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| |/  _ / __|   | |/  _ / __|      | |/  _ / __|   | |/  _ / __| 
| |  (_ \__ \   | |  (_ \__ \      | |  (_ \__ \   | |  (_ \__ \
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Issue 98              June 2 - June 9, 1998        138,000 bytes
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hasek Saves Sabres
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

The Capitals were dominant.  But Dominik Hasek was the Dominator. 
Despite being severely outplayed, the Buffalo Sabres stayed alive
in the Eastern Conference Finals by beating Washington 2-1
Tuesday night behind the spectacular goaltending of Hasek and a
brilliant individual effort from Jason Woolley.      

The game was tied 1-1 late in the third period when Woolley
grabbed the puck just inside his own blue line.  The Buffalo
defender then made his way up the middle of the ice without much
pressure until he hit the Washington stripe.  With Calle
Johansson back in perfect position, Woolley dipped his shoulder
and sold a move to the outside that completely fooled Johansson. 
By the time the Swedish blueliner realized his mistake, Woolley
had cut back to the middle and was home free down the slot. 
Johansson was able to recover enough to get a stick on Woolley
and pull him off his skates, but it wasn't enough to stop the
Sabre from wristing a shot between Olaf Kolzig's pads for the
winner.  The goal was Woolley's second of the playoffs and came
at 15:34.   

The goal completely stunned the Capitals and the raucous faithful
at the MCI Center.  Up until the point Woolley made his magical
journey up ice, the Capitals were in complete control of the
contest.  Washington outshot Buffalo 35-16 for the evening, with
the Sabres failing to generate anything in the way of quality
scoring chances.  The Capitals, however, had no such problem.  

Defense was little more than a suggestion to the Sabres.  The
likes of Adam Oates, Joe Juneau, Peter Bondra, and Richard Zednik
carved up the Buffalo zone and swarmed the net at every
opportunity.  The dominance reached its peak in the second period
when the Caps manhandled the Sabres to the tune of a 13-2
advantage in shots, with both Sabre chances being more faint than
Gary Coleman's career.  

Surprisingly, Buffalo actually scored the game's opening goal at
6:33 of the first period.  Darryl Shannon faked a slap shot from
the right point, waited for traffic to set up in front, and then
wristed a low shot five-hole on Kolzig for his second of the
postseason.  Olaf never even saw the shot.  If he had, it would
have been hard not to stop it.  This one was what we in the
business like to call "weak."  

Washington answered on the power play at 16:29 of the first
period courtesy of Andre Nikolishin.  Bondra and Zednik were
trying to work the puck in the left wing corner and drew the
attention of all four Sabres.  Richard Smehlik was able to reach
in and sweep the puck away from Zednik, but unfortunately it
bounced its way through a vacated slot to Nikolishin near the
bottom of the right circle.  With everyone overloaded on the left
wing, there was no one in the neighborhood to stop Nikolishin
from snapping a bullet high short side past Hasek.  There was
much rejoicing.  But it wouldn't last.

Slowly but surely Hasek began to exert his will on the game.  The
more pressure Washington applied, the stronger Hasek became.  One
huge save began to melt into another.  No matter how overwhelming
the Washington assault, one always had the feeling that it just
wasn't going to be enough.  This was Hasek's night. 

The first period witnessed Hasek stone Sergei Gonchar and Phil
Housley from the slot on the same power play with perfect
butterfly saves.  The opening frame also featured Hasek getting a
bit lucky.  Bondra bolted behind the defense short-handed, but
got hooked to the ice by Richard Smehlik before he could fire a
shot.  The puck rolled off Bondra's blade and trickled through
Hasek's pads.  Good ol' Dominik didn't know the puck was behind
him, but as he turned to his right to avoid the sliding Bondra,
Hasek's right skate swung behind him and booted the puck from the
crease just inches before it crossed the goal line.  Hasek then
dove on his stomach to the right wing post and denied the follow-
up chance by Nikolishin.  This entire sequence took place in the
final minute of the period.  A late goal there would have been
devastating.  

Washington continued to turn up the heat in the second.  The
period opened with the Caps misfiring on their best
opportunities, as Juneau and Chris Simon both buried glorious
chances into the backboards.  This was all just setting the
stage, though, for what could prove to be the turning point in
the game, and perhaps the series.  

It started with Oates taking a pass into the Buffalo zone on the
right side.  Bob Boughner was the only Sabre back and he was over
in the middle, leaving Oates a clear lane to the net on right
wing.  But always the playmaker, Oates knew he had guys trailing
the play and didn't force the issue.  Instead, he calmly drifted
towards the cage to occupy Boughner before dropping a pass to
Gonchar coming late down the slot.  The mad Russian faked a shot
and then cut towards the left wing, drawing Hasek with him. 
Gonchar held on to the puck for what seemed like an eternity
before sliding a sweet pass back through the crease to Oates at
the right wing post.  With Hasek still at the left pipe, it
seemed Oates had an easy tap-in.  Yet just as the offensive
genius began to push a backhander into the gaping net, Hasek
lunged backwards through the crease and stretched his blocker
along the ice to shut him down.  Hasek never saw the shot.  But
what else is new?  Juneau then streaked through the crease only
to jam the rebound off Hasek's still prone blocker.  It was
unbelievable.  
             
So let's review.  Oates was planted at the right post with the
puck.  He had a big ol' open net, no defender in sight, and Hasek
flat on his back.  It could have been 2-1 Caps.  It should have
been 2-1 Caps.  Thanks to Hasek, and only Hasek, it wasn't 2-1
Caps.

Just moments later, Esa Tikkanen and Gonchar busted back two-on-
one only to have Gonchar rifle his shot about 40 feet over the
net.  For some reason, players have a tendency to miss the net
once Hasek makes a great save.  It's, like, his aura or something
that causes it.  Don Knotts has the same sort of thing goin' for
him.  

Hasek continued his one-man show in the third.  Bondra had a wide
open look from the bottom of the left circle, but Hasek turned
him aside with another butterfly stop.  But Bondra wasn't done. 
About seven minutes into the stanza the Slovakian speedster
stormed in on his second short-handed breakaway of the game. 
This time he was in free without a defender in sight.  Bondra
came with speed and attempted to freeze Hasek with a backhand
fake before trying to stuff a shot behind him low forehand. 
Hasek never bit on the first move and followed the play
beautifully, snuffing Bondra's bid with his right pad.  This was
truly Hasek's best save of the night.  The one on Oates was more
miraculous, but it was also a whole lot luckier.  Hasek was in
total control this time.  A breakaway just couldn't be played any
better.  

Before Bondra and the Caps could let their heads sink too low,
Vaclav Varada handed them a power play with a hooking penalty at
8:35.  Nikolishin had the first big chance of the man-advantage,
blasting a slap shot off the rush on left wing that Hasek
absorbed in his stomach.  Not long after this save, things got a
bit controversial.  

The Caps were all over the Buffalo net when a rebound found Oates
behind the cage.  He quickly tried to tuck the puck inside the
left wing post, but the biscuit and Hasek's blocker reached the
bar at about the same time.  Oates and Bondra immediately started
to celebrate a goal.  The only catch was that they were the only
two to see the puck go in, if in fact it ever did.  The play was
reviewed with all replays being inconclusive.  The score remained
1-1.  

Washington didn't let up.  Zednik soon exploded down right wing
and tried to place a backhander high short side only to have
Hasek swat it away with his left arm.  Aw, it was pretty.  Next,
Oates created a shooting hole for Juneau in the left circle with
a nifty drop pass.  Hasek thwarted it with his right pad.  

That was really the Caps' last great chance.  Woolley would score
moments later to take most of the wind out of the Washington
sails.  Hasek almost gave the game away by wandering out of his
net in the final seconds, but a desperation centering pass died a
lonely death.        

Of all the possible ways Washington could lose Game Five, this
was, without doubt, the worst.  It would have been one thing to
have the Sabre offense show up and score four or five goals.  But
to have Hasek steal a game on his own is exactly what the Caps
wanted to avoid.  Now Hasek has his confidence back and the
Sabres have new life.  That could be trouble for the Caps. 

Game Six is Thursday night in Buffalo.  A Washington win would
make all of the above pretty much meaningless.  But if Buffalo
wins, and forces a Game Seven, this is just another meaningful chapter in
the growing legend of Dominik Hasek.

<h2>Impressive Performances</h2>

BUFFALO

Dominik Hasek (34 saves):  Hasek is the only reason why
the Sabres won this game.  

Jason Woolley (1-0-1):  Who knew he had it in 'im? 
Woolley's goal was incredible.  That there was one of them Mario
Lemieux goals.  That's what that was.

WASHINGTON

Adam Oates:  Sure, he did miss on the game's deciding
play, but Oates was at his best.  Not only did he win seemingly
every faceoff he took, Oates worked his playmaking genius like a
conductor leading an orchestra.  I don't really know what that
means, other than the fact that he was wearing one of them funny
tuxedos with the really long tails.  

Peter Bondra:  Watching Bondra skate is fun.  He had more
hop than Barnum's flea.  Once again, I have no idea what that
means.  Speaking of fleas... you know where you find a lot of
fleas?  A bug zoo.  Hey, I just won a bet.  Hi, Jerry!

Richard Zednik:  This guy's got mad skills.  His
backhander down the wing in the third period would have beaten
any other goaltender on the planet.  
     
<h2>Lines</h2>

Buffalo:  Derek Plante was back in the lineup, while Wayne
Primeau was a healthy scratch.  Without Primeau around to center
a fourth line with Rob Ray, the Buffalo lines were juggled most
of the night.  Although Ray only saw, like, one shift all
evening.  The following are a sampling of the combinations seen.

OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)

Sanderson - Plante - Satan 
Sanderson - Holzinger - Satan 
Audette - Holzinger - Satan 
Ward - Peca - Varada 
Grosek - Brown - Barnaby 
Varada - Holzinger - Ray

DEFENSE

Zhitnik - Smehlik 
Wilson - Shannon 
Woolley - Boughner

POWER PLAY

Grosek - Brown - Barnaby - Zhitnik - Woolley  
Audette - Plante - Satan - Shannon - Woolley 

SHORT-HANDED

Peca - Ward - Zhitnik - Smehlik 
Brown - Plante - Wilson - Shannon

Washington:  Todd Krygier was out with a groin strain and
was replaced by Kelly Miller, who was playing his first game of
the series.  

OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)

Juneau - Oates - Bellows 
Zednik - Nikolishin - Bondra 
Eagles - Tikkanen - Miller 
Berube - Hunter - Simon

DEFENSE

Tinordi - Johansson 
Reekie - Gonchar 
Witt - Housley 

POWER PLAY

Juneau - Oates - Bellows - Housley - Gonchar 
Zednik - Nikolishin - Bondra - Housley - Gonchar

SHORT-HANDED

Oates - Juneau - Tinordi - Johansson 
Nikolishin - Bondra - Reekie - Gonchar

         

--------------------------------------------------------------
 C R E D I T S
---------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Dell........................Editor-in-Chief
Zippy the Wonder Chimp....................Webmaster
Michael Secosky............................Producer
Jim Iovino.............................Ace Reporter
Matthew Secosky..............Scourge of Switzerland
Marc Boucher..............................Publisher
Dan Hurwitz.........................Featured Writer
Nicole Agostino...........................Stat Girl
Alex Carswell.................Anaheim Correspondent
Matt Brown.....................Boston Correspondent
Joe Brunner...................Buffalo Correspondent
Tony Wong.....................Calgary Correspondent
Brad Kane....................Carolina Correspondent
Thomas Crawford...............Chicago Correspondent
Greg D'Avis..................Colorado Correspondent
Jim Panenka....................Dallas Correspondent
Dino Cacciola.................Detroit Correspondent
Simon D. Lewis...............Edmonton Correspondent
Eric A. Seiden................Florida Correspondent
Matt Moore................Los Angeles Correspondent
Jacques Robert...............Montreal Correspondent
Phil Aromando..............New Jersey Correspondent
David Strauss...............Islanders Correspondent
Alex Frias....................Rangers Correspondent
The Nosebleeders..............Ottawa Correspondents
Eric Meyer...............Philadelphia Correspondent
Vacant........................Phoenix Correspondent
Tom Cooper..................St. Louis Correspondent
Al Swanson...................San Jose Correspondent
Seth Lerman.................Tampa Bay Correspondent
Jonah Sigel...................Toronto Correspondent
Carol Schram................Vancouver Correspondent
Jason Sheehan..............Washington Correspondent
Tricia McMillan...................AHL Correspondent
James Clippinger.......College Hockey Correspondent
John Alsedek..........................Correspondent
Quincy................................Staff Coroner

LCS Hockey - Issue 98; June 2, 1998
E-mail address: info@lcshockey.com 
Good ol' postal address: 406 Sheffield Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601. 
Web Site: http://www.lcshockey.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detroit and Dallas: Siblings Separated at Birth?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Jim Panenka

Everyone knew that the Dallas and Detroit conference finals series
was going to be a good one. And so far, neither team has
disappointed.  

There was the convincing Game 1 win by the Red Wings. There was that
great Game 2 comeback win by Dallas. Game 3 had both teams slugging
it out to a 5-3 barnburner. Game 4 nearly saw the most unlikely of
comebacks by Dallas.  

Yes, the play has been at times both physical and graceful. There
has been plenty of cautious, defensive play. And, to make things
interesting, they even traded rushes during most of Game 3.  

Osgood and Belfour have dueled to a near-draw. Hatcher, Ludwig, and
Matvichuk have been parting the great Red and White seas with
punishing, physical play.  

The Wings' grind line of Maltby and Draper have been a thorn in
every Star's side. Then, of course, there's the heroic Marty
Lapointe. This guy sure does have the hot hand for Detroit.  

Lapointe scored and sealed away the Game 3 victory. He also took
part in the unraveling of Ed Belfour during Game 4. Hopefully, the
guy can still have kids after that vicious slash to the groin by
Eddie the Eagle.  

Coach Scotty Bowman has masterfully called the Detroit game up to
this point. And, Ken Hitchcock appears to have mostly flattened out
the learning curve when it comes to coaching in the playoffs.  

Both teams now refer to each other with a cautious respect. Dallas
recognizes Detroit's power, and the Stanley Cup win, knowing
Detroit is still the true champion for now. And Detroit respects
Dallas for the great team they are, now a legitimate threat to
Detroit's throne.  

This series has been everything a fan could want and more. It had no
other choice but to be that way.  

Why is that, you ask? Well, because the Dallas Stars have always
been the little brother waiting to get the hand-me-downs from the
Big Brother Detroit Red Wings. Both franchises have unusual ties to
each other.  

The Dallas Stars historically have had very bad luck at Joe Louis
Arena. We like to call it "The Curse at the Joe" around here. For
some unknown reason, the Stars franchise has a suspect record of
1-16-2 at The Joe since moving to Dallas from Minnesota.  

Obviously, the Stars were a team in waiting back then. They had a
Cinderella season in '91, going all the way to the conference
finals. But shortly thereafter, the team moved to Big D, and the
financially strapped owner forced Bob Gainey to do the best he
could with only a few measly peanuts to pay his players.  

During this period, the leaner times of the franchise, Dallas
routinely faced - and was often beaten by - Detroit. Since the two
teams shared the same division, they would meet each other over and
over during the regular season.  

Dallas was clearly a team in waiting to inherit Detroit's throne.
But, it was obvious Dallas had a long way to go to before reaching
that opportunity. Loss after loss was endured at The Joe.  

Dallas had played Detroit tough last season, and those games
definitely served as a watermark for Dallas to see exactly where
they were. They were beginning to match up well. Dallas played the
Wings better last year than this season, and ended up with a 4-2-0
record vs. Detroit.  

In fact, the only victory the Stars ever stole out of Detroit came
last year. Dallas won one time, and one time only, 2-1. The date
was January 3. Roman Turek was called up as backup netminder, and
stood on his head to hold onto the 2-1 win for Dallas.  

"We played good tonight but their goalie was pretty hot," Detroit's
Martin Lapointe said. "It didn't seem like the puck wanted to go in
the net, on the last power play we were all over them and it just
didn't go in. He's (Turek) a big goalie, he takes a lot of space
and he doesn't allow rebounds. He does a good job of jumping on
loose pucks."  

The great Curse at the Joe was over! Or so Dallas thought. 

Enter this season. In only the fourth game of the year, Dallas faced
the Red Wings on the very night that Detroit raised their Stanley Cup
championship banner to the roof at Joe Louis Arena. The result? No
surprise. Detroit won 3-1.  

A month later, the Stars once again faced Detroit at The Joe. Three
separate Detroit players scored within 70 seconds to cap off a
four-goal first period for Detroit. The result? A 4-2 loss for
Dallas.  

"I thought that was irrelevant," Stars coach Ken Hitchock said at
the time of the three-goal flurry. "We just have too many people in
our group who don't believe we can beat this team. Until that
attitude changes, or we can find a way to change it, it does not
matter. There are too many people in that dressing room who don't
think we can beat that team."  

Was that a dubious statement, or what? 

"It bothers us a little, but we are planning on winning games
against other teams and eventually things should even out," Mike
Modano said. "We are beating who we should beat. We played these
guys hard and strong last year, but I do not think we are doing
that this year."  

Quite right, Mo. Two games at The Joe, two losses. 

A month later, just after Christmas, Dallas and Detroit went at it
again. At Joe Louis Arena. Bob Errey, who signed with Dallas after
playing parts of three seasons with Detroit, opened the scoring 10
minutes in when he took a centering pass from Pat Verbeek and then
buried a shot from the left circle past Osgood.  

Sergei Zubov scored again with about six minutes left to tie Dallas
with Detroit 2-2. This was the only tie in Detroit in recent
memory, and it added another chapter to the Wings-Stars saga when
it was Bob Errey, a former Red Wing, who helped steal a little of
the Red Wings' thunder. Both teams were tied for first place at
that point.  

From then on, Detroit was basically chasing Dallas neck-and-neck
for the regular season points race. Dallas went on to tie Detroit
once more, and then win the regular-season finale in Dallas 3-1.
The Stars and Ed Belfour held off a season-high 44-shot onslaught
by Detroit to win the game. That victory clinched the Western
Conference championship for Dallas. It was late April, and the
playoffs were just on the horizon.  

"It wasn't so important that we won the conference as much as we
beat Detroit," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Detroit was a team we had
not beaten this year and we needed to come out and play a good
game. I was very happy with our effort and was very pleased with
our emotional level. Even though they had a lot of shots, they were
mostly from the perimeter."  

Its obvious the Stars were using the Red Wings as a watermark. And
in a weird way, Detroit was doing the same with the Stars. The
Wings had some questions to answer themselves, coming off a
championship season. Would they be able to repeat? Dallas was the
team to beat.  

The regular season series between the two teams ended 2-1-2 in
Detroit's favor. Both losses came at The Joe. 

The lack of confidence vs. Detroit at The Joe obviously was a
problem for this team in the past. It isn't totally unreasonable to
think this same problem could be hurting the Stars' chances to pull
out of this current Western Conference finals series.  

Brent Gilchrist knows what the rivalry is like on both sides.  A member 
of the Stars for over four seasons, Gilchrist signed with Detroit as a 
free agent before the season and has become a very valuable player for 
the Wings.  Gilly even had his hand in the Game 3 win for Detroit, 
scoring the first goal of the evening against his old mates.  

And, current Stars president Jim Lites has long-standing ties to the
Red Wings. Lites still owns a residence in Detroit, and commutes
often during the year to visit the wife and kids. "The wife" just
happens to be Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch's daughter.  I
guess it doesn't hurt your position in the franchise to marry the
owner's daughter!  

But, there is no question that Lites had a VERY valuable role in the
building of the current championship team. It was Jim Lites that went
to the (then) Soviet Union to hold secret meetings with several
talented Russian players. One of the players Lites spent the most
time in trying to get moved to the states was a talented newcomer
named Sergei Fedorov.  

Without Slava Fetisov's help - the deal may never have happened. It
was Fetisov who served as interpreter and cultural liason during
this turning point in the history of the NHL.  

But it was the swagger of Jim Lites that ultimately persuaded
Fedorov to defect to the states and sign with the Red Wings. Lites
went to Russia with a lump in his throat and a pocket full of cash,
determined to secure and sign Fedorov.  

In typical American fashion, he bought, bribed, or killed whatever
stood in his way. (OK, so that "killed" part may be a bit of a
stretch, but you never know with the Russian Mafia!)  

Several other "-Ovs" followed Fedorov to the states. Thanks to Jim
Lites and Fetisov, a new crop of Russian players entered the NHL.
 

Nowadays, the most exciting thing Lites gets to do is eat popcorn in
the press box next to Bob Gainey as the two men analyze their team.
There is no question that the Lites connection permanently bonds the
Stars and Wings together in a strange sibling relationship. 

The two teams' histories always seem to intertwine. That's why
during the pivotal Game 4 the Red Wings "just happened" to plan
this to be fallen comrade Vladimir Konstantinov's triumphant return
to Joe Louis Arena.  

Of course, both teams got very emotional when the arena announcers
acknowledged Vlady's presence in the luxury suite. Both teams stood
and banged their sticks on the ice in appreciation of this special
moment.  

The crowd roar was deafening as several Detroit players held back
their emotions. The Wings were determined to win one for Vlady. The
result? A Detroit win, 3-2. At the Joe.  

Of course, there are the family ties in Detroit for several Dallas
players. Mike Modano is a Michigan native. So is Shawn Chambers.
 

Then there is that family known as the Hatchers. Both Hatcher
brothers are Michigan natives. And, both the Hatcher's parents and
Shawn Chambers parents still live in Sterling Heights on Fairview
Drive, the neighborhood the kids grew up in.  

Many times the tale was told of how the Hatcher boys and Chambers
would play hockey together in the Chambers' back yard. 

John Chambers started it by flooding the backyard for Shawn and the
local boys.  

Eric Hatcher, the Hatcher boys' father, picked up the tradition, and
soon built a backyard rink complete with boards. 

It didn't take long for all the neighborhood kids to pick up on the
rink and begin showing up at the Chambers' and Hatchers' homes for
some backyard hockey.  

Derian Hatcher was to grow up on these backyard rinks, working hard
day after day to develop the skills he uses every day as the Stars'
captain.  

It is this family tie to Detroit that may make up the mental block
Stars captain Derian Hatcher has about winning in Detroit. Where
their captain goes, the Stars follow. At any rate, the historical
ties must make for some bittersweet memories for the Dallas Stars'
Detroit alumni.  

Yes, several of the Stars' players still have very deep ties to
Detroit. That's why it makes it so hard to live in Hockeytown and
be the parents of a Dallas Star.  

Since the Western Conference finals began between the two teams, the
Hatchers fly a Stars flag from the front of their house. And, John
Chambers painted a huge 20-foot Stars logo on his front lawn.  

These symbols obviously stand out in a sea of red and white. Some
Detroit faithful question their loyalty. 

"People ask who you're gonna root for," John Chambers said. "I can't
believe they're asking."  

So because of a curse, because of some family ties, and because of
some shared destiny, the Dallas Stars and the Detroit Red Wings are
building this series as one to remember for the record books.  

It couldn't have gone any other way. 


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Healthy Bondra Spells Trouble for Sabres
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Jim Iovino

It is a scenario Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff didn't want to have to
deal with.  

Sure, the Washington Capitals had a formidable offense without a
healthy Peter Bondra.  But what if Bondra returned to the form that
saw him score 52 goals during the regular season?  How would Ruff
deal with the Slovakian sniper?  

That scenario turned into reality all too quickly for Ruff and the
Sabres during the Conference finals. Bondra, who had been slowed by
a leg injury he suffered when he fell to the ice hard in the
opening round against the Boston Bruins, finally displayed the
wheels and rocket of a shot that he possesses against Buffalo.  In
four games against Dominik Hasek, Bondra has lit the lamp three
times and added an assist. 

Bondra struggled to regain his skating speed and agility during the
tail end of the Bruins' series and in the series against the Ottawa
Senators.  But it looks like Bondra is finally back.  He is in
control of his skating. He is dipping and darting through holes. 
And his shot has been upgraded from "deadly" to "lethal". 

Perhaps the best sign of Bondra's return to top form came during
overtime of Game 3.  Bondra picked up a teammate's clearing pass at
center ice and turned on the speed as he broke in down the left
side into the Sabre zone.  With about 30 feet between himself and
Hasek, Bondra took a peek at the net and then focused his attention
on the puck.  Bondra wound up and blasted a laser of a shot off the
outstretched glove of Hasek and into the net.  If Fox had been
covering the game, their mystical red comet tail wouldn't have been
necessary.  Bondra's powerful shot left a streak of its own before
it dented the back of the net.  

That goal, Bondra's third in two games, made people wake up from
their dull playoff-induced snooze.  One of the game's most exciting
players had found his game.  That could mean only one of two
things: the playoffs were going to become exciting or Bondra would
be smothered for the rest of the series by one or two opposing
forwards.  

Since this is the NHL, the first option was out of the question. 
Bondra and his linemates - Richard Zednik and Andrei Nikolishin -
were bottled up in Game 4 by the Buffalo line of Michael Peca Peca
Peca Peca Peca, Dixon Ward and Vaclav Varada. Bondra registered the
line's only two shots. 

But just because the Sabres contained Bondra, it didn't mean he
wasn't a factor in the game.  Because Bondra and Zednik both scored
twice in Game 3, they drew a lot of the attention away from the
Capitals other top scoring line of Adam Oates, Joey Juneau and
Brian Bellows.  Whenever Oates is given the slightest bit of room
to work with, he can kill the opposition with a beautiful pass or
quick shot from his short-bladed stick.  

With Bondra's line now getting a lot of the attention, the rest of
the Capital offense is getting room to breathe.  But Bondra didn't
score 52 goals in 76 games this season without a checking line
looking him straight in the eye.  Bondra is quick to find holes in
defenses.  He knows were to position himself around the net (not in
the crease) to tip in shots or tap home rebounds.  And if he is
left alone for just a second, Bondra can quickly make the
opposition pay.  

That's what makes Bondra so dangerous.  Lindy Ruff and the Sabres
have seen first-hand the damage Bondra can do.  They know that they
can't stop a healthy Peter Bondra completely.  The best they can do
is try and control the amount of damage he causes.  

Unfortunately, the Sabres might only have one more game to do so. 
If they lose, the Sabres' problem turns into a worst case scenario
for either the Red Wings or the Stars.  

In any case, Bondra is the one problem the Sabres and every other
NHL team would love for someone to take off their hands.


-------------------------------------------------------------------
Special Teams Proving to be Just That
-------------------------------------------------------------------
by Jim Iovino

Power plays and penalty kills are an integral part of the game of
hockey, especially during the playoffs.  If a team can cash in on
its chances with the man advantage, it has a good chance of
winning.  If it doesn't...well, it's splitsville in the chase for
Lord Stanley's Cup. 

The Dallas-Detroit series has been the perfect example of how
special teams can hurt and help you in the playoffs. 

As we all know, Dallas has been terrible on the power play in this
series.  The loss of Joe Nieuwendyk to a serious knee injury in
the first game of the playoffs has really hurt the Lone Star State's
offensive prowess.  

Going into Game 4, the Stars were 0-for-17 with the man advantage
against the Wings.  After three more tries on the power play in
Game 4, including two early in the first period, the Stars were
still without a power-play tally.  It wasn't until Sergei Zubov
finally realized that he has to shoot the puck to score a goal 55
seconds into the third period that the Stars popped one home on the
power play.  

Despite the jumpstart Zubov's goal gave the team, it was too little,
too late, for the Stars.  They already missed too many opportunities
in the game, and the entire series, for the goal to do much good.
They lost Game 4, 3-2, and fell behind in the series, three games to
one.  

Detroit, on the other hand, took full advantage of their chances,
both on the power play and shorthanded. 

Dallas failed to score on their first power play of the game, which
came on an interference call against Brendan Shanahan.  The Stars
had the next opportunity of the game, as well.  Sergei Fedorov was
called for cross-checking five seconds after the Shanahan penalty
expired, which essentially gave the Stars four straight minutes of
power-play time.  

Defenseman Richard Matvichuk started the second power play on the
point for Dallas with Derian Hatcher because the normal duo of
Darryl Sydor and Sergei Zubov were on the ice for the full two
minutes of the first penalty.  

After the Wings cleared the puck out of their zone, Matvichuk chased
the loose puck down near his own blue line.  As he attempted to
backhand a pass across to his defensive partner, the puck jumped
over his stick.  Kirk Maltby, who was forechecking Matvichuk hard
on the play, took advantage of the miscue.  He dashed in front of
Matvichuk and broke in all alone on Belfour, beating him with a
shot high to the glove side.  

A Red Wing power-play tally followed up the shorthanded goal about
five minutes later.  After Ed Belfour rochambeaued Martin Lapointe
with his stick just outside of the Dallas crease, Steve Yzerman
cashed in on the two-man advantage by poking his own rebound
underneath the Stars goaltender to give the Wings a commanding
two-goal lead.  

In both situations the Wings took advantage of special team
opportunities.  The Stars didn't take advantage of theirs, and they
found themselves down two goals early in the game.  

So far in the series the special teams goal count stands in favor of
the Wings, 4-1.  Maltby's shorthanded goal and Yzerman's power-play
goal are joined by power-play tallies by Slava Kozlov in Game 1 and
Nicklas Lidstrom in Game 3.  Four special teams goals in four games
doesn't sound like a lot, but it has made all the difference in this
series.  

Since no game in the series has been a blowout, special teams goals
have been crucial.  Kozlov's goal in Game 1 got Detroit out to a
quick 1-0 lead.  The Wings eventually won the game, 2-0.  In Game 3,
Lidstrom's goal followed a Brent Gilchrist goal to help Detroit jump
out to a 2-0 lead.  The Wings won this game, 5-3.  

The entire series has boiled down to who has taken advantage of
their opportunities.  The Red Wings have made the most of theirs. 
The Stars haven't.  That's why the Wings are up three games to one
in the series. That's also why they're the defending Stanley Cup
champions.  

Could there be a repeat in the Wings' future? 


------------------------------------------------------------------
Crawford Calls It Quits
------------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

It's hard to imagine a coach having more success than what Marc
Crawford enjoyed with the Colorado Avalanche.  In four years with
the club, Crawford compiled a record of 165-88-41, claimed four
division titles, won the Jack Adams Trophy (1994-95), the
President's Trophy (1996-97), and the Stanley Cup (1995-96).  Yet
it wasn't enough for him to stay in Colorado.

Citing the need for a new challenge, Crawford, 37, resigned last
week from his coaching duties with the Avalanche, walking away
from the final year of his contract and $800,000 in salary.  Even
though there was considerable discussion about a possible
coaching change following the Avalanche's pathetic first-round
performance against the Edmonton Oilers, Crawford's decision
seemed to catch Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix by surprise.  Lacroix
had offered the coach a one-year extension through the 1999-2000
season, but it apparently wasn't enough security for Crawford.  

Lacroix now has to find someone willing to follow the most
successful coach in franchise history, while also having the
abilities to guide a veteran team capable of winning a
championship as soon as next season.  The leading candidate for
the gig appears to be Bob Hartley, the head coach of the AHL
Hershey Bears.  Hartley, also 37, has been behind the Hershey
bench the past two seasons and led the Bears to a Calder Cup
championship in 1996-97.  Hartley joined the Colorado franchise
back in 1993 as an assistant coach with the AHL Cornwall Aces,
then Quebec's top minor-league affiliate.  Before that he guided
the Laval Titans to a QMJHL championship.  Hartley was also a
preeminent psychologist in Chicago during the 1970s.  He was a
pioneer in group psychology, helping the likes of Mr. Carlin, Mr.
Peterson, and Mrs. Bakerman all get in touch with their true
feelings and live normal lives.  Bob also had many memorable
comedy moments with his wife Emily, his next door neighbor Howard
Borden, his good buddy Jerry Robinson, and his secretary Carol
Kester.  Aw, those were the days...     

While he doesn't have NHL experience as a player or coach,
Hartley has won at every other level of hockey and is held in
high regard by those in the know.  Hartley is considered an
extremely hard-working coach that also likes to take an active
role in the community.  Making the jump from the AHL directly to
an NHL head coaching position is never easy, but it has been done
before.  In fact, Crawford did it in 1993-94 when he made the
move from St. John's to Quebec.  

Although, before Lacroix decides on a new coach, he might want to
settle the contract situation of his old one.  Since Crawford
still has one year left on his contract with Colorado, he remains
an employ of the organization.  Rumors abound that the Toronto
Maple Leafs will be dumping Mike Murphy in order to hand the
reins to Crawford, who has stated publicly in the past that
coaching the Leafs would be his dream job.  But if that is the
plan, Toronto will have to go to Lacroix for permission to talk
with Crawford and will likely have to offer up a player or draft
pick as compensation before they can sign him.  But this isn't
expected to be a problem.   

Wherever Crawford ends up, he'll undoubtedly have success.  He's
proven himself to be a dynamic young coach capable of leading a
team to a championship.  So why did he decide to split from
Colorado?  Was he pushed?  If you believe Lacroix, the answer is
no.  The GM seemed genuinely stunned at the news conference to
announce Crawford's decision.  While a one-year extension may not
have been an overwhelming endorsement, Lacroix had faith in his
coach and expected him to be a part of the Colorado family for at
least the next few years.    

But it's not like this situation was completely unexpected.  The
Avalanche appeared disinterested all season long and then tanked
it in the first round against Edmonton, losing a 3-1 series lead
while barely even bothering to show up for the final three
contests.  The club's performance in Game Seven was brutal.  The
fact that a team could come out in front of a soldout home crowd
in the biggest game of the year and lay down is an embarrassment. 
They shamed me, degraded themselves, disgraced their families,
cheapened their people, and blemished their planet.  

The Avalanche should have been a serious Cup contender this
season.  They had the personnel to win another championship. 
They just didn't seem to be motivated.  And when that happens,
it's time to change coaches.  

Crawford didn't exactly help himself with his own performance
during the Edmonton series.  He simply sat by and watched as his
team collapsed.  Granted, there's only so much a coach can do. 
If his players won't play, they won't play.  But shouldn't
Crawford had done something, anything, to spark his team in Game
Seven?  With his club struggling to score goals, why not play Joe
Sakic and Peter Forsberg together on the same line?  Then Adam
Deadmarsh would be able to return to the second-line center slot,
a position where he thrived last season.  Team Sakic's wrist shot
with Forsberg's playmaking and stuff's gonna get messed up.  You
gotta pull out all the stops in a Game Seven.  Crawford didn't. 
Combine that with the team's overall indifferent attitude, and
the time was right for a change.

There are also rumors swirling that one of the reasons why
Crawford decided to step aside when he did was that he simply
couldn't face coaching a few of the Avalanche players another
year, most notably Claude Lemieux.  Crawford and Lemieux had
their differences this past season, with good ol' Claude even
being a healthy scratch for the first time in his Colorado
tenure.  Whether or not his relationship with Lemieux had
anything to do with Crawford bailing isn't really clear, but it
probably wouldn't be the first time somebody left a city to get
away from Claude.    

In the end, Marc Crawford said he just had a "gut feeling" that
it was time for a change.  He was right.  

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Just before deadline, it was announced that Bob Hartley 
was indeed named the new Colorado head coach.  So for everyone here at 
LCS Hockey, I'd just like to say, "Hi, Bob.")



--------------------------------------------------------------------  
Win, Lose or Choke: The life of an NHL coach
--------------------------------------------------------------------
by Tom Cooper

Four years. A 165-88-41 record. Four division titles. Two regular-
season conference titles, one in the East and another in the West. One
President's Trophy. One Stanley Cup. 

Nice resume, eh? 

With career accomplishments that would make even the longest-tenured 
of NHL coaches drool, why was this man under such great pressure and 
scrutiny? Why did he suddenly lose interest in coaching his team? 

Whatever it was, the pressure became too great and finally forced 
Colorado Avalanche coach Marc Crawford to resign his post last 
Wednesday. 

"It has come down to that fundamental question of 'Do I want to be
here? Do I think I should be here?'" Crawford said. "Unfortunately, I 
came to the conclusion that 'No, I think that it's time to move on."'

But why didn't he want to stay? Why didn't he want to remain at the 
helm of one of the deepest and most potent teams in the league? 

Maybe it was a rift in communications with management. Maybe he 
couldn't communicate with the players like he used to. Or maybe it was 
the fact that if you don't live up to expectations in today's National
Hockey League, you run the risk of being unemployed before the next 
season starts. 

Since the end of the 1996-1997 regular season, only eight clubs - 
Carolina, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Ottawa, St. Louis,
and Toronto - have not changed their head coach. That means 18 teams 
have switched their head men, with some clubs, including Philadelphia
and the New York Islanders, changing more than once. 

What does it all mean? It means that, with the new "Win Now" attitude
of the National Hockey League, you better perform, or else you're in 
danger of losing your job. 

But poor performance isn't always the criteria for firing a head coach
anymore. Now, we have to deal with whether or not the man behind the 
bench and the general manager upstairs in the cozy, air-conditioned, 
cable-ready owner's box are getting along. If these two aren't on the
same page or aren't making regular tee-times together, something might
be wrong, and someone's neck, usually the head coach's, is on the 
chopping block. 

No matter what a coach may do for his team, he has little to no job 
security. He may take his team to a division title for the first time
since 1980-1981 and win the Jack Adams Trophy for being the Coach of 
the Year, but that doesn't mean he won't be fired during the off-
season. Or a coach may lead his franchise to its first Stanley Cup 
Finals appearance since 1987, and just because he had a sudden stroke 
of honesty and said his team sucked (which they did), he may not be 
back behind the bench again next season. 

When it comes to the coaching situation in the NHL, things always seem 
to be in a complete state of chaos. Rumor after juicy rumor floats 
around the open ocean of the media during and after the season, making
everyone related to hockey take notice and heed the warning that your
job may be next. No matter what a coach does, he is always in danger of
being fired. No matter what the real excuse is, the firing is always 
done in what is known as "the best interest of the team." And that best
interest, nine times out of 10, is in the check book. 

Now, more than ever, the amount of money a team earns is as important
as winning the Stanley Cup. The product that is put on the ice has to 
be working to its fullest potential, or else nobody will come to see 
it, meaning less money for the team. 

That's a major reason why teams find it necessary to fire their 
coaches. If something is wrong, it must be the fault of the guy who is
running things on the ice. So, he gets whacked. Owners and front office
people need to sell a good product to help combat rising players' 
salaries, so they need to get people into the arena and in front of 
their television sets to bring in some money. If things aren't working 
the way they should, a little tweeking needs to be done. Players may be
moved, but, most often, it is the coaches that shoulder the blame. 

And that is a sad state of affairs. 

NHL coaches are constantly being bombarded with pressure and great 
expectations, some of which they can never live up to. But they must be
the saviors. They must lead their teams to hockey's promised land. They
must be the ones who take the players on their 25-man rosters under 
their wings and fly them to hockey glory. 

This is what is expected of today's hockey coach. And they must do this
as soon as possible, or else they may be swept away so that a new man 
can be brought in to harness those expectations. 

Was Marc Crawford's decision wrong? No, I guess not. He did what he
felt was best. He left a team that he led to the Stanley Cup because he
didn't feel comfortable with his surroundings anymore. The pressure and
the frustrations got to him. But, if you look at it, it's basically 
what every coach goes through, no matter what logo is on the jerseys of
the players in front of them.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chimp Bytes: General NHL News and Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Zippy

Marc Crawford Resigns As Avalanche Coach

 Calling it "the hardest decision of my life," Marc Crawford 
 spurned a contract extension and resigned as coach of the Colorado
 Avalanche, whom he led to the Stanley Cup title two years ago. 

 The resignation comes less than a month after the Avalanche's
 surprising first-round playoff loss to the Edmonton Oilers in which they
 squandered a three games to one lead. 

 "This is by far the most difficult decision I had to make," said Crawford
 at a news conference this afternoon in Denver. "I've had a time of
 reflection and believe it is the right thing to do. My gut instinct is the
 time is right for a change in this organization." 

 Avalanche president and general manager Pierre Lacroix admitted that
 he was "shocked" that Crawford resigned with a year left on his
 contract after the team offered an extension. 

 "He was convinced that his time had passed here and he was looking
 for a new challenge," Lacroix said in a separate news conference. "He
 told me the four years were great, but he felt he had to move on." 

 
Hartley replaces Crawford behind Avs bench

 The Colorado Avalanche, stunned by Marc Crawford's
 resignation last week, hired Bob Hartley as their new coach. 

 Hartley, a veteran of minor league coaching, spent the last two years
 as head coach of the Hershey (Pa.) Bears, Colorado's top farm club in
 the American Hockey League. He is a longtime friend of Avalanche
 general manager Pierre Lacroix. 

 "I am thrilled and excited, yes, but also confident and convinced that I
 will be able to fulfill my duties very well," Hartley said. 

 The Avs began looking for a coach last Wednesday
 after Crawford rejected a contract extension that would have kept him
 in Colorado through the 2000-2001 season. 

 Hartley immediately was dubbed the front-runner to succeed
 Crawford. He led Hershey to the AHL title in 1997. 

 Before taking over in Hershey, Hartley coached Colorado's former AHL
 affiliate in Cornwall for three seasons. He also has coached in the
 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. 

 Crawford, meanwhile, has yet to land another job, but he isn't
 expected to be out of work long. His name has already been linked
 with Toronto, though Mike Murphy remains the Maple Leafs' coach,
 and Chicago is looking for a coach. 
 
Lemieux Won't Return
 
  Mario Lemieux, who is threatening to sue
  Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Roger Marino for deferred salary still
  owed him, says he has no hard feelings and won't play for any other
  team. 
 
  Lemieux laughed off published reports in Canada that he might end his
  one-year retirement. 
 
  "Nope, no chance," Lemieux said while attending the Pittsburgh Senior
  Classic. "I played for one team my entire career. That's what I wanted.
 
Panthers Sign OHL Star Defenseman Chris Allen 
 
  Defenseman Chris Allen, who scored 38 goals for Kingston of the
  Ontario Hockey League in 1997-98, signed a three-year contract
  with the Florida Panthers. 

  The 20-year-old Allen was named the OHL Defenseman of the Year
  after ranking eighth overall in scoring with 94 points in 66 games. NHL
  star defensemen Bobby Orr and Al MacInnis also scored 38 goals in
  the OHL. 
 
  Allen, the Panthers' third-round pick in the 1996 draft, finished his OHL
  career with 76 goals and 108 assists in 225 games. 
 
  "Chris had great success in junior hockey because of his offensive
  ability," said Panthers vice president and general manager Bryan
  Murray. "We expect him to compete for a roster spot in the next one to
  two seasons. He is a highly regarded offensive defenseman." 
 
  Allen played in the Panthers' regular season finale at Tampa Bay on
 April 18th and was scoreless in his NHL debut. 
 
 
Kings Re-Sign Veteran Rw Russ Courtnall 
 
  The Los Angeles Kings re-signed unrestricted free agent right
  wing Russ Courtnall to a one-year contract. Financial terms were not announced. 
 
  Courtnall, who recently turned 33, had 18 points and 27 penalty minutes in
  58 games for the Kings this past season after signing a one-year
  contract on November 7th, 1997. 
 
 
 Ducks Reassign Assistant Coaches Kyle, Hay
 
  The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, who followed up their first-ever playoff
  berth by finishing next-to-last in the Pacific Division, today reassigned
  assistant coaches Walt Kyle and Don Hay. 
 
  Both were offered other positions within the organization, said general
  manager Jack Ferreira. 
 
  "This is a decision based solely on discussions between (head coach)
  Pierre Page and myself," Ferreira explained. "We felt that change was
  needed and we feel that this change will help everyone involved.
  Restructuring the coaching staff will help Walt, Don and the club
  continue to grow more rapidly." 
 
Hurricanes Sign Rw Robert Kron To Four-Year Extension 

  The Carolina Hurricanes continued their signing frenzy today by inking
  right wing Robert Kron to a four-year contract extension through the
  2002-03 campaign. 
 
  Kron collected 16 goals and 20 assists in a career-high 81 games this
  year, his fifth full season with the franchise. He ranked sixth on the
  team in goals and assists and finished with the third-highest point total
  of his eight-year career. 
 
  "This signing is special to our organization because it has been
  completed a year prior to the end of Robert's contract," said team
  president and general manager Jim Rutherford. "It shows that Robert
  is committed to our franchise and the state of North Carolina for the
  long term." 

Senators Lw Hossa To Miss Six Months With Knee Injury 

 The Ottawa Senators, who enjoyed the most successful season in
 their six-year history, have lost 1997 first-round pick Marian Hossa for
 four to six months after he suffered two torn ligaments in his left knee
 during a tournament 10 days ago. 

 The 19-year old native of the Czech Republic tore the MCL in his left
 knee while playing for the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western
 Hockey League against the Guelph Storm in the Memorial Cup final on
 May 17th. Further tests revealed Hossa also tore the ACL and he will
 undergo surgery within two weeks, followed by extensive rehabilitation.

 Portland defeated Guelph, 4-3, to win the Canadian Hockey League
 title and Hossa was named a First Team All-Star. 

 "We are very optimistic that Marian will come back from this
 experience as strong as he was before the injury," Senators general
 manager Pierre Gauthier said. "We know Marian is a very committed
 athelete and that he will do everything in his power to come back as
 soon as possible." 


Sharks Give Head Coach Darryl Sutter New Contract 

 After leading the San Jose Sharks to their first playoff appearance in
 three years and establishing several team records in his first season
 with the club, head coach Darryl Sutter received a new contract.
 Terms were not disclosed. 

 Sutter, who joined the Sharks on June 9th, took over a team that
 finished with the worst record in the Western Conference in 1996-97
 and guided them to a 34-38-10 mark. San Jose closed the season
 with a 7-2-3 record to reach the playoffs for the first time since
 1994-95, before bowing out in six games to top seed Dallas in the
 conference quarterfinals. 
 
 Sabres Lw Satan Fined $1,000 For Hit On Caps Simon 
 
  Buffalo Sabres left wing Miroslav Satan was fined $1,000 by the
  National Hockey League for a stick-related incident in Game
  Two of the Eastern Conference finals against the Washington
  Capitals. 
 
  Satan delivered what league officials described as a "glancing blow"
  with the top end of his stick to Capitals left wing Chris Simon. No
  penalty was called, but NHL senior vice president and director of
  hockey operations Brian Burke reviewed the incident and imposed the
  fine. 

1998 NHL Calendar 


June 23     -- Last possible date for completion of Stanley Cup
 
June 25     -- NHL Awards Television Special, Toronto
 
June 26     -- Expansion Draft, Buffalo
 
            -- Top Prospect Preview, Buffalo
 
June 27     -- NHL Entry Draft, Buffalo
 
July 1      -- Eligible players transferred to free agent list



--------------------------------------------------------------------------
AHL NEWS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Tricia McMillan

On Second Thought: After a few years as a dual affiliation between 
Hartford and Phoenix, the Coyotes unceremoniously dumped the Whale out of
Springfield with the intent of going it alone. They didn't even make it to 
the start of the season, agreeing to take a few Kings players to bulk up 
their roster, and for the 98-99 season the Falcons return to a dual agreement.
While the Coyotes will remain the primaries, the Kings will now provide at 
least eight and up to 12 players to Springfield for next season. 

That would appear to preclude Los Angeles sending any players to Fredericton, 
so don't be surprised if the young Habs enter an agreement with another team 
to take a few players. Hershey continues to talk with teams about a secondary 
affiliation, as Dallas, Chicago and possibly Nashville search for potential 
player placement sites.
 
One team that apparently is not going anywhere for a long time is the 
St. John's Maple Leafs. Despite swirling rumors the Maple Leafs would pull 
their players and start an AHL team in Toronto, St. John's and the Leafs have 
come to an agreement in principle which would keep the team in St. John's 
and a Maple Leafs affiliate for the next six seasons. The lone catch is that 
the Canadian government must match the funds ponied up by the city of 
St. John's and the Newfoundland province to build a new arena before the 
deal becomes final. The fate of St. John's will determine the fate of the 
Maritime teams, as only Saint John is viable without the existence of other 
Maritime teams. 

Sign 'em Up: Well, as we know, Ryan Bast signed with the Flyers while 
under contract to Saint John. Meanwhile, Tyrone Garner played with Calgary 
and is travelling with Saint John even though he doesn't have a contract with 
either team. Calgary decided to rectify that little discrepancy and signed 
Garner over the weekend to an NHL contract.

Put Me In Coach: The AHL has decided where to put the Lowell Lock
Monsters - divisionally speaking, that is. Lowell will join the Atlantic 
Division with the Maritimers and Portland, bringing the AHL's Eastern 
Conference even with two five-team divisions. The Western Conference remains
unchanged.

CALDER CUP FINALS

Game One, May 30: Philadelphia 3, Saint John 2 (2 OT) 
Game Two, May 31: Saint John 3, Philadelphia 2 
Game Three: Wednesday, June 3, Philadelphia @ Saint John, 7:30 PM (ADT) 
Game Four: Friday, June 5, Philadelphia @ Saint John, 7:30 PM (ADT) 
Game Five: Sunday, June 7, Philadelphia @ Saint John, 7:00 PM (ADT)* 
Game Six: Wednesday, June 10, Saint John @ Philadelphia, 7:00 PM (EDT)* 
Game Seven: Friday, June 12, Saint John @ Philadelphia, 7:00 PM (EDT)*

My pick: Saint John in six.

Game One: Saint John sure knew how to say hello to the Phantoms, 
storming them in the first few minutes of the game and peppering Neil Little. 
Then the Phantoms handed it right back to the Flames and the balance of the 
game shifted back and forth - for five periods. The most excitement came 
in a rare playoff moment - a fight between certified heavyweights Frank 
Bialowas and Rocky Thompson. Bialowas notched a takedown and left Thompson down 
for the count with an injury to his right eye, causing him to miss the 
rest of the game. 

But that was about the only thing the Phantoms won for most of the game, as 
their power play was absolutely woeful at 0-for-7 and indeed they may have 
had only one shot with the extra man, because of an absolute failure to put 
the puck on net. Shaquille O'Neal on the free throw line doesn't miss that 
many nets.  Heck, the Phantoms often were yards away. The Flames, for their 
part, shot a little too straight - directly into the shin pads of the 
Phantoms standing in front of them. Try six inches either direction, guys. 

Saint John got on the board first in a second-period power play, scoring late 
on the extra man when Todd Hlushko rescued a rebound and shot it past a downed
Little. But the worst thing a team can do is give up a goal in the final 
minute of a period and that's precisely what Saint John did, as Mike Maneluk 
cruised into the Flames' end and sent a shot towards Tyler Moss that 
proceeded right through the five hole for a soft tying goal at 19:42. The 
Phantoms later took the lead in the third, as Ryan Bast failed to pick up 
Maneluk behind the net and the Flyer sniper had free rein to send the puck 
out to a charging Andy Delmore, who rang it in off the post. Then the 
Phantoms shut things down, and finally Saint John pulled Tyler Moss in the 
final moments desperately seeking a tie. They got it from Martin St. Louis 
with three seconds remaining in the game. The Phantoms crowd was in the 
process of counting down when the goal was scored: Five! Four! Dead silence. 

Then on to the first overtime, when both teams had their chances,
including Philadelphia on a too many men call against Saint John, but no 
dice. And it appeared it wouldn't be long before no ice - it was visibly 
melting. The puck was bouncing and the going was slow. "I can tell you right 
now, both those teams are dog tired," commented the Flames' Jeff Cowan. 

So how much longer could it go on? Not much longer. Just 1:27 into the second
overtime, Moss stopped Bruce Coles' point blank shot but gave up a huge 
rebound that Sean O'Brien slammed off the opposite post. Game, Phantoms, 
finally. Moss stopped 34 shots, Little 39.

Of course, no game in Philadelphia would be complete unless it included 
Neanderthals with tickets. Those would be the ones in my section that not only 
had no clue as to the basic rules of hockey but taught my nine-year-old 
companion words she shouldn't have learned yet; and the ones behind the Saint 
John penalty box who not only tried to climb over the wall to get at a Saint 
John player, but kept trying to get at him despite ten security guards trying 
to get them back out. I skipped Game Two for health reasons - I wanted to 
continue breathing.

Game Two: Round Two had a remarkable resemblance to Round One. Both
teams scored in the first period, Saint John scored with three seconds 
remaining, Mike Maneluk scored, the Flames were caught with too many men on 
the ice, the Phantoms couldn't do anything with the extra man, the Flames 
scored late to send the game into overtime, the team that scored first lost, 
and the final score was 3-2. One major difference - this time it was Saint 
John on the happy end of overtime. 

After a pitiful extra-man performance in Game One, the Phantoms were handed a 
power play in the first minute the game when Eric Charron was sent off just 
31 seconds after the opening faceoff and Todd Hlushko followed him 17 seconds 
later, giving the Phantoms a five-on-three only 48 seconds into the game. 
Apparently the Phantoms need the full two-man advantage because this time
Philadelphia finally accomplished something on the power play as quarterback 
Jamie Heward scored at the 57-second mark to give the Phantoms an early lead. 
The Phantoms would go on to receive eight more power plays in the game - and
squandered every single one of them. After two games, Philadelphia's much 
vaunted power play stood at 1-for-16. Not good.

Speaking of not good, what was that about allowing late goals? This time 
Saint John tied the game up in the waning seconds of the first period, 
scoring at the 19:57 mark for the second time in two games. Officially 
speaking, Ladislav Kohn redirected Hnat Domenichelli's late shot with 2.9 
seconds remaining for both a power-play tally and his playoff leading 
13th goal and the Flames left the ice even all. The Phantoms came back 
to take the lead late in the second, when Mike Maneluk scored yet again for 
his 10th playoff goal - and with Jim Montgomery in the box, this one was 
short-handed. 

The Phantoms held the 2-1 lead for nearly 18 minutes into the third period, 
but once again the Flames were able to tie the score, this time courtesy of 
Montgomery. At 17:57, Saint John's Eric Landry sent a shot netward which 
Montgomery accidentally deflected into his net. 

Back to overtime we all go. While the game once again ended barely a minute 
and a half into the overtime period, fortunately it was the first overtime 
and not the second when Chris O'Sullivan's blue line blast was redirected by 
Todd Hlushko into the net at 1:26. (Ever notice this recurring redirection 
theme?) O'Sullivan also set up the first Flames goal to be the lone 
multi-point man of the game; Tyler Moss started again despite shakiness in 
Game One and stopped 26 shots for Saint John. Neil Little stopped 31 shots. 
The now tied series heads to Saint John for three games.

                         

  
================================================================
TEAM REPORTS
================================================================
EASTERN CONFERENCE
================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BUFFALO SABRES
----------------------------------------------------------------- 
Head Coach: Lindy Ruff

Roster: C - Mike Peca, Derek Plante, Brian Holzinger, Wayne
Primeau. LW - Geoff Sanderson, Miroslav Satan, Michal Grosek,
Paul Kruse. RW - Donald Audette, Matthew Barnaby, Dixon Ward, Rob
Ray, Vaclav Varada. D - Alexei Zhitnik, Darryl Shannon, Jay
McKee, Mike Wilson, Bob Boughner, Richard Smehlik, Jason Woolley,
Jason Holland, Rumun Ndur, Jean Luc Grand-Pierre.  G - Dominik
Hasek, Steve Shields, Martin Biron. 
 
INJURIES: None.

TRANSATIONS: Signed Cory Sarich, d, Seattle (WHL) to a three-year
contract.

GAME RESULTS:
First Round vs Philadelphia: Sabres won series 4-1

4/22 at Philadelphia  W 3-2
4/24 at Philadelphia  L 3-2
4/27 Philadelphia     W 6-1
4/29 Philadelphia     W 4-1
5/01 at Philadelphia  W 3-2 OT

Second Round vs Montreal: Sabres won series 4-0 

5/08 Montreal         W 3-2 OT
5/10 Montreal         W 6-3
5/10 at Montreal      W 5-4 2OT
5/14 at Montreal      W 3-1

Third Round vs Washington: Caps lead series 3-1

5/23 at Washington    W 2-1
5/25 at Washington    L 3-2 OT
5/28 Washington       L 4-3 OT
5/30 Washington       L 2-0

TEAM NEWS by Joe Brunner

The Sabres now find themselves on the brink of elimination having
dropped their last two home games, and an unprecedented three
straight. What went wrong? There's a lot of explanations for the
position the Sabres find themselves in, ranging from their
slumping power play to the poor performance of Michael Peca and
his checking line in Game Three. But the bottom line is 
that Olaf Kolzig has outplayed Dominik Hasek by a wide margin. 

The man once hailed as the greatest goaltender in the world has
put up decent numbers for the series as a whole, but in the last
three games has performed at a less then average level. Hasek
entered the series with a sparkling .938 save percentage (SP) and
a 2.05 goals-against average (GAA). Although Hasek has managed a
respectable .916 SP and 2.25 GAA in this series, it's not even in
the same league as Kolzig's .948 SP. But the most telling stats
are from the past three games. During that span, Hasek has given
up nine goals and has compiled a miserable .898 SP, while Olie
the goalie continues to roll along allowing just five goals while
having a spectacular .946 SP. 

It now seems quite clear that the hit by Peter Bondra and
subsequent temper tantrum by the Buffalo netminder in Game Two
has had an impact. Hasek simply hasn't been the same since that
incident. Although the overtime winner in Game Three was a good
shot by Bondra, Hasek had a clear look at it and it's a save he's
expected to make. 

In Game Four, both the Caps' goals were of the soft variety;
particularly the 75-footer by Joe Juneau. Although there's some 
dispute as to whether Hasek was screened on the first goal by
Craig Berube, there's no disputing that the last three goals on
the Dominator came from beyond 40 feet. So once again Sabres'
fans are revisiting the question of whether Hasek can handle the
pressure in the playoffs. One popular explanation is that he's
simply fatigued. After all, he has appeared in 91 games this year
including the Olympics. However the Sabres did have a nine-day
layoff before this series and a six-day rest following the Flyers
series. And for all the talk about how grueling the playoffs are,
there are no back-to-back games. To be precise, the Sabres have
only played nine games in May.

By no means does the blame for the Sabres' plight rest solely on
Hasek's shoulders. Regardless of how Hasek plays, the Sabres
won't win if they don't put the puck behind Kolzig. However,
Dominik's role is to keep the Sabres in games, and so far he
hasn't lived up to it. Fans would be far less critical if their
team was losing despite brilliant play by their $8-million 
goaltender. 

Although it's a long shot, this series isn't over yet. For
history buffs, teams have rallied to win series after trailing
3-1. In fact there have been three instances where the Caps were
up 3-1 in series and went on to lose. On the other side of the
ledger, the Sabres are 0-8, in series where they trailed 3-1. My
approach is to throw history out the window, as neither team
resembles
the ones when these things happened. The Sabres do appear loose
and relaxed and are approaching Game Five as if they have nothing
to lose. If Hasek can regain his form, the Sabres are still
capable of producing some anxious moments for Capitals' fans.
Like I said, it's a long shot, but don't expect the Sabres to
throw in the towel.
 


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WASHINGTON CAPITALS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach: Ron Wilson 

roster: C - Adam Oates, Dale Hunter, Andrei Nikolishin, Michal
Pivonka, Mike Eagles. LW - Esa Tikkanen, Chris Simon, Jeff Toms,
Joe Juneau, Todd Krygier, Jogi Svejkovsky. RW - Peter Bondra, 
Brian Bellows, Craig Berube, Kelly Miller. D - Calle Johansson, 
Brendan Witt, Mark Tinordi, Phil Housley, Jeff Brown, 
Sergei Gonchar, Joe Reekie, Ken Klee. G - Olaf Kolzig, Bill
Ranford. 

Injuries: Michal Pivonka, c (shoulder, indefinite); Pat Peake, rw
(torn ankle tendon, out for season); Steve Konowalchuk, lw
(sprained wrist, out for season); Jeff Brown, d (post-concussion
syndrome, day-to-day).

Transactions: None.
               
Game Results: 
First Round vs Boston: Caps won series 4-2

4/22 Boston     W 3-1
4/24 Boston     L 4-3 2OT
4/26 at Boston  W 3-2 2OT
4/28 at Boston  W 3-0
4/30 Boston     L 4-0
5/03 at Boston  W 3-2 OT

Second Round vs Ottawa: Caps won series 4-1

5/07 Ottawa     W 4-2
5/09 Ottawa     W 6-1
5/11 at Ottawa  L 4-3
5/13 at Ottawa  W 2-0
5/15 Ottawa     W 3-0

Third Round vs Buffalo: Caps lead series 3-1

5/23 Buffalo    L 2-0
5/25 Buffalo    W 3-2 OT
5/28 at Buffalo W 4-3 OT
5/30 at Buffalo W 2-0

TEAM NEWS by Jason Sheehan

Capitals Take Commanding Series Lead

[Note: Due to tight deadlines, this article was written prior to
Game Five, which was played Tuesday night at MCI Center. For a
recap of the game, read Michael Dell's game report located at the
top of the page. Will he use ALF? Who knows.]

Caps fans, it does get better than this. But in Capitals history,
nothing this extraordinary has ever happened to the Capitals.
Washington traveled to Buffalo and won both games. The Capitals
now lead the Sabres three games to one and are within one game of
advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has tried to spark his team by reaching
into the bottom of his bag of tricks and pulling out the same
card that was used by Boston Bruins coach Pat Burns. It's the
choking card. The one that has failed to work this season but
worked oh so well in the past. You read that correctly. Ruff
thinks he has brought back "the demons" that have plagued the
Capitals since 1974. He apparently hopes his harsh words will
cause the Capitals to think about all the three-games-to-one
leads they have blown in the past and lose their composure. He's
certainly a desperate man seeking desperate measures.

And why shouldn't he be desperate? The greatest goaltender in the
world, Dominik Hasek, appears to be crumbling before his very
eyes. In Game Four, a 75-foot shot from the other side of the
blue line off the stick of Joe Juneau deflected off Hasek's glove
and into the top corner of the net. His glove also failed to save
the Sabres in Game Three when Peter Bondra unleashed a blistering
slap shot from the top of the left circle 9:37 into overtime.

What began with a billing of "The Dominator vs. Godzilla" has
quickly turned into "The Olie Kolzig Show." But don't tell that
to Kolzig. He just wants to concentrate on his game.

"Time and time again I keep saying I don't think it's me against
Dominik Hasek," said Kolzig, who has four playoff shutouts, tying
him for the most all-time blankings in a playoff season. "I play
the Sabres and he plays the Caps. I knew I was going to have to
step up my game tonight, and when it came right down to the third
period, we eventually won."

Kolzig was the difference in Game Four. Besides stopping all 30
shots, Kolzig gave his teammates a chance to win, which after
all, is the goaltender's job and sole responsibility. Many of
those shots were from close range, but to the Capitals' credit,
Buffalo did not get many rebound chances.

"Basically, I got a pretty good look at everything," said Kolzig.
"They started jamming the net early in the first period and
sometimes I didn't see it and the guys did a great job of
clearing the puck out. If there was a rebound, the guys got a
stick on it and cleared the rebounds."

Another huge reason for the win in Game Four was Washington's
penalty kill. Ranked first during the regular season, the
Capitals snuffed all seven Buffalo opportunities. And to make
matters worse for the team that calls the Marine Midlands Arena
home, Juneau's goal came at the tail-end of the seventh Sabres'
power play.

"It (penalty killing) has been our strength all year long," said
Adam Oates. "It really has. Tonight was great, especially in the
first period on the road, in the big game, three power plays in
the first period. As a player, when you get three power plays in
the first period, it's frustrating. They (the Sabres) were a
little bit behind the eight ball tonight like we were in Game
Two, and it becomes very frustrating."

Tribute to the Instant Replay Line

They move so, so slow, but they get the job done. Bang! Bang!
Bang! Two players - one young and one old - with Native American
heritage and an old farmer from Canada. Sounds like a mix of
Ben-Gay and Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo. In reality, though,
it's Chris Simon, Dale Hunter and Craig Berube doing all the
work.

Overall the Instant Replay line - penned by LCS Hockey for slow
speed and amazing accomplishments - has set the tone for this
series, beginning each period with ferocious hits complete with a
kamikaze-like attitude.

The Sabres have even admitted to tightening up when they see
Chris Simon's long hair flying in the wind. Simply put, for those
that don't have a degree in steel (not that there is one), this
line rocks.

It rocked so much in Game Four that Berube, the only player in
Stanley Cup playoff history to play in more than 50 games and not
score a goal, lit the lamp for the game-winner early in the third
period. Maybe hearing his name intertwined with Bobby Hull's
prior to the game by his teammates injected a dose of
game-winning magic into his stick?

"I took a shot in practice, and it tore Bill Ranford's mask right
off, so everyone started calling me Bobby Hull," he said. "I've
scored some big game-winners throughout the season, but nothing
like this."

Without hesitating, Berube took off his Hull facade and turned
into the Chief that fans know and love by saying, "I'm not used
to all this attention. You guys are cutting into my beer time."
Ah, that Chief. You gotta love him.

Quote Corner

A quote is a quote is a quote is a quote. If your head hasn't
begun to spin, listed below are quotes made by Capitals players
from Games Three and Four.

Don't worry. Like many of you, we at LCS Hockey fear change. But
in our quest for World Dominance (no, not Hasek), we will follow
the same format used last week. Since most quotes used above are
from Game Four, this section will rely heavily on the words
spoken by the Capitals from Game Three.  Nothing like working
backwards and reading a book from back to front.  Anyway, enjoy
the quotes.

Game Three

Ron Wilson 
On Bondra: "Peter is starting to skate better and work harder
away from the puck. I think Dominik throwing the glove at him [in
Game Two] snapped him out of a lethargic state. He may not have
been passionate about the playoffs. He scored a nice goal in
going hard to the net the other night, but he still wasn't
involved until - I am talking vocal on the bench and into it -
until Dominik threw his blocker at him. He sort of got all
excited and upset about that, and I think it makes him a better
player. This late in the season, you got to have passion in your
game, it is not just skill. And if you have skill to go along
with it, you are in the driver's seat."

More on Bondra's passion: "Someone asks me what is wrong with
Peter, is he going to be able to play? I say, 'Yeah, he certainly
is.' Somebody thinks, 'Uh-oh, that must mean something else.'
There has never been any question with Peter here. He played with
a sprained ankle and with a concussion. He played three or four
games, when he honestly shouldn't have played any. We coaxed him
into playing and he wasn't comfortable and he helped us out in
those games.

"I think Peter understands now the importance of his presence in
the lineup. The other team doesn't know if he is 10 percent or
100 percent, and might make changes in the lineup just because of
Peter Bondra being in the lineup or not."

Peter Bondra 
Explaining his overtime goal in Game Three: "I took a pass from
Tinordi, was going full speed and I heard from the bench 'Shoot
it.' So I kind of closed my eyes and ripped it on the net. It was
a little bit lucky. It caught Hasek's glove and drifted in. It
was a big goal for us and gave us a lot of confidence."

On linemate and fellow countryman Richard Zednik: "I told him the
game was being televised back in Slovakia, and he didn't believe
me. I tried to pump him up and get him ready for the game. Maybe
it was, I am not sure. For sure it helped Zednik and for me to
have a good game. He was unbelievable tonight and he scored big
goals."

Thoughts on Hasek throwing his blocker pad at him in Game Two: "I
wasn't affected by it. Those kind of awkward situations - I tried
to go left and Dominik tried to go back to the net and we hit
each other. It's part of the game and I didn't try to do anything
stupid. It was a situation where Dominik got mad. I didn't see
him throw it at me until I saw the replay. It was kind of funny."

Game Four

Adam Oates
Thoughts on Juneau's 75-foot blast: "I'm sure he (Hasek) wants
that one back. We never expect that one to go in, and at two
goals that is kind of the ball game."

Phil Housley
Pondering goaltenders' duel: "When we came in here if we thought
that we were going to be in a situation that it was going to be
0-0 in the fourth game going into the third period we would take
it. We knew how desperate they were going to come out and they
(Buffalo) played hard for two periods."

================================================================
  
=================================================================
TEAM REPORTS
=================================================================
WESTERN CONFERENCE
=================================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------------
DALLAS STARS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head coach: Ken Hitchcock

roster: C-Mike Modano, Guy Carbonneau, Joe Nieuwendyk, Bob Bassen,
Brian Skrudland. LW- Dave Reid, Greg Adams, Benoit Hogue, Juha
Lind, Patrick Cote, Jamie Wright. RW- Mike Keane, Mike Kennedy, Pat
Verbeek, Jamie Langenbrunner, Jere Lehtinen, Grant Marshall.
D-Derian Hatcher, Craig Ludwig, Darryl Sydor, Shawn Chambers,
Richard Matvichuk, Sergei Zubov, Craig Muni. G-Ed Belfour, Roman
Turek. 

injuries: Shawn Chambers ,d (sprained knee, day-to-day); Richard
Matvichuk, d, (sprained shoulder, unknown); Joe Nieuwendyk, c
(surgery to repair damage in both knees, 6 months). 

transactions: None.

game results: 
First Round vs San Jose: Stars win 4-2

4/22 San Jose     W 4-1
4/24 San Jose     W 5-2
4/26 at San Jose  L 4-1
4/28 at San Jose  L 1-0 OT
4/30 San Jose     W 3-2
5/02 at San Jose  W 3-2 OT

Second Round vs Edmonton: Stars win 4-1
5/07 Edmonton     W 3-1
5/09 Edmonton     L 2-0
5/11 at Edmonton  W 1-0 OT
5/13 at Edmonton  W 3-1
5/16 Edmonton     W 2-1

Western Conference Finals vs Detroit: Red Wings lead 1-0

5/24 Detroit      L 2-0
5/26 Detroit      W 3-1
5/29 at Detroit   L 5-3
5/31 at Detroit   L 3-2

Team News by Jim Panenka

Wings Slowly Killing The Not Ready for Prime Time Players
(Sorry, no Phil Hartman references here. I'm talkin' bout them
Stars.) 

Its just not looking good, people. The Dallas Stars have been
searching for their true identity ever since Bob Gainey stepped
down as head coach of the team several years back.  

Slowly, but not-so-quite-surely, Dallas is developing into one
seriously good team. They proved that this year with another
record-setting season, a President's Trophy, a few playoff records,
and a conference finals appearance.  

This conference finals series was an opportunity for Dallas to
defeat the defending champions and forever establish their identity
as a true winner. But, the more that the series with the Red Wings
goes on, the more clear it is becoming that this Dallas team isn't
ready to go all the way -- at least not just yet.  

Of course, the main reason why this time around was all the
injuries. Modano (twice), Hatcher, Matvichuk, Nieuwendyk, Chambers,
Lehtinen, to name a few, were all injured throughout the season,
and the list goes on and on. There wasn't a single month that went
by without some new Stars player on the injured reserve list, it
seemed.  

Despite the manpower losses, it has been a season of miracles for
Dallas. Nobody was sure if the Stars would repeat last year's
regular-season success. They did. Nobody was sure if Ed Belfour
could still carry a team. He could. Nobody was sure if all the
injuries would kill the season for the team. They didn't. Nobody
was sure if Dallas could cut it in the playoffs and survive the
first few rounds. They did. Barely.  

And its that "barely" part that is killing the team. Make no
mistake, the Dallas Stars are a serious contender amongst the NHL's
top teams - most of the time. But the other part of the time,
Dallas seems to revert to playing like the team that tanked out two
years ago and finished amongst the worst in the league.  

The Stars have a confidence problem. Early on in the season, the
Stars were playing a little cocky, and were being consistently beat
by "lesser" teams that were hungrier than Dallas. That developed
into a pattern. The Stars could beat the best teams during the
important, clutch games - but they seemed to not take all the other
games seriously enough. They didn't have the killer instinct to go
out and put the lesser teams away with authority, as they should
have.  

As a result, there were several turning points during the season
where the Stars easily could have blown their lead, and begin
free-falling into a death spiral down the standings. Instead, the
players would wait right until they were looking over the cliff,
and then "turn it on" in a mad attempt to come out on top.  

Luckily, (luck may have had nothing to do with it, there was some
skill involved) every time the Stars were facing one of these
critical turning points, they managed to pull through it and
continue on their winning ways.  

The playoffs were no exception. Even in the first series against San
Jose, after Marchment (DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED!!!) wrecked Joe
Nieuwendyk's fantastic, amazing, stupendous,
should-have-been-there-the-whole-time season, Dallas was guilty of
allowing the Sharks to win a few games and get right back into the
series.  

Sure, the loss of Nieuwendyk was a crime, a damned crime, but Dallas
nearly allowed San Jose to make it to a Game 7 nail-biter to finish
the series. That could easily have ended up a Game 7 OT win for San
Jose. But the better team got its act together and won the series,
with a little help from Mike Keane.  

During the Edmonton series, Dallas pulled out the first win, but
then immediately went back into hiding for Game 2. The whole team
failed to show up - for a playoff series. What's up with that? Not
only that, the Stars were held completely shotless the entire first
period, and set a new low mark for shots on goal during the entire
game (15).  

Indeed, the series set a new playoffs low record of only 14 goals
recorded amongst both teams throughout the five- game series. That
was the lowest goal total between teams in a five-game series in
about 60 years. Obviously, it was much more a defensive series than
anything else, a natural reflection of the Belfour vs. Joseph
goalie duel.  

"The first two periods were as bad as we have been outplayed in this
building all year," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said after Game 2. "The
difference was Edmonton's tenacity and that we were unable to match
their desperation."  

"I think some of our people played soft and did not have the
necessary grit. They beat us to most of the loose pucks and they
worked us over real well in front of the net," said Hitchcock.  

Well no kidding, Hitch! If you fail to show up for a game, that
usually happens.  

The Detroit series is not much different. Dallas totally blew Game 1
at home, a game the Stars had a chance to win, and take an early,
and comfortable lead with home-ice advantage. Instead, the Stars
snoozed through a boring stinker, and allowed Detroit to skate away
with the 2-0 shutout win and a 1-0 series lead.  

"Detroit basically has four players who are outworking our five,"
Hitchcock said of the Stars' power-play efforts. And it is the
Stars' anemic power play which is causing much of the offensive
woes for the team in the playoffs. The Stars were at an unthinkable
record of one out of 48 power play chances during the playoffs.
That is no way to win.  

Actually, the power play is sapping strength from the teams' 5-on-5
play. The power play gave up the Stars first and only shorthanded
goal of the playoffs during Game 4.  

Defenseman Darryl Sydor, who has easily been one of the Stars'
hardest working player in the Detroit series, and who's efforts
aren't going unnoticed by his teammates, summed up Game 1 with
complete honesty.  

"We took games off in the first couple of series, too, but we can't
do that against this team," said Sydor. "We have to be ready to
play this time."  

No kidding, Darryl. Does anyone other than yours truly think it is
the most serious of crimes that a team would fail to show anything
other than 100% in a conference finals series? That just isn't
supposed to happen, hockey fans! You have to give Sydor high marks
just for giving an honest answer, rather than the usual "we feel
good right now, but we just have to get our game back on the
ice..." rhetoric.  

Dallas turned it around, as they always attempt to do, and put in a
much-better effort during Game 2. This one game made the entire
playoff season worthwhile. There was plenty of hard hitting going
around, and the two teams pretty much traded rushes in what turned
out to be a wonderful 60 minutes of controlled chaos. If you saw
this game and wasn't impressed, check your pulse.  

Dallas was nearly dominant over Detroit, and proved that when the
team shows up, and everyone is equally committed to put the Stars
over the top, they can beat anyone. Trouble is, the Stars don't
always show up that ready for games.  

Why does a team purposely put itself into a hole to climb out of?
Maybe if you're not confident, you need to put a hole in front of
yourself to climb out of to prove to yourself that you are worthy.
But hey, that's all you get for free. Any more consultation from
Dr. Jim will require a $100 per hour fee, buster.  

It all still seems to be related to the confidence factor. The Stars
still aren't quite ready to proclaim themselves as a great team, as
well as continuously and consistently play like one. Who knows why,
but until they get over this lunacy, they will never secure Lord
Stanley's Cup.  

And, Detroit looks like they are in no mood of giving the Stars any
slack. The Red Wings have since rebounded from the Game 2 loss to
claim the next two victories as their own. The difference so far is
that the Wings fully capitalized on all their chances, and Dallas has
failed to finish on many of theirs. The Wings now have a 3-1 series
lead over Dallas, and the Stars must now go against traditional
wisdom and history and win three straight games to advance. Not many
teams have been able to do it.  

"They can talk about the history, but no one in this dressing room
thinks it's over," said Guy Carbonneau. "We still want to go to the
end. To do that, we've got to get back to Dallas and win the next
one."  

"It's not the right time of year to be losing players, that's for
sure," said Craig Ludwig, of losing teammate Richard Matvichuk to a
shoulder injury. "But we haven't used injuries as an excuse all
year, and we won't now. We'll do the job with what we have."  

"The last two games have been tough-luck games for us," said Mike
Modano. "You can pinpoint little things that aren't going our way.
But we can't expect to win a series if we keep painting ourselves
in the corner at the start of the game."  

Those are gutsy rebuttals to the naysayers who say Dallas is dead.
And, they definitely aren't dead yet. But, they are on life
support, and the priest is waiting just outside the door.  

The end is near. Eddie Belfour is finally beginning to come unglued,
just as many of his detractors predicted he would. Its just sad that
he waited until the bitter end to begin doing it.  

Many predicted he would lose it after getting run by Owen Nolan
during the San Jose series. Instead, the whole Stars team took the
game off as the big "get even" game for the loss of Nieuwendyk.
Dallas was totally preoccupied with getting even, and forgot to
play hockey. But, Belfour remained quiet for the most part, and
held the Sharks at bay the rest of the series.  

During the Edmonton series, the focus clearly shifted to the
Belfour-Joseph duel, and both teams were content to just play good
hockey. There was no reason for Eddie to get riled up, so he kept
his mind in the games and turned in a spectacular string of wins
for Dallas.  

Then, there was Detroit. For some reason, the Red Wings are the
Stars' achilles' heel. Belfour saw plenty of the Red Wings during
his tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks, and that long history
seemed to have developed a healthy hatred of Detroit by Belfour.
 

Game 1 went quietly enough, but when the Stars' energy went into
overdrive for Game 2, Eddie was right there with his teammates
getting very involved during the game. Belfour hacked and whacked
at any red-and-white jersey that dared to venture near his
doorstep. He has definitely gotten full use of his goalie stick.
 

And later in the game, when Detroit was making a push at the Dallas
net, several Stars tangled with Wings directly in front of Belfour.
One of the Wings took a Star to the ice, and was holding him down
with his back to the Red Wing player. Belfour took exception to
this unfairness, and got into a pretty good shoving match with the
Wings player (Lapointe, I believe).  

While he was lucky that he didn't draw any penalties (and Osgood
did), that was mainly Eddie just being Eddie. But during Game 3,
Belfour stepped a little too far over the line, and out of his net.
His play had become more and more chippy, and he was guilty of
whacking serveral Red Wings while they were near the crease.  

Later in the game, after Detroit racked up a 4-1 lead, Dallas was
playing well and got two quick goals to bring the score to a
more-managable 4-3. The Stars had caught Detroit slacking off, and
were building enough momentum to challenge for the game win.  

That's when the wheels came off for Belfour. He went behind his net
to play the puck, and instead of immediately dumping it around the
boards, he held onto it looking over his shoulder, as if to wait
for the approaching Red Wing forechecker to come by him.  

As the Red Wing player skated near, Belfour fanned on an attempt to
play the puck, and then made some contact with the Red Wing player.
As soon as Belfour felt the contact, he hit the ice as if he'd been
shot. Belfour lay there waiting for the penalty call that never
came. The referee wasn't biting on this one.  

While Belfour was waiting for his call, Marty Lapointe parked
directly in front of the Dallas net waiting for a hail mary. Slava
Kozlov somehow got possession of the puck, and sent in a perfect
pass to Lapointe, who twisted around and slammed the puck under a
sprawling Belfour just as Eddie was making his way back to the net.
 

You could see the look of abject terror on Belfour's face after he
realized the scope of what he had just cost the team. Not only did
he: 1) fan on the first attempt to play the puck, he also 2) took a
dive hoping for a stupid penalty call and 3) didn't get back to his
net quickly enough. If that wasn't bad enough, the Lapointe goal 4)
easily put the game away for Detroit 5-3.  

Belfour had just cost the team any comeback hopes. Dallas fell to
2-1 against Detroit in the series. Nobody gave him too much guff
over this one because, hey, Belfour was the man who carried the
team on his back up to this point.  

But he did give up two or three goals he normally should have
stopped. The early Gilchrist goal was mentioned as a stop you have
to get from your goalie. For some reason, Belfour couldn't keep it
out of the net, and the Wings rallied off this single goal to bury
Dallas.  

During Game 4, the Stars hoped Eddie would bounce back, and just
settle into a solid game, as he had done vs. Edmonton. Instead,
Belfour was rattled again by an early goal, this time on a Kirk
Maltby breakaway. Again, it was another save some felt he should
have made.  

Somehow, the miracle Stars were about to pull off another miracle.
They were challenging the Wings, who had let down some once again,
and threatened to steal the momentum back in their favor. They were
only down at this point 1- 0.  

That is, until Bassen got a marginal penalty. Belfour was hacking
and whacking again during the penalty kill, and the Stars were
killing it off well. Just before the penalty ended, Lapointe parked
in front of Belfour again, but this time Eddie went postal, and
slammed his goalie stick directly between Lapointe's legs.
OOOOOHHHHHHH- that H A D to hurt!  

Eddie gave Marty a wicked bellringer, just like the madcap battle
between Johnny Dangerously and that other guy, you know, the one
with the mouth. His fargin bells must have wanted to fall out of
his farging pants. I had that happen to me once -- ONCE!  

Fortunately for Belfour, and Mrs. Lapointe, Marty seems to still be
able to procreate. And, Belfour has yet to receive any league
discipline over his bell-busting efforts.  

But unfortunately for his team, on the ensuing power play, Detroit
scored again to take a commanding 2-0 lead. The Stars did manage to
claw and scratch their way back to a 2-2 tie, only to yield a late
nail in the coffin to Slava Kozlov. Yes, him again. The much-hated
(by LCS Hockey) weasel did it to Dallas again, as if scoring the
winning goal in Game 3 wasn't enough.  

It was clear that Dallas was not gonna make it back. They were
putting up a valiant effort, despite being sold out by their
normally better netminder. That was the wrong point during the
wrong game of the most important series the Dallas Stars franchise
has ever played for Belfour to have such a big lapse of reason.
 

Sure, Hitchcock and the others brought up the terrible way that
Marouelli called the game, and it seemed as if old Danny was on a
different planet during this game (can you say payoff?). But, even
though you normally wont get called for a whack to the leg while
you are killing off a penalty, Belfour should have known better.
 

The Stars still made the attempt, but when Richard Matvichuk went
down with a shoulder injury of unknown severity, the wheels were
definitely coming off. Dallas was already playing without an
injured Shawn Chambers.  

It was Chambers' absence that led to Matvichuk's first-period
shorthanded giveaway to Maltby. Matty was getting tired playing
more minutes on the power play due to Chambers' absence, and
Matvichuk was already playing hurt. So, he fanned on a backhanded
pass across his crease because the puck was bouncing.  

The puck was probably bouncing because it was one of those cheesy
Fox glow-puck abominations. You know, they can't freeze those
things because of all the electronics inside. What happens to an
unfrozen puck when being played in a hot, humid rink on bad, slushy
ice? It b o u n c e s.  It bounces a lot. In this case, it bounced
right to a waiting Kirk Maltby, who went in to score on a hapless
Belfour.  

Well, at any rate - after the giveaway, Detroit targeted Matvichuk
even more, because they knew Matty was playing injured with a bad
knee. And, they knew he was rattled by the giveaway.  

Getting back to the late Matvichuk injury, Matty and the Stars
battled valiantly until the very end. But, when Matvichuk lay on
the ice as a writhing heap, with a disturbing look of pain on his
face, you could feel the air coming out of the Dallas bench. That
was the last straw.  

The Stars were losing too many men on the battlefield, playing a
losing game against an overwhelming opponent with superior
firepower. Now the Red Wings simply need to put away the flaming
plane wreck formerly known as the Dallas Stars.  

Of course, there is always hope. Never leave a hockey game. Never
count your team out. And, if you're a Dallas Star, never give up
the war until the last battle has been fought.  

If Dallas pulls off this miracle of beating the champions, full
credit has to go to them as the most durable team ever to lace up
their skates. In three short seasons, they will have gone from last
place to first, have broken nearly every franchise record related
to win/loss record and points production in a single season, and
have defeated all comers, including the defending Stanley Cup
champions -- all without most of their best players in the lineup
at differing times.  

That's one tall order. The Stars will attempt to fill that order
back home at Reunion Arena beginning on June 3, 1998. 

Other Notes

* In an attempt to spark offense, ANY OFFENSE!!, Hitchcock united
the power line of Lehtinen, Modano, and Langenbrunner. It was this
line that got the big attempted comeback started during the end of
Game 3. They never had much chance to get anything going because of
all the special teams play during game four. Marouelli should have
choked on that whistle of his, the putz.  

* In another effort to boost offensive production, Hitch moved
Modano back to the point on the power play, and moved Derian
Hatcher back up front in an attempt to screen Osgood. The good news
is, Dallas scored a power-play goal. The bad news is, they
surrendered a shorty.  

* While it was good to see Bob Bassen score in this series, he and
Pat Verbeek only have a goal apiece so far. They were two of the
ones mentioned that need to pick it up. Maybe they will have enough
time left to do so. Greg Adams was one of the other forwards
mentioned as needing to score more, but other than the game-winner
during Game 2, Gus has been silent due to a re-aggravation of his
ongoing neck/back problems. DOH!  

* Of all the forwards being singled out for more production, only
Jere Lehtinen seems to have a legitimate streak going. Lehtinen has
4 points in the last 2 games (2g, 2a). All this while playing
injured with a weak knee. It was no coincidence Lehtinen helped set
up Modano's only goal of the series during game three. Modano also
assisted on one of Jere's two goals that night.  

* Dallas will probably recall Dan Keczmer and some of the other
K-Wings d-men due to the injuries of Chambers and Matvichuk. Just
how much injustice is this team supposed to face before they get a
few breaks?  

* Other than the only power play goal of the series, Sergei Zubov
has been held quiet. He is starting to show some of that lack of
willingness to shoot the farging puck on the farging net that put
most of the Pittsburgh Penguins fans in a loopy hatefest towards
him. But like Belfour, Zubov waited until the very end, when it was
most important NOT to exhibit your bad tendencies, to bring that
old can of worms out into the open. Whatsa matta, Zube?  

* Look for Derian Hatcher and Craig Ludwig to wipe out everything in
sight next game. It appears as if that may be the only way to knock
Detroit off their game long enough to steal a couple-three wins away
from the champs. For some reason, Dallas abandoned the rough, nasty
play that won them game two during games three and four. Except for
that Belfour Bell Slash to Lapointe, of course.  

* And, the lack of Stars willing to sacrifice themselves in front of
the net has been a B I G problem. If the rough boys mix it up, maybe
the forwards will take cue from them and begin mixing it up in front
of Osgood?  

C'Mon, Dallas- hang in there for just three more games...



-----------------------------------------------------------------
DETROIT RED WINGS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach:  Scotty Bowman
   
Roster: C - Steve Yzerman, Igor Larionov, Kris Draper, Sergei
Fedorov. LW - Brendan Shanahan, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Doug Brown,
Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby, Brent Gilchrist. RW - Darren McCarty,
Joey Kocur, Martin Lapointe. D - Nicklas Lidstrom, Bob Rouse, Slava
Fetisov, Larry Murphy, Dmitri Mironov, Jamie Macoun, Aaron Ward,
Anders Eriksson, Mathieu Dandenault. G - Chris Osgood, Kevin
Hodson. 

INJURIES:  None. 

TRANSACTIONS:  None.

GAME RESULTS: 
First Round vs Phoenix: Red Wings win 4-2

4/22 Phoenix     W 6-3
4/24 Phoenix     L 7-4   
4/26 at Phoenix  L 3-2
4/28 at Phoenix  W 4-2
4/30 Phoenix     W 3-1
5/03 at Phoenix  W 5-2

Second Round vs St. Louis: Red Wings win 4-2

5/08 St. Louis     L 4-2 
5/10 St. Louis     W 6-2
5/12 at St. Louis  W 2-1
5/14 at St. Louis  W 5-2
5/17 St. Louis     L 3-1
5/19 at St. Louis  W 6-1

Western Conference Finals vs Dallas: Red Wings lead 3-1

5/24 at Dallas  W 2-0
5/26 at Dallas  L 3-1
5/29 Dallas     W 5-3
5/31 Dallas     W 3-2

Team News by Dino Cacciola

CONFERENCE FINALS - GAME 3
DETROIT 5, DALLAS 3

Great hockey in what is being considered "THE" series to watch. 
Well things started out pretty good then it changed fairly quickly.
The Wings had a commanding 4-0 lead, but the Stars came back with
three straight goals, one in the second period and two in the third.
The Red Wings slacked off and it almost cost them the game. But
defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom had two goals and an assist as the Red
Wings hung on for a 5-3 victory over the Dallas Stars.  Whew! 
 
"When you sit back like we did in the second and third period, you
can't expect to win very many," Forward Darren McCarty said. "We got
lucky tonight." Whew! 

Brent Gilchrist, Jamie Macoun and Martin Lapointe also scored for
the Red Wings in the win.  The Stars are 1-15-2 at Joe Louis Arena
since the franchise moved from Minneapolis to Dallas. 

Lapointe's goal gave the Red Wings some breathing room when he beat
goalie Ed Belfour with a wrist shot from the slot with about four
minutes remaining in the third period through the five  hole.   Whew!


"That was a relief," Lapointe said. "We can't play like that. We let
up, and it cost us. We were lucky tonight." 

The Red Wings scored on just their second shot of the game.  Brent
Gilchrist flipped the puck past Belfour high to the stick side for
his fourth playoff goal at 5:50 of the first period.  The Red Wings
took a 2-0 lead at 12:42 on Nick Lidstrom's power-play goal with
six seconds left in the penalty. 

Belfour faced only 20 shots while Ozzie faced 34 in the win. 

CONFERENCE FINALS - GAME FOUR
DETROIT 3, DALLAS 2

The "Vladinator" was back in town! The Detroit Red Wings are one
victory away from going back to the Stanley Cup Finals. With injured
defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov watching from a private suite at
the Joe Louis arena, Slava Kozlov broke a tie at 11:30 of the third
period, lifting the Red Wings to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars
in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. The Wings now have a
three games to one advantage  heading back into Dallas for
Game 5. 

Kirk Maltby and Steve Yzerman also scored. The first star of the
game was Chris Osgood who made some great saves throughout the game
to keep the Stars in check. 

"I think that was maybe as good as I've seen Osgood play, today,"
Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "When it was 2-2, we thought we were
going to win the hockey game. It's a fine line between winning and
losing." 

With the game tied at 2 in the third, Belfour had to be quick to
cover the puck as centerman Sergei Fedorov hovered near the crease.
But Belfour had no chance as Kozlov tipped Larry Murphy's shot from
the top of the slot over the  goalie's right shoulder for the game
winner at 11:30 of the third period.  The crowd was chanting
"Belfour" throughout the whole game and was taunting him. 

Dallas pulled Belfour with 1:18 left in the game and got two great
shots, but Ozzie came through again with clutch plays. The Stars
outshot Detroit, 30-23.  "They were shooting the puck every  chance
they got," said Osgood, "I had about three guys in front of me. They
were really coming after us at the end.  They were pretty desperate."
The Stars  were buzzing quite a bit around the net. 

Vladimir Konstantinov and team massage therapist Sergei Mnatsakanov,
injured in the same limo accident last year, viewed the game from
team owner Mike Ilitch's private suite.  Their presence was 
acknowledged only with an  announcement on the public address system
by Bud Lynch. But that was enough to trigger a thunderous 95 second
ovation from the sellout crowd of 19,983 fans.  The house was
rocking!  Vlady waived and Sergei waived.  Many of the people in
the crowd shed tears.  It was truly a moving movement.  Slava
Fetisov skated out from the bench and was  visibly moved by the
outpouring.  He was in the limo accident as well.  Watching the
Stars look up at the suite in acknowledgement was very sincere as
well. 

"It was very emotional," Igor Larionov said.  "When you hear all
those people cheer, those people who love him.  I was deeply touched
when I saw his picture up on the screen." 

Konstantinov still dreams of returning to the Red Wings, his wife
says. "He's absolutely sure he will do it, and I'm supporting him,"
Irina Konstantinov said in an interview with the CBC. "I think it's
great." Asked whether she believes he will make the recovery he
needs to be am NHL player again, she said: "I don't know what to
say. You know what..I  wish."   She said she and her and Valdy were
touched by the fact that the team has kept his locker in game
condition  and with the mementos, including a good luck rock with
"believe" written upon  it. "The first time we saw it, we had
tears in our eyes," she said. "That really gives us a great
feeling."  Very nice gesture by his teammates. 

The Wings are a very united team that is not using the whole injury
story as a motivating tool publicly; but it is something that cannot
be overlooked because it is so real.  They have a common goal and
this is something very  inspirational.  For a team that was not given
a chance by many to win anything, they sure have come a long way.

==============================================================================
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYOFF STATS - Players - thru May 31
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEAM P NO  PLAYER              GP   G   A PTS +/-  PIM PP SH GW GT   S  PCTG
BOS  C 41  JASON ALLISON        6   2   6   8   0    4  1  0  0  0  13  15.4
BOS  L 14 *SERGEI SAMSONOV      6   2   5   7   1    0  0  0  1  0  18  11.1
BOS  D 77  RAY BOURQUE          6   1   4   5  -2    2  1  0  0  0  42   2.4
BOS  R 12  DMITRI KHRISTICH     6   2   2   4   1    2  2  0  0  0  15  13.3
BOS  D 20  DARREN VAN IMPE      6   2   1   3   0    0  1  0  1  1  19  10.5
BOS  C 33  ANSON CARTER         6   1   1   2  -3    0  0  0  0  0  19   5.3
BOS  L 19  ROB DIMAIO           6   1   0   1  -3    8  0  0  0  0  14   7.1
BOS  D 18  KYLE MCLAREN         6   1   0   1  -3    4  1  0  0  0  21   4.8
BOS  R 11 *PER AXELSSON         6   1   0   1  -3    0  0  0  0  0  13   7.7
BOS  D 44  DAVE ELLETT          6   0   1   1  -1    6  0  0  0  0  11    .0
BOS  L 42  MIKE SULLIVAN        6   0   1   1   0    2  0  0  0  0  10    .0
BOS  R 27  LANDON WILSON        1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   1    .0
BOS  L 21  TED DONATO           5   0   0   0  -3    2  0  0  0  0   3    .0
BOS  L 22  KEN BAUMGARTNER      6   0   0   0   0   14  0  0  0  0   1    .0
BOS  D 36  GRANT LEDYARD        6   0   0   0  -3    2  0  0  0  0   8    .0
BOS  G 34  BYRON DAFOE          6   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
BOS  R 23  STEVE HEINZE         6   0   0   0  -4    6  0  0  0  0  15    .0
BOS  C 26  TIM TAYLOR           6   0   0   0  -2   10  0  0  0  0  10    .0
BOS  D 25 *HAL GILL             6   0   0   0  -1    4  0  0  0  0   3    .0
BOS  C  6 *JOE THORNTON         6   0   0   0   0    9  0  0  0  0   3    .0
BUF  R 36  MATTHEW BARNABY     13   7   6  13   6   20  3  0  1  0  23  30.4
BUF  R 28  DONALD AUDETTE      13   5   8  13  -4   10  3  0  2  0  29  17.2
BUF  C 19  BRIAN HOLZINGER     13   4   7  11  -1   16  1  1  0  0  19  21.1
BUF  L 18  MICHAL GROSEK       13   6   4  10   5   20  2  0  3  1  36  16.7
BUF  D  5  JASON WOOLLEY       13   1   9  10   7   12  1  0  0  0  22   4.5
BUF  L 81  MIROSLAV SATAN      13   5   4   9  -9    4  4  0  1  0  20  25.0
BUF  R 15  DIXON WARD          13   3   6   9   6    6  0  0  0  0  25  12.0
BUF  R 25 *VACLAV VARADA       13   3   3   6   2   12  0  0  0  0  21  14.3
BUF  D  8  DARRYL SHANNON      13   1   4   5   0    8  0  1  0  0  12   8.3
BUF  L 80  GEOFF SANDERSON     12   3   1   4   1    4  1  0  1  1  23  13.0
BUF  C 27  MICHAEL PECA        11   2   2   4   2    6  0  0  1  1  20  10.0
BUF  L 37  CURTIS BROWN        12   1   2   3   5   10  1  0  0  0  21   4.8
BUF  C 22  WAYNE PRIMEAU       13   1   2   3  -2    6  0  0  0  0   9  11.1
BUF  C 26  DEREK PLANTE         9   0   3   3   2   10  0  0  0  0  13    .0
BUF  D  6  BOB BOUGHNER        12   0   3   3   7   11  0  0  0  0   6    .0
BUF  D 44  ALEXEI ZHITNIK      13   0   3   3   0   34  0  0  0  0  18    .0
BUF  D 42  RICHARD SMEHLIK     13   0   2   2   3    4  0  0  0  0  11    .0
BUF  D  4  MIKE WILSON         13   0   1   1  -4   13  0  0  0  0  11    .0
BUF  D 74  JAY MCKEE            1   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
BUF  R 32  ROB RAY              8   0   0   0  -3   22  0  0  0  0   2    .0
BUF  G 39  DOMINIK HASEK       13   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   0    .0
COL  C 21  PETER FORSBERG       7   6   5  11   3   12  2  0  0  0  18  33.3
COL  D  8  SANDIS OZOLINSH      7   0   7   7  -3   14  0  0  0  0  19    .0
COL  R 22  CLAUDE LEMIEUX       7   3   3   6   2    8  1  0  1  0  29  10.3
COL  C 19  JOE SAKIC            6   2   3   5   0    6  0  1  2  1  24   8.3
COL  L 13  VALERI KAMENSKY      7   2   3   5   1   18  1  0  0  0  17  11.8
COL  R 18  ADAM DEADMARSH       7   2   0   2  -1    4  1  0  0  0  14  14.3
COL  C 26  STEPHANE YELLE       7   1   0   1  -3   12  0  0  0  0   7  14.3
COL  R 14  TOM FITZGERALD       7   0   1   1  -2   20  0  0  0  0   8    .0
COL  D  5  ALEXEI GUSAROV       7   0   1   1   1    6  0  0  0  0   3    .0
COL  D  4  UWE KRUPP            7   0   1   1   2    4  0  0  0  0  18    .0
COL  G 33  PATRICK ROY          7   0   1   1   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
COL  G  1  CRAIG BILLINGTON     1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
COL  L 20  RENE CORBET          2   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   5    .0
COL  C 17  JARI KURRI           4   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   2    .0
COL  D 24  JON KLEMM            4   0   0   0   1    0  0  0  0  0   1    .0
COL  L 10  WARREN RYCHEL        6   0   0   0  -2   24  0  0  0  0   4    .0
COL  R 16  JEFF ODGERS          6   0   0   0  -1   25  0  0  0  0   4    .0
COL  D  2  SYLVAIN LEFEBVRE     7   0   0   0  -1    4  0  0  0  0   4    .0
COL  D 52  ADAM FOOTE           7   0   0   0  -1   23  0  0  0  0  12    .0
COL  R 11  KEITH JONES          7   0   0   0  -1   13  0  0  0  0  12    .0
COL  L 28  ERIC LACROIX         7   0   0   0  -2    6  0  0  0  0   5    .0
COL  D  3  AARON MILLER         7   0   0   0   0    8  0  0  0  0   6    .0
DAL  C  9  MIKE MODANO         15   4   9  13   4   12  1  0  1  0  41   9.8
DAL  D 56  SERGEI ZUBOV        15   4   4   8   3    2  3  0  1  0  30  13.3
DAL  R 26  JERE LEHTINEN       10   3   4   7   1    2  1  0  0  0  20  15.0
DAL  L 33  BENOIT HOGUE        15   4   2   6   1   13  1  0  2  1  21  19.0
DAL  R 12  MIKE KEANE          15   3   3   6   5    0  0  1  1  1  17  17.6
DAL  D  2  DERIAN HATCHER      15   3   3   6  -1   37  2  0  0  0  17  17.6
DAL  R 16  PAT VERBEEK         15   3   2   5  -2   26  2  0  1  0  23  13.0
DAL  D  5  DARRYL SYDOR        15   0   5   5   5   14  0  0  0  0  34    .0
DAL  L 23  GREG ADAMS          10   2   2   4   3    0  0  0  2  0  13  15.4
DAL  L 11 *JUHA LIND           14   2   2   4   3    8  0  0  1  0  14  14.3
DAL  L 15  JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER 14   0   4   4  -4   14  0  0  0  0  30    .0
DAL  L 14  DAVE REID            5   0   3   3  -2    2  0  0  0  0   8    .0
DAL  D 27  SHAWN CHAMBERS      14   0   3   3   5   20  0  0  0  0  16    .0
DAL  C 21  GUY CARBONNEAU      14   2   0   2  -1    6  0  0  0  0  14  14.3
DAL  D 24  RICHARD MATVICHUK   15   1   1   2   2   12  0  0  0  0  19   5.3
DAL  R 29  GRANT MARSHALL      15   0   2   2   0   45  0  0  0  0   4    .0
DAL  C 25  JOE NIEUWENDYK       1   1   0   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   1 100.0
DAL  C 28  BOB BASSEN          15   1   0   1  -2   12  0  0  0  0  11   9.1
DAL  C 10  BRIAN SKRUDLAND     15   0   1   1   0   14  0  0  0  0  14    .0
DAL  G 30 *EMMANUEL FERNANDEZ   1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
DAL  D 22  CRAIG MUNI           3   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0   0    .0
DAL  L 46 *JAMIE WRIGHT         5   0   0   0   3    0  0  0  0  0   6    .0
DAL  G 20  ED BELFOUR          15   0   0   0   0   18  0  0  0  0   0    .0
DAL  D  3  CRAIG LUDWIG        15   0   0   0   0   18  0  0  0  0   8    .0
DET  C 19  STEVE YZERMAN       16   4  15  19   5   18  3  0  0  0  44   9.1
DET  C 91  SERGEI FEDOROV      16   8   8  16   3   12  2  1  0  0  59  13.6
DET  D  5  NICKLAS LIDSTROM    16   5  10  15   9    6  2  0  1  0  40  12.5
DET  L 13  VYACHESLAV KOZLOV   16   6   7  13   6   10  1  0  3  0  36  16.7
DET  L 96  TOMAS HOLMSTROM     16   5   8  13   6   14  1  0  0  0  19  26.3
DET  R 20  MARTIN LAPOINTE     15   7   5  12   3   12  2  1  0  0  41  17.1
DET  C  8  IGOR LARIONOV       16   2   8  10   3    8  0  0  0  0  18  11.1
DET  D 55  LARRY MURPHY        16   1   9  10   9    2  0  1  0  0  22   4.5
DET  L 14  BRENDAN SHANAHAN    14   5   3   8   3   20  3  0  2  1  44  11.4
DET  R 25  DARREN MCCARTY      16   3   5   8   5   28  0  0  1  0  36   8.3
DET  L 18  KIRK MALTBY         16   3   1   4   2   22  0  1  0  0  23  13.0
DET  D 34  JAMIE MACOUN        16   2   2   4   4   18  0  0  2  0  14  14.3
DET  D 44 *ANDERS ERIKSSON     12   0   4   4   5   10  0  0  0  0  11    .0
DET  R 26  JOEY KOCUR          14   3   0   3  -2   26  0  0  0  0   8  37.5
DET  C 41  BRENT GILCHRIST     13   2   1   3   2   12  0  0  0  0  16  12.5
DET  D 15  DMITRI MIRONOV       7   0   3   3   1   14  0  0  0  0  15    .0
DET  C 33  KRIS DRAPER         13   0   3   3   3    8  0  0  0  0  12    .0
DET  D  3  BOB ROUSE           16   0   2   2   1   14  0  0  0  0  14    .0
DET  R 17  DOUG BROWN           3   1   0   1   0    0  1  0  1  0   3  33.3
DET  R 11  MATHIEU DANDENAULT   3   1   0   1  -2    0  1  0  0  0   4  25.0
DET  R 22 *MICHAEL KNUBLE       3   0   1   1   0    0  0  0  0  0   1    .0
DET  G 30  CHRIS OSGOOD        16   0   1   1   0    8  0  0  0  0   0    .0
DET  G 31 *KEVIN HODSON         1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
DET  D  2  VIACHESLAV FETISOV  15   0   0   0   2    8  0  0  0  0   8    .0
EDM  C 39  DOUG WEIGHT         12   2   7   9  -4   14  2  0  1  0  26   7.7
EDM  R  9  BILL GUERIN         12   7   1   8  -6   17  4  0  0  0  47  14.9
EDM  D  2  BORIS MIRONOV       12   3   3   6  -3   27  1  0  1  0  26  11.5
EDM  D 22  ROMAN HAMRLIK       12   0   6   6  -4   12  0  0  0  0  19    .0
EDM  L 17  REM MURRAY          11   1   4   5  -1    2  0  0  0  0  15   6.7
EDM  L 37  DEAN MCAMMOND       12   1   4   5   0   12  0  0  0  0  22   4.5
EDM  R 25  MIKE GRIER          12   2   2   4   4   13  0  0  1  0  14  14.3
EDM  L 94  RYAN SMYTH          12   1   3   4  -2   16  1  0  0  0  24   4.2
EDM  L 21  VALERI ZELEPUKIN     8   1   2   3   3    2  0  0  0  0   8  12.5
EDM  D 15  DRAKE BEREHOWSKY    12   1   2   3   1   14  0  0  1  0   4  25.0
EDM  R 16  KELLY BUCHBERGER    12   1   2   3   0   25  0  0  0  0  13   7.7
EDM  C 20  TONY HRKAC          12   0   3   3   2    2  0  0  0  0  11    .0
EDM  C 18 *SCOTT FRASER        11   1   1   2   0    0  0  0  0  0  17   5.9
EDM  D 24  JANNE NIINIMAA      11   1   1   2   3   12  0  0  1  0  20   5.0
EDM  C 14  MATS LINDGREN       12   1   1   2   0   10  0  0  0  0  16   6.3
EDM  L 26  TODD MARCHANT       12   1   1   2   0   10  0  0  0  0  17   5.9
EDM  G 30  BOB ESSENSA          1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
EDM  D  4  KEVIN LOWE           1   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   0    .0
EDM  L 51  ANDREI KOVALENKO     1   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   2    .0
EDM  L 28  BILL HUARD           4   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   3    .0
EDM  D  8  FRANK MUSIL          7   0   0   0   1    6  0  0  0  0   0    .0
EDM  D  5  GREG DE VRIES        7   0   0   0  -4   21  0  0  0  0   2    .0
EDM  D  6  BOBBY DOLLAS        11   0   0   0   2   16  0  0  0  0  10    .0
EDM  G 31  CURTIS JOSEPH       12   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0    .0
LAK  L 20  LUC ROBITAILLE       4   1   2   3   1    6  0  0  0  0  13   7.7
LAK  C 15  JOZEF STUMPEL        4   1   2   3   2    2  0  0  0  0   7  14.3
LAK  C 44  YANIC PERREAULT      4   1   2   3  -1    6  1  0  0  0   7  14.3
LAK  D  5  AKI BERG             4   0   3   3   3    0  0  0  0  0   7    .0
LAK  R 27  GLEN MURRAY          4   2   0   2   2    6  0  0  0  0  13  15.4
LAK  L 23  CRAIG JOHNSON        4   1   0   1   0    4  0  0  0  0   3  33.3
LAK  D  6  SEAN O'DONNELL       4   1   0   1   1   36  0  0  0  0   7  14.3
LAK  C 22  IAN LAPERRIERE       4   1   0   1   0    6  0  0  0  0   6  16.7
LAK  D 33  JAN VOPAT            2   0   1   1   1    2  0  0  0  0   1    .0
LAK  C 26  RAY FERRARO          3   0   1   1   1    2  0  0  0  0   5    .0
LAK  L  7 *STEVE MCKENNA        3   0   1   1   1    8  0  0  0  0   3    .0
LAK  D  3  GARRY GALLEY         4   0   1   1  -2    2  0  0  0  0   6    .0
LAK  L  9  VLADIMIR TSYPLAKOV   4   0   1   1  -1    8  0  0  0  0   4    .0
LAK  G 35  STEPHANE FISET       2   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
LAK  L 42  DAN BYLSMA           2   0   0   0  -3    0  0  0  0  0   1    .0
LAK  D  2  DOUG ZMOLEK          2   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0    .0
LAK  G  1 *JAMIE STORR          3   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
LAK  D  4  ROB BLAKE            4   0   0   0  -4    6  0  0  0  0  15    .0
LAK  R 19  RUSS COURTNALL       4   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0   7    .0
LAK  C 24  NATHAN LAFAYETTE     4   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0   4    .0
LAK  D 14  MATTIAS NORSTROM     4   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   3    .0
LAK  L 17  MATT JOHNSON         4   0   0   0  -1    6  0  0  0  0   0    .0
MTL  R  8  MARK RECCHI         10   4   8  12   2    6  0  0  2  0  22  18.2
MTL  L 27  SHAYNE CORSON       10   3   6   9   3   26  1  0  1  0  33   9.1
MTL  C 25  VINCENT DAMPHOUSSE  10   3   6   9  -4   22  1  0  0  0  42   7.1
MTL  D 38  VLADIMIR MALAKHOV    9   3   4   7  -3   10  2  0  0  0  19  15.8
MTL  R 23  TURNER STEVENSON    10   3   4   7   1   12  0  0  0  0  21  14.3
MTL  C 11  SAKU KOIVU           6   2   3   5   4    2  1  0  0  0  14  14.3
MTL  D 55  IGOR ULANOV         10   1   4   5   3   12  0  0  0  0   6  16.7
MTL  L 26  MARTIN RUCINSKY     10   3   0   3  -2    4  1  0  0  0  35   8.6
MTL  C 28  MARC BUREAU         10   1   2   3  -1    6  0  0  0  0  16   6.3
MTL  L 44  JONAS HOGLUND       10   2   0   2  -1    0  0  0  0  0   7  28.6
MTL  D 34  PETER POPOVIC       10   1   1   2   2    2  0  0  0  0   3  33.3
MTL  D  5  STEPHANE QUINTAL     9   0   2   2   2    4  0  0  0  0  12    .0
MTL  C 24  SCOTT THORNTON       9   0   2   2   0   10  0  0  0  0  13    .0
MTL  L 49  BRIAN SAVAGE         9   0   2   2  -2    6  0  0  0  0  24    .0
MTL  L 17  BENOIT BRUNET        8   1   0   1   1    4  0  0  1  1   5  20.0
MTL  D 43  PATRICE BRISEBOIS   10   1   0   1  -5    0  0  0  0  0  26   3.8
MTL  G 41  JOCELYN THIBAULT     2   0   1   1   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
MTL  D  3  ZARLEY ZALAPSKI      6   0   1   1  -3    4  0  0  0  0   0    .0
MTL  D 22  DAVE MANSON         10   0   1   1   0   14  0  0  0  0  25    .0
MTL  R 21  MICK VUKOTA          1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
MTL  L 37  PATRICK POULIN       3   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   1    .0
MTL  G 60 *JOSE THEODORE        3   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
MTL  D 52  CRAIG RIVET          5   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0   5    .0
MTL  C 71  SEBASTIEN BORDELEAU  5   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   1    .0
MTL  G 35  ANDY MOOG            9   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
NJD  C 93  DOUG GILMOUR         6   5   2   7   4    4  1  0  1  0  12  41.7
NJD  R 32  STEVE THOMAS         6   0   3   3   1    2  0  0  0  0  12    .0
NJD  D 24  LYLE ODELEIN         6   1   1   2   2   21  1  0  1  0   7  14.3
NJD  C 10  DENIS PEDERSON       6   1   1   2   0    2  0  1  0  0   8  12.5
NJD  L 20  JAY PANDOLFO         3   0   2   2   0    0  0  0  0  0   1    .0
NJD  C 25  JASON ARNOTT         5   0   2   2   1    0  0  0  0  0   6    .0
NJD  D 27  SCOTT NIEDERMAYER    6   0   2   2   0    4  0  0  0  0  15    .0
NJD  D 28  KEVIN DEAN           5   1   0   1  -1    2  0  0  0  0   4  25.0
NJD  L 23  DAVE ANDREYCHUK      6   1   0   1  -2    4  1  0  0  0  17   5.9
NJD  C 19  BOB CARPENTER        6   1   0   1   0    0  0  0  0  0   3  33.3
NJD  D  4  SCOTT STEVENS        6   1   0   1   4    8  0  0  0  0  11   9.1
NJD  L 14  BRIAN ROLSTON        6   1   0   1   2    2  0  1  0  0  14   7.1
NJD  C  9 *BRENDAN MORRISON     3   0   1   1  -1    0  0  0  0  0   4    .0
NJD  D  2 *SHELDON SOURAY       3   0   1   1   0    2  0  0  0  0   1    .0
NJD  L 26 *PATRIK ELIAS         4   0   1   1  -2    0  0  0  0  0   9    .0
NJD  D  3  KEN DANEYKO          6   0   1   1   0   10  0  0  0  0   7    .0
NJD  R 21  RANDY MCKAY          6   0   1   1  -1    0  0  0  0  0   7    .0
NJD  G 30  MARTIN BRODEUR       6   0   1   1   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
NJD  L 22  SCOTT DANIELS        1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
NJD  C 17  PETR SYKORA          2   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   5    .0
NJD  D  5  DOUG BODGER          5   0   0   0  -5    0  0  0  0  0   8    .0
NJD  C 16  BOBBY HOLIK          5   0   0   0  -4    8  0  0  0  0  18    .0
NJD  L 29 *KRZYSZTOF OLIWA      6   0   0   0   0   23  0  0  0  0   5    .0
OTW  R 11  DANIEL ALFREDSSON   11   7   2   9  -4   20  2  1  1  0  36  19.4
OTW  C 19  ALEXEI YASHIN       11   5   3   8  -6    8  3  0  2  1  42  11.9
OTW  D 29  IGOR KRAVCHUK       11   2   3   5  -2    4  0  0  0  0  24   8.3
OTW  D 27  JANNE LAUKKANEN     11   2   2   4  -3    8  1  0  1  0  14  14.3
OTW  C 25  BRUCE GARDINER      11   1   3   4  -2    2  0  0  1  1  21   4.8
OTW  L 15  SHAWN MCEACHERN     11   0   4   4  -6    8  0  0  0  0  27    .0
OTW  D 33  JASON YORK           7   1   1   2  -2    7  1  0  0  0  13   7.7
OTW  R 10  ANDREAS DACKELL     11   1   1   2  -4    2  1  0  0  0  14   7.1
OTW  D  6  WADE REDDEN          9   0   2   2  -5    2  0  0  0  0  11    .0
OTW  C 16  SERGEI ZHOLTOK      11   0   2   2  -1    0  0  0  0  0  23    .0
OTW  D  4 *CHRIS PHILLIPS      11   0   2   2  -2    2  0  0  0  0  24    .0
OTW  R 17  CHRIS MURRAY        11   1   0   1  -2    8  0  0  0  0  12   8.3
OTW  L  7  RANDY CUNNEYWORTH    6   0   1   1   0    6  0  0  0  0   2    .0
OTW  C 22  SHAUN VAN ALLEN     11   0   1   1  -3   10  0  0  0  0  16    .0
OTW  D  2  LANCE PITLICK       11   0   1   1  -3   17  0  0  0  0   6    .0
OTW  L 20 *MAGNUS ARVEDSON     11   0   1   1  -6    6  0  0  0  0  21    .0
OTW  R 12  PAT FALLOON          1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   2    .0
OTW  D  3  PER GUSTAFSSON       1   0   0   0  -2    0  0  0  0  0   3    .0
OTW  G 31  RON TUGNUTT          2   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
OTW  C 14  RADEK BONK           5   0   0   0  -3    2  0  0  0  0   6    .0
OTW  C 13 *VACLAV PROSPAL       6   0   0   0  -2    0  0  0  0  0   7    .0
OTW  D 24  STANISLAV NECKAR     9   0   0   0  -4    2  0  0  0  0   4    .0
OTW  G  1  DAMIAN RHODES       10   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
OTW  L 28  DENNY LAMBERT       11   0   0   0   2   19  0  0  0  0   5    .0
PHI  L 17  ROD BRIND'AMOUR      5   2   2   4   2    7  0  0  0  0  15  13.3
PHI  C 88  ERIC LINDROS         5   1   2   3  -3   17  0  0  0  0  13   7.7
PHI  D  3  DANIEL MCGILLIS      5   1   2   3   0   10  1  0  0  0  14   7.1
PHI  C 55  CHRIS GRATTON        5   2   0   2  -1   10  0  0  0  0  16  12.5
PHI  L 10  JOHN LECLAIR         5   1   1   2  -4    8  1  0  1  0  19   5.3
PHI  R 19  ALEXANDRE DAIGLE     5   0   2   2   0    0  0  0  0  0   6    .0
PHI  C 11  MIKE SILLINGER       3   1   0   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   7  14.3
PHI  D 44  DAVE BABYCH          5   1   0   1   2    4  1  0  0  0  12   8.3
PHI  D 23  PETR SVOBODA         3   0   1   1  -1    4  0  0  0  0   1    .0
PHI  D 37  ERIC DESJARDINS      5   0   1   1  -3    0  0  0  0  0  17    .0
PHI  D  6  CHRIS THERIEN        5   0   1   1  -1    4  0  0  0  0  15    .0
PHI  R  9  DAINIUS ZUBRUS       5   0   1   1   2    2  0  0  0  0   6    .0
PHI  G 27  RON HEXTALL          1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PHI  D 24  CHRIS JOSEPH         1   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   2    .0
PHI  D 28  KJELL SAMUELSSON     1   0   0   0   1    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PHI  R 26  JOHN DRUCE           2   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   3    .0
PHI  C 32  DANIEL LACROIX       4   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PHI  G 33  SEAN BURKE           5   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PHI  C 29  JOEL OTTO            5   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   8    .0
PHI  D 22  LUKE RICHARDSON      5   0   0   0  -3    0  0  0  0  0   2    .0
PHI  R 20  TRENT KLATT          5   0   0   0  -6    0  0  0  0  0   6    .0
PHI  L 25  SHJON PODEIN         5   0   0   0  -1   10  0  0  0  0   5    .0
PHI  L 12 *COLIN FORBES         5   0   0   0   2    2  0  0  0  0   9    .0
PHO  R 92  RICK TOCCHET         6   6   2   8   0   25  3  0  0  0  12  50.0
PHO  C 97  JEREMY ROENICK       6   5   3   8  -1    4  2  2  2  0  20  25.0
PHO  D 10  OLEG TVERDOVSKY      6   0   7   7  -2    0  0  0  0  0   7    .0
PHO  L  7  KEITH TKACHUK        6   3   3   6  -1   10  0  0  0  0  24  12.5
PHO  C 77  CLIFF RONNING        6   1   3   4  -1    4  0  0  0  0  17   5.9
PHO  C 15  CRAIG JANNEY         6   0   3   3  -2    0  0  0  0  0   6    .0
PHO  D  2  MURRAY BARON         6   0   2   2   2    6  0  0  0  0   4    .0
PHO  D  4  GERALD DIDUCK        6   0   2   2  -4   20  0  0  0  0  14    .0
PHO  R 22  MIKE GARTNER         5   1   0   1  -2   18  1  0  0  0  11   9.1
PHO  C 21  BOB CORKUM           6   1   0   1  -3    4  0  0  0  0   3  33.3
PHO  R 19  SHANE DOAN           6   1   0   1  -2    6  0  0  0  0   7  14.3
PHO  R 11  DALLAS DRAKE         4   0   1   1  -4    2  0  0  0  0   4    .0
PHO  G 35  N. KHABIBULIN        4   0   1   1   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PHO  L 34  DARRIN SHANNON       5   0   1   1  -1    4  0  0  0  0   2    .0
PHO  D 44  NORM MACIVER         6   0   1   1   0    2  0  0  0  0   6    .0
PHO  C 18  MARK JANSSENS        1   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PHO  L 33  JIM MCKENZIE         1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PHO  D 27  TEPPO NUMMINEN       1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PHO  R 20  JIM CUMMINS          3   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   2    .0
PHO  G 28  JIM WAITE            4   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PHO  D 24  MICHEL PETIT         5   0   0   0  -1    8  0  0  0  0   4    .0
PHO  R 16 *BRAD ISBISTER        5   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   6    .0
PHO  C 14  MIKE STAPLETON       6   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   5    .0
PHO  D  3  KEITH CARNEY         6   0   0   0  -3    4  0  0  0  0   2    .0
PIT  R 68  JAROMIR JAGR         6   4   5   9   5    2  1  0  0  0  23  17.4
PIT  C 14  STU BARNES           6   3   3   6   2    2  0  0  1  0  12  25.0
PIT  C 10  RON FRANCIS          6   1   5   6   5    2  0  0  0  0  19   5.3
PIT  D 71  JIRI SLEGR           6   0   4   4   3    2  0  0  0  0  10    .0
PIT  D 23  FREDRIK OLAUSSON     6   0   3   3   0    2  0  0  0  0  17    .0
PIT  C 20  ROBERT LANG          6   0   3   3  -4    2  0  0  0  0   6    .0
PIT  R 16  ED OLCZYK            6   2   0   2  -3    4  1  1  1  0   6  33.3
PIT  C 82  MARTIN STRAKA        6   2   0   2  -3    2  0  1  0  0  10  20.0
PIT  R 44  ROB BROWN            6   1   0   1  -4    4  1  0  0  0  10  10.0
PIT  D  4  KEVIN HATCHER        6   1   0   1   1   12  1  0  0  0  15   6.7
PIT  D  5  BRAD WERENKA         6   1   0   1  -3    8  0  1  0  0   3  33.3
PIT  D  2  CHRIS TAMER          6   0   1   1  -1    4  0  0  0  0   2    .0
PIT  C 29  TYLER WRIGHT         6   0   1   1   0    4  0  0  0  0   3    .0
PIT  R 95 *ALEXEI MOROZOV       6   0   1   1  -3    2  0  0  0  0  10    .0
PIT  C 38  ANDREAS JOHANSSON    1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PIT  D 42 *TUOMAS GRONMAN       1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PIT  C 12  SEAN PRONGER         5   0   0   0  -1    4  0  0  0  0   4    .0
PIT  D 11  DARIUS KASPARAITIS   5   0   0   0  -2    8  0  0  0  0   3    .0
PIT  G 35  TOM BARRASSO         6   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PIT  R 24  IAN MORAN            6   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   0    .0
PIT  L 33  ALEX HICKS           6   0   0   0  -5    2  0  0  0  0   6    .0
SJS  R 15  JOHN MACLEAN         6   2   3   5   1    4  1  0  0  0  18  11.1
SJS  C  9  BERNIE NICHOLLS      6   0   5   5  -2    8  0  0  0  0   6    .0
SJS  R 11  OWEN NOLAN           6   2   2   4  -1   26  2  0  1  0  16  12.5
SJS  C 18  MIKE RICCI           6   1   3   4   0    6  0  0  0  0   8  12.5
SJS  D  2  BILL HOULDER         6   1   2   3   0    2  0  0  0  0   8  12.5
SJS  L 22  MURRAY CRAVEN        6   1   1   2  -2    0  0  0  0  0   6  16.7
SJS  R 17  JOE MURPHY           6   1   1   2  -1   20  1  0  0  0  10  10.0
SJS  D 43  AL IAFRATE           6   1   0   1  -4   10  1  0  0  0  10  10.0
SJS  C 12  RON SUTTER           6   1   0   1  -1   14  0  0  0  0   7  14.3
SJS  D 40  MIKE RATHJE          6   1   0   1  -3    6  1  0  0  0   2  50.0
SJS  D 20 *ANDREI ZYUZIN        6   1   0   1  -2   14  0  0  1  1   6  16.7
SJS  L 37  STEPHANE MATTEAU     4   0   1   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   2    .0
SJS  C 14 *PATRICK MARLEAU      5   0   1   1  -1    0  0  0  0  0   2    .0
SJS  L 39  JEFF FRIESEN         6   0   1   1  -1    2  0  0  0  0   9    .0
SJS  L 21  TONY GRANATO         1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   2    .0
SJS  G 32  KELLY HRUDEY         1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
SJS  C 19 *MARCO STURM          2   0   0   0  -2    0  0  0  0  0   3    .0
SJS  L 28  SHAWN BURR           6   0   0   0  -1    8  0  0  0  0   4    .0
SJS  L 26  DAVE LOWRY           6   0   0   0   0   18  0  0  0  0   3    .0
SJS  D 27  BRYAN MARCHMENT      6   0   0   0   1   10  0  0  0  0   5    .0
SJS  G 29  MIKE VERNON          6   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
SJS  D 10  MARCUS RAGNARSSON    6   0   0   0   2    4  0  0  0  0   4    .0
STL  R 10  JIM CAMPBELL        10   7   3  10  -1   12  4  0  2  0  23  30.4
STL  L 14  GEOFF COURTNALL     10   2   8  10  -2   18  1  0  0  0  24   8.3
STL  D 44  CHRIS PRONGER       10   1   9  10  -2   26  0  0  0  0  24   4.2
STL  C 77  PIERRE TURGEON      10   4   4   8  -5    2  2  0  0  0  27  14.8
STL  D  2  AL MACINNIS          8   2   6   8   1   12  1  0  0  0  27   7.4
STL  R 16  BRETT HULL          10   3   3   6  -3    2  1  0  1  0  32   9.4
STL  L 38  PAVOL DEMITRA       10   3   3   6  -3    2  0  0  0  0  32   9.4
STL  D  5  TODD GILL           10   2   2   4  -3   10  1  1  0  0  16  12.5
STL  L 25 *PASCAL RHEAUME      10   1   3   4   0    8  1  0  0  0  10  10.0
STL  D 28  STEVE DUCHESNE      10   0   4   4  -8    6  0  0  0  0  28    .0
STL  R 27  TERRY YAKE          10   2   1   3  -3    6  2  0  1  0   6  33.3
STL  C 22  CRAIG CONROY        10   1   2   3  -1    8  0  0  1  0  17   5.9
STL  L 33  SCOTT PELLERIN      10   0   2   2   1   10  0  0  0  0  10    .0
STL  C 32  MIKE EASTWOOD        3   1   0   1  -1    0  0  0  1  0   4  25.0
STL  D  4  MARC BERGEVIN       10   0   1   1  -1    8  0  0  0  0   6    .0
STL  G 31  GRANT FUHR          10   0   1   1   0    2  0  0  0  0   0    .0
STL  G 29  JAMIE MCLENNAN       1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0    .0
STL  D 20  RUDY POESCHEK        2   0   0   0  -2    6  0  0  0  0   0    .0
STL  R 39  KELLY CHASE          7   0   0   0  -2   23  0  0  0  0   0    .0
STL  C  9  DARREN TURCOTTE     10   0   0   0  -4    2  0  0  0  0   5    .0
STL  R 23  BLAIR ATCHEYNUM     10   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0  13    .0
STL  D 19  CHRIS MCALPINE      10   0   0   0  -1   16  0  0  0  0   5    .0
WSH  C 77  ADAM OATES          15   5   8  13   9    8  1  1  1  0  15  33.3
WSH  C 90  JOE JUNEAU          15   5   7  12   7    8  0  1  3  1  33  15.2
WSH  D 55  SERGEI GONCHAR      15   7   3  10   6   22  3  1  2  0  27  25.9
WSH  R 12  PETER BONDRA        11   5   4   9   6    8  2  0  2  1  26  19.2
WSH  L 23  BRIAN BELLOWS       15   4   5   9   6    4  1  0  1  1  40  10.0
WSH  D  6  CALLE JOHANSSON     15   2   7   9  12   14  0  0  0  0  30   6.7
WSH  C 13  ANDREI NIKOLISHIN   15   0   9   9   6   10  0  0  0  0  20    .0
WSH  L 44 *RICHARD ZEDNIK      11   6   2   8   2   10  2  0  0  0  28  21.4
WSH  L 11  ESA TIKKANEN        15   2   3   5   2   14  1  0  0  0  18  11.1
WSH  D 96  PHIL HOUSLEY        12   0   4   4   0    2  0  0  0  0  18    .0
WSH  L  9  TODD KRYGIER        10   1   2   3   1    4  0  0  1  1  11   9.1
WSH  D 29  JOE REEKIE          15   1   2   3   4   16  0  0  0  0  11   9.1
WSH  C 20  MICHAL PIVONKA      13   0   3   3   5    0  0  0  0  0  16    .0
WSH  C 32  DALE HUNTER         15   0   3   3   2   26  0  0  0  0  11    .0
WSH  D 24  MARK TINORDI        15   1   1   2   9   32  0  0  0  0   9  11.1
WSH  L 36  MIKE EAGLES          8   0   2   2   1    2  0  0  0  0   6    .0
WSH  D  2  KEN KLEE             7   1   0   1   2   10  0  0  0  0   4  25.0
WSH  D 19  BRENDAN WITT        14   1   0   1   2   12  0  0  0  0   8  12.5
WSH  L 27  CRAIG BERUBE        15   1   0   1   1   21  0  0  0  0  10  10.0
WSH  L 34 *JAROSLAV SVEJKOVSKY  1   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0    .0
WSH  L 10  KELLY MILLER         6   0   0   0   1    4  0  0  0  0   6    .0
WSH  L 17  CHRIS SIMON         12   0   0   0  -1   16  0  0  0  0  10    .0
WSH  G 37  OLAF KOLZIG         15   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   0    .0

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYOFF STATS - Goaltenders - thru May 31
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TM  NO  GOALTENDER       GPI MINS   AVG  W  L  T EN SO  GA   SA  SPCT G  A PIM
BOS 34  BYRON DAFOE        6  422  1.99  2  4     1  1  14  159  .912 0  0   0
BUF 39  DOMINIK HASEK     13  822  2.04  9  4     0  1  28  441  .937 0  0   4
COL  1  CRAIG BILLINGTON   1    1   .00  0  0     0  0   0    0  .000 0  0   0
COL 33  PATRICK ROY        7  430  2.51  3  4     1  0  18  191  .906 0  1   0
DAL 30 *EMMANUEL FERNANDE  1    2   .00  0  0     0  0   0    0  .000 0  0   0
DAL 20  ED BELFOUR        15  921  1.76  9  6     1  1  27  348  .922 0  0  18
DET 31 *KEVIN HODSON       1    0   .00  0  0     0  0   0    0  .000 0  0   0
DET 30  CHRIS OSGOOD      16  985  2.31 11  5     1  1  38  427  .911 0  1   8
EDM 31  CURTIS JOSEPH     12  716  1.93  5  7     1  3  23  319  .928 0  0   2
EDM 30  BOB ESSENSA        1   27  2.22  0  0     0  0   1   11  .909 0  0   0
LAK  1 *JAMIE STORR        3  145  3.72  0  2     0  0   9   77  .883 0  0   0
LAK 35  STEPHANE FISET     2   93  4.52  0  2     0  0   7   61  .885 0  0   0
MTL 60 *JOSE THEODORE      3  120   .50  0  1     1  0   1   35  .971 0  0   0
MTL 35  ANDY MOOG          9  474  3.04  4  5     1  1  24  204  .882 0  0   0
MTL 41  JOCELYN THIBAULT   2   43  5.58  0  0     1  0   4   16  .750 0  1   0
NJD 30  MARTIN BRODEUR     6  366  1.97  2  4     1  0  12  164  .927 0  1   0
OTW  1  DAMIAN RHODES     10  590  2.14  5  5     3  0  21  236  .911 0  0   0
OTW 31  RON TUGNUTT        2   74  4.86  0  1     0  0   6   25  .760 0  0   0
PHI 27  RON HEXTALL        1   20  3.00  0  0     0  0   1    8  .875 0  0   0
PHI 33  SEAN BURKE         5  283  3.60  1  4     0  0  17  121  .860 0  0   0
PHO 28  JIM WAITE          4  171  3.86  0  3     0  0  11   97  .887 0  0   0
PHO 35  N. KHABIBULIN      4  185  4.22  2  1     0  0  13  106  .877 0  1   0
PIT 35  TOM BARRASSO       6  376  2.71  2  4     1  0  17  171  .901 0  0   2
SJS 29  MIKE VERNON        6  348  2.41  2  4     1  1  14  138  .899 0  0   0
SJS 32  KELLY HRUDEY       1   20  3.00  0  0     0  0   1    6  .833 0  0   0
STL 31  GRANT FUHR        10  616  2.73  6  4     2  0  28  297  .906 0  1   2
STL 29  JAMIE MCLENNAN     1   14  4.29  0  0     0  0   1    4  .750 0  0   0
WSH 37  OLAF KOLZIG       15  973  1.66 11  4     0  3  27  520  .948 0  0   2
==============================================================================
lcshockeylcshockeylcshockeylcshockeylcshockeylcshockeythewellisdrylcshockeylcs
==============================================================================