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GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY  GUIDE TO HOCKEY GUIDE TO HOCKEY  
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Five Star            - ELECTRONIC EDITION -            * * * * * 
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Issue 119                April 28, 1999            170,000 bytes
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-------------------------------------------------------------
First Round Update: Ottawa Outsville
-------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

Okay, I wanted to start this article off with a really lame joke
about the Ottawa Senators, but I couldn't find the right one.  So
here are three options.  Take your pick.

1. What's the difference between the Ottawa Senators and Carrot
Top's movie career?  Carrot Top's movie career lasted longer.  

2. What's the difference between the Ottawa Senators and a glazed
donut at Oprah's house?  At least the glazed donut would put up a
fight.  

3. What do the Ottawa Senators and a bottle of Jagermeister have
in common?  Both go down easy.

Yes, the Ottawa Senators, the second seed in the Eastern
Conference and one of the most fearsome teams of the 1998-99
season, have been whacked Goodfellas style by Dominik Hasek and
the Buffalo Sabres in four straight games.  

The Sabres sealed the deal on Tuesday night with a 4-3 win at
Marine Midland Arena.  Vaclav Varada had a pair of goals to pace
the offense while Hasek stopped 40 shots in net, marking his
third 40-save effort of the four-game set.  Aw, that's just Hasek
being Hasek.   

Ottawa dominated Game One, outshooting the Sabres 41 to 15, but
couldn't solve that skinny dude from the Czech Republic.  The
loss seemed to break the spirit of the young Senator squad. 
Hasek was unbelievable all series long, stopping 156 of 162 total
shots.  For the math impaired, that's good for a .963 save
percentage.  And for the Science impaired, plants give off oxygen
through a process known as photosynthesis.  That's
photosynthesis.  

The Sens could muster only six goals in the series, with
superstar center and Hart Trophy candidate Alexei Yashin failing
to register a single point.  The Sabres, in particular Michael
Peca, frustrated the big Russian at every turn.  Even his magical
turtleneck couldn't save Alexei this time.  What's the world
coming to when even a magic turtleneck isn't enough to ensure
victory?

At least the Senators didn't have to exit the dance alone.  The
Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Edmonton Oilers were also asked to leave
and not return on Tuesday night.  Man, three sweeps in the first
round.  I haven't seen this many mismatches since the cast of
"CHiPs" took on the cast of "Facts of Life" in the "Battle of the
Network Stars."  Don't kid yourself, that Mindy Cohen could
really throw a javelin.

At least Edmonton went down swinging.  Perhaps inspired by having
Wayne Gretzky on hand to drop a ceremonial faceoff, the Oilers
forced the Stars to three overtimes before Joey Nieuwendyk
deflected a Sergei Zubov point shot behind Tommy Salo at 17:34 of
the third extra session to give the Stars a 3-2 win and the
series sweep.  It was Nieuwendyk's second goal of the game and
his third in his last two outings.  

This series hinged on Game Three.  The Bubbling Crude were
enjoying a 2-0 third-period lead on home ice when things got
ugly.  Mike Keane, Mike Modano, and Nieuwendyk rattled off three
goals in a little over six minutes to steal a win and shove the
Oil to the brink of elimination.  It was a stunning turn of
events.  Sort of like the time I... see, I should have another
joke here but I've been really sick the past three weeks and
can't think straight.  Sorry.

The Oilers had to play most of Game Four without the services of
Dougie Weight.  The slick center suffered one of them there scary
injuries.  Jere Lehtinen belted Ryan Smyth with a hip check at
center ice, sending the Edmonton winger head over heels.  In a
truly frightening scene, Weight skated by at precisely the wrong
moment and had Smyth's right skate crash into his mouth.  Weight
was knocked unconscious and fell to the ice in a bloody mess.  He
suffered a concussion and required 34 stitches to close his
wounds.      

Fellow Western Conference powerhouse Detroit joined Dallas in the
second round by sweeping the hell out of the Mighty Ducks. 
Anaheim was just no match for the stacked Red Wings.  Minor
league teams seldom are.  The defensive pairing of Chris Chelios
and Nicklas Lidstrom completely silenced Paul Kariya and Teemu
Selanne as the Wings outscored the Ducks 16-6 for the series. 
Kariya suffered a broken foot in Game Three when he was struck by
a Lidstrom slap shot and wasn't around for Detroit's 3-0 series-
clinching win Tuesday night.  Not like it would have mattered. 

The Colorado Avalanche seem poised to make the second-round dream
matchup with Detroit a reality.  The Avalanche took both games in
San Jose, by scores of 3-1 and 2-1, and now return to McNichols
Arena for Games Three, Four, and Five.  It doesn't look good for
the fish.  Joe Sakic has been his usual self, ringing up two
goals and an assist in Game One and setting up Milan Hejduk for
the overtime winner in Game Two.  Sakic is, without doubt, the
best clutch player in hockey.   

The Owen Nolan-Patrick Roy feud has been pretty entertaining to
watch.  Before the series Nolan had a few quotes blown out of
proportion by the media, making is sound like he called Roy a
stiff.  Patrick said he didn't take it personally and wasn't
about to get into a verbal sparring match like the one he had
with Jeremy Roenick a few years back, but it sure looks like Roy
has concentrated on keeping Nolan off the scoresheets.  Nolan has
played with tremendous intensity the first two games and has
launched 12 shots at Roy only to come up empty each time.  

Roy's most harsh denial of Nolan came in overtime of Game Two
when a turnover as the Avalanche were trying to leave the zone
created a half-court three-on-one for the Sharks.  The puck was
quickly moved down low to Nolan who was all alone about five feet
to Roy's left.  The burly winger hurriedly turned the puck to his
forehand and tried to chip a shot shortside, but Roy denied him
with a left pad save and smothered the rebound.  Only a few
moments later, Hejduk was lighting the lamp at the other end. 
For those of you scoring at home, this is what we like to call a
"Turning Point."

The biggest surprise out West is that the Phoenix Coyotes are
holding a 3-1 series edge over the St. Louis Blues following a 2-
1 win Tuesday night.  The deciding goal was credited to Dallas
Drake at 19:25 of the second period.  Teppo Numminen blasted the
puck from the point on the power play and it really didn't look
like Drake tipped it, but he got credit.  Just another example of
the man trying to keep Teppo down.  

I didn't think there was a chance in hell that the Coyotes,
without Roenick and showing few signs of life down the stretch,
could beat a surging St. Louis squad boasting the stalwart
defensive tandem of Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger.  The Big Daddy
Mac has certainly lived up to billing, scoring two goals and
eight points in the first three games, but it hasn't been enough
to deter the Desert Dogs. 

The Coyotes came to life in the overtime of Game Two.  After
yielding a late third-period power-play goal to Pavol Demitra to
knot the score at 3-3, the Coyotes came out like mission men in
the OT and got the winner when Shane Doan poked a loose puck over
the goal line following a Drake centering pass from behind the
cage that struck the leg of St. Louis defender Brad Tiley and
took a ride along the red line while eluding the vision of Grant
Fuhr.

Pucks continued to elude Fuhr in Game Three.  Anytime Louie
DeBrusk scores two goals you know you've got a problem.  And when
one of those goals is scored from center ice, it might be time to
look for professional help.  Needless to say, Fuhr got the hook. 
The Coyotes raced out to a 4-0 lead behind the two DeBrusk goals
and eventually held on for a 5-4 win.  The Dogs will be looking
to close out the Blue Note Friday night back in Phoenix.          

Moving back to the East, the New Jersey Devils got a huge win
Tuesday night in Pittsburgh to even their series with the Birds
at two games apiece.  Sergei Brylin and Randy McKay each notched
a goal and an assist in the 4-2 Devil win.  Pittsburgh played its
third straight game without Jaromir Jagr, who is out nursing a
groin injury suffered late in Game One.  

The Pens dropped that opening game but fought back to take a two-
one series lead despite not having the Czech Wonder Kid. 
However, they did have Czech Wonder Kid Jr., Marty Straka.  The
li'l fella scored a huge goal in his club's 4-1 Game Two victory
and then bagged a hat trick in Game Three, leading the Penguins
to a 4-2 triumph.  The best goal of the three, and maybe the
playoffs, was actually his empty-netter.  Straka blocked a point
shot by Scott Niedermayer, hurdled over Niedermayer as he dove to
try and recover, and then outraced Jason Arnott to the loose puck
before sliding a backhander home to send hats flying.  It was
something special.  

The Penguins have played some tremendous hockey to this point,
getting standout performances from Straka, Alexei Kovalev, and
rookie Jan Hrdina up front.  They've been getting the puck deep
and forechecking the New Jersey defense into mistakes.  They're
going to have to keep that work ethic high if they want to win
the series.  Playing such a simple, physical game isn't what
Pittsburgh likes to do.  Their commitment to the cause will tell
how long this series lasts.  At least Jagr is expected back on
Friday for Game Five. 

In a note of comedic relief, Matthew Barnaby and Lyle Odelein
have been doing little to hide their dislike for one another. 
Barnaby called Odelein "Cornelius" in honor of the character from
"Planet of the Apes" because, as Barnaby says, "He looks like an
ape."  Odelein then countered by saying that Barnaby shouldn't
talk since his wife is, and I quote, "gawd-awful to look at." 
Cornelius... that's some funny stuff.  If you're a Penguin fan
going to Game Six in Pittsburgh, bring bananas.  Cornelius.  That
cracks me up. 

Following a brilliant 25-save shutout performance from John
Vanbiesbrouck in Game One, Philadelphia appeared ready to steal
both games out of Toronto until they came unglued at the end of
Game Two.  Steve Thomas and Mats Sundin scored goals a little
over a minute apart in the final two minutes of regulation to
hand the Fly Guys a crushing 2-1 defeat.  The Leafs then went
into Philly and snagged Game Three by a similar 2-1 score thanks
to 40 saves from Curtis Joseph, including many of the incredible
variety.  There's more on the Leafs-Flyers later in the issue.  

By far, the best series of the first round has been waged between
the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes.  I tell you what, it's
some quality entertainment.  Carolina just hits everything in
sight.  Gary Roberts has been relentless, racking up nearly 20
hits a night by himself.  It's awe-inspiring to watch.  Roberts
has finished every single check that's presented itself, and he's
done it all with bad intentions.  But he's not the only one. 
Keith Primeau, Jeff O'Neill, Kevin Dineen, and just about every
other member of the Canes has been in on the hit parade.  

Boston has done its best to keep up, getting a noticeably strong
effort from young Landon Wilson in the checking department, but
Carolina's brutality has been too much.  They appear to be
wearing the Bruins down, taking Games Two and Three by identical
3-2 scores.  Ray Sheppard has been the offensive star, collecting
three goals in the two victories, including the OT-winner in Game
Two.  And how about Paul Coffey?  With injuries mounting on the
Hurricane blue line, Coffey has stepped up and played like his
old self, chasing down loose pucks and logging over twenty
minutes a night.  

That's about it for now.  The playoffs have been pretty good so
far.  If you get the chance, definitely check out the Carolina-
Boston series.  It's something to see.  Roberts is a bad man.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------
CREDITS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Dell..................................Editor-in-Chief
Zippy............................................Computer Boy
Jim Iovino.......................................Ace Reporter
Matthew Secosky..............New Voice of the Lost Generation
Nicole Agostino....Don't Know Nothin' Bout Birthin' No Babies
Alex Carswell...........................Anaheim Correspondent
Matt Brown...............................Boston Correspondent
Matt Barr...............................Buffalo Correspondent
John Alsedek............................Calgary Correspondent
Chris Schilling........................Carolina Correspondent
Thomas Crawford.........................Chicago Correspondent
Greg D'Avis............................Colorado Correspondent
Jim Panenka..............................Dallas Correspondent
Dino Cacciola...........................Detroit Correspondent
Aubrey Chau............................Edmonton Correspondent
Vacant..................................Florida Correspondent
Matt Moore..........................Los Angeles Correspondent
Jacques Robert.........................Montreal Correspondent
Jeff Middleton........................Nashville Correspondent
Carmen Crincoli......................New Jersey Correspondent
David Strauss.........................Islanders Correspondent
Gregg Jensen............................Rangers Correspondent
The Nosebleeders........................Ottawa Correspondents
Chuck Michio.......................Philadelphia Correspondent
Bob Chebat..............................Phoenix Correspondent
Jerry Fairish........................Pittsburgh Correspondent
Tom Cooper............................St. Louis Correspondent
AJ DaSilva.............................San Jose Correspondent
Seth Lerman...........................Tampa Bay Correspondent
Jonah Sigel.............................Toronto Correspondent
Jeff Dubois...........................Vancouver Correspondent
Jason Sheehan........................Washington Correspondent
Tricia McMillan.............................AHL Correspondent
Peter Farkasovsky...............................Correspondent
Howard Fienberg.................................Correspondent
Wallace Hannum..................................Correspondent
-----------------------------------------------------------------
LCS Hockey - Issue 119 - April 28, 1999.  All rights reserved 
because we, like, called ahead and stuff. Email address: 
info@lcshockey.com  Street Address: 406 Sheffield Drive, 
Greensburg, PA 15601.  Web Address: www.lcshockey.com
Direct Address: Something from the meat case, Linda?
-----------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------
Send a Message
-------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

What has become of playoff hockey?  Am I the only one that
remembers what it means to send a message; to set a tone?  The
Philadelphia Flyers have certainly forgotten.  Steve "Stumpy"
Thomas and the Toronto Maple Leafs have taken full advantage of
the amnesic symptoms, battling back to claim a two-games-to-one
advantage over the men in orange and black.  

The stage was set for a truly titanic tussle on Monday night,
April 26, when the Leafs traveled to Philly's First Union Arena
for Game Three of the first-round series between the Eastern
Conference's fourth and fifth seeds.  Two nights earlier Thomas
had taken a serious run at Eric Desjardins along the back boards
in the Flyer zone, knocking Philly's premier blueliner
unconscious with what some are calling a clean shoulder check and
what I'm calling an elbow, make up your own mind.  

Clean or not, the result of the hit was that Desjardins was flat
on his back for several minutes.  But instead of pounding the
living hell out of Thomas, the Flyers let the matter go
unpunished.  Big mistake.  Stumpy struck again at 18:01 of the
third period, driving wide on right wing and slipping a weak
backhander through John Vanbiesbrouck to knot the score at 1-1
and bring the Leafs and the entire Air Canada Centre to life.  It
was Toronto's first goal of the series.  They didn't wait long
before scoring their second.  Feeding off the momentum of the
Thomas goal, the Leafs buzzed the Flyer net and Mats Sundin used
his ungodly reach to pop a loose puck over Vanbiesbrouck's
shoulder to give Toronto a thrilling 2-1 win.  Let's see, that's
two goals allowed one minute and six seconds apart in the final
two minutes of regulation.  Yeah, that'll suck.   

Now I'm not promoting violence here, but all I know is it's
pretty tough to score a game-tying goal from your back.  Thomas
should have been rubbed out.  I don't care if the hit was clean,
you simply can't allow someone to run your best defenseman and
get away with it.  Thomas should have been dropped before
Desjardins' lifeless body hit the ice.  By not taking action, the
Flyers were opening the door for more nefarious play.  It's no
coincidence that later in the game Kris King nearly snapped Adam
Burt in half by drilling him from behind into the back wall with
a horrific cross-check.  King received only a two-minute minor
for boarding.  It should have at least been worth a major and
some punches to the head.      

Following the game, Philadelphia GM Bobby Clarke was not amused
by the officials or the tactics of the Maple Leafs.  Clarke,
someone who was never scared to send a message in his day,
offered up a call to arms.  "Just say it's open warfare," spoke
the two-time Cup winner.  "If someone gets hurt, too bad."  

With Clarke's lovely words of promise dancing elegantly in my
head, I tuned into Game Three with the anxious anticipation of an
alcoholic awaiting his first drink.  Awaiting its intoxicating
smell.  Longing for the smooth, sultry touch of the glass.  The
reassuring comfort it brings and the... wait, where was I?  Oh
yeah, so anyway I turned on the ol' Flyer game and what did I
see?  A whole lot of nothin', that's what.

Things started out promising.  Thomas got on the ice early and
was challenged his first shift.  Keith Jones shoved him around
and went nose-to-nose with him behind the Toronto cage as play
went the other way.  But Thomas didn't take the bait.  And Jones
didn't force the issue.  Another missed opportunity.  

Craig Berube sort of did something near the end of the first
period.  Everybody was milling around behind the Flyer cage after
the whistle and Berube bumped into Thomas.  And that was all it
was, just a bump.  But Thomas went down like he was shot and the
ref nailed Berube for two.  Way to go, stripes.  The Leafs opened
the second period with the power play and Thomas made it count,
whistling a snap shot from the top of the left wing circle behind
a befuddled Vanbiesbrouck for what proved to be the game-winning
goal in a 2-1 Maple Leaf decision.

Everybody and his uncle, and maybe an aunt or two, is going to
say that Berube took a stupid penalty.  And that retribution come
playoff time will only cost your team on the scoreboard.  Blah
blah blah.  Whatever.  Sure, the penalty was dumb.  It was dumb
because Berube didn't deserve it.  He had the right idea.  He
just didn't execute it properly.  If you're going to risk getting
caught with your hand in the till, might as well reach for the
Ben Franklins.  Go all out or don't go.  Berube should know
better.  He's been around.  He's seen more messages sent than a
Western union clerk.  

Thomas' goal drained all emotion from the Philly crowd.  Sandy
McCarthy tried to inspire the faithful by asking Tie Domi to go,
but Toronto's resident thug declined.  It was actually a smart
move by Domi.  No sense giving the crowd something to cheer
about.  McCarthy flapped his arms like a chicken to taunt Domi. 
It still didn't work.  Tie fled the scene and the Flyers were
still without a spark.  Just a suggestion for McCarthy.  Um,
maybe before resorting to the dreaded chicken flap, here's
something else you might try: drop the gloves and start throwing
anyway.  Domi will join in.  And even if he doesn't they're not
going to hit you for five.  The worst thing that happens is you
get four minutes for roughing, and even that's doubtful
considering the punching bag is Domi.  You can't always wait for
an invitation.  Sometimes you have to make it happen.

The rest of the game rolled without incident.  It's a shame,
really.  And it's also rather obvious why the Flyers haven't won
a Stanley Cup recently.  They apparently have no idea how to play
a seven-game series.  But they're not the only ones.  It seems
the entire league could use a lesson on the finer points of
playoff hockey.

Get close to those computer screens, valued readers, for I am
about to bestow a piece of wisdom that will lead you true.  It's
an axiom you can trust to the grave.  The key that unlocks the
mystery of how to win in the NHL playoffs.  Ready?  

"You're allowed to lose three games."

There it is.  Nothing more than that.  You're allowed to lose
three games.  It's a fact that is not comprehended by many teams
these days.  Everyone seems to approach each single playoff game
as a must-win situation.  But that simply isn't the case.  The
only must-win game is the one you play after your third loss. 
Until that point, everything else is open for interpretation.   

There's no disgrace in losing a game as long as something
positive is taken from the proceedings; some ground gained in the
overall war.  In other words, if you're losing it's time to send
a message.  You don't do it with sticks.  You don't do it with
elbows or cross-checks.  You do it by dropping the gloves.  It's
old school hockey.  Some will argue that it's not the way the
game should be played, but those same people rarely get their
names engraved on the Cup.  

Just look at the Flyers.  They watched Desjardins get whacked and
did absolutely nothing.  And what do they have to show for it? 
Two losses and two huge goals given up to the player that
committed the atrocity.  Teams with character don't let that
happen.  If Nicklas Lidstrom gets run, rest assured Darren
McCarty is going to pay someone a visit.  Take a shot at Sandis
Ozolinsh and be prepared to be mobbed by the likes of Adam Foote,
Adam Deadmarsh, Jeff Odgers, Warren Rychel, and Dale Hunter.  And
everyone has seen how Derian Hatcher reacts when one of his mates 
gets threatened.         

Perhaps the most infamous example of a team refusing to answer
the bell physically came in the 1992-93 playoffs when the New
York Islanders knocked off the mighty Pittsburgh Penguins, the
two-time defending champs and the greatest offensive team since
the Edmonton Oilers of the mid-80s.  Before the series, the
Penguins had decided not to retaliate against the Isles' rough
play, electing instead to make New York pay by scoring on the
power play.  It was a monumental error in judgement.  The Isles,
led by LCS Hockey hero Darius Kasparaitis, battered Mario Lemieux
on every occasion without fear of reprisal.  While Rick Tocchet
was instructed to merely sit by and watch, Lemieux took such a
pounding that his fragile back went out and he was even forced
into traction in the days prior to Game Seven.  With Lemieux's
back ailing, the Penguin power play went cold and the Isles
pulled off the greatest upset in Stanley Cup playoff history.  

If Tocchet had been turned loose the first time Lemieux got hit,
there's no doubt that series would have had a different outcome,
and not just because Lemieux would have been healthy.  By not
beating them down physically, the Pens allowed the Isles to
believe they could compete.  The Islanders were the only club
that entire season that wasn't intimidated by the daunting
offensive juggernaut of Pittsburgh.  And the reason why is that
they were allowed to take cheap shots without having to pay the
piper.  The Penguins were so worried about losing a few power-
play chances that they never took time to send a message.  They
never set a tone.  And they never won that third Cup.  
                         
If you want to win in the postseason, you have to be willing to
pay the price.  You have to play ugly.  You have to send a
message.  You have to set a tone.  If not, you won't be long for
the tournament.  And you sure as hell will never get to lift the
Cup.  

The Flyers still have a chance to make amends.  Will they make it
happen?  Tough call.  Maybe someone should send them a message.  

              
-------------------------------------------------------------
Bettman Speaks
-------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman held a media conference call last
week to discuss a variety of topics.  The following is a
transcript of the exchange with the usual LCS Hockey touch,
meaning that I've changed all the questions in order to confuse
and bewilder.  Enjoy.

LCS: Good afternoon, Commissioner.  And I use that term
loosely.  Let's get right to it.  Have you always been a
corporate weasel?  Or did you go to some sort of school for
corporate weasels?  How does that work?

GARY BETTMAN: Well, actually the decision that was made by
the Board of Governors almost a year ago was that we should
begin phasing in the two-referee system. And the game plan is
to keep moving ahead, unless there's a reason not to. And
based on the experience that we had through the first part of
the season through the end of February, the results were
overwhelmingly positive.

And while we had not planned necessarily to use the
two-referee system for the playoffs, we were sufficiently
pleased how it worked in the regular season; that we wanted to
expedite the phase-in period. We're planning on going full bore
ahead into next season and beyond as we continue to phase
the system in.

LCS: Okay, now exactly when did you get duel citizenship
as both a corporate weasel and a corporate whore?  Is it tough
wearing both hats?

GARY BETTMAN: Well, actually it wouldn't come as any great
surprise to anyone that since I'm ultimately responsible for
everything that happens in the League office. I was fully aware
of the deliberations and had whatever input was appropriate,
and I think that Colin's decision in this case was certainly
consistent with the edict we've been operating under this year,
which is we're protecting heads.

LCS: Gary, my man, it's obvious that the punk-ass goal
crease rule has to go.  It's a disgrace to the sport and his
crippling the game.  Anyone with an ounce of common sense can see
that it should be abolished.  What are your thoughts 
on the rule?  And please don't use some gay argument from
football about a guy catching a pass out of bounds.  Because the
last time I checked football wasn't played on ice.  So please,
for the love of Don Knotts, don't use that lame argument.

GARY BETTMAN: It's interesting. It doesn't have an ugly
head. The rule, which is the zero tolerance rule using replay, is
working consistently. The problems that we've had in prior
years have been worked out. The issue is more of one of, I
guess, we'll call it aesthetics. There are certain goals there
are being disallowed. They are being disallowed appropriately
under the rule, but people are questioning whether we should
do that. You don't hear in football when a guy catches a 40-yard
pass in the air and comes down with his foot on the line in the
end zone and they call it out of bounds, people don's say -"it's
just his toe."

We're going through a bit of that. Colin -- at the General
Managers' meetings in February -- showed the General
Managers a videotape of about 10 or 12 such goals, and it
was the view of the General Managers overwhelmingly to leave
the rule alone.

However, we think that after the season is over, we are going
to look at the rule again and decide whether or not we want no
harm no foul, or whether or not we want to keep zero tolerance
using video replay. The rule is working fine. It's just a
question of some people don't like the fact that it's an
absolute, clear-cut rule, which when you take into account the
fact that we did shrink the crease for this year, wasn't an
unreasonable rule for us to start the season with.

LCS: What the hell did I say about not using the football
comparison?  C'mon, work with me here.  Pay attention to me when
I'm talkin' to ya, boy.  I'm cuttin' but you ain't bleedin'. 
Let's go on to something else.  Do you like pie?  

GARY BETTMAN: You know, the process is ongoing. We've
been in touch with the IIHF, and we continue to focus on this
from NBC and other perspectives. We're not ready to
announce anything, but when we are and we are buttoned
down to the extent that we and the Players' Association,
because obviously any decision is a joint decision with the
Players Association, we'll then make it public.

LCS: You're kind of a little fella.  When you go to the
movies do you ever try to sneak in with just a children's ticket?

GARY BETTMAN: What's absolutely clear is that no one else
will ever wear this number again. Wayne was quoted at some
point in the last three or four days as saying that he and I had
had a discussion over in the summer in the abstract as to
whether or not he chose when to retire. And I wasn't trying to be
prophetic at the time but would he want a retirement tour, and
he said, "No". Whether or not in this context he would want to
go around from building to building is something that at some
point he and I will discuss.  But I'm respecting his desire to
let things just calm down and in the next few weeks or months how
he would like to see this effectuated is something that we'll
talk about. But the number is retired.

LCS: Did you ever see that movie "Wild Things"?  It
doesn't get much better than seeing Denise Richards and Neve
Campbell go at it.  That was some wild, wild stuff.  Am I right?

GARY BETTMAN: Don't take the small market Canadian
Assistance Program for granted so quickly. It was an important
step to for this League. It's been unanimously adopted year
after year. It involves many millions of dollars.
We believe that maintaining a strong presence; having all six of
our Canadian teams healthy and competitive is a vital League
priority, and we're going to continue working on not only
League economics but the issues that are particularly unique
to the Canadian teams which include the taxation issues and
the Canadian currency issues.

LCS: I've been sick for like the last three weeks.  I wake
up every morning with a sore throat and my tongue is blistered
and covered with a thick coating of mucus.  Think it's anything I
should worry about?

GARY BETTMAN: I think that our young superstars will
continue to develop and mature. I think Wayne set the standard
and led by example and I think just being around him has been
an opportunity the younger players to learn and grow. And
there have been lots of discussions including from Wayne himself
about setting up some sort of orientation program for all the
young players when they come into the League. And we're going to
continue to look for ways to make sure that our players as a
group continue to be the terrific ambassadors for the sport that
they are.

I mean, our players and you know this, you all know this on the
call, are the best in sports in terms of dealing with fans and
dealing with the media and how they conduct themselves. It's
just Wayne set a standard so far above what anybody in any
sport has ever done; it's the comparison that causes the
question to get raised.

LCS: Can I borrow twenty bucks?

GARY BETTMAN: First of all, you never replace a Wayne
Gretzky. But the fact is he helped build a tremendous
foundation that we can grow from. The good news is that over
the last five years sponsor spending and investment in the
League has grown 12-fold and has never been higher. And if
you look at some of the national advertisements that you see,
players like Fedorov, Shanahan, and Hasek are being
prominently featured. Sundin as well. And I'm leaving many out.
We always knew that at some point in time, Wayne would
retire, and our focus and our attention over the last few years
which is the later stages of his career has been on the game
and on him and on other emerging stars. And we have a lot of
them. We believe that we will continue to grow. This League
will continue to get stronger. If Wayne were ten years younger,
maybe the process would speed along at a much greater rate.
But we're heading in a good direction in large measure
because of the foundation that he helped to lay.

LCS: Do you agree with me that The Rock is indeed the most
electrifying man in sports entertainment today?

GARY BETTMAN: Well, we talk to the Players' Association
all the time on a regular basis. The fact is over the last three
years, we have repeatedly raised this as something that we
think would be better if we could make it earlier in the season.
And at this point, we haven't been made aware of any in
sentiment from the Players' Association, and we cannot do this
unilaterally. Any change would require the consent of the
Players' Association. I do plan to revisit the issue again to ask
the question and see if we can get into a good dialogue on the
subject in the off-season.

LCS: Wouldn't you like to read a book written by me,
Michael Dell, editor-in-chief of LCS Hockey? 

GARY BETTMAN: As I've said for the last three years, we
think it would be better if it were earlier in the season, and I
don't think there's any change in the view of that. There's no
dispute internally on our side. We would like to see the trading
deadline earlier in the season. That's not a new issue.

LCS:  Well I didn't want you to read it anyway! 


-------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Need A-Changin'
-------------------------------------------------------------
by Wallace Hannum

Anyone that watched Game Three of Edmonton vs. Dallas up in
Alberta knows that a change is needed.  I don't care which team
is your favorite or how much you think that Edmonton was just
unlucky.  Here's the simple truth.  Dallas is a better team then
Edmonton overall, but the Oilers beat them in Game Three. 
They simply played better than the Stars and beat them.  They
weren't the team that needed fluky goals to win it either. 
However, I noticed that Dallas seemed to have scored more
"official" goals then Edmonton.  Every newspaper, website,
and fan that I talk to claims Dallas won that game.  How did the
better team lose that night? Because of a couple of rules that
will hopefully be changed in the near future, as in the end of
the season.

First of all, there is a rule that states a goalkeeper is not
"fair game" just because he is outside the goal crease area. A
penalty for interference or charging (minor or major) should be
called in every case where an opposing player makes unnecessary
contact with the goalkeeper.  What this means is that when
someone, say... oh... Pat Falloon, chases after a loose puck and
a goalie, let's just say Ed Belfour for example, charges 20 feet
out of his net to try and "play the puck" before Falloon gets
there and as they rush towards one another on a collision course,
they make contact as they reach the puck... that's a penalty.

It's a penalty to hit a goalie that comes out to the faceoff
circle in order to challenge you for the puck.  Here's an idea.
If the other team dumps in the puck, the goalie can go behind his
net, collect the biscuit, and simply skate it out to the neutral
zone at his leisure and wait until he decides to pass it
off.  Take your time Mar-Ten, no one is allowed to even make
contact with you.  It's a minor penalty if they interfere in ANY
way.  Deliberate or not. 

This insane rule cost Edmonton a goal and took 16 years off Ron
Low's life.  It was also the absolute worst call I've seen in a
playoff game ever.  It was a nice touch that this was in the
great two-referee system.  Way to go, guys!  Keep that 5'11",
190-pound goon Falloon away from poor old 5'11", 182-pound
Belfour.
Just because Eddie skated out in order to interfere with Falloon
getting the puck was no reason for that thunderous, maniacal hit. 
He could have broken Eddie's jaw. I hope Bettman suspends
Falloon.  We don't want to see this type of brutal play in
hockey.  Send a message to the league, Gary.  "There will
be NO contact in hockey!  Not under my watch."

The other rule that ruined Sunday's game was the infamous
toe-in-crease rule.  For those of you unfamiliar with this
wonderful rule, it means that because Ethan Moreau's skate blade
was in the crease before Todd Marchant's goal was scored
it was disallowed.  Just because he was on the other side of the
crease and just because it was literally about four millimeters
of his blade doesn't matter.  No goal.

When I first heard of this rule I thought it was stupid.  Then I
realized that Football, Basketball, Soccer, and Baseball all have
lines that define the "playable" area and that anything outside
that area doesn't count.  If you hit a game winning three-run
homer into foul territory it doesn't count.  Even if it's 
just inches away.  If you make that last second catch in the
endzone but your foot lands out of bounds, then it's not six
points and you go home.  It seemed to me that hockey was just
following their lead.  Besides, it was not always clear
if someone was interfering with the goalie in the old rule.  This
was a distinct line that you couldn't cross.  It made it much
easier to follow the rules and decide if the goal counted or not. 
Fans might hate the rule for awhile but it would become part of
the game and players would learn to check their feet for a crease
violation.  Also, there would be almost no bad calls as the video
replay would give a definitive right answer.  Sounds great right? 

Here's the problem.  Players cannot crash the net for a rebound
unless they stop to check their feet as the puck leaves the
crease.  And I'd like to watch someone check his toes when
there's a puck around the net and two defensemen closing in. 
Those toes would be the last thing he saw before he wakes up in
street clothes in the locker room.  And if a guy on the other
side of the field is out of bounds when you catch that game-
winning touchdown, it still counts.  If you bury a long range
three-pointer at the buzzer but your center is out of bounds when
you released it... it still counts.  Get the idea?  Other sports
don't give a damn what other guys are doing when they don't have
the ball.  They can sit out of bounds and paint landscapes for
all we care.  

The logical rule would be that the puck handler cannot enter the
crease ahead of the puck.  If someone else is in the crease ahead
of time, who cares?  As long as they don't physically interfere
with the goalie I don't mind.  If you want to stand next to
Patrick Roy and tell him that you have carnal knowledge of his
wife and sister just as Hull releases his wrist shot...go for it. 
Just don't hook his glove hand. And watch out for that stick.
It's gonna find it's way to your crotch quickly.

Both of these rules are based on logic and seem correct on paper. 
However, they fail miserably in real games.  If a goalie leaves
to play the puck then he decided to play with the rest of the
boys and he's fair game.  Just like the rest of the boys.  It's
really a pretty easy thing to understand. If a guy has his toe in
the crease when Joe Sakic slips in a nice wraparound, count
it.  If Sakic kicks Grant Fuhr's legs out of the way and slips in
a nice wraparound, don't count it.  This replay after replay of
every shot that's in front of the net has to stop.  It slows the
game down and sucks the emotion from the game.

And please change a rule when the players, coaches, media, and
fans ALL hate it.  If Ray Ferraro and Barry Melrose call it "a
bad rule," then it's a bad rule.

As for the Edmonton-Dallas debacle...

"I think that everybody who played in that game Sunday had kind
of a heart-wrenching felling" - Ethan Moreau.

Sing it, baby.


------------------------------------------------------------- 
Goring, Langway Want to Return to NHL
-------------------------------------------------------------
by Joe Pelletier

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Butch Goring and Rod
Langway were among the NHL's elite. In the year 2000, both of
these guys want to be back in the NHL. But this time they won't
be playing. Instead they want to be coaching.

Butch Goring was a clever and popular player who could play any
style you wanted.  He toiled in relative obscurity with the Los
Angeles Kings before being traded to the New York Islanders in
1980. Goring is considered to be the last piece of the puzzle for
the Isles, as he helped to raise that team from contender to
four-time champions.

Goring was traded to the Boston Bruins late in his career. He was
a role model and teacher for his short time as a Bruins player,
and was later named as the Bruins head coach despite not having
any bench boss experience. He led the Bruins to a 37-31-12 record
for a .538 winning percentage but was swept in three games in the
playoffs. Goring only coached 13 games in 1986-87 but was fired
despite a 7-5-1 record.

Since his stint in the NHL, Goring has gone on to coach at high
levels, most notably the AHL and IHL. He has won a couple of
Turner Cup (IHL) championships and has long been considered a
prime candidate to return to the NHL.

In 1998 it looked like Butch would return to the NHL with the
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. All indications were that he was the guy
but the Ducks made a last minute decision to opt for Craig
Hartsburg instead.

This year, Goring has made it very clear that he wants the Los
Angeles Kings bench job.

"I've let them know that I'm interested and hopefully things will
work out positively for everyone." said Goring, who is one of the
greatest players to ever wear the Kings jersey.

My Prediction: Goring will get the L.A. job unless another big
name coach is released by his current club and interests the
Kings more. Goring has paid his dues and would be a smart
acquisition by the Kings, or for that matter anyone else.

Rod Langway was a great defensive defenseman during his day. He
is the only defensive blueliner to win the Norris Trophy since
the pre-Bobby Orr days. That in itself tells you how good this
guy was. He was also the runner up to a young Wayne Gretzky in
the 1984 Hart Trophy race.

Since retiring from the NHL, Langway has gone on to coach at the
ECHL, IHL and AHL levels. In fact, he played in the ECHL and IHL
as a playing coach!

Unlike Goring, Langway doesn't want a head coaching job. He
prefers to be an assistant.

"I don't want to have the headaches and play the mind games that
the head guy has to do. My goal is to be an assistant coach
because I love to teach and I love to be one of the guys. The
head coach can't be one of the guys," says Langway.

Langway is an excellent teacher. While in Washington he helped
youngsters like Scott Stevens, Kevin Hatcher and Larry Murphy
emerge into stars as well as helping countless others enjoy long
NHL careers.

Langway was an assistant in 1998-99 for the Boston Bruins farm
team.

My Prediction: Langway most likely won't get a promotion to the
NHL, but I think the perfect fit would be in Vancouver. The
Canucks are bragging about all these great young d-men they have:
Adrian Aucoin, Mattias Ohlund, Ed Jovanovski, Bryan McCabe, Bryan
Allen... but the fact of the matter is that without proper
guidance these guys won't amount to a whole lot.  The Canucks
don't have a veteran guy to help these kids out (Murray
Baron doesn't count!) and Langway could come in and help these
youngsters with their positioning and defensive play. Rumor has
it current 'Nucks assistant coach Glen Hanlon will leave for a
head coaching job in the minors and assistant Stan Smyl's days
may also be numbered.


-------------------------------------------------------------
AHL News
-------------------------------------------------------------
by Tricia McMillan

Yanic Dupre Memorial Award: The equivalent of the NHL's King Clancey
Award, the AHL presents this award to the player deemed most valuable to the local
community and charities. So far, Connecticut has a lock on this: New Haven's John
Jakopin won it last season and this year, Hartford's Brent Thompson is the
man. Thompson spends considerable time working with the Connecticut Children's
Medical Center and teaches hockey to youngsters in the Hartford area, when not
working with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Science Center of Connecticut. 

Usually I don't list runners-up, but in this case all of these guys, who were nominated for
the award by their teams, are extremely deserving of mention for their good works. The
other nominees: Adirondack's Jesse Wallin, Lowell's Ray Giroux, New Haven's Ashlin
Halfnight, Philadelphia's Jean-Marc Pelletier, Portland's Mark Major, Providence's
Aaron Downey, Rochester's Mike Harder, Springfield's  Peter Hogan, Syracuse's Darren
Sinclair and Worcester's Bryce Salvador.

The League also gave out a pair of college scholarships through the CCM AHL
Scholarship Fund to students nominated by their local AHL teams as best exemplifying
academics, athletics and community service. New Haven submitted Nicholas Mingione of
East Haven, CT. Mingione scored 17 points as a defenseman for his high school hockey
team, but also finished with an 'A' average, and was a member of  the Student Council,
National Honor Society, Future Business Leaders of America  and the computer club. 
Saint John submitted Timothy Breen, a student at Hampton High School who was not
only in the varsity hockey and football programs, but also math and business
competitions. He scored 58 points in 21 games for his school and was the
conference player of the year. He will be attending the University of New Brunswick next
year.

Rookie of the Month (Apr.): A couple more awards were handed out,
including this one. Saint John's Sergei Varlamov won this honor after picking
up eight points in six games for the Flames in April. He led the Flames in scoring in
both March and April and finished third in the AHL rookie scoring chart. 

Player of the Week (Apr. 18): The final POTW went to the player who drove
hard down the stretch to also come away with the Sollenberger Trophy: Rochester's
Domenic Pittis. Pittis was feeling heat from John Madden and Randy
Robitaille and responded with six points in the three game week to cement his place as
the league's scoring leader. The points included a game-winning goal against Albany.

Goaltender of the Month (Apr.): The temporary recall of Jose Theodore to
Montreal gave Mathieu Garon a chance to get back in the spotlight of
Fredericton and he took it. Garon was undefeated in April, with a 4-0-0 record, 2.50
GAA and a whopping .934 save percentage. The rookie twice stopped 43 shots from
Lowell, turning the trick in two nights. 

Plus/Minus Player of the Month (Apr.): A POTW added this award to his
portfolio: Rochester's Mike Harder was a +10 during the Amerks' ten April
games for the AHL's best mark in the month. Harder finished 12th in the overall scoring
race as well as picking up a weekly award. 

The Plus/Minus Player of the Year never won the award for the month, indicative of his
steady and consistent play all season whether in Providence or Boston. The Bruins'
Antti Laaksonen finished the year with a +40 mark in 66 games to win the
award. Laaksonen started the season in Boston but put together an impressive package
of points and defense for Providence the rest of the season.

Some leaders at the end of the season:

Scoring:            Domenic Pittis, Rochester, 104
Goals:              Jeff Williams, Albany, 46
Assists:            Randy Robitaille, Providence, 74 
Plus/Minus:         Antti Laaksonen, Providence, +40
Rookie Goals:       Jean-Pierre Dumont, Portland, 32
Rookie Assists:     Shane Willis, New Haven, 50 
Rookie Scoring:     Shane Willis, New Haven, 81
Defense Goals:      Francis Bouillon, Fredericton, 19
Defense Assists:    Terry Virtue, Providence, 48
Defense Scoring:    Brandon Smith, Providence, 62
Shots Taken:        John Madden, Albany, 334
Shooting %:         Mark Deyell, St. John's, .225
Wins:               John Grahame, Providence, 37
Losses:             Jason Elliott, Adirondack, 27
GAA:                Martin Biron, Rochester, 2.08
Save %:             Martin Biron, Rochester, .934
Minutes:            JF Labbe, Hartford, 3392
Saves:              JF Labbe, Hartford, 1606
Shutouts:           Martin Biron, 6
PiMs:               Aaron Downey, Providence, 401
Majors:             Martin Laitre, Adirondack, 37
Minors:             Sean Gagnon, Springfield, 68
Team PiMs:          Providence
Power Play Goals:   Scott Levins, New Haven, 20
Shorthanded Goals:  Richard Park, Philadelphia, 8
Power Play:         Rochester Americans, 22.6%
Penalty Killing:    Hamilton Bulldogs, 87.2%
Team Goals:         Providence, 321
Team Assists:       Providence, 535
Team Scoring:       Providence, 856
Penalty Minutes:    Providence, 2332
Minor Penalty:      Providence, 641
Major Penalty:      Philadelphia, 129 
Misconducts:        Providence & St. John's, 38
Game Misconducts:   Albany, 27
Match Penalties:    Saint John, Albany, Philadelphia, 3
Power Play Goals:   Providence, 103
Shorthanded Goals:  Philadelphia, 26



-------------------------------------------------------------
AHL Playoff Update
-------------------------------------------------------------
by Tricia McMillan

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Empire Division

#1 Rochester Americans v. #4 Adirondack Red Wings

Game One: Wednesday, April 21 - Rochester 3, Adirondack 2 OT 
Game Two: Friday, April 23 - Rochester 5, Adirondack 2 
Game Three: Saturday, April 24 - Rochester 2, Adirondack 1

(Rochester in three) Nailed it.

Game One
Give the Red Wings and Aren Miller credit - they're gonna hang in
there. The Wings scored two goals in 24 seconds but let the
Amerks tie it up, and Jason Holland scored on the power play
shortly into overtime to give the Amerks the win. Rochester
outshot Adirondack 40-15, hence the nod to Miller. 

Game Two
Hoo boy. Rochester got a hat trick from Dean Sylvester and an
assist hat trick from Mike Harder while generally dominating the
Wings. The Amerks ran their power-play success to 5 for 13 in the
two games. The Amerks left the first period with a 3-0 lead and
didn't look back.. 

Game Three
The best defense and the worst offense just don't mix and the
Amerks completed making short work of the Red Wings with a 2-1
win. Mike Hurlbut set up both Rochester goals and Craig
Fisher scored the winner as Martin Biron frankly didn't have a
lot to do here. Rochester trailed Adirondack for all of five
minutes in the entire series, indicative of the lopsided nature
of this matchup.

#2 Albany River Rats v. #3 Hamilton Bulldogs

Game One: Thursday, April 22 - Hamilton 4, Albany 3  
Game Two: Saturday, April 24 - Albany 3, Hamilton 2 
Game Three: Wednesday, April 28 at Hamilton 
*Game Four: Friday, April 30 at Hamilton 
*Game Five: Saturday, May 1 at Albany 

(Albany in five)

Game One
Hamilton's Chris Ferraro scored a natural hat trick in 7:48,
essentially all on the power play (one came one second after the
power play ended), and the Rats couldn't quite scratch their way
back into the game. The actual game-winner was scored by Daniel
Lacroix as the Rats scored two goals in the last two minutes of
the game.

Game Two
The Rats got one back though when Steve Brule scored a late goal
to even the series at one. John Madden scored again, giving him a
point streak (regular season and playoffs) of 17 games. Chris
Ferraro set up both Hamilton goals. 

Mid-Atlantic Division

#1 Philadelphia Phantoms v. #4 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

Game One: Thursday, April 22 - Philadelphia 4, Cincinnati 3 
Game Two: Saturday, April 24 - Philadelphia 5, Cincinnati 2  
Game Three: Sunday, April 25 - Philadelphia 5, Cincinnati 2

(Philadelphia in four) Philadelphia in three. Right team, close
on the games.

Game One
The Phantoms scored three goals in the first period, including
two from Peter White, but they needed an unassisted third period
goal from Dennis Bonvie, of all people, to actually win the
game. The Ducks closed within one but Philadelphia managed to
make Bonvie's rare goal hold up.

Game Two
Peter White remained en fuego with another goal and two assists
as the Phantoms spotted the Ducks two first period goals (scored
56 seconds apart) and then plucked feathers the remainder
of the game with five unanswered goals. Dennis Bonvie scored
again. Not your typical playoff performer, maybe he's going for a
full image makeover here. 

Game Three
Another day, three more points for Peter White. White racked up
three assists as the Phantoms finished off the Ducks, who once
again took a lead and then let the Phantoms do what they will.
This time it was a mid-game five-on-three that allowed
Philadelphia both the tying and winning goals and sent half of
Cincinnati to Anaheim for additional annihilation. 

A side note: the official game writeup on the AHL web site
claimed the Philadelphia Phantoms 'have never lost a playoff
series in their two year history.' Well, as those of us with
brain cells know, this is the Phantoms' third year and I seem to
recall they lost a seven gamer to eventual champs Hershey in
1997. Hello? Anybody awake up there?

#2 Kentucky Thoroughblades v. #3 Hershey Bears

Game One: Friday, April 23 - Hershey 3, Kentucky 2 
Game Two: Saturday, April 24 - Kentucky 5, Hershey 3 
Game Three: Wednesday, April 28 at Hershey 
*Game Four: Friday, April 30 at Hershey 
*Game Five: Sunday, May 2 at Kentucky

(Hershey in five)

Game One
They didn't need overtime, but they came darn close to needing
it. With just 47.3 seconds left in regulation, Dan Hinote scored
the game-winner for the Bears, his second goal of the period to
boot. Kentucky came back to tie the game twice but had no answer
for Hinote's late goal. It was Marc Denis' first win over
Kentucky this season after seven tries. Mike Gaul returned to the
Bears and scored the first goal.  

Game Two
The Bears couldn't get it done on the penalty kill, allowing the
T-Blades three power play goals and a rare playoff win. Blueliner
Shawn Heins had a three point night for Kentucky after having
only four points in the regular season. Marc Denis got the hook
this time, not that anyone saw. Kentucky has posted the two
smallest crowds in franchise history for this playoff series.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

New England Division

#1 Providence Bruins v. #4 Worcester IceCats

Game One: Friday, April 23 - Providence 4, Worcester 1 
Game Two: Saturday, April 24 - Providence 3, Worcester 1 
Game Three: Friday, April 30 at Worcester 
*Game Four: Saturday, May 1 at Worcester 
*Game Five: Wednesday, May 5 at Providence

(Providence in four)

Game One
On the one hand, is anyone surprised Providence won? But, would
you believe the shots were even? The IceCats allowed the Bruins
two goals in the first and the teams played even the rest of
the way. Only Marquis Mathieu had more than one point; Eric
Nickulas scored shorthanded, unassisted.

Game Two
Once again, closer than it appears. Providence needed the third
period to take a lead on a goal from the recently-unretired
Steven King and sealed things with an empty net goal. However,
the IceCats didn't test John Grahame much with a paltry 18 shots.
Randy Robitaille and Peter Ferraro had two assists each.
Worcester for its part complained vehemently about the
officiating in the game, and the minutes were in fact doled out
in a lopsided manner, 60-16.

#2 Hartford WolfPack v. #3 Springfield Falcons

Game One: Friday, April 23 - Hartford 2, Springfield 1 
Game Two: Saturday, April 24 - Hartford 5, Springfield 2 
Game Three: Friday, April 30 at Springfield 
*Game Four: Saturday, May 1 at Springfield 
*Game Five: Monday, May 3 at Hartford

(Hartford in five)

Game One
Dan Cloutier didn't play, but Hobey Baker nominee Mike York did.
He also scored with less than five minutes left to give the
WolfPack the edge in Game One. Defenseman Chris O'Sullivan
scored early, but Falcons' blueliner Robert Schnabel evened
things up late in the third. York scored 37 seconds after
Schnabel to finish the scoring.

Game Two
This time the WolfPack did get some help from the Rangers, as
Marc Savard had four points and Derek Armstrong put in a natural
hat trick. Armstrong's trick included the tying and winning
goals, and JF Labbe stopped 20 shots.  

Atlantic Division
 
#1 Lowell Lock Monsters v. #4 Saint John Flames

Game One: Friday, April 23 - Saint John 4, Lowell 2 
Game Two: Saturday, April 24 - Saint John 4, Lowell 3 OT 
Game Three: Wednesday, April 28 at Saint John 
*Game Four: Friday, April 30 at Saint John 
*Game Five: Tuesday, May 4 at Lowell

(Lowell in five)

Game One
Apparently when Saint John sends a message, they mean it. The
Flames picked up where they left off last weekend with an opening
victory over Lowell, with Travis Brigley notching the game-winner
in the third period. Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 26 shots for
the Flames.

Game Two
The Flames are apparently intent on proving the regular season
was just a bad dream, as they received a dream tying goal from
David Cooper with only six seconds left in regulation and went
on to win the game in overtime compliments of Martin St. Louis.
Cooper, who had three points overall, got the goal on the power
play with Giguere pulled for an extra attacker. Lee Sorochan
was involved in all four Saint John goals. 

#2 St. John's Maple Leafs v. #3 Fredericton Canadiens

Game One: Friday, April 23 - Fredericton 7, St. John's 4 
Game Two: Sunday, April 25 - Fredericton 4, St. John's 2 
Game Three: Tuesday, April 27 at Fredericton 
*Game Four: Thursday, April 29 at Fredericton 
*Game Five: Saturday, May 1 at St. John's 

(St. John's in five) 

Game One
Uh, guys, this is the playoffs. You know, tight checking,
low-scoring, that kind of stuff. Never mind. Fredericton captain
Martin Gendron had a hat trick and J.F. Jomphe had four points as
the baby Habs thumped the baby Leafs in an offense-fest. In fact,
the Leafs also got a hat trick, from David Nemirovsky, and
briefly held a lead.

Game Two
St. John's outshot Fredericton 48-24 and it did them no good
whatsoever because Jose Theodore stopped 46 of those shots.
Meanwhile, Jean-Francois Houle had a pair of points and JF Jomphe
had three points as the baby Habs took a 2-0 lead home. St.
John's did without Jeff Reese for the second time as he is
apparently suffering from food poisoning. 


================================================================
TEAM REPORTS
================================================================
EASTERN CONFERENCE
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NEW JERSEY DEVILS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach:  Rob Ftorek 
   
Roster: C - Bobby Holik, Bob Carpenter, Denis Pederson, Petr
Sykora, Jason Arnott, Sergei Brylin, Brendan Morrison, Sergei
Nemchinov. LW - Dave Andreychuk, Brian Rolston, Scott Daniels,
Jay Pandolfo, Sasha Lakovic. RW - Patrik Elias, Randy McKay,
Vadim Sharifijanov, Krzysztof Oliwa. D - Scott Stevens, Scott
Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko, Lyle Odelein, Kevin Dean, Sheldon
Souray, Brad Bombardir. G - Martin Brodeur, Chris Terreri.

Injuries: Sergei Nemchinov, c (bruised hip, day to day).

Transactions: None.

Game Results:
First Round vs Pittsburgh: Penguins lead 2-1 
04/22 Pittsburgh     W 3-1
04/24 Pittsburgh     L 4-1
04/25 at Pittsburgh  L 4-2

TEAM NEWS by Carmen Crincoli

Talk means nothing.  New Jersey is on its way to another
disappointing playoffs this year, after showing the Penguins that
they can in fact win without Jaromir Jagr.  

After squeaking  their way to 3-1 win in the series opener, the
Devils have let the Penguins take the next two games.  What's
more disturbing is that they've let the Penguins control play for
the better part of all three games, and have yet again produced
no scoring to help out the beleaguered Martin Brodeur.  

The sad truth of the matter is that the offense always seems to
disappear in front of Brodeur when the playoffs roll around.  New
Jersey has not won a playoff game where Brodeur has surrendered
more than two goals in 12 consecutive games now.  That is a
pretty sad statistic, because it means that Martin cannot have an
off game and hope to win.  New Jersey has to take the next two
games or they could easily be looking at early elimination for
the third consecutive season.

Martin Straka and Alexei Kovalev have been the Devil killers in
Jagr's absence.  Without Jagr in the lineup, the team seems to be
playing better as a unit, using a trap to shut down any offense
New Jersey might generate, and counter-attacking with great
effectiveness.

Don't mistake this for doomsday, however.  Momentum and
confidence can swing as quickly the other way.  What the Devils
need right now, is a good old fashioned barn burner.  If they can 
blow away Pittsburgh in Game 4, the self-confident Devils team
that ended the season should return.  The team still has all the
tools, it just needs the mentality to be a winner.  

Don't be shocked or even mildly surprised to see New Jersey
emerge from this series, and head into the next round ready to
roll.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
OTTAWA SENATORS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach:  Jacques Martin

Roster: C - Alexei Yashin, Vaclav Prospal, Radek Bonk, Shaun Van
Allen, Bruce Gardiner, Steve Martins. LW - Shawn McEachern,
Magnus Arvedson, Bill Berg, Ted Donato, Andreas Johansson.
RW - Marian Hossa, Daniel Alfredsson, Andreas Dackell, Nelson
Emerson. D - Lance Pitlick, Patrick Traverse, Chris Phillips,
Sami Salo, Wade Redden, Janne Laukkanen, Igor Kravchuk, Jason
York. G - Damian Rhodes, Ron Tugnutt.

Injuries: Mar 19 - Sami Salo, groin injury, Day-to-day; Apr 03 -
Igor Kravchuk, back strain, Day-to-day; Apr 05 - Bill Berg,
groin, Day-to-day; Apr 07 - Janne Laukkanen, mild concussion,
Day-to-day; Apr 07 - Shawn McEachern, groin, Day-to-day; Apr 15 -
Andreas Johansson, back spasms, Day-to-day.

Transactions: None.

Game Results
First Round vs Buffalo: Sabres lead 3-0
04/21 Buffalo           L 2-1
04/23 Buffalo           L 3-2 OT
04/25 at Buffalo        L 3-0

TEAM NEWS by The Nosebleeders

Detroit may be Hockeytown USA but for a while there, too short a
while, Ottawa became a hockey town.  Everywhere you turned you
couldn't miss the signs - small signs of the variety given out in
local newspapers for fans to wave during the game were perched in
house and car windows; signs on restaurants and shops either
wishing the team well or advertising to have fans partake in
their variety of fun; and "closed" signs as people scrambled to
get to their optimum viewing point.  Expectations built through
the last month of the regular season as fans prepared themselves
for a long playoff run.  A lull of four days before the playoffs
started didn't hurt preparations either.

Talk of the possible start of a dynasty could be heard as Sens
players were even being picked up in playoff drafts.

Five short days have gone by since the playoffs started and
suddenly the Senators are on the brink of elimination.  The
Dominator is becoming the "Eliminator".  Sens have peppered
Dominik "Eliminator" Hasek with some 119 shots; scoring three
times in their games to date.  Mike Peca (four points) has
outscored Sens star Alexei Yashin and also held him off the
scoreboard. After an Ottawa barrage in game one - which was held
off by the play of Hasek - Buffalo's confidence grew for game
two.  After the long overtime win the Sabres confidence was even
more evident in game three as they badly outplayed Ottawa,
winning 3-0.

Basically, the Nosebleeders feel that there are four reasons for
Ottawa's poor results to date.  Firstly, Ottawa is in a slump and
is looking like a team that is about to exit the quest for Lord
Stanley's Mug. They have not scored an even strength goal in
their last 7 games. They are 3 for 22 (13.6%) on the power play
through the first three games.  In the last week of the regular
season they let first place in the Eastern conference slip away. 
An increased level of intensity is not there - they are playing
nervous.  To win, either captain Alexei Yashin or someone else
needs to break the team out of the slump that they are in.

The second reason for the Senators' poor results has to be the
intimidation factor.  The Senators have taken a lot of cheap hits
this season and walked away - displaying a lot of patience and
confidence as they let their power play do their talking.  In
game one, the Sabres did not hit the Senators but led by Michael
Grosek did some trash talking.  In game two the Sabres went to
the body - by some accounts, in the second period alone the
Sabres outhit Ottawa 50-20.  In the NHL, split seconds are what
sometimes makes a difference.  The Senators need to force the
play and play the body - something that they are very good at. 
The two-referee system has helped them to gain many (22) power-
play opportunities in the three games to date.

The third reason may be overall team confidence.  From the
goalies outward, confidence in the media and even inside the team
has not been where it should be.  Coaching decisions have been
openly questioned more so than in the regular season and this has
got to have some impact on the team's play.  The Senators are a
solid hockey club - but not a mature one - getting past external
concerns over who is playing or not and who is playing with who
is critical.

The last reason is the play of the Sabres.  Buffalo is a solid
team who could go to the final.  They are a young team who plays
with a lot of confidence.  They do not take the play to the other
team but rather they play a close checking defensive game and try
to capitalize on their opportunities.

Series comebacks of the nature that Ottawa is up against are rare
in pro sports.  Its happened only twice in the history of the
NHL: The '75 Islanders (over Pittsburgh) and the '42 Maple Leafs
(over Detroit).  If the Senators play like they can, it could
happen.  If they play like they did in game three, Wednesday will
be a good day to golf for the team.

Game 1: Dominator shuts the door 

In the 2-1 game one victory, an undisciplined Buffalo Sabres team
managed just 15 shots on net while facing 41 shots.  The Sabres'
undisciplined manner resulted in nine power-play chances for the
Senators.  Ottawa scored on only one of them.

* The Dominator has been referred to by many as the best player
in the world.  Game one did nothing to negate these allegations.

* 10 minor penalties were called against Buffalo including three
on left winger Michal Grosek. 

* The Sabres snapped an eight-game winless streak (0-5-3) in the
series. They had not beaten Ottawa since December 31, 1997. 

* Buffalo won the third straight postseason meeting from the
Senators after taking Games Six and Seven in a first-round
matchup two years ago. 

* Luck was going Hasek's way in the game.  Daniel Alfredsson
ripped a slap shot from the right faceoff circle off the crossbar
and Radek Bonk's shot into a vacant net was stopped by Hasek's
right skate.

Game two: Satan wins

Miroslav Satan provided both the tying and winning goals in a
come from behind Sabres victory.  The back-and-forth game went to
a second period of overtime before Satan ended it. 

After Satan scored the tying goal, the Senators seemed to panic
and ceased to take the play to the Sabres.  The winning goal,
scored on a poor Senator line change, was the result.  

* The game marked the second longest game in team history for the
Sabres.

* Joe Juneau played for the Sabres after sitting out game one due
to a concussion.  He scored 58 seconds into the game off a Satan
rebound.

* Sens forward Marian Hossa received a diving penalty in the
game.  

* Sabres coach Lindy Ruff gave a stern lecture to right-winger
Michal Grosek prior to game three.  Grosek got into trouble by
saying that he would be willing to injure another player if it
meant winning.  He took five penalties in the first two games. 
Ruff told Grosek that any trash talk or bad penalties would
result in being benched.

* Daniel Alfredsson did some talking of his own after the game.
Alfie was quoted as saying that the Senators would win 4
straight. 

Game three: Ottawa, where are you? </b

Game three marked the third straight playoff game that Ottawa did
not score an even strength goal.  The Sabres were led by the play
of Dominik "Eliminator" Hasek, who stopped 31 shots.  The 31
shots rarely tested Hasek and Buffalo was helped by Brian
Holzinger, who scored his first two goals of the series.

* Hasek's fourth postseason shutout tied Bob Sauve's team record.
He has stopped 116 of 119 shots in this series for a remarkable
.975 save percentage. 

* A broom was flung onto the ice near the end of the third period
in Buffalo. 

* Ottawa continued its recent habit of spotting the other team
the lead by giving up a soft goal in the early minutes.  This was
not the goalie's fault.  Senator defense seemed to be
undisciplined for much of the game leaving Sabres alone within 10
feet of Rhodes.

* Miroslav Satan took a slap shot from Alexei Zhitnik off his
right foot and had to leave the game.

Quiz time

Who and when did the Sabres last sweep in a playoff series?

This-a-and-that-a

* Lance Pitlick, a scratch for game three due to a pulled groin,
has played in 20 playoff games for the Senators.  Leading
the pack at 21 career games are Alfredsson, Dackell, Gardiner,
Laukkanen, McEachern, Van Allen, and Yashin.

* Daniel Alfredsson leads on the all-time Senators playoff goals
list with 13.  Yashin is second with 6.  Alfredsson also leads
for career playoff points (17 to Yashin's 14 in second) and
penalty minutes (28, tied with ex-Senator Denis Lambert). 

* Chris Phillips has played both defense and forward during the
series.

* Game 2 and 3 starts for Damian Rhodes means that he has now
played in one more playoff game than Ron Tugnutt (12 - 11).  Both
have losing records: Rhodes 5-7, Tugnutt 3-8.

* All three goals the Senators have scored this postseason have
come on the power play (3-for- 22, 13.6%) 

* Ottawa scored just five goals in the five games prior to this
series.

* On seven separate occasions this season Ottawa has won at least
three games in a row.  On two of those occasions, they won five
in a row.

* Only two Senators players have never seen playoff action - 
Patrick Traverse and Steve Martins.

* The USA Today, the national USA daily, picked the Sabres over
Ottawa in five games.

Get on that broom and ride to the answer

You don't have to go back far for this one.  The Buffalo Sabres
last swept a series against the Montreal Canadiens in the 1998
Eastern Conference semifinals.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
CAROLINA HURRICANES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach:  Paul Maurice

Roster: C - Ron Francis, Keith Primeau, Jeff O'Neill, Kent
Manderville, Craig Macdonald, Byron Ritchie. RW - Ray Sheppard,
Sami Kapanen, Kevin Dineen, Robert Kron, Andrei Kovalenko, Shane
Willis. LW - Gary Roberts, Martin Gelinas, Paul Ranheim, Bates
Battaglia. D - Paul Coffey, Steve Chiasson, Glen Wesley, Curtis
Leschyshyn, Sean Hill, Dave Karpa, Nolan Pratt, Marek Malik,
Steve Halko, Mike Rucinski. G - Trevor Kidd, Arturs Irbe, Mike
Fountain.

Injuries: Sean Hill, d (face, indefinite); Ron Francis, c (ankle,
day-to-day); Marek Malik, d (charley horse, day-to-day); Nolan
Pratt, d (back, day-to-day).
 
Transactions: None.

Game Results:
First Round vs Boston: Hurricanes lead 2-1
4/22 Boston    L 2-0
4/24 Boston    W 3-2 OT
4/26 at Boston W 3-2

TEAM NEWS by Chris Schilling

It's good to be a Hurricanes fan. And I mean, good. The underdog
Canes have come back from a first game loss in Greensboro to win
two straight, thanks to the Bruins jinx and (oh dear God...) a
power-play goal. See, the power play is our friend. A good
friend. Not good enough to invite over for bowling, but good
enough to push a rubber cylinder into a twine net on a steel cage
once in 60 minutes. 

Now I'll go into some detail on what happened in each game, and
hopefully enlighten everyone on what should be a closely fought
series.

Because everyone loves judgement calls, I'll be giving the Canes
a grade. The only grades some of us are familiar with go up to C,
but I was told once by a Tibetan monk that there are these
mythical "B" and "A" things that come when you do something
called "work". It sounds crazy, but that's what I thought when I
heard that the Catholics are taking over the world in a massive
papal conspiracy. But how else do you explain that huge hat and
those threatening eyes? Evil...pure evil!

Well, since I'm lazy, all you get is a D or F, because that's all
I remember.

The first is forwards. This is not just scoring, it's effort,
backchecking, and everything that comes from playing on offense.

The second is a combination of defense and goaltending I call
detending. It's blocked shots, easy stops, slowing down the play,
and being smart at what you do on D. 

The third is called trapping. This is when you slow down play and
make the neutral zone trap work. It also includes heavy hits and
other things to keep the Bruins out.

GAME 1: DAFOE IS GOOD AND STUFF

Final result: 2-0 Bruins

Highlights: Byron Dafoe

Problems for the Canes: Byron Dafoe

Good things for the Canes: Hard hits, an enthusiastic crowd, and
they gave away towels.

Forwards: F
Sorry, but I don't care how good you are, you gotta score. Yeah,
Dafoe was stopping pucks like they were Vezina trophies but if
you don't poke it in, you can't win. Jeff O'Neill was the
bonehead of the night when he gave the puck away to Rob Dimaio on
a sort of pirouette pansy fall, when Dimaio scored the first goal
for the Bs. The standout for forwards was Kevin Dineen, who
played like he was a rookie and dinged one off the post. So
close...

Detending: F
With such stalwart screw-ups as Malik and Karpa on the ice, the
Canes made several problem plays in their own zone that led to
scoring chances. Blocked pucks were many at the beginning but the
defense really wore itself down with so many hits. The standout
is Steve Chiasson, who is finally back and helped our power play
look sorta not so crappy.

Trapping: D
The Canes hit like a ton of...good hitters. The first 10 minutes
they worked the crowd up into such a frenzy that even Byron Dafoe
said it sounded like 25,000 people, not 11,000. The trap really
slowed down the game for the first two periods, but after the
momentum was lost in the third it kind of fell apart. Standout
here is our main man at LCS, Gary Roberts, who was hitting lots
of people and getting Bruins angry, which is good.

End Score: D

GAME 2: NOW THAT WAS A HOCKEY GAME...BUT WHERE'S MY CAR?

Final Result: 3-2 (OT) Hurricanes

Highlights: Ray Sheppard's game-winning goal was good but not
pretty. It's his first one I liked. Coffey passes it straight up
the middle to a speeding Gelinas, who drops it off for Sheppard
right in front of the blue line, who scores. Nice.
  
Problems for the Canes: Ron Francis is out injured and it's
unknown when he gets back. He probably won't play in Game 4 and
did not play in Game 3. Pratt and Mali are also injured in the
game.
  
Good things for the Canes: We won, for one. And we played with
four defenseman, including a really old guy (Paul Coffey). Two of
the defensemen, Glen Wesley and Coffey, recorded 35+ minutes in
the game.

Forwards: D
The Canes' lines played a good game, being stopped by a
nearly-invincible Byron Dafoe before Ray Sheppard cracked his
shield. Naturally, Sugar Ray is our standout for his two goals,
including the game-winner. The other goal was scored by Robert
Kron and was a bit of a fluke -- Battaglia fed it to Kron, who
didn't see the puck even after it careened off his skates into
the goal. We'll take it. 

***IMPORTANT LCS ANNOUNCEMENT***

Henceforth, every time a player accidentally makes a play happen
without even knowing what he's doing, that will be referred to as
"pulling a Kron". This ends our announcement.

***OTHER GUY WRITES STUFF NOW***

Detending: D
The four-defensemen feat is almost impossible to pull off, but
the Canes did it and kept in the game. Of the remaining four, all
played 30+. Curtis Leschyshyn and Steve Chiasson didn't manage to
top 35 like Paul Coffey and Glen Wesley, however. They did a good
job of preserving the tie as the Canes kept coming back
throughout the game from one-goal deficits. Our standout is Paul
Coffey, who racked up another assist to extend his "most points
for a defenseman" lead against Ray Bourque. Irbe let in one soft
goal from Heinze, the second goal, but played solid hockey
otherwise.

Trapping: D
The Canes really paced themselves this game, as the Bruins
definitely looked worse for wear after the three regulation
periods. The trap was very efficient, and the hits kept coming at
ridiculous amounts. Our standout again is everyone's favorite
comeback player, Gary Roberts. Roberts again hit a bunch of
people and stuff, prompting the Bruins to question the number of
hits he was accredited (which I believe was 17).

End Score: D

GAME 3: IRBE WAVES TO THE CROWD AND GETS HIT BY BEER CUPS. OH
YEAH, WE WON TOO.
  
Final Result: 3-2 Hurricanes
  
Highlights: The first goal, made by none other than Gary "I'll
police the ice if you don't" Roberts which broke a franchise
record for fastest goal in a playoff game, I think. It came fast,
a poke-in on Dafoe who lost control of the puck amidst pressure.
  
Problems for the Canes: They were outhit the first time in the
series, but really stayed in control the whole game. The third
goal was a fluke too.
  
Good things for the Canes: Uh, we won on the road against Boston,
Irbe was solid, and the wave to the Boston crowd was pretty cool
(it'll be detailed below, hold onto your touchpads-if you can).
Irbe like wall.

Forwards: D
They didn't play the best game ever but they amazingly won
without Ron Francis, their veteran second-line center, and got
some production from guys who don't produce normally (read: ever)
in Robert Kron. Ray Sheppard scores again, the backchecking is
good, Primeau hits a bunch of people, and it's a good day to wear
red, black, and silver. The standout is Gary Roberts, who really
made several plays happen. Gary gets the job done, and he'll
argue with refs too. That's my kind of player.

Detending: F
The defense wasn't great, in fact, it fell apart several times on
the Boston power play. The Samsonov goal (Boston's first) should
not have happened -- it came from Dave Karpa, aka the Carp, going
after a puck he should've left for the smoother skating Coffey
and then getting it taken away from him. Chiasson made some
screwups but Halko played solid. Leschyshyn and Wesley made good
hits but again had some botches. Standout goes to Arturs Irbe for
playing decent and then waving to the Boston crowd sarcastically
at the end of the game, prompting tons of cups to be thrown on
the ice. That's our Archie.

Trapping: D
This was quality, but the hits weren't there. The Hurricanes
forced Boston to play their physical hearts-on-the-line game and
beat the Bruins at it. The Bruins outhit them however, mainly
because they played a great trap to counter our pretty good trap.
The problem was that we capitalized on their lapses while they
did no such thing. The standout goes to Keith Primeau who managed
to deliver some hard hits and divert attention from his
linemates, Ray Sheppard and Martin Gelinas, who played quality
hockey. The fourth line of Ranheim, Manderville, and Dineen, as
always, played with tons of grit, heart, and hits. 

End Score: D

That's all for now. Good luck to the Hurricanes in Game 4, and to
everyone who picked the Bruins in 4 or 5, you lose! Good thing no
one picked the Canes in 4.
                 

-----------------------------------------------------------------
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach: Pat Quinn

Roster: C - Mats Sundin, Steve Sullivan, Alyn McCauley. LW -
Fredrik Modin, Steve Thomas, Todd Warriner, Derek King, Kris
King, Igor Korolev, Garry Valk, Ladislav Kohn, Lonny Bohonos. RW
- Sergei Berezin, Tie Domi, Mike Johnson, David Nemirovsky. D -
Bryan Berard, Sylvain Cote, Dimitri Yushkevich, Alexander
Karpovtsev, Jason Smith, Daniil Markov, Glen Featherstone, Tomas
Kaberle, Yanick Tremblay, Chris McAllister. G - Curtis Joseph,
Glenn Healy. 

Injuries: Igor Korolev, lw (broken leg, indefinite).

Transactions: None.

Game Results
First Round vs Philadelphia: Leafs lead 2-1
4/22 Philadelphia      L 3-0
4/24 Philadelphia      W 2-1
4/26 at  Philadelphia  W 2-1 

TEAM NEWS by Jonah Sigel

Three Games In and They're Phillying Fine!

They're bigger, probably more talented, certainly cockier, but so
far the Flyers trail the Leafs two games to one.  No one on the
Maple Leafs is anywhere near ready to gloat, proclaim victory or
even claim to be satisfied with the three games so far.  However,
as far as results go, it has been pretty good for the blue and
white.  For a team that has been outhit, outshot and outchanced
to come into Game Four up 2-1 is nothing short of a coup.  

Game One was one of the most frustrating games of the season for
the Buds.  Everything they did failed.  When they dumped the puck
in, they were beat to the puck, when they carried it they got
nailed.  Whatever shots that were credited to them were gifts. 
After taking it to the Flyers early, they mustered no offense the
rest of the way.  In the end the Leafs were badly beaten and
certainly disheartened.  The game ended with the Flyers carrying
their heads high after the Beezer beat Cujo 3-0.

With the pundits circling, in essence calling captain Mats Sundin
a poor leader, the season a fluke, Game Two could not have come
any earlier for the Leafs.  Once again in the pristine ACC,
before a packed house, the Leafs fell behind early 1-0.  Once
again whatever the leafs tried seemed to fail -- they could do no
right.  The Good Ship Maple Leaf did not, however, throw in the
towel.  A continued effort, try and try again if you will,
created an atmosphere that almost seemed to suggest that perhaps
they could rally.  Various events occurred that would set the
tone for the rest of the series.  

Officiating would come under heavy scrutiny as a result of this
game.  There was a horrible call on a phantom offside against the
Leafs as they entered the Flyers end in attempt to build
confidence.  It was, however, a call/no-call that would have
folks, especially in Philly, talking after the game.  Steve
Thomas drilled Eric Desjardins in the Flyer corner, Desjardins
dropped like a sack of potatoes and somehow the puck ended up in
the Flyer net.  However, the officials seeing an inanimate Flyer
player down whistled the play dead (no pun intended) prior to the
puck entering the net.  While Leaf fans went nuts about the no
call, Flyer faithful would scream bloody murder about the hit, an
alleged elbow by Thomas.  There was no penalty nor a goal on the
play so neither side was happy about the result.  

Later in the game, Kris King tried to turn another Flyer player
into a board advertisement.  The Flyers wanted a major call, the
Leafs wanted no call at all, and again neither side was exactly
satisfied with the result -- a two-minute minor.

Late in the third period, with just under two minutes left, the
Leafs somehow turned the game around.  Somehow the new Flyer
nemesis Steve Thomas squeaked a goal behind the Beezer and tied
the game at 1-1.  With the arena a buzz and the Leafs swarming,
Sundin turned on the jets.   Captain Mats was gunning for the net
when a Flyer defender knocked him off the puck mid-air and the
fans at the ACC lost all their patience with the officials,
sending the free pre-game rattlers onto the ice at perhaps the
most inappropriate time.  The Leafs had finally gained the
momentum and the fans caused a lengthy delay as the ACC staff had
to clean up the littered ice.  With Coach Quinn electing not to
entertain the notion of opting to head for the locker-room as
suggested by an official, the game would continue.  

The Leafs picked up where they left off, and in the dying moments
Sundin somehow found an opening behind the Beezer and put a puck
over his shoulder to put the Leafs ahead 2-1 and even the series
at 1-1.

The Flyers and their media were certainly non-believers in the
Leafs, blaming the loss on the poor officiating and of course the
Thomas hit.  The Leaf media was only too happy to offer up their
usual negative predictions on the prospect of Game Three.  With
"Steve Thomas Wanted Dead Or Alive" placed all over the Flyers
arena, the scene shifted to the City of Brotherly Love for Games
Three and Four.    

The Flyers again came out guns a-blazing and were able to beat
Cujo about halfway into the period.  The arena went ballistic as
it had after ever hit or attempted hit prior to the goal.  The
Leaf media had also been happy to report that the Flyers were
convinced the ACC was a poor arena at best and that the Leaf Fans
were no match to theirs.  With the sound reaching deafening
levels, the Leafs won the next draw following the goal, and Mike
Johnson, whom the Toronto Sun had basically put an APB out for,
broke down the left wing and shoveled the puck towards the net
from the most bizarre angle, and it somehow slipped behind the
Beezer.    

The strike was so fast, 10 seconds to be specific, that the PA
announcer had yet to announce the Flyer goal.  The arena went
from havoc to silent in less than 1/10th of a second.  It was so
quiet in the building that for the first time in recent history,
a home team goal when finally announced was met silently as the
crowd returned to their seats in sheer shock.

The game was certainly never the same after that goal.  The
Flyers abandoned their game plan from that point on and the fans
were a complete non-factor.  Early in the second period, with
Craig Berube in the box for Philly after a bone-headed penalty,
arch enemy #1 (or in this case 32) Steve Thomas rifled a shot
past a frozen Beezer to bury the Flyers, their fans and in
essence Game Three.  The Flyers would outshoot and outchance the
Leafs the rest of the way, but the goaltending duel which had
been predicted came to fruition and Cujo did not disappoint, not
allowing another goal the rest of the way.   The Flyers were
clearly rattled as nothing they did worked as the Leafs, yes the
Leafs, led by Bryan Berard, yes Bryan Berard, turned in a
defensive gem.  

The game was filled with many subplots, none bigger as the battle
between Tie Domi and Sandy McCarthy.  Their were numerous times
when they were jawing at each other, each acting out a charade,
which the ESPN commentators briskly laughed off.  However,
McCarthy claimed after the game that Domi had indeed muttered a
racial slur at him, and as a result he spit on Domi, hardly what
the NHL wanted in the playoffs.  Like Domi, this scribe had no
clue what Domi cold have uttered at McCarthy in that he does not
appear to be a member of a minority let alone a visible minority. 
Having said that, McCarthy's father is an African Canadian and he
claimed that Domi "dropped a 'N' bomb" on him.  Domi seemed
dumbfounded with the accusations claiming that he called him many
things and there were many exchanges but he would never, and did
not use the "N" word.  

After a day where the race claim was the lead story in both
Canada and the US, the NHL released a statement late Tuesday
evening.  In essence the NHL was unable to get anyone to confirm
the allegations from either Domi, that McCarthy spit on him, or
McCarthy that Domi used a racial slur.  As such no action would
be taken against either player.  Expect great hype over Game Four
Wednesday night in Philly.  However, as is usually the case,
little will come from it.  If the game is close and it says here
it will be, considering these two goalies, then neither team will
want to take dumb penalties that the league will certainly have
the officials (both of them) looking for.  Regardless of the
result, the next couple of games should be very interesting. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach: Roger Neilson

Roster: C - Rod Brind'Amour, Marc Bureau, Daymond Langkow, Eric
Lindros. LW - Mikael Andersson, Craig Berube, John LeClair, Roman
Vopat, Valeri Zelepukin. RW - Jody Hull, Keith Jones, Sandy
McCarthy, Mark Recchi, Mikael Renberg. D - Eric Desjardins, Steve
Duchesne, Karl Dykhuis, Dan McGillis, Luke Richardson, Chris
Therien, Dmitri Tertyshny. G - Ron Hextall, John Vanbiesbrouck.

Injuries: Eric Lindros, c (collapsed lung, out indefinitely);
Valeri Zelepukin, lw, (sprained knee, day to day).

Transactions: none.

Game results:
First Round vs Toronto: Leafs lead 2-1
04/22 at Toronto  W 3-0
04/24 at Toronto  L 2-1
04/26 Toronto     L 2-1

TEAM NEWS by Chuck Michio, Philadelphia Correspondent

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Defensemen are stumbling like Mickey Mantle on Friday night,
All-Star forwards can't score at the chicken ranch, and goalies
are spreading their legs like Madonna at a frat party -- it's
playoff time again in Philadelphia.

Get the feeling we've seen all this before? Despite the fact that
Bob Clarke has spent the last year shuffling players around like
George Steinbrenner on crack, the orange and black are doing the
same old spring thing.

Only fans of irony could be happy with this Flyers club. When
they stink, like they did in game 1, they win. When they play
pretty well, like in games 2 and 3, they lose.

It's enough to make you wish you had a cat to kick -- or at least
a bottle of Thunderbird between your knees for game 4.

BRIND'AMOURITIS
There's a deadly new disease afflicting the Flyers forwards, a
lethal bug that makes it impossible to get the puck over a down
and out opposing goalie.

Apparently, long-term exposure to Rod Brind'Amour has caused
other Flyers to lose their ability to bury high shots into mostly
open nets.

Even experts from the world-famous Mayo Clinic have been unable
to explain how the disease spread, or how it insidiously attacks
the coordination centers of the human body.

Team doctors are frantically attempting to contact former Flyer
Tim Kerr, a man who knew what to do with a loose rebound, in the
hope of drawing some of his blood for possible use as a vaccine.

WANT TO BLOW A GAME? LEAVE IT TO GEEZER
Remember last off-season when Bob Clarke announced to the hockey
world that he'd acquired the goalie he really wanted? The one
who'd put an end to the deflating five-hole goals in the
playoffs? The one who'd outplay the guy at the other end of the
ice?

If you still believe him, I know a guy who can sell you part of
the Brooklyn Bridge real cheap.

Despite the fact that he played incredibly and stole Game 1, John
Vanbiesbrouck is the main reason the Flyers are down two games to
one in this series. His failure to stop Steve Thomas' trickling
backhander at the end of Game 2 was the most costly gaffe, but
all four of the goals he's allowed in the last two games
absolutely HAVE to be stopped by an NHL goalkeeper. And I'm not
talking about Dominik Hasek here, I'm talking your garden
variety, Garth Snow-like netminder.

The Flyers have played near perfect defensive games against the
league's highest scoring offense the last two games and have
nothing to show for it. Despite the fact that the players are
saying all the right things, that has to be deflating --
particularly to a team that has proven itself emotionally fragile
time and time again.

Geezer's putrid netminding alone has been enough to make me
sicker than lousy Chinese food, but the lack of reaction from
most Flyers fans is even more offensive to my palate.

What the hell is the matter with you people? In the past three
seasons, you screamed for the Flyers backup goaltender every time
Hextall allowed ANY goal -- let alone fluttering,
impossible-angle backhanders.

Now the shoe is on the other foot and there's hardly a peep out
of most of you.

I seriously doubt that Roger Neilson is contemplating giving Hexy
a start at this point, but I wonder why he's not. The Flyers have
always been quick to hook an ineffective goalie in the past. Why
isn't there even any talk of it now?

I know a lot of you despise Hextall, and some of your criticisms
are justified. But it seems to me that there are two sets of
rules for Flyers goalies, one for Hextall and one for whoever his
compatriot is. Regardless of the fact that he's allowed some
strange goals in playoffs past, that doesn't seem fair.

Maybe I make too much of the way that Hextall has gracefully
handled so much adversity over the years. Maybe I give him too
much credit for being the ultimate example of how a Philadelphia
Flyer should conduct himself. Maybe I'd just really, really like
to see him get one more shot at redemption.

If he doesn't get it, I hope he retires and tells Neilson,
Clarke, and all the fans who denigrate him to kiss his posterior.

SIGNS OF HOPE?
Regardless of who starts in net for the Flyers tonight, a better
goaltending performance is almost guaranteed. And that would
probably be enough to get the series tied. The Flyers have
definitely outplayed the Leafs, outshooting them by a wide margin
and bottling up their deadly transition game.

It's also going to be difficult for Curtis Joseph to top the
performance he turned in Monday night in Game 3. Several Flyers
are probably still shaking their heads at some of the acrobatic
rebound stops they witnessed.

That said, winning the series promises to be an uphill battle.
The club has won just five of the 16 seven-game series they've
trailed over the years.

The return of Valeri Zelepukin would be a huge boost to the
Flyers spirits. Like Keith Jones, Zelepukin has cemented himself
as a player who plays better in big games.

Zelepukin has been fitted for a knee brace, but no official
announcement has been made about his availability for Game 4 as
of yet.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON BRUINS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach: Pat Burns

Roster: C - Jason Allison, Anson Carter, Joe Thornton, Tim
Taylor, Shawn Bates.  LW - Sergei Samsonov, Ken Baumgartner, Rob
Dimaio, Peter Ferraro, Ken Belanger, Landon Wilson. RW - Dimitri
Khristich, Steve Heinze, Per Johan Axelsson, Cameron Mann, Randy
Robitaille. D - Ray Bourque, Don Sweeney, Dave Ellett, Kyle
McLaren, Hal Gill, Darren Van Impe, Grant Ledyard, Mattias
Timander, Brandon Smith. G - Byron Dafoe, Rob Tallas.

Injuries: None.

Transactions: None.

Game Results
First Round vs Carolina: Hurricanes lead 2-1
4/22 at Carolina    W 2-0
4/24 at Carolina    L 3-2 OT
4/26 Carolina       L 3-2

TEAM NEWS by Matt Brown

Things looked pretty good for the Boston Bruins after their first
playoff game. They traveled to Carolina and withstood the opening
fury of the Hurricanes for the first ten minutes of the initial
period.  Byron Dafoe was strong in net and (we'll leave off all
the tropical storm theatrics and symbolism and just say that he)
withstood the storm.

In game one, in spite of the ferocious body checking of the
'Canes Keith Primeau, Kevin Dineen, and Gary Roberts, the Bruins
did not falter, and the game remained scoreless through two
periods. Eventually the Bruins began to give as good as they got,
mostly in the person of Ken Belanger.  Belanger was the Bruin who
rose to the challenge of Primeau and Roberts, delivering board
rocking checks equal to the home team's, and generally patrolling
the ice to prevent any liberties against the Bruins skilled
players and defensemen. Ken topped the effort off by
scoring the second goal of the game, as part of a 12-3 shot
barrage in the third period. Belanger took a pass from Jason
Allison behind the net and swooped around for a far-side
wraparound play, catching Irbe a little deep in his crease.  But
Carolina never stopped battling, and they didn't let the results
of the first game affect them.

The Bruins skated off with a 2-0 win, on goals from their
checking line players, Rob Dimaio and Ken Belanger, and all was
well with Bruin Nation.

Well, it didn't last. In the next contest, the persistent
Ex-Whalers came back to tie the game at two and win in overtime.
The bubble of Byron's invincibility was burst, and while the
Bruins skated away from the South with a split -- the goal of any
away team -- hopes of a short series that were buoyed by Bryon in
game one were dashed by game two.

In that game, Carolina, having lost veteran Ron Francis to an
ankle problem in game one, rolled out their secret weapon: Robert
Kron!  Kron (sounds like a villain in a barbarian movie) was a
healthy scratch in game one and he has been in and out of Paul
Maurice's doghouse. But he has been a certified and licensed
Bruin killer for years.  He is a veteran and opportunistic player
who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time --
for the Bruins' sake, that is. In game two, a centering pass from
the corner by Bates Battaglia dinged off Kron and through Dafoe's
wickets in the third to tie the game and force overtime  Kron
wasn't even looking when the puck hit off his skate and
went in.

Surely, back in the friendly confines of the FleetCenter, the
Bruins would take the next two games and a commanding lead in the
series.  Surely?  More like hardly.  Carolina scored after just
one minute, with the fastest playoff goal in franchise history
(not like that is an immortal accomplishment). Though the Bruins
came back and took a 2-1 lead, the Hurricanes were far from done.
Despite outshooting the 'Canes 8 to 2 in the final period, the
Bruins could not dent Arturs Irbe, who has at least played even
with his Bruins counterpart (both have surrendered six goals, but
the "when" of the goals is the difference between the teams). 
The usually steady Dafoe surrendered a "slippery" one by letting
a centering pass from behind the net by Robert Kron sneak under
his stick, off his glove, and right between his legs.  Who was
that?  Robert Kron?  Can you say "Slowly I turned" -- or do we
save that for games with Buffalo?

Of course, the fact that Andrei Kovalenko was sitting on Byron's
head at the time of the goal, supposedly speared by Darren Van
Impe but in no way forced into the crease, didn't matter to the
referees or to the video replay flunky in the booth. All that
mattered was that the puck slithered into the crease before
Kovalenko entered the blue zone and interfered with Dafoe.

No, what really mattered was that the Bruins were unable to make
up the deficit in the remaining 17 minutes, and managed to look
extremely inept in the final minute after pulling Dafoe for an
extra attacker.  Earlier in the game, Bruins fans were hurling
Delaware North culinary debris at Keith Primeau, but at the end
of the game, the beer cups were targeted, inappropriately, at the
home team.

What was that about friendly confines? Since its opening, the
FleetCenter has been playoff death. In its first year the Bruins
lost in the playoffs to the Florida Panthers, an expansion team.
The second campaign coincided with end of the Bruins 1,000,000
year stretch of consecutive playoff appearances. In the third
year, under coaching messiah Pat Burns, the Bs bowed to the Caps,
losing all three home games. Now the Bruins are 1-5 at the Fleet
in playoff games with this loss.  To make matters worse, the
Bruins overall home record against the 'Canes is 1-6-2. Any
chance they could play the next game in Hartford?

When a team loses two games in a row in the playoffs to a team
that finished with a worse record, somebody is not producing, or
at least not out producing the other guys.  Most of the pointy
fingers have been waving in the direction of Dimitri Khristich,
whose ice time declined to about seven minutes in game three. 
Decreased ice time is almost always a symptom of Pat Burns'
displeasure, and Pat Burns' displeasure is usually directly
attributable to fancy passing and a lack of skating.

But the real bottom line is that few of the Bruins' top four
forwards have been doing justice to the work of their centers,
Jason Allison and Joe Thornton. Anson Carter has come closest.
Carter is an explosive player. What that means is that most of
the time, he is putting in a great effort, and trying hard, and
hitting and skating, but perhaps with little finesse and not much
result on the scoreboard. Then when you least expect it, he blows
a goal into the net, perhaps just as you were wondering if he
could ever control the puck cleanly.

Steve Heinze has also given that Steve Heinze effort, but he has
fumbled more passes than he has converted, and he is seeming to
get lost among the big bodies on the ice. His best moment in game
three was getting manhandled by Kevin Dineen and drawing a
penalty.   He poked in a goal to send the Bruins into the lead in
Game 2, but he hasn't been the kind of presence the Bruins have
needed from a first line winger.

Sergei Samsonov has done the best of the four. Sammy has two
goals in three games, but he still is prone to giveaway passes at
bad times, trying to make the kind of plays that Burns calls
"fancy."  One of those gifts eventually ended up in the Bruins
net.

The checking line has been its usual tough defensive self, with a
little help from Mr. Belanger. But in game three, a crucial
mistake on the line change between Robby Dimaio and Anson Carter
left the Bruins with six men on the ice for a reputed 30 seconds,
and even two referees won't miss that penalty.  Carolina scored
on the ensuing power play to tie the game, and the Bruins never
recovered. Now that's something -- a too many men on the ice
penalty hurting the Bruins in the playoffs. Who ever heard of
such a thing?

Ray Bourque, though he is a hero and a warrior, has looked all
too human.  The ravages of age are affecting the edges of Ray's
game, though they haven't come anywhere near his heart. But Ray
has had a little more trouble keeping the puck in the zone, and a
little more trouble tying up those forwards without resorting to
some extra tug and pull. Last night, Ray was thoroughly outraced
by Keith Primeau, who turned a steal into a breakaway by leaving
Ray in the dust. Ray was lucky to only get two minutes for his
takedown of Primeau, rather than a penalty shot.

The fact is that neither Ray or the 'Canes Paul Coffey can
dominate game-in and game-out like they have in the past.  Their
teams must understand that fact to do right by these players, who
are hockey heroes like nobody else left in the game, now that
Wayne Gretzky has retired. The Bruins have to stop leaning on
Ray, and instead have the young bucks carry the load, so that Ray
can pick his spots to shine and win games with his still-deadly
point shot. He just can't carry all the water all of the time
anymore.

But if in the playoffs, it all comes down to who wants it more,
every player on the Bruins apparently wants it more than team
management, who did not spend one extra dime to prepare the team
for the postseason, in spite of the availability of any number of
players who could have helped the Bruins. They can call it
loyalty to the players in the locker room. They can call it not
taking risks with the franchise's future. They can call it
anything they want. The bare fact is that although Harry Sinden
and Mike O'Connell ask the players every year to dig a little
deeper for the playoffs, THEY NEVER DO. They never dig a hand
into their wallets to bring in the player who will make a
difference. They didn't do it for Cam Neely's teams, though he
asked. They didn't do it for Adam Oates' teams, although he
pleaded. And they did not do it for Pat Burns.  Because for
Bruins management, it has been enough to say "we made it"
and collect the gate receipts for three or four playoff games.
Because on Causeway Street, it is all about the bucks, not about
the banners.

All in all, the Bruins have played pretty well, but with very
little of that extra zing that is needed to advance in the
playoffs. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, have exceeded
expectations, or at least those of Bruins fans, and have taken
back the home ice advantage. The next move belongs to Boston.



-----------------------------------------------------------------
BUFFALO SABRES
----------------------------------------------------------------- 
Head Coach: Lindy Ruff

Roster: C - Michael Peca, Curtis Brown, Brian Holzinger, Stu
Barnes, Wayne Primeau. LW - Dixon Ward, Joe Juneau, Michal
Grosek, Paul Kruse, Erik Rasmussen. RW - Miroslav Satan, Vaclav
Varada, Geoff Sanderson, Rob Ray, Dean Sylvester. D - Jay McKee,
Rhett Warrener, Alexei Zhitnik, Richard Smehlik, James Patrick,
Jason Woolley, Darryl Shannon, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, . G -
Dominik Hasek, Dwayne Roloson.

INJURIES: Miroslav Satan, rw (bruised ankle, day-to-day); Geoff
Sanderson, lw (bruised hand, day-to-day).

TRANSACTIONS: Reassigned and then recalled Dean Sylvester, rw,
to/from Rochester (AHL).

GAME RESULTS
First Round vs Ottawa: Sabres won 4-0
04/21 at Ottawa  W 2-1
04/23 at Ottawa  W 3-2 2OT
04/25 Ottawa     W 3-0
04/27 Ottawa     W 4-3

TEAM NEWS by Matt Barr

Sens Shown the Door

Not many people, least of all Your Humble Servant, thought it
would be that easy.  

A sizeable chunk of people, including Your Humble Servant, would
only have been mildly surprised if the first round series with
the Ottawa Senators had worked out exactly the opposite way.

The Sabres slunk into the postseason having squandered numerous
opportunities to improve their playoff position.  The two key
acquisitions in the month leading up to the trade deadline, Joey
Juneau and Stu Barnes, were either hurt or snakebitten.  From
their lofty perch atop the Eastern Conference at Christmas time,
the team had freefallen past the dogged Bruins, saved from a
first round matchup with New Jersey only by a more freely falling
Penguins team.  

The Senators, no great shakes themselves down the stretch, were
nonetheless the darlings of the East, a speedy, determined bunch
which gutted out 103 points in the standings on the strength of a
solid goaltending duo, a battalion of character forwards, an
emerging defense led by a Norris Trophy finalist in 2001, Wade
Redden, and the next elite center in the NHL pantheon of stars,
Alexei Yashin.  Add a generous helping of still stinging from
their seventh game, overtime elimination at the hands of the
Sabres in 1997.  

Dominik Hasek had a "small hernia."  The stars and planets
weren't aligned.  It looked like rain.  My knee was acting up.  

Nothing -- ok, maybe one small thing -- about the first period of
the first game of the series dissuaded any of the disbelievers. 
Outshot 16-4, only Dominik Hasek and a timely early goal by
Michael Peca -- the Sabres would score the first goal of each
game, three times on their second shot of the game -- kept the
Sabres even with Ottawa at 1-1.

That "one small thing" was represented by a note I made to myself
during the first intermission.  Regarding the Sens, I wrote:
"tentative."

Tentative?  How about when they outshot the Sabres 17-6 in the
third?  Still "tentative?"

Well, yes.

The speed of the Senators' forwards was evident in spurts in game
one, but there wasn't the kind of hustle that uses team speed to
its maximum efficiency -- and that wins playoff series.  

Little if any traffic in front of Dominik Hasek.  Failure to
dominate in the corners and the battles for loose pucks.  Low
percentage shots, when hanging onto the puck a little bit longer
might have been more effective.  No fire in the belly.

Alexei Yashin had eight shots on goal in the game, but I didn't
know that until I read it in a summary the next day.

Coach Jacques Martin didn't even appear to be making an effort to
use the last change to keep Yashin away from Michael Peca in game
one.  (Conversely, it looked like he was bending over backwards
in game two.)  This could be attributed to overconfidence in
Yashin or underconfidence in himself. 

When the dust cleared, the Sabres had stolen game one and taken
away home ice from Ottawa.

Game two was a tighter affair, with the Sabres matching the
Senators shot for shot in periods one and three.  The Sens' two
goals came in a 13 shot to 3 barrage in the second period.

Alexei Zhitnik and Richard Smehlik, who'd been Lindy Ruff's
favored pairing against the Yashin line in game one, gave way
most of the night to Jay McKee and Rhett Warrener.  Ruff remarked
after the game that Martin had made his life miserable in game
two trying to get the on-ice matchups he wanted.  Whether true or
not, the Sabres shut down the Senators five-on-five, as they had
in game one.

Joey Juneau, returning to the ice after recovering from a mild
concussion, scored an early goal and had secondary assists on the
other two.  Miroslav Satan had two goals, including a gimme
tap-in in overtime off a Jason Woolley rebound.  That goal ended
the second-longest game in Sabres history.

Yashin was again held pointless, and most certainly didn't have
eight shots on goal (he had three).  Nelson Emerson, Shawn
McEachern and Daniel Alfredsson were the Senators' most effective
forwards, which is fine if you're winning, but when you're not,
your purported superstar is going to be in the cold glare of the
spotlight.  In game three, Yashin blinked.

If the Sens had been "tentative" in mustering 41 shots in the
first game, they were positively besotted with ennui in game
three.  Hasek mailed in the 3-0 shutout, allowing Yashin and his
team to beat themselves.  

On the first goal of the game, by Dixon Ward, Yashin failed to
put his body on Peca behind the net, and when Peca fed Ward to
Damian Rhodes' right, Ward skated in front of Yashin, who
halfheartedly waved his stick at the puck as Ward beat Rhodes. 
My Bantam league coach would have benched my ass.

Yashin would have a seat for extended periods of the game, but
not on the bench.  Sabres fans were reacquainted with the Vaclav
Varada they grew to love in last year's Flyers series, as Varada
drove Yashin to two ill-timed penalties in the second period on
consecutive shifts.

Brian Holzinger, of all people, put two goals behind Rhodes in
the second period to seal the win.  Satan took an Alexei Zhitnik
slap shot off his ankle in the second period and left the game,
joining Geoff Sanderson (bruised thumb/wrist) among the injured.  

As expected, the Senators played their best game of the series in
game four, but were victimized by another early goal and fell
behind by two twice.  (The Sabres' second goal in game three
marked the first two-goal lead by either team this season.)

Varada rode his game three irritant wave to offensive glory in
the clincher, feeding Erik Rasmussen for his first career playoff
goal, then potting two himself.  Hasek made 40 saves, bringing to
light the fact that without desperation Ottawa simply couldn't
win, but with it, they still had to beat the world's best
goaltender more times than the Sabres beat the Tugnutt/Rhodes two
headed monster.  Game and series over. 

Yashin had been hearing it from the Canadian media for days by
game four, and had complained to the press about being singled
out: "we win as a team and lose as a team."  Ken Fidlin of the
Toronto Sun had a scathing reply: "When contract negotiations
begin, is Yashin going to take Andreas Dackell and Shaun Van
Allen and all of the other Senators lesser-lights into Rod
Bryden's office and declare he wants to get paid the same as
everybody else? Fat chance."

While the Senators played with exponentially more desperation in
game four, the undercurrent wasn't "tentativeness," it was
"trying to do it all yourself-ness."  Attempting to stickhandle
through three Sabres defenders at the blue line, like Igor
Kravchuk in the second period, that sort of thing.

Yashin found himself behind Alexei Zhitnik and alone on Hasek
with Andreas Dackell in the first period.  As I've said numerous
times here, I won't for a moment try to second-guess split second
decisions made on the ice, but it sure seemed to me that Hasek
sprawled on the ice to commit to Yashin's shot a tad early, and a
feather pass to Dackell could have resulted in an easy tap-in. 
Yashin shot.  On a power play later in the period, Yashin took a
couple of low-percentage shots from bad angles rather than using
the ice and his more open teammates.

When Yashin took a borderline elbowing penalty on Zhitnik in the
third period, and Zhitnik scored the game- and series-winning
goal on the resulting power play, it punctuated a real bad week
for Yashin.

The Sabres and their fans will watch with keen interest the rest
of the New Jersey-Pittsburgh series.

Sweeping Up

Curtis Brown, Holzinger and Varada came into the series with
double-digit games' worth of goal scoring droughts and ended
them.  Stu Barnes on the other hand is at 25 and counting.

Darryl Shannon played in game one with James Patrick a healthy
scratch, but the two switched places for the rest of the series. 
Shannon joined the team's other alternate captain, Rob Ray, in
the press box.  Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre was the other healthy
scratch for the whole series.

Satan told Danny Gare his ankle was improving and that he might
have been able to play in a game five.  Barring setbacks, look
for the 40-goal scorer to play in game one of the second round.

A fourth line of Rasmussen, Wayne Primeau and Paul Kruse was
effective enough banging Senators around that it became the third
line of three used for the majority of the third period of game
four instead of Barnes' unit.

McKee's fantastic sliding block to break up a goalmouth pass in
the first period of game four encapsulated what was an
outstanding series for him and his partner Rhett Warrener.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Pens report never showed up.  Send all complaints to 
Jerry Fairish at mattingly23@hotmail.com

Thank you.
=================================================================

=================================================================
TEAM REPORTS
=================================================================
WESTERN CONFERENCE
=================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------
DALLAS STARS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head coach: Ken Hitchcock

Roster:  C-Mike Modano, Guy Carbonneau, Joe Nieuwendyk, Tony Hrkac,
Brian Skrudland, Derek Plante. LW- Benoit Hogue, Jamie 
Langenbrunner, Jason Botterill, Dave Reid, Brent Severyn, Jere
Lehtinen. RW- Blake Sloan, Brett Hull, Mike Keane, Grant Marshall,
Pat Verbeek. D-Derian Hatcher, Craig Ludwig, Darryl Sydor, Shawn
Chambers, Richard Matvichuk, Sergei Zubov, Doug Lidster, Brad
Lukowich. G-Ed Belfour, Roman Turek. 

"I-Word": Richard Matvichuk, d (re-aggravation of a groin injury,
unknown); Pat Verbeek, rw (sprained knee, day-to-day); Guy
Carbonneau, c (ligament tear in knee, 7-10 days). 
 
Transactions: None.

Game Results
First Round vs Edmonton: Stars lead 3-0
4/21 Edmonton     W 2-1
4/23 Edmonton     W 3-2
4/25 at Edmonton  W 3-2

Team News by Jim Panenka, Dallas Correspondent

You Just Have To Show a Little Faith

These Dallas Stars are a unique team. They always love to make
things interesting. This first-round series between Edmonton and
Dallas has been another nail-biter, true to form of the previous
two times the teams waged war in the playoffs.  

And a war it has been. As it was last season, Edmonton skated and
battled their hearts out. And kept their mouths quiet. The Oilers
came out with a decisive and unwavering physical tone from the
start, and have played that same style through game three.  

Stars such as Guy Carbonneau, Darryl Sydor, Sergei Zubov, and Jere
Lehtinen have been getting some special attention from Edmonton.
Sydor looks like he's been mainly skating just to stay alive, as
much as make a play. But make plays he and the others have.  

Dallas has been as equally unwavering when it comes to playing their
game - a defensively sound, hard-forechecking squad that patiently
waits for a chance. And so it has been up to this point.  Up until
game three anyway, Edmonton has banged bodies more than played the
puck on net. And as a result, the Oil only had a few really good
sniffs at Belfour in the first two games. They failed to capitalize
on some of those chances, giving Dallas the chance to out-defend and
out-score them.  

The Stars have managed to win all three games to this point- but
barely. It has not been pretty. In all three games, especially game
one, Dallas has started the first period tentatively. They play the
methodical defensive system they are known for, while just trying
to maintain puck possession as they battle through all the checks.
And there have been checks o' plenty.  

>From there the Stars have just grinded and grinded, focusing more on
keeping the Oilers off the scoreboard than pressing up too much
themselves. While that may keep Hitchcock and the rest of the
coaching staff happy, it sure makes for some tense moments out in
the paying seats.  

While the Stars have been lucky enough to hold off most of the
Oilers' threat, it appeared as if any of the games could have
easily gone the other way. Edmonton knows they were a few lucky
bounces away from being in this series. All three games were close
(2-1, 3-2, 3-2), and Dallas needed every minute of all three games
to make the winning plays and still hold off the furious Oilers
onslaught when desperation set in.  

Ed Belfour has remained focused long enough so far to have given his
team the chance to win every game. When Edmonton did manage to get
some chances, they are usually all very deadly. If Belfour isn't
totally in the zone, they're in the net. No question.  

On the other side of the coin, the Stars have not scored much,
mainly due to Edmonton goaltender Tommy Salo. Salo has stolen a
page directly from the CuJo book of shutting down the Dallas Stars,
and has turned away many quality scoring chances.  

That is virtually the only reason Dallas' power play has gone silent
this series - Salo has flat out said no. No way, Chester.  The power
play is a joke, going 0-fer-24 at last count. But it hasn't been from
a lack of chances. Dallas is making the right moves, the puck just
isn't going in.  

Earlier in the series, Coach Hitchcock publicly challenged certain
players to score more. As of game two (besides Jere Lehtinen) -
Modano, Hull, and Nieuwendyk were goal-less up to that point.  

"Being up, 2-0 [in the series], is very important for us," Stars
coach Ken Hitchcock said. "There was a sense of urgency from
lessons learned. I think we've learned how important Game 2 is for
the home team. And the really good thing is we know we've got
players who can play better."  

That was a pretty veiled challenge, but Brett Hull got the meaning
of his coach's comments perfectly clear. 

"Whenever we do score, we're always hearing about how we're the No.
1 checking line. He's [Hitchcock] always telling us we don't have
to score as long as we're doing all those other things [shutting
down the opposition's first line]. But when we don't score it's
like, 'Wait a minute. Why isn't it happening?' " 

Hull has been a little frustrated so far, and this is the first time
he's spoken his mind since quite some time back. But you know what?
He's right. Hitchcock has to be happy with the game his team is
playing-it's exactly what he called for.  

But never fear, Hully. You'll have the chance to open it up some
come round two. You won't have any other choice if the Stars are to
survive. Dallas absolutely will have to get timely goals from their
top scorers, including on the power play, if they are to have any
chance in surviving against teams like the Coyotes or Red Wings.
 

A Hero Emerges

Game one was a chance for an unlikely hero to emerge - and one
definitely did. It was none other than the oldest player currently
in the playoffs: the 39-year old master known as Guy Carbonneau.
 

During game one, both teams were feeling each other out as they
combined for only 7 shots total on goal during the first period.
Edmonton drew first blood late in the second frame when Rem Murray
scored at 18:54.  Jere Lehtinen tied it up 13 seconds into the
third period. And the game was on.  

For the remainder of the third period, Dallas awoke like a Yukon
grizzly coming out of hibernation: hungry and pissed off. The Stars
were nearly dominant as they refused to let the puck back into
their own end, and peppered Salo with chance after chance. Players
such as Carbonneau, Blake Sloan, and Dave Reid pulled every trick
out of the book to keep on the pressure. And if Dallas did falter,
Edmonton was quickly headed in the other direction. Luckily, Eddie
the Eagle bailed them out over and over.  

They traded checks until only 6:53 remained of regulation time.
Then, Blake Sloan broke in for a shot - and Salo left a rebound that
Dave Reid deftly passed onto Carbonneau's stick. Guy then pulled
out his patented five-hole snapshot and beat Salo like a rented
goalie.  

The miracle happened! Just as he single-handedly assured that the
Detroit series last year would go at least one more game,
Carbonneau scored the game-winning goal of the first game of the
first series, and allowed his team to get out to a good 1-0 jump at
home.  

Game Two Antics

Game two was just as physical as game one, and Dallas held the Oil
to only 4 shots in the first period. Only this time, Carbonneau
decided he would open up the scoring - with a great wrist shot only
2:34 into the game.  

Game one's hero sends the game-two crowd into a frenzy! Stars fans
spontaneously erupted into a thunderous chant of "GUUUUYYY!!" (just
think of yelling WHEEEE really loud-like, only beginning with a
hard 'G' instead of a soft 'WH.' And then - oh, never mind).  

Throughout the game, the fans kept up giving Carbo his props
whenever he faced off or carried the puck. They also broke into the
usual "SALO! SALO!" and "LETS GO STARS" and the like. Ah, you get
the idea- quit yer whining.  

Anyway, after Mike Grier tied it at 1-1, Jere Lehtinen and Jamie
Langenbrunner both scored to put the Stars up 3-1. In a typical
Dallas vs. Edmonton development, the Stars failed to hold back the
Oiler onslaught late in the third period and allowed Bill Guerin to
bring the Oil to within a goal of tying it. This time Belfour and
the crew were able to hold out long enough to pull of a crucial 2-0
lead in the series over their rivals.  

But the victory came with a price. Carbonneau already had a
several-stitch gash healing on his cheek courtesy of an Oiler, and
was being banged up as badly as poor Darryl Sydor (who has played
very well in the face of the storm, by the way).  

In the closing seconds of the third, Guy was heroically holding the
puck in the Oilers' zone, preventing Salo from leaving in favor of
an extra attacker. Carbo had seen enough of that jive before, Jack!
 

But in a rare bad decision, Guy was in the Oil's zone with the
bobbling puck. (ice at Reunion Arena was no better even with the
dehumidifiers, it was a slushy mess in a warm, humid barn- pretty
nasty) And instead of shooting the puck, Carbo sent it down low
behind the net- directly to an Edmonton player. In order to save
face, Carbonneau crashed into the Oiler and tried to repossess the
puck, and twisted his knee in doing so. He dropped to his knees as
the final buzzer sounded and then dejectedly got up and limped back
to the dressing room when he realized it was a good tear this time.
 

Just like that, Dallas was not only already facing the loss of their
captain and top-defenseman in Derian Hatcher, they also lost one of
their best face-off artists and penalty killers in Carbonneau. Yeah,
that'll suck.  

Game Three Seals the Deal

Oh, did it look bad! The Oilers decided to quit banging and took it
straight to Belfour. The speedy Edmonton forwards turned the tables
on Dallas, waiting for any mistake and then very quickly speeding
back the other way towards the Eagle. Edmonton's much-fabled ice
did play a part, as most of the Stars were caught flat- footed by
the Oiler's major speed.  

Edmonton quickly racked up a 1-0 lead courtesy of Ryan Smyth, who
clearly had something to prove after being a healthy scratch for
game two. Smyth had one goal called back, but quickly stormed back
in and scored a legal one just seconds later. What's up with that
funky face guard, anyway? Smyth looks like a flippin' rock 'em-sock
'em robot out there, for Pete's sake!  

Both teams were held scoreless in the second frame. Edmonton had
another goal called back.  

In the third period, Ryan "Rock 'Em" Smyth was at it again as he was
sniffing in the slot waiting for some gravy during a potent Oiler
rush. One Oiler whiffed on a shot and sent it low and wide of the
net, and for some reason, Belfour picked this time of the game to go
swimming.  

Instead of dropping in the butterfly and watching it sail wide,
Eddie pulled off some sort of funky pad stack and strayed to the
side of his crease. He then went reaching behind him to try to seal
the open post with his goal stick, just as the puck went bouncing
off the boards and onto the waiting stick of Smyth.  Smyth was
crashing beside the fallen Belfour and stole the puck directly from
the path of Belfour's stick and redirected it with a wicked
top-shelf backhander. That was one sweet goal.  

Never mind the fact that Smyth's skate entered the crease prior to
the puck. The replay official still had to go home that night. They
weren't about to call back another goal! Edmtonton's crowd had
already gone loopy over the first two and threw stuff on the ice.
This goal counted.  

The Oilers were up 2-0 and were putting the clamps on Dallas really
well. Then, just as the Stars had done before, they found some way
to explode in the third period and put wave after wave of glorious
pressure on the Edmonton net.  

Mike Keane began the Stars' great comeback by putting them on the
board with a screened shot from the top of the circle. Then Mighty
Mikey Modano finally lit the lamp as he roofed a fat rebound left
by a sweet shot from Benoit Hogue.  

Yes, Benoit Hogue was playing with Modano. As desperation was
setting in during the third period, Hitchcock pulled out the magic
8-ball to make the lines for him.  

No matter, Modano scored to tie it - and the game was on - again.
Dallas fought very hard and well to steal any open ice they could
find in the Edmonton zone. They sent in some great shots, but Salo
wasn't yielding.  

Well, not at least until 7:28 was left to play. Then another hero
emerged- none other than Joey Nieuwendyk. Nieuwy broke in with
Langenbrunner and leaned hard into a great pass from Jamie. The
wicked slapshot then sailed low and into the net. "Mr. Game Winner"
himself, the team's interim captain, scored yet another crucial
game-winner- for his team.  

The Stars are now sitting pretty with a 3-0 stranglehold on the
series. Dallas has a chance to make it four- and-out on Tuesday
night. But, it is obvious the Oilers will not roll over and go
quietly. They never have. It should be interesting.  

But no matter how weird things get, no matter how bad it looks, you
have to have faith. Dallas will find some way to win. 

Parting Shots

* To make things worse for Dallas' depleted roster (Verbeek and
Carbonneau), Hatcher's usual defensive- partner in Richard
Matvichuk left game 3 with a re-strained groin. The Stars are
clearly going to need the remaining blueliners to step up in a big
way.  

Edmonton also suffered as they were already without two key forwards
and then lost one of their top defensemen in Roman Hamrlik to a knee
injury. (what else?)  

Luckily for Dallas, Sergei Zubov and Shawn Chambers have done a
brilliant job in keeping the D-men together while Sydor ducks and
tries to keep all his limbs intact. Chambers has logged tons of
tough, quality ice-time. And Zubov has not flinched once during all
the physical play, and kept right on pressing into the fire,
creating good chances and defensive plays. (He's nuts, I tell ya!)
 

* Hatcher will be back in two more games! They can't wait for Big
Daddy Hatch to come home. He will be very necessary in the
remaining rounds.  

* Modano and Nieuwendyk finally got the monkeys off their backs, can
Brett Hull and Benoit Hogue be very far behind? 

* Carbonneau is expected to miss 7-10 days with the knee. That's a
lot of leadership missing from the locker room (Hatcher and
Carbonneau).  Luckily, the Stars still have three dressing present
and former captains (Nieuwendyk, Skrudland, and Keane).  

* TIME TO BRING OUT THE BROOMS!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
COLORADO AVALANCHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach:  Bob Hartley
   
ROSTER: C - Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Stephane Yelle, Chris Drury,
Dale Hunter. LW - Valeri Kamensky, Milan Hejduk, Shean Donovan,
Warren Rychel. RW - Theoren Fleury, Claude Lemieux, Adam Deadmarsh,
Shjon Podein, Jeff Odgers. D - Sandis Ozolinsh, Sylvain Lefebvre,
Adam Foote, Alexei Gusarov, Jon Klemm, Aaron Miller, Greg deVries,
Cam Russell, Eric Messier. G - Patrick Roy, Craig Billington.

INJURIES: Valeri Kamensky, lw (broken hand, out for season); Cam
Russell, d (shoulder, out for season); Alexei Gusarov, d (knee,
day-to-day)

TRANSACTIONS : None.

RESULTS:
First Round vs San Jose: Avalanche lead 2-0
4/24 at San Jose W 3-1
4/26 at San Jose W 2-1 OT

Team News by Greg D'Avis

After the senseless shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton
last week, it's safe to say not many minds in Colorado were on
hockey. When the series began this weekend after (quite rightly)
being delayed, the Avalanche, Sharks and San Jose fans quietly paid
tribute to the slain students, then took the ice with the Avs
wearing memorial patches and Sharks displaying stickers on their
helmets.  

The series promised to be a chippy affair and delivered right off.
Checks were hard, unpleasantries were exchanged, and while the
Avalanche obviously have a vast talent advantage, the Sharks have
made it tough.  

The Avs seemed a beat or two off in Game One - not lacking in
intensity, there was plenty of that, but just not quite right.
Patrick Roy, however, was just right. He simply took over the game,
seeming to toy with the Sharks. They needed 40-plus shots and a
5-on-3 advantage to finally score, and that wasn't enough after
strong offensive performances from Joe Sakic and Sandis Ozolinsh.
 

The victory was Roy's 100th playoff win, making him the first goalie
to crack that barrier. Let's all give him a hand, shall we? 

Old nemesis Mike Vernon matched Patty save-for-save in Game Two, a
dual shutout until the beginning of the third period. Vincent
Damphousse put the Sharks up, but a late goal by Adam Foote and
then an OT goal from Milan Hejduk won it. 

So the Avs head back to Colorado with a 2-0 series lead - a lucky
position. Given the late schedule of the series, and the fact that
likely second-round foe Detroit is having its way with the Ducks, it
behooves the Avalanche to get a sweep - they're gonna need some rest
for Round Two. 

Some bright spots: 

Patrick Roy. He's been simply spectacular, and overcame a
smorgasbord of defensive lapses in Game One. 

Joe Sakic. At his best in the playoffs, as always. 

Sandis Ozolinsh. The Wacky Latvian is always a bit nervewracking to
watch, but he's been exciting and unpredictable in this series - to
the Sharks' sorrow, not the Avs'. 

Milan Hejduk. The rookie's been strong, not just scoring but playing
smart. He's also not afraid to go to the net, not bad for such a
small guy. 

Goose Out

Alexei Gusarov suffered a sprained knee in Game One after colliding
with teammate Theo Fleury, prompting the move of Jon Klemm from
winger to defense in Game Two. It's unsure how long Gusarov will be
out.  

Sold!

Pending approval from various sources, the Avalanche (and Denver
Nuggets as well, for their eight fans) will be sold for $400
million to Bill Laurie. Avalanche management will stay the same
from CEO Charlie Lyons on down. This certainly will help in the
Theo Fleury signing attempt - especially since ol' Theo has already
announced he wants to stay. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
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, Wendel Clark, Kirk Maltby, Brent Gilchrist. RW -
Darren  McCarty, Martin Lapointe, Stacey Roest D - Nicklas
Lidstrom, Larry Murphy, Jamie  Macoun, Aaron Ward, Ulf Samuelson,
Mathieu Dandenault, Chris Chelios, Todd Gill.  G - Chris Osgood,
Norm Maracle, Bill Ranford. 

INJURIES: Uwe Krupp, d (back problems, indefinite); Joe Kocur, rw
(back problems, indefinite).  

TRANSACTIONS: None.  

Game Results 
First Round vs Anaheim: Red Wings lead 3-0
4/21 Anaheim     W 5-3 
4/23 Anaheim     W 5-1 
4/25 at Anaheim  W 4-2 

Team News by Dino Cacciola

GAME ONE 

<I>DETROIT 5, ANAHEIM 3 </I>

It's not going to be a cake walk. The Mighty Ducks are hacking and
whacking their way through the first round against the Red Wings.
It may be their only chance. But it was not enough in the first
game as the Red Wings won handily, 5-3. 

"It was a physical game. There were some bangs out there," Brendan
Shanahan said. "We were yelling for some calls, they were yelling
for some calls."  

"It was a pretty good start," Chris Chelios said. Wendel Clark added
a goal and an assist and Doug Brown also scored. The Wings outshot
the Ducks 32-29 in the win. 

Steve Yzerman, the Conn Smythe winner of last year's playoffs,
appeared in mid-playoff form. He had a severe gash over his left
eye as he created numerous  scoring chances as well as getting a
hat trick. The first two goals came from  just outside the crease
and the final with just 78 seconds left.  

"That's  Stevie," Shanahan said. "It's not about speeches or
anything like that. He goes out and does it on the ice. That's why
he's the leader he  is." 

The game was very physical from start to finish. That is playoff 
hockey at its best and the Red Wings playing for the most part a
disciplined  style game. Having a deep lineup that turns over four
lines consistently throughout the game seems to be no match for the
Ducks.  

GAME TWO 

<I>DETROIT 5, ANAHEIM 1 </I>

Game one was all Stevie. Game Two was all Shanny. He had two goals
and an assist as the Red Wings defeated the Ducks, 5-1 in game two
of the first round.  His first goal was scored a minute into the
game to set the tone.  

"That put the big train in the right direction," defenseman Ulf
Samuelsson said. 

The telling tale of the game may be the fact that the Red Wings were
3 of 9 on the power play . The Ducks were just 1 for 4. Sergei
Fedorov added a pair of  assists for the second straight game, and
Tomas "Homer" Holmstrom, Doug Brown and Steve Yzerman added a goal
each.  

"We've got such depth that when one guy is struggling to find the
net,  other guys pick him up," Shanahan said. "There's a new guy
that's the  story every night. That's the most important thing
we've had the past two years in the playoffs. It would be a shame
to have it focused on  one or two guys."  

Obvioulsly referring to the Ducks who rely heavily on  Selanne and
Kariya for their scoring. 

GAME THREE 

<I>DETROIT 4, ANAHEIM 2 </I>

Scoring five goals in three games, Steve Yzerman has scored just one
fewer than the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim the series so far.  Yzerman had
the go-ahead goal in the second period on a power play as the Red
Wings won 4-2 to move closer to a sweep in the first round of the not
so Mighty Ducks.  

"Things are going his way," Coach Scotty Bowman said. "He's  around
the net, he's picking up rebounds, and he really has good energy
and is  really focused." 

Red Wings defensemen Chris Chelios and Niklas Lidstrom again
nullified the Mighty Ducks' high scoring dynamic duo of Teemu
Selanne and Paul Kariya. Selanne  did not have a shot on net , and
Kariya had three shots, only one in the last  two periods. 

"I told the players that these are dangerous games," Bowman said. 
"I told them to play like they were down in the series even with a
two-game advantage." 

Yzerman's goal came when Stu Grimson was in the box after receiving
a match penalty. He cross-checked Kris Draper in the face. Yzerman
converted a rebound upstairs for the score from a low angle. 

Former Red Wing Stu Grimson readily admitted that he messed up. "I 
thought the game turned on that moment," he said. "It was overly 
aggressive and it was inappropriate." 

Slava Kozlov, Tomas Holmstrom and Sergei Fedorov also scored for the
Wings. The Ducks led 2-1 on power-play goals by Marty McInnis and
Jason Marshall later  in the first period. The Wings came back to
seal the game.  

Extras: Not playing so far for the Red Wings have been Jamie
Macoun, Todd Gill, Brent Gilchrist, and Stacey Roest. Each of those
four will see some playing time should the Wings continue to
advance. Macoun and Gill do provide a wealth of experience on the
blue line. Gilchrist is the consummate playoff workhouse as well.
Norm Maracle is the odd man out between the pipes as Billy Ranford
has been the back up. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX COYOTES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach: Jim Schoenfeld 

Roster: C - Jeremy Roenick, Bob Corkum, Mike Stapleton, Juha Ylonen,
Robert Reichel, Mike Sullivan. LW - Keith Tkachuk, Greg Adams, Jim
Cummins, Mike Sullivan, Louie DeBrusk, Joe Dziedzic. RW - Rick
Tocchet, Dallas Drake, Shane Doan, Jim Cummins, Steve Leach, Brian
Noonan. D - Keith Carney, Gerald Diduck, Jyrki Lumme, Teppo
Numminen, Oleg Tverdovsky, Deron Quint, JJ Daigneault, Jamie
Huscroft, Stanislav Neckar, Brad Tiley. G - Nikolai Khabibulin,
Mikhail Shtalenkov. 

Injuries: Jeremy Roenick, c (broken jaw/thumb, out for season);
Juha Ylonen, c (broken right foot, 4-6 weeks); Deron Quint, d
(concussion, day-to-day); Gerald Diduck, d (fractured foot,
day-to-day).  

Transactions: None. 

GAME RESULTS
First Round vs St. Louis: Coyotes lead 3-1
4/22 St. Louis    L 3-0
4/24 St. Louis    W 
4/25 at St. Louis W
4/27 at St. Louis W 2-1

TEAM NEWS by Jim Iovino

Who'da thunk it?

Well, if you're a Phoenix Coyotes fan, this has to be a pleasant
surprise.  

The loss of Jeremy Roenick was supposed to spell nothing but gloom
and doom for the Coyotes as they headed into the first round of the
playoffs against St. Louis.  But a funny thing happened on the way
to an early exit from the postseason. 

The Coyotes have won three of four from the Blues and are in total
command of the series. 

How did the Coyotes do it?  Beats me.  I only saw two periods of the
fourth game.  But if that's any indication of the rest of the
series, there were plenty of signs as to why the Dogs are in
control.  

Reason No. 1:  Khabby, Khabby, Khabby.  Nikolai Khabibulin has been
a force to be reckoned with in the series.  Remember how well he
played early in the regular season?  Well, he looks just as good
now.  He is out on his angles.  And he hasn't let in a bunch of
those softy goals he's been prone to let in in the past. 

Reason No. 2:  Hustle.  With Roenick out of the lineup, the rest of
the team has come together and shown that they're willing to do
whatever is necessary to win. If that means Keith Tkachuck
sacrificing his body to block a MacInnis slapper, so be it. 

Reason No. 3:  A little luck.  Lady luck has been with the Coyotes
throughout the last three games.  Even when the Blues rallied to
come back from a 4-0 deficit in Game 3, the Coyotes still managed
to squeak out a win.  And in Game 4, it looked as if Khabby pulled
out some Jedi mind tricks on the Blues.  St. Louis had an
incredible amount of chances to tie the game at 2, but every time
the Blues shot the puck, it ended up going wide.  Use the force,
Khabby...  

Daddy Mac does it again

The legacy of the Al MacInnis slap shot is growing faster in Phoenix
than the rumors about Michael Dell's Uncle Earl. 

MacInnis, who owns the deadliest slap shot in the league, let one
rip in Game Two that broke the right foot of Coyote 
center Juha Ylonen. 

Ylonen, who will be out 4-6 weeks, is the third Coyote player to
receive a broken bone this season thanks to a MacInnis 
slapper.  The Finnish center will be sorely (no pun intended) missed
by the Coyotes, who were already without the  team's top pivot,
Jeremy Roenick.  Roenick's still enjoying eating his meals  through a
straw thanks to a People's elbow  courtesy of Dallas defenseman
Derian Hatcher. 

Ylonen isn't the only one hurting. Defensemen Deron Quint and Gerald
Diduck are also out of the lineup due to injuries.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
ST. LOUIS BLUES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach: Joel Quenneville
   
Roster: C - Craig Conroy, Mike Eastwood, Michal Handzus, Pascal
Rheaume, Pierre Turgeon. LW - Lubos Bartecko, Geoff Courtnall, Pavol
Demitra, Scott Pellerin, Michel Picard, Tony Twist. RW - Blair
Atcheynum, Kelly Chase, Terry Yake, Scott Young. D - Jeff Finley,
Rory Fitzpatrick, Al MacInnis, Chris McAlpine, Richard Persson, Rudy
Poeschek, Chris Pronger, Jamie Rivers, Brad Shaw, Yanick Tremblay. G
- Grant Fuhr, Jamie McLennan. 

Injuries: Jim Campbell, rw (groin 3/20, out rest of season); Michal
Handzus, c (shoulder 3/26, day-to-day); Kelly Chase, rw (shoulder
4/22, day-to-day); Marc Bergevin, d (pulled abdomin muscles 4/3,
out rest of season). 

Transactions: None.

Game Results:
First Round vs Phoenix: Coyotes lead 2-1
4/22 at Phoenix  W 3-1
4/24 at Phoenix  L 4-3 OT     
4/25 Phoenix     L 5-4

TEAM NEWS by Tom Cooper

The Blues began their 20th consecutive Stanley Cup playoffs in the
desert, a traditional setting for hockey. The Blues have met the
Coyotes before in the post-season. They outscored them 20-13 en
route to a 3-1 series victory, their only post-season series
against them. Of course, that was back in 1982 and the team was
from Winnipeg, but you get the picture.  

The Blues did win the season series against these Coyotes 2-1-1,
but, as everybody knows, that doesn't mean anything once the fight
for Lord Stanley's Cup commences.  

Game One: The Al MacInnis Show starring Al MacInnis

People around the NHL have always feared the slap shot of Al
MacInnis.  

They see him display it in skills competitions. They see him display
it at the red line, especially Chris Osgood. Nikolai Khabibulin saw
it early in the series.  

Just 2:22 into the game, MacInnis showed his weapon for all to see,
blasting a fireball from the blue line and into the Coyote net
powering the Blues to a 3-1 lead and a 1-0 lead early in the
best-of-seven series.  

"I got kind of lucky," MacInnis said. "I don't think you're going to
score too many from out there on Khabibulin."  

MacInnis also showed his stick's ability to pass the puck as he
added helpers to his resume for a three-point night. Jaime Rivers
released a shot of his own from the blue line on a power play late
in the second. Terry Yake and MacInnis set up Rivers, who broke the
"Bulin Wall" for a 2-0 lead. Robert Reichel's goal with 1:58 left
in regulation could only ruin Grant Fuhr's shut out. Fuhr stopped
26 of 27 shots to give the Blues a 1-0 series lead.  

Scott Pellerin scored his first goal of the post-season on an
empty-netter with 42 seconds left.  

Game Two: Finley! What Are You Doing???

The Blues are hot. They won their fourth straight game with their
Game One victory over Phoenix and looked to be unbeatable. 

Grant Fuhr was unbeatable. Al MacInnis was unstoppable. 

Unfortunately for St. Louis, the Coyotes were unflappable. 

The Blues took the lead on the Coyotes twice during regulation, with
Phoenix overcoming the one-goal deficit both times.  Then, the
Coyotes took the lead but the Blues came back to tie. Finally, the
Coyotes took the lead. This time for good. The goal came in
overtime.  

Shane Doan's wrap-around 8:58 into overtime that he jammed between
the left post and Jeff Finley's right leg, behind Grant Fuhr and
barely over the goal line gave Phoenix a 4-3 victory and tied their
best-of-seven series at a game a piece.  

"I think it went off Fuhr's skate," Doan said. "It was just sitting
there. I only had to move it an inch. My heart was pounding, but I
made sure I wasn't in the crease beforehand."  

The Coyotes' first lead of the series came with 5:34 left in
regulation when Keith Carney beat Blues' goalie Grant Fuhr. The
lead only lasted 2:16. On the power play, Pavol Demitra tied the
game at 3-3 with his long-awaited first goal of the playoffs from
Al MacInnis and Scott Young.  

For the second straight game, MacInnis factored in on every one of
St. Louis' goals. He scored the game's opening tally 5:31 in and
helped out Pierre Turgeon on his goal 12:43 into the second they
put the Blues back on top.  

Grant Fuhr stopped 24 of the shots he faced for his first loss of
the post-season. The Blues outshot Phoenix 34-28.  

Game Three: So Close...Yet So Far Away

Grant Fuhr is 36 years old. 

My dad is 47. 

My dad still has a couple of years left in him. He's been working
with the same power company near where I grew up throughout his
adult life. He gets up every morning and goes to work, not affected
by his age.  

Grant Fuhr is old. Very, Very old. But that's in the eyes of the
hockey world.  

In Game Three of the Blues' series with Phoenix, he looked very old.
 

Fuhr gave up three goals in the first 8:31 before getting benched in
favor of Jaime McLennan...for 27 seconds. Then, Fuhr returned only to
be pulled again 2:35 into the second when Phoenix took a 4-0 lead on
only 10 shots.  

Then, came the damn-near impossible dream. 

Oleg Tverdovsky decided to kindly picked up a high-sticking double
minor. Remember last year when Sean O'Donnell jumped Geoff
Courtnall and the Blues scored three goals during the five-minute
major. Same thing happened...sort of.  

It took Pavol Demitra 51 seconds to capitalize to give the Blues its
first goal at 4-1. Just 12 seconds later, working on the second
power play, Terry Yake brought the Blues within two. With Keith
Tkachuk in the box for hooking five minutes into the third, Geoff
Courtnall scored his first of the post season, beating Khabibulin
to pull St. Louis within one at 4-3. The goal marked St. Louis's
third goal in a 7:08 span.  

Then the "Bulin Wall" closed. 

Khabibulin held off 17 of the 19 shots the Blues fired at him in the
third period, with the only other goal coming from Blair Atcheynum
with 15 seconds left.  

The Coyotes rode Khabibulin to a 5-4 victory and a two games to one
series lead.  

Louie DeBrusk scored twice in the game, his first points of the
season.  

The Blues outshot Phoenix 38-18 during the game and went 3-for-7 on
the power play, but couldn't complete the comeback and force
overtime.  

Jaime McLennan had a couple shots of his own, but these weren't the
kind that end up on the scoreboard. McLennan vs. Robert Reichel was
the main event of a ruckus midway through the second that saw eight
players receive penalties.  

"Tkachuk got knocked into me and I fell on him and we were both down
there," McLennan said. "I think he ended up coming up swinging at
somebody and somebody gave me a bump from behind and then I don't
know, it just kind of ended up getting silly."  

But the silliness ended when talk turned to Grant Fuhr's starting
future in the playoffs. Due to the poor play of Fuhr, Blues head
coach Joel Quenneville refused to say whether Fuhr would star Game
Four.  

"We'll think about it," Quenneville said. "Grant's been very good
for us."  

-----------------------------------------------------------------
ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach:  Craig Hartsburg
   
ROSTER: C - Matt Cullen, Travis Green, Steve Rucchin, Marty McInnis,
Johan Davidsson. LW - Ted Drury, Stu Grimson, Paul Kariya, Jim
McKenzie. RW - Antti Aalto, Jeff Nielsen, Tomas Sandstrom, Teemu
Selanne. D - Kevin Haller, Jason Marshall, Frederik Olausson, Jamie
Pushor, Ruslan Salei, Pascal Trepanier, Pavel Trnka, Dan Trebil. G
- Guy Hebert, Dominic Roussel, Tom Askey.

INJURIES: Pascal Trepanier, d (knee surgery, out for the season).

TRANSACTIONS: 4/22, assigned Tom Askey, g, to Cincinnati (AHL);
4/21, recalled Tom Askey, g, from Cincinnati; assigned Scott
Ferguson, d, and Mike Leclerc, lw, to Cincinnati. 

GAME RESULTS:
First Round vs Detroit: Red Wings lead 3-0
4/23 at Detroit  L 5-1
4/21 at Detroit  L 5-3
4/25 Detroit     L 4-2

TEAM NEWS by Alex Carswell

GOING, GOING...

Gone are realistic -- okay, ANY -- thoughts of a stunning
first-round upset. At this point, Anaheim would just like to make
it look respectable. Sure, everybody's saying the right things. You
know, "It's not over yet." "You've still got to win four games."
"We're not throwing in the towel here." And from Detroit's side,
"The last win is always the toughest."  

But let's face facts. The Ducks have been dominated for seven of
nine periods in their opening series against the two-time defending
Stanley Cup champions. One of the periods the Ducks "won" came when
Game Two was already decided (the final stanza, with Detroit ahead
5-0). The other was the opening period of Game Three, when --
despite a soft opening goal allowed by Guy Hebert -- Anaheim
carried a 2-1 lead to the locker room, giving the locals a ray of
hope.  

Detroit regrouped to earn their 3-0 series lead, however,
capitalizing on a favorable call and a stupid penalty. The call
came when referees Mick "Mr." McGeough and Don Koharski allowed a
Tomas Holmstrom goal to stand despite replays showing the puck was
batted in from above (although barely) the crossbar. That evened
the score just 1:51 into the second period. But, by Craig
Hartsburg's admission, that play wasn't the turning point of the
game.  

The turning point came about a minute later, when Stu Grimson took
his third and final shift of the game. With Travis Green about to
be waved off for elbowing, Grimson creamed Kris Draper into the
boards from behind, drawing a five-minute major and a match penalty
for attempt to injure. When Draper finally got up -- and I'm not
saying he was acting or anything, although he did skate a regular
shift the rest of the way -- the Wings had a two-man advantage for
a full two minutes, and a regular power play for another three.
 

The two-man was all they needed. Steve Yzerman popped his fifth goal
of the series a minute-twenty in, and Detroit was on top for good.
Slava Kozlov added his first goal near the start of the third
period, and the demoralized Ducks played the rest of the game
before a typically silent Anaheim crowd.  

FANS? WHAT FANS?

Oh, you mean the Detroit fans. Yeah, they make some noise during the
games, both at home and on the road. And while Anaheim fans do get up
the energy to boo when chants of "Let's Go Wings!" erupt from the
red-and-white clad among them, they otherwise sit silently by as the
game goes on. Sure, they cheer when the scoreboard puts up that phony
noisemeter (How proud they must be to see it peak in the red zone!)
or when they correctly guess the outcome of the Mighty Puck Shuffle,
or some other inane in-arena entertainment distraction (Oh look! The
Raplh's blimp is dropping coupons good for a discount on frozen
seafood!). But a spontaneous chant of "Let's Go Ducks" when offense
is required? A hearty chorus of "Dee- fense" when Anaheim is on the
kill? Dream on.  

Coming down the stretch, Teemu Selanne exhorted the crowd to provide
a little atmosphere; to show a little spirit to help lift the team.
But it fell on deaf ears, which, unfortunately, would hear the exact
same level of fan support at The Pond that hearing ears do. 

I don't take this statement lightly - I'm cognizant of the fact that
Anaheim fans started from zero on the hockey learning curve -- and
I've waited six years to see if things improved, but these folks are
the undisputed worst fans in hockey.  

In San Jose, where the word "hapless" has almost annually been used
in tandem with the word "Sharks," enthusiastic sellout crowds have
made their arena among the loudest in hockey. In Carolina, where
hockey is as foreign a concept as snowboarding, fans have loudly
embraced their Connecticut transplants.  

It's a shame that here in Southern California, where two of the
world's very best players ply their trade, fans can't get up for
anything but between-periods entertainment. The last time they did?
That would be in 1997, when Ron Wilson publicly told the fans that
if (on their second attempt) they wanted to have an actual
"white-out," they would have to -- duh -- wear white.  

TWO BLIND MICE

The NHL's attempt to do right by utilizing a two-ref system in the
playoffs has, by my account, proven futile. Less so in the
Anaheim-Detroit series than in others, two refs choosing not to
make calls have merely doubled the frustration of one ref choosing
not to make calls. Which just goes to show it's not the number of
men in stripes that matters. It's the men themselves, and the
orders they take (or ignore) from the league office.  

And for this year, we're changing "Donut" Don Koharski's nickname to
"Do Not" (as in, make a call) Don Koharski. But fear not, it's a
temporary thing: "Donut" will live forever.  

BUT WHY?

Keys to the Anaheim's impending defeat will be examined in our next
issue. For now, the words Chelios, Lidstrom, Shanahan and Yzerman
should give you food for thought. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
SAN JOSE SHARKS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach: Darryl Sutter 
     
ROSTER: C - Patrick Marleau, Marco Sturm, Mike Ricci, Steve Guolla,
Ron Sutter, Vincent Damphousse. LW - Murray Craven, Stephane 
Matteau, Dave Lowry, Jeff Friesen. RW - Ron Stern, Owen Nolan, 
Joe Murphy, Brantt Myhres, Alexander Korolyuk. D - Bryan 
Marchment, Bill Houlder, Marcus Ragnarsson, Mike Rathje, 
Andrei Zyuzin, Bob Rouse, Jeff Norton, Andy Sutton. G - Mike 
Vernon, Steve Shields.

INJURIES: Gary Suter, d (triceps, rest of season); Murray Craven
(day-to -day, but looks more like the rest of the season).

TRANSACTIONS: Andrei Zyuzin, d, serving two-game suspension for
slashing. 

GAME RESULTS
First Round vs Colorado: Avalanche leads 2-0
4/24 Colorado  L 3-1
4/26 Colorado  L 2-1 OT

TEAM NEWS by A.J. DaSilva

Since last issue, the cool stuff includes:

* It's STILL sunny in California - that's a "looking
  forward to summer" type of cool.
* Anthony H. is now a full-fledged deacon - that's a
  special type of cool.
* Talked to some friends that I haven't talked to in a 
  while - that's a "catching up" type of cool
* Moved into a new building for class - that's a "newness"
  type of cool.
* The Sharks are still the Playoffs - that's a "Yes, but
  for how long?" type of cool.

Things look bleak in TealTown. Down two games, headed to
Colorado for the next three, and having problems scoring,
the Sharks need a miracle now. So how did we get to this
point? Let's begin at home...

Playoff Series Starts at the Tank

Due to the tragedy in Littleton, Col., the NHL rightly
postponed the start of the playoff series between the Sharks
and the Avalanche. The re-arranged schedule meant that the
Sharks would start the series at home (games 1 and 2), the
next 3 games would be in Denver, game 6 in San Jose and 
game 7 in Denver. Our prayers and thoughts go out to everyone
affected by the tragedy. 

Game 1 started out with a moment of silence for the victims
of the tragedy. Then it was down to business. The Sharks
started out aggressively, keeping possession in the Avalanche
zone and taking the game to Colorado. Marco Sturm and Joe
Murphy had the best opportunities against Patrick Roy, but
neither shot bothered the netminder. Colorado had their
chances and Theo Fluery (Shark-killer extraordinaire) gave
notice by hitting the post early. After a questionable
call by Paul Devorski on Joe Murphy running into Patrick
Roy, Joe Sakic scored on the power play. 

The second period was a repeat of the first. Sharks had
most of the possession, Colorado had their chances, Sharks
gave up a power play goal, and it was 2-0. Things did not
look good for the men in teal. 

And an early third-period goal by Joe Sakic pretty much
sealed the game for the Avalanche. The Sharks to their
credit kept trying, and Jeff Friesen scored on a power
play. But it wasn't meant to be. The Sharks needed to 
win game two. 

And before I forget, a word about the refs. Colorado
won the game because they took advantage of their chances,
played their type of game, and had outstanding goaltending.
They didn't need the help of the refs, but the refs gave
it to them anyway. Devorski and Stewart were uneven on
their calls, and it pretty much goes back to the adage of
"the superstars get the calls.. always". Enough is enough!
Call both sides for the same type of penalty, not just
one team!! 

Game 2 was a very different contest. For two periods, both
sides played solid defense, chances were few, and the
game was played like an intricate chess match. Marco Sturm
had the Sharks best opportunity when Patrick Roy passed it
to him with a wide open net beckoning. Marco couldn't lift
the puck high enough and Roy made the sprawling save. 

Then things opened up when Vinny Damphousse scored on a 
perfect shot to Patrick Roy's far side. The Sharks were 
riding high, but the lead didn't last as Adam Deadmarsh 
scored on a power-play goal. Regular time expired and we
had the most exciting period of sports - sudden death OT. 

Tensions were high as both sides had their opportunities
to win the game. Owen Nolan had the best chance but was
stoned by Roy. In the end, the better team won as Milan
Hejduk scored the winner. Down two games, and headed 
back to Colorado, things looked mighty bleak for San Jose. 

And last but not least, a word about the refs. Kerry Fraser 
and Dennis Larue seemed to be following the trend set up by
the previous zebra tandem: give the team without the
superstars the majority of the ticky-tack penalties.
Again, all I ask is for consistent calls, please!!! 

My offensive lines have character...

Captain Owen Nolan fired the first volley in the press by
indicating that Patrick Roy could be rattled. He also gave
fodder for the Avalanche by claiming that after the first
two lines, the remaining lines were nothing, while the
had 4 solid character lines. The local press was split on
whether this was a good thing (a psychological ploy), or
a bad thing (get the other team all fired up). Your humble
correspondent frankly feels that you don't give the other
team any sort of additional edge. Granted the Avs are
hungry, ready to prove themselves again, and downright
scary, but don't give these guys any more incentive!!! And
speaking of the 4 lines... 

Game One saw the reunion of the top 2 lines over the
stretch one. Vinny Damphousse, Joe Murphy and Jeff Friesen
formed the top line, while Alex Korolyuk, Patrick Marleau
and Owen Nolan formed the second line. The third line was
centered by Mike Ricci with Marco Sturm and Stephane 
Matteau, and the grinder line was Ronnie Stern, Ron Sutter
and Tony Granato. In Game 2, Ronnie Stern moved up to the
third line to replace Matteau, and Dave Lowry joined the
bangers on the fourth line. 

My defense is better than yours...

On paper, the Sharks seem to have a better defense (wait,
did I actually say that? The Sharks have a better D?? 
This can't be, the Sharks NEVER had a good defense...
Oh, that was back before Coach Sutter came... never 
mind). After Adam "Real Mean SOB" Foote and former Shark
Sandis "Oops I give the puck away in front of my net
again" Ozolinsh, the rest of the guys are a bunch of
no-names. 

Of course, if you're from Colorado, you'll say that 
besides Bryan Marchment (known for his big hits)
the Sharks have a bunch of no-names on defense. And
speaking of Mush... 

After resting the last couple of regular season games,
Mush returned along with Bob Rouse as the third
defensive pairing. Billy Houlder and Jeff Norton were
the second defensive pairing, while Mike Rathje and
Marcus Ragnarsson were the top defensive team. Coach
Sutter pretty much wanted the experienced guys to play
in the high-octane atmosphere of the playoffs. 

Trivia Time...

The Sharks have the most number of Canadians of any squad
in the NHL. There are 2 Russians (Korolyuk and Zyuzin),
1 Swede (Ragnarsson), 1 German (Sturm) and 3 Americans.
Who are the 3 Americans? 

He's where???

Since it's playoff time, I thought it might be interesting
to find all the ex Sharks on the other playoff teams. Here's
the list: 

* Anaheim - none
* Colorado - Shean Donovan, Jeff Odgers, Sandis Ozolinsh
* Detroit - Igor Larionov, Todd Gill
* Carolina - Ray Sheppard, Arturs Irbe
* Boston - none
* Edmonton - Pat Falloon, Marty McSorley
* St.Louis - none
* Phoenix - none
* Philadelphia - none
* Toronto - none
* Ottawa - Slava Butsayev
* Buffalo - none
* New Jersey - Chris Terreri
* Pittsburgh - Kip Miller, Neil Wilkinson
* Dallas - Ed "The Traitor" Belfour


The Morgan Stuart Award

This award is named after my most cool, most excellent, and
most adorable Goddaughter. Awarded to the best Sharks player
since last issue, there's only one candidate and winner, and
that's Mike Vernon. Yeah, the Sharks lost both games, but
Vernie kept the Sharks in both games with some outstanding
saves. If the Sharks could only score some goals, then it
might be a different series. Oh well, such is life. Anyway,
keep up the good work Vernie. 

Oh Say Can You See...

The 3 Americans on the Sharks are Jeff Norton (Cambridge,
Massachusetts), Tony Granato (Downers Grove, Illinois),
and Gary Suter (Madison, Wisconsin). 

P.S. Thanks Barbra, Craig, Emily, Katrina and Brendan!!!


-----------------------------------------------------------------
EDMONTON OILERS
----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach:  Ron Low
   
Roster:  C - Doug Weight Todd Marchant, Rem Murray, Josef Beranek,
Boyd Devereux.  LW - Ethan Moreau Alex Selivanov, Chad Kilger,
Ryan Smyth. RW - Bill Guerin, Mike Grier, Pat Falloon, Georges
Laraque. D - Sean Brown, Roman Hamrlik, Christian LaFlamme, Frank
Musil, Janne Niinimaa, Tom Poti, Marty McSorley, Jason Smith.  G -
Tommy Salo, Bob Essensa. 

Injuries:   Doug Weight went down in Game 4 when Ryan Smyth's skate
hit him in the head.  He received 34 stitches to the face.  Roman
Hamrlik went down in Game 3 with a sprained knee.  Joe Beranek was
out with a bum knee. 

Transactions:   none.

Game Results: 
First Round vs Dallas: Stars won 4-0
4/21 at Dallas  L 2-1 
4/23 at Dallas  L 3-2
4/25 Dallas     L 3-2
4/27 Dallas     L 3-2 3 OT      

Team News by Aubrey Chau
 
The Oilers next game will be on the golf course after a straight
sweep courtesy of the Dallas Stars.  

Well, it wasn't like the Oilers didn't try.  All the games were
solved by a goal.  The only problem was that Dallas always netted
that extra goal.  

This happened for several reasons.  But let's just get it clear,
Dallas is the better team.  The Stars have a better coach, more
experience, more talent, and more depth.  Any more questions?  

Each game's plot is pretty similar.  Oilers get the first goal,
Stars storm back and win the game.  In Game 1, Rem Murray netted
the first goal, but the Stars got two back and won the game.   Game
2 was an exception. The Stars had the lead in this one and didn't
let go, even though the Oil were able to get within a goal of the
Stars.  Still no dice.  

The third game saw Ryan Smyth score two goals to give the Oilers a
2-0 lead.  Was that enough to stop the Stars?  Unfortunately, the
answer was no.   The Oilers couldn't hold on and the Stars scored
three goals in six minutes and took the lead.  Leaving the Oilers
out in the cold.  

Game 4 was similar, it was just longer.  The Oilers held the lead
twice but the Stars came back twice forcing the game to overtime. 
Not one, or two overtimes, but three.  About 120 minutes later, the
Oilers held their heads low after a Joe Nieuwendyk tip-in from a
Sergei Zubov shot from the point.  The goal was scored with less
than three minutes left in the third overtime period.  

It was a real heartbreaker.  The whole series was a heartbreaker. 
Every game of the series, the Oilers came into the third period
with either the lead or tied, but Dallas had that extra zip to win
the games.  

Losing the lead wasn't for lack of effort on the Oilers' part. 
Especially during game four, the Oil gave it their all and
something had to give.  And in that case it was Nieuwendyk's goal.
 

For those of you who don't believe that the Oilers didn't try, Todd
Marchant loss twelve pounds when the game was finished. 

Tommy Salo played fairly well for guy with no playoff experience. 
Even though Ryan Smyth was scratched for Game 2.  But then he
bounced back during the third and fourth games with three goals.
 

The team played well even though they were missing their best
players at sometime during the series.  Joe Beranek, Bill Guerin,
Doug Weight and Roman Hamrlik all missed at least a game due to
injury.  It was a great show of effort from the Oilers' younger
guys like Ethan Moreau, Chad Kilger and Tom Poti.  

Well, no fairy tale first-round upset.  Guess we'll all have to wait
for next year.   
================================================================

NEXT ISSUE: Your guess is as good as mine.  But it might be 
next Wednesday, May 5.  Then again it might not.

----------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYOFF PLAYER STATS Thru April 26
----------------------------------------------------------------
Even the playoff player stats didn't arrive in time.  Send all 
complaints to Jerry Fairish at mattingly23@hotmail.com

Thank you.
----------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYOFF GOALIE STATS Thru April 26
----------------------------------------------------------------
TM  NO GOALTENDER          GPI  MINS   AVG  W  L  T EN SO  GA   SA  SPCT G  A PIM
ANA 31 Hebert, Guy           3   148  4.86  0  2  0  0  0  12   86  86.0 0  0   0
BOS 34 Dafoe, Byron          3   196  1.84  1  2  0  0  1   6   70  91.4 0  0   0
BUF 39 Hasek, Dominik        3   210  0.86  3  0  0  0  1   3  119  97.5 0  0   2
CAR  1 Irbe, Arturs          3   195  1.85  2  1  0  0  0   6   79  92.4 0  0   0
COL 33 Roy, Patrick          1    60  1.00  1  0  0  0  0   1   43  97.7 0  0   0
DAL 20 Belfour, Ed           3   180  1.67  3  0  0  0  0   5   54  90.7 0  0   0
DET 30 Osgood, Chris         3   180  2.00  3  0  0  0  0   6   84  92.9 0  0   0
EDM 35 Salo, Tommy           3   178  2.70  0  3  0  0  0   8   93  91.4 0  0   0
NJD 30 Brodeur, Martin       3   178  2.70  1  2  0  1  0   8   63  87.3 0  0   0
OTW 31 Tugnutt, Ron          1    59  2.03  0  1  0  0  0   2   15  86.7 0  0   0
OTW  1 Rhodes, Damian        2   150  2.40  0  2  0  0  0   6   65  90.8 0  0   0
PHI 34 Vanbiesbrouck, John   2   119  1.01  1  1  0  0  1   2   46  95.7 0  0   2
PHO 35 Khabibulin, Nikolai   3   188  2.87  2  1  0  1  0   9   96  90.6 0  0   2
PIT 35 Barrasso, Tom         3   179  1.68  2  1  0  1  0   5   83  94.0 0  0   2
SJS 29 Vernon, Mike          2   127  2.36  0  2  0  0  0   5   67  92.5 0  0   0
STL 29 McLennan, Jamie       1    37  0.00  0  0  0  1  0   0    7 100.0 0  0   6
STL 31 Fuhr, Grant           3   151  3.58  1  2  0  0  0   9   65  86.2 0  1   0
TOR 31 Joseph, Curtis        3   178  1.35  2  1  0  1  0   4   89  95.5 0  0   0

Stats provided by Brad Murray.  To subscribe to the free NHL boxscore or 
stat mailing lists, go to http://nhlstats.home.ml.org or send a blank 
message with no subject to nhlboxscores-on@lists.advantage.com.  To 
unsubscribe send a blank message with no subject to nhlstats-off@lists.advantage.com.
Boxscores and stats are archived at http://nhlarchive.home.ml.org
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