers' field include:
* Beer prices have yet again gone up for 14-ounce cups at home games - the rumor of a weak Canadian dollar having something to do with it is unconfirmed. The good news here, we think, is that a 25-cent increase on $4.25 is not as bad percentage wise as 25 cents on $4.00.
* Parking prices are one dollar higher at $9 (to cover higher maintenance costs), but there are now 125 more parking spots to choose from.
* Ticket prices have jumped between 4 and 19 percent for the regular season, but season tickets and game pack discounts can bring the prices right back down again.
* There are brand new Molson Star Bar Seats in sections 320 through 324. Fans can enter into the 325 seat, 5000 square foot Silver Seven Brew House for Tex Mex and a pop. No word on beer prices in there yet.
* Yummy - apparently SpartaCat, the Senators mascot, has a new hot dog throwing device.
Quiz Time
The 7 shots by Andreas Johansson in one period isn't bad, but shots mean little unless they result in goals. Who holds the record for most goals in a game?
A Return to Reality
It was bound to happen. After winning the first three, the bubble burst as Saku Koivu scored short-handed to lead Montreal to a 3-2 victory. After a good Senator comeback from a 2-0 deficit, the game was sealed four minutes into the third when Stan Neckar gambled at the Montreal blue line, allowing Savage to score the winner. Montreal goaltender Jocelyn Thibault stopped 12 shots in the third and was selected as the game's first star. Ottawa outshot the Habs 28-18.
* Jason York returned from his rotator cuff injury.
* Montreal native Patrick Traverse bought an undisclosed number of tickets to the game, including two for his parents who drove the 11 hours plus from the Gaspe region to see him play.
* Brian Savage played in his first game after agreeing to a two- year $3.5 million U.S. deal. Stemming from a story in the local papers that indicated that Savage would consider a golf career if his contract problems were not solved, Montreal fans took to calling him the golfer. Savage was once one of Ontario's top junior golf prospects.
* Phil Crowe got his first start of the regular season. Magnus Arvedson was sidelined with back muscle spasms.
Feeling Blue
Game two at home brought out 14,293 fans to see Pierre Turgeon lead his Blues to a 5-3 victory.
Ron Tugnutt was asked when he last saw the team turn in such a dispirited effort. His response, after pausing, was: "I can't." Even with six minutes of power-play time in the first period the Senators were outshot 12-9 and outscored 3-1. Once behind early, panic seemed to set in and the team never recovered.
* Ron Tugnutt celebrated his 31st birthday by watching the team go 1 for 10 on the power play.
* Former Sens Michel Picard and Pavol Demitra combined for four points.
* 1998 'scoring sensation' Radek Bonk netted another one, bringing his total to two. All this before the month of November!
* A slap shot from Blues defenseman Al MacInnis off the top of Stan Neckar's right foot broke a bone. Neckar is expected to be out for 3-4 weeks.
Leaving the Blues Behind but What Blows In But a Hurricane
Two shots and two goals in the first five minutes shook the confidence of Damian Rhodes as he was pulled in favor of Ron Tugnutt. Carolina's Ron Francis and Gary Roberts did not play a large part in the victory other than helping to keep the Senators off the scoreboard. The Senators were one for eight on the power play.
Get a Grip, Man
After the game, Rhodes was quoted as saying that the Hurricanes victory will stick with him all week, and maybe longer. Two seasons ago, after some spectacular play, Rhodes was injured and on his return his confidence was quite shaken. He did not play during the playoff drive and subsequent first round loss to Buffalo and was on and off much of last season before playing great in the playoffs.
Drumroll, Please...
A single player holds honor to this record. Joe Malone of the Quebec Bulldogs netted 7 on Jan. 31, 1920, at Quebec. Final score Quebec 10, Toronto 6.
P.S. To Mr. Dudley. A healthy Cam Neely, who is contemplating a comeback, may make a great Christmas gift to the fan base here in town.
----------------------------------------------------------------- TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Pat Quinn Roster: C - Mats Sundin, Darby Hendrickson, Steve Sullivan, Alyn McCauley. LW - Fredrik Modin, Steve Thomas, Todd Warriner, Derek King, Kris King, Igor Korolev, Garry Valk. RW - Sergei Berezin, Tie Domi, Mike Johnson, Adam Mair, Lonny Bohonos. D - Sylvain Cote, Dimitri Yushkevich, Alexander Karpovtsev, Jason Smith, Daniil Markov, Kevin Dahl, Glen Featherstone, Tomas Kaberle, Yanick Tremblay. G - Curtis Joseph, Felix Potvin. Injuries: Kevin Dahl, d (ankle, indefinite). Transactions: Traded Mathieu Schneider, to the NY Rangers for Alexander Karpovtsev, d. Assigned Dallas Eakins, d, to Chicago (IHL). Game Results 10/16 at Calgary W 7-3 10/17 at Vancouver L 4-1 10/19 Nashville T 2-2 10/23 at Detroit W 5-3 10/24 at Pittsburgh W 6-4 10/26 Pittsburgh L 2-0 TEAM NEWS by Jonah A. Sigel SO THIS IS HOW THINGS LOOK FROM UP HERE
Even the most positive thinking Leaf fan could not have envisioned this. Almost three weeks into the season, the Leafs are atop not only their division and conference, but they are tied for first place overall!
While the Leafs are not putting the wagon before the proverbial horse, they simply are playing harder than we have seen in years. The team that struggled to get a goal or two on most night has had little difficulty tickling the twine so far.
Mike Murphy's assessment of the club was that it simply did not have the wheels to play a more offensive-minded game. Instead, they played more of the trap in a defensive-oriented system.
New coach Pat Quinn would hear none of that and he has found that the legs are indeed there and has found life where Murphy could not. For whatever reason, Alyn McCauley and Sergei Berezin, who were constantly in Murphy's chateaux le bow wow, have been playing integral roles for the Leafs. Both have been getting a great deal of ice time as a reward for hard work. McCauley's success has somewhat quieted the call for a deal for second line center.
Few people expect the Leafs to continue at this pace, however, it is nice to see some excitement come from MLG. As the team prepares to move from their storied home to new digs, it is nice to be able to talk hockey and not simply the usual politics that tended to engulf the Leafs in years past. The play has been so unexpected that the local media has been trying to stir things up to get stories. So far little has affected the squad, however, they do now face some real Eastern division competition starting with a home-and-home series with Buffalo and an upcoming game in Boston. These games should prove to be a good test for the team.
Notes: Mathieu Schneider was shipped out the day after we went to print last week, as expected. Alexander Karpovtsev was physically unable to join the team when the deal was made, but has now found his way to Toronto. Unfortunately, he has yet to make much of an impression with his new team.
As for Potvin, with the Habs and Nucks getting manhandled of late, it appears that the rumor mill should start churning again. Reports seem to suggest that a Linden for Potvin deal remains on the table, however, it seems highly unlikely that this deal or any other deal could be made exclusively as a one-for-one swap. Look for talk of a three-way trade with at least two players coming and going from the blue and white.
================================================================ ================================================================ TEAM REPORTS ================================================================ EASTERN CONFERENCE SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION ----------------------------------------------------------------- CAROLINA HURRICANES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Paul Maurice Roster: C - Ron Francis, Keith Primeau, Jeff O'Neill, Kent Manderville, Bates Battaglia. RW - Ray Sheppard, Sami Kapanen, Nelson Emerson, Kevin Dineen, Paul Ranheim. LW - Gary Roberts, Martin Gelinas, Robert Kron. D - Steve Chiasson, Glen Wesley, Adam Burt, Curtis Leschyshyn, Sean Hill, Dave Karpa, Nolan Pratt, Steve Halko. G - Trevor Kidd, Arturs Irbe, Mike Fountain. Injuries: Beats me... Transactions: None. Game Results 10/15 Dallas T 2-2 10/17 Philadelphia T 1-1 10/20 Vancouver W 3-1 10/24 at Ottawa W 3-1 10/25 Los Angeles L 3-2 TEAM NEWS by Michael Dell Well, we still don't have a Carolina Correspondent. I promise we'll have one in time for next issue. It's just we've been so busy with all the slacking and time wasting that we haven't gotten around to selecting a new correspondent yet. But next issue... promise.
In the meantime, I will update the Carolina season as only I can. That's right... through Haiku.
----------------------------------------------------------------- FLORIDA PANTHERS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Bryan Murray Roster: C - Kirk Muller, Rob Niedermayer, Radek Dvorak, Dave Gagner, Chris Wells, Steve Washburn. LW - Ray Whitney, Johan Garpenlov, Viktor Kozlov, Bill Lindsay, Peter Worrell. RW - Scott Mellanby, Dino Ciccarelli, David Nemirovsky. D - Robert Svehla, Gord Murphy, Ed Jovanovski, Paul Laus, Terry Carkner, Rhett Warrener, Jeff Norton. G - Kirk McLean, Sean Burke. Injuries: Beats me... Transactions: Whatever, dude... Game Results 10/16 at Buffalo T 2-2 10/21 Los Angeles T 1-1 10/23 Vancouver L 5-0 10/24 at Washington T 2-2 TEAM NEWS by Michael Dell Hey, guess what? We still don't have a Florida Correspondent. But really, we're looking... honest. Um, anyway... I promise to have one in time for next issue. Unless, you know, I forget or something.
In the meantime, I will honor the Panthers as only I can. That's right... through Haiku.
----------------------------------------------------------------- TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Jacques Demers Roster: C - John Cullen, Craig Janney, Vincent Lecavalier, Darcy Tucker. RW - Mikael Renberg, Stephane Richer, Benoit Hogue, Rob Zamuner, Mikael Andersson. LW - Wendel Clark, Alexander Selivanov, Sandy McCarthy, Steve Kelly, Paul Ysebaert. D - Cory Cross, Karl Dykhuis, David Wilkie, Michal Sykora, Jassen Cullimore, Enrico Ciccone, Pavel Kubina, Kjell Samuelsson. G - Bill Ranford, Daren Puppa. Injuries: Stephane Richer, rw (knee surgery, four-six weeks). Transactions: Recalled Daymond Langkow, c, from Cleveland (IHL); assigned John Cullen, c, to Cleveland (IHL); signed Kjell Samuelsson, d, as a free agent. Game Results 10/14 NY Islanders L 2-0 10/16 Philadelphia L 5-2 10/18 Washington L 4-1 10/21 Pittsburgh W 5-0 10/23 Los Angeles W 3-2 10/25 Vancouver W 3-2 TEAM NEWS by Seth Lerman Just a few weeks after Hurricane Georges hit Southern Florida, another hurricane blew through Tampa, and this time it was the brothers Esposito who felt the brunt of the storm.
In a move that was considered surprising due to the timing, owner Art Williams fired general manager Phil Esposito and his brother, director of player personnel, Tony Esposito just one day before the Lightning's home opener against the New York Islanders.
It was a move that everyone associated with the sport felt would happen at the end of the season, since the brothers survived the ownership change. On the same day, Williams named coach Jacques Demers as the new general manager and promoted head scout Don Murdoch to director of player personnel. Peter Mahovlich was named head scout, and Cliff Fletcher was named as an advisor to Demers.
"This is a bittersweet day ... bitter because we're witnessing the end of an era and sweet because it's the beginning of a new era," Williams said. "This new plan gives the Lightning our best chance to move forward, our best chance to win on the ice this year."
The Esposito brothers joined the team seven seasons ago. It was Phil's determination which led to Tampa receiving an NHL franchise in 1990. Williams also said an earlier decision to divide responsibility between Demers and Phil Esposito was a mistake.
"Early on, I could see it just wasn't working right. As the weeks rolled along, there was tremendous conflict," Williams said. "I saw Jacques questioning Phil, Phil questioning Jacques and just things you can't do. You got to have one leader. There's got to be one person responsible, and we didn't have that."
The following evening the Lightning played their home opener against the New York Islanders. They lost the game 2-0 and appeared to still be on summer vacation. the only highlight of the evening was the return of John Cullen, who was playing for the first time in front of the hometown fans since his battle with cancer.
After the game, Demers questioned the performance and attitude of his players. "We talked to the players of the importance of letting the fans know we are different. We sure didn't show that tonight. It was a joke."
The Lightning proceeded to drop their next two games, 5-2 to Philadelphia, and 4-1 to Washington, before winning their next three, the team's longest winning streak in two years. Demers credits the turnaround to a total team effort, the effort which he has been seeking since taking over the coaching reins early last season.
"We've been battling, working hard, and playing with emotion," said Demers following a hard fought victory against the Los Angeles Kings. "Our players are recognizing the fact that we want to get better, we want to win hockey games."
----------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON CAPITALS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Ron Wilson Roster: C - Adam Oates, Joe Juneau, Andrei Nikolishin, Dale Hunter. LW - Matt Herr, Chris Simon, Tom Chorske. RW - Peter Bondra, Brian Bellows, Craig Berube, Kelly Miller, Mike Eagles, James Black. D - Calle Johansson, Mark Tinordi, Brendan Witt, Dmitri Mironov, Ken Klee. G - Olaf Kolzig, Rick Tabaracci. Injuries: Steve Konowalchuk, lw (achy all over, 1-6 weeks); Michal Pivonka, c (shoulder, 8 weeks); Jan Bulis, c (ankle, 3-5 weeks); Joe Reekie, d (foot, 2-4 weeks); Richard Zednik, lw (shoulder, 2-5 weeks); Yogi Svejkovsky, lw (ankle, 2-4 weeks); Sergei Gonchar, d (knee, 6-8 weeks); Brian Bellows, lw (wrist, in lineup). Transactions: Acquired James Black, rw, from the Chicago Blackhawks for a draft pick. Acquired Tom Chorske, lw, from the New York Islanders for a draft pick. Signed Sergei Gonchar, d, to a two year contract. In typical Caps fashion, placed Gonchar on IR. Sent Stewart Malgunas, d, to Portland (AHL) and recalled him a week later. Sent Trevor Halverson, c, to Portland. Signed holdout Andrei Nikolishin, c, to a two-year contract. Recalled Nolan Baumgartner, d, from Portland. Game Results: 10/13 Detroit L 3-2 10/16 Montreal T 2-2 10/18 at Tampa Bay W 4-1 10/21 Vancouver L 2-1 10/23 at Buffalo W 1-0 10/24 Florida T 2-2 TEAM NEWS by Jason Sheehan Injury Bug Strikes Again
Joe Juneau began the season on the first line skating alongside Adam Oates and Brian Bellows. But when Steve Konowalchuk fell ill to a knee injury on opening night, Juneau was asked to center the second line with Yogi Svejkovsky and Richard Zednik. That plan was ruined, too, when Svejkovsky (ankle) and Zednik (shoulder) were injured last week.
Now Juneau finds himself in the middle of his third line combination of the young season with players that weren't even on the opening night roster. His new partners? Tom Chorske and James Black. Both players were acquired for high draft picks from the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks, respectfully.
For a team that lost 361 man-games to injury in 1996-97 and a club record 476 man-games last season, this is no picnic. Similar to Juneau, players are being placed on unfamiliar lines due to the seven injured players that are unable to compete (see injury list above).
How bad is it? Well, it's so haunting that general manager George McPhee re-signed Andrei Nikolishin Tuesday to a two-year, $1.9 million deal. That's a bargain when considering Nikolishin's improved statistics. Finally, the Capitals have someone capable of centering a second line with Peter Bondra. As a result, Juneau may return to the first line.
What's amazing is that negotiating contracts has never been McPhee's strong point (refer to the Oates and Peter Bondra situation last year and the Sergei Gonchar holdouts in each of the past two seasons). Now, McPhee has found the bargain of a lifetime in helping turn the Capitals locker room into a version of "Pleasantville." Nikolishin's signing is crucial, because it comes on the eve of a three-game road-trip to Western Canada.
"It's real frustrating to start the season the way we have in terms of injuries," backup goaltender Rick Tabaracci told The Washington Post. "We had a lot of guys who looked great in training camp and had a lot of opportunities for some good young players, but unfortunately we've had a pretty quick rash of injuries.
"But if they're going to come at some point in the season, let's hope it's now, and when it's over, it's over."
Despite the rash of injuries, the Capitals are off to a decent start, although consistency has been hard to find due to the turnstile-like environment in the trainer's room. Washington has yet to win two consecutive games, but haven't had a losing streak that big, either. Nor have the Capitals been blown out by the opposition in the games they've lost. But don't let that fool you.
Although Washington's 3-2-2 record looks promising, the biggest problem besides injuries has been a lack of goal-scoring. Through seven games, the Capitals have only scored more than two goals once, in a 4-1 thrashing of the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning.
Similar to the recent playoffs, goaltender Olie Kolzig has been the savior for his battered Capitals. Unfortunately, Kolzig cannot score goals. He can only stop them from happening. At this rate, the red bulb that signals goals will never be replaced.
Yet, coach Ron Wilson is looking the horrific Halloween goblin straight in the eye and refuses to allow injuries to conquer his team's psyche.
"The injuries are not an excuse," Wilson told The Washington Post. "They're an opportunity for someone else to step forward and take advantage of getting the extra ice time.
"Right now it's up to your top players to kick it up another notch if it's possible, and then for the role players who get added duty to take advantage of that opportunity. Everybody always thinks, 'Oh, I should be playing more,' and it's funny how your mind changes when all of the sudden you are playing more. It's like, 'Oh, maybe I'd rather be playing less.'"
================================================================ ================================================================= TEAM REPORTS ================================================================= WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Dirk Graham roster: C - Doug Gilmour, Mark Janssens, Chad Kilger, Alexei Zhamnov, Erik Andersson. LW - Dan Cleary, Eric Daze, Jean-Yves Leroux, Ethan Moreau, Bob Probert, Reid Simpson. RW - Tony Amonte, Dennis Bonvie, Ty Jones, Ed Olczyk. D - Chris Chelios, Paul Coffey, Christian LaFlamme, Alain Nasreddine, Remi Royer, Cam Russell, Eric Weinrich, Trent Yawney, Doug Zmolek, Jamie Allison. G - Mark Fitzpatrick, Jeff Hackett. injuries: Paul Coffey, d (back, day-to-day); Eric Daze, lw (ankle, indefinite); Jean-Yves Leroux, lw (groin, indefinite); Reid Simpson, lw (broken hand, day-to-day). transactions: Traded James Black, lw, to Washington for future considerations and assigned Craig Mills, rw, to Chicago of the IHL October 15; signed Denis Bonvie, rw, to a one-year contract October 21; assigned Todd White, c, to Chicago of the IHL October 24; sent Jeff Shantz, c, and Steve Dubinsky, c, to the Calgary Flames for Marty McInnis, c, and Erik Andersson, c, and Jamie Allison, d; McInnis then traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for an undisclosed draft pick. game results: 10/13 at Dallas L 3-1 10/15 Anaheim L 5-3 10/17 Dallas W 4-3 10/19 at Montreal W 2-1 10/22 San Jose T 2-2 10/24 Nashville W 5-4 team news by Tom Crawford Wake Up Fellas, It's Game Time
Most of the United States was treated to an extra hour of sleep early Sunday morning. The Blackhawks were not in that lucky group, however, as they had already set their clocks back an hour earlier in the week.
At least that's the only explanation I can come up with for the Hawks' first-period performances in their two most recent games. Had they been aware that play had actually commenced, they couldn't possibly have given up two goals in the first minute against winless San Jose or allowed three goals in the opening session against an expansion team.
And these were home games.
Despite sleeping through the opening whistle, the Hawks did manage three out of a possible four points in these games, proving that when this team chooses to, it can play a fairly decent game of hockey. But that makes the bad starts all the more puzzling and frustrating.
Coach Dirk Graham has been harping on this since opening night against New Jersey, when his team was outshot 18-0 in the first period, but his remarks seem to have fallen on deaf ears. What has seemed to work is Graham's policy of finding a scapegoat, worthy or not, and benching him to show his displeasure with the team as a whole.
Thursday in San Jose it was Chris Chelios getting the pine after his turnover led to the first of the Sharks' rapid-fire tallies. Saturday was Ethan Moreau's turn, as he and fellow doghouse resident Eric Weinrich played I-got-it-no-you-take-it with the puck in front of their own net, leading to the Nashville Predators' first shorthanded goal in their brief history.
Apparently the Moreau benching didn't shock the squad out of their stupor, so Graham yanked starting goalie Jeff Hackett as well. All of these attempts to "spark the team" (as Graham put it) finally paid off in a three-goal rally late in the third for a 5-4 win.
These efforts appear to be part of a larger plan by Graham to use ice time as a tool to reward or punish his players for their effort or lack thereof. Several high-profile Hawks, most notably Weinrich and Chad Kilger, have spent long stretches on the bench and in some cases the press box.
The tactic has been successful so far, but you have to wonder how long some veterans will respond to this sort of treatment.
Can We Trade Him For Remy Martin?
One Blackhawk who seems inexplicably immune from the wrath of Graham is rookie defenseman Remi Royer. Royer has played in all seven games despite a minus-6 in the +/- column (no other Hawk is worse than -2) and a tendency to make bad plays that don't easily escape notice.
Remi can often be found stickhandling behind his own blue line, trying to beat opposing forwards out of the zone, or feathering the puck into the offensive zone just before going off on a line change, leaving his replacement scrambling to break up a counterattack that would have been prevented by getting the puck in deep.
But Graham keeps putting him out there night after night, apparently mesmerized by Royer's potential as a skilled defenseman who's not afraid to stir it up. Some Hawks fans must be wondering, though, whether the team might be better off with Weinrich or Trent Yawney patrolling the back line while Remi spends some time in the International League learning to play defense.
Trade Talk
Royer's projected departure to the IHL could be hastened by the arrival of one of the New York Rangers' big defensemen. Rangers' GM Neil Smith took in most of the Hawks-Sharks game with the Blackhawks' Bob Murray and is reported to be interested in one of the Hawks' centers.
In the preseason or even a week ago the Hawks might have listened seriously to offers for Kilger or Alexei Zhamnov. But both have come on recently, with Zhamnov setting up Tony Amonte beautifully for the tying goal against Nashville, and Kilger getting the winner after having the apparent game-winner disallowed against the Sharks.
Zhamnov is now tied with Amonte and Doug Gilmour for the team lead in points, while Kilger's three goals are second only to Amonte for the team lead (Eric Daze has three as well). That leaves Jeff Shantz as trade bait, and it remains to be seen whether Smith will part with Jeff Beukeboom or Ulf Samuelsson for a career third-line center.
As it turns out, the Hawks were looking to make a deal with the Calgary Flames. The Hawks sent Jeff Shantz and Steve Dubinsky to the Flames for centers Marty McInnis and Erik Andersson and defenseman Jamie Allison. The Hawks then shipped McInnis to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for an undisclosed draft pick.
Cammie "Wheels" Russell
Alright, nobody's calling him that, but if you noticed Russell's name absent from talk of the blue line corps, it's because Cam has been moved up to play across from Bob Probert on a line centered by Mark Janssens.
That's almost 19 feet and 650 lbs. of prime Canadian beef, not a pound of which hasn't been used to pummel an opponent into submission at one time or another. No telling if this combination will forecheck as well as Probert, Shantz and Moreau did when they skated together earlier in the season, but if I were an opposing defenseman, I'd think twice about going into the corner after a loose puck.
Daze Hurting
The Hawks will be without Eric Daze for at least a week as the young forward recovers from an ankle injury sustained when he blocked a shot against San Jose.
The layoff is especially disappointing considering Daze's aggressive play in recent games. Against Montreal he knocked down Habs defenseman Brett Clark, stole the puck and fed it to Zhamnov, then went hard to the net as Zhamnov shot, backhanding the rebound past Montreal goalie Jose Theodore.
News and Notes
The Hawks beat former division rivals Dallas for the first time in God knows how long -- and former teammate Ed Belfour for the first time ever. And the Hawks played respectably in an earlier loss to the Stars, outplaying Dallas at even strength but skating a man down for over a third of the game . . . . Teemu Selanne still has the Hawks' number, and now his pesky linemate is getting into the act, as well. Selanne and Paul Kariya were in on four of the five Anaheim goals in the Ducks' win at the United Center . . . . Speaking of Kariya, he is finally speaking -- to the media, that is. He now has a cause to champion, namely the league's crackdown on "headhunters." Paul must have been pleased when the Hawks got rid of chief headhunter Gary Suter and loaded up on Lady Byng candidates like Mark Janssens and Doug Zmolek . . . . It's early yet, but it looks like this could be the season that Tony Amonte becomes a bona fide NHL superstar. Amonte is second in the league with six goals, but more importantly has on more than one occasion turned a game almost singlehandedly in his team's favor. And the addition of Doug Gilmour could be just what Amonte needs to break the 50-goal mark.
----------------------------------------------------------------- DETROIT RED WINGS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Scotty Bowman Roster C - Steve Yzerman, Igor Larionov, Kris Draper, Sergei Fedorov. LW - Brendan Shanahan, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Doug Brown, Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby, Brent Gilchrist. RW - Darren McCarty, Joey Kocur, Martin Lapointe, Mathieu Dandenault. D - Nicklas Lidstrom, Larry Murphy, Jamie Macoun, Aaron Ward, Uwe Krupp, Anders Eriksson. G - Chris Osgood, Kevin Hodson. INJURIES: Brent Gilchrist lw (hernia, indefinite); Uwe Krupp, d (unspecified injury, day-to-day). TRANSACTIONS: Ryan Bach g, traded to Los Angeles for 1999 third-round pick; sent Stacey Roest, rw, to Adirondack (AHL); sent Yan Golubovksy, d, to Adirondack. GAME RESULTS 10/16 St. Louis W 4-1 10/18 Calgary W 2-0 10/21 Nashville W 5-2 10/23 Toronto L 5-3 10/24 at Montreal W 3-0 TEAM NEWS by Dino Cacciola ST. LOUIS
Brendan Shanahan scored a hat trick and the Red Wings celebrated their home opener with a 4-1 victory over the visiting St. Louis Blues. The game was delayed for 45 minutes as the Red Wings raised their Stanley Cup banner at the Joe Louis arena. On hand for the ceremony was head coach Scotty Bowman, who is recovering from heart and knee surgery. Earlier that day it was announced that he would return because he was cleared doctors to coach again in the NHL. A huge roar went up when injured defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov was wheeled onto the ice.
Shanahan scored his 11th career hat trick. He has four goals after three games thus far in the young season. Sergei Fedorov also scored and captain Steve Yzerman had three assists for the two-time defending NHL champions.
Yzerman said the pregame festivities and Bowman's appearance gave him a big lift. But it didn't last.
"That's good to get you jump started," Yzerman said. "But after the first period, you have nothing left. You're thinking, 'Oh, no!' " But the Wings had enough to hold off their rivals and seal the victory despite having both teams shoot 25 shots on net.
CALGARY
Brendan Shanahan scored his fifth goal of the season and Chris Osgood stopped 34 shots for his 21st career shutout as the Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 2-0. Steve Yzerman and Darren McCarty assisted on Shanahan's third-period goal. That line is hot of late and clicking very well.
"I played with Mac and Stevie when I first got here, then we got to the playoffs and went with different lines," Shanahan said. "All three of us can muck and grind and all three of us are threats to shoot, as well, so it's a good combination."
Mathieu Dandenault also scored his first goal in 35 regular-season games. The Wings have won four straight since a season-opening loss at Toronto. Goalie Chris Osgood is 12-4-4 with three shutouts in his career against Calgary and has allowed only five goals in four starts this season.
"I've felt good since the season started," Osgood said. "I'm glad we've started against teams we either have rivalries with or teams that play us tough. Calgary played us very tough tonight and we had to play a solid game to beat them." The Flames outshot the Wings 34-28.
NASHVILLE
A firing squad or just plain fun? Mike Dunham faced an impressive 57 shots by the Red Wings. The Red Wings won 5-2 in the shooting barrage. The Wings had 27 shots in the second period, alone.
Dougie Brown and Darren McCarty each scored two goals for the Red Wings in the win. Brendan Shanahan, who is basically on fire, scored his sixth goal in five games for the Red Wings.
Brown broke a 1-1 tie by converting a centering pass from Tomas Holmstrom 3:19 into the third period. McCarty made it 3-1 just 49 seconds later when he fired a pass from Steve Yzerman past Dunham for his second score of the night. Brown added another goal -- the 15,000th in franchise history -- with 3:21 remaining.
Chris Osgood made just 13 saves against the Predators.
TORONTO
The return of Scotty Bowman behind the Wings bench didn't help as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings for the second time this season is as many games. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak.
"It's not like a player," said Bowman, who has been plagued by health problems. "A player can go out on the ice and do stuff. It's not like you're going to pull a rabbit out of a hat." It was the first time the Red Wings played with Bowman behind the bench this season.
Despite the loss, it was a special night at Joe Louis Arena from the moment Bowman walked out to his place behind the bench. The fans began cheering as soon as he strolled out of the tunnel and soon they were all on their feet cheering. "I noticed the crowd," said Bowman, who has won 1,057 games and eight Stanley Cups. "I didn't expect that. It was a nice gesture, for sure."
Brendan Shanahan scored again, extending his goal-scoring streak to five games. Igor Larionov and Martin Lapointe also scored. LaPointe's goal was the 50th of his career. Kevin Hodson made his season debut in goal facing 27 shots.
MONTREAL
Steve Yzerman's first goal of the season was all the Wings needed to beat their long time rival Montreal Canadiens, 3-0. The Yzerman goal opened the door for Detroit as Larry Murphy then beat Thibault from the red line at 16:49 and Marty Lapointe added a goal at 18:35. Chris Osgood made 18 saves for his second shutout of the season and the 22nd of his brilliant career.
The Wings outshot the Habs 25-18 in the win. Both teams played tight defensive hockey, with Montreal using at one point three defensemen against the top line of Shanahan, Yzerman and Darren McCarty. The Wings scored all three goals within 10 minutes of the third period in the defensive battle. Steve Yzerman needs six points to pass his childhood idol Bryan Trottier for 10th on the all-time scoring list. Very impressive company indeed.
Rumormill: Rumors have the Wing shopping defensemen Aaron Ward around. And the word is out that Kevin Hodson can be had for a third-round pick.
----------------------------------------------------------------- NASHVILLE PREDATORS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Barry Trotz roster: C - Darren Turcotte, Greg Johnson, Jeff Nelson, Patric Kjellberg, Sebastien Bordeleau. LW - Andrew Brunette, Blair Atcheynum, Scott Walker, Denny Lambert, Ville Peltonen, Jeff Daniels. RW - Sergei Krivokrasov, Brad Smyth, Tom Fitzgerald, Patrick Cote. D - Joel Bouchard, Bob Boughner, John Slaney, Jamie Heward, Jayson More, J.J. Daigneault, Drake Berehowsky, Jan Vopat. G - Mike Dunham, Tomas Vokoun. injuries: Ville Peltonen, lw (shoulder, day to day); J.J. Daigneault, d (back, day-to-day). transactions: Traded Greg deVries, d, to Colorado for 1999 third-round pick; assigned Doug Friedman, rw, to Milwaukee (IHL); Danny Lambert, lw, fined $1000 and suspended for four games for slashing incident against Detroit; assigned Eric Fichaud, g, to Milwaukee; recalled Tomas Vokoun, g, from Milwaukee. game results: 10/13 Carolina W 3-2 10/17 at Ottawa L 3-1 10/19 at Toronto T 1-1 10/21 at Detroit L 5-2 10/23 Calgary L 4-3 10/24 at Chicago L 5-4 team news by Jeff Middleton Mike Dunham...Mike Dunham...Mike Dunham...Mike Dunham...you get the idea.
So reads the story of the Nashville Predators to this point in the season. The former New Jersey backup goaltender who apprenticed under one of the best in the league (Martin Brodeur) has stepped up in his new role, leaving no doubts as to whether he can handle the pressures of a full-time job. In actuality, Dunham has stepped out of the shadow of the Devil into a new kind of hell...a defense which gives up 30-plus shots a night.
Nashville is a far cry from the swamps of Jersey, where goalies are only challenged by those blessed souls who somehow emerge from the muck and sludge found in the Continental Airlines Arena neutral zone. Down south, things are much more hospitable and friendly for opposing offenses. No big hulking defensemen impede any movement toward the net, no pesky forwards assaulting you on the backcheck...basically all you have is a goalie who earns his living two or three times a night.
Since the opening night loss to Florida, things have not gone too well for Dunham and the Preds. The excitement of the first win in franchise history against the Carolina Hurricanes was primarily due to the exceptional play of Music City's newest hometown hero. Facing 36 shots, Dunham turned 34 away and made a three-goal lead hold up, outplaying Trevor Kidd for the win.
For all you trivia buffs out there, the first goal in Nashville Predator history was scored by Andrew Brunette, with helpers going to Joel Bouchard and Greg Johnson. Somewhat disappointing, it was not a "beautiful tic- tac-toe one-timer knocking the water bottle off the top of the net" kind of shot. Instead, it was a "I think that went in why don't we go upstairs to look at the video to see if Hurricanes defenseman David Karpa lifted the net as the puck went through" kind of goal. It was truly a goal, and it was truly a great night for the franchise.
Having pulled to .500 on the year, Nashville pulled out of Tennessee on their first road trip of the year. With visits to Ottawa, Toronto, and Detroit, the Predators had a fairly tall order if they wanted to come home with more than the two points earned against Carolina.
Ottawa, sporting a 2-0 record, was playing their home opener and were flying high. Fortunately for Nashville, the second star of the game was guess who, making 31 saves in the 3-1 loss, but giving them a chance to win going into the third period. The Predators gave up their first shorthanded goal of the season, the game-winner by Magnus Arvedson, and an insurance goal put them away. Jeff Nelson scored his second goal in four years to provide the only goal for Nashville, but a theme was starting to emerge. Your keeper can only forgive mistakes and penalties so many times.
The same was true two nights later in Toronto. Brunette and early season scoring leader Sergei Krivokrasov assisted on each other's goals to stake the Predators to a lead, but Fredrik Modin's goal, on a "beautiful but he didn't really mean to do that" feed from Steve Sullivan, tied the game in the second period. Dunham was able to turn back the Leafs for the remainder of regulation and the OT...thus ended the first tie in Predators history.
Besides Dunham's stellar play the line of the Krivokrasov, Brunette and Johnson has been the other bright spot for Nashville. The three have started to show signs of a solid scoring line: a great mix of Krivokrasov's speed, Brunette's size and strength, and Johnson's smarts.
The final game of the road trip was a visit to Hockeytown. The defending Stanley Cup champs were waiting for the new guys, and the ultimate test was about to begin. Things were not good for the Predators, as they spent much of the first two periods running around like squirt league players matched up against the local high school varsity squad. The Red Wings must have felt like the usually friendly octopus was wearing the visiting blue that night, as Nashville's defense clutched and grabbed its way to the penalty box nine times.
Thanks to No. 1, the game was actually tied 1-1 with 19:00 left in the final frame. Dunham had allowed a rebound goal by Darren McCarty in the first period, but didn't allow even one of the 27 shots thrown at him in the second get through, and his 52 saves on the night were the most in his career (and franchise history for that matter). After Greg Johnson scored early in the third to tie Detroit, the best team in hockey woke up and their wheels started turning. McCarty traded goals with Krivokrasov and the Wings took off, having had just about enough of this little game. Putting away the Nashville squad with a 5-2 score was much too close to accurately represent the abuse dished out, the Red Wings showed the versatility and skill for which they are known.
As Mike Dunham carried the team, and the team bus, back to Nashville, it was becoming apparent the Predators had developed a style. Take penalties, get some timely scoring, give Mr. Dunham lots of practice, and get to the third period with a chance to win. Of course, they needed to switch the last part of the plan, the part where they lose, but it had become a consistent battle plan.
On Friday night, the Predators faced off at home against the pesky Calgary Flames. In a fight-filled first period, Krivokrasov scored his third goal of the year, coming on a 5-3 advantage. It was the first of three such advantages, which the Predators could have used to put Calgary away, especially the one with 2:31 left in the game, down a goal. But due to injury, the quarterback of the power play, Jamie Heward, was scratched, leaving a huge gap in the offense.
Dunham must have felt lonely, facing only 24 shots, but must also have been a little tired, giving up four goals in the loss. For his part, he deserved a rest. He would get one the next night.
Eric Fichaud, the young tender picked up from Edmonton just before the season began, would get the starts against the newly reborn Chicago Blackhawks. Through 55 minutes, the Predators looked like a team on a mission, driving Jeff Hackett from the net after one period and taking a two-goal lead into the stretch.
Unfortunately, the Predators did not pay too much attention during the stretch. Tony Amonte scored two goals and Chad Kilger added a third in the span of 4:50 as the Hawks came battling back to ruin what looked like the Predators first Central Division win. On a positive note, Sergei Krivokrasov scored his fourth goal in as many games as the offense started to pick up. He looks to continue his tear on Tuesday against Mark Messier and the Vancouver Canucks.
Notes: Denny Lambert was suspended four games and fined $1000 for a slashing incident against Detroit . . . it was all Kirk Maltby's fault . . . . Patrick Cote is turning into the Pred's enforcer, taking on Bob Probert on Saturday night . . . .the Calgary game was the first meaningful public performance of O' Canada in Nashville since the founding of Nashville.
----------------------------------------------------------------- ST. LOUIS BLUES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Joel Quenneville Roster: C - Craig Conroy, Mike Eastwood, Pascal Rheaume, Pierre Turgeon, Michal Handzus, Marty Reasoner. LW - Geoff Courtnall, Michel Picard, Tony Twist, Pavol Demitra. RW - Jim Campbell, Kelly Chase, Scott Pellerin, Scott Young. D - Marc Bergevin, Todd Gill, Al MacInnis, Chris McAlpine, Rudy Poeschek, Chris Pronger, Jamie Rivers. G - Grant Fuhr, Jamie McLennan, Brent Johnson. Injuries: Jim Campbell, rw (shoulder 10/24, day-to-day), Tony Twist, lw (groin 10/24, day-to-day), Grant Fuhr, g (strained knee 10/21, day-to-day). Transactions: October 19 - recalled Brent Johnson, g, from Worcester (AHL); October 22 - extended contracts of forwards Pavol Demitra and Pascal Rheaume. Game Results: 10/16 at Detroit L 4-1 10/17 NY Islanders L 1-0 10/22 at Ottawa W 5-3 10/24 Calgary W 4-3 TEAM NEWS by Tom Cooper The wrong time to visit Hockeytown
On Friday, Oct. 16, the Detroit Red Wings raised their ninth Stanley Cup Championship banner to the rafters of the Joe Louis Arena. After the banner-raising ceremony was over, they dropped the St. Louis Blues right down to the ice.
The Red Wings celebrated their Stanley Cup victory by destroying the Blues, 4-1.
Brendan Shanahan tallied his first hat trick of the season and Steve Yzerman had three assists to fuel the victory.
After playing an even first 18 minutes of the game, the Red Wings were rewarded with a power play when Mike Eastwood was sent to the penalty box for charging. On the ensuing advantage, Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom set up Sergei Federov for his first goal of the season giving Detroit a 1-0 lead.
Just 17 seconds later, rookie Marty Reasoner scored the first goal of his NHL career to tie the game at 1.
That stalemate lasted 56 seconds when Brendan Shanahan scored his first of the game off of the rebound from a Jamie Macoun shot to give Detroit a 2-1 lead going into the locker room.
Shanahan scored again 14:15 into the second when, in a scramble in front of the St. Louis net, he flipped the puck over St. Louis netminder Grant Fuhr's stick for a 3-1 advantage.
Shanny struck again four-and-a-half minutes later when his wrister from between the circles slipped over Fuhr's glove to give Detroit a 4-1 lead and Shanahan the 11th hat trick of his career.
The Blues had plenty of opportunities to claw back into the contest, but Red Wing goaltender Chris Osgood came up big and helped guide Detroit to the win.
The Blues looked flat for the entire game and, by the way they placed, never seemed to have a remote chance of winning.
"We didn't do anything well, from myself to Grant (Fuhr) to everybody," Blues captain Chris Pronger said.
Fuhr, who made 21 saves in the loss, ended up straining his right knee in the game. He will be out on a day-to-day basis, but St. Louis hopes he'll be back as soon as possible, especially with the way they have played defensively.
Home Sweet Home?
After getting their tails whipped in Detroit the night before, the St. Louis Blues headed home to play their first game in the Kiel Center this season.
The first home game was with the New York Islanders, a team that, by looking at the roster, should be an easy win for the Blues.
It wasn't.
The Blues were frustrated all night long as they disappointed the hometown fans with a 1-0 loss.
The only goal of the contest came at 16:08 of the second when the Islanders where on a power play thanks to a Tony Twist holding-the- stick call.
The story of the game was New York goaltender Tommy Salo. Salo stopped every last one of the Blues' 23 shots for the 11th shutout of his three-year career.
"He's turned it on for the last two games and is playing the puck much tougher," said Islanders coach Mike Milbury.
Jamie McLennan stopped 11 of 12 shots in his first appearance of the season.
Heading for the Nation's Capital (with the nation mentioned being Canada)
So, the Blues were immersed in a two-game losing streak and looking to end it fast. All they needed to do was travel to Ottawa and let two former Senators do the damage for them.
Bluenote Michel Picard, a Senator from 1994-1996, had two goals with Pavol Demitra, a Senator from 1993-1996, assisted on both those goals as the Blues returned to their winning ways, defeating Ottawa 5-3.
It was the Senators who got on the board first at 11:35 of the first when Andreas Johansson and Stanislav Neckar set up Radek Bonk for a 1-0 Ottawa lead.
Kelly Chase returned the favor about a minute-and-a-half later when he intercepted a clearing pass and slipped a shot passed Senators goaltender Ron Tugnutt to make the score 1-1.
Just 34 seconds later, a two-on-one break by Pierre Turgeon and Craig Conroy gave Turgeon his first goal of the season and St. Louis a 2-1 lead.
With almost two minutes left in the first, Picard picked up his first of the night giving the Blues a 3-1 lead going into the locker room for the first intermission.
Picard's second tally came 8:39 into the second period when Al MacInnis and Demitra set up his wrist shot, increasing the advantage to 4-1.
Andreas Johansson added a power-play goal late in the third, but Mike Eastwood's empty-net goal with under a minute left sealed the deal.
Shaun Van Allen scored with three seconds left, but the outcome was already determined as the Blues ended their two-game skid, winning 5-3.
The Blues defense, a big question mark going into the game, was the key especially the penalty kill. A unit that was ranked 22nd in the league going into the Ottawa match, killed nine of 10 power plays. Jamie McLennan stopped 27 of 30 shots to earn his first win of the season.
Defending Home Ice
People always say that the best offense is a good defense. The St. Louis Blues took that to heart when the faced the Calgary Flames in St. Louis Saturday night.
Defenseman Chris Pronger scored two goals and Al MacInnis added a goal with 1.4 seconds left in regulation as the Blues beat the Flames 4-3.
Pronger started the scoring on the power play when, while in a scrum, he knocked in the loose puck to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the match.
The score remained that way until 2:27 into the second when Pavol Demitra scored his third goal of the young season. His power-play goal, assisted by Michel Picard and Al MacInnis, gave the Blues a 2-0 lead. The Flames fought back when Cale Hulse scored their first goal of the game at 7:55 of the second.
But Pronger extended the lead back to two goals at 11:10 of the second. Marty Reasoner's deflection was stopped by Flames' goaltender Ken Wregget. Wregget couldn't control the rebound and the Blues' captain finished off the play, giving St. Louis a 3-1 advantage.
If there has been one soft point of the Blues this year it has been their defense late in the game. They blew a two-goal lead to Boston in the season opener and, in every one of their wins, they've allowed teams to narrow the deficit late in the game.
So why should this game be any different?
Theo Fleury made the score 3-2 on a breakaway eight minutes into the third. Then with only 1:26 left, Valeri Bure, standing at the side of the St. Louis net, banked the puck off of goaltender Jamie McLennan's skate to tie the game at 3.
Both teams played back and forth to try and take the lead, but neither side could succeed. It looked like the game was headed toward overtime, until one shot changed it all.
Al MacInnis, the man known for his 100 mph slap shot, wound up, stopped and pushed a shot passed Wregget with 1.4 seconds on the shot, giving the Blues the 4-3 victory.
"I was just trying to slide it by him and somehow it got up in the air," MacInnis said. "I had my head half-turned when I saw the guys cheering."
So, the Blues split the past two weeks' games. And although two wins are good, an old problem resurfaced. St. Louis is having trouble holding onto leads.
Now, there are two ways to solve this problem: 1) score a whole hell of a lot of goals, or 2) play defense.
The Blues get the opportunity to choose which option they want. I recommend the second.
================================================================ ================================================================= TEAM REPORTS ================================================================= WESTERN CONFERENCE NORTHWEST DIVISION ----------------------------------------------------------------- CALGARY FLAMES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Brian Sutter Roster: C - Andrew Cassels, Rico Fata, Clarke Wilm, Cory Stillman, Bob Bassen, Jeff Shantz, Steve Dubinsky. LW - Ed Ward, Jason Wiemer, Dave Roche. RW - Valeri Bure, Theoren Fleury, Jarome Iginla, Greg Pankewicz, Martin St. Louis. D - Tommy Albelin, Cale Hulse, Derek Morris, Todd Simpson, Sami Helenius, Eric Charron, Steve Smith, Phil Housley. G - Tyler Moss, Ken Wregget, Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Injuries: Greg Pankewicz, rw (suffered concussion Oct 16, day-to-day); Bob Bassen, c (suffered knee injury Sept. 18, indefinite); Michael Nylander, c (injured knee March 26, indefinite). Transactions: signed Jamie Allison, d, to a new contract Oct. 19; sent Rocky Thompson, rw, to St. John (AHL) Oct. 19; acquired Jeff Shantz, c, and Steve Dubinsky, c, from the Chicago Blackhawks for Marty McInnis, c, Erik Andersson, c, and Jamie Allison, d. Game Results: 10/16 Toronto L 7-3 10/18 at Detroit L 2-0 10/20 at Dallas L 3-1 10/23 at Nashville W 4-3 10/24 at St. Louis L 4-3 TEAM NEWS by Simon D. Lewis Home Opener from Hell
So the "Young Guns" took their act on the road to Japan, batted .750 with a win and a tie, and hoped to continue with more of the same back at the Saddledome. Somebody forgot to tell the Maple Leafs. By the end of 10 minutes the Flames were on the wrong end of a 3-0 score. At the first intermission it was 4-0. From there Toronto coasted to a 7-3 win.
In the opening minutes the Flames looked like they were running a Chinese fire drill, not a pro hockey system. Maybe all that opening ceremony pyro put them into that mode. Steve Thomas had back-to-back breakaways and scored on one within the first three minutes. It was either jet lag from Japan or some of the worst jitters you've ever seen. Really, folks, the guys in red were sucking wind.
One theory has it that coach Brian Sutter has put too much pressure on his team. There's been a lot of "this has to be a playoff year" talk around Calgary. Much of it has been generated by Sutter. Anyone who knows hockey knows that that is the way he and his brothers all approach the game...work hard and will the wins. Trouble is, he may not have the team to do it.
Fleury a Fleeting Flame?
Speculation is rampant that free-agent-in-waiting Theo Fleury will not finish the season with the Flames. One rumour has the lion-hearted half-pint going to Philly for Chris Gratton. Fleury would look great on the right wing with Lindros and Leclair, a spot that hasn't been adequately filled since Renberg went to Tampa.
Gratton would look good in Cowtown as he's a centre, big, young, and not too expensive. Remember, the Flyers got him for $16.5 million US over five years but they paid $9 million US of it up front as a signing bonus.
Pointing Fingers
Prior to the win in Nashville coach Sutter used his inimitably blunt style to finger the guys he thought weren't pulling their weight. The list was made up of: Valeri Bure, Cory Stillman, Theo Fleury, Marty McInnis, Jarome Iginla and Andrew Cassels.
This was especially bad news for Iginla as the coaching staff has been threatening him with a trip to the minors since training camp.
"It wasn't a given when he came into camp. I keep everything open. We were talking about guys going down and making changes and I said we're open to everything," said Sutter.
Iggy, understandably, feels differently.
"I really don't think that I should be playing there," he said. "Maybe the last game or two I haven't played as well as I could, but I don't feel I should be in the minors and can contribute up here."
Bet he's happy they beat Nashville!...
Music City Dreamin'
"Nashville cats play clear as mountain dew." That's what the Lovin' Spoonful sang of the musicians of Music City. When the Flames hit town for their first ever game against the Predators they had a hopeful on the bus.
It seems that Jamie Allison actually considered a career in country music. Too bad he was too far into his budding hockey career. He actually had a guy willing to act as his agent and take him down to Nashville.
"Not too many guys know the old school like I do. Whispering Bill Anderson, George Jones is my favourite, I'd like to see Hank Jr. I'd like to do it as a career once hockey was over."
Well, Allison made it to Nashville as a Calgary Flame and while there he took the opportunity to belt out a few numbers at one of the local open stages. The reviews were good but he's sticking to hockey for now.
Unfortunately for Allison, the Flames hated his singing so much they decided to trade him. The Flames sent Allison, Marty McInnis and Erik Andersson to the Chicago Blackhawks for Jeff Shantz and Steve Dubinsky. The Hawks subsequently sent McInnis to the Mighty Ducks for a conditional draft pick.
----------------------------------------------------------------- COLORADO AVALANCHE ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Bob Hartley Roster: C - Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Stephane Yelle, Chris Drury. LW - Valeri Kamensky, Rene Corbet, Eric Lacroix, Milan Hejduk. RW - Claude Lemieux, Adam Deadmarsh, Keith Jones, Jeff Odgers, Shean Donovan, Warren Rychel. D - Sylvain Lefebvre, Adam Foote, Alexei Gusarov, Jon Klemm, Aaron Miller, Eric Messier, Wade Belak, Ted Crowley, Greg de Vries. G - Patrick Roy, Craig Billington. Injuries: Eric Messier, d (broken elbow, mid-January). Transactions: Recalled Ted Crowley, d, from Hershey (AHL); assigned Dan Smith, d, to Hershey (AHL); acquired Greg de Vries, d, from Nashville for a third-round pick in 1999. Game results: 10/10 Boston L 3-0 10/15 at Phoenix L 5-2 10/18 at Los Angeles T 5-5 10/24 Edmonton W 6-4 TEAM NEWS by Greg D'Avis Avs win! Avs win!
Ok, it's hardly the reclamation of the Stanley Cup, but after an 0-4-1 start that was making the Rangers and Lightning look good, and with Patrick Roy playing like Andre Racicot, fans were starting to wonder.
Problems are still legion: Roy is mediocre right now, Valeri Kamensky ain't scorin', the power play is struggling and tough defenseman Adam Foote is saying this season may be his last in Denver. But, hey, at least we got a win!
After a poor start, the Avalanche reached their nadir (well, hopefully it's their nadir) getting shut out by Boston. Getting shut out by Buffalo and Hasek is one thing; getting shut out by Boston, their 900-year-old defense and Byron Dafoe is quite another. Colorado did everything they could to help Dafoe along by playing listlessly, taking penalties and sucking on special teams.
Phoenix, though, looked like a cure-all; whether in Winnipeg or Arizona, they've always been as good as a bye game for the Avalanche. Unfortunately, the Coyotes forgot their proper role and stomped the Avalanche pretty soundly, with the only good points coming as the Avalanche remembered that it is acceptable to score points when you got more guys than the other team.
They did their best to keep the losing streak alive against Los Angeles, but alas, it was not to be. The Kings would pull ahead, the Avalanche would battle back to tie -- and then give up a soft goal as the Kings went right back ahead. But in the end, contributions from two unexpected sources -- Claude Lemieux, who scored his first goal of the season in the last seconds to tie it up, and rookie Chris Drury, who got his first two goals -- got the Avalanche their first point of the season.
There was plenty of subtext in the Edmonton game; the Oilers, after all, were the scrappy underdogs who rallied to bounce the Avalanche from the playoffs last year. And plenty went on in the teams' first meeting of this season, starting with a Foote-Bill Guerin fight 36 seconds in -- a smorgasbord of goals, including Claude Lemieux's 300th (and, for that matter, 301st) of his career; lousy goaltending, from Roy and whoever plays goal for Edmonton this week; and fights galore. The power play hopped; Sakic, Forsberg and Lemieux shone; Jeff Odgers, Foote, Adam Deadmarsh and Jon Klemm punched; and rookie Milan Hejduk, who I have to cheer for because I spelled his name wrong last time, picked up his second goal.
Notes:
With Sandis Ozolinsh still holding out of the Avalanche lineup, Colorado had to find a defenseman to help ease the pain of his departure. So the Avs picked up Greg de Vries from the Nashville Predators for a third-round pick in the 1999 draft.
De Vries, 25, played impressive hockey for the Oilers last season during the team's playoff win over the Avalanche. In 65 games with the Oilers last year, de Vries had seven goals and four assists with 80 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound blueliner has eight goals and nine assists with 144 penalty minutes in 121 career games. De Vries has a hard shot, which could fit nicely on the Avs power play, which is struggling without Ozolinsh.
----------------------------------------------------------------- EDMONTON OILERS ---------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Ron Low Roster: C - Doug Weight, Todd Marchant, Rem Murray, Boyd Devereux, Josef Beranek LW - Dean McAmmond, Mats Lindgren, Ryan Smyth. RW - Bill Guerin, Mike Grier, Andrei Kovalenko, Pat Falloon, Kevin Brown. D - Sean Brown, Roman Hamrlik, Craig Millar, Boris Mironov, Frank Musil, Janne Niinimaa, Tom Poti, Marty McSorley. G - Bob Essensa, Mikhail Shtalenkov. Injuries: Mats Lindgren, lw (dislocated shoulder, indefinite); Josef Beranek, c (charley horse, indefinite); Marty McSorley, d (dislocated left shoulder, six weeks). Transactions: Signed Group 2 free agent Doug Weight, c, to a two-year contract; signed free agent Brad Norton, d, terms not disclosed; placed Daniel Lacroix, c, and Bill Huard, lw, on waivers; Daniel Lacroix, c, and Fred Lindquist, rw, were sent down to Hamilton (AHL). Game Results: 10/13 Toronto L 2-1 10/14 at Vancouver W 4-1 10/17 at New Jersey W 4-2 10/20 at NY Rangers L 3-2 10/21 at NY Islanders W 4-2 10/24 at Colorado L 6-4 Team News by Aubrey Chau Doug Weight Signs!
Well, they took my advice, but did anyone really need to tell them? Doug Weight, the Oilers' franchise player, was finally welcomed back into the fold after missing 10 days of the regular season. With Smyth and Weight back on the team, the Oilers look more like a legitimate threat. The two-year deal will see Weight receiving $3.45 million this year and $4.3 million next season and around $400,000 in incentive bonuses.
Now other teams can't laugh at us for having Joe Beranek as our top centre. Weight has played three games since returning and has looked impressive. He has collected four points in those games. He played between Dean McAmmond and Pat Falloon in his first game back against the New York Rangers; but Joe Beranek suffered a charley horse courtesy of a hit from Brian Leetch, so Weight then ended up playing with Andrei Kovalenko and Billy Guerin after that.
Oh no, Bo!
Boris Mironov left the team during the road trip in New York deeming he had personal problems to tend to, and flew back to Edmonton. He missed the last three games on the road trip without pay. The rumour on the street was that the Russian Mafia was leaning on him for cash. Extorting him through his mom, who lives in Russia, but the local papers say that simply isn't the case. Apparently, his personal problems have something to do with his wife. So we can imagine it's marriage troubles, even though it's none of our business, so butt out! Boris should be returning to the ice Wednesday, when the Oilers face Bobo's big bro Dimitri and his Washington Capitals.
The Oil did alright
The Oilers didn't look too bad on their road trip and came out over .500, with a 3-2 record. Not bad at all. Mikhail (I can never spell his name) Shtalenkov has impressed during his time in net during Bob Essensa's injury. He looked pretty good until Saturday night's first-period barrage leaving the Oilers gasping for life after a 4-0 first period against the Colorado Avalanche.
Who's wearing number 51?
Andrei Kovalenko? Doesn't look like the No. 51 from last year. It's a contract year, so Andrei (the Russian Tank) Kovalenko has taken his head out of the toilet and started playing hockey again. It's payday, and the Tank wants the big bucks. Let's see how long it takes him to start taking it easy again. The Russian Tank sometimes looks like the Russian Lada on some nights and it's just a matter of time before it happens again.
Notes and other stuff:
Boyd Devereaux is looking to become one fine player, even though he's on a line with Kelly Buchberger and Kevin Brown. Brown, by the way is looking to be one sweet deal, as the Oilers signed him for cheap and he has already netted three goals. He could be this year's Scott Fraser. Speaking of which, the Rangers shelled out big bucks ($1.4 million) for Scott (the Fluke) Fraser and boy are they regretting it now big time! ...
Rumour is that the Oilers will move one of the top three defencemen in a three-way deal between the Oil, Leafs and the Habs, which would see the Oilers getting Jocelyn Thibault. ...
Man, up until he was injured, Big Bad Joe Beranek was the Oilers' top player. Weird isn't it?
----------------------------------------------------------------- VANCOUVER CANUCKS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Mike Keenan ROSTER: C - Mark Messier, Peter Zezel, Dave Scatchard, Brandon Convery, Matt Cooke. LW - Todd Bertuzzi, Brad May, Markus Naslund, Donald Brashear, Bert Robertsson. RW - Alexander Mogilny, Bill Muckalt, Trent Klatt, Steve Staios. D - Adrian Aucoin, Murray Baron, Bret Hedican, Jamie Huscroft, Chris McAllister, Dana Murzyn, Mattias Ohlund, Jason Strudwick. G - Garth Snow, Corey Hirsch. INJURIES: Rejoice! We're totally healthy. TRANSACTIONS: Acquired Trent Klatt, rw, from Philadelphia for a future draft pick. GAME RESULTS: 10/12 Los Angeles W 4-2 10/14 Edmonton L 4-1 10/17 Toronto W 4-1 10/20 at Carolina L 3-1 10/21 at Washington W 2-1 10/23 at Florida W 5-0 10/25 at Tampa Bay L 3-2 TEAM NEWS by Jeff Dubois Only a handful of games into the young season, the Vancouver Canucks find themselves in an unexpected position.
First.
The Canucks jumped out to an early lead in the shiny, new Northwest Division, leaving many local hockey fans to double-check that the division does in fact contain more than one team. This lead, though partly attributed to the mediocre start of the Colorado Avalanche, has been earned through a string of respectable offensive performances and the standout play of goalie Garth Snow.
Goaltending, thought to be one of the areas on which improvement would have to be made, has been the one constant thus far. Garth Snow has looked good in all but one of his starts, a loss to Edmonton, and has been the key in victories over Los Angeles, Toronto and Washington. His consistency has helped to make up for some obvious defensive deficiencies, and has given the offence time to produce.
Mark Messier has so far erased any doubt that he is no longer able to lead a team offensively, having been held pointless in only two of the Canucks' first seven contests. On top of his solid play, he attained a career milestone on Sept. 23rd when he capped a 5-0 victory over the Florida Panthers with his 600th career goal.
With Messier and Snow leading the way, the Canucks began the season with three games in the friendly confines of GM Place. Having began the season with an impressive win over the Kings, and a less impressive loss to the Oilers, the Canucks finished a short three-game home stand with a victory over former coach and GM Pat Quinn's Maple Leafs, in which Snow single-handedly won the game by saving all but one of 40 shots, many of the spectacular nature. His efforts earned him first star honours and a poorly sung rendition of "Let it Snow" from a certain lyrically-challenged LCS Hockey reporter and his friend.
With two wins under their belt, the Canucks embarked on a five-game Eastern road swing that saw them visit Carolina, where both fans in attendance reveled in a 3-1 Hurricane victory, Washington, Florida, and Tampa Bay, whose Lightning came back from a third period deficit to win.
As LCS Hockey's media juggernaut rolls out another award-winning issue, the Canucks' will have just wrapped up the trip with an epic battle against the Nashville Predators. With LCS Hockey psychic friend Christopher Walken predicting a lopsided Canucks' victory, the Northwest division leaders will come home sporting an impressive 5-3 record.
While the team has performed unexpectedly well on the ice, two problems continue to separate the Vancouver Canucks from their full potential. While holdout defenceman Bryan McCabe was tendered another offer by the club Monday, and should hopefully be signed by week's end, the Pavel Bure situation continues to head Brian Burke's agenda, keeping him from other pressing tasks like granting interviews to humble sports reporters who want only to bask in his omnipotent glow.
The latest Bure rumours have him going to the Rangers for everything from Nicklas Sundstrom to GM Neil Smith's first born son. New York Post writer Jay Greenberg, in a recent article, made a strong case for a Bure deal, the foremost of which was that the Rangers suck quite badly. Other potential suitors include the Kings and Devils, who have a potential deal maker in defenceman Scott Niedermayer, who has demanded a trade.
While Brian Burke has not yet called me for my opinion on a Bure deal, I'd be quick to point out that a power-play quarterback has been desperately needed since the trade of Jeff Brown for Frantisek Kucera and Jim Dowd (who?).
Left wing remains the only forward position at which the Canucks have real depth with Bertuzzi, May, Naslund and Brashear, so an infusion of scoring at centre or right wing would also be welcome. I'm a lover of trade rumours great and small, so if you have one you'd like to share, and yes, perhaps even have posted on a big-time web site, or if you just want to tell me how much this column brightens up an otherwise meaningless existence, please e-mail me: canucks_eh@hotmail.com .
The Canucks' competition begins to improve over the next couple of weeks, so stick to LCS Hockey for all the news on the Northwest division leaders while the term is still accurate.
================================================================ ================================================================= TEAM REPORTS ================================================================= WESTERN CONFERENCE PACIFIC DIVISION ----------------------------------------------------------------- ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Craig Hartsburg ROSTER: C - Matt Cullen, Travis Green, Josef Marha, Steve Rucchin, Marty McInnis. LW - Johan Davidsson, Ted Drury, Stu Grimson, Paul Kariya, Jim McKenzie. RW - Antti Aalto, Jeff Nielsen, Tomas Sandstrom, Teemu Selanne. D - Mike Crowley, Kevin Haller, Jason Marshall, Frederik Olausson, Jamie Pushor, Ruslan Salei, Pascal Trepanier, Pavel Trnka. G - Guy Hebert, Dominic Roussel. INJURIES: Josef Marha, c (sprained ankle, day-to-day). TRANSACTIONS: 10/16, assigned Mike Leclerc, lw, to Cincinnati (AHL); 10/08, assigned Jamie Ram, g, to Cincinnati; acquired Marty McInnis, c, from the Chicago Blackhawks for a conditional draft pick. GAME RESULTS: 10/25 Phoenix T 2-2 10/21 Boston W 3-0 10/15 at Chicago W 5-3 10/13 at Montreal L 1-0 TEAM NEWS by Alex Carswell So far, so good. After an 0-3 start, in which they were twice blanked 1-0 (at Washington and Montreal), the Ducks managed to put together a couple of solid performances.
Coach Craig Hartsburg's first Anaheim win came against his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks, who fired him after they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 29 years (a then-record streak that eclipsed second-place St. Louis by a full decade). But the Chicago tilt was also a coming out party for Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, both of whom registered three points, and who have been dominating since -- although Kariya says he and Teemu aren't clicking "anywhere near" the level they hope to get to soon.
Most important for management and the coaching staff, however, has been Anaheim's overall defensive play. While there have been times that things behind the blue line looked fundamentally unchanged from last year, the Ducks have largely been playing solid team defense. At press time, they had given up just 10 goals over the first six games, which isn't bad. Knock off the four surrendered in the game two spanking at Philadelphia, and the stats tell a happy story.
We noted here that -- and this isn't brain surgery -- the key to Anaheim's success would be a turnaround in team defense that could contain the opposition until the big guns, a.k.a. Paul and Teemu, worked their magic. Thus far, that commitment by Ducks forwards to helping out in their own end has been evident.
Also helping has been the continued emergence of defenseman Mike Crowley, whose offensive prowess has been a catalyst to the Anaheim power play. Crowley finished strong last year and has continued to shine early on -- so much so that when Ruslan Salei's five-game suspension for a preseason transgression against Phoenix's Daniel Briere ended, Hartsburg scratched the big Russian in favor of the slight Minnesotan. Crowley had three assists (tying a Ducks rookie record) against Boston, and five points through the first six games.
HOME OWNERS
The win over Boston in their home opener was more than just a much-needed two points; it was a major moral victory. Last season, Anaheim won just 11 games at home. Needless to say, another similar dismal record would spell disaster for the denizens of The Pond. And while the team came out flat (after two widely publicized bad practices) against Phoenix, surrendering a goal in the opening minute, they rallied for two third-period scores and eked out a tie.
A REAL RIVALRY
All right, so the team has a ridiculous name, no history to speak of, and fans who often prefer the antics of the mascot to the game on the ice. But, damn it, they've got a rivalry. The phrase "no love lost" doesn't do justice to the feelings (and fisticuffs) that fly between Anaheim and Phoenix (whose "Hef's Pajamas" uniforms more than offset Anaheim's silly name).
Jeremy Roenick, the Phoenix star who -- with no apologies to Keith Tkachuk -- has been the heart and soul of every team he's ever played on, admits to a "bad taste" left over from the Coyotes first-round 1997 playoff loss. "I try to play every game the same," said J.R., "but, obviously, there are situations that are different." For Roenick, that means playing Chicago and, now, Anaheim.
Tough guy Jim McKenzie knows both sides of that street. Asked his first reaction upon being traded to the Ducks, the former Coyotes enforcer was hardly circumspect. "Geez," he more or less said, "I hate those guys." But now that Paul and Teemu are his meal tickets, he hates the other guys. McKenzie dished out four serious hits against his old mates and, though less to his credit, took a couple of aggressive penalties.
But who knows? Maybe having a real rivalry will inspire the fans to do less Jumbotron-watching and more puck-watching.
A REAL No. 2?
Having scored the game-winning goal against Chicago -- his first winner in over a year with Anaheim -- Tomas Sandstrom hopes to be well on his way to forgetting his disastrous previous campaign.
The feisty Swede is part of what Hartsburg hopes will be a reliable -- and productive -- second line, along with center Travis Green and left wing Johan Davidsson. Davidsson, a 1994 draft pick who was a mere "In the System" entry in the current media guide after finally signing with the Ducks this summer, has impressed with solid two-way play. And Green, who is as anxious as his coaches to achieve the potential he showed in his first three seasons, seems a good fit between the two.
Truth be told, the Ducks have never really had a productive second unit. If this trio can put up a few points while maintaining an overall plus rating, a long-term Anaheim problem could be solved. Of course, if Sandstrom had put up the numbers last year, the issue might have been moot.
BANH-ISHED
You had to figure Frank Banham would have a tough time cracking a Craig Hartsburg lineup, and so far that has proven to be the case. Banham, a gifted offensive player who showcased his natural scoring ability down the stretch last year, was the final forward cut before the season opened. Hartsburg felt Banham, who led Canadian Junior hockey with 83 goals in 1995-96, needed work on his D more than Anaheim needed his wicked shot.
That will only hold true as long as someone else lights the lamp, however. It says here Banham will be back.
----------------------------------------------------------------- DALLAS STARS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head coach: Ken Hitchcock roster: C-Mike Modano, Guy Carbonneau, Joe Nieuwendyk, Tony Hrkac, Aaron Gavey, Brian Skrudland. LW- Jamie Langenbrunner, Jason Botterill, Dave Reid, Brent Severyn, Jere Lehtinen, Jamie Wright. RW- Brett Hull, Mike Keane, Grant Marshall, Pat Verbeek. D-Derian Hatcher, Craig Ludwig, Darryl Sydor, Shawn Chambers, Richard Matvichuk, Sergei Zubov, Sergei Gusev. G-Ed Belfour, Roman Turek. injuries: Brent Severyn, lw, (neck sprain, day-to-day); Dan Keczmer, d, (meningitis, day-to-day). transactions: None. game results: 10/10 Buffalo W 4-1 10/13 Chicago W 3-1 10/15 Carolina T 2-2 OT 10/17 at Chicago L 4-3 10/20 Calgary W 3-1 10/22 Phoenix W 2-1 10/24 San Jose W 2-1 team news by Jim Panenka Stars D-man leads the O
This is just typical Dallas Stars stuff, here. After holding out for a better contract before the beginning of the season, Darryl Sydor returned to the team like a man on fire. Sydor has been on the ice for 16 of the Stars' 18 goals to date. And since he usually mans the point on the power play, its no wonder that he was a part of 11 of 12 overall power-play goals scored by Dallas.
Sydor scored a goal and assist against Buffalo, two assists against Chicago at home, an assist against Carolina, a power- play goal and two assists against Chicago at United Center, two goals and an assist against Calgary, and an assist against San Jose.
That totals up to 11 points in seven games. Syd led the league in scoring through October 25, and tied a career-best five-game scoring streak. All this coming from a player that settled for less money in order to get a contract signed prior to the team's first game.
Those stats are a good indication of the work ethic of the typical Star. And it should come as no surprise that a defenseman leads this team in scoring, given coach Ken Hitchcock's defense-first system.
"I'm not doing anything different," Sydor said. "I'm just throwing the puck down low. I feel confident, and confidence is a big thing in this game."
Hitchcock blasts team after some poor play
The Stars followed up two early wins with a tie and a loss, respectively. During both of these games, Dallas appeared a little overconfident and might have been suffering from Avalanche Disease. You know - that's when a team gets so good it sits back and just expects the win to happen. Well, that is just no bueno when it comes to life in the NHL Chet.
And Dallas' coach, a man known to get very upset when players don't work their hardest, did just that when the team began taking too much for granted. When asked how he planned to deal with this situation, the reply was typical Hitchcock.
"[With] practice, and lots of it," meaning he was going to work the team hard.
But, the team responded to the challenge and went on to win the next three games to finish with an overall record of 5- 1-1.
Power-play unit rules the league
Dallas' power-play squad of Modano, Hull, Lehtinen, Zubov, and Sydor has looked dominant. During the first two games, the special teams unit had seen plenty of action. And when they managed to set up shop in the offensive zone, they moved the puck with such precision that it must have been pretty unnerving to the penalty killers who had the misfortune of trying to stop them.
With that much of an offensive threat on the ice, the penalty killers can't do much more than get in the way and hope for the best. Whenever they would key in on Brett Hull snooping near the net, either Modano or Lehtinen would get enough ice to jockey for position and create a scoring chance.
Even if things got broken up down low, it was always a safe bet to send it up to the point, where Zubov or Sydor were more than capable of sending the puck back on net, usually with good results.
The Stars overall power-play record of 24.4 percent (through 10/22) leads the league.
Nieuwendyk Makes Triumphant Return
Dallas center Joe Nieuwendyk returned to the team just as dominant of a force as he had left it. Nieuwy played his first game back on Oct. 2 against Phoenix, and scored the game-winner on the power play in the third period.
Joe was skating as good or better than before he had reconstructive surgery on both knees, according to teammates. And the fact that he had a hand in winning his first game back with the team should come as no surprise.
It may not be too far-fetched to think that the Stars were not playing their best partially because they were missing Nieuwendyk's leadership on the ice. Not only does he provide a serious threat while anchoring the second line, he also serves as a quiet leader by always working hard and playing smart.
Beware: the Knee Wrecker cometh
Bryan "Puke" Marchment returned to the scene of the crime for the first time on Oct. 24 at Reunion Arena, this time with the San Jose Sharks.
Marchment has become one of the most hated men in Dallas since giving knee injuries to three Dallas players, and the fans made very sure they let him know it during the first period. They booed him at very opportunity, and also shouted some very choice words in unison.
There was a lot of pre-game hype prior to his return, but in the end no big brawl ever materialized. Dallas' enforcer Brent Severyn only played one shift before leaving the game due to an ongoing injury. This negated any opportunity for the two to drop the gloves.
The closest that the fans ever got to drawn blood was when Stars forward Grant Marshall made a run at Marchment every chance he had. That included some "smell the glove action" while Marchment was on his knees. Marshall swatted Marchment twice to the face in an attempt to get him to retaliate. Marchment declined the invitation.
Stars captain Derian Hatcher also lowered the boom on Marchment, making sure he knew he was being watched.
The Stars won the game 2-1 after a San Jose goal was called back, but the best part of the game was when Joe Nieuwendyk was finally able to extract some sweet revenge against the man that took him out of last year's playoffs in the first round.
Late in the third period, Nieuwendyk saw Marchment behind the net and took the opportunity to skate in and run him hard against the boards.
You'd like to think this might bring some closure to the whole affair, but be sure that the Stars will continue to keep an eye on Marchment, and the two teams will square off a few more times this season.
Take me home
Overall, the team is playing very well. But, they are having trouble scoring during 5-on-5 play, and Hitchcock has been juggling the lines in order to get the players to start looking for the goal at even strength.
The bright spots are that Nieuwendyk is back, and the first line of Hull-Modano-Lehtinen is easily one of the best, if not the best, in the league.
If the team sticks to the system, and discovers how to score at even strength, it appears that Dallas could easily run away with their division. They have all the pieces in place, it's just time to put them together.
The Stars face their most serious challenge to date when the defending champion Detroit Red Wings come to town this Saturday. The game should serve as a good indication of exactly where this team is at.
----------------------------------------------------------------- LOS ANGELES KINGS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Larry Robinson Roster: C - Jozef Stumpel, Ian Laperriere, Ray Ferraro, Roman Vopat, Yanic Perreault. LW - Steve McKenna, Vladimir Tsyplakov, Luc Robitaille, Craig Johnson, Josh Green. RW - Russ Courtnall, Nathan LaFayette, Glen Murray, Sandy Moger. D - Garry Galley, Rob Blake, Sean O'Donnell, Doug Bodger, Mattias Norstrom, Steve Duchesne, Philippe Boucher. G - Stephane Fiset, Jamie Storr, Ryan Bach, Manny Legace. Injuries: Stephane Fiset, g (groin, day-to-day); Jamie Storr, g (groin, week or so); Jozef Stumpel, c (hip, day- to-day); Ian Laperriere, c (knee, undetermined). Transactions: Acquired Ryan Bach, g, from Detroit in exchange for a conditional draft pick; recalled Manny Legace, g, from Long Beach (IHL); recalled and sent back down Alexey Volkov, g, to the Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL and one of the better team names in hockey). Game Results 10/12 at Vancouver L 4-2 10/16 Boston W 2-1 10/18 Colorado T 5-5 10/21 at Florida T 1-1 10/23 at Tampa Bay L 3-2 10/25 at Carolina W 3-2 Team News by Matthew Moore The bodies keep on washing ashore. Or so it seems as the Kings are going through a rather harsh stretch of injuries, particularly to the goaltenders.
It all started in the 5-5 tie with Colorado. Stephane Fiset went down with a groin injury and Jamie Storr relieved him. Unfortunately Storr then went down with his own groin injury but was able to finish the game. However his injury was worse in the long run, with him having to go on the injured reserve.
Manny Legace and Alexey Volkov were both called up to spell the injured goalies, with Legace becoming the number one. In his first three starts of his career, Legace has put in some pretty impressive time. He faced 50 shots in his first game against Florida, allowing one goal. Admittedly I think the stat keeper was on crack during that game since there were a few phantom shots there, but he still got peppered pretty good.
Alexey Volkov, who was a draft pick of the Kings this past year, was only there for one game as a backup, which is a pretty good thing since he looks so damn young and seeing him play would have made me feel so damn old.
The Kings, a little desperate for a backup goaltender who could shave, went out and got themselves Ryan Bach from the Red Wings for a conditional draft pick. And luckily he got into town in time for the Tampa Bay game, where Legace started but got run over by Darcy Tucker, suffering a concussion as a result. Bach stepped in and gave up two goals on 23 shots. The odd thing about Bach was that he still had his red helmet and pads, making him look like he was a Red Wing.
In other injury news, Jozef Stumpel is suffering from a hip injury he suffered in the last exhibition game. The injury cuts down his maneuverability considerably, and it showed, since he pretty much sucked in the games he did try and play. Ian Laperriere, also a center, partially tore an ACL and is trying to return after only doing rehab. If surgery is required, he'll be out for the season, which would be quite a loss since there aren't that many small players who play like psychos in this league.
As a result of those injuries, Ray Ferraro has gone from being an extra forward who would center a checking line or would be scratched to being the No. 2 center.
One thing that the injuries to the goaltenders have highlighted is that the Kings are deeper there than they used to be. If this string of injuries had occurred two seasons ago, Andre "Red Light" Racicot would have been called up as a replacement, with Daniel Berthiaume probably being dug up from the grave as a backup.
But it also highlights how crappy of a job that the Kings have been doing both offensively and defensively. What the hell is 50 shots on poor Legace in his first NHL game? That many shots usually only happens in practice, when the goaltender is some poor clubhouse boy pushed out on the ice in pads.
The reason for the shots? It mostly has to do with the breaking from the basics: by not making the safe play, by not getting the puck out of their zone when they get a chance, by them trying to make the fancy play and turning it over. It is only by the grace of God and some damn fine goaltending that the Kings don't have more than the two losses.
Many of those reasons also apply to the struggling offense. They are not going into the corners enough, instead preferring to try and make the risky pass into the zone instead of driving it in deep. They are not shooting as much as they should, forgetting the fact of how can you score if it doesn't go toward the net? And finally they aren't crashing the net like they should. One exception to that is Sandy Moger, who can be seen camping out front all the time.
Good news? The Kings have the best penalty-killing unit in the league, and are second in the league in shorthanded goals. How are they doing this? They have excellent goaltending and one of the better defensive corps in the league, but the key has been the depth of forwards who play penalty kills. This allows there to always be fresh bodies out there who can be aggressive knowing they will not be having to stay out there most, if not all, of the penalty.
Russ Courtnall is having an exceptional year on the PK, already scoring a shorthanded goal and getting several other chances. Many times his speed makes the others on the ice look like they are wearing lead skates and his constant pressure is impressive. Yanic Perreault has also scored two shorthanded goals. When he and Luc Robitaille are out there during penalty-killing situations, it seems like they are on the offense more than the other team.
Aki Berg played his first games in Finland, making him pretty much lost to the Kings for the rest of the season. If he were to sign with the Kings and attempted to play this season he would have to clear waivers, meaning all those teams hurting for a big young defenseman would have a chance to steal him away.
But maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. The boy is pretty delusional as to his worth, considering he scored all of eight points last season, was a paltry +3 on the ol' +/- scale, was sporadic defensively, and was going to be a fifth or sixth defenseman for the Kings. C'mon, he's lucky to even be in the NHL. So let him play in Finland. Heck, what will probably happen is that a GM for a defensively challenged team will take a hit from a crack pipe and call the Kings in order to make a trade. Berg will become the J.J. Daigneault of his generation, good enough to get out of the minors and to hop from team to team.
----------------------------------------------------------------- PHOENIX COYOTES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Jim Schoenfeld Roster: C - Jeremy Roenick, Cliff Ronning, Bob Corkum, Mike Stapleton, Juha Ylonen. LW - Keith Tkachuk, Greg Adams, Jim Cummins, Mike Sullivan. RW - Rick Tocchet, Dallas Drake, Brad Isbister, Shane Doan, Jocelyn Lemieux. D - Keith Carney, Gerald Diduck, Bryan Helmer, Jyrki Lumme, Teppo Numminen, Oleg Tverdovsky, Deron Quint, Michel Petit, Sean Gagnon, Jason Doig. G - Nikolai Khabibulin, Jimmy Waite. Injuries: Dallas Drake, rw (broken ankle, 4-6 weeks). Transactions: Sent Daniel Briere, c, and Brad Isbister, rw, to Las Vegas (IHL); placed Dallas Drake, rw, on injured reserved; recalled Brad Isbister, rw, from Las Vegas; returned Isbister to Las Vegas and recalled Briere. GAME RESULTS 10/11 Ottawa L 4-1 10/15 Colorado W 5-2 10/19 Boston W 3-1 10/22 at Dallas L 2-1 TEAM NEWS by Bob Chebat Head coach Jim Schoenfeld has finally decided to pair up center Jeremy Roenick with Keith Tkachuk.
Schoenfeld vowed that he would give the two some time to work together. After a successful venture against the Colorado Avalanche, the two were paired up again for the Boston Bruins game on the 19th. Less than four minutes into the game, Keith Tkachuk silenced the fans' boos by taking a feed from JR to bury his first goal of the season. Dallas Drake was the right wing on the line with the two star forwards. Also note that the Coyotes 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche was the first win since the franchise relocated to Phoenix in 1996. In eight games, the Avalanche were 7-0-1 against Phoenix.
The new line took a blow just two days later when Drake was injured at practice in a freak accident with fellow teammate Bryan Helmer. Drakes' skate was caught in a rut in the ice and Helmer landed on him causing his ankle to brake. Some reports are saying it is a fracture, but regardless, Drake will miss 4-6 weeks of action. Brad Isbister who has been under heavy criticism from his coach for lack of effort was recalled from Las Vegas just two days after being sent down and will be given another opportunity to prove himself. However, Isbister was sent down again in favor of rookie Daniel Briere.
The Coyotes immediately felt the loss of Drake when they took on division rival Dallas. The Coyotes took an early lead against the Stars on Greg Adams' first goal of the year, but that was all the team could muster as the Stars defense forced Phoenix into taking several bad penalties en route to a 2-1 victory.
The game against the Stars marked the beginning of a five-game road trip that will also feature the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks and finish up with the goalie-less Los Angeles Kings on November 1. The way the Kings goalies are going down this season, we might see Rogie Vachon back in between the pipes for this game.
----------------------------------------------------------------- SAN JOSE SHARKS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Darryl Sutter roster: C - Bernie Nicholls, Patrick Marleau, Marco Sturm, Mike Ricci, Tony Granato, Jaime Baker. LW - Shawn Burr, Murray Craven, Stephane Matteau, Dave Lowry, Jeff Friesen. RW - Ron Stern, Owen Nolan, Joe Murphy D - Bryan Marchment, Bill Houlder, Marcus Ragnarsson, Mike Rathje, Andrei Zyuzin, Bob Rouse, Gary Suter. G - Mike Vernon, Steve Shields, Bruce Racine. injuries: Marcus Ragnarsson, d (knee, day-to-day); Gary Suter, d (elbow, indefinite (again)). transactions: None. game results: 10/18 Boston L 3-0 10/20 at Philadelphia L 3-1 10/22 at Chicago T 2-2 10/24 at Dallas L 2-1 team news by Al Swanson Greetings Fin Fans and welcome to yet another year of Sharks Hockey.
This is the team's eighth season and the media has long ago stopped calling us the expansion Sharks -- meaning we should be considered a mainline, regular NHL team. The first two seasons, the Sharks managed to set a precedent no other team has followed. Good thing, since it was a precedent for losing. The next two years, management managed to put together a group of almost over-the-hillers and youngsters that battled back under Coach Constantine to the "Greatest Turn-Around in NHL History". Those two years, the Sharks made it to the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs, the first time upsetting first-place Detroit in an amazing seven-game series. The next time losing to a still-smarting Detroit team that swept the Fish out in four.
The next two years saw the demise of Constantine after a dismal start to the season, only to be followed up by an even worse middle and end to that season. Then, under Darryl Sutter, last year the team began to come back together. Dean Lombardi and Sutter constructed a team with a purpose. They took time-honored vets and teamed them with promising rookies to put together a great second half of the season. For the first time in three years, the Sharks made the postseason and even managed to get to Game 6 against the first place Dallas Stars before the Stars put them in the stands for the rest of the playoffs.
Like was mentioned last edition, Lombardi and Sutter brought in Joe Murphy, Bryan Marchment, Gary Suter, Steve Shields and Mike Vernon and kept Owen Nolan (did I mentioned he was re-signed? Two more teal and white years for the top pole-banger in the league), Jeff Friesen (re-signed for three years), and Bernie Nicholls. Then they threw in rookies Patrick Marleau, Andrei Zyuzin, and now Andy Sutton and Scott Hannan. All in all, a pretty impressive change.
But enough of the history lesson. What about the current year, you ask? Ah, it's all old news.
The first two games against Calgary were without the twosome of Friesen and Nolan. And without Rags and Suter on the blue line. So you can give the games to Calgary for that. The home opener against Boston, all four holdouts (Friesen, Nolan, Ricci and Rathje) were present, albeit a bit rusty - and it showed. A 3-0 shellacking of our Friendly Fins. Mighty Mike let in two of the first four shots, prompting Sutter to pull Mikey and put in the recently healed Steve Shields. Shields lasted 19 seconds before letting in his first, though to his credit, he did make every save after that. The team did not look ready. And who the hell is Tallas?
In the next matchup against Philly, they looked worse. Philly came in 9-3-1 all-time and left 10-3-1, with the Beezer having only faced 17 shots. Vernon didn't fare as well, facing 37 and letting in three. The highlight was Jeff's first goal off a gorgeous pass from Nolan. But that was the only highlight.
The Sharks then traveled on to Chicago to face the rejuvenated Blackhawks. They scored the fastest two goals in team history on goals from Nolan (his first) and Murphy (his second) in 47 seconds. The Sharks lost Murphy in the game to a pulled hamstring and then lost the lead as Daze and Amonte tallied for the Hawks. The overtime Chicago goal was disallowed giving the Fins their first point since their first game.
Dallas was waiting for Marchment more than Christians are the Second Coming. Bryan had other ideas. Despite Grant Marshall's attempt to get him to fight, Marchment kept his cool and played the whole game. Marshall gave San Jose a four-minute power play on which the Fightless Fins couldn't even manage a shot. A disallowed goal - from the video replay judge! - shot down SJ's chances of salvaging at least a tie out of the game. The same arena saw the Sharks lose Game 5 in the first round of the playoffs last year to a goal that the on-ice official refused to have reviewed. Now they can order it from above. Irony in its finest form.
Word around the watering hole is that Suter may have worse than a simple strained elbow and that the infection from the summer may have lingered on. If true, this is yet another strike against a team already punchless in the offensive department. Punchless too, in the fighting department. Since McSlowly's departure, there is no one to step up to the heavyweights. Andy Sutton (6-6, 245) may be the ray of hope there, but he's better on the ice than in the box.
The Sharks are off to their worst start - hard as that is to imagine - in their eight-year history and remain the one team in the league without a win. Nine of the next 11 are at home - traditionally a weak spot to play for the Sharks - but maybe they can surprise us all by pulling off one win in October. With Suter out, Rags hurt and the offense seemingly unable to pull the trigger - the average is around 18 shots per game - the Sharks look destined to spend at least the beginning of this season in a very familiar spot - last place. Hey, at least from there you can only go up! And next year's just around the corner!!
================================================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------- NEXT ISSUE: Wednesday, November 11. ---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- PLAYER STATS (thru Oct. 25) ---------------------------------------------------------------- TEAM P NO PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG ANA L 9 Kariya, Paul 6 3 5 8 4 0 2 1 0 0 35 8.6 ANA R 8 Selanne, Teemu 6 3 4 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 20 15.0 ANA D 25 *Crowley, Mike 4 1 3 4 2 6 0 0 0 0 6 16.7 ANA C 20 Rucchin, Steve 6 1 2 3 4 4 0 0 0 1 14 7.1 ANA R 17 Sandstrom, Tomas 6 1 1 2 0 12 0 0 1 0 16 6.3 ANA D 2 Olausson, Fredrik 6 1 1 2 -1 4 1 0 0 0 10 10.0 ANA L 33 McKenzie, Jim 4 1 0 1 -1 4 0 0 1 0 5 20.0 ANA C 22 *Davidsson, Johan 6 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 ANA C 39 Green, Travis 6 0 1 1 0 8 0 0 0 0 17 0.0 ANA D 5 Haller, Kevin 6 0 1 1 0 8 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 ANA C 10 Marha, Josef 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 ANA L 12 *LeClerc, Mike 2 0 0 0 -1 4 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 ANA D 27 *Trepanier, Pascal 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 ANA C 18 Drury, Ted 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 ANA R 19 Nielsen, Jeff 6 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 ANA C 11 Cullen, Matt 6 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 13 0.0 ANA D 4 Pushor, Jamie 6 0 0 0 3 9 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 ANA L 32 Grimson, Stu 6 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 ANA C 14 *Aalto, Antti 6 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 ANA D 7 Trnka, Pavel 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 ANA D 23 Marshall, Jason 6 0 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 BOS L 14 Samsonov, Sergei 8 3 4 7 -1 0 2 0 0 0 14 21.4 BOS C 41 Allison, Jason 8 1 5 6 -3 6 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 BOS R 12 Khristich, Dmitri 7 2 2 4 1 0 2 0 1 0 13 15.4 BOS R 42 Ferraro, Peter 7 2 1 3 3 4 0 0 1 0 8 25.0 BOS R 23 Heinze, Steve 8 2 1 3 1 4 1 0 0 0 12 16.7 BOS D 77 Bourque, Ray 8 1 2 3 1 6 1 0 1 0 23 4.3 BOS L 11 Axelsson, P.J. 8 1 1 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 13 7.7 BOS D 20 Van Impe, Darren 7 0 2 2 0 10 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 BOS D 44 Ellett, Dave 8 0 2 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 BOS L 57 *Laaksonen, Antti 6 1 0 1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 BOS L 22 Baumgartner, Ken 8 1 0 1 1 20 0 0 0 1 4 25.0 BOS C 6 Thornton, Joe 8 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 16.7 BOS R 19 DiMaio, Rob 6 0 1 1 -1 17 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 BOS D 36 Ledyard, Grant 8 0 1 1 -2 6 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 BOS D 32 Sweeney, Don 8 0 1 1 -2 6 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 BOS D 25 Gill, Hal 8 0 1 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 BOS L 21 Donato, Ted 8 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 BOS R 56 *Nordstrom, Peter 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 BOS C 26 Taylor, Tim 3 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 BOS D 55 *Girard, Jonathan 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 BOS C 50 Taylor, Chris 7 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 BUF C 27 Peca, Michael 6 2 3 5 -3 22 2 0 0 0 12 16.7 BUF D 5 Woolley, Jason 6 1 3 4 -2 6 1 0 1 0 25 4.0 BUF L 18 Grosek, Michal 6 1 3 4 -3 4 1 0 0 0 14 7.1 BUF R 25 Varada, Vaclav 6 1 3 4 -1 0 0 0 1 0 12 8.3 BUF R 81 Satan, Miroslav 6 0 4 4 -2 6 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 BUF L 80 Sanderson, Geoff 6 2 1 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 13 15.4 BUF L 15 Ward, Dixon 6 2 1 3 1 14 0 0 0 0 9 22.2 BUF C 19 Holzinger, Brian 6 2 0 2 -1 2 1 0 0 0 8 25.0 BUF C 37 Brown, Curtis 6 1 1 2 -2 2 1 0 0 0 14 7.1 BUF D 44 Zhitnik, Alexei 6 1 1 2 0 8 0 0 0 0 18 5.6 BUF D 42 Smehlik, Richard 5 0 2 2 0 6 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 BUF L 36 Barnaby, Matthew 6 0 2 2 -2 10 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 BUF C 22 Primeau, Wayne 4 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 25.0 BUF C 26 Plante, Derek 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 BUF L 32 Ray, Rob 6 0 1 1 1 28 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 BUF D 40 *Ndur, Rumun 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 BUF D 3 Patrick, James 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 BUF D 29 *Holland, Jason 3 0 0 0 -1 8 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 BUF D 8 Shannon, Darryl 6 0 0 0 -2 8 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 BUF D 74 McKee, Jay 6 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 BUF L 24 Kruse, Paul 6 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 CGY R 14 Fleury, Theo 7 4 3 7 0 14 1 0 0 0 34 11.8 CGY D 6 Housley, Phil 7 1 6 7 0 2 1 0 0 0 13 7.7 CGY R 8 Bure, Valeri 7 3 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 16.7 CGY C 16 Stillman, Cory 7 1 5 6 -1 8 0 0 1 0 17 5.9 CGY L 24 Wiemer, Jason 7 1 4 5 0 31 0 0 0 0 9 11.1 CGY R 12 Iginla, Jarome 7 3 1 4 0 6 2 0 0 0 16 18.8 CGY C 21 Cassels, Andrew 7 1 3 4 -1 2 0 0 0 0 7 14.3 CGY L 25 Roche, Dave 7 1 3 4 -1 17 1 0 1 0 4 25.0 CGY R 18 McInnis, Marty 6 1 1 2 -1 6 0 0 0 0 7 14.3 CGY D 53 Morris, Derek 7 1 1 2 -3 13 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 CGY C 46 *St. Louis, Martin 7 1 1 2 -2 6 0 0 0 0 11 9.1 CGY D 32 Hulse, Cale 7 1 0 1 -1 16 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 CGY D 27 Simpson, Todd 7 0 1 1 -1 22 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 CGY R 62 *Fata, Rico 7 0 1 1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 CGY D 38 Charron, Eric 3 0 0 0 -1 4 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 CGY R 33 Pankewicz, Greg 3 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 CGY R 42 Ward, Ed 5 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 CGY D 5 Albelin, Tommy 5 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 CGY D 55 Smith, Steve 6 0 0 0 -5 14 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 CGY C 23 *Wilm, Clarke 7 0 0 0 -1 11 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 CAR C 55 Primeau, Keith 7 4 4 8 1 4 2 0 1 0 17 23.5 CAR L 10 Roberts, Gary 7 2 5 7 2 10 0 0 0 0 9 22.2 CAR R 26 Sheppard, Ray 7 2 3 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 22 9.1 CAR R 24 Kapanen, Sami 6 3 1 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 18 16.7 CAR L 18 Kron, Robert 7 2 2 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 17 11.8 CAR C 21 Francis, Ron 7 1 3 4 -2 2 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 CAR D 3 Chiasson, Steve 7 1 3 4 2 4 1 0 0 0 23 4.3 CAR C 92 O'Neill, Jeff 7 0 3 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 13 0.0 CAR R 19 Emerson, Nelson 7 1 1 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 22 4.5 CAR L 23 Gelinas, Martin 7 1 0 1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 CAR L 13 Battaglia, Bates 4 0 1 1 -2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 CAR D 4 Pratt, Nolan 4 0 1 1 -2 9 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 CAR D 33 Karpa, David 7 0 1 1 -2 20 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 CAR D 22 Hill, Sean 7 0 1 1 -1 2 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 CAR R 11 Dineen, Kevin 7 0 1 1 -1 13 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 CAR D 46 *Rucinski, Mike 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 CAR D 6 Burt, Adam 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 CAR L 28 Ranheim, Paul 5 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 CAR C 44 Manderville, Kent 6 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 CAR D 2 Wesley, Glen 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 CAR D 7 Leschyshyn, Curtis 7 0 0 0 -2 10 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 CHI R 10 Amonte, Tony 7 6 1 7 0 0 3 0 1 0 25 24.0 CHI C 93 Gilmour, Doug 7 1 6 7 2 6 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 CHI C 36 Zhamnov, Alex 7 1 6 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 17 5.9 CHI R 55 Daze, Eric 6 3 2 5 3 0 1 0 1 1 20 15.0 CHI D 7 Chelios, Chris 7 1 3 4 3 6 0 0 0 0 17 5.9 CHI C 15 Kilger, Chad 7 3 0 3 -1 6 1 0 1 0 12 25.0 CHI L 25 *Cleary, Dan 7 1 2 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 9 11.1 CHI L 19 Moreau, Ethan 7 1 1 2 -1 9 0 0 1 0 8 12.5 CHI C 11 Shantz, Jeff 7 1 0 1 -1 4 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 CHI D 3 Laflamme, Christian 7 1 0 1 4 10 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 CHI D 4 Zmolek, Doug 7 0 1 1 1 6 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 CHI L 24 Probert, Bob 7 0 1 1 0 43 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 CHI C 14 Dubinsky, Steve 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 CHI R 22 *Mills, Craig 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 CHI R 16 Olczyk, Ed 3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 CHI D 8 Russell, Cam 4 0 0 0 2 10 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 CHI D 5 Yawney, Trent 4 0 0 0 -1 4 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 CHI D 2 Weinrich, Eric 4 0 0 0 -2 4 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 CHI R 27 *Jones, Ty 6 0 0 0 -1 7 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 CHI D 32 *Nasreddine, Alain 6 0 0 0 2 19 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 CHI D 6 *Royer, Remi 7 0 0 0 -6 24 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 CHI C 20 Janssens, Mark 7 0 0 0 -1 5 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 COL C 19 Sakic, Joe 6 5 5 10 -3 2 1 3 0 0 20 25.0 COL C 21 Forsberg, Peter 6 0 7 7 1 12 0 0 0 0 19 0.0 COL R 18 Deadmarsh, Adam 4 3 1 4 2 28 1 0 0 0 8 37.5 COL D 5 Gusarov, Alexei 6 0 4 4 -2 6 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 COL R 22 Lemieux, Claude 6 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 1 1 25 12.0 COL C 37 *Drury, Chris 5 2 1 3 2 4 0 0 0 0 13 15.4 COL R 23 *Hejduk, Milan 6 2 1 3 -6 0 1 0 0 0 10 20.0 COL L 11 Jones, Keith 4 1 2 3 -3 16 0 0 0 0 4 25.0 COL D 2 Lefebvre, Sylvain 6 0 2 2 0 6 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 COL D 15 Crowley, Ted 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 COL L 13 Kamensky, Valeri 6 0 1 1 -4 4 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 COL D 52 Foote, Adam 6 0 1 1 -3 17 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 COL D 3 Miller, Aaron 6 0 1 1 -1 6 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 COL D 29 Messier, Eric 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 COL D 43 *Smith 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 COL L 16 Rychel, Warren 2 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 COL D 6 *Belak, Wade 3 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 COL R 12 Donovan, Shean 4 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 COL L 20 Corbet, Rene 5 0 0 0 -1 7 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 COL L 28 Lacroix, Eric 6 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 COL R 36 Odgers, Jeff 6 0 0 0 0 37 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 COL D de Vries, Greg 6 0 0 0 -4 4 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 COL D 24 Klemm, Jon 6 0 0 0 -2 17 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 COL C 26 Yelle, Stephane 6 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 DAL D 5 Sydor, Darryl 7 4 7 11 1 2 3 0 1 0 27 14.8 DAL R 22 Hull, Brett 7 1 6 7 2 2 1 0 0 0 28 3.6 DAL C 9 Modano, Mike 7 3 3 6 3 4 0 0 2 1 25 12.0 DAL R 15 Langenbrunner, Jamie 7 2 4 6 -2 8 2 0 0 0 9 22.2 DAL D 56 Zubov, Sergei 7 1 5 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 19 5.3 DAL R 16 Verbeek, Pat 7 3 2 5 -1 8 3 0 1 0 14 21.4 DAL R 26 Lehtinen, Jere 7 2 1 3 2 4 2 0 0 0 22 9.1 DAL C 25 Nieuwendyk, Joe 2 1 2 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 5 20.0 DAL D 24 Matvichuk, Richard 7 2 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 6 33.3 DAL C 21 Carbonneau, Guy 6 0 2 2 -2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 DAL R 29 Marshall, Grant 7 0 1 1 0 10 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 DAL R 12 Keane, Mike 7 0 1 1 -2 12 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 DAL C 41 Hrkac, Tony 7 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 DAL L 28 *Botterill M 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 DAL C 23 Gavey M 2 0 0 0 -1 4 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 DAL C 10 Skrudland, Brian 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 DAL L 17 Severyn, Brent 3 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 DAL L 46 *Wright M 5 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 DAL D 2 Hatcher, Derian 7 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 DAL D 27 Chambers, Shawn 7 0 0 0 -2 6 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 DAL L 14 Reid, Dave 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0.0 DAL D 3 Ludwig, Craig 7 0 0 0 -2 26 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 DET L 14 Shanahan, Brendan 7 7 3 10 6 6 1 0 1 0 32 21.9 DET C 19 Yzerman, Steve 7 1 9 10 6 2 1 0 1 0 26 3.8 DET R 25 McCarty, Darren 7 3 5 8 4 9 1 0 1 0 11 27.3 DET D 55 Murphy, Larry 7 2 3 5 6 6 1 0 0 0 14 14.3 DET C 91 Fedorov, Sergei 7 1 4 5 -4 0 1 0 0 0 18 5.6 DET C 8 Larionov, Igor 7 1 3 4 0 6 0 0 0 0 11 9.1 DET L 96 Holmstrom, Tomas 7 0 4 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 DET R 17 Brown, Doug 7 3 0 3 1 4 1 0 1 0 23 13.0 DET R 20 Lapointe, Martin 7 2 1 3 -1 14 1 0 0 0 13 15.4 DET D 5 Lidstrom, Nicklas 7 0 3 3 6 2 0 0 0 0 15 0.0 DET D 11 Dandenault, Mathieu 6 1 0 1 -1 2 0 0 1 0 5 20.0 DET C 23 *Roest M 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 DET D 4 Krupp, Uwe 5 0 1 1 -2 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 DET D 34 Macoun, Jamie 6 0 1 1 -2 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 DET D 44 Eriksson, Anders 7 0 1 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 DET L 13 Kozlov, Vyacheslav 7 0 1 1 -1 2 0 0 0 0 20 0.0 DET D 27 Ward, Aaron 4 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 DET R 26 Kocur, Joe 6 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 DET R 18 Maltby, Kirk 7 0 0 0 -3 6 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 DET C 33 Draper, Kris 7 0 0 0 -2 10 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 EDM R 9 Guerin, Bill 7 6 1 7 2 30 4 0 0 0 20 30.0 EDM C 20 Beranek, Josef 5 1 5 6 3 0 1 0 0 0 11 9.1 EDM R 51 Kovalenko, Andrei 7 1 5 6 2 0 0 0 1 0 11 9.1 EDM R 25 Grier, Mike 7 1 4 5 2 11 0 0 0 0 14 7.1 EDM D 22 Hamrlik, Roman 7 0 5 5 3 8 0 0 0 0 16 0.0 EDM C 39 Weight, Doug 3 0 4 4 -2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 EDM R 42 Brown, Kevin 6 3 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 9 33.3 EDM C 26 Marchant, Todd 7 2 1 3 1 4 1 0 0 0 11 18.2 EDM L 19 Devereaux, Boyd 7 2 1 3 3 2 0 0 1 0 6 33.3 EDM D 2 Mironov, Boris 4 1 2 3 2 6 0 0 1 0 12 8.3 EDM L 17 Murray, Rem 7 1 2 3 0 8 0 0 0 0 14 7.1 EDM L 16 Buchberger, Kelly 7 0 3 3 3 9 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 EDM R 10 Falloon, Pat 7 2 0 2 -1 0 2 0 0 0 11 18.2 EDM L 37 McAmmond, Dean 7 0 2 2 -1 4 0 0 0 0 15 0.0 EDM L 94 Smyth, Ryan 5 1 0 1 -2 2 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 EDM D 23 *Brown, Sean 4 0 1 1 1 42 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 EDM D 44 Niinimaa, Janne 7 0 1 1 2 10 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 EDM D 33 McSorley, Marty 7 0 1 1 1 21 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 EDM R 7 *Lindquist, Fredrik 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 EDM C 21 Lacroix, Daniel 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 EDM D 8 Musil, Frank 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 EDM D 32 *Millar, Craig 6 0 0 0 1 21 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 EDM D 5 *Poti, Tom 6 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 FLA L 25 Kozlov, Viktor 6 3 2 5 4 2 0 0 0 0 29 10.3 FLA R 16 *Kvasha, Oleg 6 1 4 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 24 4.2 FLA L 14 Whitney, Ray 5 2 1 3 -2 0 2 0 1 0 6 33.3 FLA C 21 *Parrish, Mark 6 2 1 3 1 4 0 0 1 0 15 13.3 FLA C 15 Gagner, Dave 6 1 2 3 1 6 0 0 0 1 10 10.0 FLA D 55 Jovanovski, Ed 6 0 2 2 -1 19 0 0 0 0 13 0.0 FLA D 5 Murphy, Gord 6 0 2 2 -2 2 0 0 0 0 17 0.0 FLA D 8 *Spacek, Jaroslav 6 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 10 10.0 FLA D 24 Svehla, Robert 5 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 FLA D 7 Warrener, Rhett 6 0 1 1 -2 6 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 FLA R 19 Dvorak, Radek 6 0 1 1 -3 2 0 0 0 0 21 0.0 FLA C 44 Niedermayer, Rob 6 0 1 1 -1 12 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 FLA C 17 Washburn, Steve 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 FLA D 6 Norton, Jeff 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 FLA L 29 Garpenlov, Johan 6 0 0 0 -2 6 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 FLA L 12 *Hay, Dwayne 6 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 FLA C 9 Muller, Kirk 6 0 0 0 -3 11 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 FLA L 11 Lindsay, Bill 6 0 0 0 -3 14 0 0 0 0 14 0.0 FLA D 3 Laus, Paul 6 0 0 0 0 21 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 FLA L 28 *Worrell, Peter 6 0 0 0 -1 14 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 LAK L 20 Robitaille, Luc 7 4 3 7 1 2 0 0 2 0 29 13.8 LAK C 44 Perreault, Yanic 7 4 2 6 2 8 1 2 0 0 22 18.2 LAK D 4 Blake, Rob 7 1 5 6 0 4 0 0 0 0 20 5.0 LAK C 26 Ferraro, Ray 5 1 2 3 1 8 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 LAK R 19 Courtnall, Russ 7 1 2 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 7 14.3 LAK D 8 Bodger, Doug 7 0 3 3 0 4 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 LAK R 27 Murray, Glen 7 2 0 2 -5 2 1 0 0 0 17 11.8 LAK R 45 Moger, Sandy 7 1 1 2 -1 6 0 0 1 0 7 14.3 LAK D 14 Norstrom, Mattias 7 1 1 2 -1 6 0 1 0 0 5 20.0 LAK L 21 *Green, Josh 4 1 0 1 -1 2 1 0 0 0 4 25.0 LAK L 17 Johnson, Matt 6 1 0 1 0 24 0 0 0 0 1 100.0 LAK D 43 Boucher, Philippe 7 0 1 1 -2 4 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 LAK D 6 O'Donnell, Sean 7 0 1 1 1 22 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 LAK L 9 Tsyplakov, Vladimir 7 0 1 1 -1 10 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 LAK C 22 LaPerriere, Ian 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 LAK D 3 Galley, Garry 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 LAK C 29 Vopat, Roman 3 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 LAK C 15 Stumpel, Jozef 4 0 0 0 -4 0 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 LAK L 23 Johnson, Craig 5 0 0 0 -1 8 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 LAK D 7 McKenna, Steve 5 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 LAK D 28 Duchesne, Steve 6 0 0 0 -3 8 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 LAK C 24 LaFayette, Nathan 7 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 MTL R 8 Recchi, Mark 7 0 9 9 0 4 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 MTL C 25 Damphousse, Vincent 7 4 3 7 3 6 2 1 1 0 26 15.4 MTL L 17 Brunet, Benoit 7 2 3 5 1 4 0 2 0 0 17 11.8 MTL D 38 Malakhov, Vladimir 7 3 1 4 1 8 2 0 1 0 13 23.1 MTL C 11 Koivu, Saku 7 2 2 4 -1 0 0 1 0 0 11 18.2 MTL L 24 Thornton, Scott 7 2 0 2 2 28 0 0 0 1 10 20.0 MTL L 27 Corson, Shayne 3 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 MTL D 5 Quintal, Stephane 7 0 2 2 3 4 0 0 0 0 14 0.0 MTL L 37 Poulin, Patrick 7 0 2 2 1 4 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 MTL L 49 Savage, Brian 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 33.3 MTL D 29 Clark, Brett 7 1 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 MTL D 55 Ulanov, Igor 7 1 0 1 0 16 0 0 0 0 6 16.7 MTL D 52 Rivet, Craig 7 1 0 1 2 16 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 MTL R 23 Stevenson, Turner 5 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 MTL C 34 Zholtok, Sergei 6 0 1 1 -3 0 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 MTL L 26 Rucinsky, Martin 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 MTL R 42 *Delisle, Jonathan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 MTL D 43 Brisebois, Patrice 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 MTL L 14 *Ryan, Terry 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 MTL D 3 *Brown, Brad 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 MTL L 36 Morissette, Dave 3 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 MTL L 46 *Higgins, Matt 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 MTL D 48 *Guren, Miroslav 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 MTL D 22 Manson, Dave 5 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 MTL C 6 McCleary, Trent 6 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 MTL L 44 Hoglund, Jonas 6 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 NSH R 25 Krivokrasov, Sergei 7 4 3 7 2 16 2 0 0 0 18 22.2 NSH C 22 Johnson, Greg 7 1 6 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 6.7 NSH L 19 Brunette, Andrew 7 2 3 5 1 6 1 0 0 0 11 18.2 NSH C 38 Nelson, Jeff 7 2 1 3 -1 0 0 0 0 0 8 25.0 NSH R 23 Atcheynum, Blair 7 1 2 3 0 10 0 0 0 0 7 14.3 NSH D 36 Daigneault, J.J. 5 1 1 2 -3 10 1 0 1 0 5 20.0 NSH C 24 Walker, Scott 7 1 1 2 -2 15 0 1 0 0 9 11.1 NSH L 32 Daniels, Jeff 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 NSH D 20 Heward, Jamie 6 0 2 2 -5 4 0 0 0 0 16 0.0 NSH D 5 Vopat, Jan 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 16.7 NSH L 28 Lambert, Denny 5 1 0 1 1 16 0 0 0 0 4 25.0 NSH L 10 Kjellberg, Patrick 5 1 0 1 -1 2 0 0 0 0 1 100.0 NSH D 27 Slaney, John 4 0 1 1 -1 2 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 NSH C 71 Bordeleau, Sebastien 6 0 1 1 -2 2 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 NSH D 42 Bouchard, Joel 7 0 1 1 2 6 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 NSH L 8 Friedman M 1 0 0 0 -1 14 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 NSH R 12 Smyth M 3 0 0 0 -1 6 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 NSH D 15 Berehowsky, Drake 3 0 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 NSH D 4 More, Jay 4 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 NSH C 9 Turcotte, Darren 5 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 NSH F 17 *Cote, Patrick 6 0 0 0 0 25 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 NSH R 21 Fitzgerald, Tom 7 0 0 0 -7 6 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 NSH D 6 Boughner, Bob 7 0 0 0 -1 10 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 NJD L 23 Andreychuk, Dave 5 1 4 5 0 4 1 0 0 0 10 10.0 NJD C 17 Sykora, Petr 6 3 0 3 4 2 1 0 0 0 10 30.0 NJD L 26 Elias, Patrik 6 2 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 0 15 13.3 NJD C 9 *Morrison, Brendan 5 1 2 3 -1 0 1 0 0 0 2 50.0 NJD C 25 Arnott, Jason 5 1 2 3 -2 2 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 NJD L 14 Rolston, Brian 6 1 2 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 19 5.3 NJD D 6 Bombardir, Brad 6 0 3 3 0 4 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 NJD C 16 Holik, Bobby 6 1 1 2 -2 2 0 0 0 0 17 5.9 NJD D 4 Stevens, Scott 6 0 2 2 3 8 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 NJD C 10 Pederson, Denis 6 0 2 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 NJD R 21 McKay, Randy 2 1 0 1 1 4 0 0 1 0 4 25.0 NJD L 20 Pandolfo, Jay 6 1 0 1 -1 6 0 0 1 0 7 14.3 NJD C 19 Carpenter, Bob 5 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 NJD D 28 Dean, Kevin 6 0 1 1 1 6 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 NJD L 22 Daniels, Jeff 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 NJD D 34 *Muir, Bryan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 NJD C 18 Brylin, Sergei 2 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 NJD R 8 *Sharifijanov, Vadim 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 NJD L 32 Lakovic, Sasha 3 0 0 0 0 33 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 NJD D 24 Odelein, Lyle 5 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 NJD D 2 Souray, Sheldon 6 0 0 0 -1 13 0 0 0 0 13 0.0 NJD D 3 Daneyko, Ken 6 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 NJD L 29 Oliwa, Krzysztof 6 0 0 0 -1 22 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 NYI C 21 Reichel, Robert 7 1 5 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 16 6.3 NYI C 32 Linden, Trevor 7 4 1 5 1 8 2 0 0 0 15 26.7 NYI C 13 Lapointe, Claude 7 3 2 5 1 6 0 1 1 0 14 21.4 NYI D 29 Jonsson, Kenny 7 2 3 5 0 8 1 0 0 0 6 33.3 NYI C 20 Smolinski, Bryan 7 1 4 5 0 10 0 0 0 0 16 6.3 NYI D 34 Berard, Bryan 7 1 2 3 -2 8 1 0 1 0 20 5.0 NYI L 24 Odjick, Gino 7 2 0 2 -1 32 1 0 1 0 11 18.2 NYI L 10 Dawe, Jason 6 1 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 NYI R 12 *Watt, Mike 6 0 1 1 -3 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 NYI D 7 Lachance, Scott 7 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 NYI R 25 Czerkawski, Mariusz 7 0 1 1 -2 0 0 0 0 0 13 0.0 NYI L 18 Hough, Mike 2 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 NYI D 2 Pilon, Rich 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 NYI L 33 Belanger, Ken 4 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 NYI D 38 Richter, Barry 6 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 NYI D 4 *Brewer, Eric 6 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 NYI C 17 Nemchinov, Sergei 7 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 NYI R 14 Sacco, Joe 7 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 13 0.0 NYI D 6 Harlock, David 7 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 NYI R 11 Miller, Kevin 7 0 0 0 -4 4 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 NYR C 99 Gretzky, Wayne 8 1 6 7 -3 0 1 0 0 0 24 4.2 NYR D 2 Leetch, Brian 8 2 4 6 1 4 1 0 0 0 22 9.1 NYR R 20 Harvey, Todd 6 2 2 4 0 8 1 0 0 1 10 20.0 NYR L 9 Graves, Adam 8 2 2 4 -2 10 2 0 0 0 15 13.3 NYR D 25 Schneider, Mathieu 5 1 2 3 -3 4 1 0 1 0 9 11.1 NYR L 17 Stevens, Kevin 7 1 2 3 0 4 0 0 1 0 14 7.1 NYR R 24 Sundstrom, Niklas 8 1 2 3 -2 6 0 0 0 0 7 14.3 NYR R 15 MacLean, John 8 2 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 13 15.4 NYR R 22 Knuble, Mike 8 1 1 2 -2 0 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 NYR R 27 Kovalev, Alexei 8 0 2 2 -2 10 0 0 0 0 17 0.0 NYR D 23 Beukeboom, Jeff 8 0 2 2 -2 12 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 NYR C 6 *Malhotra, Manny 5 1 0 1 -3 0 0 0 0 0 9 11.1 NYR L 10 Tikkanen, Esa 8 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 NYR D 26 Finley, Jeff 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 NYR C 28 Stock, P.J. 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 NYR C 32 York, Harry 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 NYR D 14 Smith M 3 0 0 0 -4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 NYR C 21 Fraser, Scott 5 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 NYR L 19 Langdon, Darren 5 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 NYR D 34 Popovic, Peter 6 0 0 0 -4 2 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 NYR R 37 Fedyk, Brent 7 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 NYR D 8 Mertzig, Jan 7 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 NYR D 5 Samuelsson, Ulf 8 0 0 0 1 12 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 OTW C 19 Yashin, Alexei 6 0 5 5 2 8 0 0 0 0 27 0.0 OTW L 21 Johansson, Andreas 6 2 2 4 1 4 2 0 0 0 18 11.1 OTW D 6 Redden, Wade 6 2 2 4 2 4 0 0 1 0 11 18.2 OTW L 15 McEachern, Shawn 6 1 3 4 -2 2 0 0 0 0 18 5.6 OTW R 10 Dackell, Andreas 6 3 0 3 -1 2 1 0 0 0 11 27.3 OTW L 20 Arvedson, Magnus 4 2 1 3 3 8 0 1 1 0 10 20.0 OTW D 4 Phillips, Chris 6 2 1 3 1 12 1 0 0 0 11 18.2 OTW C 25 Gardiner, Bruce 5 1 2 3 2 7 0 0 0 0 4 25.0 OTW C 13 Prospal, Vaclav 6 1 2 3 -4 0 1 0 0 0 12 8.3 OTW D 29 Kravchuk, Igor 6 0 3 3 2 4 0 0 0 0 16 0.0 OTW C 14 Bonk, Radek 6 2 0 2 1 4 0 0 1 0 8 25.0 OTW C 22 Van Allen, Shaun 6 1 1 2 -1 2 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 OTW D 24 Neckar, Stanislav 3 0 2 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 OTW D 33 York, Jason 3 0 1 1 -2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 OTW R 12 Oliver, David 6 0 1 1 -1 2 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 OTW R 17 Murray, Chris 6 0 1 1 -3 9 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 OTW D 3 *Traverse, Patrick 3 0 0 0 -4 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 OTW D 5 *Salo R 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 OTW R 26 Crowe, Phil 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 OTW D 2 Pitlick, Lance 6 0 0 0 -2 4 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 OTW R 28 Leach, Steve 6 0 0 0 -4 2 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 PHI C 88 Lindros, Eric 7 6 4 10 5 12 1 0 0 1 25 24.0 PHI L 10 LeClair, John 7 5 5 10 5 4 2 0 2 0 23 21.7 PHI C 17 Brind'Amour, Rod 7 3 5 8 2 0 3 0 0 1 11 27.3 PHI D 3 McGillis, Dan 7 0 6 6 3 2 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 PHI D 37 Desjardins, Eric 7 1 4 5 2 6 1 0 0 0 18 5.6 PHI L 15 *Maneluk, Mike 6 0 3 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 PHI L 12 Forbes, Colin 7 2 0 2 2 4 0 0 1 0 14 14.3 PHI R 19 Daigle, Alexandre 6 1 1 2 -1 0 1 0 1 0 10 10.0 PHI C 77 Gratton, Chris 7 0 2 2 -1 4 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 PHI D 5 *Tertyshny, Dimitri 5 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 PHI C 11 Sillinger, Mike 6 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 PHI L 21 Kordic, Dan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 PHI C 28 Bureau, Marc 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 PHI D 6 Therien, Chris 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 PHI L 26 Zelepukin, Valeri 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 PHI D 44 Babych, Dave 5 0 0 0 -2 6 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 PHI R 8 Hull, Jody 6 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 PHI L 25 Podein, Shjon 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0.0 PHI D 23 Svoboda, Petr 7 0 0 0 5 14 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 PHI R 9 Zubrus, Dainius 7 0 0 0 -2 10 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 PHI D 22 Richardson, Luke 7 0 0 0 -1 9 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 PHO D 10 Tverdovsky, Oleg 5 3 1 4 2 0 2 0 1 0 14 21.4 PHO L 11 Drake, Dallas 4 1 3 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 PHO C 97 Roenick, Jeremy 5 1 3 4 1 6 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 PHO C 77 Ronning, Cliff 5 1 3 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 14 7.1 PHO R 22 Tocchet, Rick 5 1 3 4 0 11 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 PHO L 7 Tkachuk, Keith 5 2 1 3 4 4 0 0 0 0 12 16.7 PHO D 27 Numminen, Teppo 5 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 PHO C 36 Ylonen, Juha 5 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 PHO L 26 Sullivan, Mike 5 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 7 14.3 PHO C 14 Stapleton, Mike 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 33.3 PHO R 21 Corkum, Bob 5 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 PHO D 20 Lumme, Jyrki 5 0 1 1 -1 4 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 PHO L 17 Adams, Greg 5 0 1 1 -4 4 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 PHO R 16 Isbister, Brad 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 PHO C 8 *Briere, Daniel 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 PHO R 15 Cummins, Jim 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 PHO D 3 Carney, Keith 5 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 PHO D 2 Helmer, Bryan 5 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 PHO R 19 Doan, Shane 5 0 0 0 -4 4 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 PHO D 4 Diduck, Gerald 5 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 PIT R 68 Jagr, Jaromir 5 1 8 9 3 6 1 0 0 0 19 5.3 PIT C 20 Lang, Robert 5 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 18.2 PIT C 82 Straka, Martin 5 2 2 4 2 6 0 0 0 0 12 16.7 PIT L 9 Titov, German 5 2 2 4 2 0 1 0 1 0 10 20.0 PIT C 14 Barnes, Stu 5 2 1 3 -2 0 1 0 0 0 18 11.1 PIT D 5 Werenka, Brad 5 1 2 3 1 2 0 0 1 0 9 11.1 PIT D 4 Hatcher, Kevin 5 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 9.1 PIT R 95 Morozov, Alexei 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 PIT D 48 Serowik, Jeff 5 0 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 PIT C 38 *Hrdina, Jan 5 0 2 2 -4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 PIT D 8 Dollas, Bobby 5 1 0 1 -2 2 0 0 0 0 2 50.0 PIT L 18 Lebeau, Patrick 5 1 0 1 -2 2 0 0 0 0 3 33.3 PIT C 44 Brown, Rob 5 0 1 1 -2 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 PIT R 28 *Kesa, Dan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 PIT C 37 Miller, Kip 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 PIT D 6 Wilkinson, Neil 2 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 PIT C 29 Wright, Tyler 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 PIT D 71 Slegr, Jiri 4 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 PIT D 46 Ignatjev, Victor 4 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 8 0.0 PIT D 2 Tamer, Chris 4 0 0 0 -1 10 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 PIT D 24 Moran, Ian 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 SJS R 17 Murphy, Joe 5 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 16 12.5 SJS C 18 Ricci, Mike 6 1 2 3 -2 2 0 0 0 1 4 25.0 SJS C 19 Sturm, Marco 6 1 2 3 -1 8 1 0 0 0 5 20.0 SJS R 11 Nolan, Owen 4 1 1 2 -1 4 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 SJS L 21 Granato, Tony 5 1 1 2 -1 4 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 SJS C 14 Marleau, Patrick 6 1 1 2 -1 2 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 SJS D 6 *Hannan, Scott 3 0 2 2 -2 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 SJS C 32 Craven, Murray 6 0 2 2 -2 4 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 SJS C 39 Friesen, Jeff 4 1 0 1 -2 0 1 0 0 0 11 9.1 SJS D 40 Rathje, Mike 6 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 6 16.7 SJS D 2 Houlder, Bill 6 1 0 1 -5 2 1 0 0 0 1 100.0 SJS C 13 Baker, Jamie 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 SJS L 26 Lowry, Dave 3 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 SJS L 16 Hicks, Alex 4 0 1 1 -1 4 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 SJS L 37 Matteau, Stephane 5 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 SJS C 8 Skalde, Jarrod 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 SJS D 20 Suter, Gary 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 SJS L 42 *Sutton, Andy 3 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 SJS C 9 Nicholls, Bernie 3 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 SJS L 7 Burr, Shawn 3 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 SJS C 12 Sutter, Ron 3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 SJS D 4 Zyuzin, Andrei 6 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 SJS D 3 Rouse, Bob 6 0 0 0 -2 4 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 SJS R 22 Stern, Ronnie 6 0 0 0 -1 13 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 SJS D 27 Marchment, Bryan 6 0 0 0 -2 21 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 STL D 2 MacInnis, Al 6 4 4 8 5 8 1 0 2 0 23 17.4 STL L 38 Demitra, Pavol 6 3 4 7 3 6 2 0 0 0 19 15.8 STL C 77 Turgeon, Pierre 6 1 5 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 16 6.3 STL C 15 *Reasoner, Marty 6 1 4 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 13 7.7 STL L 34 Picard, Michel 3 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 40.0 STL D 44 Pronger, Chris 6 2 1 3 4 12 1 0 0 0 14 14.3 STL C 32 Eastwood, Mike 6 1 2 3 2 4 0 0 0 0 4 25.0 STL R 10 Campbell, Jim 5 0 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 STL L 14 Courtnall, Geoff 5 1 1 2 0 8 0 0 0 0 14 7.1 STL D 6 Rivers, Jamie 6 0 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 STL C 26 *Handzus, Michal 6 0 2 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 STL R 39 Chase, Kelly 3 1 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 4 25.0 STL L 18 Twist, Tony 4 1 0 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 4 25.0 STL C 25 Rheaume, Pascal 5 0 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 STL C 22 Conroy, Craig 6 0 1 1 -1 2 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 STL R 48 Young, Scott 5 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 STL D 19 McAlpine, Chris 6 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 STL D 5 Gill, Todd 6 0 0 0 -2 6 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 STL D 4 Bergevin, Marc 6 0 0 0 -3 7 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 STL L 33 Pellerin, Scott 6 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 13 0.0 TBL C 21 Janney, Craig 8 1 8 9 3 0 0 0 0 1 10 10.0 TBL L 17 Clark, Wendel 8 5 3 8 1 2 2 0 0 0 27 18.5 TBL C 16 Tucker, Darcy 8 3 3 6 -1 23 1 1 1 0 18 16.7 TBL D 5 Cullimore, Jassen 6 3 1 4 3 8 1 0 1 0 11 27.3 TBL R 20 Renberg, Mikael 8 1 3 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 11 9.1 TBL L 7 Zamuner, Rob 8 1 2 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 TBL D 13 *Kubina, Pavel 8 1 2 3 1 16 0 0 1 0 18 5.6 TBL D 4 Cross, Cory 8 0 3 3 -3 6 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 TBL R 44 Richer, Stephane 4 1 1 2 -5 0 0 0 0 0 9 11.1 TBL R 29 Selivanov, Alexander 5 1 1 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 14 7.1 TBL C 8 *Lecavalier, Vincent 8 1 1 2 -3 2 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 TBL D 23 Sykora, Michal 5 0 2 2 -2 0 0 0 0 0 15 0.0 TBL R 34 Andersson, Mikael 6 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 TBL D 6 Wilkie, David 2 0 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 TBL C 18 Langkow, Daymond 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 TBL R 10 McCarthy, Sandy 8 0 1 1 -2 16 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 TBL D 14 Dykhuis, Karl 8 0 1 1 -5 6 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 TBL L 33 Hogue, Benoit 8 0 1 1 -3 12 0 0 0 0 13 0.0 TBL C 11 Kelly, Bob 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 TBL C 12 Cullen, John 4 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 TBL L 15 Ysebaert, Paul 4 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 TBL R 62 Nazarov, Andrei 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 TBL D 28 Samuelsson, Kjell 5 0 0 0 -3 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 TBL D 39 Ciccone, Enrico 6 0 0 0 2 6 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 TOR C 13 Sundin, Mats 7 4 7 11 7 4 2 0 1 0 22 18.2 TOR R 94 Berezin, Sergei 7 5 2 7 3 2 1 0 0 0 33 15.2 TOR R 32 Thomas, Steve 7 2 5 7 5 4 0 0 1 0 17 11.8 TOR L 7 King, Derek 6 2 3 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 12 16.7 TOR C 18 McCauley, Alyn 7 2 3 5 3 0 0 0 1 0 17 11.8 TOR R 22 Korolev, Igor 7 1 4 5 5 6 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 TOR L 19 Modin, Fredrik 7 2 2 4 4 4 0 0 0 1 16 12.5 TOR D 25 Smith, Jason 7 0 4 4 7 2 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 TOR D 15 *Kaberle, Tomas 7 2 1 3 2 2 0 0 1 0 9 22.2 TOR R 20 Johnson, Mike 7 2 1 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 15 13.3 TOR L 10 Valk, Garry 7 1 2 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 13 7.7 TOR D 36 Yushkevich, Dimitri 7 0 3 3 3 6 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 TOR D 52 Karpovtsev, Alexander 5 1 1 2 5 8 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 TOR R 28 Domi, Tie 7 1 1 2 -1 19 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 TOR D 3 Cote, Sylvain 7 1 1 2 3 8 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 TOR L 12 King, Kris 7 1 0 1 -2 9 0 0 0 0 6 16.7 TOR C 11 Sullivan, Steve 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 TOR D 55 *Markov, Daniil 5 0 1 1 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 TOR L 8 Warriner, Todd 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 TOR D 4 Dahl, Kevin 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 TOR D 38 Tremblay, Yannick 5 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 TOR C 14 Hendrickson, Darby 6 0 0 0 -1 4 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 VAN C 11 Messier, Mark 7 3 5 8 2 6 2 0 1 0 12 25.0 VAN D 2 Ohlund, Mattias 7 3 4 7 1 6 1 0 0 0 17 17.6 VAN R 89 Mogilny, Alexander 7 2 5 7 4 4 0 1 0 0 7 28.6 VAN L 9 May, Brad 7 1 5 6 -1 4 1 0 0 0 8 12.5 VAN R 44 Bertuzzi, Todd 7 3 2 5 4 6 1 0 1 0 16 18.8 VAN C 22 Zezel, Peter 7 2 3 5 0 2 1 0 1 0 12 16.7 VAN D 6 Aucoin, Adrian 7 1 4 5 4 14 1 0 0 0 18 5.6 VAN R 17 *Muckalt, Bill 7 2 2 4 4 4 0 0 1 0 6 33.3 VAN L 19 Naslund, Markus 5 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 VAN C 27 Convery, Brandon 5 0 2 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 VAN R 20 Scatchard, Dave 7 1 0 1 -2 8 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 VAN D 3 Hedican, Bret 6 0 1 1 2 6 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 VAN L 8 Brashear, Donald 7 0 1 1 -2 12 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 VAN D 36 McAllister, Chris 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 VAN D 5 Murzyn, Dana 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 VAN D 7 Huscroft, Jamie 4 0 0 0 -2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 VAN D 18 Robertsson, Bert 4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 VAN L 24 *Cooke, Matt 5 0 0 0 -2 8 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 VAN R 26 Klatt, Trent 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 VAN D 25 Staios, Steve 7 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 VAN D 34 Strudwick, Jason 7 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 VAN D 23 Baron, Murray 7 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 WSH D 15 Mironov, Dmitri 7 1 4 5 4 10 1 0 0 0 16 6.3 WSH R 12 Bondra, Peter 7 2 2 4 1 10 0 0 1 0 39 5.1 WSH C 90 Juneau, Joe 7 2 2 4 2 6 0 0 0 0 18 11.1 WSH C 77 Oates, Adam 7 1 2 3 4 2 0 0 0 0 14 7.1 WSH R 34 Svejkovsky, Jarolsav 7 2 0 2 2 4 0 0 1 0 15 13.3 WSH L 27 Berube, Craig 7 2 0 2 2 21 0 0 0 0 8 25.0 WSH L 26 *Herr, Matt 7 1 1 2 1 4 0 0 0 0 11 9.1 WSH D 6 Johansson, Calle 7 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 13 7.7 WSH D 19 Witt, Brendan 6 0 2 2 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 WSH L 23 Bellows, Brian 7 0 2 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 25 0.0 WSH L 10 Miller, Kelly 7 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 WSH L 44 Zednik, Richard 5 1 0 1 -2 4 1 0 1 0 12 8.3 WSH L 9 Chorske, Tom 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 WSH D 29 Reekie, Joe 4 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 WSH D 24 Tinordi, Mark 7 0 1 1 2 6 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 WSH L 28 Black, James 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 WSH L 22 Konowalchuk, Steve 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 WSH L 18 Halverson, Trevor 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 WSH D 3 Malgunas, Stewart 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.0 WSH D 4 Gonchar, Sergei 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 WSH C 36 Eagles, Mike 4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 WSH L 17 Simon, Chris 6 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 WSH C 32 Hunter, Dale 7 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 WSH D 2 Klee, Ken 7 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 7 0.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------- GOALIE STATS (thru Oct. 25) ---------------------------------------------------------------- GOALTENDER GPI MINS AVG W L T EN SO GA SA SPCTG G A PIM --------------------------------------------------------------------------- JOHN VANBIESBROUCK 7 429 1.26 4 1 2 1 9 141 .936 0 0 0 RON HEXTALL 1 60 2.00 1 0 0 0 2 26 .923 0 0 0 PHI TOTALS 8 490 1.35 5 1 2 0 1 11 167 .934 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- OLAF KOLZIG 6 363 1.32 3 2 1 2 8 172 .953 0 0 0 RICK TABARACCI 1 65 1.85 0 0 1 0 2 33 .939 0 0 0 WAS TOTALS 7 430 1.40 3 2 2 0 2 10 205 .951 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROMAN TUREK 1 60 1.00 1 0 0 0 1 14 .929 0 0 0 ED BELFOUR 6 364 1.65 4 1 1 0 10 138 .928 0 0 0 DAL TOTALS 7 425 1.55 5 1 1 0 0 11 152 .928 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHRIS OSGOOD 6 359 1.17 5 1 0 2 7 147 .952 0 0 0 KEVIN HODSON 1 59 5.08 0 1 0 0 5 27 .815 0 0 0 DET TOTALS 7 420 1.71 5 2 0 0 2 12 174 .931 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROB TALLAS 2 120 1.50 1 1 0 1 3 53 .943 0 0 0 BYRON DAFOE 6 368 1.79 2 3 1 2 11 177 .938 0 0 0 BOS TOTALS 8 488 1.72 3 4 1 0 3 14 230 .939 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEAN BURKE 4 255 1.41 1 0 3 0 6 93 .935 0 0 0 KIRK MCLEAN 2 120 2.50 1 1 0 1 5 53 .906 0 0 0 FLA TOTALS 6 375 1.76 2 1 3 0 1 11 146 .925 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOMINIC ROUSSEL 1 60 1.00 0 1 0 0 1 34 .971 0 0 0 GUY HEBERT 5 304 1.97 2 2 1 1 10 144 .931 0 0 0 ANA TOTALS 6 365 1.81 2 3 1 0 1 11 178 .938 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- JIMMY WAITE 1 60 1.00 1 0 0 0 1 20 .950 0 0 0 NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN 5 304 2.17 2 2 1 0 11 129 .915 0 0 2 PHO TOTALS 6 365 1.97 3 2 1 0 0 12 149 .919 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- JOCELYN THIBAULT 6 364 1.98 3 2 1 1 12 171 .930 0 0 0 JOSE THEODORE 1 59 2.03 0 1 0 0 2 20 .900 0 0 0 MON TOTALS 7 425 1.98 3 3 1 0 1 14 191 .927 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARTURS IRBE 5 298 1.01 2 0 2 0 5 124 .960 0 0 0 TREVOR KIDD 3 136 4.41 0 2 1 0 10 58 .828 0 0 0 CAR TOTALS 7 435 2.07 2 2 3 0 0 15 182 .918 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOMINIK HASEK 7 428 2.10 2 3 2 2 15 207 .928 0 0 2 BUF TOTALS 7 430 2.09 2 3 2 0 2 15 207 .928 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHRIS TERRERI 1 60 1.00 1 0 0 0 1 21 .952 0 0 0 MARTIN BRODEUR 5 298 2.42 2 3 0 0 12 110 .891 0 0 0 NJD TOTALS 6 360 2.17 3 3 0 0 0 13 131 .901 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MANNY LEGACE 4 217 1.38 1 1 1 0 5 130 .962 0 0 0 STEPHANE FISET 3 171 1.75 2 0 0 0 5 70 .929 0 0 0 JAMIE STORR 2 76 3.95 0 1 1 0 5 34 .853 0 0 2 RYAN BACH 1 28 4.29 0 1 0 0 2 23 .913 0 0 0 LOS TOTALS 8 493 2.19 3 3 2 1 0 18 258 .930 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOMMY SALO 8 478 2.13 4 4 0 3 17 197 .914 0 0 0 NYI TOTALS 8 480 2.25 4 4 0 1 3 18 198 .909 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- COREY HIRSCH 1 7 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 7 1.000 0 0 0 GARTH SNOW 8 470 2.43 4 4 0 1 19 235 .919 0 0 2 VAN TOTALS 8 480 2.38 4 4 0 0 1 19 242 .921 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAN CLOUTIER 2 98 1.84 0 1 0 0 3 58 .948 0 0 0 MIKE RICHTER 8 454 2.64 2 3 3 1 20 221 .910 0 0 0 NYR TOTALS 9 555 2.49 2 4 3 0 1 23 279 .918 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAMIE MCLENNAN 4 238 2.27 2 2 0 0 9 79 .886 0 0 0 GRANT FUHR 3 185 2.92 1 1 1 0 9 67 .866 0 0 0 STL TOTALS 7 425 2.54 3 3 1 0 0 18 146 .877 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CURTIS JOSEPH 6 364 2.31 3 2 1 0 14 167 .916 0 1 0 FELIX POTVIN 2 120 3.50 2 0 0 0 7 67 .896 0 0 0 TOR TOTALS 8 485 2.60 5 2 1 0 0 21 234 .910 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RON TUGNUTT 3 173 2.08 1 1 0 0 6 77 .922 0 0 0 DAMIAN RHODES 4 184 2.93 2 2 0 0 9 63 .857 0 0 0 OTT TOTALS 6 360 2.67 3 3 0 1 0 16 141 .887 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MARK FITZPATRICK 2 100 1.20 2 0 0 0 2 41 .951 0 0 0 JEFF HACKETT 6 324 2.96 2 2 1 0 16 160 .900 0 0 2 CHI TOTALS 7 425 2.68 4 2 1 1 0 19 202 .906 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOB ESSENSA 3 118 2.54 0 2 0 0 5 50 .900 0 0 0 MIKHAIL SHTALENKOV 6 299 2.61 3 2 0 0 13 142 .908 0 0 0 EDM TOTALS 7 420 2.71 3 4 0 1 0 19 193 .902 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAREN PUPPA 5 305 2.56 2 2 1 1 13 138 .906 0 1 0 BILL RANFORD 3 180 3.33 1 2 0 0 10 107 .907 0 0 0 TAM TOTALS 8 485 2.85 3 4 1 0 1 23 245 .906 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- STEVE SHIELDS 2 105 1.71 0 0 1 0 3 46 .935 0 0 0 MIKE VERNON 5 263 3.42 0 4 1 0 15 127 .882 0 0 0 SAN TOTALS 6 370 2.92 0 4 2 0 0 18 173 .896 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOM BARRASSO 3 131 2.29 2 0 0 0 5 55 .909 0 0 0 PETER SKUDRA 4 219 2.74 1 2 1 1 10 88 .886 0 0 0 JEAN-SEBASTIAN AUBIN 1 12 10.00 0 0 0 0 2 2 . 0 0 0 0 PIT TOTALS 6 365 2.96 3 2 1 1 1 18 146 .877 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIKE DUNHAM 7 423 2.98 2 4 1 0 21 240 .913 0 0 0 ERIC FICHAUD 1 60 5.00 0 1 0 0 5 25 .800 0 0 0 NAS TOTALS 8 485 3.22 2 5 1 0 0 26 265 .902 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KEN WREGGET 7 423 3.55 2 4 1 0 25 210 .881 0 0 2 CGY TOTALS 7 425 3.53 2 4 1 0 0 25 210 .881 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATRICK ROY 6 363 3.97 1 4 1 0 24 169 .858 0 0 10 CRAIG BILLINGTON 1 59 4.07 0 1 0 0 4 27 .852 0 0 0 COL TOTALS 7 425 4.09 1 5 1 1 0 29 197 .853 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ lcshockeylcshockeylcshockeylcshockeylcshockeywatchmrshowlcshocke ================================================================