_ _ _ _ | | ____ ___ | | ____ ___ | | ____ ___ | | ____ ___ | |/ _ / __| | |/ _ / __| | |/ _ / __| | |/ _ / __| | | (_ \__ \ | | (_ \__ \ | | (_ \__ \ | | (_ \__ \ |_|\____\___/ |_|\____\___/ |_|\____\___/ |_|\____\___/ GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY ================================================================ Five Star - ELECTRONIC EDITION - * * * * * ================================================================ Issue 30 October 17, 1995 Uh, it's free ---------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Wendel, Stumpy and Pepe change teams By Jim Iovino The New Jersey Devils made good on their promise of shipping out disgruntled Conn Smythe Trophy-winner Claude Lemieux just a few days before the season started, sending him to the New York Islanders. Lemieux, who went to arbitration against the Devils claiming that the four-year, $5.2 million contract he signed before the playoffs last year was not valid because he changed agents, was sent to the New York Islanders for another player mired in a contract dispute, Steve Thomas. Thomas, 32, was a restricted free agent who was holding out of training camp in hopes of signing a new contract worth at least $1.7 million a year. He immediately signed a new deal with the Devils upon arriving in New Jersey. The 30-year-old Lemieux had little time to think about the prospects of moving to Long Island, because he was quickly traded once more, this time to the Colorado Avalanche for Wendel Clark. After the trade the Isles stated clearly that they had absolutely no interest in keeping Lemieux because they had several right wings already, so they dealt him to Colorado for Clark, a left winger who could replace Thomas on the roster. Clark, just like Thomas and Lemieux, was a training camp no-show because of a contract dispute with his team. Clark, 29, believed that the Avalanche (formerly the Quebec Nordiques) told him that they would renegotiate his contract after the season, but when he approached the team after the season they said no. Clark, who had one year left in his current contract with Colorado, signed a new three-year deal worth $6.15 million with the Isles upon arrival. So far, things have seemed to work out for all three teams involved in the deal. Each team got rid of a training camp distraction, and each player seems to be happy in their new surroundings. Lemieux, who lost $80,916 of his salary because of his suspension by the Devils, will add strong playoff leadership to the Avalanche, who can't seem to make it past the first round of the playoffs. The Avalanche are also happy with the acquisition of "Pepe" because he's a lot more reliable than Clark, who hasn't played a full season in the NHL since his 1986-87 campaign with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Clark was a disappointment during the stretch run and in the playoffs for the Nordiques because of injuries and a lack of goal scoring. While Clark may be injury prone, when he plays he shows tremendous effort and strong leadership skills, which are desperately needed on Long Island. First year coach Mike Milbury will look for Clark to set an example for the younger players on the roster to follow. Clark was the inspirational leader during his days in Toronto, and there's no reason he won't do the same with the Isles. The Devils are pleased with the addition of Thomas to their roster. He adds another scoring threat to their arsenal that includes Stephane Richer and John MacLean, while at the same time keeping with the defensive theme firmly implanted by Head Coach Jacques Lemaire. "Stumpy," as we at LCS so lovingly refer to him as, is a strong backchecker who will not be a liability on defense for the Devils. _____________________________________________________ CREDITS Michael Dell........................Editor-in-Chief Zippy the Wonder Chimp.................Computer Boy Jim Iovino.............................Ace Reporter Matthew Secosky......................Blah Blah Blah Dan Hurwitz.............Force for Cultural Hegemony Sandi Trudo...................Anaheim Correspondent Matt Brown.....................Boston Correspondent Ryan Ferris...................Calgary Correspondent Dan Glovier...................Chicago Correspondent Jim Panenka....................Dallas Correspondent Brian Wishnow.................Detroit Correspondent Simon D. Lewis...............Edmonton Correspondent Steve Gallichio..............Hartford Correspondent Matt Moore................Los Angeles Correspondent Dan Piedra...................Montreal Correspondent David Strauss...............Islanders Correspondent Alex Frias....................Rangers Correspondent Andrew Monfried..........Philadelphia Correspondent Mark Spiegel.................San Jose Correspondent Troy Ely....................Tampa Bay Correspondent Brad Ross.....................Toronto Correspondent Carol Schram................Vancouver Correspondent ---------------------------------------------------- LCS guide to hockey issue 30 October 1995. Email address: sportif@oak.westol.com Good ol' postal address: 632 Hempfield Street, Greensburg, PA 15601. Web Site: http://www.westol.com/~sportif/sportif.html Um, we still accept donations, because, as always, in the immortal words of the mother on Good Times... WE NEED SOME FOOD! ------------------------------------------------------ The Original Hey, Hey, Hey...NEWS! ---------------------------------- by Zippy The Wonder Chimp * NHL Dream Teams will be taking the ice for the first time at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The announcement came after an agreement between the NHL, NHLPA, and several International Ice Hockey groups was finalized. In addition to allowing players to participate in the Olympics, plans have been made to revive the old Canada Cup tournament. The tournament will now be called the World Cup of Hockey and will begin in the summer of 1996. The most important thing to come out of the recent deal, however, has to do with the NHL itself. With the allowance for the Olympics, the NHL and NHLPA have agreed not to reopen the current Collective Bargaining Agreement until it expires on September 15, 2000. To accomidate the Olympic competition, the NHL season will take a break from February 8 until February 25. During that time, the six national teams that will contain NHL players on their rosters (United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, and Czech Republic) will begin a qualifing tournament on February 7 to decide which two teams will reach the finals. The remainder of the Olympic tournament will begin on February 13. * The 1995 NHL waiver draft was held on October 2, and a total of 8 players ended up switching teams. The waiver draft ran as usual, NHL teams protected 18 skaters and 2 goaltenders (note: players who have not appeared in a specified number of games are automatically exempt), and the players remaining could be claimed by other teams. If a player is claimed, the claiming team must drop a player from their protected list and then compensate the player's former team with cash or the player they dropped. When all this madness ended, the following players found themselves on new teams: Player Pos. Former Team New Team ------ ---- ----------- -------- Jim McKenzie LW New York Islanders Winnipeg Ted Drury C Hartford Whalers Ottawa Bill Huard LW Colorado Avalanche Dallas Brent Hughes LW Boston Bruins Buffalo Pat Jablonski G Toronto Maple Leafs St. Louis Justin Hocking D Ottawa Sentors Los Angeles Rob Conn RW New Jersey Devils Buffalo Bob Sweeney C Buffalo Sabres New York * The sale of the Los Angeles Kings is now offical. The NHL Board of Governors approved the sale of the Kings to Philip Anschutz and Edward Roski. As I mentioned last issue, the pair of investors will take over the bankrupt Kings and assume all financial liabilities to keep the Kings afloat. The investors also have plans to move the team to a new sports arena in the future after signing an agreement with the owner of the Lakers(NBA), Dr. Jerry Buss. * An arbitrator ruled that the contract of last years Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Claude Lemieux, is valid. Thus, Lemieux will be bound to his four year, $5.2 million contract he signed with the Devils. While the Devils may have won the case, the disruption Lemieux caused over this matter placed him on managements bad side, and New Jersey assured him of being traded. Without much delay a deal was struck that saw three holdouts exchanging teams in a three way deal. Lemieux was first traded to the New York Islanders for the rights to Steve Thomas. The Islanders then sent Lemieux to Colorado for holdout left wing Wendel Clark. * A number of rule changes will be in effect this season in the NHL other than the new Obstruction penalties. The NHL Board O' Governors have approved a number of measures the make the NHL an even more peaceful league. The most important of these changes will make clipping illegal. A two minute minor penalty will be given to any player who delivers a check by throwing his body across the knees of an opponent. If any injury results from the check, a five minute major and game misconduct we be automatically assessed. This season, cross checks to the head or neck will be penalized as double minors. Serious cross checking situations will still result in major penalties if a player is injured. If a fight breaks out during a game, any coach or player who leaves the bench during the altercation can be suspended and fined upwards of $10,000. No longer can players throw sticks at random during a contest. If players can't keep the lumber in their hands, they will be accessed a minor penalty for throwing the ol' stick during the game. Of course in a breakaway situation a penalty shot will still be called. Forget taking out agressions on the referees, any type of physical abuse of those dressed in black 'n' white stripes will result in an automatic suspension. The final change to look for this season should be the most visual. No longer will the inside of the goal be colored blue like the goaltenders crease, it will be glossy white. The color has been changed to make it easier for the refs to tell if the puck crossed the goal line on questionable goal calls and instant replay situations. * Police Blotter - Head butting may be legal in the World Wrestling Federation, but it is not tolerated in the NHL. Louie DeBrusk performed an admirable Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake impression in a preseason game versus the Calgary Flames, but didn't receive much applause. Instead the NHL fined him $1,000 and suspended him two games for head butting Flames defenseman Jamie Huscroft. * Time for an update from Florida. Little has been accomplished in the Panthers attempt to renegotiate their lease at the Miami Arena. Without a new aggrement the Panthers owner will be looking to lose several millions dollars for the third season in a row despite strong attendance. The troubles never seem to end. So, what have they done? Well, it looks like the Panthers may be heading to Nashville or Fort Lauderdale next season if a new lease can't be reached. Before doing something that drastic, I think they should ask Gamara, the giant space turtle with rockets on his feet, for help. That's what I do when I'm in trouble...come on, sing with me, "Gamara is really neat, Gamara is full of meat, We believe in Gamara." If Gamara can save the Earth from utter destruction from a superior alien race, surely he can renegotiate a lease. * The FOX Robots are moving to prime time when FOX televises the 1996 NHL All-Star game in Boston's new Fleet Center on January 20 to kick off their second season of NHL coverage. Apparantly the NHL is trying to reach a larger audience this year as they make the switch from an afternoon start time, to the prime time televison watchin' hour of 8 p.m.(EST). After the All-Star telecast, FOX will continue to bring NHL action to the United States with 6 regional contests every Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.(EST) until February 10. Starting March 31, FOX will move to Sunday afternoons and will continue broadcasts throughout the NHL playoffs. * The only member of the LCS: Guide to Hockey Hall of Fame is once again part of the NHL. No, at 39 years of age he is not going to be lacing up the ol' skates anytime soon, however, Peter Stastny has returned to the St. Louis Blues organization as a European scout. The position seems only right for Stastny, who in the 1980-81 season was one of the first players from a communist European nation (Slovakia) to play in the NHL. He joined the Blues as a player near the end of the 1993-94 season after being signed as a free agent from New Jersey. Last year, however, he was limited to only 6 games because of a knee injury. * NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has given the possible new owner of the Jets, Richard Burke, one month to arrange a deal to move the team to Minnesota. If a deal cannot be reached in that time, the team will have to look to other cities for a new home for the 1996-97 season. The move to Minnesota seems fairly likely, since that is where the team was rumored to be heading originally before a failed attempt of a group of investors to keep the Jets in Winnipeg. If an agreement is not reached, other cities including Nashville, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, and Phoenix have all expressed interest in an NHL franchise. * After a lengthy and successful NHL career, Red Wings defenseman Mark Howe has retired at the age of 40. The son of the legendary Gordie Howe, Mark started his hockey career with the Houston Aeros of the WHA in 1973 where he walked away with the Rookie of the year award after recording 79 points in 76 games from his blueline position. In 1977 he was traded to the New England Whalers of the WHA and remained with the team as they entered the NHL in 1980 as the mighty Hartford Whalers. While in the WHA he played 426 games, recording 208 goals and 296 assists for 504 points. He played three seasons with the Whale before he was traded to the Flyers in 1982. Backlining the Flyers he helped them reach the Stanley Cup Finals twice, both times, however, they fell short of winning the Cup. After many consistant seasons in the NHL, Howe's career took a turn for the worse in 1990 when he began to be plagued by back problems. His back troubles limited him to playing less than half of Philly's games from 1990-1992. After the 1992 season he was signed as a free agent by Detroit. Even though playing in a new city, he couldn't escape his back troubles and managed to play only 112 games in three seasons with the Red Wings. In a total of 929 NHL contests, Howe scored 197 goals and 545 assists for 742 points. If you consider his totals in the WHA and NHL, Howe would have a grand total of 1242 points. A total only currently surpassed by "The Doctor", Paul Coffey. If you're wondering Ray Bourque is approaching that mark, after last season he had a total of 1230 points. With his NHL career now over, Mark will be joining the Red Wings as assistant to the hockey department, a job which incompasses many roles. He will be a professional scout, coach for the team's minor league defensemen, and will work in the marketing and public relations department. * We were watching the CBC this weekend and happened to see ads for these new McDonalds collectors cups featuring NHL stars and the Muppets. Needless to say we have been tempted to drive up to Canada to get these fine beverage containers since they cannot be found in the good ol' US. If anyone finds themselves with any extra McDonald's NHL cups and is feeling like donating to LCS, feel free to send us some of them cups, especially any with Kermit the Frog on them. * If you have noticed, there are no NHL Player stats in this fine issue of LCS. Well, with the season so young, we figured we could do without them for an issue. If you do need stats for any reason, check out our Web site. They'll be posted there weekly all season long. In case you forgot, it can be reached at the following URL: http://www.westol.com/~sportif/sportif.html. There have been several recent additions to the Web and more is added almost everyday. If you haven't been by recently, be sure to check it out. It's a great way to spend an evening. Transactions: ---------------------------------------------------------------- * Anaheim - Assigned left wings David Sacco, John Lilley and Mike Maneluk, centers Sean Pronger and Jarrod Skalde, defenseman Jason Marshall and goaltender Byron Penstock to Baltimore(AHL). Signed Chad Kilger to a multi-year contract. * Boston - Signed Kyle McLaren to a three year contract. * Buffalo - Assigned right wings Dane Jackson and Dixon Ward and defenseman Mike Wilson to Rochester(AHL). Assigned defenseman Bryan Fogarty to Minnesota(IHL). Assigned goaltender Robb Stauber to Rochester(AHL). Waived defenseman Grant Jennings. Signed center Wayne Primeau to a multi-year contract. Signed free agent left wing Randy Burridge(Kings) to a one year contract. Signed forward Curtis Brown to a multi-year contract. Waived left wing Scott Pearson. * Calgary - Traded defenseman Frank Musil to Ottawa for a 1997 fourth-round draft choice. Suspended center Joe Nieuwendyk. * Chicago - Reassigned forwards Kip Miller and Darin Kimble, defensemen Jeff Serowik and Ivan Droppa and goaltender Jimmy Waite to Indianapolis(IHL). Signed Winnipeg Jets left winger Keith Tkachuk to an offer sheet. Signed left wing Ethan Moreau and assigned him to Indianapolis(IHL). * Colorado - Sent forward Paxton Schulte to Cornwall(AHL). Signed defenseman Christian Lariviere. Assigned defensemen Alexei Gusarov, Janne Laukkanen and Aaron Miller to Cornwall(AHL). Re-signed right wing Scott Young to a one-year contract. * Dallas - Signed forward Trent Klatt to a one year contract. Assigned goaltender Manny Fernandez and defensemen Sergei Gusev and Travis Richards to Michigan(IHL). Traded right wing Paul Broten to the St. Louis Blues for center Guy Carbonneau. Assigned forwards Dan Kesa and Jamie Langenbrunner to Michigan(IHL). Assigned center Corey Millen to Michigan(IHL). * Detroit - Announced that defenseman Mark Howe retired and named him assistant to the hockey department. * Edmonton - Assigned goaltender Fred Brathwaite, forward Mike Krushelnyski and defenseman Craig Redmond to Cape Breton(AHL). Assigned defenseman Brett Hauer to Cape Breton(AHL). Signed Georges Laraque. * Florida - Assigned centers Steve Washburn and Alexei Kudashov to the Carolina Monarchs(AHL). Assigned right wing Jason Podollan to Spokane(WHL), left wing Brett Harkins to Carolina(AHL) and defenseman Randy Moller to Cincinnati(IHL). Signed goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck to a three year contract extension. * Hartford - Reassigned forward Kevin Smyth and defensemen Alexander Godynyuk and Marek Malik to Springfield(AHL). Assigned goaltender Sandy Allen to Richmond(ECHL). Traded center Darren Turcotte to Winnipeg for right wing Nelson Emerson. Promoted Kevin Maxwell to director of player personnel. Signed goaltender Jason Muzzati. * Los Angeles - Assigned right wing Kevin Brown, center Ken McRae and defensemen Rob Cowie, Chris Snell and Jan Vopat to Phoenix(IHL). Assigned right wing Gary Shuchuk and defenseman Arto Blomsten to Phoenix(IHL). * Montreal - Assigned defenseman Brad Brown, centers Craig Conroy and Xavier Majic, and left wing Gerry Fleming to Frederictone(AHL). Agreed to terms with defenseman Peter Popovic on a one year contract. Assigned goaltender Martin Brochu and defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick to Fredericton(AHL). Returned left wing Terry Ryan to Tri-City(WHL). Assigned left wing Pierre Sevigny to Fredericton(AHL). Signed right wing Oleg Petrov to a one year contract. * New Jersey - Agreed to terms with defenseman Scott Niedermayer and left wing Stephane Richer. Assigned forward Patrik Elias and Vadim Sharifijanov and defensemen Kevin Dean and Chris McAlpine to Albany(AHL). Signed left wing Steve Thomas to a multi-year contract. Signed center Petr Sykora. Placed defenseman Tom Chorske on waivers. Assigned centers Petr Sykora and Denis Pederson, goaltender Mike Dunham and defenseman Cale Hulse to Albany(AHL). Re-signed goaltender Martin Brodeur to a multi-year contract. * N.Y. Islanders - Assigned forwards Derek Armstrong, Andreas Johansson and Dan Plante, defenseman Jason Strudwick and goalie Eric Fichaud to the Worcester(AHL). Assigned center Micah Aivazoff, defenseman Jason Herter and goaltender Jamie McLennan to Utah(IHL). Traded the rights to left wing Steve Thomas to New Jersey for right wing Claude Lemieux. Traded Claude Lemieux to Colorado for left wing Wendel Clark. Agreed to terms with left wing Wendel Clark. Signed defenseman Darius Kasparaitis to a multi-year contract. * N.Y. Rangers - Assigned left wing Daniel Lacroix to Binghamton(AHL). Re-signed left wing Luc Robitaille to a six year contract. Signed defenseman Ulf Samuelsson to a multi-year contract. * Ottawa - Signed defensemen Frank Musil and Joe Cirella to one-year contracts. Traded center Steve Larouche to the New York Rangers for right wing Jean-Yves Roy. Loaned left wing Sylvain Turgeon to the Houston Aeros(IHL). * Philadelphia - Signed defenseman Eric Desjardins to a multi-year contract. Signed defenseman Kevin Haller to a multi-year contract. Signed right wing Mikael Renberg to a multi-year contract. * Pittsburgh - Recalled defenseman Greg Andrusak from Detroit(IHL). * St. Louis - Reassigned forward Patrice Tardif and defenseman Christer Olsson to Worcester(AHL) and defenseman Steve Staios to Peoria(IHL). Acquired defenseman Dallas Eakins from the Florida Panthers for a fourth round selection in the 1997 draft. Acquired center Fred Knipscheer from Boston for defenseman Rick Zombo. Assigned Dave Roberts to Worcester(AHL). Named Rob Ramage television analyst. Assigned goaltender Bruce Racine to Peoria(IHL). Assigned forward Kevin Sawyer to Worcester(AHL). Named Rick Braunstein assistant director of public relations. Signed Peter Stastny as European Scout. * San Jose - Assigned center Alexei Yegorov to the Kansas City Blades(IHL). Re-signed free agent defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh. Assigned forward Chris Tancill to Kansas City(IHL). Assigned defenseman Vlastimil Kroupa to Kansas City(IHL). Signed defenseman Sergei Bautin. Agreed to terms with head coach Kevin Constantine on a three-year contract. * Tampa Bay - Signed center Daymond Langkow to a multi-year contract. Acquired the rights for defenseman Steven Finn from Colorado for a 1997 fourth round pick. Assigned defenseman Bob Halkidis to Atlanta(IHL). * Toronto - Traded right wing Warren Rychel to Colorado for future considerations. Assigned forwards Brandon Convery and Kent Manderville and defenseman Jamie Heward to St. John's(AHL). Assigned left wing Todd Warriner to St. John's(AHL). Assigned center Paul DiPietro to St. John's(AHL). * Vancouver - Assigned Sergei Tkachenko, Bert Robertsson, Libor Polasek, Yuri Kuznetsov and Artur Oktyabrev to Syracuse(AHL). Re-signed right wing Trevor Linden. Assigned Mike Fountain, Rod Stevens, Matt Ruchty, Lonny Bohonos and John Namestnikov to Syracuse(AHL). Signed free agent Jim Sandlak(Whalers). Assigned Sergei Tkachenko to the Raleigh Ice Caps(ECHL). Assigned Eric Johnson to the Wheeling Thunderbirds(ECHL). Assigned defenseman Adrian Aucoin and center John McIntyre to Syracuse(AHL). Signed left wing Larry Courville. * Washington - Assigned forwards Joel Poirier and Alexander Kharlamov, defensemen Steve Poapst and and Frank Bialowas and goaltender Mike Torchia to Portland(AHL). Returned Richard Zednik to his junior club. Assigned center Norm Batherson to the Portland Pirates(AHL). Placed right wing Rob Pearson and center Jeff Nelson on waivers. * Winnipeg - Sent left wing Andre Faust to Springfield(AHL). Released center Vyacheslav Butsayev. Matched the offer sheet given by Chicago to left wing Keith Tkachuk. Released Terry Yake. Signed right wing Ed Ronan. Assigned defenseman Brent Thompson and left wing Iain Fraser to Springfield(AHL). Signed right wing Shane Doan and defenseman Jason Doig. Announce Alexei Zhamnov will be placed on the injured list for one week. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Burke Saves More Whales than GreenPeace By Jim Iovino The Hartford Whalers have yet to be defeated this season, and while captain Brendan Shanahan has to be given credit for bringing in a new sense of leadership and a winning attitude to the club that has been missing for quite some time, credit for the team's three victories has to be given to goaltender Sean Burke. Burke has been outstanding so far this season. He looked extremely sharp in the Whale's opening night 2-0 shutout win against the New York Rangers, standing his ground against a potent offensive attack and making one beautiful kick save after another. He's also played well in the team's two other wins, allowing just two goals a game. The 28-year-old Windsor, Ontario native looks like he could be putting together a Vezina-winning season. His 37-save performance against the Rangers might just be a sign of great things to come. Burke has lead the Whalers in goal for the past three years, posting goals against averages under 3.00 in each of the past two seasons. His strong play has saved the Whale on many occasions, keeping them in a lot of close games that they shouldn't have even had a chanceof winning. Last season, Hartford was in a total of 34 games decided by two goals or less, most of those were low-scoring affairs. This stat proves the fact that strong goaltending will always give your team a chance to win. And that's exactly what Burke does. While the Whalers have struggled as a team over the past couple years trying to find out in what direction they were heading, one thing was for sure. Burke was their future in goal. After acquiring Burke from the New Jersey Devils in 1992, the Whalers knew that their goaltending situation was secure, which enabled them to concentrate on rebuilding the rest of their team. After acquiring defenseman Glen Wesley last season and left wing Brendan Shanahan this past off-season, the Whalers finally have solid players at every position. Not only does this give the Whalers a good all-around effort every night, it also gives them something they really haven't had in a long time. A winning team. And it all started with the acquisition of Sean Burke, the backbone of the Whale. ======================================================================== TEAM REPORTS ======================================================================== EASTERN CONFERENCE NORTHEASTERN DIVISION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BOSTON BRUINS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Head Coach: Steve Kasper Roster: C - Adam Oates, Shawn McEachern, Ted Donato, Todd Elik. LW - Kevin Stevens, Jozef Stumpel, Dave Reid, Steve Leach. RW - Cam Neely, Mariusz Czerkawski, Joey Mullen, Steve Heinze, Sandy Moger, Marc Potvin. D - Ray Bourque, Al Iafrate, Don Sweeney, Rick Zombo, John Gruden, Jon Rohloff, Alexei Kasatonov, Kyle McLaren. G - Blaine Lacher, Craig Billington. Injuries: Al Iafrate, d (knee, indefinite). Transactions: Traded Fred Knipscheer, lw, to St.Louis for Rick Zombo, d. Assigned Peter Taglianetti, d, and Cam Stewart, lw, to Providence (AHL). Released Jamie Huscroft, d, and Mats Naslund, rw. TEAM NEWS by Matt Brown The Bruins looked at the 95-96 season full of hope, full of promise. After all, they had: - A new state of the art arena, the Fleetcenter. - A new coach who was a popular Bruin. - A strengthened Cam Neely. - A surgically-repaired Adam Oates (that nagging ring finger). - A healthy Al Iafrate. - A young goalkeeper, Blaine Lacher, who played very well. - A steady seasoned backup keeper, Craig Billington. - A bright youg 1st round defenseman in Kyle McLaren. - A new center, Todd Elik, who despite having been bounced around to six teams in seven years, seemed to have that Bruin-nature. - A dramatically weaker Northeast Division, with Quebec gone, Buffalo fading (no Mogilny), Montreal slipping badly, Ottawa treading water, Pitt shedding players left and right, and Hartford improving just a bit. - An infusion of talent from that other black and gold team, the Penguins, of two Boston homeboys, Kevin Stevens and Shawn McEachern, a tough New Yorker (Joey Mullen), and a Providence College grad (Peter Taglianetti). What could go wrong? Well, for starters, Iafrate's knee. After a full year of supposed rehab (not under the guidance of the Bruin's staff), Al has tracking problems and loose cartilage. Bruin's doctors recommend surgery, Al's private doctor says "No need." Al again listens to his Alabama MD. Most Bruin's fans expect never to see him in uniform again. Since that time, the Bruins have underachieved. After a decent preseason, they have not played a single 60 minutes up to their capabilities. The defense has been porous, the power play pathetic, Stevens has not clicked, Taglianetti is in the minors, and the goalkeeping has been victimized, or at least victimizable. All this has added up to only 1 win in 5 games, 2 very sloppy ties, and 1 absolutely horrific loss. The Bruins opened the "New Garden" against the new-look Islanders. We'll skip the fishcake jokes to say that this team could get better over the season, but the goaltending is very suspect. The Bruins muscled the Isles around behind a Cam Neely hat trick, but they couldn't hold a 4-2 lead in the 3rd, and the Isles fought back to tie. It was an omen. The next game was against the Sabres, who showed how much they have slipped in losing to the Bruins. Hey, two games, no losses! First win at the New Garden! How bad is that? However, the long roadtrip west so far has been a disaster. First, a nasty loss to the Avalanche, where the Bruins were pretty thoroughly frustrated by Stephane Fiset, scoring only on a seeing-eye shorthanded hope by McEachern. Of course, Claude Lemeiux scored off a giveaway to put the game away. Nothing like seeing old "friends" again. Next, a very sloppy 6-6 tie with the Sharks, where Lacher looked off balance, sloppy, and distracted. Of course, when Ray Bourque, on a power play, hands a Mr. Softee to Jamie Baker 10 feet in front of the net, any goalie might look a little surprised. As it was, it took a great effort just to salvage the tie. Okay, so lots of new guys, new coach, teams they haven't played in over a year, etc. etc. etc. Matter of time, they'll pull it together. Hey, that Dallas team, they're not so tough. Hey, they're led by a Carbonneausaurus. And so it seemed. Neely scores twice early, and the Bruins had a 3-1 lead, and trade goals till it is 5-3 with one minute left in the third. Chalk up them two points, hey pardner? Wrong. Kevin Hatcher pots a rebound at 19:11. Then, after a faceoff, Mike Modano slithers through the middle to tie the game at 19:45. Oh well, 15 seconds to overtime. Nope. Face-off, the puck goes to the Bruin's end, pops off the boards right to (you guessed it) Guy Carbonneau, with no Bruin but Billington within 10 feet, and a quick backhand flip at 19:54. Two points becomes an ignominious defeat in less than a minute. Disgraceful. Gotta hate those ex-Habs. Good news? Well, unlikely Steve Heinze has 4 goals in 5 games through mucho hustle and hard work. Neely has 6 (after two, Bruin's fans were joking about his 164-goal pace; not so funny when the team is 1-2-2). Adam Oates is the league's leading scorer. Kyle McLaren was the hit of camp, and made the club, no mean feat for an 18-year old. Steve Leach has played his strongest hockey in years. Todd Elik has really sparkled several times. McEachern looks good, but in spurts. Rick Zombo, aquired late from Mad Dog Keenan for Fred Knipscheer, has been solid on defense, mostly. The downers? Kevin Stevens might as well still be in Pittsburgh. The other defensemen have not stepped up. Don Sweeney does not look as good as last year. Ray Bourque is still dumping the puck in too much. The early line-swapping has sparked some offense, but the defensive play by the forwards has suffered accordingly. Lacher and Billington have been hung out to dry by the D many times, and few are the times they have compensated with a world-class save. However, it is still early. The Bruins have had comebacks, and strong openings. They just haven't put a full 60 together yet. Heck, some teams like Montreal haven't put together a non-rancid 20 minutes yet. It looks like some lines are forming, with McEachern looking like a match for Neely and Oates, adding speed and corner work. Elik, Mullen, and Stevens are a nice match also, with Joey just missing several times in the last two games, and Stevens looking for his first. Heinze and Dave Reid have played well. A little seasoning of the young defenders like John Gruden and Jon Rohloff will have the team clicking. Then watch out. ------------------------------------------------------------------- BUFFALO SABRES ------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: John Muckler Roster: C - Pat LaFontaine, Mike Peca, Brian Holzinger, Derek Plante, Dave Hannan. LW - Jason Dawe, Yuri Khmylev, Kevin McClelland, Brad May, Randy Burridge. RW - Donald Audette, Wayne Primeau, Matthew Barnaby, Curtis Brown, Rob Ray, Rob Conn. D - Alexei Zhitnik, Garry Galley, Doug Bodger, Doug Houda, Charlie Huddy, Craig Muni, Mark Astley. G - Dominik Hasek, Andrei Trefilov. Injuries: Donald Audette, rw (knee, indefinite). Richard Smehlik, d (knee, out for season). Transactions: Acquired Rob Conn, rw, via the waiver draft. Waived Scott Pearson, rw. TEAM NEWS Everyone knew that this was a rebuilding year in Buffalo. With Alexander Mogilny, Dale Hawerchuk, and Wayne Presley all leaving over the off-season, the Sabres were expected to have some long nights this season. The offensive load was going to have to be carried by superstar Pat LaFontaine and Donald Audette, the only other proven scorer in the lineup. Perhaps if LaFontaine and Audette could find the same chemistry that made Laffy and Mogilny one of the most feared scoring duos in the league, the Sabres wouldn't be so bad. Unfortunately, the two won't be taking the ice together anytime soon. The outlook for this rebuilding season got even worse when Audette suffered torn cartiledge in his right knee. The injury will keep the 26-year-old sniper out of action indefinitely. Without Audette in the lineu, the already anemic Sabre offense will have to rely even more heavily on unproven young players. Now even more of the scoring slack will have to be picked up by youngsters such as Brian Holzinger, Mike Peca, Wayne Primeau, Curtis Brown, Jason Dawe, Matthew Barnaby, and Derek Plante. Of the group mentioned above the one guy that could really shine if given the chance is Plante. The 24-year-old center iceman had an excellent rookie season in 1993-94, which saw him score 21 goals and 56 points in 77 games. However, last season he slumped badly and only managed 3 goals and 22 points in 47 games. At the moment Plante is really struggling with his confidence and is also having trouble finding ice time at center behind LaFontaine, Holzinger, Peca, and Dave Hannan. To this point, rookie Head Coach Ted Nolan has not used Plante on the wing in place of Audette, electing instead to use rookies Wayne Primeau and Curtis Brown, or even Peca. Plante needs to be a fixture in the Buffalo lineup. Let him play on one of the top two lines for a couple nights and see what he can do. When he's on his game, Plante can scare the wits out of defensemen with his blistering speed and quick wrist shot. At the NHL level, 90% of the game is confidence. If Ted Nolan and the Sabres coaching staff can show ome in Derek Plante, his pure talent will take care of the rest. * As expected, the Sabres have had a rough start to the season. After winning their first game over Ottawa 3-1, Buffalo has dropped their last three games to Boston, Anaheim, and New Jersey. The loss to Anaheim was particularly disturbing since it was the home opener at the Aud and a better effort was expected. The Sabres were just flat all night and lost 4-1 to those wild and wacky Ducks. The lone goal was scored by Charlie Huddy... When Charlie Huddy scores your teams only goal, you've got problems. After the game Garry Galley accepted the blame for not being a better leader for the young guys on the team. He went on to say that it is up to all the veterans to step forward and lead the youngsters by example. Good man, that Garry Galley. * The Sabres lost center Bob Sweeney to the New York Islanders through the waiver draft that was held just before the start of the season. However, Buffalo was able to acquire 27-year-old right winger Rob Conn from New Jersey through the very same big waiver draft o' happiness! Wow, ya just gotta love the waiver draft, eh? Anyway, the 6'2", 200 pound Conn scored 35 goals and 67 points in 68 games last season for Albany of the AHL. While the were at it, Buffalo just flat out waived right winger Scott Pearson and defenseman Grant Jennings. * Robb Stauber had to be disappointed when he lost his backup goaltending gig with the Sabres to Andrei Trefilov this season, but every cloud has a silver lining...aw, that's nice. Anyway, while playing for the Rochester Americans of the AHL, Stauber scored a goal into an empty net against the Prince Edward's Island Senators. The shot was a bullet that split the net perfectly. Maybe Buffalo should call him back to the big club and let him start at right wing. ------------------------------------------------------------------- HARTFORD WHALERS ------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Paul Holmgren Roster: C - Andrew Cassels, Jimmy Carson, Mark Janssens, Jeff O'Neill. LW - Brendan Shanahan, Geoff Sanderson, Andrei Nikolishin, Paul Ranheim, Scott Daniels. RW - Steve Rice, Nelson Emerson, Robert Kron, Jocelyn Lemieux, Kelly Chase. D - Glen Wesley, Frantisek Kucera, Gerald Diduck, Alexander Godynyuk, Adam Burt, Brad McCrimmon, Brian Glynn, Glen Featherstone, David Williams. G - Sean Burke, Jeff Reese, Jason Muzzatti. Injuries: Kelly Chase, rw (fractured jaw, indefinite). Brian Glynn, d (groin, day-to-day). Transactions: Darren Turcotte, c, traded to Winnipeg Jets for Nelson Emerson, rw. Jason Muzzatti, g, claimed off waivers from Calgary Flames. Ted Drury, c, claimed by Ottawa Senators in waiver draft. TEAM NEWS by Steve Gallichio Remain calm. There's no need to panic. It's not a misprint. Yes, that's the Hartford Whalers that jumped out to an early lead in the Northeast Division with a team record three game winning streak to start the season. An unstoppable force, that thar Whale. Three games? Team record? What's needed here is perspective. This isn't exactly the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers and their 15 game season opening unbeaten streak. And the Whalers started last season with a three game unbeaten streak, but still finished just short enough in points to polish the Bruins' golf clubs as they waited for their friends from the northeast on the first tee. But for a team in desperate need of a fast start to keep the glimmer of hope for hockey alive in Hartford, this past week has been a promising ride indeed. And with LCS taking up only a small portion of the bandwagon as it circles up and down Asylum Street, there's plenty of room for everyone to hop on with Whalers 95, the most anticipated new release in Hartford in close to a decade. The Whale closed out the first training camp of the Brendan Shanahan era by reacquiring one of Shanny's old linemates in $t Louis, Nelson Emerson, from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for popular Darren Turcotte. Turcotte was a huge favorite last year for a series of memorable overtime and game winning goals late in the season, but the emergence of Jeff O'Neill at the center position made the Whalers look for a player more naturally suited to right wing than Turcotte. Emerson and Turcotte each share similar attributes of speed, speed, and more speed; Emerson brings the added plus of being a right handed shot to man the point on the power play, as well as being an effective penalty killer. With Shanahan's expected scoring punch added to the lineup, the Whalers look to have their most potent offense in years. The NHL's new interpretation of obstruction rules should greatly benefit the Whale, who have one of the fastest groups of forwards in the NHL. The Whalers finalized their roster by cutting veteran Alexander Godynyuk, a disappointment for the past two years after a wonderful 1993-94 season in Hartford, and highly touted prospects Marek Malik and Kevin Smyth. Both Malik and Smyth played well enough to earn jobs, and so their demotion is a testament to the depth of Whalers 95. Malik, however, needs to work on avoiding the glare of the new obstruction crackdown. Sean Burke, as usual, was the team MVP through week one, stopping 95 of 99 shots through three games, including an opening night shutout over the New York Rangers. The Whale made a habit of getting pelted early with shots (giving up 17 in the first period in two consecutive games), but clamped down defensively as the games wore on, allowing only an average of six shots in the third periods of their first three games, when each game was on the line. In order, the Whale dismissed the Rangers 2-0, and then the Mighty Ducks and Blackhawks by 3-2 scores. Only in the third game, against Chicago, did the Whalers finally play a solid game from start to finish. Burke was the major reason for the shutout over New York, and the Whale managed to turn a bad game against Anaheim into a win against the Ducks anyway. Andrew Cassels, Shanahan, and Emerson led the way with four points a piece. All three played very well in the opening week. Rookie Jeff O'Neill, being broken into the lineup slowly, saw most of his ice time late in the Chicago game, winning seven of nine face-offs down the stretch and being played in critical situations of a close game. The Whale have now gotten their first wish - a fast start. Next up is to stay focused and keep the momentum going. The captain has now turned on the fasten seatbelts sign. Please return your seat backs and tray tables to their upright positions as we prepare for takeoff. We know you have choices in e-zines, and we thank you for choosing LCS... ------------------------------------------------------------------- MONTREAL CANADIENS ------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Jacques Demers Roster: C - Pierre Turgeon, Saku Koivu, Brian Savage, Marc Bureau, Mark Lamb, Craig Ferguson. LW - Vincent Damphousse, Benoit Brunet, Yves Sarault, Donald Brashear. RW - Mark Recchi, Mike Keane, Turner Stevenson, Oleg Petrov, Valeri Bure. D - Vladimir Malakhov, Stephane Quintal, Lyle Odelein, J.J. Daigneault, Yves Racine, Patrice Brisebois, Peter Popovic, Marko Kiprusoff. G - Patrick Roy, Patrick Labrecque. Injuries: Marc Bureau, c (fractured foot, indefinite). Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS by Dan Piedra HORRIFIC START FOR THE HABS! Right about now more than a few Montreal fans are wondering, how long Jaques Demers will last as coach of the hallowed Habs. In some offices, it has become the topic of bets and pools. Pick the date of Jaques Demers firing and win the pot. After getting blown out in their season opener to the Philadelphia Flyers 7-1, the Habs travelled to sunny Florida where they hoped to rediscover their winning ways. Two nights later the Habs had compiled an additional two losses, getting spanked by the Panthers 6-1 and dropping a closer match to the Tampa Bay lightning 3-1. Although the Canadiens outshot the Lightning in the first period of their game 17-10, Darren Puppa repeatedly denied the Habs from taking the lead. When it rains, it pours! For some unknown reason the Habs have made a habit of losing in Florida. In the past, critics blamed the combination of sunny weather and a leanient coach. Now the finger is being pointed exclusively at Mr. Demers and his inability to motivate the troops. Certainly the Canadiens will not be contending for Lord Stanley's mug, but they have the capacity to play a more disciplined brand of hockey. The problem lies in the fact that Jaques Demers has been unable to deliver such a performance thus far. Whether key players have been playing up to their potential remains to be seen, however when such uncertainty hits the rafters of the Montreal Forum, it's usually the coach that goes packing. Professional sports have taught the public that a coaching change is sometimes all that a team needs to properly gel. Sports enthusiasts have come to know this as 'chemistry'. As hard as it is to accomplish such chemistry, a coaching change often provides an opportunity for players and management to rededicate themselves. Its a type of baptism or rebirth which the Montreal faithfull will soon be crying out for. Patrick Roy has certainly not been his usual self in the first few games allowing several weak goals and looking quite confused by it all. On Wednesday night, Demers benched Vincent Damphouse and Pierre Turgeon through the third period hoping that perhaps the team would pick up the slack. If anything the Canadiens called it quits, giving up several goals before the night was over. In addition, the Habs defence corps has been less than effective in laying out the body and clearing the puck from their own end. At times during the past few games the Canadiens looked more like the Bad News Bears, bumbling around in an obvious state of confusion. Add to this a pathetic power play (1 for 23 in their first three games) and you can begin to see a coaching change on the horizon. As the season moves into its second weekend, few if any expect the Habs to win on Saturday when they host the Stanley Cup Champions, the New Jersey Devils. With a good possibility of starting the season at 0- 4, Serge Sevard must begin to contemplate the inevitable question: How much longer? At the begining of the season most Montreal fans would have allowed for at least a few months to develop the team. Last year, the Devils themselves went 0-7 before eventually claiming superiority in the NHL. However an 0-4 start may bring about a quick change of philosophy, begging that Jaques Demers be replaced sooner. Perhaps the most frustrating part about the Habs woeful beginning to the 1995/96 campaign is their apparent lack of spirit and enthusiasm. They are simply playing flat. After getting blown out on several occasions last year by the Flyers, one would have expected the Habs to revenge themselves of those thrashings. Yet they came out and played a very loose game leaving trailers open for second and third shots, failing to take the body, and allowing the Flyers to skate around at will within the Habs defensive zone. Where the cure lies nobody knows. However two things seem obvious. First, the Habs are in desperate need of a confidence boost. Second, this shot in the arm will probably not come about until a major change is put into effect. The odds are that the change will occur at the coaching level. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OTTAWA SENATORS ------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Rick Bowness Roster: C - Alexandre Daigle, Martin Straka, Radek Bonk, Dave Archibald, Ted Drury, Trent McCleary. LW - Michel Picard, Dan Quinn, Randy Cunneyworth, Troy Mallette, Phil Bourque, Tom Chorske. RW - Rob Gaudreau, Pat Elynuik, Scott Levins, Daniel Alfredsson, Antti Tormanen. D - Steve Duchesne, Jaroslav Modry, Sean Hill, Stanislav Neckar, Brad Shaw, Kerry Huffman, Chris Dahlquist, Dennis Vial, Joe Cirella, Frank Musil. G - Don Beaupre, Mike Bales. Injuries: Rob Gaudreau, rw (knee, 1-2 weeks). Dave Archibald, c (sprained ankle, day-to-day). Transactions: Signed Joe Cirella, d, to a contract. Acquired Frank Musil, d, from Calgary for a fourth roud draft choice. Loaned Sylvain Turgeon, lw, to the Houston Aeros (IHL). TEAM NEWS by Matthew Secosky With the start of a new season, comes an abundance of hope for the future. Every team starts out on even terms, every team has a chance to make up for the dissapointments of last season, every team has a chance to be the best they can be, every team has a chance to win...the Stanley Cup. Well sure they do, if you live in a world of make believe where little green frogs wear tiny party hats and sing Irish drinkin' songs...but back in the land of bitter reality, the Senators are going to be struggling to win games, even more so than last season, since mighty Russian Alexei Yashin refuses to play due to a contract dispute. On the bright side, the Senators have a bunch of young forwards who should continue to improve and in time make the Senators competative, but not any time soon. The playoffs will still be an unfullfilled dream this season...who would have guessed. * Problems with Alexei Yashin continue for the Senators, and they don't look like they are ending soon. It seems Yashin got tired of waiting around for the situation to resolve itself, so he hopped a plane to Russia where he began practicing and playing with the Red Army team. However, due to an agreement between the NHL and IIHL (International Ice Hockey Federation), which governs player exchanges between Europe and North America, Yashin is ineligible to play for any IIHL sanctioned team as long as he is under contract with an NHL club. So after two games with the Red Army, Yashin was benched by the team, so that the team could avoid disciplinary action from the IIHL. So as of now it looks as if Yashin is a player without a place to call home, which is fine by Ottawa owner Rod Bryden, who has made it clear if Yashin won't play for Ottawa he won't be playing anywhere. The amazing complaining Yashin says the Senators went back on their agreement to renegotiate his contract and that he will never play in Ottawa again. "I want to be traded as soon as possible and if it costs me a year, so what, I do not want to play for the Ottawa Senators. I know it is a bad situation and the best thing that could happen is they trade me." Bryden is hardly moved by Yashin's situation..."I believe that it is important that we honor our contracts," he said. "I amended it once last year and I am not changing it again... we just can't have a system where each player who thinks he played better last year treats himself as a free agent and refuses to play." I must whole heartedly agree with Bryden on this one...a contract is a contract, and once you sign on the line your legally bound to it, whether you like it or not. I don't think Yashin has all that much to be whining about, there's alot of people out there wishing they had a contract that would be getting them $800,000+ this year. But on the other side, Bryden should save everyone alot of trouble and just trade him already. It's the only way to end the situation. * The Senators hoped to strenghten their mighty defense by signing veteran defensemen Joe Cirella and Frank Musil to one year contracts this week. Financial terms were not disclosed. Cirella, a 14 year NHL vet at the youthful age of 32, had spent the past two seasons with the Florida Panthers where he tallied 2 goals and 9 assists in 83 games. Cirella had taken part in training camp on a try out basis. Musil was aquired from the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 4th round draft pick. A 9 year NHL vet, Musil has posted 32 goals and 91 assists in 606 career games. * The Senators also loaned LW Sylvain Turgeon to the Houston Aeros of the IHL. Last season with Ottawa, Turgeon had 11 goals and 8 assist in 33 games. Turgeon is a good offensive player and with the Senators needing goal production, this makes little sense. The Senators are in no position to be loaning players to IHL teams...if anything, the IHL should be loaning players to the Senators. Recap of Games * The Senators were all fired up in their home opener against the Buffalo Sabres, but unfortunatley for Ottawa, Buffalo goalie, Dominik Hasek wasn't about to let the lowly Senators express their executive powers. The Senators outplayed Buffalo all game and outshot them 39-19, but Hasek stopped 38 of those shots to get the Sabres a 3-1 victory. Amazingly, this was the first time in four season openers that the Senators actually lost. Michel "the Captain" Picard, got the lone goal for the Senators during the first period and Buffalo's Pat Lafontaine collected three points in the win. Ottawa goalie Don Beaupre had an unspectacular game, stopping only 16 of 19 shots. If Ottawa continues to play inspired as they did in this game, they should be able to put some wins on the board, but let's not talk crazy. For their next loss, Ottawa made the trip to Florida to play the Florida Panthers. Unlike their previous game, the Senators just played the way they usually do...badly. Florida went 3-8 on the power play and also picked up 2 shorthanded goals from Tommy Fitzgerald, to go 3-0 on the season. Ottawa was outshot 36-28 and Ottawa goalie Don Beaupre was pulled after the second. Daniel Alfredsson and Troy Mallette were the goal scorers for Ottawa, which drops 0-8-1 lifetime against the Panthers. "We had a lack of discipline," Senators coach Rick Bowness said. "It was the little things that hurt us." It was bound to happen, but the Senators won a game...and win they did against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Even with LCS heroes Selivanov and John Cullen each getting a goal and an assist, the men with lightning bolts on their pants were no match for the Senators, who have won 4 of the last 5 against Tampa. Dan Quinn was the story of the game as he scored a team record 6 points on 3 goals and 3 assists to lead the Senators charge in a 7-4 victory. The game had been tied entering the third period, but three goals by Ottawa in the third sealed the game for them, with Sean Hill geting the game winner. Ottawa was 3-7 on the power play and Don Beaupre had 30 saves to earn his first win of the season. Ottawa defenseman Steve Duchense recorded his 500th career point with an assist on Radek Bonk's goal during the second period of the game... Hey, Radek Bonk scored a goal! ------------------------------------------------------------------- PITTSBURGH PENGUINS ------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Eddie Johnston Roster: C - Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Petr Nedved, Bryan Smolinski, Richard Park. LW - Markus Naslund, Dave Roche, Rusty Fitzgerald, Joe Dziedzic. RW - Jaromir Jagr, Tomas Sandstrom, Glen Murray, Ed Patterson. D - Sergei Zubov, Dmitri Mironov, Francois Leroux, Chris Joseph, Norm Maciver, Chris Tamer, Ian Moran. G - Tom Barrasso, Ken Wregget. Injuries: Sergei Zubov, d (broken finger, 3-4 weeks). Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS It didn't take Mario Lemieux long to get back to his old high scoring ways. On opening night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Lemieux paced the way with four assists leading the club to a 7-4 victory. Two nights later in Colorado, Lemieux scored his first two goals of the season and added an assist in the 6-6 tie. His first goal came on the power play when he took a lead pass down the right wing and got a step on the defenseman. Instead of trying to cut to the slot, Mario uncorked a slapshot that found the net just inside the far post behind a helpless Jocelyn Thibault. There was simply nothing Thibault could do, the shot was perfect. His second goal was a bit flukey, but at the end of the year they don't ask you how you score them, just how many. Mario and Jaromir Jagr were toying with the Colorado defense in front of the net and Stephane Fiset, who came in to relieve Thibault, stopped a point blank shot from Lemieux. As Fiset scrambled to try and recover, Mario found the puck at the side of the cage and banked it off Fiset's leg. The puck then hit a defenseman in front and slid back through Fiset's pads and into the net. After his first two games in over a year, Mario had 3 goals and 5 assists...not too shabby. While the Pens got stomped 5-1 by the Blackhawks in their next game, Lemieux accounted for the lone Pittsburgh goal. Then in the Pens 5-2 win over the Ducks at home, Mario added three more assists to bring his season totals to 3 goals, 8 assists, and 11 points in four games. His incredible start wasn't lost on the NHL, as he was named the first NHL Player of the Week. The scary thing is that Mario still doesn't look anywhere near back to full strength. He just doesn't have that same jump back in his legs yet and his hands aren't quite back to normal. Each game, though, he looks more and more like his old self. With a few more games under his belt, Lemieux could really start putting up some unreal numbers. Unfortunately for Lemieux, that Penguins' schedule isn't helping him out any. The Pens don't play again until this coming Friday when they take on the Whale in Hartford, they then return home to play the Kings the next night. After the game with L.A., they have another four days off. Lemieux originally didn't plan to play any back-to-back games this season, but he has hinted that he will play in both upcoming games. The thought of playing just one game in twelve days just doesn't sit well with Mario, since the one thing he needs to get back in shape is game action. * While Lemieux leads the way, the rest of the Penguin offense isn't very far behind. Jagr has 5 goals and 10 points, Ron Francis has 3 goals and 10 points, and Tomas Sandstrom has 5 goals and 7 points. Sergei Zubov is fifth on the team in scoring with 1 goal and five points, but he has only played two games because of a broken finger. Zubie originally suffered the injury in the preseason, but it flared up again in the second game against Colorado. The bad news is that the injury is more severe then first thought and Zubov will be out of the lineup for the next couple weeks. It's really too bad, because Zubie was incredible in the first two games. When he was manning the point on the power play the Penguins looked unstoppable, converting on 8 of their first 15 advantages. With Zubov on the shelf, the Pens went 0-for-5 on the power play against Chicago and 2-for-4 against Anaheim. Not only does his absence hurt the offense, but he was also argueably the Pens best defensive defenseman... yes, things are that bad. Without him the Pittsburgh defense will be suckin' like a leach. * Chris Tamer has become one of the team's most reliable defenseman over the past year, and he also is one of the club's few tough guys. In the 5-1 loss to Chicago, Tamer showed just how tough he is by mixing it up with Bob Probert. The fight didn't last very long, as Tamer dropped the "legend" with a short left hand. To be honest, Probert didn't even seem like he wanted to fight, but Tamer will take the KO. * When Larry Murphy was traded to Toronto over the off-season for Dmitri Mironov, LCS labeled it as a bad trade. One week into the season, we've changed our minds... it was a terrible trade! Mironov has done absolutely nothing in the first four games except his best imitation of a pylon. If the Salvation Army gave away as much as Mironov, they'd go out of business. Mironov needs to step it up if the Pens are going to have a respectable defense, something that they are far from having at the moment. * Speaking of Larry Murphy, when the future Hall of Famer returned to Pittsburgh as a Maple Leaf on opening night, he was "whooped" by the fans at the Civic Arena. This may have just been done in fun, but Murph deserves better. No one was whoopin' him last year when he logged more ice time than an Eskimo on way to being named a Second Team All-Star. And no one was whoopin' him when he was one of the main reasons behind two Stanley Cup championships. Murph was a class act in Pittsburgh, it's a shame the fans on hand that night didn't welcome him back with the same class. ===================================================================== ===================================================================== TEAM REPORTS ===================================================================== EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC DIVISION --------------------------------------------------------------------- FLORIDA PANTHERS --------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Doug MacLean Roster: C - Stu Barnes, Brian Skrudland, Jesse Belanger, Rob Niedermayer. LW - Johan Garpenlov, Dave Lowry, Bill Lindsay, Mike Hough, Radek Dvorak. RW - Scott Mellanby, Bob Kudelski, Jody Hull, Tom Fitzgerald, David Nemirovsky. D - Magnus Svensson, Robert Svehla, Gord Murphy, Ed Jovanovski, Geoff Smith, Jason Woolley, Randy Moller, Paul Laus, Terry Carkner, Rhett Warrener. G - John Vanbiesbrouck, Mark Fitzpatrick. Injuries: Ed Jovanovski, d (broken finger, 2-3 weeks). Magnus Svensson, d (strained knee, 3 weeks). Transactions: Signed John Vanbiesbrouck, g, to a new three-year contract. TEAM NEWS * After two seasons of boring their opponents into submission with a dull defensive game, the Florida Panthers are finally beginning to show their teeth on offense. As a result, the Panthers are off to their best start in franchise history at 4-1-0. Florida's only loss came at the hands of the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils in their first game of the season. Since then, the Panthers have won four straight and have scored 21 goals. Leading the offensive barrage is right winger Scott Mellanby. The gritty veteran performer has five goals, including a league high four power play scores, in the early going. Right behind him is the crafty youngster Stu Barnes. The 24-year-old center has chipped in four goals of his own, while leading the team with nine points. Both are among the league leaders in scoring. That may not sound to impressive only five games into the season, but for the Panthers it's monumental news. However, before we get too excited, keep in mind that this offensive explosion occurred over a four game stretch in which the Panthers got victories over Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Islanders. All four teams combined only have one victory on the young season, and that lone win belongs to the Senators! So, perhaps the comparisons to the Penguins and Red Wings should be put on hold for now. * The one constant in Florida so far in their young existence, has been strong goaltending. That trend appears to be continuing this season with John Vanbiesbrouck and Mark Fitzpatrick only allowing 13 goals in the first five games. While it's a given that Vanbiesbrouck is the number one man in goal, Fitzpatrick has started two games already this season, winning both decisions. Before people start whispering about a goaltending controversy, the Panthers solidified the Bezzer's position as the number one man by signing him to a new three-year, $6.5 million contract last week. * The Florida defense will have to do without rookie Ed Jovanovski over the first few weeks of the season. The former number one draft choice broke his finger in a preseason fight with Whale captain Brendan Shanahan and will be on the shelf a little while longer. * This could be Rob Niedermayer's make or break year in the league. After two pitiful seasons under former head coach Roger Neilson, Niedermayer will try and spark the Florida offense with his skating this year under new coach Doug MacLean. Hopefully in a sign of things to come, Niedermayer scored his first two goals of the season against the Islanders to help the Panthers to their fourth victory, 5-3. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW JERSEY DEVILS --------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Jacques Lemaire Roster: C - Neal Broten, Bob Carpenter, Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik, Sergei Brylin, Jim Dowd, Denis Pederson. LW - Mike Peluso, Reid Simpson, Valeri Zelepukin. RW - Bill Guerin, John MacLean, Randy McKay, Stephane Richer, Steve Thomas. D - Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko, Tommy Albelin, Chris McAlpine, Shawn Chambers, Jason Smith, Rickard Persson. G - Martin Brodeur, Chris Terreri, Corey Schwab. Injuries: Bobby Holik, c (broken finger, 1-2 weeks). Mike Peluso, lw (achy all over, day-to-day). Transactions: Traded Claude Lemieux, rw, to Colorado and received Steve Thomas, rw, from the Islanders in return for Colorado sending Wendel Clark, lw, to the Islanders. TEAM NEWS by Dan Hurwitz " Put a stop to this Neutral Zone Trap" they said all summer. Figuring they knew exactly which rules Jacques Lemaire was teaching the Devils to break, the NHL told its referees to call them more often. You know, to let those talented teams win for a change. Well, looks like Bettman's boys and the rest of the spiteful NHL elite are foiled again, because the Devils aren't just good. They're steamrolling. Since May, when they dropped Games Three and Four of the Eastern Conference Final to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Devils have won every game they have played. Six straight wins to capture the Wales Trophy and then the Stanley Cup. Six straight wins in the preseason. Four straight wins to start the regular season. That's sixteen in a row. Rule bending doesn't win sixteen games in a row. And it certainly doesn't win them as convincingly as the Devils have been. So far in this infant 1995-96 season, The Devils are averaging 4 goals a game (not hard to calculate, since that is the only total they've had in four games) and 1.25 goals against. In case your subtraction isn't working for ya, that means the Devils are beating opponents by almost three goals a night. How are they doing it? The answer is depth. Playoff MVP Claude Lemieux is out, (sent packin' to Colorado) but gritty former nemesis Steve Thomas and his plethora of forty-goal seasons is in. Senior Devil Bruce Driver is out, (signed with the Rangers) but capable youngsters Kevin Dean, Jason Smith and Rickard Persson are in. Tom "Chokesky" Chorske is out (a lousy Senator!) but a more experienced Brian Rolston, a healthy Valeri Zelepukin, migrating defenseman Tom Albelin and workhorse Scott Pellerin are in. Bob Carpenter is out, but Jim Dowd is in with Thomas and Stephane Richer. On the Crash Line, Bobby Holik and Mike Peluso are slightly bruised, and whammo! Dennis Pedersen (two goals in three NHL games) and Reid Simpson are in to do the damage with Randy McKay. And Corey Schwab is exchanging recipes with Chris Terreri while Martin Brodeur plays every game. Man, that's fearsome, when you figure most of these guys have legitimate Stanley Cup rings on their fingers! The Devils opened the season at home by hoisting the banner they bled sweat, and yes, even died (well, maybe not died) to earn. To most, the ceremony was at least as, if not more emotional than the actual capturing of Lord Stanley's Cup. The festivities continued when the ceremonial dropping of the first puck was conducted with that neat Devils maniac fan from "Seinfeld" there for the face-off between Scott Stevens and Panthers captain Brian Skrudland. With all the fireworks and montage videos out of the way, thoughts turned to hockey. And the Panthers, kept alive and kickin' by John Vanbiesbrouck's goaltending, were nonetheless stoned for a 4-0 loss, with perennial fan favorite John MacLean, the franchise's all-time leading scorer, netting two. MacLean, a former three-time forty goal-scorer, is back in old form, and has even gone back to the old-style CCM helmet he wore in his glory days. With Lemieux gone, MacLean is ready to take back the mantle of top two-way winger in Jersey, and already has three goals in the first four games. What followed was something of a bye week for the Devils as they didn't play for the next five days before hosting the Winnipeg Jets. Terry Simpson's soon-to-be-displaced squad suffered a similar fate as the Panthers, losing 4-1. Along the way, Devils captain Scott Stevens flattened superstar center Alexei Zhamnov with a vintage Stevens hit which sent the Jet to the hangar, and similarly splattered Dallas Drake all over Jersey ice. Steve Thomas made some new fans, too, by netting his first two Devils goals, including a nifty tip-in of a Tommy Albelin point shot. Meanwhile, rookie Dennis Pederson, playing for the injured Bobby Holik, scored his first NHL goal in his first game. Then it was on to Montreal, where the Devils were poised for another 4-0 win, Pederson and MacLean both scoring again with Neal Broten and Randy McKay, until Montreal winger Mark Recchi foiled the shutout bid with a power-play goal scored with less than two seconds left in the game. And Sunday, it was on to the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, a building where, by the way, the complacent fans care more about icing calls than goals and where, believe it or not, they don't sell Buffalo wings! Anyway, the Devils finally had a tough game, blowing a 2-0 lead but eventually winning 4-3 on Valeri Zelepukin's first goal of the season after returning from some scary eye surgery. His power-play tally came with 2.8 seconds left in the second period, and the Devils' defense did the rest. They received a bit of a scare when Stevens was escorted off the ice with trainer Ted Schuch at the end of the first period, but Stevens returned about a minute into the third. Bill Guerin went down late in the game when he took a high stick from Sabres defenseman Gary Galley which left a pool of blood on the ice, but the injury did not look severe. Galley was not penalized on the play. Well, sure, the Devils beat a lousy expansion team in Florida (which has won every game since that) and a weak non-contender in Winnipeg (while shutting down stars Zhamnov and Teemu Selanne) and a rebuilding Montreal team (who they embarassed) and a young Sabres team (well, at least they won). The point is, they have already used more players this year than they did in the playoffs last year and the results are still the same. Lots and lots of W's. How do you beat the Devils? You hire a rogue telepath and get him to transfer Jacques Lemaire's brain into the head of some pretty-boy young coach and then make his teammates believe every word he tells them. Because if you don't have that, a game against the Devils is two fewer points than you might have had that night. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK ISLANDERS --------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Mike Milbury Roster: C - Kirk Muller, Alexander Semak, Travis Green, Bob Sweeney. LW - Wendel Clark, Derek King, Danton Cole, Todd Bertuzzi, Marty McInnis, Yan Kamisnky. RW - Patrick Flatley, Zigmund Palffy, Brett Lindros, Brad Dalgarno, Mick Vukota, Dan Plante. D - Mathieu Schneider, Darius Kasparaitis, Scott Lachance, Dennis Vaske, Richard Pilon, Dean Chynoweth, Chris Luongo, Brent Severyn, Bob Beers, Bryan McCabe, Wade Redden. G - Tommy Salo, Tommy Soderstrom. Injuries: Brad Dalgarno, rw (wrist, 2-3 weeks). Richard Pilon, d, (wrist, 2-3 weeks). Darius Kasparaitis, d (knee, indefinite). Transactions: Traded Steve Thomas, rw, to New Jersey, acquired Wendel Clark, lw, from Colorado in return, while Claude Lemieux, rw, went from New Jersey to Colorado. Signed Clark to a new contract. Signed Darius Kasparaitis, d, to a new contract. TEAM NEWS by David Strauss As the 1995-96 season opened, the conventional reason was that while the Islanders may be headed in the right direction, the team still had serious questions about their defense and goaltending. The conventional wisdom was right. Despite the best efforts of new coach Mike Milbury, the influence of such veterans as Kirk Muller, Wendel Clark, and Matthieu Schneider, the Isles opened the new season with only one point in their first four games. The chief reasons for the slow start were the shaky goaltending of Tommy Soderstrom and the unsteady performance of the young defense. The season opened with a promising 4-4 tie in the brand new Fleet Center in Boston. After falling behind 4-2 early in the 3rd, the team rallied for the tie. A hat trick by Cam "Don Cherry Loves Me" Neely led the Bruins, but the Isles were able to pull out the point led by rookie Todd Bertuzzi, second-year man Zigmund Palffy, and center Travis Green. The line led the team during the preseason, and continued their fine play once the games counted. Bertuzzi's first goal, a nifty back-handed spin around from behind the net, was good highlight-reel material. Coming off the gutsy third period comeback, the Isles travelled across the border, down Yonge Street, and into Maple Leaf Gardens, where they were soundly thumped by the Leafs. The Isles played with a true lack of confidence in their own zone, and were probably less organized behind the blueline than the bagpipe players during the pre-game ceremonies. The Leafs turned a 3-2 deficit into an impressive 7-3 win by scoring 5 straight goals on Soderstrom, chasing him from the pipes. The only bright spot was the relief goaltending of Tommy Salo, last year's IHL MVP, who played solidly after relieving his fellow Swede. The Isles returned home and opened up their home season with another disheartening loss, 3-0 to the Flyers. The game was scoreless until the third, when the defending Atlantic Division Champs broke it open. In a good summation of the Isles' early season, the team's trip from Long Island to Miami to face the Panthers was an ordeal by itself -- bad weather in the Northeast forced the team to arrive in South Florida mere hours before the opening face-off. After rallying from a 2-goal deficit to tie the Panthers at 3-3, the Isles surrendered a late second period marker and one more late goal in the third for another defeat, 5-3. With the team winless at 0-3-1, and the early season pressure mounting, it seems almost poetic the team will now play it's next game against the hated Rangers. The highlights have been few and far between over the first few games, but the Bertuzzi-Green-Palffy line continues to shine. Kirk Muller has scored a couple of important early-season goals, and Scott Lachance appears to be recovering well from his preseason injury. * Off the ice, it was also a busy week for the team. The trading of popular Steve Thomas, a holdout who felt he was underappreciated for the truly horrible and mediocre season he turned in last year, was dealt to the Devils for their favorite Conn Smythe Winner/Malcontent/Fax Machine Expert Claude Lemieux. GM Don Maloney, who has strangely enough NOT won any popularity awards on Long Island recently, then turned around and traded Lemieux to Colorado for Wendel Clark. (Maloney was heard to quote a few weeks back, "I'm not sure who's less popular on Long Island -- me or Joey Buttafucco." Buttafuocco could be reached for comment, but nobody chose to listen.) Clark, who had also been participating in the popular pastime of the 1990's, complaining about his contract and refusing to play, signed a new three year deal within days. Kirk Muller, who was obtained last season in the blockbuster deal involving Pierre Turgeon, continues to complain about his contract, his playing time, his position, and the repetoire of the Nassau Coliseum organist. Coach Milbury stated in several interviews that he had a simple take on the dispute -- if Muller mentioned the contract in the locker room or spoke to the press about it, he wouldn't play. So far, Muller has kept his mouth shut when dealing with the New York tabloids, and has contributed some offensive spark. Maloney offered a four year deal averaging $2 million a year, but Muller wants more. Injured defenseman Darius Kasparaitis came to his senses and signed a new deal with the club as well. Kasparaitis, who has yet to discover he can't spend his entire career living off the reputation of his rookie season, is recovering from a knee injury and may not be available until late November. * Trade rumors continue to swirl around the team. A Winnipeg paper reported the Isles had almost completed a deal trading Lachance and solid defensive prospect Wade Redden to the Jets for Keith Tchchuk, but Winnipeg backed out at the last moment. Chicago's Jeremy Roenick has been reported as being the object of the Isles' desire, with either a combination including Kirk Muller, or a similar youngster package involving Lachance and Redden. Isles interest in Alexei Yashin, the Ottawa holdout, seems to have diminished with the Russian's return to his native country. * One final note: those of you on the Isles Mailing List have noticed the total heat death of the list over the last week as Netcom's Majordomo continues to process mail about as fast as the Rangers win Stanley Cups. The process of moving the list will begin soon, and you will be contacted with the relevant info. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK RANGERS --------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Colin Campbell Rosters: C - Mark Messier, Ray Ferraro, Sergei Nemchinov, Nathan Lafayette, Nicklas Sundstrom. LW - Adam Graves, Luc Robitaille, Darren Langdon, Stephane Matteau, Nick Kypreos. RW - Pat Verbeek, Alexei Kovalev, Wayne Presley, Joey Kocur. D - Brian Leetch, Ulf Samuelsson, Bruce Driver, Jeff Beukeboom, Kevin Lowe, Doug Lidster, Alexander Karpovstev, Mattias Norstrom. G - Mike Richter, Glenn Healy. Injuries: Bruce Driver, d (shoulder surgery, early Nov). Stephane Matteau, lw (broken bone in hand, mid to late Oct). Transactions: Jean-Rves Roy, rw, traded to Ottawa for Steve Larouche, c. TEAM NEWS by Alex Frias The Rangers began the season on the road with good 'ol Hartford. They were expecting an easy win like in years past, but, boy, were they surprised. Hartford, with their new captain Brendan Shanahan, played a very solid game both offensively and defensively. The Rangers had their chances to get the win, they just couldn't get the biscuit past Sean Burke who was simply marvelous stopping all 37 of the Rangers shots. Next came the home opener against Winnipeg. They went all out with a nice little laser show, electrifying player introductions stating each player's resume and all that other stuff to get the crowd pumped. The team itself played a very good forty minutes. They were cashing in on most of their scoring opportunities and were skating quite well. Then came the third period, and they just got sloppy. They took bad penalties and let Winnipeg pull within one with a little under five minutes left in the period. However, Adam Graves scored an empty netter and they pulled out the win. The Rangers finished the week with a road game against Toronto. It was a well played defensive battle between both teams as both Felix Potvin and Mike Richter were outstanding. It wasn't until the third period, when Niklas Sundstrom scored an even strength goal to break the scoreless tie and that would end up being the game winner. At the end of the game, Tie Domi knocked Ulf Samuelsson out cold with a mean left hook in front of the net. Fortunately, Robocop looks like he'll be ok. Look for the league to fine or suspend Domi for that little incident. * Niklas Sundstrom, who won the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award for Best Rookie in training camp has been playing very well, recording 2 goals in 3 games and has earned time on the penalty killing unit. People are still making comparisons between him and his friend and former teammate Peter Forsberg of the Colorado Avalanche. Mattias Norstrom, the winner of the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award in 1993 and 1994, missed the first two games with an ankle injury he suffered blocking a shot in the final preseason game against Pittsburgh. He did play against Toronto as he was paired with Alexander Karpovstev. Norstrom is looking for playing time on a very deep blueline that gets even deeper in November when Bruce Driver makes his comeback from shoulder surgery. * Last year, the Rangers biggest problem was inconsistent scoring after the line of Messier, Graves, and Verbeek. This year it's just the opposite as through free-agent signings and trades, the Rangers are now no longer a one line team. So far in three games, the second line of Ferraro, Robitaille, and Kovalev has combined for 3 goals and 8 assists. The third line of Niklas Sundstrom, Wayne Presley, and Sergei Nemchinov can also score their share of goals. * So far in the first three games, the Rangers biggest problem seems to be taking too many penalties. I can recall several times when they were on a 5-on-3 penalty kill. The only reason they have been able to stay in these games is because they have been killing penalties brilliantly, Messier and Graves in particular. * Messier had two assists in the win over Hartford moving him past John Bucyk into seventh place on the all-time points list with 1,371. --------------------------------------------------------------------- PHILADELPHIA FLYERS --------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Terry Murray Roster: C - Eric Lindros, Rod Brind'Amour, Joel Otto, Jim Montgomery, Craig MacTavish, Anatoli Semenov. LW - John LeClair, Brent Fedyk, Rob Dimaio, Shawn Antoski. RW - Mikhail Renberg, Kevin Dineen, Shjon Podein, Patrick Juhlin, Gilbert Dionne, Russ Romaniuk. D - Eric Desjardins, Kevin Haller, Petr Svoboda, Chris Therien, Karl Dykhuis, Jason Bowen. G - Dominic Roussel, Ron Hextall, Garth Snow. Injuries: Craig MacTavish, c (left ankle surgery, out 2 weeks). Dan Kordic, d (leg surgery, out indefinitely). Transactions: John LeClair, lw, and Eric Desjardins, d, signed to new contracts. TEAM NEWS by Andrew Monfried The Philadelphia Flyers opened up their defense of their Atlantic Division crown with three well played wins over the Caps, Isles, and Habs. The offense has picked up right where they left off last year scoring 12 goals in 3 games. Leading the way, of course, has been the "Legion of Doom" line of Eric Lindros, John LeClair, and Mikael Renberg. Lindros has been punishing goalies and opposing players once again this year. He has 2 goals and 5 points to go along with numerous bone jarring hits, including one that almost put Caps defenseman Brendan Witt through the boards. LeClair, sporting a brand new contract which will pay him more money than I will ever see, also has 5 points, proving that his career may not just have been half season flukes (i.e. '93 Stanley Cup). Renberg, who has recovered from groin injury that kept him off the ice for nearly all of training camp, has also been filling the net. His 2nd goal of the season broke a scoreless tie in the 3rd period against the Isles. * The defense and goaltending should also be commended for the Flyers quick start. They have yet to allow an even strength goal in 3 games. With back-to-back games against the Isles and Oilers, Flyers Coach Terry Murray used Dominic Roussel on Saturday, and he sticked aside 19 shots to shut out the Gorton's Fishermen..er..I mean the Islanders 3-0. They also have Garth Snow on the roster, who they acquired in the off-season to challenge Roussel for the back-up job. Snow led the American League in wins last year, and was 1-1 in the pre-season. He will probably not play anytime soon because of the log-jam in front of him, but the Flyers can't risk sending him to the minors because he would have to clear waivers. This week's success may silence the critics who say the Flyers have suspect goaltending this season. Of course, they've only been tested by the pop gun offenses of the Caps, Habs, and Isles. With an upcoming road stretch to the coast with the Kings and Ducks and games against the Bolts, Senators, Panthers, and Isles, the Flyers defense may not play against a team with a 30 goal scorer until November 4th when they play the Penguins. * While the Flyers have goal scoring and goal tending so far, they are hardly living up to their Broad Street Bully reputations. Even though they are the biggest team in the NHL, they are certainly not one of the feistiest. Goons from other teams have been trying to run Eric Lindros. Montreal's Stephane Quintal and Lyle Odelein both took cheap shots at him, while Washington's Kevin Kaminski took a well placed swipe at his shins which prompted a 12 player melee at the end of the 2nd period on Wednesday. Standing at 6'4", 225 pounds, Eric can hold his own on the rink with anybody, yet Flyers management does not want to see their best player dropping the gloves every game. Dave Brown departed to San Jose in the off-season leaving the Flyers with very few players in the way of protection. Shawn Antoski has been one of the main combatants so far. Clayton Norris showed promise in camp but was sent to Hershey. Dan Kordic was slated to be the Flyers body guard, but he is out indefinitely because of off-season leg surgery. There have been overtures made to Los Angeles to pry Marty McSorley from Wayne Gretzky's side. The only problem being the Kings want Rod Brind'Amour and Dominic Roussel for McSorley and Kelly Hrudey, and that may be too high a price since Brind'Amour has been one of the Flyers best all-around players so far. * Finally, Ron Hextall is back to his old tricks. Wednesday, he almost threw down with Caps goaltender Olaf Kolzig. However, instead of pummeling Ollie the Goalie, he helped score against him registering his 1st assist of the season. Hexy said after the game, of his assist, "Haller told me I had a lot of time, ya know, talk is cheap on the ice, and I'll tell you where it helps a lot. He told me I had a lot of time so I just figured I'd go off the boards. Can't say I thought I would get an assist." Your modesty humbles us all. --------------------------------------------------------------------- TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING --------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Terry Crisp Roster: C - Brian Bradley, Chris Gratton, John Cullen, Daymond Langkow, Aaron Gavey. LW - Paul Ysebaert, Shawn Burr, Rob Zamuner, John Tucker, Jason Weimer, Rudy Poeschek. RW - Brian Bellows, Petr Klima, Alexander Selivanov, Mikael Andersson, Brantt Myhres. D - Roman Hamrlik, Bill Houlder, Eric Charron, Cory Cross, Dave Shaw, Chris Lipuma, Enrico Ciccone, Adrien Plavsic, Steve Finn. G - Daren Puppa, J.C. Bergeron. Injuries: Rob Zamuner, lw (sprained knee, day-to-day). Bill Houlder, d (groin, day-to-day). David Shaw, d (rotator cuff, indefinite). Transactions: Sent Bob Halkidis, d, to Atlanta of the IHL. Acquired Steven Finn, d, from Colorado for a 4th round pick in 1997. Other: Brantt Myhers is serving a 10-game suspension for leaving the bench during a preseason altercation against the NY Islanders. TEAM NEWS by Troy Ely Ahhh...October in Florida....90 degree weather, tourists in bermuda shorts, and yes, NHL hockey. The 95-96 season began for the Tampa Bay Lightning during, appropriately enough, a thunderstorm. Is it, as the other resident professional sports franchise proclaims, "a new day in Tampa Bay," for the Lightning as well? If the first game is indicative of things to come, then the answer is: "yes, well, no...okay, maybe." 22,000+ fans ignored the bad weather, the FSU-Miami game, and exciting Matlock reruns to attend the home opener at the ThunderDome. Yes, the ThunderDome, Lightning home for one last season (to be replaced by the 19,000 seat Ice Palace), and the only arena in the league that feels cavernously empty with 25,000 fans. With the aid of the resident sherpas, I made my way to the top row of the stadium, right above home plate, er...the visitor's entrance. If nothing else, the view from the clouds flatters Flames star Theo Fleury - at that altitude, everyone else looks as small as he does. With minimal pre-game fanfare, including a forgettable performance by a skating "cat," the game began with at least one obvious new item - a team captain. Paul Ysebaert was named the team's first captain on Wednesday. Soon into the first period, two additional items gleamed anew. The Lightning power play - a huge weakness in past seasons - made good on its first chance when Petr Klima scored on the first Lightning shot. Klima's goal also helped wipe away memories of last season's collapse by Klima whereby he scored only one goal in the final seventeen games. Due to the injured defensive corps, Klima played the left point on man-advantage situations, and scored the Lightning's first goal of the season on a low slapshot past Flames goaltender Trevor Kidd at 2:52 of the first period. In fact, the Lightning power play, hoping to avoid the "powder play" moniker, was an impressive 3-of-7 and accounted for all three Lightning goals. Another obvious change in Tampa Bay is the roster - six players acquired either through free agency or through trades are on the Opening Day roster. The newest Lightning player arrived Saturday morning - Steven Finn, D, was acquired from Colorado for a 4th round pick in the 1997 draft. Alas, not everything has changed. This was to be the year of a kinder, gentler Enrico "Suave" Ciccone. Instead, it seems that he's taking the "Kick Ice" slogan a bit too literally. Ciccone was given an automatic match penalty, and a probable suspension, for kicking Flames center Dean Evason as he lay on the ice. In other thrilling penalty firsts, Rudy Poeschek drew the first Bettman, er, obstruction penalty. The Lightning also showed, much like in past seasons, that they cannot win if they don't play hard for three entire periods. A disappointing first and last 10 minutes of the game sandwiched 40 minutes of hope. Although the Lightning scored the game's first goal, early in the first period, the team didn't manage a second shot until the second half of the period. Then, with a 3-1 lead and thousands of fans already thinking playoffs, the Lightning let the Flames steal a tie after two Calgary goals in the final 9 minutes. Inflating the egos of hockey-publication writers across the land, the Lightning's lack of defensive depth proved to be their downfall. With Houlder and Shaw scratched due to injury, and Ciccone tossed early, youngsters Eric Charron and Cory Cross needed to have a solid performance to preserve the win -- they didn't. Charron was beaten on a 2-on-1 for the Flames second goal, and Charron and Cross were the defensive pairing when Sullivan scored the game-tying goal at 18:03 of the third period. Although Daren Puppa played a reasonably solid game, the defense must get healthy for the Lightning to significantly improve. But not all is bad for installment #4 of the Tampa Bay franchise. In a move that thrills legions of LCS readers worldwide, champion of justice, defender of freedom, all-around good guy, LCS hero, and yes, Lightning center - John Cullen - played on the same line as another LCS favorite, Alexander "Knuckles" Selivanov. This combination worked very well together, and, in storybook fashion, produced a power-play goal on a nice give-and-go with "Knuckles" finding the net for his first goal of the season. To borrow from the LCS Season Preview, "John Cullen's wearing Lightning Bolts on his pants! Yee-haw!" Yeehaw indeed. More happiness came in the play of Brian Bellows. After three seasons of losing my voice screaming for players to drive to the net and/or park themselves in the slot, at least one player seems to have heard my cries, and he seems to developing a small gang of followers. The newly christened Brian "Net Boy" Bellows could be found imitating Dino Ciccarelli during his shifts on the ice. And when on the power play, Bellows seemed to influence Chris Gratton as both players could be found at the top of the crease. Gratton scored a power-play goal this way when a rebound landed on his stick in the second period. The development continued for another of the team's franchise players - Roman Hamrlik. Hamrlik continued to show signs that he is developing into an All-Star-caliber offensive defenseman with his three assists and solid play. As the leader of the defensive unit, and the franchise's first pick, Hamrlik is expected to continually improve not only his game, but also the play of those around him. If he can improve his ugly +/- from last season (-18), and continue to be a power-play threat, then Hamrlik will soon be well-known around the league. Former Clemson coach Frank Howard used to say, "a tie is like kissing your sister." However, in past years, a Lightning tie would have been a joyous occasion. Now both the players as well as the fans expect more, and that made Saturday's 3-3 affair a bit disappointing. Nonetheless, their seems to be a genuine air of confidence surrounding the franchise, and the season opening game gave many reasons to support it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON CAPITALS --------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Jim Schoenfeld Roster: C - Joe Juneau, Dale Hunter, Kevin Kaminski, Mike Eagles, Jaosn Allison. LW - Kelly Miller, Craig Berube, Steve Konowalchuk. RW - Pat Peake, Keith Jones, Rob Pearson, Martin Gendron. D - Mark Tinordi, Sylvain Cote, Calle Johansson, Joe Reekie, Jim Johnson, Ken Klee, Sergei Gonchar, Igor Ulanov, Brendan Witt. G - Jim Carey, Ron Tugnutt, Olaf Kolzig. Injuries: Craig Berube, lw (jaw, day-to-day). Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS Last season the Washington Capitals offense revolved entirely around one man, 27-year-old right winger Peter Bondra. The Ukranian native scored a league leading 34 goals in 47 games, accounting for a remarkable 25 percent of Washington's goals. If Bondra was stopped, so was the Washington offense. So it would only make sense that if Bondra, along with last season's third leading scorer Michal Pivonka, were taken out of the Washington lineup, the Capitals would struggle. Fortunately for the Capitals, hockey is a game that rarely makes any sense. Entering the off-season, both Bondra and Pivonka were restricted free agents. They could sign with another club, but the Capitals had the right to match any offer. If they chose not to match, then the Caps would receive hefty compensation in return. Like most restricted free agents, neither Bondra or Pivonka received any offers from other teams since most clubs were scared away by the wacky NHL free agency rules. That's when most players just fold like a chimp and sign with their old clubs. Whoa, not so fast! Bondra and Pivonka had other ideas, instead of coming to terms with Washington, they both signed contracts with the Detroit Vipers of the IHL. While talks continue between Caps GM Dave Poile and player agent Rich Winter, who represents both Bondra and Pivonka, the two sides are still reported to be a ways away from signing on the dotted lines. So with two of their main offensive weapons tearing up the I, the Caps entered the season hoping to somehow find a way to score just enough goals so that their excellent defense and goaltending could steal them some games. And as of now, the plan is working just fine. Washington has won three of their first four games, only losing a 2-1 decision to the mighty Philadelphia Flyers. Leading the way once again is last year's rookie sensation Jim Carey. The 21-year-old netminder is 3-0-0, and turned away 21 shots against the Lightning to earn his first shutout of the season. In fact, Carey has only allowed two goals in his three starts. So much for a sophmore jinx, eh? If Carey continues to keep the Caps near the top of the standings, contract negotiations with Bondra and Pivonka should only improve. That is unless, of course, the two holdouts are really having fun down in the IHL playing for the Vipers. How couldn't they, though? Detroit is the former stomping grounds of LCS hero in waiting Miroslav Satan. And who wouldn't like to ride the bus to such exciting places as Kalamazoo and Peoria? Ah, the IHL, where dreams go to die. ===================================================================== Turning it up a notch... By Dan Hurwitz A year ago in this spot, I gave you loyal readers a bit of a 26-man micro-preview of the NHL season which was about to happen. Realizing that tradition is what hegemony is all about, I've decided to do much the same this year. As the opening weekend of the NHL season is upon us, 26 teams are dreaming about having their names engraved next to the 1995 Devils on Lord Stanley's Cup. And while those Devils did it as a team last year, there is no question that each team has one or two players upon which success this year will depend greatly. A lot of them are new faces brought in to correct past problems. A lot are rookies or emerging young players who will have to make an impact. But regardless, come season's end, I'm sure you'll see these 26 players will either be heroes or goats on their teams. So I'll give you the players to watch out for on each team. Just give 'em to you. And for an added bonus, I'll even tell you the other guy who's likely to be in the pressure cooker. ANAHEIM: Oleg Tverdovsky, D. Last year, Oleg was a bit of an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in...ok, let's not go there. But from night to night, this North America newcomer did a Jekyl and Hyde act. While fellow frosh Paul Kariya gained all the spotlights (not hard to do in Anaheim) the rushing rearguard turned heads on some nights with his lyric brilliance and lowered heads on others when he, well, stunk. This year, the very young Tverdovsky must grow up fast, and while he may be able to give up some of the flash, he needs to add consistency to his game or it will be another long summer in Disneyland. Runner-up: Paul Kariya, LW. BOSTON: Kevin Stevens, LW. Who says you can never go home again? Brought in from division rival Pittsburgh in the offseason along with Shawn McEachern, Massacusetts native Stevens is everything the Bruins needed: power, grit, scoring, and all from a guy not named "Neely." With Cam on the right and Adam Oates in the middle, Stevens rounds out one of hockey's best lines. And his power will be necessary to lift the Bruins past their lousy playoff defeats to New Jersey the past two years and into the future in their new home, the Fleetcenter. Runner-up: Blaine Lacher, G. BUFFALO: Pat Lafontaine, C. The first of the "well, duh's" in this article is Buffalo's Captain Fantastic. He's not just the most important player the Sabres have, but after losing Alexander Mogilny in a trade, Dale Hawercuk to free agency, and Richard Shmehlik to injury, he's just about the only player they have. Trouble is, of course, Patty has yet to prove he has fully recovered from that devastating knee injury. At his peak, LaFontaine has it all, power, finesse, soft hands, hard shoulders, and a keen two-way flair not seen anywhere else East of Fedorov. But now he's alone in Sabreland and will be asked to carry the cost-cutting franchise on his back. Not an enviable task, but who better for the job? Runner-up: Donald Audette, LW. CALGARY: Gary Roberts, LW. What were you expecting, Todd Hlushko? But all kidding aside, Roberts has a lot to answer for. That's a harsh statement given all the pain his back has endured in recent years, but when you're one of the league's premeire power-forwards, it's the abuse you gotta take. Theo Fleury did it all last year, but the off-season losses of Robert Reichel and Joel Otto mean that the little guy will have a bit too much to worry about. But if Roberts can make his return a big one, Calgary can at least hope to keep pace with Vancouver for second place in the Pacific behind Colorado. Runner-up: Phil Housely, D. CHICAGO: Eric Daze, LW: Folks everywhere see this kid as a legitimate contender for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. His playoff experience last year shouldn't hurt in that department. He is big and mean (6-4, 215 lbs.) and, since the attempt to sign power-forward Keith Tkachuk was thwarted by them pesky Jets, Daze is going to have to step up and fill that role, possibly even on Jeremy Roenick's line. With J.R. Superstar's injured knee still healing, the Hawks may have to rely on smaller centers Bernie Nicholls and Denis Savard, which means Daze may see some enforcer time. With Bob Probert around to cover that side, though, Daze will be called upon to barrel to the front of the net, and what he does there will help determine if Chicago has the staying power for a serious run. Runner-up: Jeremy Roenick, C. COLORADO: Claude Lemieux, RW: Grit. Tenacity. Scoring from the right side. Stanley Cup- winning experience. These things all describe not only what the Nordiques lacked last year, but what newly-acquired Claude Lemieux will bring them in their new home. Finally, young stars Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Owen Nolan have the naughty little leader they've lacked (and thought they had in Wendell Clark). A Conn Smythe Trophy brings with it the ultimate individual honor a player can receive: being the best when it counts the most. The Avalanche is almost a shoe-in to run away with the Pacific Division and possibly the Western Conference, but what Lemieux brings is the ability to survive deep into the playoffs. Only the second Playoff MVP to be traded that offseason (the other was some guy named Gretzky), Lemieux will be a nightmare to the unsuspecting Western teams who didn't get to see him play last year. Runner-up: Stephane Fiset, G. DALLAS: Derian Hatcher, D: What's that? Don't you have the wrong Hatcher boy? Well, no, I don't. The Stars' new captain proved last season that he is a more complete package than big brother and teammate Kevin. And when you realize that Andy Moog is getting old in goal and Mike Modano basically is the offense, Bob Gainey is going to have to rely on his top defenseman to even be able to pray for a playoff spot. He's tough (remember, he's the guy who took out Roenick with a clean check) and he can score (remember, he's a Hatcher) and now he's being called upon to lead, too. A Norris Trophy nomination may not be out of the realm of possibility of Hatcher really shines this year. A playoff berth might be if he doesn't. Runner-up: Mike Modano, C. DETROIT: Keith Primeau, C: Eric Lindros won the Hart Trophy last year. The NHL's biggest team won the Stanley Cup. See what I'm getting at here? Detroit has a lot of flash and razzle- dazzle in the likes of Sergei Fedorov, Steve Yzerman, and Paul Coffey. But the hockey of the nineties requires a few skulls to be rattled as you barrel your way towards the crease in order to be a real star. Primeau was the Wings' top player last year and around him, Detroit captured the President's Trophy and Campbell Bowl. But if they even want to hope to end their league-longest Cup drought this year, the Wings will have to learn to at least play as big as Primeau does. Runner-up: Sergei Fedorov, C. EDMONTON: Jason Arnott, C: I think we're all willing to let the lockout be the all-encompassing excuse for mediocre play on anyone's part last year. Arnott, however, is coming off a tremendous rookie season the year before and is believed to be the great hope the Oilers have in the middle foward slot. Arguments with departed coach George Burnett and a lack of disciplined play made him take a step backwards this past year but a new year means a new beginning and it may be time for Arnott's star to finally rise...Arnott (little joke). In a weak division, one player like Arnott at the top of his game can make a huge difference. Runner-up: Luke Richardson, D. FLORIDA: Rob Niedermayer, C. It seems every year is a breakthrough year for this kid...well, I really mean it this time. With Roger Nielson and his "win now, play veterans" philosophy out the door, Niedermayer is due for a heavy infusion of ice time. That translates into confidence which in turn translates into points. There's no question that forward is the Panthers' weakest position and a breakthrough year from Niedermayer could be the difference between the team's first ever playoff berth and another year sinking in the 'glades. The fact that Rob had the Stanley Cup in his house this year without ever playing a playoff game (big brother Scott is a Devil) may inspire him to greatness. Runner-up: Ed Jovanovski, D. HARTFORD: Brendan Shanahan, LW. I tell's ya, this guy wasn't in the insurance capital of the world for two months before he starts actin' like he owns the place. Well, considering LCS top-rated Left Winger Shanahan was named captain of the Whale before ever playing for them implies he actually does own the place. One of the league's premiere power forwards, Shanahan will be counted on (along with the disappearance of the Nordiques and the salary slashing of the Sabres) to carry Hartford into the post season again. Sure, their lack of defense could cause them to be harpooned by the number 1 seed they are likely to face, but having a bona-fide 50-goal-scorer like Brendan should not only add mucho points but also take some pressure off budding star Geoff Sanderson. Runner-up: Sean Burke, G. LOS ANGELES: Rob Blake, D. Wayne Gretzky was too obvious and after him, there are prescious few recognizable faces left in the black and silver. Blake was once the cornerstone of a promising young defense which also included Alexei Zhitnik and Daryl Sydor. Well, Sydor has faded and Zhitnik was dispatched to Buffalo for Grant Fuhr in the "McMaster Disaster" of 1995. Blake, however, continues to be the most sought after commodity on the Kings' roster. Seeing as how Kelly Hrudey and Jamie Storr are shot at more often than the White House, it is clear that defense in LA is circumspect at best. But if Blake has a real breakthrough season, which having a defensive guru like Larry Robinson behind the bench might just do for him, the Kings may in fact sneak back into the postseason. Runner-up: Jamie Storr, G. MONTREAL: Mark Recchi, RW. People who are still hunting for Serge Savard's cranium, cease and desist! John LeClair was doing nothing in Montreal, and Recchi led the Flyers in scoring three years straight. Last season was a much-needed rebuilding year after the Habs got way too fat-cat after their lucky Cup of two years ago. But the rebuilding in Montreal is on a tight schedule and simply must be completed, and that means Recchi, the most electrifying player on one of hockey's most terrifying lines (with center Pierre Turgeon and left wing Vincent Damphousse) must produce like a madman and still get back to his own end. The Recchin' Ball has it in him, and in spite of his small size, he is ready to try to carry Les Habitants back to postseason play. Runner-up: Vladimir Malakhov, D. NEW JERSEY: John MacLean, RW. Before the injury which cost him a season, John MacLean was the most feared name on the Devils' front line. Ok, granted, at the time that wasn't saying much, but he was pretty darn good. When he came back, he found Claude Lemieux on the team and suddenly his undisputed role as top winger was gone. Well, Lemieux if off the squad now and it's up to Johhny Mac to recapture the clutch goal-scoring capabilities which saw him produce three 40-goal seasons. He plays both ends of the ice and both special teams, and while Scott Stevens is the captain, MacLean is integral in the leadership of the Cup Champs. If he picks up the slack for Lemieux, a repeat championship is in the works for Jersey. Runner-up: Scott Niedermayer, D. ISLANDERS: Kirk Muller, C. When a team is in such trouble it trades its franchise player, the guy they bring in is immediately scrutinized. Fortunately for Kirk Muller, he is tough enough to handle it (and really only a couple of weeks after the trade before the Isles' season ended, anyway). Gritty and tenacious, the former captain of the Devils and Canadiens is, for better or worse, the front line center for the fishermen. He has two 94-point seasons under his belt and is brilliant defensively. Since few other players on the roster can say either of those things about themselves, Muller is without a doubt the key to any semblance of success the Isles will have this year as they embrace Mike Milbury's system. Runner-up: Tommy Salo, G. RANGERS: Ulf Samuelsson, D. Only the Penguins retooled as much as the Rangers did this off-season, but in the Blueshirts' case, it was to get more expensive, if you can believe that one! Defense was always New York's major weakness, even with Norris Trophy-winner Brian Leetch on the blueline. Goaltender Mike Richter makes some pretty acrobatic saves but leaves killer rebounds. Enter Samuelsson. More mobile than new teammate Jeff Beukeboom and meaner than Leetch, it will be up to Ulfie to keep the goals against way down and to agitate opponents the way departed winger Esa Tikkanen used to. With two Stanley Cups and a death mark in twelve systems, Ulfie is the glue which holds Broadway's Rangers together for another Cup run. Runner- up: Adam Graves, LW. OTTAWA: Alexandre Daigle, C. The personification of the lockout and the new rookie salary cap, Daigle's development has been stunted in two less-than-sterling seasons in the NHL with its weakest team. But in his defense, he was forced to play behind the immensely talented, if misguided Alexei Yashin, and being a second-line center on a talentless team doesn't give you much to work with. Well, for better or worse, Yashin has bolted, leaving Daigle with all the ice time and his pick of linemates for the season. Now it's time for the flashy young centerman to deliver on the promise which made him a first overall pick three years ago. If he fails in that task, maybe he can get work in that controversial nurse's uniform he posed in for the hockey card ad. Runner-up: Steve Duchesne, D. PHILADELPHIA: John LeClair, LW. "Are you mental?" you ask. "I think 'Eric Lindros' is spelled differently." Well, there ain't no error. Lindros is a deserving MVP, but it was the arrival of LeClair last year which turned Lindros and Mikael Renberg from good but confusing young talents into the "Legion of Doom." Shattering all his career marks, LeClair made what looked at the time like a good trade blow up in Montreal GM Serge Savard's face. If the Flyers are to be the Stanley Cup contenders so many think they are, LeClair will have to be the player he was during last year's shortened season, and not the former Montreal slouch that confused hockey fans everywhere. Runner-up: Ron Hextall, G (again, not a misprint!) PITTSBURGH: Mario Lemieux, C. Le Magnifique may be the best in the game... maybe ever. But a big question is, is the rejuvenated captain of the Pens as good as Joe Mullen, Shawn McEachern, Kevin Stevens, Ulf Samuelsson, Kjell Samuelsson, and Larry Murphy put together? Each of those players, a legitimate star, was sent packing in the off-season to cut costs. While their replacements, Petr Nedved, Bryan Smolinski, Sergei Zubov et al. are plenty talented, it is still plenty clear that the Penguins will be depending upon Mario and Jaromir Jagr, last year's Art Ross Trophy winner, to carry this team on their backs. Seeing as how it's his back that is the problem which will limit him to around 65 games this year, Mario better be Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Maurice Richard all in one. Runner-up, Jaromir Jagr, RW. SAN JOSE: Craig Janney, C. Last year in this space, I said Johan Garpenlov. Well, who knew about Jeff Friesen? More to the point, who knew Mike Keenan would unload a quality 100-point man like Janney to a team needing just that to be competitive? Well, having escaped Iron Mike's doghouse, Janney is the star the Sharks need to build around while their twenty-something lineup discovers itself and becomes housebroken. Janney is expected to finally bring out the potential in Pat Falloon, the guy picked ahead of Stanely Cup-winner Scott Niedermayer of the Devils. Nobody envies Janney the task, but maybe being determined to stick it to Keenan will be enough to get Janney to deliver just that. If he clicks in San Jose the way he did in Boston or early on in St. Louis, then an extra playoff round may not be impossible this year. Runner-up: Arturs Irbe, G. ST. LOUIS: Chris Pronger, D. This kid is about to learn how Jimmy Carson felt when he was the centerpiece in the trade which sent Wayne Gretzky to Los Angeles. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but when fan favorite Brendan Shanahan is dumped to Hartford for this supposed future star who appeared to get damaged in transit to the Whale, well, the pressure is on his shoulders. Chosen second overall in a draft class that has yet to deliver on its promise (he was picked behind Daigle), Pronger is supposed to be a combination of Scott Stevens and new teammate Al MacInnis. That just never materialized in Hartford, where he also had problems with the law and the bottle. As Keenan whips this boy into shape and MacInnis takes him under his wing, maybe Pronger will finally step up and prove the Whalers were crazier to trade him than to draft him. Runner-up, Grant Fuhr, G. TAMPA BAY: Paul Ysebaert, LW. No, wait, sit down! I'm not kidding! Ysebaert was named the Bolts' first captain this summer, which is odd seeing as how this is their fourth season. The most valuable player to be traded many times for no-names, Ysebaert is a legitimate top-liner on a team so lacking in offensive punch. Paired with new teammate, and hero to all from eight to eighty John Cullen, Ysebaert is looking to recapture the fire he had a few years back playing with Steve Yzerman in Detroit. If he can put in his potential 30 goals, Tampa's stagnant offense may follow behind. If not, it'll be another long summer on Florida's west coast. Runner-up, Chris Gratton, C. TORONTO: Doug Gilmour, C. Stop blaming Cliff Fletcher for trading Wendel Clark! The truth is, in Doug Gilmour, the Leafs have a meaner, grittier, tougher, higher-scoring leader than they ever had in Clark, and Mats Sundin is one of the most talented players in the league (Sundin was the payback for Clark). The reason the Leafs were a laugh last year wasn't the lack of Clark, it was the lack of Gilmour. The superstar center admits he was out of it last year and knows fully well his disappearance from the scoresheet led to the Maple Leafs' early playoff exit. When he's on his game, "killer" is one of the most complete players in the league. When he's off, you get last year. Toronto fans are hoping for the return of the Gilmour they know and love. Runner-up: Larry Murphy, D. VANCOUVER: Russ Courtnall, C/LW. All eyes are on the reunion of Russian superstars Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny, which suits Courtnall just fine. An all-star in his own right, Courtnall may be the only player on the team fast enough to keep up with the Russian duo's speed, and may be called upon to center the line (even though he is usually a portside winger) when head coach Rick Ley realizes he's crazy to keep the two apart. Moreover, with opposing defenses going blind checking Pavel and Alex, Courtnall stands to put up some serious numbers. He's going to need to because behind the stars, the Canucks are short on depth, and don't have the lineup to compete with Colorado. Runner-up: Pavel Bure, L/RW. WASHINGTON: Brandon Witt, D. It's hard to imagine a rookie blueliner on a team with such a solid defense and a strong goalie in Jim Carey being so crucial, but he is. Washington has always had an inverted attack, relying on their blueliners more than their forwards. With Michal Pivonka and Peter Bondra showing off in the IHL this year, it seems that trend will continue, and Witt will have to prove he is as hot a prospect as the Caps have been insisting for two years since they drafted him. A team that has traded away such defensemen as Larry Murphy, Kevin Hatcher, Scott Stevens, Gary Galley and Al Iafrate had better have plenty left to make the fans forget about all that. That's where Witt will come on. Bolstering the power play which is led by fellow blueliner Sylvain Cote, Witt will be the only star shining in those plucky new duds in Landover. Runner-up: Jim Carey, G. WINNIPEG: Alexei Zhamnov, C. Once an afterthought because he debuted in Winnipeg the same year that Teemu Selanne rewrote the rookie record book (you try saying that!), Zhamnov came of age last year and also became the posterboy for quitting smoking. Cutting out cancer sticks cold turkey, Zhamnov jumped from an enigmatic red headed Russian to one of the league's most electrifying players, which was highlighted in his five-goal performance in Los Angeles. The trick with this kid seems to be to keep the season short. Actually, if Zhamnov doesn't come up big, the Jets' last season in Winnipeg will be impossibly long. Runner-up: Dave Manson, D. ==================================================================== TEAM REPORTS ==================================================================== WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION -------------------------------------------------------------------- CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Craig Hartsburg Roster: C - Jeremy Roenick, Bernie Nicholls, Denis Savard, Jeff Shantz, Brent Sutter. LW - Patrick Poulin, Murray Craven, Bob Probert, Jim Cummins, Tony Horacek, Brent Grieve. RW - Joe Murphy, Tony Amonte, Eric Daze, Sergei Krivokrasov, Darin Kimble. D - Chris Chelios, Gary Suter, Steve Smith, Eric Weinrich, Cam Russell, Greg Smyth, Keith Carney, Roger Johansson, Ivan Droppa. G - Ed Belfour, Jeff Hackett. Injuries: Steve Smith (sore back, day-to-day); Joe Murphy missed first two games due to suspension; Murray Craven had a sore foot and missed the Pittsburgh game. Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS by Dan Glovier Before the season started, the Hawks had many questions that needed to be answered. How would the players react to new coach Craig Hartsburg? Would Jeremy Roenick be traded, and if not, how would he, the coaches, and the rest of the team co-exist? What kind of game shape would Bob Probert be in after missing all of last year due to his rehab? How would a defensive team, like the Hawks, be affected by the "new" obstruction rule? And what about Scarecrow's brain? Anyhoo, here are the early results: * It seems as though the dark, somber veil that was initially brought on by "Iron" Mike Keenan several years ago, and perpetuated by Darryl Sutter, is finally gone. The players describe the situation as more laid-back and enjoyable. Although Craig Hartsburgh demands effort on every play, there appears to be a velvet glove covering the iron fist. However, out of the gate the Hawks play would have to be described as inconsistent. They have yet to put together a full 60 minutes. At times they play like the team that made it to the conference finals, while at other times they look very sleepy. If this doesn't change soon, that velvet glove may be taken off. * J.R. is here, and is he ever ready to go. An off-season workout schedule has him in top shape, and he has "made up" with assistant coach Dirk Graham, one of his major detractors during the "episode" at the end of last season. Popping in a couple of goals early hasn't hurt, either. * Bob Probert has looked great. He has good hands, especially for a big man. At times he seems to get winded, but when he goes to the corners, not too many players go in there with him with much conviction. Although he lost his first fight to Cris Tamer of the Penguins, he has commanded the physical respect that the Hawks could have used last year in the playoffs. * Like every other team, the Hawks have struggled at times with the new rule. An overtime call against Keith Carney in the L.A. Kings game (on which the Kings scored to win the game), typified the confusion that some of the players are experiencing right now. Overall, the Hawks can still really clamp down on a team, as evidenced by the game they played against the Penguins, which they won 5-1. * The lines have been shuffled a bit due to suspensions and early injuries, but the best line, night in and night out has been the Probert-Savard-Daze line. With Denny skating between these twin towers (6'3" and 6'4" respectively), they have created tons of chances and have really cycled the puck well down low. * With his assist in the Penguins game, Dennis Savard passed up Gilbert Perreault for 13th place on the all-time assist list with 815 assists. * Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz was hospitalized several weeks ago when he suffered a minor stroke. It has been reported that he has suffered no paralysis or speech problems that are often associated with such episodes, but the Hawks are not offering too much info on his status so we are not sure when he will be released from the hospital. * The Roenick rumors, which were running rampant in the off-season, have died down. However, there are still trade rumors swirling around. Bob Murray, assistant G.M., has made trips to both Ottawa and Buffalo, even though the Hawks will not play either of these teams for at least a month. Also, Buffalo G.M. John Muckler has been at the United Center for the Hawks/Penguins matchup. The names that have been associated in this "deal" are Joe Murphy (Muckler's old buddy from Edmonton) for Brad May and Doug Bodger. For Hawk fans, let's just hope that this is just more talk from the rumor mill. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DALLAS STARS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Bob Gainey Roster: C - Mike Modano, Dave Gagner, Corey Millen, Todd Harvey, Guy Carbonneau. LW - Greg Adams, Brent Gilchrist, Mike Donnelly, Mike Kennedy, Shane Churla, Bill Huard. RW - Nikolai Borschevsky, Jere Lehtinen, Trent Klatt, Jamie Langenbrunner, Grant Marshall. D - Kevin Hatcher, Derian Hatcher, Grant Ledyard, Craig Ludwig, Doug Zmolek, Paul Cavallini, Mike Lalor, Gord Donnelly, Richard Matvichuk. G - Andy Moog, Darcy Wakaluk. Injuries: Bob Bassen, c (knee, indefinite). Transactions: TEAM NEWS by Jim Panenka The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Stars closed out the pre-season with a respectable, but lackluster record of 4-4-1, but the bigger news came from the transactions department. Head coach and GM Bob Gainey made several major changes in the forward lineup just before the season began, the biggest deal being consummated with the dealmeister himself- Mike Keenan of the Blues. (Doesn't that sound familiar?) Gainey traded RW Paul Broten to St. Louis in the pre-season for C Guy Carbonneau, his old line-mate from the Habs, who was unhappy in his home up north. The reason for the trade was because of the knee injury to new C Bob Bassen. Facing the prospect of not having Bassen's offensive threat for up to several months, Gainey had to make what was surely a tough decision. In the aftermath, the Broten brothers have now left the team they helped develop along with ex-captain Mark Tinordi. These types of changes are nothing new. (Gainey started things originally by removing "The Tin Man" from the team). Neal has had a great time with the Devils- hopefully Paul can find common ground with Keenan in St. Louis. The Stars also lost veteran Mike McPhee to retirement after the old knee gave out, and will have to do without the face-off talents of Peter Zezel. But, they finally have more offense- I feel enough offense to respectfully disagree with LCS' own prediction that the Stars will rank at the bottom of the Central Division this year. Yeah, they're going to have to play much better than last season to even hold on to that last playoff spot they fell into. This is mainly because the (very) dangerous Colorado Avalanche are shaking things up in the West. But, this year the Stars shouldn't have the problems of a missing offense, too many injuries, and lack of interest in the game due to the shock of losing Captain Neal Broten to deal with. Three seasons after moving, the "new look" Stars are finally emerging from behind the old North Stars with the promise of becoming a legitimate player in the league. (The second season being best forgotten). Of course, all the new faces are going to have to get used to playing together if they're gonna keep this promise. Guy Carbonneau played with Bob Gainey and D Craig Ludwig for 7 and 8 years, respectively, with the Canadiens. So, at least he already fits in with Gainey's philosophy and has worked his way well into a line. Newcomers like Nick Borschevsky, Jere Lehtinen, and Jim Storm complement the new firepower, although they have yet to really form any solid lines. Their great defensive unit remains unchanged. So the big questions are: can they gel together and make an offensive run, and can netminder Andy Moog stay sharp? The opening game with the Winnipeg Jets did nothing to completely answer these questions. The game was a disappointment for Dallas, falling to the Jets 7-5. The normally excellent defense broke down and was embarrassed by numerous giveaways right in front of the net. They immediately went into panic mode and things quickly loosened up on both sides. The only bright spot was Carbonneau's inaugural short-handed breakaway goal. The veteran was the benefactor of a beautiful center-ice pick and unceremoniously turned it right back into the Jets zone. He crossed the crease left to right and out-waited Nikolai Khabibulin by tucking it just under his outstretched glove. The Jets were not amused. They responded by quickly putting the biscuit in the basket three times unanswered. Mike Kennedy scored the Stars second goal after crowd favorite Todd Harvey centered one right to him. Korolev scored his second of the period for the Jets to make it 4-2. Moog was rattled, but finished out the second by standing tall in the net and keeping Winnipeg out the rest of the period. Kevin Hatcher slapped a bottle-knockin' missile from the blueline to open the festivities. Hatch struck again by putting another one dead on front and Mike Modano was able to dribble the rebound through the five-hole. And, a minute later last season's scoring leader Dave Gagner lifted one above Khabibulin after a wild scramble on the doorstep. The score was now 5-4, folks, back from a 4-2 deficit. The Dallas Stars? That much scoring? The third period, however, was the beginning of the end. Superman Mike Kennedy continued to be in on almost every play- he was knocking people around and got repeated choice scoring chances. He deserved to be one of the three stars of the game for his all-out effort. Khabibulin was able to keep the guys out however, despite many great attempts to put it away. Moog made some super-saves, but it wasn't enough to counter the Jets' attack. The first was Zhamnov's tying goal. The back-breaker came when Neil Wilkinson, normally no scoring threat, got a clean break when Grant Ledyard gambled and lost a pass at the Jets' blueline. Wilkinson beat Moog up high after he committed and slid down. Korolev finished the Stars off with a hat-trick by beating Kevin Hatcher with a shot into the empty net in the final thirty seconds. Captain Kris King of the Jets got the cheap shot of the year award by pile-driving Doug Zmolek's head into the ice in the second period. Zmolek had caught King off-guard with a knee-knockin' uppercut in a fight, but King returned the favor by slamming his forearm into Zmolek's head after Zmolek slipped down to his hands and knees and couldn't see it coming. This is some suspension-quality stuff, here, folks! Zmolek got ten stitches in the forehead- but returned to finish the game. Shane Churla responded by taking on both Tkachuk and Darryl Shannon. Shannon jumped in after the first wrap-up of Tkachuk, but Shane body-slammed the wingless Jet to the ice. Later, Derian Hatcher made Kris King forget his name for a few minutes by boarding King like a freight train in the third period. * Game two against the Calgary Flames was a welcome relief from their shaky first step. Dallas throttled the Flames to a 7-3 blowout in front of their home crowd on opening night at Reunion Arena. The Stars bull-rushed the net all night and quickly unraveled Trevor Kidd's game. The Flames never put together any real threats. Trent Klatt struck first for Dallas, followed by a classic wraparound behind the net by Greg Adams. Calgary wasn't able to poke one in until the second period (Murray). Adams wrapped one around the second time for Dallas, followed by strikes from Dave Gagner, and the patented Kevin Hatcher slapshot. The offensive tour de force continued into the third, where Gagner back handed one past an apathetic Kidd. Brent Gilchrist joined in after Klatt set him up with a sweet pass. Ex-Star Dean Evason beat Wakaluk to once again register the Flames in the game, and Murray joined in a minute and thirty later with another score that turned out to be much too little, too late. The Stars satiated the impatient home crowd for the time being with a 1-1 record. The scoring will have to continue in order to keep drawing high attendance figures, because Dallas sports fans are used to winners. * Game three against St. Louis held no surprises. Despite being tightly played, Dallas lost it 3-1. The Blues again had the Stars' number, a continuation of last season's losses to the club. Gainey tried to mix in some of the new talent by sending out unusual line combinations, but they never put anything real together. Mike Modano broke away for an unassisted short-handed goal in the first, but maybe the boys were a little too confident after Calgary. Brett Hull kept a wry smile on his face after helping the Stars lose theirs, they would finish the game without any other points. Time to come back to reality. Three minutes later Denis Chasse tied it for the Blues. The picking and back and forth rushes continued without a payoff until the second. Brian Noonan struck with a power-play rebound to give the Blues a 2-1 lead. The Stars had their second defensive turnaround of the season when Pronger finished the scoring shorthanded with a little help by Mr. confident smirk himself, Brett Hull. The Stars were shut out of good opportunities, all the good rebounds were slapped away, and good setups were bounced right back at them. Despite a reasonably strong start, Gainey's club was choking down a losing record when they preferred to carry a comfortable point tally into a long home stand at Reunion. To make things worse, they were about to meet another tough team, namely the Boston Bruins. * Game four would see an unlikely historic comeback. The hype-o-meter was pegged, with Moog facing his old team for the first time with Dallas, and the ever-entertaining Cam Neely show... 'nuff said. Neely got to work early, lifting one past Andy at the 1:38 mark. Kevin Hatcher added to his mini scoring streak with a power-play slapper fed by Modano to tie it up late in the first. But, Neely set the stage for yet another career hat trick by putting one behind Moog for the second time. Dallas opened the second by surviving a penalty kill- well, almost, anyway. Todd Elik scored just as Mike Kennedy was leaving the box. The Stars weren't shining again until late in the period when the prolific Dave Gagner beat Billington after a feed from Grant Marshall. But they immediately shot themselves in the foot for the third time in three games when Steve Heinze robbed K. Hatcher and went in alone for a shorthanded point. The third period was a continuation from the second. The Bruins were outplaying Dallas on their own ice. Neely and Bourque were in the driver's seat. As soon as Dallas could score, Boston answered immediately. It was a furious back and forth show. Cam wasn't going to get his 'trick. Carbonneau shot and scored to bring it to 4-3 after Todd Harvey sent it in on Billington. However, Boston's Elik scored his second of the game to stretch the Bruin lead to 5-3. The game was winding down and it looked like Boston was gonna skate away with an easy 5-3 win. The Stars just weren't that much of a threat that late with a 2 point deficit, or so it seemed. The crowd at Reunion began shuffling out, thinking they witnessed an exciting, but losing effort. Defenseman Richard Matvichuk turned the tide of the game with a super individual effort. Welcome back, Mattie! After making a long leap to catch the puck and keep it in the Bruins' zone, he slapped it at Billington. The goalie made the stop, but Kevin Hatcher got red-hot in per game scoring and sent it by him. They were within one with less than a minute. Modano finally joined the party by waiting for Moog to hit the bench in favor of an extra attacker. He closed in and put one by Billington. It looked as if the miracle had already happened and they were about to have a bloody OT thrash. But, patience, patience! With only about fifteen seconds left, Dallas took the draw and sent it in along the boards. Mike Kennedy won the race and centered it blindly, and Carbonneau was the Stars' savior by deflecting it off his chest into the net. The Stars had just set a franchise record by scoring three goals in 44 seconds, and just beat a team that had them clean. Reunion Arena may never be the same again. The fans had been shown a team that could pull itself out of almost anything, and clawed its way back to an even record of 2-2-0. These guys play with heart. Hopefully the new lines will continue to gel, and familiar names like Harvey will be able to get on the board. Harv hasn't been heard from much since the shuffling, but he's still getting knocked around and making his presence felt. Kevin Hatcher and Gagner are still hot, and Modano is just getting warmed up. It looks as if many people may have to re-evaluate their opinion of the Stars. But, they have to get the defense going again, stop giving away goals, and keep Moog from losing his patience and committing early. They will continue their efforts with game five against the Washington Capitals on October 17. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DETROIT RED WINGS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Scotty Bowman Roster: C - Sergei Fedorov, Steve Yzerman, Keith Primeau, Greg Johnson, Kris Draper. LW - Vyacheslav Kozlov, Martin Lapointe, Bob Errey, Stu Grimson, Tim Taylor. RW - Dino Ciccarelli, Ray Sheppard, Doug Brown, Darren McCarty. D - Paul Coffey, Nicklas Lidstrom, Bob Rouse, Vladimir Konstantinov, Mike Ramsey, Slava Fetisov, Marc Bergevin, Jamie Pushor. G - Mike Vernon, Chris Osgood. Injuries: Bob Rouse, d (Hernia Operation, day-to-day). Transactions: Sent Ben Hankinson to Adirondack (AHL). (Hankinson officially sent to Adir., but remains with team, sent because of 24-man roster size restriction). TEAM NEWS by Brian Wishnow The Detroit Red Wings produced little action during the shortened off-season. As Central division rival St. Louis & Mike Keenan made a plethora of moves, Detroit did nothing until late August. Controversy surrounded the Mike Vernon contract ordeal. Following a revoked offer, and a threat to sue in court, Vernon re-signed for 2 years. Key players not returning: Mike Krushelnyski (released), Mark Howe (retired), and Shawn Burr (traded to Tampa Bay for defenseman Marc Bergevin). Trade rumors were abound in September. Dino Ciccarelli and Ray Sheppard were rumored to be traded to Florida. Detroit engaged in serious trade talk with Ottawa, concerning Steve Yzerman. Nothing has happened. Detroit opened the season in Denver against the late Quebec Nordiques. After declaring Chris Osgood to be the #1 goalie in the off-season, Detroit started Vernon in goal. Ironically, the first goal of the NHL season was scored by the "History" line (Ciccarelli, from Yzerman and Sheppard). However, the night was not to be for the Wings, as the Avalanche won their initial home game, with a 3-2 victory thanks to a late third period goal by Valeri Kamensky. Two days later, Chris Osgood led the Wings to initialize Edmonton's season in the Edmonton Coliseum. Tied at one in the third period, Tim Taylor and Steve Yzerman had a 2-on-0 battle with Bill Ranford. Taylor backhanded a pass to Yzerman between his legs, and Yzerman returned the puck a few seconds later, for an easy slam in goal. Nicklas Lidstrom scored on a point slap shot 13 seconds after Taylor's goal. Osgood was able to hold the Oilers at bay, and the Red Wings left Edmonton with a 3-1 victory. The next night in Vancouver, the Motor City Red Wings appropriately helped christen G.M. Place. Detroit was without Sergei Federov for the third straight game (tonsillitis), and Ray Sheppard for the second (sore knee). Steve Yzerman, Dino Ciccarelli, and Vladimir Konstantinov each recorded 1 goal and 1 assist. Although he allowed 3 goals in under a five-minute span during the second period, Vernon made 18 saves, and Detroit had a 5-3 victory. After opening 2-1 on a West-coast road trip, and three days of rest, the Red Wings opened their 70th season in Detroit. Dino Ciccarelli was loudly cheered during player inroductions. Ray Sheppard was welcomed mildly. The Detroit fans LOUDLY booed Scotty Bowman, while giving Captain Steve Yzerman a 2 minute standing-ovation. Sheppard, Fedorov, and Primeau opened the scoring for the Wings. Vladimir "Mad Vlad" Konstantinov and Doug Brown each scored two goals. Ciccarelli and Yzerman each tallied their third of the season in the third period. The 9-0 blowout was the largest ever victory for a Red Wing home opener. Chris Osgood recorded 17 saves for his fourth career NHL shutout. Yzerman, Ciccarelli, and Konstantinov were tied atop the Wings goal list, with three apiece. Two days later, and the Wings were West again in Winnipeg. Scotty Bowman continued to rotate his goaltenders, as Vernon played against the Jets. He allowed two long goals in the game, to Darren Turcotte and Teppo Numminen. Winniped took a large 4-2 lead into the third period, but Detroit rallied to take a 5-4 lead, before Turcotte tied the game at five. Sergei Federov scored his second goal of the year (both, surprisingly, from outside the blueline), victimizing former teammate Tim Cheveldae. The game was not resolved in overtime, and it ended in a 5-5 tie. Detroit, at 3-1-1, is now unbeaten in four games. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ST. LOUIS BLUES -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Mike Keenan Roster: C - Dale Hawerchuk, Adam Creighton, Craig Johnson, Fred Knipscheer. LW - Geoff Courtnall, Shayne Corson, Esa Tikkanen, Basil McRae, Tony Twist, Greg Gilbert, Ian Laperriere. RW - Brett Hull, Brian Noonan, Denis Chasse, Paul Broten. D - Al MacInnis, Jeff Norton, Chris Pronger, Jay Wells, Murray Baron, Donald Dufresne, Dallas Eakins, Jamie Rivers. G - Jon Casey, Grant Fuhr, Pat Jablonski. Injuries: Tony Twist, rw (pulled bicep, indefinite). Transactions: None. * Mike Keenan was greeted with a chorus of boos when the Blues opened up their home season on October 10th against the Edmonton Oilers. The rough reception wasn't just because the Blues dropped their first game of the year in Washington, 4-1, three days earlier. No, the real reason behind the less than cheerful welcome was that Keenan traded away fan favorites Brendan Shanahan and Curtis Joseph during the off-season. Brett Hull did his best to win the fans over to Keenan's side by pumping four goals past Bill Ranford and leading the Blues to the 5-3 victory. After the game Keenan admitted he was disappointed and hurt by the fans reaction. Several Blues players, including Hull and Grant Fuhr, stood up for Keenan and said he was only making the moves necessary to forge a winning hockey club. Two nights later in Dallas, Keenan's moves paid off again as the Blues downed the Stars 3-1. The big goal of the game was scored by Chris Pronger, which should help endear him to the fans in St. Louis. The 21-year-old defender raced up ice with Hull while shorthanded and rifled the puck just under the crossbar for his first goal as a Blue. The club returned home two nights later to take on the Avalanche. This time Brian Noonan was the big gun, firing home a goal while adding three assists in St. Louis' 4-1 victory. * During the 3-1 win over the Stars, a very rare occurrence happened. Brett Hull dropped the gloves and went after Dallas center Dave Gagner. Hull felt that Gagner was giving him some cheapshots with the stick, so the Golden Brett did what he had to do. Gagner just tried to hold on after Hull landed two quick lefts and the fight was over. After the game tough guys Basil McRae and Tony Twist jokingly compared Hull's fighting style to Joey Kocur, since he was just trying to land the bomb right from the start. Hull admitted his hands were a little sore after the scuffle, so don't look to see him takin' on Probert anytime soon. * The Blues have gotten off to a good start this season at 3-1-0, but not all of Keenan's crop of high priced players are enjoying success. Dale Hawerchuk and Geoff Courtnall each only have 1 assist in the four games, while Shayne Corson has added only a goal and an assist. Pronger has had a strong start recording a goal and two assists, while playing some fairly solid defense. Noonan has been the best of the Blues free agent crop so far, scoring two goals and five points good enough for second on the team in scoring behind Hull (4-2-6). The main reason for the Blues good start, however, is the play of Grant Fuhr. The 33-year-old netminder is looking like his old self by using his lightning quick glove hand to keep opponents off the scoreboard. Fuhr has started all four games, with the highlight so far being his sparkling 39 save performance against Colorado. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Pat Burns Roster: C - Doug Gilmour, Mats Sundin, Mike Hudson. LW - Dave Andreychuk, Benoit Hogue, Kent Manderville, Eric Lacroix, Randy Wood, Bill Berg, Ken Baumgartner. RW - Mike Gartner, Todd Warriner, Tie Domi, Zdenek Nedved. D - Larry Murphy, Dave Ellett, Dimitri Yushkevich, Rob Zettler, Todd Gill, Kenny Jonsson, Jamie Macoun, Matt Martin. G - Felix Potvin, Damian Rhodes. Injuries: Dave Ellett, d (knee, day-to-day). Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS by Brad Ross * The Leafs opened up the season in Pittsburgh getting abused by the speed and offensive firepower of the Penguins on way to a 7-4 loss. Mats Sundin scored twice in defeat and Zdenek Nedved scored his first NHL goal, but it wasn't enough to stop the Pens who were led by Mario Lemieux's four assists. Toronto earned their first win of the season by pounding the Islanders 7-3 on October 10th at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Leafs fired 50 shots on goal and were once again led by Sundin who scored two goals and two assists. Mike Gartner also chipped in two goals. However, in their third game of the against the Rangers, the Leafs just couldn't solve Mike Richter, who turned aside all 27 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season. The game was scoreless into the third until Ranger rookie Niklas Sundstrom scored his first two goals of the season to give the Rangers the 2-0 victory. The Leafs will close out the four game homestand with San Jose and Calgary, before returning to the road on October 21st to take on Montreal. * Doug GIlmour is off to another rough start this seaosn. After the first three games, Gilmour has just two assists and is a -5. * Leaf enforcer Tie Domi could be facing his first ever NHL suspension for what amounts to a brutal sucker punch on Rangers' defenceman Ulf Samuelsson. With just over a minute to go in Saturday's game, Domi levelled Samuelsson, leaving the big Swede unconscious on Maple Leaf Gardens ice. Samuelsson, known for his own brand of cheap shot artistry over the years, was knocked out by Domi's punch, suffering a cut to the back of his head as he hit the ice. The next day, Domi said he felt bad for his actions, though he was goaded by Samuelsson. He reportedly said, "C'mon dummy" to Domi three times. Bang-bang out go the lights. Coach Pat Burns was not pleased with Domi's actions and fully expects to lose the Toronto native for three to five games. * Dave Ellet is listed as day-to-day with a knee injury suffered in the first period of Saturday's loss to the New York Rangers. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WINNIPEG JETS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Terry Simpson Roster: C - Alexei Zhamnov, Darren Turcotte, Mike Eastwood, Randy Gilhen, Mike Stapleton. LW - Keith Tkachuk, Darrin Shannon, Dallas Drake, Kris King, Michal Grosek. RW - Teemu Selanne, Ed Olczyk, Igor Korolev, Shane Doan, Jim McKenzie, Ed Ronan. D - Teppo Numminen, Dave Manson, Brent Thompson, Darryl Shannon, Jason Doig, Deron Quint, Neil Wilkinson, Stewart Malgunas. G - Tim Cheveldae, Nikolai Khabibulin. Injuries: Alexei Zhamnov, c (knee, indefinite). Keith Tkachuk, lw (groin, day-to-day). Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS Everyone knew that the Chicago Blackhawks were interested in Keith Tkachuk. All summer, rumors were flying that the Hawks would make a deal to get Tkachuk, maybe even parting with Jeremy Roenick to do so. However, as the season neared it became apparent the Jets weren't willing to trade their restricted free agent prize to Chicago. So, the Hawks took matters into their own hands by signing Tkachuk to an offer sheet. The proposed contract enormous, with Tkachuk receiving $6 million in the first year. Chicago front loaded the deal so that the cash strapped Jets wouldn't be able to match the offer, and would be forced to let Tkachuk go to the Hawks while only receiving compensation in return. However, those Jets are sneaky, and they matched the offer by borrowing money from friends, checking under the couch cushions for loose change, and even performing puppet shows on weekends. The Jets only had to match the deal in Canadian money, while a fund set up to assist small market teams will pick up the rest of the tab. The bold move by the Jets left the Hawks and Tkachuk both stunned and disappointed. Tkachuk made it clear that he would rather play for Chicago, so while he was happy with the contract, he wasn't thrilled about returning to Winnipeg. He also can not be traded to the Hawks this season because of the NHL's wacky free agency rules. So how did the Jets welcome Tkachuk back to the team? Well, they ripped the capaincy away from him, how else? In what has to be one of the dumbest moves in recent memory, the Jets actually took the 'C' away from Tkachuk and gave it to Kris King. What were they thinking? Tkachuk is a character individual, so he probably won't let the decision affect his play, but he can't be too happy. So far in the young season, Tkachuk has been hampered by a groin injury and has just one assist in only two games. The Jets other two big guns, Teemu Selanne and Alexei Zhamnov, are also struggling. Selanne has appeared in all five Winnipeg games scoring just three assists, while Zhamnov is out with a knee injury at the moment, but only had a goal and two assists in four games. Zhamnov's injury is not too severe, but he is expected out indefinitely. The Jets got off to a 2-2-1 start thanks in large part to the scoring of Igor Korolev. The Russian winger scored a hat trick in the Jets season opening 7-5 win over Dallas and has five goals and two assists overall. Mike Eastwood is second on the club in scoring with two goals and five points, followed by Dallas Drake and defenseman Darryl Shannon with two goals and four points each. Shannon has been the Jets best performer early on, providing offense while among the league leaders in +/- with a +6. Winnipeg is also getting contributions from two Draft choices from this past summer, Shane Doan and Jason Doig. Doan has added muscle to the right side and has three assists on the young season, while Doig has helped strengthen a weak Winnipeg blueline. ======================================================================= ==================================================================== TEAM REPORTS ==================================================================== WESTERN CONFERENCE PACIFIC DIVISION -------------------------------------------------------------------- ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Ron Wilson Roster: C - Shaun Van Allen, Chad Kilger, Mike Sillinger, Bob Corkum, Steve Rucchin. LW - Paul Kariya, Joe Sacco, Todd Krygier, Garry Valk, Patrick Carnback. RW - Valeri Karpov, John Lilley, Todd Ewen, Peter Douris, Don McSween, Jim Thompson, Steve King. D - Oleg Tverdovsky, Milos Holan, Jason York, Dave Karpa, Bobby Dollas, Robert Dirk, Oleg Mikulchik, Randy Ladoucer. G - Guy Hebert, Mikhail Shtalenkov. Injuries: None. Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS by Sandi Trudo The highlight of the Anaheim Ducks' early season came last week with a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Anaheim goaltender, Mikhail Shtalenkov, stopped all but one of the 20 shots he faced in the final two periods of the game, leading the Ducks' to their first victory of the season. The Ducks skated to an early lead, when future Anaheim star, Paul Kariya scored halfway through the first period. It was Kariya's fourth goal in three games and was his second power play goal of the year. The Ducks went on to score two more in the first, when Peter Douris and Steve Rucchin scored two and a half minutes apart near the end of the period. Douris' goal was scored on a wrist shot off a pass from Shaun Van Allen, on a two-on-one break. Rucchin's goal was set up by Valeri Karpov. The Ducks, who are known for tight defense, managed to keep the Sabres scoreless until halfway through the second, when Buffalo's Charley Huddy beat Shtalenkov with a slap shot from the point. The game turned into a brawlfest when 98 minutes in penalties were handed out when Sabres forward Rob Ray picked his second fight of the night with Todd Ewen. Also showing some muscle were Anaheim's Denny Lambert and Buffalo's Matthew Barnaby, who were each given misconducts after a shoving match in the third. The game was the Ducks' third contest in four nights and they dropped a game to the Pittsburgh Penguins the following night. Anaheim head coach, Ron Wilson, found some positives in the 5-2 loss to the Pens. "In the second period, we started to do some of the things we wanted to do like getting in deep, forechecking and utilizing our speed," he said. "Coming out after the second period, I liked the position we were in but we had a couple of breakdowns. We just ran out of gas in the last 10 minutes." The schedule doesn't get any lighter though for the third-year Ducks as they head back to Anaheim. The home opener is at the Pond on October 18th against the fast skating Canucks. The schedule doesn't get any easier as the Ducks face Philadelphia on the 20th, and Winnipeg on the 22nd. Then the Ducks head back out on the road the following night for a game in Denver against the Avalanche. The Ducks are currently in third place in the Pacific Division. And even though the season just recently got under way, there is optimism in the fact that the team currently holds the number eight and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They have scored nine goals and allowed eight so far this season. The netminding duo of Guy Herbert and Mikhail Shtalenkov are number eight in the league with a combined goals against average of 2.67 and a save percentage of .899. Shtalenkov has allowed only the one goal against Buffalo. And while the Ducks' power play sits somewhere near the bottom of the league in efficiency, the penalty killing is currently second best in the NHL, behind only the New Jersey Devils. The Ducks have allowed only one power play goal on 26 chances and have not allowed a single short-handed goal so far this season. The individual scoring leaders for the Ducks are: center Steve Rucchin, who has four goals and two assists, left wing Paul Kariya, who has four goals in the first four games. Kariya's two power play goals leads Anaheim on the man advantage. The following players were reassigned to the Baltimore Bandits, the Ducks affiliate in the American Hockey league: leftwings John Lilley, David Sacco and Mike Maneluk, centers Jarrod Skalde and Sean Pronger, defenseman Jason Marshall and goalie Byron Penstock. Prospect report: I like what I saw of Pronger last year in San Diego (previously Anaheim's farm team). He is a bit skinny, but tall. If he bulks up, he'll have good size. He played fairly well for San Diego, but needs that polish and such that only comes from playing more games at the professional level. Marshall was solid for San Diego last year as well. Skalde, who played last season in Las Vegas (IHL), has good speed and some decent play making skills. Lilley is small at 5'8", but very fiery and when he plays hard, he can make both plays and goals happen. -------------------------------------------------------------------- CALGARY FLAMES -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Pierre Page Roster: C - Marty Murray, Cory Stillman, Michael Nylander, German Titov, Dean Evason. LW - Gary Roberts, Mike Sullivan, Paul Kruse, Vesa Vitakoski, Sheldon Kennedy, Alan May. RW - Theo Fleury, Ronnie Stern, Sandy McCarthy, Ed Ward. D - Phil Housley, Steve Chiasson, James Patrick, Zarley Zalapski, Kevin Dahl, Dan Keczmer, Trent Yawney. G - Trevor Kidd, Rick Tabaracci. Injuries: Gary Roberts, lw (neck, 7-10 days). Trent Yawney, d (ribs, day-o-day). Sheldon Kennedy, rw (stomach muscle, day-to-day). Joe Nieuwendyk, c, (contract whining, resulting in a team suspension, likely never to return). Transactions: Traded Frank Musil, d, to Ottawa for a draft choice. TEAM NEWS by Ryan Ferris Who's THAT?!? The Calgary Flames are starting the 1995-96 season missing no fewer than five centers from last year's club that finished first place in the Pacific division. With new faces like Ed Ward, Marty Murray, Cory Stillman, Vesa Viitakoski, and Todd Hlushko in the lineup on a nightly basis, the Flames are looking like a split squad, with at least six players in the regular lineup that either played in junior hockey or on the farm team last year. Many fans feel the team will miss names like Joel Otto (signed as a free agent by Philadelphia), Robert Reichel (floated all the way over to Germany), Kelly Kisio (merciful retirement), and Wes Walz (who cares). Joe Nieuwendyk is holding out for more money and has been suspended by the team. New Talent Although missing many of the big names from last year's squad, the Flames are touting two fine prospects in Cory Stillman and Marty Murray, who are being given a kick at the big club following Roberts' slow recovery and Nieuwendyk's bad attitude. Both have produced 2 goals each in the club's first four regular season games. Couple them with Michael Nylander and the Flames look to have a lot of future stock at the center position, although it will take valuable time to pay dividends for the franchise. Look for this year to be a rebuilding year for the club. Rumors Joe "who?" Niewendyk has likely played his last game with the team. The feud between him and the club's brass has been ongoing for the past two seasons, and Joe has formally requested the team to trade him. It also appears the Calgary media has had enough as well, with a local radio station calling in an on-air "missing persons" report on Joe, citing that he may be found wearing diapers and sucking a soother. The last player who pushed GM Doug Risebrough too far was Doug Gilmour. Enough said. Opinions If he sticks with the club, look to Marty Murray to be an early candidate for the Calder Trophy. Coach Pierre Page has indicated that the jury will be out on Marty near the 10 game mark in the schedule. Speaking of the coach, I expect him to be sporting his trademark sour look behind the bench often this year. The Flames have looked terrible in their first four games, playing their familiar undisciplined style in eaking out a petty two points. Without the big offence to bail them out this year, they are in danger of missing the playoffs. Theoren Fleury, the interim captain and the man who is expected to provide most of the team's offense this year has been the worst offender, racking up over 20 minutes in penalties in four road matches. ------------------------------------------------------------------- COLORADO AVALANCHE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Marc Crawford Roster: C - Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci, Troy Murray, Claude Lapointe. LW - Claude Lemieux, Chris Simon, Valeri Kamensky, Martin Rucinsky, Warren Rychel. RW - Owen Nolan, Adam Deadmarsh, Scott Young, Andrei Kovalenko, Stephane Yelle. D - Sylvain Lefebvre, Uwe Krupp, Craig Wolanin, Curtis Leschyshyn, Adam Foote, Janne Laukkanen, Alexei Gusarov, Anders Myrvold. G - Stephane Fiset, Jocelyn Thibault. Injuries: Uwe Krupp, d (broken leg, out for the season). Transactions: Traded Steve Finn, d, to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a draft choice. TEAM NEWS With all the talk of how the former Quebec Nordiques would be serious Cup contenders in their first season in Colorado, it only seems appropriate that the NHL gives the new fans in Denver a chance to see their team play a lot early on in the season. But this is ridiculous! The Avalanche played six games in nine days to start the 1995-96 season. Six games in nine days! Over the same stretch of time, no other team had played more than four games, and several, including Pacific Division rivals San Jose and Vancouver, had only played two. Maybe if the Rocks (as they're known to their friends) opened up with a long homestand, the six games wouldn't be so bad, but nooooooo! The NHL wanted to use up some of their frequent flyer miles so they made the Avalanche travel more than a chimp circus over the first week. The season opened up at home against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, October 6th. The Rocks caught a break when Sergei Fedorov was forced out of the lineup due to tonsillitis. The two teams were tied at 2-2 late in the third period when the newest member of the team made his presence felt. With the game on the line, Claude Lemieux, who had just recently been acquired in exchange for holdout Wendel Clark, found a streaking Valeri Kamensky at center ice with a brilliant lead pass. Kamensky split the Red Wing defense and then found Mike Vernon's five- hole for the game winner. It was Kamensky's second goal in the 3-2 victory. However, Colorado's defense was handed a devastating blow when Uwe Krupp was injured on the game winning play. After chipping the puck ahead to Lemieux, Krupp collided with a falling Detroit player. As he was falling to the ice, Krupp's left leg visibly bent the wrong way. It was later announced that Krupp suffered a broken leg and that he would likely be out the entire season. There is simply no replacing Krupp's presence on the blueline. This is the kind of injury that could erase Colorado's Stanley Cup dreams. There was little time to let the magnitude of Krupp's injury sink in, as the Avalanche had to fly to Los Angeles to take on the Kings the very next night. The club looked tired and was outplayed by the Gretzky and company all night long. Despite two goals from Joe Sakic, Colorado lost 4-2. The team had to then return home to face Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday. Right from the opening face-off the action never let up as the two former Northeastern Division rivals renewed acquaintances. The teams traded goals back and forth all night long, with Lemieux leading the way for the Penguins with two goals and an assist, while Sakic scored his second goal of the game, to go along with two assists of his own, with around five minutes left in regulation to give Colorado an apparent 6-5 victory. However, Sylvain Lefebvre apparently forgot that he is supposed to be one of the games best defensive defensemen and tried a cross ice pass with only three minutes remaining, instead of just making the safe play up the boards and out of the zone. Jaromir Jagr cheerfully accepted Lefebvre's early Christmas present, as he stole the puck and swooped into the Colorado zone untouched before ripping a wrist shot past Stephane Fiset to tie the game at 6-6, which is how it ended. The Avalanche outshot the Pens 46- 25 and controlled the game throughout, but some suspect goaltending and the defensive mistake late cost them a point. After they had Tuesday off, Boston came to town on Wednesday and was dispatched 3-1 behind the strength of Claude Lemieux's first goal. The team then travelled on Thursday to Washington for a Friday night game against the Caps. Despite allowing only 17 shots, the Avalanche still lost 3-1 thanks in large part to the goaltending of the Caps' Jim Carey. Sakic once again scored the lone goal for the Avalanche, giving him five in his first five games. The very next night the club was in St. Louis to battle it out with Mike Keenan's Blues. Over the years, the Nordiques have never enjoyed much success against St. Louis and that trend continued despite the name change. Behind strong performances from Brian Noonan and Grant Fuhr, the Blues stopped Colorado 4-1. There you have it, six games in nine days. Hardly the kind of schedule a hockey club would like to open the season with. The result is a less than spectacular 2-3-1 record for Colorado. The good news is, however, that the schedule does get easier from here on out, which should give the club time to regroup. * Early on in the season the Colorado offense has had trouble getting started. Besides the duo of Joe Sakic and Valeri Kamensky, the rest of the team is pretty much dead in the water. Peter Forsberg is still looking for his first goal and last season's leading goal scorer Owen Nolan has just two. Some of this can be blamed on the early schedule and the fact that the club had to dela with a number of holdouts and changes up front. Before the start of the season Wendel Clark, Chris Simon, Martin Rucinsky, and Scott Young were all either holding out or without contracts. Clark was dealt before opening night and Lemieux was brought in, but last season's Conn Smythe Trophy winner has but one goal. Meanwhile, Young and Rucinsky have since signed and have made their way back into the lineup. Simon is still a holdout, and GM Pierre Lacroix remains adamant about not renegotiating his current contract. * When Wendel Clark was traded, more than a few people questioned the affect it would have on the young Avalanche team. Clark was a leader last season in Quebec and was the biggest reason for their turnaround. Joe Sakic even credited Clark with helping him to improve his game by playing more physical. While his mentor may be gone, Sakic is still remembering the lessons Clark taught him. So far this season, Sakic has been playing some of the best hockey of his career. Not only is he still making the magical plays that only he can make, but he is also taking the body and playing sound defensive hockey as well. Yes, Clark may be gone, but his influence still remains. * It's only been six games, but the goaltending duo of Stephane Fiset and Jocelyn Thibault have done little to prove that they can lead this team to a Cup. Fiset has seen the majority of the workload and has looked strong at times, but he just never seems to make the big save when the team needs it. Thibault has struggled early, yet LCS still believes he can one day become the big game goaltender a winning club needs. It just won't be for a few years yet. Meanwhile, Bill Ranford continues to get carved up night in and night out playing behind the ridiculous Edmonton defense. Can anyone else see the makings of a perfect deal in there somewhere? -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDMONTON OILERS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Ron Low Roster: C - Jason Arnott, Todd Marchant, Doug Weight, Jason Bonsignore, Tyler Wright. LW - Zdeno Ciger, Scott Thornton, Dean McAmmond, Miroslav Satan, Louie Debrusk. RW - Mats Lindgren, Dave Oliver, Kelly Buchberger, Kirk Maltby. D - Igor Kravchuk, Luke Richardson, Bryan Marchment, Jiri Slegr, Fredrick Olausson, Ken Sutton, Ian Herbers, Marc Laforge, Dean Kennedy, Boris Mironov. G - Bill Ranford, Curtis Joseph, Joaquin Gage. Injuries: Jason Arnott, c (facial cut and severe concussion, day-to- day). Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS by Simon D. Lewis Now comes crunch time. The youthful Oilers breezed through the exhibition season with an impressive 7-1-1 record. Head coach Ron Low warned everyone. He said a good record in pre-season means nothing. He was right. On opening night, while losing 3-1 to the Red Wings, the Oilers also managed to lose the services of budding superstar, Jason Arnott. He caught Jiri Slegr's deflected slapshot square above the left eye. It cut him for 25 stitches. This injury will keep Arnott out of the line-up for about a week while the swelling goes down. He was lucky not to reprise Ryan McGill's career-ending encounter with the puck. (Last year, a similar injury claimed the vision in one of McGill's eyes.) This had to be the big story as the Oilers embarked on a long and trying road trip. Without Arnott's fierce presence they lost to St. Louis 5-3 as Brett Hull pumped four goals past Bill Ranford. With Jason in stitches, the power play had gone 2 for 23 to open the season. "It's like taking Eric Lindros away from Philly," said captain Kelly Buchberger. On Friday the 13th the wheels fell off in the Motor City as the Red Wings pasted the Oilers 9-0. The road trip moves on to Philly, Jersey and Buffalo. Yikes!! The Great White North shudders. There can be no doubt that this very young team needs the motivation of a player like Arnott. The only bright side is that this setback will give Ron Low a chance to see who's going to rise to the occasion and lead the team. Buchberger will certainly give them everything he has, but he's never been known for putting the puck in the net. Mironov and Kravchuk, paired on defence, have yet to show much. It's time for Doug Weight, David Oliver, and Todd Marchant to step forward. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LOS ANGELES KINGS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Larry Robinson Roster: C - Wayne Gretzky, Yanic Perreault, Robert Lang, Pat Conacher, Kevin Todd. LW - Jari Kurri, Dimitri Khristich, Tony Granato, Eric Lacroix, Matt Johnson. RW - Vitali Yachmenev, Rick Tocchet, Troy Crowder, John Druce. D - Rob Blake, Marty McSorley, Darryl Sydor, Philippe Boucher, Dennis Tsygurov, Sean O'Donnell, Michel Petit, Aki Berg. G - Kelly Hrudey, Jamie Storr, Byron Dafoe. Injuries: Philippe Boucher, d (tendinitis in wrist, until it feels better). Kelly Hrudey, g (sprained ankle, 1-2 weeks). Michel Petit, d (suspended, October 21). Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS by Matt Moore * The Kings sale finally was completed on the 12th with Majestic/Anschutz Venture L.P. buying the club from the LAK Acquisition Corp. for $113.25 million. This is hopefully the final step in the stabilizing of the Kings following the destruction caused by Bruce McNall's illegal quest for cash, which got so bad that several players' paychecks bounced. Coming along with the sale is the agreement with Laker owner Dr. Jerry Buss to build a new stadium for both the Kings and Lakers within the next four years. Early odds on the new stadium's location are for it to be built either next door to the current Forum or near Dodger Stadium. * The Kings have yet to lose under new coach Larry Robinson. The first game against Colorado featured the NHL debut of Vitali Yachmenev on the first line with Wayne Gretzky and Dimitri Kristich. Amid a lot of people going "who is that?" Yachmenev went out and scored two power play goals and just played a hell of a game. He came into training camp with management expecting him to be sent to Phoenix for the start of the season. Apparently he impressed them enough to keep him around and put him on the first line. Add this with the addition of Dimitri Kristich to the Kings and Gretzky finally has somebody to pass to who can actually score. The second game against the Blackhawks was not as good. The Kings built a 5-2 lead early in the second period and promptly had a flashback to the Kings of last year. They forgot to play defense and just allowed Chicago to completely dominate them for the final 25-30 minutes of regulation. However, the difference in this early season Kings team and the Melrose-coached teams of the past two years was seen in overtime. Last year the Kings would have just sat back on their heels and prayed for a tie. This year they came out and just completely outhustled the Hawks. When Yanic Perreault scored the game-winner it was almost as if the Kings had won the Stanley Cup, what with all of the celebrating and hugging. The third game, a tie against the Canucks, was simply a fun game for a fan to watch. The Kings played some of the worst hockey possible for the first 25 minutes, falling behind 5-1. Then the fun began, with the Kings, led by two goals each from Rick Tocchet and Yachmenev, scoring six unanswered goals. Yachmenev missed the hat trick by inches, ringing a would-be goal off the post. At that point the Kings started getting cocky and tried to sleepwalk to a 7-5 victory. Unfortunately the Canucks were awake, and in a span of 45 seconds they were tied. In all a very fun first three games of the season, but the Kings have shown that Larry Robinson has a lot of work to do. * Kelly Hrudey continues to be hobbled by a sprained ankle and will play a two game rehab assignment with the Kings' minor-league team in Phoenix. * A big "thank you" to Don (Donuts) Koharski, who showed that he has more guts than most referees by actually calling a penalty in the overtime of the Chicago game. What makes this penalty especially amazing is that is was an obstruction penalty and did not require anybody having to bleed or be taken to the hospital, as is normally required by most refs in OT and the later part of the third period. -------------------------------------------------------------------- SAN JOSE SHARKS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Kevin Constantine Roster: C - Craig Janney, Igor Larionov, Jamie Baker, Jeff Friesen, Dody Wood. LW - Ray Whitney, Kevin Miller, Andrei Nazarov, Kevin Miller, Viktor Kozlov, Ville Peltonen. RW - Pat Falloon, Ulf Dahlen, Jeff Odgers, Shean Donovan, Dave Brown. D - Sandis Ozolinsh, Mike Rathje, Tom Pederson, Jim Kyte, Jayson More, Mikhal Sykora, Marcus Ragnarsson. G - Arturs Irbe, Wade Flaherty. Injuries: Jim Kyte, d (knee contusion, day-to-day). Transactions: Released Gord Roberts, d. Sent Vlastimil Kroupa, d, and Sergei Bautin, d, to Kansas City (IHL). TEAM NEWS by Mark Spiegel Defense?? DEFENSE ?!?!?! We Don't Need No Stinkin' DEFENSE! Well at least it seems that way. Picking up where they left off at the end of last season, the Sharks continue to give up el mucho shots-on-goal and the inevitable goals that follow. Currently averaging 5 goals against, the Sharks have both given up leads and had rallies crushed by their lack of team defense. The team has openly decried their lack of offensive shots-on-goal, the coaching staff has lusted for a forechecking scheme ala the Devils, but lost amongst this all is the simple fact that the Sharks are awful in their own end. Even when they manage to out-shoot the opposition, like Saturday night against the Canucks, they lose because they give up more than they score. The current performance is universally pathetic. Defensemen infrequently clear rebounds away from in front of the Sharks goal, forwards remain drifting at the top of the face-off circles when the puck is behind their net, forwards and defensemen regularly lose the opponent they are guarding leaving them alone and free to attack the net. Wade Flaherty's heroics helped carry the Sharks past the Flames in the first round last year, but such superman performances can't be relied on to get the Sharks into the playoffs, or very far if they do reach them. Unfortunately, without a drastic improvement in team defense it will be a long season. * If the dismal team defense wasn't enough, the now annual Sharks practice of continuing preseason into the regular season has added to the difficulties. The Sharks have yet to maintain a single line combination for more than two games. Effort that should have been devoted to defining line combinations and allowing players to gain familiarity with each other during the preseason, was wasted on evaluating whether unproven minor league prospects should be kept in place of proven NHL players. The Sharks went so far as to recall players already sent to their Blades IHL affiliate back to San Jose for the second to last preseason game. The lack of anything resembling set line combinations has plagued the Sharks attack, resulting in missed communications, missed passes, missed opportunities and missed wins as in the mis-pass that resulted in Chicago's winning goal. Adding to the problem has been Coach Constantine's reluctance to match lines to his advantage in home games. Against Chicago, Constantine regularly left a Whitney-Larionov-Falloon line to face Daze'-Savard-Probert. Larionov can handle Savard, but Falloon and Whitney spent their entire shift playing "you take the puck, I don't want it" until Daze' scored Chicago's first goal, deflating the momentum the Sharks had built. Against the Canucks, Vancouver was so afraid of Dave Brown that nobody would check Brown in front of the net. Brown scored two tip-in goals in a game for the first time in eons, but Constantine never exploited this situation to his advantage. * On the bright side, the oodles of hot, young prospects the Sharks have in house are providing the speed and puck handling necessary to improve the team penalty killing and power play. Speedy Shean Donovan, a rookie, has arguably been the best Sharks player in the early games. Once projected to be a defensive/checking forward, Donovan has added sufficient, unexpected offensive abilities to place him on a line with Friesen and Dahlen, last year's top scorers. Swedish rookie Marcus Ragnarsson has adroitly stepped in and become a regular defenseman for the Sharks. The Sharks clearly have drafted well, they now need to put the pieces together on the ice. * Viktor Kozlov suffered through most of last season with several screws, a plate and a bolt in his left leg, all the result of a broken leg and ankle suffered while playing back in Russia during the lockout. Kozlov had the metal removed last summer and appears to have fully regained his coordination. However, despite team physician claims of full recovery, Viktor is still lacking the full acceleration he had before the injury. Since he was operated on less than six months ago to remove all the added hardware this is no surprise. It may be midseason before the real-deal Kozlov fully regains his leg strength and hits his stride. * Does XLM - M = L - H? Has the departure of his longtime buddy and teammate, Sergei Makarov, taken the heart out of Igor Larionov? When Makarov was released by the Sharks, Igor was openly upset and angry with the move. In his own words he "couldn't sleep for several nights." We hope it's just a lack of sleep behind Larionov's listless play so far. It's only been three games, but if they are a sample of what Igor will deliver, expect another entry in the Errey-Garpenlov-Duchense for a draft pick conveyor belt by mid-season. The Sharks have too many young prospects who would only get better by playing in Igor's slot in the lineup. * Andrei Nazarov. True it's early in the season, but based upon the improvement in his play over last year, NHL fans may well pencil in the name Andrei Nazarov in as a future NHL star. While last year Nazarov appeared to have lead skates, and racked up game misconducts as regularly as his ice shifts, this year Andrei's play is starting to justify his first round selection by the Sharks. While no one would ever expect Nazarov to shy away from physical play (he picked up one game misconduct in the preseason) his puck handling, forechecking, positional play, and skating have elevated Andrei's play to to one of the leading Sharks thus far this season. As his confidence grows expect more and more. * Coinciding with a new 3 year contract for Head Coach Kevin Constantine, the Sharks announced they would be flip-flopping coaches between San Jose and their Kansas City minor league affiliate. Sharks assistant coaches Drew Remenda and Vasily Tikhonov are going to Kansas City, while Blades coaches Jim Wiley and Mark Kaufman will be moving up to San Jose. Tikhonov aspires to be an NHL head coach and views the IHL head job experience as a necessary card punch for an NHL job. Remenda has been the Sharks video and "up-in-the-box" coach since the days of George Kingston and seeks behind the bench experience. Constantine signed for a reported cool mill over the 3 years. -------------------------------------------------------------------- VANCOUVER CANUCKS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Coach: Rick Ley Roster: C - Trevor Linden, Mike Ridley, Cliff Ronning. LW - Alexander Mogilny, Josef Beranek, Martin Gelinas, Alek Stojanov, Gino Odjick. RW - Pavel Bure, Russ Courtnall, Roman Oksiuta, Tim Hunter, Scott Walker, Jim Sandlak. D - Jeff Brown, Jyrki Lumme, Dana Murzyn, Bret Hedican, Jassen Cullimore, Dave Babych, Leif Rohlin, Dean Malkoc. G - Kirk McLean, Corey Hirsch. Injuries: None. Transactions: None. TEAM NEWS by Carol Schram Canuck fans were expecting big things from their offense this year, and after a lackluster home opener against Detroit to inaugurate the new GM Place, there were goals a-plenty in California. The Canucks built a 5-1 lead against the LA Kings before falling behind 7-5 and finally coming back to record a 7-7 overtime tie on Thursday night. Then, they led San Jose 6-1 until the 11 minute mark of the third period on Saturday. The Sharks struggled back to 6-5 before Alex Mogilny scored his third of the night by blowing a shot right through Wade Flaherty at 16:56. Igor Larionov kept it interesting by scoring one more goal on the power play with Flaherty pulled for a two man advantage, but the Canucks hung on long enough to squeak out their first victory of the year in nail-biting style. They chartered home after the game to prepare for a rematch against the Kings on Sunday. Coach Rick Ley surprised everyone during the last week of training camp by breaking up the much-anticipated tandem of Mogilny and Pavel Bure. Truth is, they weren't doing much together, and both seem more comfortable playing the right side. With Bure, Mike Ridley, and Russ Courtnall on one line, Mogilny, Cliff Ronning and Roman Oksiuta on a second, and Trevor Linden with Josef Beranek and Martin Gelinas, it looks like Ley has juggled the pieces of the puzzle and come up with three threatening offensive lines. With all the fuss over the Russians, little has been made about the strong play of Courtnall, in particular, and Ronning, who's back after missing two games with a groin injury. Scott Walker won the fourth line center position from John McIntyre in training camp, and he's quickly becoming a fan favorite. In the absence of Gino Odjick at the home opener, Walker gamely stood in with Detroit's Darren McCarty; he's just 5'9", but seems fearless going up against the bigger players. Other grinders fighting for ice time include veterans Tim Hunter and Odjick, along with rookie Alek Stojanov and former Canuck Jim Sandlak. After making a few appearances during the playoffs last year and impressing with his size, Stojanov earned himself a place in the coach's doghouse by reporting to training camp well above his playing weight. He was sent down to Syracuse, injured his hip flexor, then found his way back up to the big team in time for the GM Place opening ceremonies. Sandlak became an unrestricted free agent after 2+ seasons in Hartford, and when the Canucks offered him a tryout contract, he made it no secret that Vancouver was his destination of choice after toiling here for a number of years when the Canucks were a shadow of their current selves. He was signed to a one-year deal just before the start of the season, at a considerable cut in pay from what he was making last year in Hartford. Sandlak is happy, but has yet to make much of an impression on the ice. There has also been drama in the 'Nucks net. The team signed backup goalie Kay Whitmore to a new contract over the summer with a 15% increase, to roughly $600,000 -- this despite the fact that his record last season was 0-6-2. The team started camp with Whitmore, Kirk McLean, Syracuse veteran Mike Fountain, and Olympic Silver Medallist Corey Hirsch, acquired from the New York Rangers at the '95 trading deadline in exchange for forward Nathan LaFayette. All three potential backups looked strong in camp, but Fountain is the only one on a two-way contract, so he was the first to be sent down. Whitmore continued to play well, but Hirsch also continued to impress and began logging more and more ice time as the pre-season wound down. Then, just before the regular season started, Kay Whitmore quietly cleared waivers. He has stated that he will not report to the Canucks' Syracuse affiliate, so he is currently sitting home in Vancouver as they look to place him with an IHL team. Despite his poor record last year, Whitmore posted respectable backup numbers in his two previous seasons with the Canucks and was very well liked by his teammates, the media, and fans. Hirsch appears to be an exciting young prospect, but Whitmore will be missed. The way things are going, he's probably glad to be out of the firing line that the Canucks' goal has become. So far the team's getting the goals they promised, but fans are having a fit over the their sudden lack of defense and inability to hang onto a big lead. The Canucks led the league with 18 goals against in three games, despite the fact that McLean (in the first two games) and Hirsch (against the Sharks) did not look all that bad. The team is currently carrying eight defensemen, and Jassen Cullimore replaced Dana Murzyn in the San Jose game after Murzyn looked weak at times, especially against the speedy Red Wings. Rookie Dean Malkoc is adding toughness to the blueline but appears prone to bad penalties, and Leif Rohlin made minimal contributions as a winger in the opener. Trevor Linden was quick to admit that a lot of the responsibility for the breakdown rests on the forwards. He says the team continues to struggle on the ice as a five man unit. The team also seems like it will be prone to letting up once it gets the big lead, knowing that more goals should be easy to come by. After Sunday's rematch against the Kings, the Canucks head out on the road for four games over the next two weeks: they play Anaheim and Edmonton, then back-to-back games against the Rangers and New Jersey, before heading back for a four-game homestand to close out October. ===================================================================== Thoughts and Ideas from a Dorm Room Somewhere... By Jim Iovino *The NHL's new slogan for this season is "The coolest game on Earth." While this seems to be a clever little saying that all fans can relate to, it lacks imagination and creativity. Just a few years ago, the slogan was "The fastest game on ice." Don't these seem a little too similar to you? You'd think that the league could get away from these catchy phrases that leave themselves open for criticism. Of course the NHL is the fastest game on ice, but how many other sports are? Well, there is curling, but that rock is just a tad bit slower than Alexander Mogilny. But I'll give the sport one thing, the people that use the brooms could kick my Grandma's butt any day. Last season the "Game On" slogan used by the NHL bordered on the creative side, although the Wayne's World movie from which it came from was already "passe" when the catch phrase was announced. The movie did have a distinct hockey tone to it, complete with Stan Mikita's Doughnuts and Officer Koharski, and Mike Myers (a.k.a Wayne) is a hockey fan, so there was a method to their madness. But now we have to endure an entire season of watching people tell me the NHL is the coolest game on Earth. Well, it is played on ice, so it should be a hell of a lot colder than a baseball or basketball game. The Green Bay Packers "frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" could give the NHL a run for its money, but based on consistency, hockey should win hands down. We here at LCS think the NHL should stick with their simplistic advertising next season as well. Just imagine all the possibilities... "NHL hockey: We've got pucks." *When Larry Murphy returned to Pittsburgh for the first game of the season after being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, he received a sparse, yet vocal "whooping" from Pens fans. I was at that game, and yes, I whooped him a little myself. But I don't think there was any mean spirits aimed at Murphy by the whooping. Personally, I like Larry Murphy, but I always thought the whooping looked like a cool thing to do, so now that I had my opportunity to whoop it up a bit, I took full advantage of it. Just to clear up a few things, Murphy said last year that he really didn't mind the whooping he has heard around the league, especially in Washington. He said that it makes him concentrate more during the games. The whooping started when Murph played for the Capitals. It seems a few season ticket holders didn't seem to like Murphy's play, which at times can be, let's put this gently, unique. So the ticket holders started whooping whenever Murphy touched the puck, hoping to distract him, I guess. It just so happened that the taunters sat close to the television booth, so their whooping could be heard in the homes of all Caps fans, who picked up on it, and started whooping him as well when they went to games. And from those humble beginnings, the whooping eventually led to Murphy being sent packing by Capital management. *While I'm on the subject of Larry Murphy, I just couldn't help but notice that he has gotten significantly slower and has become less of a threat than he was a year ago. Of course, it might be that his lack of speed didn't show while he was with the Pens because of their defense's overall limited mobility and slowness, but things just aren't looking too good for the 34-year-old power play specialist. Murphy has been caught up ice a lot during his first few games with the Leafs and seems to have become a bigger liability in his own end than he was before. It could be that he's just trying too hard to impress the coaches and fans in Toronto, therefore his mind might not be totally focused on his job, but there's no reason for him to look this bad this early in the season. If his production doesn't rise in the next two weeks, and Toronto's power play continues to stall, look for Leafs fans to carry on the grand whooping tradition a lot sooner than they would have expected. ======================================================= NEXT ISSUE: Tuesday, October 31st. Well, that wraps up another one. Since the season just started, we didn't include stats in this issue. If you really need them, stop by our web site at... http://www.westol.com/~sportif/sportif.html If you haven't been by the web lately, now is the time to check it out. We've added a number of new features and graphics just to make your visit all the more enjoyable. Before we go, here are the NHL standings and league leaders through Monday, October 16. Take it easy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1995-96 NHL STANDINGS (Thru October 16, 1995) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EASTERN CONFERENCE NORTHEAST DIVISION GP W L T GF GA PTS Home Road Hartford............... 3 3 0 0 8 4 6 3-0-0 0-0-0 Pittsburgh............. 4 2 1 1 20 16 5 2-0-0 0-1-1 Boston................. 5 1 2 2 21 22 4 1-0-1 0-2-1 Ottawa................. 3 1 2 0 10 13 2 0-1-0 1-1-0 Buffalo................ 4 1 3 0 10 14 2 0-2-0 1-1-0 Montreal............... 4 0 4 0 4 20 0 0-2-0 0-2-0 ATLANTIC DIVISION GP W L T GF GA PTS Home Road New Jersey............. 4 4 0 0 16 5 8 2-0-0 2-0-0 Philadelphia........... 4 4 0 0 19 3 8 2-0-0 2-0-0 Florida................ 5 4 1 0 21 13 8 4-0-0 0-1-0 Washington............. 4 3 1 0 10 4 6 3-0-0 0-1-0 N.Y. Rangers........... 3 2 1 0 8 6 4 1-0-0 1-1-0 Tampa Bay.............. 4 1 2 1 10 13 3 1-1-1 0-1-0 N.Y. Islanders......... 4 0 3 1 10 19 1 0-1-0 0-2-1 WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION GP W L T GF GA PTS Home Road Detroit................ 5 3 1 1 24 12 7 1-0-0 2-1-1 St. Louis.............. 4 3 1 0 13 9 6 2-0-0 1-1-0 Chicago................ 5 2 2 1 17 14 5 1-0-1 1-2-0 Winnipeg............... 5 2 2 1 21 23 5 2-0-1 0-2-0 Dallas................. 4 2 2 0 19 18 4 2-1-0 0-1-0 Toronto................ 3 1 2 0 10 13 2 1-1-0 0-1-0 PACIFIC DIVISION GP W L T GF GA PTS Home Road Los Angeles............ 4 2 0 2 20 17 6 2-0-1 0-0-1 Colorado............... 6 2 3 1 16 20 5 2-0-1 0-3-0 Vancouver.............. 4 1 1 2 20 21 4 0-1-1 1-0-1 Anaheim................ 4 1 3 0 11 13 2 0-0-0 1-3-0 Calgary................ 4 0 2 2 10 15 2 0-0-0 0-2-2 San Jose............... 3 0 2 1 15 17 1 0-2-1 0-0-0 Edmonton............... 4 0 4 0 5 24 0 0-1-0 0-3-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1995-96 NHL LEAGUE LEADERS (Thru October 16, 1995) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHL POINT LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCT Adam Oates BOS 5 2 10 12 3 2 1 0 0 0 13 15.4 Mario Lemieux PIT 4 3 8 11 -4 2 2 1 0 0 22 13.6 Jaromir Jagr PIT 4 5 5 10 1 2 1 0 1 1 24 20.8 Alex Mogilny VAN 4 5 4 9 3 0 0 0 1 0 22 22.7 Joe Sakic COL 6 5 4 9 0 8 3 0 0 0 12 41.7 Stu Barnes FLO 5 4 5 9 2 2 2 0 1 0 10 40.0 Ron Francis PIT 4 3 6 9 0 4 3 0 0 0 7 42.9 John Leclair PHI 4 3 6 9 2 4 2 0 1 0 12 25.0 Scott Mellanby FLA 5 5 3 8 -2 6 4 0 0 0 12 41.7 Rod Brindamour PHI 4 4 4 8 6 2 0 2 1 0 12 33.3 Rick Tocchet LOS 4 4 4 8 -1 6 0 0 0 0 17 23.5 Steve Yzerman DET 5 3 5 8 2 0 2 0 0 0 19 15.8 Valeri Kamensky COL 6 2 6 8 4 4 1 0 1 0 14 14.3 Cam Neely BOS 5 6 1 7 2 4 2 0 0 0 22 27.3 Igor Korolev WIN 5 5 2 7 2 6 1 0 1 1 17 29.4 Tomas Sandstrom PIT 4 5 2 7 -5 4 4 0 0 0 14 35.7 Eric Lindros PHI 4 3 4 7 6 9 1 1 1 0 10 30.0 Wayne Gretzky LOS 4 1 6 7 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 12.5 Dino Ciccarelli DET 4 4 2 6 1 2 3 0 0 0 10 40.0 Brett Hull STL 4 4 2 6 2 14 2 1 0 0 15 26.7 Kevin Hatcher DAL 4 4 2 6 0 4 2 0 0 0 16 25.0 Mikael Renberg PHI 4 4 2 6 3 2 3 0 1 0 24 16.7 Steve Rucchin ANA 4 4 2 6 2 0 1 0 0 0 10 40.0 Mats Sundin TOR 3 4 2 6 0 0 1 1 0 0 16 25.0 Vitali Yachmenev LOS 4 4 2 6 1 0 2 0 1 0 7 57.1 John MacLean NJD 4 3 3 6 3 0 2 0 1 0 10 30.0 Yanic Perreault LOS 4 3 3 6 1 0 2 0 1 0 11 27.3 Dan Quinn OTT 3 3 3 6 0 2 2 0 0 0 7 42.9 Trevor Linden VAN 4 2 4 6 -1 0 0 0 0 0 10 20.0 Shawn Mceachern BOS 5 2 4 6 3 0 0 1 0 0 13 15.4 Dave Babych VAN 4 1 5 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 6 16.7 Ray Bourque BOS 5 1 5 6 1 2 1 0 0 0 25 4.0 Craig Janney SAN 3 1 5 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 50.0 Pat Lafontaine BUF 4 1 5 6 -3 0 0 0 0 0 5 20.0 NHL GOAL SCORING LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP G Cam Neely Boston 5 6 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 4 5 Alex Mogilny Vancouver 4 5 Tomas Sandstrom Pittsburgh 4 5 Igor Korolev Winnipeg 5 5 Scott Mellanby Florida 5 5 Joe Sakic Colorado 6 5 Mats Sundin Toronto 3 4 Rod Brindamour Philadelphia 4 4 Dino Ciccarelli Detroit 4 4 Dave Gagner Dallas 4 4 Brett Hull St Louis 4 4 Kevin Hatcher Dallas 4 4 Petr Klima Tampa Bay 4 4 Paul Kariya Anaheim 4 4 Mikael Renberg Philadelphia 4 4 Steve Rucchin Anaheim 4 4 Rick Tocchet Los Angeles 4 4 Vitali Yachmenev Los Angeles 4 4 Stu Barnes Florida 5 4 NHL ASSIST LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP A Adam Oates Boston 5 10 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh 4 8 Ron Francis Pittsburgh 4 6 Wayne Gretzky Los Angeles 4 6 John Leclair Philadelphia 4 6 Vyacheslav Kozlov Detroit 5 6 Valeri Kamensky Colorado 6 6 Craig Janney San Jose 3 5 Dave Babych Vancouver 4 5 Jaromir Jagr Pittsburgh 4 5 Pat Lafontaine Buffalo 4 5 Stu Barnes Florida 5 5 Ray Bourque Boston 5 5 Steve Yzerman Detroit 5 5 NHL POWER PLAY GOAL LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP PP Tomas Sandstrom Pittsburgh 4 4 Scott Mellanby Florida 5 4 Dino Ciccarelli Detroit 4 3 Ron Francis Pittsburgh 4 3 Petr Klima Tampa Bay 4 3 Mikael Renberg Philadelphia 4 3 Joe Sakic Colorado 6 3 *21 PLAYERS TIED WITH 2 EACH NHL PLUS/MINUS LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP +/- Darryl Shannon Winnipeg 5 7 Neil Wilkinson Winnipeg 5 6 Rod Brindamour Philadelphia 4 6 Eric Lindros Philadelphia 4 6 Roman Oksiuta Vancouver 4 6 Kjell Samuelsson Philadelphia 4 6 Scott Stevens New Jersey 4 6 Eric Desjardins Philadelphia 4 5 Jim Dowd New Jersey 4 5 Brent Fedyk Philadelphia 4 5 Kevin Haller Philadelphia 4 5 Chris Therien Philadelphia 4 5 Sean Hill Ottawa 3 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1995-96 NHL DEFENSEMEN LEADERS (Thru October 16, 1995) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHL DEFENSEMEN SCORING LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCT Kevin Hatcher DAL 4 4 2 6 0 4 2 0 0 0 16 25.0 Dave Babych VAN 4 1 5 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 6 16.7 Ray Bourque BOS 5 1 5 6 1 2 1 0 0 0 25 4.0 Vlad. Konstantinov DET 5 3 2 5 3 4 0 0 0 0 9 33.3 Sergei Zubov PIT 2 1 4 5 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 33.3 Jason Woolley FFL 5 1 4 5 4 4 0 0 0 0 11 9.1 Roman Hamrlik TAM 4 0 5 5 -1 4 0 0 0 0 11 .0 Chris Chelios CHI 5 2 2 4 2 4 1 0 1 0 16 12.5 Darryl Shannon WIN 5 2 2 4 6 31 0 0 0 0 5 40.0 Gary Suter CHI 5 2 2 4 1 12 2 0 1 0 20 10.0 Nicklas Lidstrom DET 5 2 2 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 8 25.0 Al Macinnis STL 4 1 3 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 10 10.0 Teppo Numminen WIN 5 1 3 4 0 8 1 0 0 0 9 11.1 Eric Desjardins PHI 4 0 4 4 5 4 0 0 0 0 5 .0 Paul Coffey DET 5 0 4 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 11 .0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1995-96 NHL ROOKIE LEADERS (Thru October 16, 1995) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHL ROOKIE POINT LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCT Vitali Yachmenev LOS 4 4 2 6 1 0 2 0 1 0 7 57.1 Todd Bertuzzi NYI 4 2 2 4 -2 6 0 0 0 0 9 22.2 Shean Donovan SAN 3 3 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 6 50.0 Cory Stillman CAL 3 2 1 3 2 4 0 0 0 0 5 40.0 Denis Pederson NJD 3 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 50.0 Eric Daze CHI 5 2 1 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 7 28.6 Antti Tormanen OTT 3 0 3 3 -2 2 0 0 0 0 5 .0 Denny Lambert ANA 4 0 3 3 2 17 0 0 0 0 4 .0 Robert Svehla FLO 4 0 3 3 -1 4 0 0 0 0 6 .0 Shane Doan WIN 5 0 3 3 -2 6 0 0 0 0 14 .0 NHL ROOKIE GOAL SCORING LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP G Vitali Yachmenev Los Angeles 4 4 Shean Donovan San Jose 3 3 Cory Stillman Calgary 3 2 Marcus Ragnarsson San Jose 3 2 Niklas Sundstrom NY Rangers 3 2 Denis Pederson New Jersey 3 2 Todd Bertuzzi NY Islanders 4 2 Marty Murray Calgary 4 2 Eric Daze Chicago 5 2 NHL ROOKIE ASSIST LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP A Antti Tormanen Ottawa 3 3 Denny Lambert Anaheim 4 3 Robert Svehla Florida 4 3 Shane Doan Winnipeg 5 3 Stefan Ustorf Washington 3 2 Jere Lehtinen Dallas 3 2 Todd Bertuzzi NY Islanders 4 2 Vitali Yachmenev Los Angeles 4 2 David Nemirovsky Florida 4 2 Craig Mills Winnipeg 4 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1995-96 NHL GOALTENDING LEADERS (Thru October 16, 1995) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHL WIN LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP W L T Martin Brodeur New Jersey 4 4 0 0 Jim Carey Washington 3 3 0 0 Ron Hextall Philadelphia 3 3 0 0 Sean Burke Hartford 3 3 0 0 Grant Fuhr St Louis 4 3 1 0 Byron Dafoe Los Angeles 4 2 0 2 Mark Fitzpatrick Florida 2 2 0 0 Chris Osgood Detroit 2 2 0 0 Ed Belfour Chicago 4 2 1 0 Mike Richter NY Rangers 3 2 1 0 Tom Barrasso Pittsburgh 3 2 1 0 Stephane Fiset Colorado 5 2 2 1 NHL GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE LEADERS (Minimum 1 games played) PLAYER TEAM GP GA AVG Dominic Roussel Philadelphia 1 0 0.00 Chris Osgood Detroit 2 1 0.50 Jim Carey Washington 3 2 0.67 Ron Hextall Philadelphia 3 3 1.00 Jeff Hackett Chicago 2 2 1.21 Martin Brodeur New Jersey 4 5 1.25 Sean Burke Hartford 3 4 1.33 Mark Fitzpatrick Florida 2 3 1.50 J.C. Bergeron Tampa Bay 1 2 2.00 Olaf Kolzig Washington 1 2 2.00 Mike Richter NY Rangers 3 6 2.00 NHL SAVE PERCENTAGE LEADERS PLAYER TEAM GP GA SA SPCT Dominic Roussel Philadelphia 1 0 19 1.000 Chris Osgood Detroit 2 1 44 .977 Jim Carey Washington 3 2 65 .969 Sean Burke Hartford 3 4 99 .960 Ron Hextall Philadelphia 3 3 75 .960 Martin Brodeur New Jersey 4 5 108 .954 Jeff Hackett Chicago 2 2 41 .951 Tommy Salo NY Islanders 2 3 56 .946 Mark Fitzpatrick Florida 2 3 51 .941 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------