_ _ _ _ | | ____ ___ | | ____ ___ | | ____ ___ | | ____ ___ | |/ _ / __| | |/ _ / __| | |/ _ / __| | |/ _ / __| | | (_ \__ \ | | (_ \__ \ | | (_ \__ \ | | (_ \__ \ |_|\____\___/ |_|\____\___/ |_|\____\___/ |_|\____\___/ GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY ================================================================ Five Star - ELECTRONIC EDITION - * * * * * ================================================================ Issue 18 April 25 - May 9 Uh, it's free ---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------PLAYOFF RACES BEGINNING TO HEAT UP---------- With the start of the playoffs less than two weeks away, the late season scramble for postseason positioning has begun. LCS will now put the playoff picture into perspective. Let's start out West. Detroit has wrapped up the number one seed overall, while Calgary will have the second seed for winning the Pacific Division even though they have fewer points than third seed St. Louis. Toronto, Dallas, Chicago, and Vancouver will all battle it out for positions four through seven, but who cares about that? The real excitement is in who will squeak into the playoffs in the eighth spot. San Jose, Los Angeles, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Anaheim are all fighting for that final playoff berth. Through Sunday, April 24, San Jose, Edmonton, and Los Angeles all have 35 points. If the season were to end today, San Jose would get the nod because they have more wins. Edmonton is only one point back with 34, and Anaheim is two back with 33. Here are the remaining schedules for all five teams battling for the last playoff spot: San Jose (35 pts) - Calgary, at Anaheim, L.A., St. Louis, Dallas, Vancouver. Los Angeles (35 pts) - Detroit, at San Jose, Anaheim, at Winnipeg, at Chicago. Winnipeg (35 pts) - Edmonton, Detroit, at Edmonton, at Chicago, Los Angeles. Edmonton (34 pts) - at Winnipeg, St. Louis, Winnipeg, Toronto, at Calgary. Anaheim (33 pts) - Calgary, San Jose, at L.A., St. Louis, Toronto. The Eastern Conference is even wackier than the West. Not only are the seventh and eighth spots up for grabs between Buffalo, Montreal, Hartford, Florida, and the Rangers; but Quebec and Pittsburgh are still fighting it out for the top spot. The Nordiques own a two point lead on the Penguins, but Pittsburgh has one game in hand. And don't forget about the Flyers. If either Quebec or Pittsburgh falters in the last week, Philly could slip into the top spot. Besides the big three at the top, New Jersey, Boston, and Washington appear to be in. Here are the remaining schedules for all the teams duking it out for either the top or bottom playoff spots: Quebec (60 pts) - Montreal, Tampa Bay, at New Jersey, Hartford. Pittsburgh (58 pts) - at New Jersey, Boston, at Boston, at Washington, Florida. Buffalo (42 pts) - at Tamp Bay, Florida, at Washington, at Montreal, Montreal, New Jersey. Rangers (41 pts) - Washington, Tampa Bay, Islanders, at Philadelphia, Florida. Montreal (41 pts) - Hartford, at Quebec, Buffalo, at Buffalo, Boston. Hartford (41 pts) - at Montreal, at Boston, Philadelphia, at Quebec. Florida (39 pts) - at Ottawa, at Buffalo, at New Jersey, Washington, at Rangers, at Pittsburgh. ------------------------------------------------------ NEW KING IN LOS ANGELES, MELROSE SENT PACKING The man who was once spotted by the staff of LCS buying a hot dog "his way right away" on the streets of Hartford, is now looking for a job. On April 21, the Los Angeles Kings fired head coach, and hot dog connoisseur, Barry Melrose along with assistant coach Cap Raeder. Besides the now famous hot dog incident in Hartford, Melrose is most well known for leading the Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals in his first season with the club, back in 1992-93. Last season, the Kings struggled under Melrose and actually missed the playoffs with a pathetic record of 27-45-12. When this year started the Kings were once again having their problems. After a small mid-season run by the club apparently saved his job, a recent seven game winless streak forced management to make a decision. At the time of his firing Los Angeles was 13-21- 7, two points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with only seven games remaining on the schedule. Taking Melrose's place behind the bench will be club president Rogie Vachon, with former King star Dave Taylor acting as his assistant. For more on the Melrose firing, check out the Los Angeles team report later in this issue. ______________________________________________________ CREDITS Michael Dell...........................Editor-in-Chief Zippy the Wonder Chimp....................Computer Boy Jim Iovino................................Ace Reporter Matthew Secosky...............Actually Wrote Something Dan Hurwitz................Force for Cultural Hegemony Brad Murray...................................Stat Guy Steve Eitzen....................Winnipeg Correspondent Thom Borland......................Dallas Correspondent Laura Mulcahy...................Hartford Correspondent Brad Ross........................Toronto Correspondent Matt Moore...................Los Angeles Correspondent Richard Rosa................N.Y.Islander Correspondent Brian Wishnow....................Detroit Correspondent Matt Brown........................Boston Correspondent Dan Glovier......................Chicago Correspondent Mike McCarthy...................St.Louis Correspondent Paul Michael Glaser............................Starsky David Soul.......................................Hutch Antonio Fargas..............................Huggy Bear ------------------------------------------------------ LCS guide to hockey is published, oh, about every two weeks depending on the time of year and the amount of slush puppies consumed. Cost to you our valued readers: Nothin', although, donations are appreciated, because, as always, WE NEED SOME FOOD! I'm not kidding, boy, oh, boy, do we need money! If you can't send money, how about sending some Tasty Cakes Koffee Kakes, not the ones with the cream in the middle, just the plain ones...damn, thems tasty! Email address: bh397@freenet.carleton.ca Good ol' postal address: 632 Hempfield Street, Greensburg, PA 15601. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ LCS pledge drive update ------------------------------------------------------ The pledge drive continues to roll. Before we get to the list of kind people who have sent donations, some confusion needs to be cleared up. If you are sending a check as your donation, you can go ahead and write it out to LCS. Yes, LCS has a bank account in its name. Now, if we only had enough money in the account to buy a Slush Puppie Machine... By the way, in case you usually skip past the credits box, our address is: 632 Hempfield Street, Greensburg, PA 15601. And Remember, everyone who donates at least three bucks gets their very own LCS Membership Card...wow. The following is the list of kind people who have already done their part to keep LCS goin'. Richard J. Thompson Saratoga, California Merrin Locke Oakland, California Alan Tignanelli N. Versailles, Pennsylvania Tom Twork San Jose, California Douglas R. Weise Erlanger, Kentucky Bob Heckel Raleigh, North Carolina Jeff Espy Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Joe Greco Roslyn, Pennsylvania George Hewitt Newark, California Stephanie Delaney San Francisco, California Frank Hagelberg Rochester, New York G. R. Moore Boardman, Ohio David Sullivan Austin, Texas Diana L. Quarles Columbus, Ohio Michael J. Dutt Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Charley Reed Joshua, Texas Charles Goetz Chicago, Illinois Ken St. Andre Phoenix, Arizona Charley Prevost Studio City, California Matt Carlin Ithaca, New York Andrea Lindgren Woodside, California Chuck Katz Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania Buddy Weiss Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania David Landsman Valley Forge, Pennsylvania Andrea Lindgren Woodside, California Y. Huang Memphis, Tennessee Hans Willmann Benicia, California Richard Isaak Londonderry, New Hampshire Steven Shaver Oakmont, Pennsylvania Once again, thank you to everyone who has pledged and to all of you fine people out there who will in the future. Without the kindness of you fine people, LCS would not be able to survive. Thank you very much for your time. ----------------------------------------------------- NHL Announces Procedure for Award Voting The NHL has announced the voting procedures for the end of the season awards that will be handed out in Toronto on Thursday, July 6th. As in the past, the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) will vote for the Hart Memorial, Frank Selke, Lady Byng, James Norris, and Calder Memorial trophies as well as the First and Second Team All-Stars and All-Rookie Team. The Jack Adams Award will again be voted on by the NHL Broadcasters Association, while the 26 team general managers will once again select the Vezina Trophy winner. It's still an ancient Chinese secrest why the GM's vote on the Vezina, while the writers and broadcasters vote on everything else. Oh, and by the way, did LCS get asked to vote this year? No! It appears LCS continues to be the Rodney Dangerfield of hockey publications...except even we wouldn't of made some of his lame movies. Although, we could have put Zippy in a wig for "Lady Bugs"...uh, nevermind. Anyway, the PHWA will vote on their five individual awards and All-Star selections in two stages. In stage one, two voters from each NHL city will vote for three finalists for each award and for their All-Stars. However, here's the catch, because of the conference-only play of the lockout shortened season, writers will only vote for players in their respective conferences. After the first round, six finalists (three from the East, three from the West) for each award and position on All-Star teams will be left, except defense on the All-Star teams which will have 12 finalists. Now on to stage two...you excited yet? A committee comprising 15 members of the PHWA will vote from the results of the Eastern and Western Conference voting of stage one, producing three finalists for each award. The three finalist names will then be released to the media. The voting for the Adams and Vezina trophies will only take one stage, just like in the past. Now with all that stuff out of the way, everyone can begin to keep their fingers crossed that Alan Thicke will once again host the Award festivities. Damn, he's clever. ====================================================== TEAM REPORTS ====================================================== WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION ------------------------------------------------------ CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Darryl Sutter Roster: C - Jeff Shantz, Brent Sutter, Steve Dubinsky, Bernie Nicholls, Denis Savard. LW - Jim Cummins, Tony Horacek, Patrick Poulin, Murray Craven. RW - Dirk Graham, Tony Amonte, Sergei Krivokrasov, Darin Kimble, Joe Murphy. D - Eric Weinrich, Greg Smyth, Keith Carney, Steve Smith, Ivan Droppa, Chris Chelios, Gary Suter, Roger Johansson, Gerald Diduck. G - Ed Belfour, Jeff Hackett, Jimmy Waite. Injuries: Bob Probert, lw (attending drug and alcohol rehab, indefinite). Brent Grieve, lw (knee, 1-2 weeks). Jeremy Roenick, c (knee, out for season). Cam Russell, d (hand, 1-2 weeks). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/12 - San Jose L 3-2 4/14 - Detroit L 3-1 4/16 - at Dallas L 2-0 4/17 - Toronto L 3-1 4/19 - St. Louis T 2-2 4/21 - Winnipeg L 2-1 4/23 - at St. Louis T 2-2 TEAM NEWS by Dan Glovier * Darryl Sutter was heard to have muttered, "A win, a win, my kingdom for a win," after the Hawks failed to win for the 13th straight time. At least that's what I think he said. This guy mumbles more than an early-era "Popeye" cartoon. During this streak, the Hawks have only managed 1.38 goals per game. Ouch... * Sutter may have been mumbling because he was just given a vote of confidence by Bob Pulford. He knows what an official vote of confidence can mean to a coach's tenure. Look what all those votes of confidence did for Barry Melrose. * There are mixed reports as to the extent of the injury that Jeremy Roenick suffered when he collided with the Stars' Derian Hatcher on April 2nd. There was a ton of swelling in his knee after the hit, which prevented the doctors from performing an MRI. An MRI would clear up any second guessing as to what is exactly going on in JR's knee. Roenick was originally feared to be out of the line-up for the rest of this season, and well into next year, with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. However, the injury is actually only a sprain of the ACL, and not a tear, which could mean a much faster return to the Chicago line-up. While doctors now agree that surgery will not be needed, no one seems to agree on when Roenick could return to action. Some reports have even said that Roenick might be able to return as soon as the playoffs, but JR's agent Neil Abbott put an end to that talk when he said, "I don't think anyone in Chicago should expect Jeremy to be back for the playoffs. Forget this May 7th discussion. It's not going to happen." For his part, Roenick added this, "The first round is out of the question. I have a broken bone...and I'm not supposed to have any hard activity until the bone heals." Roenick said he could possibly return in time for the Stanley Cup Finals in late June, if Chicago was lucky enough to get there. A better grasp of his injury and future return will be had once Roenick undergoes an MRI on April 24th. * Bob Probert was released from the rehab clinic on Aprill 11th, and held a press conference on that day. It started out strange enough with Probert slurring his words. At first, I thought Bob had flown to Chicago in first class and was having rum and cokes cross country. While Probert is still not ready to join the club, he says he is getting closer to controlling his problem with alcohol. By the way, his rehab cost the Hawks about $5000 a month. * During their last game with the Winnipeg Jets, someone took a run at Denis Savard, one of the few Hawks to play with intensity. Savard was injured on the play (bruised ribs), and will miss a few games. After the hit, not one Hawk came to Dennis' defense. There is a real lack of heart going on, and Chris Chelios has had enough. He called his teammates "gutless" after the way they have played recently, and he is correct. I never thought I would say this, but the Hawks could actually USE a good role player right now. Boy, is that Rich Sutter-Paul Ysebaert for Jim Cummins and those other stiffs trade looking horrible. * If Eddie Belfour gets beat high glove one more time, I'm going to get sick. Also, when is he going to win a game for the Hawks? * Bernie Nicholls, the hero that he is, really hasn't done much lately. This must be a ruse. Yeah, that's it! It's not that he can't take the #1 checking line on him now that Roenick is out, it's that he is just playing possum. When the time is right, Bernie will take care of business. * Does anyone else think that the Grant Fuhr trade can be turned into a Disney movie? I think it would be called "Five-Hole Goes West." -------------------------------------------------------- DALLAS STARS -------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Bob Gainey Roster: C - Corey Millen, Dave Gagner, Dean Evason, Todd Harvey, Peter Zezel. LW - Greg Adams, Brent Gilchrist, Mike Donnelly, Mike Kennedy, Shane Churla. RW - Jarrko Varvio, Paul Broten, Trent Klatt, Mike Needham, Mark Lawrence. D - Kevin Hatcher, Derian Hatcher, Craig Ludwig, Doug Zmolek, Paul Cavallini, Mike Lalor, Gord Donnelly, Richard Matvichuk. G - Mike Torchia, Darcy Wakaluk. Injuries: Mike McPhee, lw (knee surgery, indefinite). Mike Modano, c (torn tendon in ankle, out for season). Andy Moog, g (hamstring, 2-3 weeks). Grant Ledyard, d (broken ankle, 4 weeks). Transactions: NHL suspended Shane Churla, lw. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/11 - Detroit L 4-1 4/14 - at Toronto L 2-1 4/16 - Chicago W 2-0 4/17 - Vancouver T 2-2 4/19 - San Jose T 5-5 4/22 - Toronto W 6-4 4/23 - Winnipeg W 5-2 TEAM NEWS * As of Monday, April 24th, the Stars had seventh place in the Western Conference playoff race all locked up, but there is room for improvement. Dallas could vault into fifth place if they could catch Vancouver and Chicago, who are both one point ahead of them. * The Stars might have to enter the playoffs without the services of Andy Moog. The veteran netminder suffered a hamstring injury which could keep him out of the line-up for 2-3 weeks. Moog had been playing well for Dallas, and was in goal for the Stars' 2-0 shut out over Chicago on April 16th. * Moog's injury opened the door for rookie Mike Torchia to see more playing time. The 23-year-old Torchia has been extremely impressive in his short time in the league, compiling a record of 3-0-1 and giving up only six goals in his four decisions. His best performance may have been on April 23rd when he turned aside 40 Winnipeg shots to help the Stars down the Jets 5-2. * Another Dallas rookie had a career milestone this past week. Todd Harvey scored his first career hat trick on April 22nd, leading Dallas past the Maple Leafs 6-4. The three goals gave Harvey ten for the season and has Dallas fans excited about the future. For Harvey, a native of Sheffield, Ontario, scoring his first hat trick against the Maple Leafs was quite a thrill. "When you come from where I do, you always dream you're playing on Hockey Night in Canada," said Harvey. * One of Dallas' biggest problems is a lack of scoring. Mike Modano, who is sidelined with a torn tendon in his ankle, is still second on the team in scoring behind Dave Gagner with 29 points despite missing 14 games. * The NHL suspended Shane Churla suspended for an incident that occurred in the April 16th win over Chicago. During a brawl, Churla resisted a linesman and got involved in a secondary altercation with Chris Chelios. Churla was given a four game suspension and was fined $500. -------------------------------------------------------- DETROIT RED WINGS -------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Scotty Bowman Roster: C - Shawn Burr, Mike Krushelnyski, Steve Yzerman, Greg Johnson, Kris Draper, Keith Primeau, Sergei Fedorov. LW - Vyacheslav Kozlov, Martin Lapointe, Bob Errey, Stu Grimson. RW - Dino Ciccarelli, Ray Sheppard, Doug Brown. D - Terry Carkner, Bob Rouse, Mark Howe, Nicklas Lidstrom, Aaron Ward, Mike Ramsey, Vladimir Konstantinov, Bob Halkidis, Mark Ferner, Slava Fetisov, Paul Coffey. G - Mike Vernon, Chris Osgood. Injuries: Darren McCarty, rw (knee, indefinite). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/11 - at Dallas W 4-1 4/13 - San Jose W 3-0 4/14 - at Chiago W 3-1 4/16 - at St. Louis L 6-5 4/19 - Winnipeg T 5-5 4/21 - Anaheim W 6-5 4/23 - at San Jose W 5-1 TEAM NEWS by Brian Wishnow * What happened to the league's leading defense??? Through the first 39 games, the most goals the Detroit ever allowed was four. In games 40 (St. Louis), 41 (Winnipeg), and 42 (Anaheim), Detroit allowed 6, 5, and 5 goals respectively. Sixteen goals in three games?! In St. Louis, Mike Vernon was at the mercy of Brett Hull and the Blues, as Detroit lost 6-5. Hull scored 4 goals, Al MacInnis 1, and the game-winner was the strangest stat-sheet goal of them all. Former Wing Basil McRae fed former Wing Rick Zombo, who managed to get a mediocre wrist shot past Vernon. Remember Vernon's five-hole problems earlier in the year? Three of Brett Hull's goals, along with Al MacInnis' were scored between Vernon's legs. Back in Detroit, Vernon got the start again, this time against Winnipeg. He got off to another terrible start, as Mr. Minus, Dave Manson scored from halfway between the blue line and center ice. Teemu Selanne netted two nearly identical goals, taking cross-crease passes and depositing them past a helpless Vernon. Detroit salvaged a 5-5 tie with two goal performances from Sheppard and Coffey, and a single tally from Keith Primeau. Two nights later in Detroit, Chris Osgood started, and Detroit defeated Anaheim 6-5. The Wings led 6-2 after two periods, but squandered three goals to Anaheim in the third, as a result of stupid penalties. Former Wing Mike Sillinger, after being robbed by Osgood earlier in the game, scored by beating the sophmore netminder to his glove side. He had a chance to tie the game with under 10 seconds remaining, but fired high and wide on a half open net, preserving Detroit's victory. * The same team that allowed 16 goals in 3 games, clamped down big time Sunday vs. San Jose. Detroit set the '95 season record for fewest shots allowed in the first 2 periods, allowing San Jose only four. In the third period the Sharks took a whopping 10 shots, for a game total of 14. Mike Vernon stopped 13 of 14, as Detroit won 5-1. * There are numerous Red Wings on scoring streaks currently. Among them: Keith Primeau had a 7 game goal-scoring streak broken Sunday vs. San Jose, but he still notched an assist to keep his point-streak alive. Slava Fetisov, with a goal on Sunday, extends his point-streak to 7 games. Paul Coffey scored 2 goals vs. Winnipeg, and notched another vs. Anaheim, and has an 11 game point-streak. Dino Ciccarelli's 2 goals Sunday vs. San Jose give him 9 goals and 11 assists for 20 points in his current 13 game scoring streak. * Detroit has only 8 losses on the year, with Quebec and St. Louis next closest at 12. Last week, Detroit and Quebec were seeking to become the first teams to go without 2 losses in a row an entire season since Scotty Bowman did it in '76-'77 with Montreal, over 80 games (94 including the playoffs). Quebec failed in its mission, losing three straight last week. Detroit lost to St. Louis, and the next game was trailing Winnipeg 4-1, but came back to tie 5-5. * On April 29th, the Red Wings will retire Sid Abel's number 12. Abel was the center for Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay on the "Production Line", one of the most famous lines in NHL history. -------------------------------------------------------- ST. LOUIS BLUES -------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Mike Keenan Roster: C - Todd Elik, Patrice Tardif, Craig Johnson, Peter Stastny, Adam Creighton. LW - Brendan Shanahan, Esa Tikkanen, Vitali Karamnov, Basil McRae, Tony Twist, Glenn Anderson, Greg Gilbert, Ian Laperriere, Dave Roberts. RW - Brett Hull, Denis Chasse. D - Al MacInnis, Doug Lidster, Steve Duchesne, Bill Houlder, Murray Baron, Donald Dufresne, Rick Zombo, Jeff Norton. G - Jon Casey, Geoff Sarjeant. Injuries: Guy Carbonneau, c (knee surgery, day-to-day). Curtis Joseph, g (hamstring, day-to-day). Transactions: Recalled Dave Roberts, lw, from Peoria (IHL). Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/11 - Winnipeg W 7-5 4/13 - at Winnipeg L 5-2 4/16 - Detroit W 6-5 4/18 - Vancouver W 4-1 4/19 - at Chicago T 2-2 4/21 - Toronto W 3-1 4/23 - Chicago T 2-2 TEAM NEWS * Thanks to the total collapse of the Blackhawks, the Blues have wrapped up the third playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Blues have 55 points, ten more than fourth place Toronto. Chicago, who was once battling the Blues for the third seed, has dropped all the way to fifth in the conference and are only two points out of seventh place. * Brett Hull exploded for four goals against Detroit on April 16 to lead the Blues to the 6-5 win. It was the first time in Hull's illustrious career that he had scored more than three goals in a game. * Rookie David Roberts scored two goals in Chicago on April 19th to earn the Blues a 2-2 tie. Roberts has 4 goals and 5 points in 13 games this season. * The Blues once again tied the Blackhawks 2-2 on April 23rd. This time it was Esa Tikkanen who provided the offense by scoring his 11th and 12th goals of the season. Tikkanen is second on the team in scoring with 35 points, trailing only Hull who has 47. Think they miss him in New York? * Steve Duchesne continues to have an excellent season on the blueline for St. Louis. Not only does he have 7 goals and 30 points, he also leads the club with a +24. * Curtis Joseph has been sidelined recently with a strained hamstring. During his absence, Jon Casey has been carrying the workload with Geoff Sarjeant backing him up. ------------------------------------------------------ TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Pat Burns Roster: C - Mike Ridley, Mats Sundin, Doug Gilmour, Rich Sutter, Paul Dipietro. LW - Dixon Ward, Dave Andreychuk, Kent Manderville, Eric Lacroix, Randy Wood, Warren Rychel, Bill Berg, Benoit Hogue. RW - Mike Gartner, Mike Craig, Todd Warriner, Tie Domi. D - Garth Butcher, Kenny Jonsson, Todd Gill, Jamie Macoun, Grant Jennings, Dave Ellett. G - Pat Jablonski, Damian Rhodes, Felix Potvin. Injuries: Ken Baumgartner, lw (shoulder surgery, 6-8 weeks). Dmitri Mironov, d (seperated shoulder, 1-2 weeks). Warren Rychel, lw (groin, ou for season). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/14 - Dallas W 2-1 4/15 - at Winnipeg L 5-1 4/17 - at Chicago W 3-1 4/19 - Anaheim W 3-2 4/21 - at St. Louis L 3-1 4/22 - at Dallas L 6-4 TEAM NEWS by Brad Ross * While it isn't fair to compare past teams with current ones, hockey pundits in Toronto have zeroed in on one fact, and one fact alone: this year's Toronto Maple Leafs are missing "something" that the past two versions, or seasons, have had. And while no one wants to say it, Wendel Clark has got to be at the fore of those thoughts. Simply put, the Maple Leafs miss their leader. The Leafs' current leader, Doug Gilmour, has come under considerable fire lately for uninspired play. One constant refrain: if the Buds want to sip bubbly from the Stanley Cup in June, then Gilmour has got to do a complete turn-around from his current spate of average hockey. Ditto for "goal scorer" Dave Andreychuk. And while no one is saying it aloud, ditto for goalie Felix Potvin, too. The once hot Toronto netminder has played average hockey in the last half of this season, giving up goals he once handled easily. Back-up Damian Rhodes, however, has played solidly, securing for himself a future in Toronto. However, count on coach Pat Burns to run with Potvin -- a third year netminder who's having a sophmore year -- when the playoffs begin May 6. * A "fearsome pugilist", newly acquired tough guy, Tie Domi has made his presence known in a Toronto jersey. He's had no fewer than four fights since joining the Leafs April 7. Coach Pat Burns, not known to play muscle for the sake of muscle, also wants Domi to contribute as a hockey player. Domi, while not a playmaker, is a "role player," as GM Cliff Fletcher has said, and has caused havoc in front of opposition nets allowing for goals and drawing penalties. "I didn't think I'd be playing as much," said Domi, delighted at the ice time that has come his way. The missing "something"? Perhaps. Domi and Wendel Clark are good friends in the off-season. No one's happier to be wearing the blue and white than Domi. * Team cohesiveness. One only has to turn to baseball's Toronto Blue Jays to see what it takes to win championships. The Blue Jay clubhouse is one of the friendliest confines one could find themselves in. The players actually like one another. Meanwhile, rumors abound in Toronto that the Leafs dressing room could use a shot of something to bind the guys together. Forward Mike Gartner, a born-again Christian, might be a little too eager on that front for some. Then again, the perceived negativity of Dave Andreychuk doesn't help either. The boys don't need to eat, sleep, and shower together to win when it counts, but gel they must. And, some say, that ain't happenin' right now. It's crunch time. * The Maple Leafs power play, once ranked third in the league, has dropped to 16th overall. In two weekend games against St. Louis and Dallas, Toronto went 1 for 14 with the extra man. The Leafs lost both contests 3-1 and 6-4 respectively. Bringing the power play up again will be an important notation on Burns's list of things to do with the post-season -- the most exciting hockey anyone could ask for -- less than two weeks away. ------------------------------------------------------ WINNIPEG JETS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Terry Simpson Roster: C - Alexei Zhamnov, Randy Gilhen, Mike Eastwood, Thomas Steen, Rob Murray, Travis Hansen. LW - Keith Tkachuk, Dallas Drake, Kris King, Russ Romaniuk. RW - Teemu Selanne, Nelson Emerson, Ed Olczyk, Igor Korolev, Craig Martin, John LeBlanc, Ravil Gusmanov. D - Stephane Quintal, Brent Thompson, Darryl Shannon, Teppo Numminen, Oleg Mikulchik, Greg Brown, Steve Cheredaryk. G - Tim Cheveldae, Nikolai Khabibulin, Stephane Beauregard. Injuries: Darrin Shannon, lw (abdominal muscle pull, out for season). Michal Grosek, lw (foot, out for season). Neil Wilkinson, d (back, day-to-day). Dave Manson, d (hand, day-to-day). Transactions: Recalled Rob Murray, c; John LeBlanc, rw; Travis Hansen, c; Russ Romaniuk, lw; Ravil Gusmanov, rw; Steve Cheredaryk, d; and Stephane Beauregard, g, from Springfield (AHL). Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/11 - at St. Louis L 7-5 4/13 - St. Louis W 5-2 4/15 - Toronto W 5-1 4/17 - Edmonton L 6-5 4/19 - at Detroit T 5-5 4/21 - at Chicago W 2-1 TEAM NEWS by Steven Eitzen * Many things have changed since Terry Simpson took over as the Jets' bench boss. One of them is the goaltending situation. Simpson has made no secret of his preference to have Tim Cheveldae between the pipes. Chevy has responded to his coach's faith in him with some of his best games of the season. He stopped 45 of 46 shots against Toronto, almost singlehandedly keeping the team in the game, basically doing to the Leafs what Damian Rhodes did to the Jets the week before. * The team may be playing more inspired hockey of late, but they are still plagued by the inability to hold leads. The most recent head-hanger occurred in St. Louis, where the Jets went from leading 5-4 to losing 7-5 in the span of only a minute and 18 seconds. The worst part was that the tying and winning goals came only 13 seconds apart. * The Winnipeg Jets went into the windy city on Friday and exorcised a ghost which has haunted them for 10 years. The Jets won their first game in Chicago since 1985. Since that last win, Winnipeg had a 0-13-2 record at the old Chicago Stadium. They are now 1-0-0 at the new United Centre. * With the AHL Springfield Falcons eliminated from a playoff spot on the last game of the regular season, the Jets have recalled a bunch of players from the farm. Rob Murray has been the only one to see icetime since the recall, but John LeBlanc, Ravil Gusmanov, Tavis Hansen, Russ Romaniuk, Steve Cherederyk, and Stephane Beauregard are all available if needed. ====================================================== Devil of a Conundrum by Dan Hurwitz Going into what is now the 1995-95 NHL season, a number of sources pegged the New Jersey Devils to win the division, the conference, the Stanley Cup, the presidential election, and the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. Well, one misfortune after another has befallen the Devils this season and, inexplicably, this year for the Devils has been, well, hell. Of course, one wonders how bad a record above .500 and second place in the Atlantic Division can be. But really, the Devils have won many games on the strength of Martin Brodeur's sophomore puck stopping and Stephane Richer's rediscovered scoring touch. Just a few quirky observations on the season that has Devils fans and players in dismay: * Only the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim have a worse power play efficiency than the Devils. Amazingly, Stephane Richer, who usually plays on the third line, has seen very little power play time. * Scott Stevens has been a minus player and has played far below the level expected of the league's third-highest paid extortionist, er, player. * Chris Terreri's play has been brilliant at times this season but you'd hardly know it since that Brodeur kid is always in the net. * The Devils don't go down to block shots like they used to. So why is it that New Jersey has played such uninspired hockey? Here are a few theories... * During the lockout, the Devils thought they were fighting a personal battle against owener John McMullen. While some teams have managed to patch things up with their management groups, the Devils still feel they are in hostile territory when they look up at the owners' box at the Brendan Byrne Arena. * On a team which emphasized the whole vs. the individual last year and saw very little stand-out play in an overall team effort that carried the Devils to the brink of the finals, the fact that Stevens suddenly earns a full third of the payroll has got to have upset the mix. While the true fault must lie with general manager Lou Lamoriello and McMullen, who could have signed Stevens earlier at much less than his hefty 17.8 million dollar pricetag, it didn't hurt that St. Louis management decided to tick off the Devils by signing Stevens to the astronomical offer sheet he now enjoys. This skewed salary structure, especially given Stevens' slow start, must have had a negative effect on morale. * Maybe Bernie Nicholls was more important to the team than anyone realized. Unlike any centers currently on the roster, Nicholls routinely won big faceoffs last season. He also collected his 1000th NHL point and 400th goal last season, which his teammates rallied around in what was a very trying emotional season for Nicholls, who lost his infant son Jake to spinal meningitis. Nicholls is known to make his teammates looser no matter where he plays, and the obviously uptight Devils sure are missing that this year. * Pucks simply haven't been going in. It doesn't matter if Brodeur or Terreri can keep all but one or two shots out of the net each game if the Devils cannot score. * Not having potential breakout players Valeri Zelepukin and Jim Dowd in the Lineup all season has disrupted some of the chemistry the Devils enjoyed in last spring's playoff run. And how far can the Devils go now? That depends on a number of factors. One of them is dealing with Lamoriello's inability to deal at the deadline. There are simply too many carbon copy players lying around the Devils dressing room nowadays. Check out the depth chart on this team... C. Lemieux Neal Broten J. MacLean V. Zelepukin Jim Dowd Bill Guerin Brian Rolston Sergei Brylin Stephane Richer Tom Chorske Bob Carpenter Danton Cole Mike Peluso Bobby Holik R. McKay Right here is an obvious problem. The Peluso-Holik-McKay "crash" line is the best fourth line in hockey. This means that one of the three lines ahead of it, or some combination of the players therein, miss each game. This hurts team togetherness and chemistry. Rolston and Brylin have been too steady in their fill-in roles with Dowd and Zelepukin out to scratch them...interesting. The fact that the Devils do not block shots anymore is indicative of a deeper problem. Last season, Jacques Lemaire won the Adams trophy for coach of the year by turning a traditionally factioned team into a together troop. They took pucks for each other, backed each other up, and generally enjoyed being Devils. This year, in the post-lockout strife that has players less than thrilled to be in Devils uniforms, the team has had a lot of internal conflict. Scott Stevens and Claude Lemieux apparently got into a fight in practice, and word is it had nothing to do with what to order on the team pizza. Stevens has lost some of the confidence his teammates have had in him and, until recently, Lemieux was more bothered by contract squabbles than his play on the ice. And Lemieux is the one Lemaire says uniquely still possesses last year's passion... There have been other problems, too. Martin Brodeur, clearly one of Lemaire's favorite projects this season, was pulled in a 1-1 tie for what Lemaire referred to as "personal reasons" and neither has come forth and said more about the incident. Before that, former Devil Alexander Semak was perpetually arguing with the coach until he and winger Ben Hankinson were shipped off to Tampa Bay for Shawn Chambers and Danton Cole. Whatever happens in the postseason, Lamoriello has a difficult task ahead of him. Clearly, this is a talented team, and they win more games than they lose as though it were to spite themselves. But the mix of personalities is all wrong, and there are just too many able bodies lying around. If there is some playoff success this spring, that can come in handy, but come the fall, players will want to have more job security. Of course, there have been bright spots this year for the Devils. One has been the lousy play of the arch rival New York Rangers, who the Devils have all but owned this season, compiling a 3-1 record against the cross-river rivals. Another has been the continued development of Scott Niedermayer as a future Norris Trophy candidate. Still another has been Stephane Richer's return to the form which saw him net 50 goals twice while with the Montreal Canadiens, even though Richer is usually on the third line and not on the power play. So the Devils continue to perplex even their own fans. On many nights, they put them to sleep, too. Granted, the 19,040 seat Meadowlands complex may be too big for a team only 6 miles away from one of the original six, and the fact that the seats extend far outward from ice level makes it difficult to feel a part of the acion. But given the number of 3-2 and 2-1 games played in New Jersey, how close do you want to be, anyway? There is one other theory....the only thing which united Devils fans and players were those annoying 1940 chants which were silenced by the Rangers' dramatic Cup win last season. If this were true, it was a grievous fault... So which Devils team will show up in the playoffs? Will it be last year's big runners-up? This year's slow starters? The recent 10-game unbeaten streak? The current three-game losing streak? And who will be on the second line? If Jacques Lemaire and Lou Lamoriello weren't already bald, they'be certainly be losing their hair over this one. ====================================================== TEAM REPORTS ====================================================== EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC DIVISION ------------------------------------------------------ FLORIDA PANTHERS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Roger Neilson Roster: C - Stu Barnes, Brian Skrudland, Jesse Belanger, Rob Niedermayer, Doug Barrault. LW - Johan Garpenlov, Dave Lowry, Bill Lindsay, Mike Hough, Jeff Daniels, Gaetan Duchesne. RW - Jody Hull, Andrei Lomakin, Tom Fitzgerald, Bob Kudelski, Scott Mellanby, Jamie Linden. D - Joe Cirella, Paul Laus, Gord Murphy, Brian Benning, Geoff Smith, Jason Woolley, Dallas Eakins, Magnus Svensson, Randy Moller. G - Mark Fitzpatrick, John Vanbiesbrouck. Injuries: Keith Brown, d (knee surgery, indefinite). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/12 - Islanders L 3-1 4/14 - at Washington L 3-0 4/16 - Tampa Bay W 4-1 4/18 - Philadelphia L 3-1 4/20 - New Jersey W 1-0 4/22 - Quebec W 4-2 TEAM NEWS * The Panthers are still alive for the final playoff spot in the East. They trail Montreal, Hartford, and the Rangers, but they are only two points back. Coach Roger Neilson wouldn't even let his team read newspaper articles that questioned their playoff chances. Pretty tricky...that Neilson is always thinkin'. * After an 0-for-27 stretch on the power play, the Panthers have come to life with the man advantage. Five power play goals in their last three games have helped them win two of the contests, and more importantly, kept them in the middle of the playoff hunt. * Rookie defenseman Robert Svehla scored his first NHL goal against the Nordiques on April 22nd. * The Panthers neutral zone trap did its job in back- to-back wins over New Jersey and Quebec this past week. Both teams were held under 20 shots, and the mighty Nordique offense could only manage 16. * Mark Fitzpatrick was in goal for the 1-0 shutout of New Jersey and got the start two nights later in Quebec. However, Fitzpatrick left the game after stopping three of four shots with a lower back strain and was replaced by John Vanbiesbrouck. * Stu Barnes continues to lead the club in scoring with 27 points. Jesse Belanger leadss the team in power play goals and is second in scoring with 24 points. * Before the season, we picked Bill Lindsay as a player to watch this year, and while he hasn't exactly ripped up the league, he has improved dramatically. Lindsay has set career highs with 9 goals and 17 points. ------------------------------------------------------ NEW JERSEY DEVILS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Jacques Lemaire Roster: C - Neal Broten, Bob Carpenter, Brian Rolston, Sergei Brylin, Jim Dowd. LW - Mike Peluso, Bobby Holik, Tom Chorske, Reid Simpson, Danton Cole, Valeri Zelepukin. RW - Bill Guerin, John MacLean, Randy McKay, Claude Lemieux, Stephane Richer. D - Scott Stevens, Jaroslav Modry, Tommy Albelin, Bruce Driver, Scott Niedermayer, Chris McAlpine, Shawn Chambers, Jason Smith. G - Martin Brodeur, Chris Terreri. Injuries: None. Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/10 - at Montreal L 2-1 4/12 - at Washington W 2-1 4/14 - Islanders W 6-3 4/16 - Hartford W 3-2 4/18 - at Tampa Bay L 3-2 4/20 - at Florida L 1-0 4/22 - Philadelphia L 4-3 (OT) TEAM NEWS by Dan Hurwitz * The New Jersey Devils' chances of winning the Atlantic Division title have vanished thanks to squandered opportunity. Trailing the Philadelphia Flyers by only three points heading into this past week, the Devils faced an all-important road trip to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers before returning home to battle for first place against the Flyers. Never having won a division title in franchise history, the Devils put forth the kind of effort that makes one wonder if Herb Brooks is still coaching the team. For the second time this season, the Devils were beaten by the Lightning with Randy McKay being the only Devils player to get one by the Lightning keeper. McKay's two goals on Darren Puppa were his second and third against Tampa this season, but the Devils came up short, 4-2. The loss to the guys with bolts on their shorts meant the game against Florida was critical. While the Flyers were busy clinching the playoffs with a win over the New York Islanders, the Devils were shutout and badly outplayed by Mark Fitzpatrick and the Panthers. During the 1-0 loss, the Devils failed to hit 10 shots on goal in any given period. With their hopes for the division title all but eliminated, the Devils returned home to take on Philly. Down 3-1 going into the third period, the Devils rallied behind goals by Scott Niedermayer and Stephane Richer to tie the score and force overtime. Just a minute and a half later, however, the Flyers managed to slip the puck behind goaltender Martin Brodeur's derriere, and the chance to hit first place was gone. In their history, the Devils have never won a regular season title, although last year they were second in the league behind the division rival New York Rangers. * First place may be unreachable, but that doesn't mean playoff success is not possible. This may be even more the case now that the Devils are starting to look like something they haven't been since the first week of the season: a healthy hockey team. Jason Smith, who broke his leg during the lockout, has played with the big club now, and fellow defenseman Ken Daneyko has returned to skates after a serious knee injury. Up front, center Jim Dowd, whose development was part of the reason Bernie Nicholls was allowed to sign with Chicago, has returned from shoulder surgery that had sidelined him from all but the team's first three games. Perhaps the biggest news for Devils fans is that Valeri Zelepukin, the left winger who the Devils feel is their most talented two-way forward, is back from a career-threatening eye injury. After only the first game of the season, Zelepukin took teammate Bruce Driver's stick blade in his left eye in a practice accident, and only recently regained his vision. NHL rules do not permit a player with only one good eye to play in the league, so Zelepukin's slow recovery appeared to have jeopardized his career. Now that he has recovered, however, he is back in the lineup and will wear a protective visor for the rest of his career. Not everyone is happy about the return of Zelepukin and Dowd to the lineup, however. Rookies Sergei Brylin and Brian Rolston have filled in on the Devils' second line and proven themselves to be bona fide NHL players with bright futures. For the moment, however, their spots remain secure, as center Bob Carpenter is a bit bruised and head coach Jacques Lemaire decided to scratch left wing Tom Chorske to get Zelepukin back into the lineup. The glut of healthy wingers, however, which also includes left wing Danton Cole who has seen only spot duty since being acquired from Tampa Bay, increases the likelihood of general manager Lou Lamoriello making a major trade in the offseason to acquire...all together now...that big number one center the Devils have been lacking. ------------------------------------------------------ NEW YORK ISLANDERS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Lorne Henning Roster: C - Ron Sutter, Ray Ferraro, Travis Green, Kirk Muller, Craig Darby, Chris Marinucci. LW - Dave Chyzowski, Marty McInnis, Derek King. RW - Mick Vukota, Patrick Flatley, Zigmund Palffy, Brett Lindros, Steve Thomas, Brad Dalgarno. D - Dean Chynoweth, Mathieu Schneider, Paul Stanton, Chris Luongo, Brent Severyn, Bob Beers, Scott Lachance, Richard Pilon. G - Tommy Salo, Tommy Soderstrom, Eric Fichaud. Injuries: Darius Kasparaitis, d (knee, out for season). Dennis Vaske, d (broken ankle, out for season). Transactions: Recalled Eric Fichaud, g, from Chicoutimi (QMJHL). Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/11 - at Tampa Bay L 5-2 4/12 - at Florida W 3-1 4/14 - at New Jersey L 6-3 4/16 - Rangers L 3-2 4/18 - Quebec W 5-2 4/20 - at Philadelphia L 2-1 4/22 - Ottawa L 3-2 TEAM NEWS * The season has been a disaster for the Islanders. The only two teams out of the playoff picture in the East are the Islanders and the Senators. To make matters worse, the Senators beat the Isles 3-2 in their last outing. It's official, the Isles have hit rock bottom. * One reason for the problems this season has been the numerous injuries on defense. After not having Darius Kasparaitis for the majority of the year, the Islanders finally were able to get Scott Lachance and Rich Pilon back in the line-up after both recovered from ankle injuries. With Lachance and Pilon back, the Isles were no longer meeting their quota for defensemen with broken ankles. So, Dennis Vaske promptly went out and crashed into the boards on April 18th against Quebec. The result was, you guessed it, a broken ankle. Vaske will be out the rest of the season. * Rookie Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo earned his first NHL win by stopping 40 Quebec shots on April 18th. Salo was helped out a bit, as the Nordiques rang four shots off the post. Despite the efforts of Salo and countryman Tommy Soderstrom, the Islanders have called up young Eric Fichaud. Acquired for Benoit Hogue at the trade deadline, Fichaud is the goaltender of the future on Long Island and is already drawing comparisons to Felix Potvin. ------------------------------------------------------ NEW YORK RANGERS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Colin Campbell Rosters: C - Petr Nedved, Mark Messier, Sergei Nemchinov, Shawn McCosh, Nathan Lafayette. LW - Adam Graves, Mike Hartman, Mark Osborne, Joe Kocur, Stephane Matteau, Troy Loney. RW - Nick Kypreos, Alexei Kovalev, Steve Larmer, Darren Langdon, Pat Verbeek, Brian Noonan. D - Sergei Zubov, Brian Leetch, Kevin Lowe, Joby Messier, Jeff Beukeboom, Jay Wells, Alexander Karpovstev, Mattias Norstrom. G - Glenn Healy, Mike Richter. Injuries: None. Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/12 - Buffalo W 3-1 4/14 - Boston W 5-3 4/16 - at Islanders W 3-2 4/18 - at Pittsburgh L 6-5 4/20 - Hartford W 3-2 4/23 - at Boston L 5-4 TEAM NEWS by Matthew Secosky * The Rangers continued their quest for a playoff berth by firing blanks and getting shut out 2-0 by Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils on April 10. On the bright side...if such a thing could exist...Pat Verbeek had 5 whopping shots on net...oh wow... Three nights later, the Rangers bounced back as Brian Noonan, Verbeek, and Steve Larmer fired home goals to lead the Rangers to a victory over the Buffallo Sabres. The victory was only the Rangers third in their last 13 games. The Rangers ignited two days later and scared Boston rookie goalie Blaine Lacher out from between the pipes a little over half way thru the first period by scoring three quick goals...I gotta admit, i was kinda scared myself. The big guns of the Rangers decided to get off the bus for once as Messier picked up 4 assists, Graves three, and Brian Leetch scored a highlight film goal to seal the game for the Rangers. Richter made 30 saves in the win. New York then continued their winning ways with a 2-1 decision over the drowning Islanders at Nassau Colliseum. Kevin Lowe scored in the first period and Sergei Zubov tallied his first goal since February 26, ending a personal 12 game scoreless streak. Mark Messier racked up two assists, the second of which catapulted him past my idol, Guy LaFleur, and into eighth place on the NHL all time scoring list with 1,354 points. The Rangers sought to tie their longest winning streak of the season (4 games) when they faced off against the Penguins on April 19. And eventhough the Rangers offense was going at full throttle, they still weren't ready to battle the Pens' offensive machine. In a game devoid of anything resembling defense, Brian Leetch collected 5 assists, Messier got four of his own, and Adam Graves lit the lamp twice to lead the way for the Rangers. The only problem is that no matter how much the Rangers scored, the Pens would just score more. Ron Francis did the Rangers in with his goal at 15:05 of the third, as the Pens sent the Rangers packing 6-5. Showing little compasion for our friends under the sea, the Rangers harpooned the Whale two nights later in order to help their playoff chances. The night was full of contoversy as Peter "I scored 38 goals once" Nedved deflected in the game winning goal with his skate. Glenn Heally stopped 25 shots on his way to earning a win and a big shiny star in his first start since April 9th. Sunday afternoon, the Rangers took the ice against the Bruins and took an early lead on a nifty Brain Leetch goal. They then extended the lead to 2-0 when Zubov scored his 8th goal of the season at 17:26 of the first. But then, Cam Neely took control of the game in the second period, scoring a pair of power play goals to tie the game up at two. The Bruins took over in the third period as well scoring three more goals, Cam Neely getting one more to complete his second hat-trick of the season. The Rangers only got goals by Verbeek and Kovalev and were handed a disappointing 5-4 loss. Brian Leetch ended up with a goal and two assist. By losing to the Bruins, the Rangers, with 41 points, remain in a three way tie with Hartford and Montreal for the final playoff spot on the East. Since each of the teams has 5 games remaining, it looks as if the race for the playoffs may come down to the final night of regular season action. The Rangers are finally playing like defending Stanley Cup champs and their offensive stars are burning...Messier has 14 assists and Leetch 11 points (3G, 8A) during the past six games, in which time the Rangers have gone 4-2. This is good news for Rangers fans, hopefully its not too little too late...another point to ponder is that the Rangers remaining schedule is easier than that of Montreal or the Whalers, with the Rangers playing 4 of the 5 at home against less difficult competition. ------------------------------------------------------ PHILADELPHIA FLYERS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Terry Murray Roster: C - Craig MacTavish, Rod Brind'Amour, Jim Montgomery, Eric Lindros, Anatoli Semenov. LW - Brent Fedyk, Mikael Renberg, Rob Dimaio, Shawn Antoski, Yanick Dupre, John LeClair. RW - Shjon Podein, Patrick Juhlin, Dave Brown, Phil Crowe, Gilbert Dionne, Kevin Dineen. D - Dmitri Yushkevich, Petr Svoboda, Dan Kordic, Rob Zettler, Chris Therien, Stewart Malgunas, Jason Bowen, Karl Dykhuis, Eric Desjardins, Kevin Haller. G - Dominic Roussel, Ron Hextall. Injuries: None. Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/12 - Montreal W 3-2 4/14 - Tampa Bay W 3-2 4/16 - Pittsburgh W 4-3 (OT) 4/18 - at Florida W 3-1 4/20 - Islanders W 2-1 4/22 - at New Jersey W 4-3 (OT) 4/23 - at Buffalo L 4-2 TEAM NEWS by Dan Hurwitz * "The Flyers make the playoffs! The Flyers make the playoffs! Oh, my God, the Flyers make the playoffs!" Okay, so it wasn't that exciting. In fact, it barely seemed like more than just another win at CoreStates Spectrum, and Flyers fans are coming to expect them. The truth is, the play of the Flyers in 1995 has made the Phiadelphia faithful forget five years out of the postseason. The momentous occasion came on Thursday when the Flyers topped the New York Islanders 2-1 on the strength of a goal scored by, well, take three guesses....not Lindros, not LeClair....who said Dykuis? No, it was Mikael Renberg who stuffed home the shot heard round the Delaware River Valley. But as head coach Terry Murray, captain Eric Lindros and a number of other Flyers players have argued of late, the playoffs were an old goal that was set before anyone knew how good this team could be. After a pair of eight-game win streaks (the second on went longer, but more on that later), the Flyers began to believe they could accomplish even more. And accomplish more they have. With their ninth straight win, Philadelphia has clinched the division title for the first time since 1986-87. That's a long time to wait for the glory days of Stanely Cup Finals and the like to come back to the city of brotherly cheesesteaks. By defeating the second place New Jersey Devils in overtime on Saturday, the Flyers guarenteed themselves home ice advantage throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs. What more can the Flyers achieve? They trail the conference leading Quebec Nordiques by only four points, and if they overtake them, home ice is guaranteed until the Finals. In Philadelphia's favor, they meet the lowly Ottawa Senators on wednesday night in Philly. The Flyers are a young team and do not want to get caught looking too far ahead. As defenseman Eric Desjardins points out, "before you think about winning the second roround, you have to win the first." It isn't often easy to figure out what Desjardins is trying to say in a postgame interview, but it stinks of the sports cliche "one game at a time," and really that's how the Flyers have to play from here on in. * Keep in mind that, if they should continue to repeat the eight in a row, three losses, eight in a row pattern starting May 6, they'll be bringing the Stanley Cup back to the corner of Broad and Pattison for the first time since any writer on LCS' staff was in diapers. * Warning to anyone who thinks the Flyers are unbeatable: left wing John LeClair has repeatedly been seated for "resting" purposes and taken off for repairs on his "equipment" lately. Could he be playing hurt? * New York Islanders forward Derek King and SportsChannel New York's studio host Stan Fischler recently enjoyed some fun at the Flyers' expense during the first intermission of the Flyers/Islanders game. King said the Islanders had to work hard to contain the Flyers' "Legionaires" line, referring of course to the "Legion of Doom" line of Lindros, LeClair, and Renberg. Since LeClair was out of the lineup for that game, Fischler, in correcting King, pointed out that the Islanders were not competing with the "Legion of Doom," but with the "Legion of Doo." Nice to battle the Senators for the league's worst record, eh Islanders? ------------------------------------------------------ TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Terry Crisp Roster: C - Brian Bradley, Rob Zamuner, Brent Gretzky, Chris Gratton, Alexander Semak. LW - Jason Weimer, Gerard Gallant, Ben Hankinson, John Tucker, Paul Ysebaert. RW - Marc Bureau, Alexander Selivanov, Mikael Andersson, Petr Klima, Brantt Myhres. D - Eric Charron, Cory Cross, Marc Bergevin, Chris Lipuma, Enrico Ciccone, Roman Hamrlik, Adrien Plavsic. G - J.C. Bergeron, Derek Wilkinson, Darren Puppa. Injuries: Rudy Poeschek, rw (broken thumb, out for season). Transactions: NHL suspended Enrico Ciccone, d. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/11 - Islanders W 5-2 4/16 - at Philadelphia L 3-2 4/16 - at Florida L 4-1 4/18 - New Jersey W 3-2 4/20 - Quebec W 5-2 4/22 - at Montreal L 3-1 TEAM NEWS * Jason Weimer, the Lightning's number one draft pick in last year's Entry Draft, scored his first NHL goal on April 20th against Quebec. Fellow rookies Alexander Selivanov, known as "knuckles" by ihs friends, and Brantt Myhres also scored goals to help Tampa upset Quebec 5-2. * Enrico Ciccone was suspended by the NHL for an incident that happened in the Lightning's 5-2 win over the Islanders on April 11th. Ciccone head-butted the Islanders' Steve Thomas during a fight, and the league gave him a two game suspension for his troubles. * The Lightning offense has been having trouble recently. Brian Bradley is the club's leading scorer with 36 points, but has only scored one goal in his last 11 games. Petr Klima, the second leading scorer with 25 points, has also only managed one goal during the same time. Alexander Semak was providing the team with an offensive spark, but has been running hot and cold recently. Coach Terry Crisp isn't sure how to read Semak. "Some days you don't hear two words from him," said Crisp. "Whether that's a different upbringing over there (Russia) or not being allowed to speak playing for the Red Army team, I don't know." ------------------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON CAPITALS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Jim Schoenfeld Roster: C - Michal Pivonka, Steve Konowalchuk, Dale Hunter, Joe Juneau, Dave Poulin, Kevin Kaminski, Mike Eagles. LW - Dimitri Kristich, Kelly Miller, Craig Berube. RW - Rob Pearson, Peter Bondra, Pat Peake, Keith Jones. D - Jim Johnson, Sylvain Cote, Calle Johansson, Joe Reekie, Mark Tinordi, Ken Klee, Sergei Gonchar. G - Olaf Kolzig, Jim Carey. Injuries: Igor Ulanov, d (broken foot, 1-2 weeks). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/11 - at Pittsburgh L 3-1 4/12 - New Jersey L 2-1 4/14 - Florida W 3-0 4/16 - at Quebec L 4-2 4/17 - at Montreal L 5-2 4/21 - Hartford W 6-3 4/22 - at Pittsburgh W 2-1 TEAM NEWS * After rookie goaltending sensation Jim Carey led the Caps on a tremendous winning streak during his first few weeks in the league, the team finally began to cool off. The Caps lost four out of five recently, and have fallen into third place in the Atlantic, and sixth in the Eastern Conference. * Despite the recent cool down, Carey continues to play well. He recorded his fourth shutout of the season on April 14th against the Panthers, and came close to getting his fifth on April 22nd against Pittsburgh. A power play goal by the Penguins' Shawn McEachern with 1:15 left in the third period spoiled Carey's bid for his fifth shutout. * Peter Bondra continues to be the Caps lone consistant goal scorer. Bondra is tied with Quebec's Owen Nolan for the league lead in goals with 30. He scored his first hat trick of the season against Hartford on April 21st, and followed it up one night later with the game winning goal in the Caps' 2-1 win over Pittsburgh. * Joe Juneau is beginning to pick up his scoring pace as the playoffs draw near. Keep in mind he still isn't scoring goals, he only has four on the season, but at least he's setting them up. Juneau is second on the team in scoring with 35 points, behind only Bondra who has 37. ====================================================== Where is the Next Generation of Defensemen? by Jim Iovino After taking a quick glance at the top 10 defensive scorers in the NHL, I noticed that almost all of them have been mainstays in the league for at least the past five seasons. Paul Coffey, the top scorer among defensemen, is 33 years old. Phil Housley is 31. Ray Bourque is 34. So is Larry Murphy. These top four blueliners have combined for 59 years of service in the NHL. This lead me to ask: Where are all the good, young defensemen in the league? At the moment, only Brian Leetch and Sergei Zubov are showing that they have what it takes to become one of the premier defensemen in the game today. However, Leetch is already 27, and has had several severe injuries over the past few seasons. He and Zubov simply can't be mentioned in the same category with the likes of Coffey and Bourque, and I doubt that they ever will. For the crop of defensemen such as Bourque who have been in the league for 16 seasons, it's simply amazing at what they've accomplished, career-wise. Bourque has won 5 Norris trophies, Coffey owns three career records for defensemen and four Stanley Cups, Housley is a six-time All-Star, and Murphy owns two Stanley Cups. But sooner or later, these players will have to call it a career, and the next generation will have to take over. But who is that "next generation" of defensemen? There are numerous players in the league who could become stars and a couple could make it to the superstar level, but I don't see any Coffeys or Bourques in the near future. Sandis Ozolinsh could become one of the dominant defensemen in the league over the next few years. Ozolinsh seems to fit the mold of an Al MacInnis, with a hard shot, similar mobility and size. But Ozolinsh needs a good team around him in order to be effective, just like MacInnis, who had forwards like Gilmour, Mullen, Roberts, Fleury and Nieuwendyk to work with in Calgary. Ozolinsh will only be as good as the players that are around him, so it is imperative that the crop of rookies in San Jose develop into a solid young franchise that can feed the puck to and be ready for passes from Ozolinsh. Rob Blake is another solid defenseman who could become one of the "next generation." Unfortunately, this season was supposed to be the breakthrough year for Blake, but injuries kept him off the ice for most of the shortened season. This means that Blake has to come up big next year and prove just how good he is. Everyone has heard the hype about him over the past two seasons, but he has yet to show us what he can do with that potential. Personally, I'm not totally convinced that he can be a dominating defenseman in the league. He seems to be injury-prone and hasn't developed his passing the way it should be just yet. Next year will determine just how good he really is. Scott Niedermayer is another one of those defensemen that people say have unlimited potential, but it just hasn't all come together yet. Niedermayer is extremely quick, makes crisp passes, and has a decent shot. But he seems to have the dreaded Zarley Zalapski disease where his shots just can't seem to find the net. But the Devils' backliner has great skills in both ends of the ice, as shown by his +17 rating this season. One more season of learning and then Niedermayer should be able to place himself among the top defensemen in the game. Alexei Zhitnik seemed to be stuck in the shadow of Rob Blake in LA, but now that he's moved to Buffalo, the 22-year-old can prove to everyone that he can become a leader on the blueline. Zhitnik has a lot of the same skills that Niedermayer possesses, quickness, crisp passing and a hard shot, but Zhitnik can become sleepy on defense every once in a while, which is bad news for Sabres fans. But Zhitnik is still young and has time to work on his game. Of course, try telling that to Dominik Hasek. There are a few other notable players that have the potential to become stars in the NHL, such as Oleg Tverdovsky of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Kenny Jonsson of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Chris Pronger of the Hartford Whalers. But it's just too early to tell whether or not they have what it takes to become stars in the league. Hopefully someone will be able to fill the skates that future hall of famers like Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey leave behind. ====================================================== TEAM REPORTS ====================================================== WESTERN CONFERENCE PACIFIC DIVISION ------------------------------------------------------ ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Ron Wilson Roster: C - Bob Corkum, Shaun Van Allen, Stephan Lebeau, Steve Rucchin, Mike Sillinger. LW - Paul Kariya, Joe Sacco, Garry Valk, Patrick Carnback, Todd Krygier. RW - Valeri Karpov, John Lilley, Todd Ewen, Peter Douris. D - Bobby Dollas, Dave Williams, Robert Dirk, Oleg Tverdovsky, Tom Kurvers, Nikolai Tsulygin, Randy Ladoucer, Jason York, Milos Holan, Dave Karpa. G - Guy Hebert, Mikhail Shtalenkov. Injuries: Don McSween, rw (nerve damage in arm, out for season). Jim Thompson, rw (shoulder surgery, indefinite). Steve King, rw (shoulder surgery, indefinite). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/11 - at Vancouver L 5-0 4/13 - Calgary W 4-2 4/15 - Vancouver L 3-1 4/17 - San Jose W 3-0 4/19 - at Toronto L 3-2 4/21 - at Detroit L 6-5 4/23 - at Los Angeles T 2-2 TEAM NEWS * Despite having a record of 14-24-5, the Ducks find themselves only two points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. That's the good news. The bad news is that Anaheim isn't just chasing one team, they are battling it out for the final spot with Los Angeles, Edmonton, San Jose, and Winnipeg. This log jam at the bottom of the Conference will make the last week of the regular season very interesting. * Anaheim could have pulled within one point of the playoff spot, but let a point slip through their fingers on April 23rd against the Kings. The Ducks had a 2-1 lead late in the third, thanks to goals by Shaun Van Allen and Patrick Carnback, but could not hold on for the victory. With Grant Fuhr on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, the Kings' Marty McSorley was able to bang the game tying goal past Guy Hebert with just 41 seconds remaining in regulation. If the playoffs are going to become a reality in Anaheim, the Ducks can't afford to let anymore points slip away from them. * Since their entrance into the NHL last season, Anaheim's biggest problem has been scoring goals. So it goes to figure that they would manage to score five goals against Detroit, the league's best defensive team. Unfortunately for the water fowl, they gave up six goals to wipe out one of their best offensive performances of the year. Mike Sillinger had a strong game for the Ducks, and even scored a goal verse his former teammates. * The Ducks continued their mastery over the Sharks this season on April 17. Guy Hebert led the way by backstopping the 3-0 shutout. It was the Ducks' fourth win in as many tries this season against San Jose. ------------------------------------------------------ CALGARY FLAMES ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Dave King Roster: C - Wes Walz, Joe Nieuwendyk, Robert Reichel, Joel Otto, German Titov. LW - Alan May, Mike Sullivan, Paul Kruse, Vesa Vitakoski, Sheldon Kennedy. RW - Theo Fleury, Ronnie Stern, Sandy McCarthy. D - Frank Musil, Trent Yawney, Steve Chiasson, James Patrick, Zarley Zalapski, Kevin Dahl, Dan Keczmer, Phil Housley. G - Andrei Trefilov, Trevor Kidd, Rick Tabaracci. Injuries: Michael Nylander, c (broken wrist, 2-3 weeks). Gary Roberts, lw (nerve damage in shoulder, out for season). Todd Hlushko, lw (shoulder, indefinite). Kelly Kisio, c (shoulder, day-to-day). Nikolai Borschevsky, rw (bruised ribs, day-to-day). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/10 - San Jose W 8-3 4/12 - at Los Angeles W 4-1 4/13 - at Anaheim L 4-2 4/15 - at Edmonton W 4-2 4/17 - Los Angeles W 5-2 4/20 - at Vancouver T 2-2 TEAM NEWS * Theo Fleury is Africa hot. The li'l' fella has climbed all the way to sixth in the league in scoring with 54 points. Theo is also among the leaders in goals with 28. * Dave King put together a new line for the Flames' most recent meeting with Los Angeles. The coach decided to put Joe Nieuwendyk between Theo Fleury and Wes Walz, the result was a 5-2 Calgary win. The trio came through with both Nieuwendyk and Fleury racking up four points and Walz chipping in two of his own. The Flames scored four times in the first 21 minutes of the game to chase Kelly Hrudey from the pipes. * Jim Peplinski made his return to the Flames' line- up, after five years of retirement, during Calgary's 4-2 victory over the Oilers on April 15th. The 34- year-old Peplinski realizes he will only be a fourth line player, but will do whatever he can to help the club win. * Kelly Kisio continues to have injury problems. After finally returning to the line-up after missing several games to various nagging injuries this season, Kisio again came up lame in the Flames' 4-2 win over the Oilers on April 15th. After being ridden into the endboards by the Oilers' Jason Arnott, Kisio immediately began to favor his shoulder and headed for the bench. The diagnosis is a slight seperation, and Kisio will be out indefinitely. * Zarley Zalapski has been having problems with fatigue this season, and recently had blood tests done to try and get to the root of the problem. Feeling that he just doesn't have the energy a normal 26-year- old should have, Zalapski also began to question his diet. Zarley, if it's energy you want, try a handful of Pez chased by a watermellon Slush Puppy. Afterwards, energy will be the least of your worries...although a massive coronary would be of some concern. * Rick Tabaracci earned his first victory in a Flames uniform by beating Los Angeles 4-1 on April 12th. Then on April 17th, Tabaracci again defeated the Kings, this time 5-2, for his second win in as many starts for Calgary. ------------------------------------------------------ EDMONTON OILERS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Ron Low Roster: C - Jason Arnott, Mike Stapleton, Todd Marchant, Doug Weight, Micah Aivazoff, Kent Nilsson, Mats Lindgren. LW - Shayne Corson, Louie Debrusk, Iain Fraser. RW - Kelly Buchberger, Scott Thorton, Kirk Maltby, Dave Oliver. D - Ian Herbers, Marc Laforge, Luke Richardson, Bryan Marchment, Dean Kennedy, Boris Mironov, Igor Kravchuk, Fredrick Olausson, Jiri Slegr, Ken Sutton. G - Bill Ranford, Fred Brathwaite. Injuries: Dean McAmmond, rw (severed achilles tendon, out for season). Ryan McGill, d (eye contusion, indefinite). Mats Lindgren, c (back, indefinite). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/13 - at Vancouver W 6-4 4/15 - Calgary L 4-2 4/17 - at Winnipeg W 6-5 4/19 - Los Angeles W 2-0 4/21 - at Los Angeles T 3-3 4/22 - at Vancouver L 6-1 TEAM NEWS * The Oilers playoff hopes are still alive. Edmonton is currently trailing San Jose, Winnipeg, and Los Angeles by a single point for the eigth playoff spot in the West. While the team hasn't exactly been tearing up the league since Ron Low took over for George Burnett as head coach, they have shown signs of life. The club has gone 3-4-1 in that time, including a big 2-0 win over the Kings on April 19th. * Bill Ranford has been strong all season, even though he has had is bad moments from time to time. Without Ranford, the Oilers wouldn't even be dreaming of the playoffs. He came through in a big way on April 19th against the Kings when he stopped all 28 shots he faced to earn his 10th career shut out. However, three nights later in Vancouver, Ranford and the Oilers got shelled by the Canucks 6-1. Those two games pretty much some up the entire season for the Oilers. * No one is certain when Swedish left winger Mats Lindgren will be healthy enough to make his debut as an Edmonton Oiler, but there are signs of encouragement. With the cracked disc in his back beginning to heal, the 20-year-old Lindgren skated with the Oilers for the first time this past week. The practise was the first time he had been on skates in six weeks. "My back felt great. The rest of me, not so good," admitted Lindgren. * Since Shayne Corson was stripped of the captaincy by former coach George Burnett, the position has remained empty. New coach Ron Low has no plans to name a captain for the rest of the season, but Luke Richardson and Kelly Buchberger will continue to wear the 'A'. ------------------------------------------------------ LOS ANGELES KINGS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Rogie Vachon Roster: C - Yanic Perreault, Robert Lang, Pat Conacher, Kevin Todd, Wayne Gretzky. LW - Randy Burridge, Dan Quinn, Kevin Brown, Eric Lacroix. RW - Jari Kurri, Matt Johnson, Gary Shuchuk, Troy Crowder, John Druce. D - Rob Blake, Dennis Tsygurov, Darryl Sydor, Chris Snell, Sean O'Donnell, Michel Petit, Marty McSorley, Rob Cowie. G - Kelly Hrudey, Grant Fuhr. Injuries: Philippe Boucher, d (wrist surgery, out rest of season). Tony Granato, lw (broken foot, 3-5 weeks). Rick Tocchet, rw (back spasms, day-to-day). Transactions: Sent Tim Watters, d, to Phoenix (IHL). Fired Barry Merose, head coach, and Cap Raeder, assistant coach. Named Rogie Vachon interim head coach and Dave Taylor interim assistant coach. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/12 - Calgary L 4-1 4/16 - at San Jose L 2-0 4/17 - at Calgary L 5-2 4/19 - at Edmonton L 2-0 4/21 - Edmonton T 3-3 4/23 - Anaheim T 2-2 TEAM NEWS by Matt Moore * The long awaited coaching change occurred when the Kings fired coach Barry Melrose and assistant Cap Raeder, replacing them temporarily with Rogie Vachon and Dave Taylor, respectively. Assistant coach John Perpich was not fired, and will be retained at least until the start of next season. The public explanation was that the firings were an attempt to try something to get some life into the floundering Kings while they still have at least a slim chance at the playoffs. It had been a foregone conclusion that Melrose would not be returning next year, either by his or the team's decision. Melrose leaves the team with a rather pitiful record of 79-101-29 in his nearly three years of coaching with his only saving grace being the Stanley Cup Finals appearance two years ago. In a separate news conference than the one announcing his firing, Melrose seemed to be a very bitter man, even though many of the reasons for the Kings losing can be directly attributed to himself. He made statements to the effect that the Kings did not have the depth needed to overcome the rash of injuries that have devastated the team this year. He failed to point out that he was the driving force behind the effort to make the Kings a bigger and tougher team, being the impetus behind such moronic trades that cost the Kings players like Paul Coffey, Tomas Sandstrom, and Alex Zhitnik. Melrose had almost been fired last month but a resurgence by the team caused this to be delayed. However, the time had come when the Kings went on a wonderful six game losing streak, causing this horrible season to get even worse. The Kings were playing as if it was already decided that they would not make the playoffs, even though they were right in the middle of the race for the final spot in the Western Conference, and Melrose did not show any signs of the leadership needed to pull the team out of its nose-dive. There is no word as to who will be Melrose's replacement, although Larry Robinson, Mike Milbury, and Dave Taylor have all been mentioned. * Rick Tocchet continues to be scratched due to a lower back strain. The strain is only indirectly related to the back surgery that Tocchet had last year and will not require any surgery. Tocchet's physical presence (and goal scoring ability) has sorely been missed, and combining this with Tony Granato's broken ankle, the Kings' recent scoring woes can be understood. * Troy Crowder has turned out to be a total embarrassment to the Kings, having been involved in yet another dirty play against the Flames. He received a major penalty and a game misconduct for the high sticking of Theoren Fleury. It is bad enough that hockey still has talentless players that are kept around just for fighting but it is even worse when these idiots are apparently out there trying to hurt people. Crowder has already been involved in incidents like sucker-punching a Maple Leaf player, and better yet, kneeing a Red Wing player. Hopefully the new coach will get rid of this worthless goon before next season so that the Kings can honestly say that they play real hockey. * Referee Rob Shick was injured in the game against the Oilers on the 21st, being cut on the left arm by a skate blade less than a minute into the game. He returned later in the first period but was ordered to leave before the second period. He underwent surgery that night to repair a sliced muscle. ------------------------------------------------------ SAN JOSE SHARKS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Kevin Constantine Roster: C - Igor Larionov, Jamie Baker, Craig Janney, Dody Wood, Chris Tancill. LW - Ray Whitney, Jeff Friesen, Todd Holt, Andrei Nazarov, Kevin Miller. RW - Pat Falloon, Ulf Dahlen, Sergei Makarov, Jeff Odgers, Shean Donovan, John Calhoun. D - Ilya Byakin, Kevin Wortman, Sandis Ozolinsh, Mike Rathje, Tom Pederson, Jim Kyte, Shawn Cronin. G - Wade Flaherty, Arturs Irbe. Injuries: Dale Craigwell, c (broken ankle, indefinite). Michal Sykora, d (seperated shoulder, indefinite). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/10 - at Calgary L 8-3 4/12 - at Chicago W 3-2 4/13 - at Detroit L 3-0 4/16 - Los Angeles W 2-0 4/17 - at Anaheim L 3-0 4/19 - at Dallas T 5-5 4/23 - Detroit L 5-1 TEAM NEWS * The Sharks are currently in possesion of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, put will be looking over their shoulder the rest of the way. Even though they are tied with Winnipeg and Los Angeles with 35 points, the Sharks have more wins, so they would get the nod if the season were to end today. * Last season, the Sharks were 6-0-0 against Anaheim. Oh, what a difference a year can make. This season the Sharks have lost all four meetings with the Ducks, including getting shut out 3-0 by Guy Hebert on April 17th. If San Jose fails to make the playoffs, they have to look no further than their record against Anaheim for a reason why. Sharks' rookie Jeff Friesen may have summed up San Jose's problems with Anaheim best when he said, "It's embarrassing." Well said, Jeff. * It appears Arturs Irbe has taken back his job as the number one man in goal for San Jose. Wade Flaherty was receiving the majority of the playing time, but Irbe has since rebounded and begun to resemble the goaltender that led San Jose to the postseason last year. Irbe had perhaps his best performance of the year on April 16th, when he shut out the Kings for the second time this season 2-0. ------------------------------------------------------ VANCOUVER CANUCKS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Rick Ley Roster: C - Cliff Ronning, John MacIntyre, Mike Peca, Christian Ruutu. LW - Geoff Courtnall, Josef Beranek, Martin Gelinas, Sergio Momesso, Alek Stojanov. RW - Pavel Bure, Trevor Linden, Tim Hunter, Roman Oksiuta, Russ Courtnall, Scott Walker, Dane Jackson. D - Bret Hedican, Dana Murzyn, Jyrki Lumme, Jassen Cullimore, Dave Babych, Evgeny Namestinkov, Jeff Brown, Artur Oktyabrev. G - Kirk McLean, Kay Whitmore. Injuries: Gino Odjick, lw (abdominal strain, day-to- day). Transactions: Recalled Alek Stojanov, lw, and Artur Oktyabrev, d, from Hamilton (AHL). Recalled Dane Jackson, rw, from Syracuse (AHL). Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/11 - Anaheim W 5-0 4/13 - Edmonton L 6-4 4/15 - at Anaheim W 3-1 4/17 - at Dallas T 2-2 4/18 - at St. Louis L 4-1 4/20 - Calgary T 2-2 4/22 - Edmonton W 6-1 TEAM NEWS by Zippy the Wonder Chimp * Pavel Bure showed signs of life against the Ducks as he helped the team to a 5-0 win over Anaheim by recording his first hat trick of the season and sixth of his career. Kirk McLean stopped 25 shots on way to his first shutout of the season for the Canucks as they won for the fifth time in seven games. * After a strong game in Anaheim, it seemed a good time for the Canucks to begin playing consistently with a game against the struggling Oilers who were winless in nine, and move into a tie with Toronto for the fifth seed in the playoffs. However, the song remained the same for Vancouver as they lost 6-4 in a game they should have won. McLean let in 5 goals on 21 shots before being replaced in the third period by Kay Whitmore. Even with the loss, the Canucks won the season series with Edmonton 2-1-1. * Vancouver bounced back from the loss against Edmonton, as they traveled to Anaheim to meet the Mighty Ducks for the final time this season. Behind 28 saves by McLean the Canucks won 3-1 and finished the season undefeated against the Ducks with a record of 4-0-1. * The Canucks travelled into Dallas to take on the Stars and the red-hot Andy Moog who had allowed only six goals in his last five games...but it didn't make a difference as the two teams fought to another 2-2 tie. It was the fourth tie between the two teams in four games this season and was the league leading tenth tie for Vancouver. * The Canucks have faired well against teams below .500, but have had difficulties against teams with winning records all season, which is a situation they will have to correct if they want to get back to the Finals this season. The streak continued when they concluded their recent roadtrip in St. Louis. Against the high powered Blues, Kay Whitmore, who was looking for his first win of the season, got the start over Kirk McLean to try to turn the Canucks luck around versus St. Louis. The move didn't pay off as Whitmore allowed 4 goals on 23 shots and fell to 0-6-1 on the season as the Canucks lost only for the third time in the last 11 games. * Down by two goals to the division leading Flames on April 20, Vancouver showed character as they bounced back to tie the game at 2-2 thanks to a pair of goals in a span of 32 seconds by Trevor Linden. Also in the game, Linden made a punishing hit on Calgary winger Nikolai Borschevksy late in the third period. Becuase of the check, Borschevsky was taken off on a stretcher after he blacked out on the bench. He was taken to a local hospital and was believed to have some badly bruised ribs. * Russ Courtnall recorded a hat trick and Bure contributed four assists as the Canucks got revenge on the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 6-1. Besides the three goals, Russ Courtnall also had a pair of assists and Trevor Linden scored twice on the power play to give him four goals in his last two games. The win moved Vancouver into the fifth spot in the Western Conference standings and helped them win the season series 3-1-1 with Edmonton. * Vancouver has stepped up play over the last 13 games. In that span they are 7-3-3 and almost certainly guaranteed a playoff spot. However, of their seven wins, only one was against a team with a winning record, that being a 4-2 win over Calgary. All other wins came at the expense of Anaheim(3), Edmonton(2), and Los Angeles. With the playoffs only a little over a week away, the Canucks need to finish strong in remaining games with Chicago, Toronto, St. Louis, Calgary, and San Jose in order to build momentum as they enter the playoffs. * In the last 7 games Bure has had 3 goals and 5 assists. However, all but one assist came in a pair of games versus Anaheim and Edmonton...and since the hat trick on April 11, Bure hasn't scored a goal in six games. But the good news is the Canucks are still winning, even if it's against weaker teams. Bure is still at a respectable point a game pace, but more scoring punch is still needed out of the Canucks star. Speaking of scoring, Russ Courtnall has faired well since the trade that brought him to Vancouver. In seven games with the Canucks he has 3 goals and 7 assists, including a 5 point night against Edmonton. * With the playoffs around the corner, the Canucks called up rookies Scott Walker and Alek Stojanov and they immediately brought some much needed intensity and toughness to the Vancouver squad. In 6 games Walker has one assist and 28 penalty minutes, while in a pair of games Stojanov has 11 penalty minutes for the Canucks. ====================================================== Thoughts... by Jim Iovino *We should all take a moment and thank the hockey gods for letting us enjoy this season, even though it was shortened by the lockout. The race for the final spots in each division are extremely close, and extremely fun to watch. Every team in the league except for Ottawa and the Islanders (better luck next year) have a chance to make the playoffs. All of this excitement, and we'll be watching it all the way to July. *Now would be a good time to look back at the Rick Tocchet-Luc Robitaille trade made before this season. Statistically, the two are pretty close to even. Robitaille has scored 40 points (23 goals) in 40 games, while Tocchet has scored 35 points (18 goals) in 34 games. But once you get passsed those stats, the difference shows through. Tocchet, just like everyone predicted, has probably played injured more times than he has healthy. His back, which has acted up in the past, has once again slowed him down. He recently missed five games due to pain in his lower back right at the time when the Kings need him most, when they have to win to get into the playoffs. Robitaille, on the other hand, has been solid for the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long. His steady play has helped the Pens in their attempt to take the top spot in the Northeast Division from the Quebec Nordiques, and has let Pens fans somewhat forget that Super Mario won't be back on the ice anytime soon. Stick this trade with the one that brought Shawn McEachern and Tomas Sandstrom over last season for Marty McSorely and Jim Paek, and Penguin fans everywhere should be very grateful to the Kings for two sweet deals. *One good sign that the Pens won't win the Stanley Cup: They have the 22nd ranked penalty killing unit in the NHL at 79.7%. This will make it extremely tough for them to win in the playoffs, especially if the refs refuse to let Ulf Samuelsson hack and tackle during the last couple of minutes of a game. You saw what happened in their recent matchup against the Flyers. Without Ulf on the ice to hold a lead in the last few minutes of a game, the Pens are as good as dead. *One good sign that the Detroit Red Wings could win the Stanley Cup: They have the No. 1 ranked power play and penalty killing units in the NHL. Their power play is clicking at 24.6%, and their penalty killing is up around 87%. This will bode well for the Wings as they try to end the longest streak without winning the Cup in the NHL. Just like a certain other team that won it last year, the New York Rangers. And what kind of special teams play did they have? Number one on both the power play and penalty killing. Scary, isn't it? ====================================================== TEAM REPORTS ====================================================== EASTERN CONFERENCE NORTHEASTERN DIVISION ----------------------------------------------------- BOSTON BRUINS ----------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Brian Sutter Roster: C - Adam Oates, Ted Donato. LW - Cam Stewart, Dave Reid, Brent Hughes, Mats Naslund, Fred Knipscheer. RW - Cam Neely, Steve Heinze, Mariusz Czerkawski(r), Glen Murray, Marc Potvin, Sandy Moger. D - Jamie Huscroft, John Gruden(r), Don Sweeney, David Shaw, Jon Rohloff(r), Alexei Kasatonov. G - Blaine Lacher(r), Craig Billington. (r) = rookie. Injuries: Al Iafrate, d (knee, indefinite). Daniel Marois, rw (back surgery, indefinite). Jozef Stumpel, lw (knee, 1-2 weeks). Bryan Smolinski, c (charley horse, day-to-day). Steve Leach, lw (broken foot, 3-6 weeks). Ray Bourque, d (back strain, day-to-day). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/12 - Quebec L 4-0 4/14 - at Rangers L 5-3 4/15 - at Montreal W 3-2 4/19 - Buffalo W 4-1 4/20 - at Ottawa W 6-5 4/23 - Rangers W 5-4 TEAM NEWS by Matt Brown (mattb@ctron.com) * The Bruins outshot the Nordiques 35 - 16, but none went in that net thing, unlike 4 of Quebec's. Stephane Fiset had a great game for the Nords, and the B's went 0-9 (!!) on the power play. Boston fans were livid at referee Paul Stewart, some yelling that he had his old Quebec jersey on under his ref's shirt. In the Bruin's defense, several of the 9 power plays were shortened by Stewart's "even-up" calls. For example, Mariusz Czerkawski was hooked by Peter Forsberg, and Mariusz's stick came around and winged the Swedish rookie. Mariusz got 5 and a game misconduct, nulifying the power play. On the ensuing advantage, with only 12 ticks in the 1st period, Quebec scores 2 goals in 10 seconds. So there we have it. 3 shots, 2 goals, both scored in the final minute. This has happened too many times this year - Blaine Lacher would have a 1.79 (sarcastic guesstimate) goals against if not for these last minute snoozes. * After outplaying the Nords and getting blanked, the Bs went to the Rotten Apple and bit into a worm against the Rangers. The Bruins defense gambled early and often, and the result couldn't have been Messier. The Rangers converted odd-man rushes for 4 of their goals. Lacher, letting in 3 of 7 shots, was yanked for Craig Billington at 12:52 in the first. Billi played solidly in relief, but was the goat, getting the loss because the 4th goal was against him. Even though Boston outshot the Rangers 33-24 for the game, Richter was tough, and the Bruin's power play was hibernating at 0-4. * Now the good news: A four-game win streak, longest of the season. A win over Montreal at the Forum, a game-winner from Glenn Murray, and a solid performance in net by Billington. The power play was 2 for 2, the Habs power play 0-4, and Patrick Roy was left staring at the banners again. It just doesn't get any better than this, in the regular season, anyway. * Next, a thorough trashing of Buffalo Dominik Hasek kept the Sabres in the game, stopping 40 of 44. Only an Alexander Mogilny PPG could dent Billington, who won his 3rd game of the season (all 3 for the Bruins). Cam Neely was back with a goal, on the power play, of course, and 2 helpers. Ray Bourque's power play goal staked Boston to a 3-0 1st period lead, and took the wings off the Buffalo. The shots came fast and furious, with a Bruin's edge, 23-10 in the period. But Hasek held the fort against the Bruin's low shots. That is, until Bourque grabbed the puck near the right circle, wheeled in on Hasek, faked him down, and backhanded it into the upper netting under the crossbar. This goal will be on the Norris Trophy highlight film this year. * Egad! Down to Ottawa 4-0, at Ottawa? The Bruins flat as a flapjack and slow as molasses? Sylvain Turgeon and Alexandre Daigle make Billington into French Toast! Coach Brian Sutter lookiing like he swallowed a soft-boiled egg whole, with shell. Will Rick Bowness finally get revenge on Hary Sinden, who unjustly banished him to expansion-land? Or will the Senators find a way to gag on this buffet and extend their 0-for-lifetime mark against the Bs? Need you ask? Though the Bruins blew a shorthanded 3-on-1 by passing to Alexei Kasatonov in front, Kerry Huffman dutifully swatted Alexei's bumble into the net, foretelling the result. Really, a shorthanded 3-on-1! From there on, Ottawa was a house of cards looking for a strong breeze. First, Neely's 23rd goal made it 4-2. Then Phil Bourque scored for Ottawa, as if to say, "Look, we won't blow the lead; stick with us, Senators' fans!" It was a cruel joke. Czerkawski scored a minute later, and then the roof fell in. Troy Mallette boarded Neely at 11:41 of the 3rd, then fell on Neely's stick. When Neely pushed him to get the stick, Mallette butt-ended Neely in the face, drawing blood. Neely got 2 for unsportsmanlike, but Mallette got a 5 minute major. On the 4-on-4, Donato beat Darren Madeley, and the Bruins got 2 more on the power play to win. Sandy Moger popped in the tieing goal, and Boston sportswriters were scouring their cliche books for new ways to say "deer in the headlights." Ray Bourque's goal, a blue-line ripper that Madeley could only wave at, sealed the win and avoided the darkest day in the Sutter regime. * The Rangers again. The Bs, flat in the first, being outmuscled and out-goalied (Healey looking like Richter in the last game), seemed like they would skate this one out. The Rangers were humming, with playoff hopes on the line. Then Ray Bourque was crosschecked by Pat Verbeek, assassin for hire. Bourque would miss the rest of the game with back spasms. How did the Bs respond? With a Neely "shoe-trick." Neely ignited the Bruins with 2 power play goals in the 2nd, then scored the eventual winner with an unassisted rush down the left, beating two Rangers, squaring off on Healey, and zinging a wrist shot over his glove to the upper far corner. The hats started coming down, and then the shoes (saluting Neely's Nike commercials). Also some sunglasses, tshirts, and other sundry items (sorry, no lingerie). The win solidified the Bs hold on 4th place in the East, with 2 points and 2 games in hand over bedeviled New Jersey. * Vince Riendeau has been "terminated." Sent down to Providence after Billington was aquired, he led the Baby B's to a 7-3 win over the Portland Priates in the first round of the AHL playoffs. He turned 29 the next day, and a day later, told PBruin's coach Steve Kasper "Hockey isn't fun anymore." He left the team and took his family back to Quebec. Junior GM Mike O'Connell originally suspended Riendeau, but now considers him in breach of contract. Riendeau claims that a certain Mr. Sinden was trying to screw him out of his NHL salary even though he had a one-way contract and had cleared waivers. Does that sound like Harry? Vince forfeits the remainder of this season's pay, and loses his $500,000 contract next year. * Bearbaiting - Lacher missed 3 games with a severe sinus infection. He lost about six pounds, and came back with a new mask, new determination, and the same cocky attitude. Relieving Craig B. against the Rangers, he was so irate when Verbeek scored in the 3rd that he cranked his water bottle into the stands. Good thing it was in Boston, or he'd be hearing from some Brooklyn ambulance chaser. Bryan Smolinski has missed 3 games with a hip injury. Originally thinking "thigh bruise," B's trainers played it safe: Crutches, electrical stimulation, and rest. They remember the calcified thigh bruise that cost Cam Neely so much time. Bryan expected to return against New York, but no go. Now it's listed as a charley horse. Let's hope they don't decide to amputate. ------------------------------------------------------ BUFFALO SABRES ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: John Muckler Roster: C - Pat LaFontaine, Dave Hannan, Bob Sweeney, Derek Plante, Brian Holzinger. LW - Yuri Khmylev, Craig Simpson, Jason Dawe, Kevin McClelland, Scott Pearson, Brad May. RW - Wayne Presley, Rob Ray, Scott Thomas, Donald Audette, Alexander Mogilny. D - Doug Houda, Doug Bodger, Charlie Huddy, Richard Smehlik, Dean Melanson, Mark Astley, Craig Muni, Garry Galley, Alexei Zhitnik. G - Robb Stauber, Dominik Hasek. Injuries: Dale Hawerchuk, c (hip strain, day-to-day). Transactions: Signed Brian Holzinger, c, to a multi- year contract. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/12 - at Rangers L 3-1 4/14 - at Quebec L 5-2 4/16 - Ottawa W 2-1 4/18 - Hartford L 2-1 4/19 - at Boston L 4-1 4/23 - Philadelphia W 4-2 TEAM NEWS * Before the season started, we here at LCS felt the Sabres would be one of the dominant teams in the Eastern Conference. It just made sense. Add in the return of Pat LaFontaine, one of the baddest men to ever lace up the skates, with the solid defense and excellent goaltending of Dominik Hasek and the Sabres were destined to be a great team. 1+1=2, right? Well, not so fast, Chester, real life doesn't always work out that way. While the delay in LaFontaine's return and other numerous injuries to key players like Dale Hawerchuk and Alexei Zhitnik are certainly valid excuses, somehow the team just seems different...as if something was missing. This missing "something" could just be the team chemistry which was disrupted by the flood of injuries. If that is the case, then things could be ready to turn around for Buffalo since everyone except Hawerchuk is healthy and ready to go. With six games left and only a one point lead over the likes of Hartford, Montreal, and the Rangers, the Sabres need to find the missing ingredient if a run at the Stanley Cup is in their future. * Buffalo took another step towards the playoffs this past Sunday, by beating the red hot Flyers 4-2 at the Aud. The game was tied 2-2 in the third before Donald Audette and LaFontaine each scored power play goals to put the game away. In fact, all of the Sabres' goals came by way of their special team units. Buffalo scored three times with the man advantage, including two by Audette, and Wayne Presley added his league leading sixth shorthanded goal of the season. In the playoffs strong special teams win games. If the Sabres can make it in, their power play and penalty killing units will make them dangerous. * Last week the Sabres signed this year's Hobey Baker Award winner, Brian Holzinger, to a multi-year contract. The 22-year-old Holzinger scored 35 goals and 34 assists this season while playing for Bowling Green on way to earning the award as top collegiate hockey player. Holzinger was originally drafted by Buffalo in the sixth round of the 1991 Entry Draft. ------------------------------------------------------ HARTFORD WHALERS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Paul Holmgren Roster: C - Andrei Nikolishin, Andrew Cassels, Mark Janssens, Jimmy Carson, Darren Turcotte, Ted Drury, Igor Chibirev. LW - Geoff Sanderson, Kevin Smyth, Robert Kron, Jim Storm, Paul Ranheim, Kelly Chase, Scott Daniels. RW - Jocelyn Lemieux, Steve Rice. D - Frantisek Kucera, Alexander Godynyuk, Adam Burt, Brad McCrimmon, Glen Wesley, Chris Pronger, Brian Glynn, Glen Featherstone. G - Sean Burke, Jeff Reese. Injuries: Jim Sandlak, lw (franctured heel, indefinite). Transactions: Recalled Jim Storm, lw, from the U.S. National Team. Recalled Scott Daniels, lw, from Springfield (AHL). Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/12 - Ottawa W 4-2 4/14 - Montreal W 4-3 (OT) 4/16 - at New Jersey L 3-2 4/18 - at Buffalo W 2-1 4/20 - at Rangers L 3-2 4/21 - at Washington L 6-3 4/23 - Pittsburgh L 4-2 TEAM NEWS by Laura Mulcahy * The Whalers road to the playoffs is a tricky one. Win a game. Lose a game. Win a game. Lose a game. Since April 9, the Whalers have beaten Montreal (in a clutch OT victory) and Buffalo. They have lost to New Jersey, the Rangers, and Washington. At last glance, the semi-buoyant Whalers were in a four-way battle for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, Washington, Buffalo, and the Rangers are in the battle, as well, and they aren't showing signs of letting up. The Whalers only have a few games left before their fate is sealed for the season; Whalers fans around the country (and they do exist, just check out the Whalers mailing list sometime) are gritting their teeth and hanging on to hope. But the chance seems to be small. During the final few games of the season, the Whalers face Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, the Rangers, Montreal, Boston, and Quebec. NICE. The Rangers play the Islanders, the Panthers, and the Lightning. How does this happen? And just when will the NHL hammer the final nail into the Whalers' coffin? "Well, since the Rangers have to make the playoffs - tradition! - we'll give them a really wimpy end-of-season schedule." The Whalers have had a damn decent season; they did far better and accomplished far more than anyone (including this fine publication) thought possible. When realignment happened, this writer thought her team was doomed. How would the mediocre Whalers ever make the playoffs against the likes of Pittsburgh, Quebec, Montreal, Boston, Buffalo, etc? This writer was certain she'd be 100 years old (and probably dead) before the Whalers battled their way into the playoffs again. But this season could be different. If the Whalers get their sticks in a pile, this team might just launch themselves into the playoffs in a season when no one thought it possible. How amazing that would be! Whalers fans everywhere would rejoice! The team is as cohesive as it has been in years. The coaching staff has put down their booze bottles and picked up their playbooks. Fans have been discussing the energy in the Hartford Civic Center the night of the OT win against Montreal. They said they hadn't seen or felt anything like it in years. This could be the time the Whalers make something of themselves and fight their way into the playoffs. Then again, golf season is just around the corner. It could go either way, really. What matters now is not how much the fans want it; what matters now is how much the players want it. Here's hoping they want it really badly. ------------------------------------------------------ MONTREAL CANADIENS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Jacques Demers Roster: C - Pierre Turgeon, Mark Lamb, Craig Conroy, Brian Savage. LW - Pierre Sevigny, Benoit Brunet, Brian Bellows, Vincent Damphousse, Mario Roberge, Gerry Fleming. RW - Mike Keane, Turner Stevenson, Ed Ronan, Mark Recchi. D - Lyle Odelein, Vladimir Malakhov, Yves Racine, Peter Popovic, Bryan Fogarty, J.J. Daigneault. G - Ron Tugnutt, Patrick Roy. Injuries: Patrice Brisebois, d (herniated disc, indefinite). Transactions: None. Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/10 - New Jersey W 2-1 4/12 - at Philadelphia L 3-2 4/14 - at Hartford L 4-3 (OT) 4/15 - Boston L 3-2 4/17 - Washington W 5-2 4/19 - Ottawa W 4-1 4/22 - Tampa Bay W 3-1 TEAM NEWS by Matthew Secosky * I'm not sure what Islanders management was smokin' when they traded away Pierre Turgeon for Montreal captain Kirk Muller, but the Canadiens sure aren't complaining. Since the trade, Montreal has won it's last three games and is 6-4 in the past ten, with Turgeon leading the way with 10 goals and 7 assists. Turgeon has meshed well with linemates Mark Recchi and Vincent Damphousse to give the Canadiens a lethal scoring line that can dominate the ice at times. Before Turgeon's arrival, Recchi and Damphousse were both averaging less than a point per game, but thru the past ten games Recchi has 15 points (4G, 11A) and Damphousse 10 points (2G, 8A). * Montreal rookie Turner Stevenson also seems to have found his scoring touch, netting 4 goals in the past seven games, including a two goal performance verse Ottawa on April 19. Stevenson had only 1 assist in 28 games with Montreal before his recent goal explosion. * Montreal had an important showdown with who else but the Hartford Whalers on April 14th in a game that had playoff implications a plenty. Montreal was holding a slim 3-2 lead into the final minute of the third period, but the Whale refused to die without thrashing around a bit. Goalie pulled, Hartford swarmed the zone and with only 24 seconds remaining in the game, Steve Rice scored for the Whale to send it into overtime. The Whale struck again at 2:04 of overtime on a Darren Turcotte goal to seal the victory and steal two valuable points in the race for a playoff berth away from Montreal. Montreal (41 points) currently is in a three way tie with Hartford and the New York Rangers for the final playoff spot in the East. All three teams have 5 games remaining and Montreal will have to beat the Whale on April 24 to keep their playoff hopes alive. As long as Montreal's new found offense keeps gunning and Patrick Roy is his usual spectacular self, the Canadiens have an excellent chance at taking the final spot away from the Rangers and Whale. * More good news came for Montreal on Thursday as they signed offensive center Saku Koivu from Finland. Reports from Montreal say the deal is for $4 million over three years, which will make him the highest paid Montreal rookie ever. Koivu is an excellent play making center who should be able to give the Canadiens a scoring threat from the second line, which the Habs desperately need to take some of the pressure off Turgeon's line. The Canadiens also signed Finnish defenseman Marku Kiprosoff to a two-year contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both players will be reporting to the Canadiens for the 1995-1996 season. ------------------------------------------------------ OTTAWA SENATORS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Rick Bowness Roster: C - Dave Archibald, Dave McLlwain, Alexei Yashin, Alexandre Daigle, Radek Bonk. LW - Randy Cunneyworth, Troy Mallette, Claude Boivin, Phil Bourque, Sylvain Turgeon, Michel Picard, Pavol Demitra. RW - Claude Savoie, Pat Elynuik, Steve Larouche, Scott Levins. D - Jim Paek, Sean Hill, Brad Shaw, Kerry Huffman, Chris Dahlquist, Dennis Vial, Stanislav Neckar, Radim Bicanek, Lance Pitlick, Daniel Laperriere. G - Don Beaupre, Darren Madeley. Injuries: Dave Archibald, c (ankle, out for season). Rob Gaudreau, rw (knee, out for season). Martin Straka, c (knee, indefinite). Transactions: Recalled Pavol Demitra, lw, from PEI (AHL). Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/10 - Pittsburgh L 4-3 4/12 - at Hartford L 4-2 4/15 - at Pittsburgh L 5-2 4/16 - at Buffalo L 2-1 4/19 - at Montreal L 4-1 4/20 - Boston L 6-5 4/22 - at Islanders W 3-2 TEAM NEWS by Matthew Secosky * If the Senators are anything, they're consistent. Now consistency is usually a good thing, like say...when you're winning games or making mashed potatoes, but it's not something to be proud of when you're consistently losing game after game after game. The Senators may have been out of the playoff picture since the season started but there are many signs of a promising future. First of all, the Senators haven't been getting blown away by opponents day in and day out, rather, the Senators have been in almost every game till the end. Of their 32 losses this season, 12 of those games were lost by only 1 goal, while another 11 games were lost by 2 goals. If the promising young forwards such as Yashin, Daigle, Straka, and Bonk continue to adjust to the NHL way of life, and the Senators get the first pick at the draft, it shouldn't be long before the Senators are able to win those close games and make it to the playoffs. * Ottawa lost a bunch of games and then... * The Senators had a heart-breaking loss to the Bruins on Thursday April 20. Ottawa was leading 5-2 early in the third period and was looking for their fifth win of the season when the Bruins came out of hibernation to score four unanswered goals to win the game 6-5. The final two Bruins goals came during a 5 minute major boarding penalty to the Senators Troy Mallette. The loss extended Ottawa's winless streak to 0-15-1. ------------------------------------------------------ PITTSBURGH PENGUINS ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Eddie Johnston Roster: C - Ron Francis, Len Barrie, Troy Murray, Mike Hudson, John Cullen. LW - Kevin Stevens, Luc Robitaille, Shawn McEachern. RW - Jaromir Jagr, Tomas Sandstrom, Joe Mullen, Jim McKenzie. D - Ulf Samuelsson, Kjell Samuelsson, Larry Murphy, Francois Leroux, Chris Tamer, Chris Joseph, Norm Maciver, Drake Berehowsky. G - Wendel Young, Ken Wregget. Injuries: Wayne McBean, d (wrist, indefinite), Tom Barrasso, g (wrist, indefinite). Transactions: Assigned Philippe Derouville, g, to Cleveland (IHL). Assigned Jeff Christian, lw, and Rusty Fitzgerald, c, to Cleveland (IHL). Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/10 - at Ottawa W 4-3 4/11 - Washington W 3-1 4/15 - Ottawa W 5-2 4/16 - at Philadelphia L 4-3 (OT) 4/18 - Rangers W 6-5 4/22 - Washington L 2-1 4/23 - at Hartford W 4-2 TEAM NEWS * The Penguins' haven't given up on the idea of catching Quebec for the top spot in the Eastern Conference just yet. A late season slip by Quebec has cut the once seemingly insurmountable lead of six points down to only two, with the 'Guins still having one game in hand. * The Easter Bunny didn't exactly deliver a basket full of goodies to the Penguins this year. It appeared Penguin fans were going to have a happy holiday when Joey Mullen redirected a Norm Maciver pass behind Ron Hextall to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead late in the third period. However, referee Paul Stewart put a crimp on the victory celebration by whistling the birds for two penalties with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. There wasn't much question about the first call, when Troy Murray crunched Rod Brind'Amour from behind into the boards. Brind'Amour caught his face on the edge of the boards, which opened up a gash under his left eye. Even though the hit wasn't dirty (Brind'Amour turned just before Murray delivered the check, and Murray did let up once he saw him start to turn), no one could argue with Stewart's call of a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. The Flyers took advantage of the late power play when Mikael Renberg deflected a shot from the point past Ken Wregget to tie the score with under a minute to go. As if the thought of playing almost the entire overtime period shorthanded wasn't bad enough, Stewart then whistled Ulf Samuelsson for high-sticking John LeClair with only a handful of seconds remaining in the third. This is the call that had Penguin fans steamed. Ulf had gotten into a verbal battle with Stewart only moments before the call, and many think that Stewart was looking for a reason to send Samuelsson to the box. Whether it was a penalty or not, Stewart put the Penguins down by two men in overtime, something that is virtually unheard of in the NHL. With Ulf, the Pens best penalty killer in the box, it was only a matter of time before the Flyers scored the game winner. Ironically, it was Rod Brind'Amour, with blood still seeping from the fresh cut under his eye, who eventually scored the game winner. Needless to say, Paul Stewart was not one of the most popular people in the Civic Arena two nights later when he called the Pens next game against the Rangers. Despite the obvious frictoin between Stewart and the fans, the Penguins managed to win 6-5 over the Rangers in a good ol' fashioned shootout. * There still isn't a definite return date for Tom Barrasso. After practicing with the club for the past couple weeks, Barrasso is still trying to recover from wrist surgery which he had before the season. At this stage of the season, even if Barrasso would return he couldn't be expected to take over the number one goaltending duties. It's likely he would just serve as Ken Wregget's backup. * On April 12th, Joey and Brian Mullen received the Lester Patrick Award at a luncheon in New York City. The award is given for outstanding service to the game in the United States, and was named after Penguin GM Craig Patrick's grandfather who was a guiding force during the early days of the New York Rangers. The league also announced a few days earlier that they named Brian Mullen Director, Off-Ice Programs. ------------------------------------------------------ QUEBEC NORDIQUES ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Marc Crawford Roster: C - Mike Ricci, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Bob Bassen, Claude Lapointe. LW - Wendel Clark, Chris Simon, Valeri Kamensky, Rene Corbet, Paul MacDermid, Martin Rucinsky. RW - Owen Nolan, Adam Deadmarsh, Scott Young, Andrei Kovalenko. D - Sylvain Lefebvre, Uwe Krupp, Craig Wolanin, Curtis Leschyshyn, Steve Finn, Adam Foote, Aaron Miller, Janne Laukkanen. G - Stephane Fiset, Jocelyn Thibault. Injuries: Alexei Gusarov, d (knee, indefinitely). Jon Klemm, d (groin, day-to-day). Transactions: Recalled Aaron Miller, d, and Janne Laukkanen, d, from Cornwall (AHL). Assigned Garth Snow, g, to Cornwall (AHL). Game Results (April 10 - April 23) 4/12 - at Boston W 4-0 4/14 - Buffalo W 5-2 4/16 - Washington W 4-2 4/18 - at Islanders L 5-2 4/20 - at Tampa Bay L 5-2 4/22 - at Florida L 4-2 TEAM NEWS * While Quebec continues to hold on to the top spot in the Eastern Conference, a recent slump has made the race for first place a little more interesting. After Quebec lost back-to-back games for the first time this year against the Islanders and Lightning, they liked it so much they lost their next outing in Florida 4-2. The three game slide allowed Pittsburgh to get within two points of the Nords, and Philadelphia has crept within four points. * The Nordiques have always struggled in the state of Florida. Quebec is 0-4-1 lifetime in Tampa Bay, and couldn't beat the Panthers despite the returns of Owen Nolan and Jocelyn Thibault to the line-up. Thibault was making his first start since suffering a shoulder injury against Buffalo a few weeks back. The Panthers greeted him with three goals on their first six shots, and chased the youngster from the game midway through the first period. It was only Thibault's second loss of the season. Meanwhile, Nolan returned after only missing three games with a slight shoulder seperation. The injury was originally feared to be a shoulder contusion which would have sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season. Nolan returned in style by banging in a Joe Sakic pass for his 30th goal of the season. He is currently tied with Washington's Peter Bondra for the league lead. * Wendel Clark returned to the Quebec line-up after missing several games with a hamstring injury for the April 12th game against the Boston. Clark tallied an assist in the Nordiques 4-0 blanking of the Bruins. Stephane Fiset was in goal, and recorded his second shutout of the season. * The rumors of the Nordiques moving to Denver next season just won't go away. The Rocky Mountain News reported that the Comsat Corporation already has negotiated a deal to buy the club for $75 million and move the franchise to Denver. Comsat President Charlie Lyons would not confirm the reports, but it is believed a deal has been reached in principle and that Comsat is awaiting talks between the Nordiques and the government of Quebec. Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau will make recommendations on financing the new arena, that Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut so desperately wants, by mid-May. If the new arena doesn't get built in Quebec, it looks like they will be a movin'. While it will be extremely sad to see the Nordiques move, look on the bright side, the return of Rocky Hockey! ============================================================================== Stat Section ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1995 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SWEDEN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Group A (Gavle) Group B (Stockholm) GP W T L GF GA P GP W T L GF GA P France 1 1 0 0 4 0 2 Sweden 1 1 0 0 5 0 2 Russia 1 1 0 0 4 2 2 Czech republic 1 1 0 0 3 0 2 Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Austria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 USA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Italy 1 0 0 1 2 4 0 Finland 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 Germany 1 0 0 1 0 4 0 Norway 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 DATE Group A (Gavle) Group B (Stockholm) April 23: France - Germany 4-0 Sweden - Norway 5-0 Russia - Italy 4-2 Finland - Czech Republic 0-3 April 24: Switzerland - Canada Austria - USA Germany - Italy April 25: Canada - France USA - Norway Russia - Switzerland Sweden - Finland April 26: France - Russia Czech Republic - Austria Norway - Finland April 27: Italy - Switzerland Czech Republic - USA Canada - Germany Austria - Sweden April 28: Switzerland - France Germany - Russia USA - Sweden April 29: Canada - Italy Finland - Austria Czech Republic - Norway April 30: Russia - Canada USA - Finland Germany - Switzerland Sweden - Czech Republic May 1: Italy - France Norway - Austria MEDAL ROUND (Stockholm) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quarterfinals: Semifinals: May 2: Quarterfinal, A2-B3 May 5: Semifinal Quarterfinal, B2-A3 Semifinal May 3: Quarterfinal, A1-B4 Finals: Quarterfinal, B1-A4 May 6: Bronze medal game May 4: Relegation game, A6-B6 May 7: Final game ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1995 NHL STANDINGS Through April 24, 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EASTERN CONFERENCE Northeast Division GP W L T GF GA Pts Home Road Quebec 44 28 12 4 174 127 60 17-1-3 11-11-1 Pittsburgh 43 28 13 2 167 138 58 17-4-1 11-9-1 Boston 42 23 16 3 131 110 49 12-7-2 11-9-1 Buffalo 42 18 18 6 111 106 42 12-8-1 6-10-5 Montreal 43 18 20 5 116 134 41 15-3-3 3-17-2 Hartford 44 18 21 5 119 129 41 12-9-2 6-12-3 Ottawa 42 5 32 5 93 155 15 3-15-3 2-17-2 Atlantic Division GP W L T GF GA Pts Home Road Philadelphia 44 26 14 4 142 122 56 16-5-1 10-9-3 New Jersey 44 20 17 7 122 110 47 12-4-5 8-13-2 Washington 43 19 17 7 112 105 45 12-6-3 7-11-4 NY Rangers 43 19 21 3 121 118 41 9-8-3 10-13-0 Florida 42 17 20 5 99 110 39 9-12-2 8-8-3 Tampa Bay 43 17 23 3 110 121 37 10-12-0 7-11-3 NY Islanders 43 13 25 5 109 141 31 9-10-3 4-15-2 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division GP W L T GF GA Pts Home Road Detroit 43 31 8 4 169 100 66 16-3-3 15-5-1 St Louis 42 25 12 5 156 116 55 16-5-2 9-7-3 Toronto 44 19 18 7 121 131 45 14-7-2 5-11-5 Chicago 43 19 19 5 135 108 43 7-10-3 12-9-2 Dallas 44 17 19 8 128 115 42 9-9-5 8-10-3 Winnipeg 43 14 22 7 142 163 35 9-8-4 5-14-3 Pacific Division GP W L T GF GA Pts Home Road Calgary 43 22 15 6 148 120 50 14-7-1 8-8-5 Vancouver 43 16 16 11 136 131 43 8-8-6 8-8-5 San Jose 42 16 23 3 109 148 35 8-11-0 8-12-3 Los Angeles 43 13 21 9 132 162 35 5-11-6 8-10-3 Edmonton 43 15 24 4 119 162 34 10-10-1 5-14-3 Anaheim 43 14 24 5 111 150 33 9-7-4 5-17-1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1995 NHL PLAYOFF STANDINGS Through April 24, 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EASTERN CONFERENCE WESTERN CONFERENCE GP W L T Pts GP W L T Pts 1) X-QUEBEC 44 28 12 4 60 1) X-DETROIT 43 31 8 4 66 2) Y-PHILADELPHIA 44 26 14 4 56 2) X-CALGARY 43 22 15 6 50 3) X-PITTSBURGH 43 28 13 2 58 3) X-ST LOUIS 42 25 12 5 55 4) BOSTON 42 23 16 3 49 4) TORONTO 44 19 18 7 45 5) NEW JERSEY 44 20 17 7 47 5) CHICAGO 43 19 19 5 43 6) WASHINGTON 43 19 17 7 45 6) VANCOUVER 43 16 16 11 43 7) BUFFALO 42 18 18 6 42 7) DALLAS 44 17 19 8 42 8) NY RANGERS 43 19 21 3 41 8) SAN JOSE 42 16 23 3 35 ------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- 9) HARTFORD 44 18 21 5 41 9) WINNIPEG 43 14 22 7 35 10) MONTREAL 43 18 20 5 41 10) LOS ANGELES 41 13 21 9 35 11) FLORIDA 42 17 20 5 39 11) EDMONTON 42 15 24 4 34 12) TAMPA BAY 43 17 23 3 37 12) ANAHEIM 43 14 24 5 33 X - CLINCHED PLAYOFF BERTH Y - CLINCHED DIVISION TITLE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1995 NHL LEAGUE LEADERS Through April 24, 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NHL POINT LEADERS Player Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S Pct Eric Lindros PHI 43 27 40 67 31 60 7 0 4 1 136 19.9 Jaromir Jagr PIT 43 28 34 62 20 25 6 3 7 0 168 16.7 Alexei Zhamnov WIN 43 29 31 60 7 20 8 0 4 0 137 21.2 Joe Sakic QUE 43 17 39 56 6 30 2 2 4 0 139 12.2 Mikael Renberg PHI 43 25 30 55 28 20 8 0 3 0 129 19.4 Theoren Fleury CAL 43 28 26 54 8 88 9 2 5 0 154 18.2 John Leclair PHI 42 25 26 51 28 26 5 0 7 0 120 20.8 Paul Coffey DET 41 13 38 51 23 70 4 1 2 0 158 8.2 Ron Francis PIT 39 11 40 51 23 18 3 0 1 0 89 12.4 Sergei Fedorov DET 38 19 29 48 8 22 7 3 5 0 138 13.8 Joe Nieuwendyk CAL 43 19 29 48 13 24 3 0 3 0 112 17.0 Mark Messier NYR 43 14 34 48 4 40 3 3 2 0 118 11.9 Adam Oates BOS 42 10 38 48 -6 8 3 1 1 0 92 10.9 Brett Hull STL 42 28 19 47 11 10 8 3 6 0 173 16.2 Keith Tkachuk WIN 43 20 27 47 -3 150 6 2 1 1 114 17.5 Owen Nolan QUE 42 30 16 46 21 44 13 2 8 0 128 23.4 Peter Forsberg QUE 43 14 32 46 16 14 3 0 3 0 77 18.2 Bernie Nicholls CHI 43 22 23 45 4 28 11 2 5 0 108 20.4 Mark Recchi MON 44 14 31 45 -8 24 8 0 3 0 110 12.7 Pierre Turgeon MON 44 23 21 44 0 12 5 2 4 0 141 16.3 Mats Sundin TOR 43 22 22 44 -5 12 8 0 3 1 160 13.8 Wayne Gretzky LOS 43 10 34 44 -17 6 2 0 0 0 123 8.1 Teemu Selanne WIN 40 20 23 43 5 2 7 2 1 1 150 13.3 Phil Housley CAL 38 8 34 42 18 18 3 0 0 0 124 6.5 Keith Primeau DET 40 15 26 41 23 91 1 0 3 0 85 17.6 Dave Gagner DAL 44 14 27 41 4 50 7 0 2 1 130 10.8 NHL GOAL SCORING LEADERS Player Team GP G Peter Bondra Washington 42 30 Owen Nolan Quebec 42 30 Ray Sheppard Detroit 40 29 Alexei Zhamnov Winnipeg 43 29 Brett Hull St Louis 42 28 Theoren Fleury Calgary 43 28 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 43 28 Eric Lindros Philadelphia 43 27 Cam Neely Boston 36 26 John Leclair Philadelphia 42 25 Mikael Renberg Philadelphia 43 25 NHL ASSIST LEADERS Player Team GP A Ron Francis Pittsburgh 39 40 Eric Lindros Philadelphia 43 40 Joe Sakic Quebec 43 39 Paul Coffey Detroit 41 38 Adam Oates Boston 42 38 Phil Housley Calgary 38 34 Wayne Gretzky Los Angeles 43 34 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 43 34 Mark Messier NY Rangers 43 34 Peter Forsberg Quebec 43 32 Joe Juneau Washington 40 31 Alexei Zhamnov Winnipeg 43 31 Mark Recchi Montreal 44 31 NHL POWERPLAY GOAL LEADERS Player Team GP PP Cam Neely Boston 36 16 Owen Nolan Quebec 42 13 Donald Audette Buffalo 40 12 Peter Bondra Washington 42 12 Alexei Yashin Ottawa 41 11 Bernie Nicholls Chicago 43 11 David Oliver Edmonton 40 10 Ray Sheppard Detroit 40 10 Alexander Mogilny Buffalo 39 9 Theoren Fleury Calgary 43 9 Trevor Linden Vancouver 43 9 NHL SHORT-HANDED GOAL LEADERS Player Team GP SH Wayne Presley Buffalo 41 5 Peter Bondra Washington 42 5 Brent Gilchrist Dallas 28 3 Sergei Fedorov Detroit 38 3 Rob Zamuner Tampa Bay 38 3 Steve Konowalchuk Washington 41 3 Brett Hull St Louis 42 3 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 43 3 Mark Messier NY Rangers 43 3 Scott Young Quebec 44 3 22 tied with 2 SH GOALS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1995 NHL ROOKIE LEADERS Through April 24, 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NHL ROOKIE POINT LEADERS Player Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S Pct Peter Forsberg QUE 43 14 32 46 16 14 3 0 3 0 77 18.2 Paul Kariya ANA 42 15 18 33 -16 2 5 1 3 1 125 12.0 David Oliver EDM 40 16 12 28 -9 18 10 0 0 1 73 21.9 Todd Marchant EDM 41 12 12 24 -2 28 3 2 1 0 84 14.3 Jeff Friesen SAN 42 14 8 22 -10 14 5 1 2 0 76 18.4 Ian Laperriere STL 31 11 11 22 12 70 0 0 1 0 43 25.6 Mariusz Czerkawski BOS 41 8 14 22 5 31 1 0 0 0 100 8.0 Todd Harvey DAL 36 10 8 18 0 62 1 0 1 0 57 17.5 Adam Deadmarsh QUE 44 9 8 17 16 56 0 0 0 1 46 19.6 Mike Kennedy DAL 40 5 12 17 6 28 1 0 0 0 71 7.0 NHL ROOKIE GOAL SCORING LEADERS Player Team GP G David Oliver Edmonton 40 16 Paul Kariya Anaheim 42 15 Jeff Friesen San Jose 42 14 Peter Forsberg Quebec 43 14 Todd Marchant Edmonton 41 12 Ian Laperriere St Louis 31 11 Sergei Krivokrasov Chicago 36 11 Brian Savage Montreal 32 10 Todd Harvey Dallas 36 10 NHL ROOKIE ASSIST LEADERS Player Team GP A Peter Forsberg Quebec 43 32 Paul Kariya Anaheim 42 18 Mariusz Czerkawski Boston 41 14 Mike Kennedy Dallas 40 12 David Oliver Edmonton 40 12 Todd Marchant Edmonton 41 12 Ian Laperriere St Louis 31 11 Len Barrie Pittsburgh 43 11 Patrice Tardif St Louis 26 10 Chris Therien Philadelphia 44 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1995 NHL GOALTENDING LEADERS Through April 24, 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NHL GOALS AGAINST LEADERS (Minimum 14 games played) Player Team GP GA Avg Jim Carey Washington 24 46 1.95 Chris Osgood Detroit 17 34 2.11 Dominik Hasek Buffalo 36 76 2.16 Blaine Lacher Boston 31 64 2.29 Jocelyn Thibault Quebec 17 34 2.32 Ed Belfour Chicago 37 86 2.36 Andy Moog Dallas 30 69 2.39 Mike Vernon Detroit 27 66 2.41 Glenn Healy NY Rangers 14 30 2.44 Martin Brodeur New Jersey 36 83 2.44 NHL WIN LEADERS Goaltender Team GP W L T Ken Wregget Pittsburgh 35 24 7 2 Trevor Kidd Calgary 40 20 13 6 Mike Vernon Detroit 27 18 4 4 Curtis Joseph St Louis 32 18 8 1 Martin Brodeur New Jersey 36 17 11 5 Ed Belfour Chicago 37 17 15 3 Patrick Roy Montreal 38 17 17 4 Jim Carey Washington 24 16 6 2 Ron Hextall Philadelphia 29 16 9 4 Blaine Lacher Boston 31 16 9 2 Kirk McLean Vancouver 36 16 10 10 Dominik Hasek Buffalo 36 16 13 6 Sean Burke Hartford 38 16 16 4 NHL SHUTOUT LEADERS Goaltender Team GP SO W L T Jim Carey Washington 24 4 16 6 2 Ed Belfour Chicago 37 4 17 15 3 Blaine Lacher Boston 31 3 16 9 2 Arturs Irbe San Jose 32 3 10 17 2 Dominik Hasek Buffalo 36 3 16 13 6 Martin Brodeur New Jersey 36 3 17 11 5 Trevor Kidd Calgary 40 3 20 13 6 Darcy Wakaluk Dallas 13 2 4 7 0 Mark Fitzpatrick Florida 15 2 6 7 2 Stephane Fiset Quebec 28 2 15 9 2 Andy Moog Dallas 30 2 10 11 7 Mike Richter NY Rangers 32 2 13 16 2 Guy Hebert Anaheim 36 2 11 18 4 Bill Ranford Edmonton 38 2 13 20 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1995 NHL PLAYER STATS Through April 23, 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PLAYER POS NO GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG ------------------- --- -- -- --- --- --- ---- ---- -- -- -- -- --- ----- Anaheim PAUL KARIYA L 9 42 15 18 33 -16 2 5 1 3 1 125 12.0 SHAUN VAN ALLEN C 22 41 6 21 27 -3 28 1 1 0 0 61 9.8 STEPHAN LEBEAU C 47 34 8 14 22 4 10 1 0 2 0 62 12.9 PETER DOURIS R 16 41 10 9 19 6 12 0 0 4 0 65 15.4 PATRIK CARNBACK R 21 37 6 13 19 -7 28 0 0 0 0 52 11.5 BOBBY DOLLAS D 2 41 7 11 18 -3 10 3 1 1 0 63 11.1 JOE SACCO R 14 36 10 7 17 -5 21 2 0 0 0 74 13.5 BOB CORKUM C 19 39 8 9 17 -8 23 0 0 1 1 84 9.5 TODD KRYGIER L 25 30 8 8 16 2 6 0 0 1 0 74 10.8 STEVE RUCCHIN C 20 38 5 9 14 5 23 0 0 1 0 53 9.4 MIKE SILLINGER R 26 23 4 9 13 5 4 2 0 0 0 28 14.3 OLEG TVERDOVSKY D 10 32 3 8 11 -5 12 1 1 0 0 25 12.0 VALERI KARPOV L 11 28 3 7 10 -4 6 0 0 0 0 44 6.8 JASON YORK D 3 20 1 9 10 2 8 0 0 0 0 22 4.5 GARRY VALK L 18 32 3 6 9 -3 30 0 0 0 0 48 6.3 TOM KURVERS D 24 22 4 3 7 -13 6 1 0 1 0 44 9.1 MILOS HOLAN D 7 20 1 6 7 5 14 0 0 0 0 73 1.4 DAVE KARPA D 15 23 1 5 6 -1 86 0 0 0 0 23 4.3 RANDY LADOUCEUR D 29 39 1 4 5 0 36 0 0 0 0 37 2.7 ROBERT DIRK D 5 37 1 3 4 -3 56 0 0 0 0 15 6.7 DENNY LAMBERT L 42 8 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 11 9.1 DON MCSWEEN D 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .0 M. SHTALENKOV G 35 15 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 TODD EWEN R 36 24 0 0 0 -2 90 0 0 0 0 14 .0 GUY HEBERT G 31 36 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Boston ADAM OATES C 12 42 10 38 48 -6 8 3 1 1 0 92 10.9 RAY BOURQUE D 77 42 11 29 40 3 18 8 0 2 0 196 5.6 CAM NEELY R 8 36 26 13 39 8 41 16 0 4 1 159 16.4 BRYAN SMOLINSKI C 20 39 17 10 27 -4 31 5 0 5 0 100 17.0 MARIUSZ CZERKAWSKI R 19 41 8 14 22 5 31 1 0 0 0 100 8.0 MATS NASLUND L 26 28 6 13 19 -1 4 1 0 1 0 42 14.3 DON SWEENEY D 32 41 2 17 19 5 22 0 0 2 0 88 2.3 JOZEF STUMPEL R 22 40 5 11 16 2 4 1 0 2 0 41 12.2 TED DONATO C 21 41 7 8 15 2 10 1 0 1 0 60 11.7 STEVE HEINZE R 23 30 5 8 13 -2 19 0 1 0 0 54 9.3 ALEXEI KASATONOV D 6 38 2 11 13 -3 25 0 1 0 0 41 4.9 STEPHEN LEACH R 27 35 5 6 11 -3 68 1 0 1 0 82 6.1 BRENT HUGHES L 18 39 5 4 9 3 113 0 0 0 0 67 7.5 DAVE REID L 17 33 4 5 9 7 10 0 0 0 1 41 9.8 SANDY MOGER R 45 15 2 6 8 -1 6 2 0 0 0 32 6.3 GLEN MURRAY R 44 29 5 2 7 -8 41 0 0 2 0 54 9.3 JON ROHLOFF D 38 28 3 4 7 -1 33 0 0 1 1 44 6.8 DAVID SHAW D 34 41 3 4 7 -5 36 1 0 0 0 51 5.9 JOHN GRUDEN D 36 32 0 6 6 4 20 0 0 0 0 26 .0 JAMIE HUSCROFT D 28 29 0 4 4 -2 87 0 0 0 0 21 .0 FRED KNIPSCHEER L 48 11 3 0 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 14 21.4 BLAINE LACHER G 31 30 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 .0 CAMERON STEWART C 16 4 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 0 2 .0 VINCENT RIENDEAU G 37 11 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 CRAIG BILLINGTON G 1 15 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Buffalo ALEXANDER MOGILNY R 89 39 14 25 39 -4 34 9 0 1 1 134 10.4 DONALD AUDETTE R 28 40 22 9 31 -4 27 12 0 6 0 114 19.3 GARRY GALLEY D 3 41 2 25 27 -2 28 1 0 0 0 85 2.4 DEREK PLANTE C 26 42 3 18 21 -4 12 2 0 0 0 87 3.4 PAT LAFONTAINE C 16 17 11 9 20 -2 4 6 1 3 0 43 25.6 YURI KHMYLEV L 13 42 7 13 20 3 12 2 1 1 0 60 11.7 DOUG BODGER D 8 41 3 17 20 -3 43 2 0 0 0 83 3.6 WAYNE PRESLEY R 18 41 14 5 19 7 41 0 5 2 0 83 16.9 DALE HAWERCHUK C 10 23 5 11 16 -2 2 2 0 2 0 56 8.9 DAVE HANNAN C 14 37 4 11 15 4 26 0 2 0 0 33 12.1 ALEXEI ZHITNIK D 44 26 4 10 14 -3 55 3 0 0 0 59 6.8 CRAIG SIMPSON L 17 23 4 7 11 -5 14 1 0 0 1 20 20.0 JASON DAWE L 43 36 6 3 9 -3 15 0 1 2 0 38 15.8 BOB SWEENEY C 20 40 5 3 8 -6 18 1 2 0 0 40 12.5 RICHARD SMEHLIK D 42 33 1 7 8 1 42 0 1 0 0 40 2.5 SCOTT PEARSON L 29 36 2 5 7 -14 72 0 0 0 0 31 6.5 CHARLIE HUDDY D 22 38 2 4 6 -5 16 1 0 0 0 49 4.1 CRAIG MUNI D 5 35 0 6 6 -5 34 0 0 0 0 25 .0 BRAD MAY L 27 27 3 2 5 3 87 1 0 0 0 36 8.3 DOUG HOUDA D 6 27 1 2 3 1 68 0 0 0 0 19 5.3 ROB RAY L 32 41 0 3 3 -3 146 0 0 0 0 6 .0 MATTHEW BARNABY L 36 22 1 1 2 -2 99 0 0 0 0 26 3.8 MARK ASTLEY D 33 8 0 1 1 -4 6 0 0 0 0 9 .0 BRIAN HOLZINGER C 19 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .0 ROBB STAUBER G 35 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DOMINIK HASEK G 39 36 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Calgary THEOREN FLEURY R 14 43 28 26 54 3 88 9 2 5 0 154 18.2 JOE NIEUWENDYK C 25 43 19 29 48 9 31 3 0 3 0 112 17.0 PHIL HOUSLEY D 6 38 8 34 42 17 18 3 0 0 0 124 6.5 ROBERT REICHEL C 26 43 17 15 32 -2 20 5 0 2 0 146 11.6 ZARLEY ZALAPSKI D 33 43 4 20 24 5 47 1 0 1 0 69 5.8 STEVE CHIASSON D 21 41 2 22 24 7 35 1 0 0 0 102 2.0 GERMAN TITOV C 13 35 10 11 21 6 14 2 2 2 0 76 13.2 JOEL OTTO C 29 43 8 11 19 9 120 0 2 2 1 41 19.5 WES WALZ C 17 35 6 9 15 6 11 4 0 1 0 64 9.4 PAUL KRUSE L 12 41 9 4 13 11 139 0 0 2 0 48 18.8 SHELDON KENNEDY R 23 25 5 8 13 6 41 1 0 0 0 40 12.5 RONNIE STERN R 22 37 8 4 12 2 158 1 0 0 0 66 12.1 KELLY KISIO C 11 12 7 4 11 2 6 5 1 0 0 26 26.9 MIKE SULLIVAN C 32 38 4 7 11 -2 14 0 0 2 0 31 12.9 KEVIN DAHL D 4 30 3 7 10 9 28 0 0 0 0 26 11.5 NIKOLAI BORSCHEVSKY R 16 27 0 10 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 40 .0 JAMES PATRICK D 5 38 0 9 9 -1 10 0 0 0 0 36 .0 SANDY MCCARTHY R 15 32 5 2 7 1 90 0 0 2 0 25 20.0 FRANK MUSIL D 3 31 0 5 5 8 59 0 0 0 0 18 .0 GARY ROBERTS L 10 8 2 2 4 1 43 2 0 0 0 20 10.0 DAN KECZMER D 39 23 1 3 4 7 8 0 0 0 0 30 3.3 ALAN MAY L 41 32 1 3 4 3 113 0 0 0 0 27 3.7 TRENT YAWNEY D 18 33 0 2 2 -1 95 0 0 0 0 18 .0 RICK TABARACCI G 31 11 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 TREVOR KIDD G 37 40 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 JIM PEPLINSKI L 24 3 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 .0 MICHAEL NYLANDER C 92 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .0 ANDREI TREFILOV G 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Chicago BERNIE NICHOLLS C 92 43 22 23 45 1 28 11 2 5 0 108 20.4 JOE MURPHY R 17 35 19 16 35 5 81 5 0 2 0 106 17.9 JEREMY ROENICK C 27 33 10 24 34 5 14 5 0 1 0 93 10.8 CHRIS CHELIOS D 7 43 5 29 34 11 68 3 1 0 0 150 3.3 TONY AMONTE R 10 43 14 19 33 6 39 6 1 2 1 91 15.4 GARY SUTER D 20 43 7 25 32 8 36 4 0 0 0 126 5.6 PATRICK POULIN L 44 40 12 14 26 9 34 3 0 2 0 73 16.4 DENIS SAVARD C 18 38 8 12 20 -8 14 1 0 1 0 72 11.1 SERGEI KRIVOKRASOV R 25 36 11 5 16 5 16 6 0 2 1 65 16.9 BRENT SUTTER C 12 42 7 7 14 5 51 1 0 1 0 57 12.3 JEFF SHANTZ C 11 40 5 8 13 6 27 0 1 0 0 53 9.4 DIRK GRAHAM R 33 35 4 9 13 1 42 1 1 0 0 62 6.5 ERIC WEINRICH D 2 43 2 10 12 -1 33 1 0 1 0 47 4.3 STEVE SMITH D 5 43 1 11 12 2 121 0 0 0 0 38 2.6 BRENT GRIEVE L 19 24 1 5 6 2 23 0 0 0 0 30 3.3 GERALD DIDUCK D 6 30 1 3 4 -10 55 1 0 0 0 34 2.9 CAM RUSSELL D 8 33 1 3 4 4 88 0 0 0 0 18 5.6 JIM CUMMINS R 15 32 3 0 3 -9 141 0 0 1 0 18 16.7 MURRAY CRAVEN L 32 11 2 1 3 -1 2 1 0 0 0 19 10.5 GREG SMYTH D 3 18 0 3 3 1 31 0 0 0 0 7 .0 ED BELFOUR G 30 37 0 2 2 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 .0 ROGER JOHANSSON D 26 11 1 0 1 1 6 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 KEITH CARNEY D 4 18 1 0 1 -1 11 0 0 1 0 14 7.1 TONY HORACEK L 34 18 0 1 1 -4 25 0 0 0 0 6 .0 JIM WAITE G 49 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 JEFF HACKETT G 31 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DARIN KIMBLE R 29 14 0 0 0 -5 30 0 0 0 0 2 .0 STEVE DUBINSKY C 22 16 0 0 0 -5 8 0 0 0 0 16 .0 Dallas DAVE GAGNER C 15 44 14 27 41 4 40 7 0 2 1 130 10.8 MIKE MODANO C 9 30 12 17 29 7 8 4 1 0 0 100 12.0 KEVIN HATCHER D 4 43 7 18 25 2 66 2 0 2 1 119 5.9 MIKE DONNELLY L 11 40 12 12 24 -4 18 3 0 3 0 106 11.3 TRENT KLATT R 22 43 11 10 21 -1 26 5 0 3 0 84 13.1 GREG ADAMS L 23 39 8 11 19 1 14 3 2 0 0 63 12.7 COREY MILLEN C 6 41 5 14 19 7 24 1 0 0 0 66 7.6 TODD HARVEY C 10 36 10 8 18 0 62 1 0 1 0 57 17.5 GRANT LEDYARD D 12 38 5 13 18 6 20 4 0 0 1 79 6.3 MIKE KENNEDY L 39 40 5 12 17 6 28 1 0 0 0 71 7.0 PAUL BROTEN R 21 43 7 9 16 -2 34 0 0 0 1 64 10.9 DEAN EVASON C 16 43 8 7 15 6 46 1 0 0 0 51 15.7 DERIAN HATCHER D 2 39 3 11 14 4 104 1 0 2 0 68 4.4 BRENT GILCHRIST C 41 28 9 4 13 2 14 1 3 1 0 65 13.8 PETER ZEZEL C 25 26 6 5 11 0 17 0 0 1 0 40 15.0 PAUL CAVALLINI D 14 41 1 10 11 10 26 0 0 0 0 63 1.6 CRAIG LUDWIG D 3 43 2 7 9 -3 61 0 0 0 0 51 3.9 DOUG ZMOLEK D 5 38 0 5 5 -3 51 0 0 0 0 27 .0 SHANE CHURLA R 27 25 1 3 4 1 184 0 0 1 0 21 4.8 RICHARD MATVICHUK D 24 10 0 2 2 2 10 0 0 0 0 8 .0 GORD DONNELLY D 43 13 1 0 1 3 50 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 ANDY MOOG G 35 30 0 1 1 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 .0 ZAC BOYER R 37 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .0 MIKE TORCHIA G 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 MIKE LALOR D 18 12 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 6 .0 DARCY WAKALUK G 34 13 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Detroit PAUL COFFEY D 77 41 13 38 51 19 70 4 1 2 0 158 8.2 SERGEI FEDOROV C 91 38 19 29 48 8 22 7 3 5 0 138 13.8 KEITH PRIMEAU L 55 40 15 26 41 23 91 1 0 3 0 85 17.6 RAY SHEPPARD R 26 40 29 10 39 14 17 10 0 4 1 117 24.8 DINO CICCARELLI R 22 38 15 23 38 12 35 6 0 3 0 96 15.6 STEVE YZERMAN C 19 43 12 25 37 7 40 4 0 1 0 130 9.2 VYACHESLAV KOZLOV C 13 41 12 18 30 12 39 5 0 3 0 93 12.9 NICKLAS LIDSTROM D 5 38 8 16 24 14 6 5 0 0 0 77 10.4 DOUG BROWN R 17 41 9 12 21 14 16 1 1 2 0 65 13.8 BOB ERREY L 12 38 8 13 21 16 58 0 0 1 0 60 13.3 VLAD. KONSTANTINOV D 16 43 3 11 14 14 95 0 0 0 0 57 5.3 SHAWN BURR L 11 37 5 8 13 15 58 0 0 3 0 57 8.8 VIACHESLAV FETISOV D 44 14 2 11 13 6 2 2 0 0 0 30 6.7 DARREN MCCARTY R 25 26 4 6 10 8 77 0 0 2 0 22 18.2 MARTIN LAPOINTE R 20 36 4 6 10 1 69 0 0 1 0 42 9.5 GREG JOHNSON C 23 22 3 5 8 1 14 2 0 0 0 32 9.4 KRIS DRAPER C 33 33 2 6 8 1 22 0 0 0 0 39 5.1 BOB ROUSE D 3 43 1 6 7 16 34 0 0 1 0 47 2.1 MIKE KRUSHELNYSKI C 18 16 2 3 5 2 6 0 0 0 0 19 10.5 MARK HOWE D 4 16 0 5 5 -1 8 0 0 0 0 12 .0 TERRY CARKNER D 2 17 1 2 3 7 19 0 0 0 0 7 14.3 MIKE RAMSEY D 15 31 1 2 3 12 21 0 0 0 0 27 3.7 TIM TAYLOR C 37 19 0 2 2 4 14 0 0 0 0 16 .0 MARK FERNER D 21 16 0 1 1 -4 6 0 0 0 0 15 .0 STU GRIMSON L 32 39 0 1 1 -11 143 0 0 0 0 18 .0 CHRIS OSGOOD G 30 17 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 MIKE VERNON G 29 27 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Edmonton DOUG WEIGHT C 39 43 6 29 35 -16 67 1 0 1 0 91 6.6 JASON ARNOTT C 7 38 14 20 34 -12 128 6 0 1 0 143 9.8 SHAYNE CORSON L 9 43 10 22 32 -16 84 2 0 1 0 107 9.3 DAVID OLIVER R 20 40 16 12 28 -9 18 10 0 0 1 73 21.9 TODD MARCHANT C 26 41 12 12 24 -2 28 3 2 1 0 84 14.3 KELLY BUCHBERGER L 16 43 7 14 21 -1 76 2 1 5 0 63 11.1 SCOTT THORNTON C 17 42 9 9 18 -3 85 0 1 1 0 65 13.8 IGOR KRAVCHUK D 21 31 6 10 16 -11 12 2 1 0 0 83 7.2 MIKE STAPLETON C 25 42 5 10 15 -12 19 3 0 2 0 55 9.1 LUKE RICHARDSON D 22 41 3 9 12 -8 40 1 1 1 0 49 6.1 DEAN KENNEDY D 32 38 2 8 10 1 25 0 0 1 0 45 4.4 KIRK MALTBY R 18 42 7 2 9 -10 41 0 2 1 1 62 11.3 JIRI SLEGR D 28 26 2 7 9 3 38 1 0 1 0 59 3.4 BORIS MIRONOV D 2 28 0 7 7 -9 40 0 0 0 0 46 .0 BRYAN MARCHMENT D 24 38 1 5 6 -11 172 0 0 0 0 57 1.8 FREDRIK OLAUSSON D 15 28 0 6 6 -7 18 0 0 0 0 42 .0 KEN SUTTON D 6 19 2 2 4 -3 36 0 0 1 0 24 8.3 PETER WHITE C 27 5 0 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 .0 LOUIE DEBRUSK L 29 33 2 0 2 -4 91 0 0 0 0 13 15.4 BILL RANFORD G 31 38 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 TYLER WRIGHT C 19 4 1 0 1 0 12 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 RALPH INTRANUOVO C 36 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .0 MICAH AIVAZOFF C 12 17 0 1 1 -2 2 0 0 0 0 6 .0 DENNIS BONVIE D 43 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 MARKO TUOMAINEN R 33 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 .0 DEAN MCAMMOND L 37 6 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .0 FRED BRATHWAITE G 30 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 RYAN MCGILL D 34 20 0 0 0 -4 21 0 0 0 0 8 .0 Florida STU BARNES C 14 35 10 17 27 6 8 1 0 2 0 81 12.3 JESSE BELANGER C 26 41 13 11 24 -8 14 6 0 3 0 74 17.6 SCOTT MELLANBY R 27 42 10 12 22 -14 82 3 0 3 0 114 8.8 GORD MURPHY D 5 40 6 16 22 -9 20 5 0 0 0 81 7.4 DAVE LOWRY L 10 42 10 9 19 -3 25 2 0 3 0 63 15.9 BILL LINDSAY L 11 42 9 8 17 2 38 0 1 0 0 59 15.3 JODY HULL R 12 40 8 8 16 -1 8 0 0 3 0 56 14.3 TOM FITZGERALD R 21 42 3 12 15 0 29 0 0 0 0 71 4.2 MIKE HOUGH L 18 42 6 7 13 4 36 0 0 2 0 43 14.0 BRIAN SKRUDLAND C 20 41 5 8 13 2 80 1 0 0 0 39 12.8 ROB NIEDERMAYER C 44 42 4 6 10 -11 27 1 0 0 0 52 7.7 JASON WOOLLEY D 6 28 3 7 10 -5 14 1 0 0 1 67 4.5 JOHAN GARPENLOV L 29 34 2 8 10 -3 2 0 0 0 0 36 5.6 GAETAN DUCHESNE L 15 40 2 7 9 -6 16 0 0 0 0 55 3.6 BRIAN BENNING D 7 24 1 7 8 -6 18 1 0 0 0 26 3.8 BOB KUDELSKI R 22 23 4 3 7 0 2 2 0 1 0 26 15.4 ANDREI LOMAKIN L 19 31 1 6 7 -5 6 1 0 0 0 25 4.0 GEOFF SMITH D 25 42 2 4 6 -4 22 0 0 0 0 37 5.4 PAUL LAUS D 3 32 0 6 6 10 122 0 0 0 0 16 .0 MAGNUS SVENSSON D 28 13 1 3 4 6 6 1 0 0 0 27 3.7 RANDY MOLLER D 16 17 0 3 3 -5 16 0 0 0 0 12 .0 ROBERT SVEHLA D 24 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 50.0 DALLAS EAKINS D 8 12 0 1 1 4 33 0 0 0 0 2 .0 JOE CIRELLA D 2 20 0 1 1 -7 21 0 0 0 0 13 .0 J. VANBIESBROUCK G 34 31 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 .0 STEPHANE RICHER D 38 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 KEITH BROWN D 4 13 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 10 .0 MARK FITZPATRICK G 30 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Hartford ANDREW CASSELS C 21 43 7 29 36 -2 18 1 0 1 0 68 10.3 DARREN TURCOTTE C 89 43 16 18 34 3 18 3 1 3 0 106 15.1 GEOFF SANDERSON C 8 42 16 13 29 -8 24 4 0 3 0 155 10.3 STEVEN RICE R 12 39 11 8 19 1 61 4 0 1 1 56 19.6 JIMMY CARSON C 33 38 9 10 19 5 29 4 0 3 0 58 15.5 FRANTISEK KUCERA D 4 44 3 16 19 3 28 0 0 1 0 72 4.2 PAUL RANHEIM L 28 43 5 13 18 -3 8 0 0 1 0 64 7.8 ROBERT KRON C 18 33 10 7 17 0 10 3 1 1 0 84 11.9 ANDREI NIKOLISHIN R 11 35 8 9 17 7 10 1 1 0 0 54 14.8 GLEN WESLEY D 20 44 2 14 16 -6 44 1 0 1 0 114 1.8 ADAM BURT D 6 42 6 9 15 1 53 2 0 1 0 66 9.1 CHRIS PRONGER D 44 39 5 7 12 -8 54 3 0 1 0 88 5.7 TED DRURY C 13 33 3 6 9 -2 21 0 0 0 0 30 10.0 JOCELYN LEMIEUX L 26 37 3 4 7 -8 32 0 0 1 0 73 4.1 MARK JANSSENS C 22 42 2 5 7 -8 93 0 0 0 0 33 6.1 BRIAN GLYNN D 7 39 1 6 7 -1 28 0 0 0 0 31 3.2 KEVIN SMYTH L 14 12 1 5 6 -2 9 0 0 0 0 16 6.3 IGOR CHIBIREV C 32 8 3 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 33.3 KELLY CHASE R 27 24 0 4 4 2 119 0 0 0 0 14 .0 GLEN FEATHERSTONE D 36 17 2 1 3 -6 50 0 0 0 0 20 10.0 JIM STORM L 24 3 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 SCOTT DANIELS L 17 8 0 2 2 1 43 0 0 0 0 5 .0 BRAD MCCRIMMON D 10 31 0 1 1 7 40 0 0 0 0 13 .0 SEAN BURKE G 1 38 0 1 1 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 .0 JEFF REESE G 35 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 JIM SANDLAK R 52 13 0 0 0 -10 0 0 0 0 0 13 .0 ALEXANDER GODYNYUK D 5 14 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 0 0 16 .0 Los Angeles WAYNE GRETZKY C 99 43 10 34 44 -16 6 2 0 0 0 123 8.1 RICK TOCCHET R 22 34 18 17 35 -7 66 7 1 3 0 93 19.4 DAN QUINN C 7 39 13 16 29 0 30 1 0 4 3 76 17.1 JARI KURRI L 17 33 8 18 26 -16 22 2 0 0 1 75 10.7 TONY GRANATO L 21 33 13 11 24 9 68 2 0 3 0 106 12.3 DARRYL SYDOR D 25 43 4 18 22 0 32 3 0 0 1 94 4.3 JOHN DRUCE R 19 38 15 5 20 1 16 3 0 1 0 71 21.1 MARTY MCSORLEY D 33 36 3 17 20 -10 74 1 0 0 1 69 4.3 RANDY BURRIDGE L 44 35 4 14 18 -5 10 2 0 0 0 51 7.8 ERIC LACROIX L 28 40 9 7 16 3 48 2 1 1 0 53 17.0 MICHEL PETIT D 24 35 5 11 16 6 78 2 0 0 0 60 8.3 PAT CONACHER L 15 43 7 8 15 -5 12 0 1 0 0 50 14.0 ROBERT LANG C 13 31 3 8 11 -5 4 0 0 0 0 28 10.7 ROB BLAKE D 4 19 2 6 8 -11 34 2 0 0 0 61 3.3 ROB COWIE D 77 31 2 6 8 -7 20 0 0 0 0 37 5.4 KEVIN TODD C 12 28 1 7 8 -7 10 0 0 0 0 26 3.8 GARY SHUCHUK C 14 19 3 4 7 -4 6 0 0 0 0 13 23.1 CHRIS SNELL D 29 27 2 5 7 -7 20 0 2 0 0 40 5.0 PHILIPPE BOUCHER D 26 15 2 4 6 3 4 0 0 0 0 30 6.7 YANIC PERREAULT C 39 21 2 4 6 3 14 0 0 1 0 38 5.3 KEVIN BROWN R 8 23 2 3 5 -7 18 0 0 0 0 25 8.0 TROY CROWDER R 55 24 0 2 2 -1 93 0 0 0 0 3 .0 MATT JOHNSON L 34 14 1 0 1 0 102 0 0 0 0 4 25.0 DAVE THOMLINSON L 27 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 ERIC LAVIGNE D 38 1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 GRANT FUHR G 31 15 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DENIS TSYGUROV D 3 21 0 0 0 -3 15 0 0 0 0 16 .0 KELLY HRUDEY G 32 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Montreal MARK RECCHI R 8 44 14 31 45 -7 26 8 0 3 0 110 12.7 PIERRE TURGEON C 77 44 23 21 44 0 12 5 2 4 0 141 16.3 VINCENT DAMPHOUSSE L 25 43 10 27 37 14 38 4 0 4 0 108 9.3 BENOIT BRUNET L 22 41 7 17 24 7 12 1 1 2 1 72 9.7 VLADIMIR MALAKHOV D 38 36 4 17 21 1 46 1 0 0 0 83 4.8 MIKE KEANE R 12 43 10 9 19 8 15 1 0 0 0 71 14.1 BRIAN SAVAGE C 49 32 10 6 16 3 27 0 0 0 0 52 19.2 BRIAN BELLOWS L 23 36 8 7 15 -5 4 1 0 1 0 101 7.9 PATRICE BRISEBOIS D 43 31 4 7 11 -3 26 0 0 2 0 60 6.7 LYLE ODELEIN D 24 43 3 7 10 -9 133 0 0 0 0 62 4.8 YVES RACINE D 29 42 4 4 8 -4 36 2 0 1 0 55 7.3 J.J. DAIGNEAULT D 48 40 3 5 8 3 36 0 0 0 0 33 9.1 BRYAN FOGARTY D 44 18 4 2 6 -2 34 2 0 0 0 30 13.3 TURNER STEVENSON R 30 36 4 1 5 -2 84 0 0 1 0 24 16.7 ED RONAN R 31 25 1 4 5 -5 10 0 0 0 0 11 9.1 PETER POPOVIC D 34 29 0 4 4 -8 8 0 0 0 0 20 .0 VALERI BURE R 18 21 2 1 3 -2 6 0 0 1 0 34 5.9 MARK LAMB C 17 42 1 2 3 -8 18 0 0 0 0 23 4.3 CRAIG RIVET D 52 4 0 1 1 2 5 0 0 0 0 1 .0 PATRICK ROY G 33 38 0 1 1 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DAVID WILKIE D 56 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 CHRIS MURRAY R 57 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 .0 MARIO ROBERGE L 32 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 RON TUGNUTT G 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 PIERRE SEVIGNY L 20 16 0 0 0 -4 13 0 0 0 0 5 .0 New Jersey STEPHANE RICHER R 44 41 22 14 36 10 10 1 2 5 1 125 17.6 NEAL BROTEN C 9 43 7 23 30 2 22 1 0 2 0 68 10.3 JOHN MACLEAN R 15 43 15 11 26 13 28 1 1 0 0 130 11.5 BILL GUERIN R 12 44 12 11 23 5 70 4 0 3 0 91 13.2 SCOTT STEVENS D 4 44 2 19 21 5 38 1 0 1 0 103 1.9 SHAWN CHAMBERS D 29 41 4 15 19 2 12 2 0 0 0 66 6.1 CLAUDE LEMIEUX R 22 41 5 13 18 4 69 1 0 1 0 108 4.6 SCOTT NIEDERMAYER D 27 44 4 14 18 17 18 4 0 0 0 44 9.1 TOM CHORSKE L 17 40 9 8 17 -3 16 0 0 2 0 55 16.4 BRIAN ROLSTON C 14 37 7 9 16 5 17 2 0 3 0 90 7.8 BOB CARPENTER L 19 41 5 11 16 -1 19 0 0 0 2 69 7.2 BOBBY HOLIK L 16 44 6 9 15 6 14 0 0 1 0 72 8.3 TOMMY ALBELIN D 6 44 5 10 15 7 18 2 0 0 0 55 9.1 BRUCE DRIVER D 23 38 4 11 15 1 18 1 0 1 1 57 7.0 SERGEI BRYLIN C 18 23 5 8 13 10 4 0 0 0 0 37 13.5 RANDY MCKAY R 21 29 5 5 10 6 42 0 0 0 0 40 12.5 DANTON COLE R 20 36 4 5 9 1 12 1 0 0 0 74 5.4 MIKE PELUSO L 8 42 2 6 8 2 156 0 0 1 0 23 8.7 JIM DOWD C 11 6 0 3 3 -2 0 0 0 0 0 7 .0 KEN DANEYKO D 3 22 0 2 2 4 52 0 0 0 0 25 .0 CHRIS MCALPINE D 7 22 0 2 2 5 17 0 0 0 0 16 .0 MARTIN BRODEUR G 30 36 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 VALERI ZELEPUKIN L 25 2 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 5 .0 KEVIN DEAN D 28 16 0 1 1 5 4 0 0 0 0 11 .0 CHRIS TERRERI G 31 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 N.Y. Islanders RAY FERRARO C 20 42 19 17 36 -2 24 2 0 1 2 82 23.2 KIRK MULLER L 9 40 11 14 25 -18 43 4 1 2 1 95 11.6 PATRICK FLATLEY R 26 41 6 19 25 7 10 1 0 1 0 75 8.0 MATHIEU SCHNEIDER D 72 39 5 20 25 -7 67 2 0 0 0 106 4.7 STEVE THOMAS L 32 42 11 13 24 -13 60 3 0 2 0 120 9.2 DEREK KING L 27 40 10 13 23 -9 37 7 0 0 0 110 9.1 MARTY MCINNIS C 18 38 8 7 15 0 8 0 0 1 0 59 13.6 DENNIS VASKE D 37 41 1 11 12 3 53 0 0 0 0 48 2.1 ZIGMUND PALFFY L 68 28 7 4 11 0 2 0 0 1 0 59 11.9 SCOTT LACHANCE D 7 21 5 6 11 -1 22 2 0 0 0 48 10.4 TRAVIS GREEN C 39 38 3 7 10 -11 23 0 0 0 0 52 5.8 BOB BEERS D 2 17 2 6 8 -9 4 1 0 0 0 30 6.7 RON SUTTER C 14 24 1 4 5 -8 19 0 0 1 0 25 4.0 BRAD DALGARNO R 15 19 3 1 4 -7 12 1 1 0 1 16 18.8 BRENT SEVERYN D 24 23 1 3 4 -5 63 1 0 0 0 29 3.4 BRETT LINDROS R 75 28 1 3 4 -8 94 0 0 1 0 33 3.0 CHRIS MARINUCCI C 17 11 0 4 4 -2 2 0 0 0 0 9 .0 PAUL STANTON D 25 18 0 4 4 -6 9 0 0 0 0 28 .0 CHRIS LUONGO D 6 42 1 2 3 -2 34 0 0 0 0 38 2.6 RICHARD PILON D 47 20 1 1 2 -3 40 0 0 0 0 11 9.1 CHRIS TAYLOR C 28 5 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 .0 CRAIG DARBY C 10 13 0 2 2 -6 0 0 0 0 0 5 .0 MICK VUKOTA R 12 35 0 2 2 0 100 0 0 0 0 10 .0 TOMMY SALO G 35 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DARIUS KASPARAITIS D 11 13 0 1 1 -11 22 0 0 0 0 8 .0 DAVE CHYZOWSKI L 9 13 0 0 0 -2 11 0 0 0 0 11 .0 JAMIE MCLENNAN G 29 21 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 TOMMY SODERSTROM G 30 23 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DEAN CHYNOWETH D 3 27 0 0 0 6 67 0 0 0 0 21 .0 N.Y. Rangers MARK MESSIER C 11 43 14 34 48 5 40 3 3 2 0 118 11.9 BRIAN LEETCH D 2 43 7 27 34 0 12 2 0 1 0 153 4.6 SERGEI ZUBOV D 21 33 8 21 29 -2 14 5 0 0 0 96 8.3 PAT VERBEEK R 17 43 15 13 28 -1 65 5 0 2 1 113 13.3 ADAM GRAVES C 9 42 14 13 27 6 47 8 0 2 0 161 8.7 STEVE LARMER R 28 42 14 13 27 10 16 3 1 4 0 101 13.9 ALEXEI KOVALEV R 27 43 13 13 26 -4 20 1 1 1 0 97 13.4 BRIAN NOONAN R 16 40 10 11 21 -3 26 5 0 1 0 84 11.9 PETR NEDVED C 10 41 9 9 18 3 22 1 0 3 0 107 8.4 SERGEI NEMCHINOV C 13 42 6 5 11 -5 12 0 0 2 0 54 11.1 A. KARPOVTSEV D 25 42 4 7 11 -3 28 1 0 1 0 74 5.4 TROY LONEY L 14 28 5 4 9 -2 23 2 0 1 0 47 10.6 NATHAN LAFAYETTE C 22 34 4 4 8 1 2 0 1 0 0 32 12.5 JAY WELLS D 24 38 2 6 8 1 36 0 0 0 0 32 6.3 KEVIN LOWE D 4 42 1 7 8 -2 52 1 0 0 0 32 3.1 STEPHANE MATTEAU L 32 38 2 5 7 -7 25 0 0 0 0 35 5.7 NICK KYPREOS L 19 35 1 3 4 1 81 0 0 0 0 14 7.1 MARK OSBORNE L 20 35 1 3 4 -1 19 0 0 0 0 30 3.3 JOEY KOCUR R 26 43 1 2 3 -5 71 0 0 0 0 24 4.2 MATTIAS NORSTROM D 5 6 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 .0 JEFF BEUKEBOOM D 23 39 0 3 3 3 62 0 0 0 0 24 .0 GLENN HEALY G 30 14 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DAN LACROIX L 37 24 1 0 1 -2 38 0 0 0 0 14 7.1 MIKE RICHTER G 35 32 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Ottawa ALEXEI YASHIN C 19 41 20 15 35 -23 20 11 0 1 0 132 15.2 ALEXANDRE DAIGLE C 91 41 15 17 32 -20 10 4 1 2 0 94 16.0 MARTIN STRAKA R 82 37 5 13 18 -1 16 0 0 0 0 49 10.2 ROB GAUDREAU C 10 36 5 9 14 -16 8 0 0 0 0 65 7.7 MICHEL PICARD L 49 23 4 7 11 -3 14 1 0 0 0 31 12.9 RADEK BONK C 76 41 3 8 11 -5 28 1 0 0 0 39 7.7 SEAN HILL D 3 39 1 10 11 -12 28 0 0 0 0 88 1.1 SYLVAIN TURGEON L 61 27 4 6 10 0 20 0 0 0 0 60 6.7 PAT ELYNUIK R 25 38 3 7 10 -11 51 0 0 0 0 57 5.3 RANDY CUNNEYWORTH L 7 42 4 5 9 -20 54 2 0 0 0 64 6.3 STEVE LAROUCHE C 74 12 5 3 8 -4 4 1 0 0 0 29 17.2 SCOTT LEVINS R 26 18 3 5 8 4 42 0 0 0 0 20 15.0 PHIL BOURQUE L 29 37 4 3 7 -17 20 0 0 0 0 34 11.8 DAVE MCLLWAIN C 17 37 3 4 7 -27 14 1 0 0 0 40 7.5 CHRIS DAHLQUIST D 6 40 1 6 7 -31 34 1 0 0 0 41 2.4 KERRY HUFFMAN D 5 36 2 4 6 -17 46 2 0 0 0 66 3.0 PAVOL DEMITRA R 78 10 2 2 4 -7 0 1 0 0 0 12 16.7 DAVID ARCHIBALD C 15 14 2 2 4 -7 19 0 0 1 0 27 7.4 STANISLAV NECKAR D 94 42 1 3 4 -20 26 0 0 0 0 31 3.2 DENNIS VIAL D 21 21 0 3 3 -3 51 0 0 0 0 8 .0 TROY MALLETTE L 18 17 1 1 2 1 40 0 0 0 0 15 6.7 LANCE PITLICK D 56 15 0 1 1 -5 6 0 0 0 0 11 .0 JIM PAEK D 2 23 0 1 1 -4 28 0 0 0 0 15 .0 DARRIN MADELEY G 30 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DANIEL LAPERRIERE D 24 11 0 0 0 -4 15 0 0 0 0 10 .0 DON BEAUPRE G 33 33 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Philadelphia ERIC LINDROS C 88 43 27 40 67 29 60 7 0 4 1 136 19.9 MIKAEL RENBERG L 19 43 25 30 55 23 20 8 0 3 0 129 19.4 JOHN LECLAIR C 10 42 25 27 52 23 26 5 0 7 0 120 20.8 ROD BRIND'AMOUR C 17 44 10 26 36 -7 31 4 1 2 0 77 13.0 ERIC DESJARDINS D 37 39 4 22 26 10 14 1 0 1 0 86 4.7 DIMITRI YUSHKEVICH D 2 37 5 9 14 -2 43 3 1 1 0 70 7.1 CHRIS THERIEN D 6 44 3 10 13 9 34 1 0 0 0 50 6.0 BRENT FEDYK R 18 28 8 4 12 -2 14 3 0 2 0 41 19.5 KEVIN DINEEN R 11 36 8 4 12 -5 35 4 0 2 0 50 16.0 CRAIG MACTAVISH C 14 41 3 9 12 3 23 0 0 0 0 36 8.3 ANATOLI SEMENOV C 44 37 4 5 9 -14 10 2 0 0 0 60 6.7 SHJON PODEIN C 25 40 3 5 8 -4 29 0 0 1 0 45 6.7 KEVIN HALLER D 5 32 2 6 8 16 34 0 0 0 0 25 8.0 GILBERT DIONNE L 45 23 0 8 8 -4 4 0 0 0 0 30 .0 PETR SVOBODA D 23 34 0 8 8 -5 66 0 0 0 0 37 .0 PATRIK JUHLIN L 12 41 4 3 7 -12 6 0 0 1 0 44 9.1 KARL DYKHUIS D 24 29 1 6 7 6 31 1 0 0 0 41 2.4 ROB DIMAIO C 9 32 3 1 4 7 44 0 0 0 1 33 9.1 DAVE BROWN R 21 25 1 2 3 -1 51 0 0 0 0 8 12.5 RON HEXTALL G 27 29 0 1 1 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DOMINIC ROUSSEL G 33 17 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 .0 YANICK DUPRE L 15 20 0 0 0 -7 8 0 0 0 0 19 .0 SHAWN ANTOSKI L 8 30 0 0 0 -4 100 0 0 0 0 15 .0 ROB ZETTLER D 20 30 0 0 0 -5 34 0 0 0 0 14 .0 Pittsburgh JAROMIR JAGR R 68 43 28 34 62 20 35 6 3 7 0 168 16.7 RON FRANCIS C 10 39 11 40 51 26 18 3 0 1 0 89 12.4 LUC ROBITAILLE L 20 41 23 17 40 17 35 5 0 3 1 99 23.2 TOMAS SANDSTROM R 17 42 19 21 40 5 40 4 1 3 0 103 18.4 JOHN CULLEN C 11 41 13 24 37 4 51 2 0 1 0 78 16.7 LARRY MURPHY D 55 43 12 24 36 15 18 4 0 3 0 106 11.3 JOE MULLEN R 7 40 15 20 35 15 6 5 1 3 0 75 20.0 SHAWN MCEACHERN C 15 40 12 13 25 6 20 1 2 1 0 91 13.2 KEVIN STEVENS L 25 22 11 10 21 -1 41 5 0 3 0 63 17.5 NORM MACIVER D 22 36 4 14 18 -2 10 2 0 0 0 43 9.3 TROY MURRAY C 12 41 4 12 16 1 33 0 0 1 0 44 9.1 ULF SAMUELSSON D 5 40 1 15 16 15 109 0 0 0 0 46 2.2 CHRIS JOSEPH D 23 28 5 10 15 3 46 3 0 0 0 67 7.5 LEN BARRIE C 9 43 3 11 14 -1 53 0 0 1 0 33 9.1 MIKE HUDSON C 16 39 2 9 11 -1 34 0 0 1 0 33 6.1 KJELL SAMUELSSON D 28 38 1 5 6 8 48 0 0 0 0 34 2.9 JIM MCKENZIE L 33 35 2 1 3 -5 44 0 0 1 0 11 18.2 CHRIS TAMER D 2 31 2 0 2 2 72 0 0 0 0 20 10.0 DRAKE BEREHOWSKY D 44 27 0 2 2 -8 21 0 0 0 0 13 .0 FRANCOIS LEROUX D 18 35 0 1 1 6 110 0 0 0 0 16 .0 RUSTY FITZGERALD C 34 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .0 WENDELL YOUNG G 1 10 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 KEN WREGGET G 31 35 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Quebec JOE SAKIC C 19 43 17 39 56 5 30 2 2 4 0 139 12.2 OWEN NOLAN R 11 42 30 16 46 21 44 13 2 8 0 128 23.4 PETER FORSBERG C 21 43 14 32 46 16 14 3 0 3 0 77 18.2 SCOTT YOUNG R 48 44 17 21 38 9 14 3 3 0 0 154 11.0 MIKE RICCI C 9 44 13 20 33 5 40 7 0 1 0 66 19.7 VALERI KAMENSKY L 13 36 10 19 29 3 22 5 1 5 0 66 15.2 WENDEL CLARK L 17 33 12 15 27 -3 41 5 0 0 0 88 13.6 BOB BASSEN C 28 43 11 15 26 14 27 0 0 1 0 61 18.0 UWE KRUPP D 4 40 6 16 22 14 18 3 0 1 1 94 6.4 ANDREI KOVALENKO R 51 41 11 10 21 -6 14 0 0 2 0 57 19.3 ADAM DEADMARSH R 18 44 9 8 17 16 56 0 0 0 1 46 19.6 CURTIS LESCHYSHYN D 7 44 2 13 15 29 20 0 0 0 0 43 4.7 CLAUDE LAPOINTE C 47 26 4 8 12 4 33 0 0 0 0 39 10.3 CHRIS SIMON L 12 25 3 9 12 14 97 0 0 0 0 30 10.0 SYLVAIN LEFEBVRE D 2 44 1 11 12 11 17 0 0 0 0 74 1.4 MARTIN RUCINSKY L 25 20 3 6 9 5 14 0 0 0 0 32 9.4 CRAIG WOLANIN D 6 36 3 5 8 10 40 0 0 0 0 33 9.1 BILL HUARD L 15 32 3 3 6 0 77 0 0 0 1 21 14.3 ADAM FOOTE D 52 31 0 5 5 15 50 0 0 0 0 17 .0 PAUL MACDERMID R 23 14 3 1 4 3 22 0 0 1 0 13 23.1 ALEXEI GUSAROV D 5 14 1 2 3 -1 6 0 0 1 0 7 14.3 AARON MILLER D 31 8 0 3 3 2 6 0 0 0 0 12 .0 JANNE LAUKKANEN D 22 8 0 3 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 10 .0 STEPHANE FISET G 35 28 0 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 STEVEN FINN D 29 36 0 3 3 2 60 0 0 0 0 25 .0 JON KLEMM D 24 4 1 0 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 GARTH SNOW G 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 JOCELYN THIBAULT G 41 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 San Jose ULF DAHLEN R 22 40 10 22 32 -3 9 4 1 4 0 69 14.5 JEFF FRIESEN L 39 42 14 8 22 -10 14 5 1 2 0 76 18.4 RAY WHITNEY C 14 33 10 12 22 -8 10 4 0 1 0 58 17.2 SERGEI MAKAROV R 24 37 8 13 21 -5 38 0 0 1 1 51 15.7 CRAIG JANNEY C 15 29 5 16 21 -7 10 3 0 0 0 34 14.7 SANDIS OZOLINSH D 6 42 8 12 20 -8 28 2 1 2 0 68 11.8 IGOR LARIONOV C 7 27 4 15 19 -5 12 0 0 1 0 51 7.8 PAT FALLOON R 17 40 8 6 14 -7 21 0 0 2 0 72 11.1 KEVIN MILLER R 8 30 4 10 14 1 11 0 0 1 0 40 10.0 TOM PEDERSON D 41 41 4 10 14 -16 27 0 0 0 1 54 7.4 CHRIS TANCILL C 18 20 3 8 11 1 8 0 1 0 0 29 10.3 MIKE RATHJE D 40 38 2 7 9 -3 29 0 0 0 0 30 6.7 JAMIE BAKER C 13 37 6 2 8 -9 16 0 1 0 0 51 11.8 ANDREI NAZAROV R 23 20 3 4 7 -1 88 0 0 0 0 17 17.6 JEFF ODGERS R 36 42 4 2 6 -7 117 0 0 1 0 40 10.0 JAY MORE D 4 39 0 6 6 5 67 0 0 0 0 23 .0 MICHAL SYKORA D 38 16 0 4 4 6 10 0 0 0 0 6 .0 JIM KYTE D 2 12 2 1 3 -11 23 0 0 1 0 10 20.0 WADE FLAHERTY G 31 18 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 SHAWN CRONIN D 44 23 0 1 1 -2 61 0 0 0 0 9 .0 ARTURS IRBE G 32 32 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 St. Louis BRETT HULL R 16 42 28 19 47 11 10 8 3 6 0 173 16.2 ESA TIKKANEN L 10 41 12 23 35 13 22 5 2 1 1 104 11.5 BRENDAN SHANAHAN L 19 39 15 18 33 3 98 5 2 5 0 131 11.5 STEVE DUCHESNE D 28 41 7 23 30 24 36 0 0 0 0 97 7.2 ADAM CREIGHTON C 20 42 14 14 28 16 70 3 0 1 0 77 18.2 AL MACINNIS D 2 31 7 20 27 17 41 2 0 0 0 109 6.4 JEFF NORTON D 5 42 3 22 25 15 66 0 0 1 0 40 7.5 GREG GILBERT L 7 41 10 14 24 23 11 0 0 3 0 56 17.9 IAN LAPERRIERE C 22 31 11 11 22 12 70 0 0 1 0 43 25.6 GLENN ANDERSON R 9 30 9 12 21 5 35 0 0 2 0 47 19.1 TODD ELIK C 14 31 8 12 20 6 22 4 0 0 2 73 11.0 BILL HOULDER D 33 39 5 13 18 14 20 1 0 0 0 57 8.8 GUY CARBONNEAU C 21 36 5 11 16 11 16 1 0 1 0 29 17.2 DENIS CHASSE R 27 41 7 7 14 12 115 1 0 0 0 42 16.7 PATRICE TARDIF C 25 26 3 10 13 5 29 1 0 0 0 44 6.8 VITALI KARAMNOV L 12 21 2 7 9 7 12 0 0 0 0 16 12.5 DOUG LIDSTER D 6 36 2 7 9 10 12 1 0 0 0 37 5.4 DAVID ROBERTS L 15 13 4 1 5 0 8 3 0 2 1 26 15.4 RICK ZOMBO D 4 17 1 4 5 9 18 0 0 1 0 13 7.7 BASIL MCRAE L 17 15 0 5 5 4 58 0 0 0 0 8 .0 MURRAY BARON D 34 39 0 5 5 9 93 0 0 0 0 28 .0 TONY TWIST L 18 28 3 0 3 0 89 0 0 1 0 8 37.5 GEOFF SARJEANT G 29 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 DONALD DUFRESNE D 32 16 0 1 1 4 10 0 0 0 0 5 .0 CURTIS JOSEPH G 31 32 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 JON CASEY G 30 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Tampa Bay BRIAN BRADLEY C 19 41 10 26 36 -2 42 2 0 2 0 101 9.9 PETR KLIMA R 85 42 13 12 25 -8 26 4 0 3 0 68 19.1 PAUL YSEBAERT L 15 39 11 14 25 6 16 0 0 1 0 78 14.1 CHRIS GRATTON C 77 41 5 20 25 2 85 2 0 0 0 81 6.2 JOHN TUCKER R 14 43 12 12 24 -6 12 2 0 1 0 77 15.6 ROMAN HAMRLIK D 44 43 12 8 20 -10 80 7 1 2 0 117 10.3 ALEXANDER SEMAK C 27 36 6 11 17 -5 25 0 0 1 0 67 9.0 ALEXANDER SELIVANOV R 29 38 9 6 15 1 12 3 0 3 0 78 11.5 ROB ZAMUNER L 7 38 9 5 14 0 22 0 3 1 0 61 14.8 MARC BUREAU C 28 43 2 11 13 -5 24 0 1 0 1 62 3.2 MIKAEL ANDERSSON L 34 31 4 6 10 -2 4 0 0 0 0 32 12.5 ENRICO CICCONE D 39 38 2 4 6 3 215 0 0 0 0 39 5.1 MARC BERGEVIN D 25 42 2 4 6 -3 46 0 1 0 0 31 6.5 CORY CROSS D 4 38 1 4 5 -5 32 0 0 1 0 27 3.7 BOB HALKIDIS D 21 27 1 3 4 -4 38 0 0 0 0 19 5.3 JASON WIEMER L 9 31 1 3 4 -2 21 0 0 0 0 10 10.0 ERIC CHARRON D 3 40 0 4 4 3 22 0 0 0 0 27 .0 ADRIEN PLAVSIC D 6 13 1 2 3 9 8 0 0 0 0 26 3.8 BRANTT MYHRES R 33 10 2 0 2 1 69 0 0 1 0 3 66.7 RUDY POESCHEK D 20 25 1 1 2 0 92 0 0 0 0 14 7.1 BEN HANKINSON R 16 24 0 2 2 -3 11 0 0 0 0 25 .0 DAREN PUPPA G 93 33 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 J.C. BERGERON G 30 13 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Toronto MATS SUNDIN C 13 43 22 22 44 -5 12 8 0 3 1 160 13.8 DAVE ANDREYCHUK L 14 44 19 14 33 -10 24 8 0 2 2 149 12.8 MIKE RIDLEY C 7 44 10 23 33 -2 14 2 2 1 1 84 11.9 DOUG GILMOUR C 93 40 9 23 32 -5 26 3 0 1 1 65 13.8 TODD GILL D 23 43 6 23 29 -8 50 3 1 1 0 73 8.2 RANDY WOOD L 24 44 11 10 21 5 32 1 1 2 0 116 9.5 DMITRI MIRONOV D 15 32 5 12 17 5 28 2 0 0 0 64 7.8 MIKE GARTNER R 11 34 9 6 15 0 6 1 1 1 0 79 11.4 BENOIT HOGUE C 32 41 8 6 14 0 34 2 0 2 1 61 13.1 DAVE ELLETT D 4 29 5 8 13 -9 26 3 0 1 0 73 6.8 PAUL DIPIETRO C 25 30 5 5 10 -6 4 0 0 1 1 54 9.3 TIE DOMI R 28 36 4 5 9 -5 150 0 0 0 0 39 10.3 MIKE CRAIG R 9 34 5 3 8 -21 10 1 0 1 0 57 8.8 KENNY JONSSON D 19 36 2 6 8 -8 12 0 0 1 0 48 4.2 GARTH BUTCHER D 2 41 1 7 8 -4 53 0 0 0 0 21 4.8 JAMIE MACOUN D 34 42 1 7 8 -6 71 0 0 0 0 75 1.3 WARREN RYCHEL L 21 31 1 5 6 -4 116 0 0 0 0 38 2.6 BILL BERG L 10 28 4 1 5 -8 26 0 0 2 0 48 8.3 GRANT JENNINGS D 3 31 0 5 5 -1 36 0 0 0 0 23 .0 RICH SUTTER R 20 34 0 2 2 -4 36 0 0 0 0 37 .0 DARBY HENDRICKSON C 16 8 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 .0 KENT MANDERVILLE L 18 36 0 1 1 -2 22 0 0 0 0 43 .0 KEN BAUMGARTNER L 22 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 .0 DAMIAN RHODES G 1 12 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 .0 MATT MARTIN D 33 15 0 0 0 2 13 0 0 0 0 14 .0 FELIX POTVIN G 29 33 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Vancouver PAVEL BURE L 10 39 16 23 39 -8 43 5 1 2 0 167 9.6 TREVOR LINDEN C 16 43 17 20 37 -3 21 9 0 1 3 115 14.8 GEOFF COURTNALL L 14 42 16 16 32 2 79 7 0 1 0 135 11.9 RUSS COURTNALL R 9 40 10 18 28 -2 17 2 2 1 0 118 8.5 JEFF BROWN D 22 30 7 21 28 -2 16 3 0 0 0 103 6.8 JOSEF BERANEK C 42 46 12 15 27 -10 28 3 0 0 1 122 9.8 MARTIN GELINAS L 23 42 13 9 22 8 30 1 0 4 0 69 18.8 SERGIO MOMESSO L 27 43 8 14 22 -4 61 5 0 1 0 74 10.8 CLIFF RONNING C 7 37 6 15 21 -6 27 3 0 2 0 87 6.9 ROMAN OKSIUTA R 28 33 13 4 17 -10 10 6 0 0 0 56 23.2 CHRISTIAN RUUTTU C 20 41 7 9 16 12 27 0 0 2 0 41 17.1 JYRKI LUMME D 21 32 3 10 13 -1 24 3 0 1 0 71 4.2 DAVE BABYCH D 44 36 3 10 13 -10 16 1 0 0 0 53 5.7 MIKE PECA C 33 30 6 6 12 -4 28 2 0 1 1 43 14.0 BRET HEDICAN D 3 40 2 10 12 -4 26 0 0 0 0 48 4.2 GINO ODJICK L 29 23 4 5 9 -3 109 0 0 0 0 35 11.4 DANA MURZYN D 5 36 0 7 7 12 129 0 0 0 0 27 .0 TIM HUNTER R 19 34 3 2 5 1 120 0 0 0 0 17 17.6 JOHN MCINTYRE C 15 26 0 4 4 -2 35 0 0 0 0 6 .0 JASSEN CULLIMORE D 34 29 1 2 3 1 35 0 0 0 0 30 3.3 YEVGENY NAMESTNIKOV D 2 13 0 3 3 5 4 0 0 0 0 14 .0 SCOTT WALKER D 24 6 0 1 1 1 28 0 0 0 0 5 .0 KAY WHITMORE G 35 10 0 1 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 .0 KIRK MCLEAN G 1 36 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 .0 ALEK STOJANOV R 25 2 0 0 0 -1 11 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Washington PETER BONDRA R 12 42 30 7 37 6 20 12 5 3 1 165 18.2 JOE JUNEAU C 90 40 4 31 35 -2 6 2 0 0 1 65 6.2 MICHAL PIVONKA C 20 42 9 18 27 2 40 3 2 2 0 73 12.3 CALLE JOHANSSON D 6 41 4 22 26 -8 29 3 0 2 0 97 4.1 DIMITRI KHRISTICH L 8 43 10 11 21 -2 37 6 0 2 2 78 12.8 STEVE KONOWALCHUK C 22 41 9 12 21 5 40 3 3 2 0 77 11.7 DALE HUNTER C 32 40 6 13 19 -6 95 2 0 1 0 66 9.1 KELLY MILLER L 10 43 8 10 18 2 4 1 0 1 0 65 12.3 KEITH JONES R 26 35 11 4 15 -2 63 1 0 3 0 73 15.1 SYLVAIN COTE D 3 42 3 12 15 0 51 1 0 1 0 109 2.8 MARK TINORDI D 24 41 3 9 12 -4 71 2 0 1 0 69 4.3 JIM JOHNSON D 4 42 0 10 10 0 35 0 0 0 0 36 .0 DAVE POULIN C 9 24 4 5 9 3 8 0 2 0 1 27 14.8 JOE REEKIE D 29 43 1 5 6 8 89 0 0 0 0 45 2.2 ROB PEARSON R 25 30 0 6 6 -7 94 0 0 0 0 32 .0 MIKE EAGLES C 36 35 3 2 5 -15 46 0 0 0 0 23 13.0 SERGEI GONCHAR D 17 28 1 4 5 2 20 0 0 0 0 37 2.7 CRAIG BERUBE L 27 38 1 3 4 -6 165 0 0 0 0 18 5.6 KEN KLEE D 2 18 1 1 2 -1 37 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 KEVIN KAMINSKI C 23 24 1 0 1 -7 95 0 0 1 0 12 8.3 OLAF KOLZIG G 37 12 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 .0 JIM CAREY G 30 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 Winnipeg ALEXEI ZHAMNOV C 10 43 29 31 60 7 20 8 0 4 0 137 21.2 KEITH TKACHUK L 7 43 20 27 47 -3 150 6 2 1 1 114 17.5 TEEMU SELANNE R 8 40 20 23 43 5 2 7 2 1 1 150 13.3 NELSON EMERSON R 19 43 13 21 34 -12 26 4 1 1 0 110 11.8 IGOR KOROLEV R 23 40 7 20 27 1 10 1 0 0 0 78 9.0 DALLAS DRAKE C 18 39 7 18 25 -6 30 0 0 1 0 62 11.3 STEPHANE QUINTAL D 4 38 6 16 22 -2 76 3 0 2 0 97 6.2 MIKE EASTWOOD C 32 44 8 10 18 -10 32 0 0 0 0 48 16.7 TEPPO NUMMINEN D 27 37 3 15 18 10 16 2 0 0 0 73 4.1 DAVE MANSON D 3 39 3 15 18 -19 127 2 0 1 0 90 3.3 THOMAS STEEN C 25 30 5 9 14 -12 12 2 0 0 0 32 15.6 DARRYL SHANNON D 24 35 4 8 12 0 44 0 1 0 0 36 11.1 ED OLCZYK C 16 28 4 7 11 -3 10 2 0 0 0 47 8.5 DARRIN SHANNON L 34 19 5 3 8 -6 14 3 0 1 0 26 19.2 RANDY GILHEN C 15 39 3 4 7 -20 46 0 1 1 0 41 7.3 MICHAL GROSEK L 75 24 2 2 4 -3 21 0 0 1 0 27 7.4 KRIS KING L 17 43 2 2 4 -2 81 0 0 0 0 44 4.5 NEIL WILKINSON D 2 36 1 3 4 -23 53 0 0 0 0 24 4.2 GREG BROWN D 36 8 0 2 2 0 17 0 0 0 0 9 .0 OLEG MIKULCHIK D 42 21 0 2 2 8 10 0 0 0 0 5 .0 ROB MURRAY C 12 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .0 TIM CHEVELDAE G 29 28 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .0 JOHN LEBLANC R 37 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 CRAIG MARTIN R 28 15 0 0 0 -5 19 0 0 0 0 1 .0 N. KHABIBULIN G 35 22 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 .0 BRENT THOMPSON D 22 27 0 0 0 -16 76 0 0 0 0 15 .0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS Through April 24, 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goaltender GPI Mins Avg W L T EN SO GA SA SPCT G A PIM ------------------ --- ---- ----- --- -- -- -- -- --- ---- ----- -- -- ---- Chris Osgood 17 969 2.11 13 4 0 1 34 430 .921 0 0 2 Mike Vernon 27 1646 2.41 18 4 4 1 66 643 .897 0 0 6 DET Totals 43 2615 2.29 31 8 4 0 2 100 1073 .907 Jim Carey 24 1417 1.95 16 6 2 4 46 579 .921 0 0 0 Olaf Kolzig 12 616 2.53 1 7 2 0 26 247 .895 0 0 4 Byron Dafoe 4 188 3.51 1 1 1 0 11 80 .863 0 0 0 WAS Totals 43 2617 2.41 18 14 5 6 4 105 1057 .901 Ed Belfour 37 2189 2.36 17 15 3 4 86 867 .901 0 2 11 Jeff Hackett 7 329 2.37 1 3 2 0 13 150 .913 0 0 0 Jimmy Waite 2 120 2.50 1 1 0 0 5 51 .902 0 0 0 CHI Totals 43 2637 2.46 19 19 5 4 4 108 1072 .899 Chris Terreri 13 645 2.42 3 6 2 0 26 272 .904 0 0 0 Martin Brodeur 36 2037 2.44 17 11 5 3 83 837 .901 0 2 2 NJD Totals 44 2682 2.46 20 17 7 1 3 110 1110 .901 Dominik Hasek 36 2116 2.16 16 13 6 3 76 1075 .929 0 0 2 Robb Stauber 6 275 3.93 1 3 0 0 18 132 .864 0 0 0 BUF Totals 42 2555 2.49 17 16 6 2 3 106 1288 .918 Mike Torchia 4 235 0.26 1 0 0 0 1 30 .967 0 0 0 Andy Moog 30 1735 2.39 10 11 7 2 69 828 .917 0 1 14 Manny Fernandez 1 60 3.00 0 1 0 0 3 27 .889 0 0 0 Darcy Wakaluk 13 685 3.07 4 7 0 2 35 310 .887 0 0 2 DAL Totals 44 2715 2.54 17 19 8 1 4 115 1281 .910 Blaine Lacher 31 1675 2.29 16 9 2 3 64 680 .906 0 1 4 Vincent Riendeau 11 570 2.84 3 6 1 0 27 221 .878 0 0 2 Craig Billington 15 783 3.75 4 6 2 0 49 360 .864 0 0 4 BOS Totals 42 2553 2.59 23 21 5 2 3 110 1023 .892 John Vanbiesbrouck 31 1729 2.39 11 13 3 4 69 835 .917 0 1 4 Mark Fitzpatrick 15 822 2.63 6 7 2 2 36 361 .900 0 0 0 FLA Totals 42 2551 2.59 17 20 5 5 6 110 1201 .908 Jon Casey 17 782 2.53 6 4 4 0 33 333 .901 0 0 0 Curtis Joseph 32 1677 2.75 18 8 1 1 77 799 .904 0 0 0 Geoff Sarjeant 4 120 3.00 1 0 0 0 6 52 .885 0 1 2 STL Totals 42 2579 2.70 25 12 5 0 1 116 1184 .902 Glenn Healy 14 737 2.44 6 5 1 0 30 305 .902 0 2 2 Mike Richter 32 1858 2.81 13 16 2 2 87 806 .892 0 0 2 NYR Totals 43 2595 2.73 19 21 3 1 2 118 1112 .894 Jason Muzzatti 1 10 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 8 1.000 0 0 0 Rick Tabaracci 11 527 2.16 3 3 2 0 19 209 .909 0 1 2 Trevor Kidd 40 2310 2.60 20 13 6 3 100 1083 .908 0 1 2 Andrei Trefilov 5 181 3.65 0 2 0 0 11 90 .878 0 0 0 CGY Totals 43 2632 2.74 23 18 8 6 3 120 1251 .904 Dominic Roussel 17 958 2.51 10 5 0 0 40 433 .908 0 0 6 Ron Hextall 29 1709 2.84 16 9 4 1 81 748 .892 0 1 23 PHI Totals 44 2667 2.74 26 14 4 1 1 122 1182 .897 Daren Puppa 33 1900 2.56 14 17 2 1 81 878 .908 0 1 2 JC Bergeron 13 706 3.14 3 6 1 1 37 294 .874 0 0 2 TAM Totals 43 2606 2.79 17 23 3 3 2 121 1175 .897 Jocelyn Thibault 17 879 2.32 12 2 2 1 34 420 .919 0 0 0 Stephane Fiset 28 1664 2.92 15 9 2 2 81 856 .905 0 3 2 Garth Snow 2 120 5.50 1 1 0 0 11 63 .825 0 0 0 QUE Totals 44 2663 2.86 28 12 4 1 3 127 1340 .905 Sean Burke 38 2193 2.63 16 16 4 0 96 1117 .914 0 1 8 Jeff Reese 11 480 3.25 2 5 1 0 26 234 .889 0 0 0 HAR Totals 44 2673 2.90 18 21 5 7 0 129 1358 .905 Damian Rhodes 12 705 2.38 6 5 1 0 28 372 .925 0 0 4 Felix Potvin 33 1970 2.89 13 13 6 0 95 1017 .907 0 0 2 TOR Totals 44 2675 2.94 19 18 7 8 0 131 1397 .906 Kirk McLean 36 2168 2.63 16 10 10 1 95 1018 .907 0 1 4 Kay Whitmore 10 497 4.10 0 6 1 0 34 246 .862 0 1 7 VAN Totals 43 2665 2.95 16 16 11 2 1 131 1266 .897 Patrick Roy 38 2265 2.99 17 17 4 1 113 1195 .905 0 1 18 Ron Tugnutt 7 346 3.12 1 3 1 0 18 172 .895 0 0 0 MON Totals 43 2611 3.08 18 20 5 3 1 134 1370 .902 Phillippe Derouvill 0 1 60 3 1 0 0 0 3 27 .889 0 0 0 Ken Wregget 35 2037 3.12 24 7 2 0 106 1124 .906 0 0 14 Wendell Young 10 500 3.24 3 6 0 0 27 255 .894 0 0 2 PIT Totals 43 2597 3.19 28 13 2 2 0 138 1408 .902 Tommy Salo 4 240 3.00 1 3 0 0 12 140 .914 0 0 0 Tommy Soderstrom 23 1178 3.01 6 11 3 1 59 609 .903 0 0 2 Jamie McLennan 21 1192 3.37 6 11 2 0 67 539 .876 0 0 2 NYI Totals 43 2609 3.24 13 25 5 3 1 141 1291 .891 Guy Hebert 36 1966 3.08 11 18 4 2 101 1057 .904 0 0 2 Mikhail Shtalenkov 15 662 3.99 3 6 1 0 44 369 .881 0 0 2 ANA Totals 43 2628 3.42 14 24 5 5 2 150 1431 .895 Wade Flaherty 18 853 3.09 6 6 1 1 44 455 .903 0 1 0 Arturs Irbe 32 1701 3.46 10 17 2 3 98 856 .886 0 0 2 SAN Totals 42 2554 3.48 16 23 3 6 4 148 1317 .888 Mike Bales 1 3 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 1 1.000 0 0 0 Don Beaupre 33 1878 3.42 5 24 3 1 107 1011 .894 0 0 8 Darrin Madeley 4 196 3.67 0 3 0 0 12 118 .898 0 0 0 OTT Totals 42 2553 3.64 5 27 3 4 1 155 1374 .887 Pauli Jacks 1 40 3.00 0 0 0 0 2 25 .920 0 0 0 Kelly Hrudey 32 1722 3.28 12 12 5 0 94 995 .906 0 0 0 Jamie Storr 5 265 3.85 1 3 1 0 17 152 .888 0 0 2 Grant Fuhr 15 792 4.09 1 8 3 0 54 399 .865 0 0 2 LOS Totals 43 2655 3.66 14 23 9 5 0 162 1497 .892 Fred Brathwaite 12 524 3.55 2 4 1 0 31 251 .876 0 0 0 Bill Ranford 38 2099 3.66 13 20 3 2 128 1063 .880 0 2 2 EDM Totals 43 2623 3.71 15 24 4 3 2 162 1317 .877 Tim Cheveldae 28 1496 3.61 8 14 3 0 90 778 .884 0 1 2 Nikolai Khabibulin 22 1143 3.62 6 8 4 0 69 633 .891 0 0 4 WIN Totals 43 2638 3.71 14 22 7 4 0 163 1415 .885 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REMINDER: The LCS Web Site has moved to a new location for the summer months and the old address will no longer be valid. If you have links to our web site please update them with the new address, http://www.pitt.edu/~pfsst2/sportif.html . Until May 6 there will be pointers at the old address to our new home. Thanks. NEXT ISSUE: Tuesday, May 9th - A regular season review, playoff preview, info on the World Championships, and the Questions O' the Month shall return! Take it easy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ lcsguidetohockeylcsguidetohockeylcsguidetohockeylaughinchimpsportslcsguideto