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Issue 120                May 5, 1999               200,000 bytes
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Penguins Prevail
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

They shook up the world!  They shook up the world!  They're a
baaaaad team!  

No one thought they could do it, least of all this guy, but the
Pittsburgh Penguins pulled off the upset of the playoffs by
whacking the top-seeded New Jersey Devils 4-2 in their decisive
Game Seven Tuesday night at the Meadowlands.  Once again it was
the speed and skill of Martin Straka, Alexei Kovalev, and Jaromir
Jagr that doomed El Diablo.  For all their vaunted depth and
toughness, the Devils simply couldn't handle the talented tuxedo-
clad birds when it counted most.

This marks the second consecutive season that the Devils have
been knocked out in the first round by the eighth seed.  Hard to
get happy after that one.  Last year it was the smaller, quicker
Ottawa Senators that did the trick.  Maybe the folks in New
Jersey should take note.  Speed kills.  

Pittsburgh will now move on to face Curtis Joseph and the Toronto
Maple Leafs.  As for the Devils, there's been talk of a picnic on
some upcoming Sunday.  But rest easy, only clear soups and lime
Jell-o will be served to help avoid choking.  

New Jersey came out hard early in the game and tried to establish
a physical presence.  Patrik Elias and Jason Arnott each dished
out some big hits on their first shift, but nothing much came of
it.  The Penguins didn't get rattled.  They kept their cool and
moved the puck without fear, counter punching brilliantly by
using New Jersey's aggressiveness to create scoring chances.  By
the time Jan Hrdina and Jagr barely missed on one-on-one
opportunities in tight against Martin Brodeur, the Devils began
to become more cautious in their approach to the game.

Caution was the watchword for the first period.  Neither team
wanted to press the attack and commit a costly mistake.  Only ten
shots were registered in the period; five from each team.  Oddly
enough, the exact same shot totals were posted in the second
period as well.  The only difference being that the ten shots
resulted in a total of four goals.  

The Penguins got on the board first at 3:06 of the middle frame
thanks to a super king-sized play by Marty Straka.  Things
actually began in the Penguin zone when the Devils sent an errant
pass back to Scott Stevens at the left point.  The puck avoided
Stevens entirely, forcing the New Jersey captain to chase it all
the way back to his own zone.  Jagr, showing little signs of his
groin problem, applied some serious pressure on the play, forcing
Stevens into a turnover.  Stevens' weak clearing attempt was
picked off by Straka high in the slot.  The li'l fella faked a
slap shot to draw Kevin Dean to the ice and then cut into the
left wing circle, pulling Brodeur with him, before sliding a
perfect pass back into the crease for German Titov to poke into
an empty net.  Straka's crafty.

It didn't take New Jersey long to net the equalizer.  Elias
pulled the puck around Straka behind the Pittsburgh cage and
centered a pass to Arnott parked in front of Tom Barrasso.  The
massive Devil center shrugged off Brad Werenka and took a few
hacks at the puck before sending a chip shot over the blocker of
an outstretched Barrasso to tie the score 1-1 at 6:22 of the
second.              

Arnott's goal once again sparked the Devils into a physical
frenzy.  His line remained on the ice following the goal and
started cycling the puck down low against a reeling Penguin
defense.  Petr Sykora was set up for a golden opportunity in
front but fired a one-timer wide of the left post.  A few minutes
later Stevens busted in alone on Barrasso as part of a two-on-one
and tested the Penguin netminder five-hole.  See, this right here
is what we like to call a big save.  Barrasso provided his
teammates the time needed to recover and collect themselves. 
They regrouped, splashed some water on their faces, read some
inspirational poetry, and then got back at it.

Is there anything Marty Straka can't do?  Apparently not, because
he freaked the hell out of the Devils again to put Pittsburgh
back in front, 2-1.  This time the Czech Dynamo picked up a loose
puck along the right wing boards at center, gained the Devil
stripe, drew the attention of three defenders, and then whipped a
perfect pass across to a wide open Alexei Kovalev coming late on
left wing.  Kovalev got up on one leg a la, well, me, and
blistered a wrist shot between Brodeur's pads for his fourth goal
and tenth point of the series.  You might as well call Kovalev
the Exorcist, because he's just tortured the Devils over his
career.  

Kovalev's goal came at 17:04 of the second stanza.  The Devils
were clearly stunned.  The second intermission was an alluring
oasis.  Too bad they didn't get to see it until the score became
3-1.  

With time running out in the second, another mistake by Stevens
led directly to a Pittsburgh goal.  And once again it was Jagr
that caused the turnover.  Skating with the puck in his own zone,
under absolutely no pressure, and unable to find an obvious
outlet, Stevens tried to merely flip the puck out of the zone. 
Jagr knocked the clearing attempt out of the air and tracked it
down along the right wing wall.  Jagr then dropped a pass back to
Hrdina joining the play late and cut to the corner.  Hrdina was
quick to give his long-haired countryman a return pass, creating
space for Jagr to walk to the net.  

Stevens came over to pick him up but Jaromir completely froze the
battling blueliner with a series of dekes before guiding an
unbelievably quick and accurate backhand pass back to Hrdina in
the slot.  The rookie center unleashed a lightning quick snapper
past Brodeur to the stick side to give the Birds a two-goal
cushion with just 17 seconds left in the period.  Those late
goals will kill you.  

Pittsburgh opened the third period with a bit of a dilemma.  Do
they just sit back and protect the lead or keep applying pressure
and risk making a mistake?  It's a tough call.  I, for one, think
you should always play your game no matter what the score.  The
only thing better than a 3-1 lead is a 4-1 lead.  But the
Penguins clearly went into a defensive shell.  They came out
looking like they were trying to kill a 20-minute penalty.  It
worked all swell like for the first seven minutes.  Then things
got anxious.

The Devils took advantage of a bad bounce and broke into the
Penguin zone with a three-on-two.  Hrdina hustled back to make it
a three-on-three and the play seemed to all but bog down
completely when the puck went to Lyle Odelein on the right wing. 
Because, as we all know, that Lyle Odelein guy ain't very good
with the puck.  Did they even have hockey in "Planet of the
Apes"?  Cornelius.  That Matthew Barnaby cracks me up.  

Anyway, Odelein fired a shot from a sharp angle that created a
nasty rebound off Barrasso's pads.  Hrdina was skating so hard to
get into the play that he ventured in too deep and couldn't get a
handle on the loose puck.  No one got a handle on Dave Andreychuk
either, and the wily veteran sniper, who was the fourth Devil on
the rush, beat Barrasso to the stick side with a mighty snap
shot.  So much for protecting the lead.  

As was the case earlier in the game, the goal brought the Devils
back to life.  They were all over the Penguins for the next few
minutes but couldn't get the tying goal behind Barrasso.  Their
best chance came when Stevens pinched along the boards and
created a mad scramble of humanity in the left wing circle. 
Stevens managed to somehow work the puck free to Dean coming late
down the slot.  The Devil defender wasted little time in dropping
the hammer, but Barrasso went to his knees and blocked it off
with ease.          

Following the save on Dean, play continued to roll for about
another thirty seconds or so before the Devils made the final
mistake of their season.  With his club looking to change lines,
Bobby Carpenter failed to move the puck out of his zone with any
conviction and the result was another turnover.  Ian Moran easily
cut the puck along the right wing boards at center and
immediately sent a cross-ice pass to Straka, who was patiently
waiting at the Devil blue line.   

As soon as Straka crossed the paint, Jagr raced in to join the
play and create a two-on-none.  Since Jagr had more speed, Straka
pushed the puck ahead to give his buddy the clean breakaway. 
Scott Niedermayer, being quick like a bunny, dashed off the bench
and forced Jagr into taking a wrist shot.  Brodeur made the save
but had no hope of controlling the rebound.  And with Niedermayer
now out of the play, no one was around to pick up Straka as he
pulled the puck to his backhand and piped a shot over a sprawling
Brodeur at 14:30.  Game over.  The shots by Jagr and Straka were
Pittsburgh's first two of the period.  They ended the game with
13 total.  

After the goal, Straka was kind of excited.  In a display very
reminiscent of Theo Fleury's classic celebration, Straka motored
out to center and then dropped on his ass, sliding like a chimp
through center ice on his back.  It was pretty funny stuff.  It
was like he was on the ol' Wet Banana.  

For those of you that don't remember the Wet Banana, it was a big
piece of yellow plastic that you'd place in your yard and hose
down with water.  Then you and your friends would run and dive
onto it, sliding along collecting bruises for every rock and tree
root that was hidden underneath.  Aw, that was great, that was
fun.  To this day, nothing says summertime to me more than a
broken body full of bruises and blood clots.               

Impressive Performances

PITTSBURGH

Martin Straka:  The little guy was amazing.  He finished
the series with six goals and 11 points.  That's quality.  

Alexei Kovalev:  Kovalev just humiliated people at times. 
There was a point in the third period when he took control of the
puck in the New Jersey zone and did a complete lap, carrying the
rock for a good 15 seconds all by himself.  

Jaromir Jagr:  The Czech Wonder Kid had two assists and
embarrassed Stevens on numerous occasions.  That's not easy to
do.  

Tom Barrasso:  He made the clutch saves.  His stop on Dean
in the third was huge.  

NEW JERSEY

Not Scott Stevens:  El Diablo's captain had his share of
grief.  He lost his one-on-one matchup with Jagr and the Devils
lost the series.  There's a connection there.    
  
Lines

Pittsburgh:  The top two lines saw the majority of ice. 
The unit of Barnaby, Lang, and Morozov was scarcely seen.

OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)

Miller - Hrdina - Jagr 
Titov - Straka - Kovalev 
Kesa - Wright - Brown 
Barnaby - Lang - Morozov 

DEFENSE

Slegr - Hatcher 
Werenka - Moran 
Dollas - Andrusak

POWER PLAY

Titov - Lang - Jagr - Kovalev - Hatcher 
Brown - Hrdina - Jagr - Straka - Andrusak 

SHORT-HANDED

Straka - Moran - Werenka - Dollas 
Miller - Kesa - Slegr - Hatcher 
Straka - Titov 

New Jersey:  The Devils rolled four for the most part. 

OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)

McKay - Holik - Brylin 
Elias - Arnott - Sykora 
Rolston - Carpenter - Pandolfo 
Andreychuk - Pederson - Morrison 

DEFENSE

Stevens - Dean 
Niedermayer - Bombardir 
Daneyko - Odelein

POWER PLAY

Elias - Morrison - Sykora - Arnott - Niedermayer 
McKay - Holik - Brylin - Rolston - Niedermayer (Odelein)

SHORT-HANDED

Rolston - Carpenter - Stevens - Daneyko 
Pederson - Pandolfo - Niedermayer - Odelein


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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
Joe Pelletier...................................Correspondent
-----------------------------------------------------------------
LCS Hockey - Issue 120 - May 5, 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?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Blues Blank Coyotes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

The St. Louis Blues became only the 15th team in the history of
the NHL to overcome a 3-1 series deficit by defeating the Phoenix
Coyotes 1-0 Tuesday night at Midwest Arena.  The game was
scoreless until 17:59 of overtime when Pierre Turgeon deflected a
Ricard Persson wrist shot behind Nikolai Khabibulin to send the
Blue Note into the second round to meet the Dallas Stars.

The Coyotes, playing in front of the usual raucous sea of white
at Midwest Arena, had their hopes bolstered by the surprising
return of Jeremy Roenick.  J.R. Superstar had been out of action
since Derian Hatcher blasted him with The People's Elbow on April
14.  The hit shattered Roenick's jaw and he was expected to miss
at least two more weeks.  But Roenick wasn't about to sit out a
Game Seven.  

Sporting a wacky helmet to offer special protection to his
mangled mandible, which now features two titanium plates, Roenick
took a regular shift and played in all situations.  His mere
presence inspired his teammates and fans alike.  Unfortunately,
it wasn't enough to solve Grant Fuhr.  The veteran netminder
finished the evening with 35 saves, exactly one more than his
rival, Khabibulin.  

The Blues simply outlasted the Desert Dogs.  As the night
progressed, Coyotes began dropping left and right.  Defenseman
Gerald Diduck, who had been assigned to abuse Turgeon on every
shift, got rubbed out by a rather questionable Geoff Courtnall  
hip check at 6:21 of the third period.  There was no penalty
called on the play.  

The injuries continued to mount in overtime.  Greg Adams, who was
already playing with an ailing groin, suffered a frightful
incident at about 5:30 of the extra session when St. Louis winger
Jamal Mayer's skate accidentally came up and struck him around
the right eye.  There was no word on Adams' condition as of this
writing.  He skated off the ice under his own power, holding a
towel over the right side of his face.  Hope for the best.

Then, with about 5:14 left in the OT, Keith Carney appeared to
suffer either a hip injury or some serious leg cramps when he
went to the ice to block a St. Louis centering attempt.  He was
assisted off the ice and didn't return.   

Phoenix coach Jim Schoenfeld, who guaranteed a victory, had only
been using five defensemen all night.  The loses of Carney and
Diduck put a rather burdensome strain on that notion.  Stanislav
Neckar, having played a grand total of 14 seconds during
regulation, was forced into action in the final few moments of
the overtime.  However, Neckar had only one shift, and acquitted
himself quite well by denying Pavol Demitra a chance in front,
before Turgeon put an end to the festivities.

It was really just a matter of time.  The Blues dominated the
fourth period, narrowly missing the winner on several occasions. 
The Coyotes appeared every bit the beaten prize fighter trying to
hang on until the bell, or in this case the impending
intermission. 

The game-winner came about because of some excellent work below
the goal line by Scott Young and Michal Handzus.  Young
eventually managed to sling a diagonal pass out from the right
wing side of the Phoenix cage to Persson sneaking in at the top
of the left faceoff circle.  After stumbling briefly, Persson
hurried a wrist shot towards the net.  Turgeon, standing near the
bottom of the left circle, flagged the puck out of midair,
knocking it down under Khabby's still rising blocker.  It was
Sneaky Pete's second goal of the series.  

Impressive Performances

ST. LOUIS

Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis:  As per usual, these guys
were amazing.  They each logged their standard ton of ice time. 
At least one of them was on the ice at all times from the start
of the third period through the end of overtime.  

Jamal Mayers:  This kid showed lots of spunk.  He created
at least four quality scoring chances and finished every check in
sight.  He's not much in the way of finesse, but Mayers makes up
for it with hustle.

Lubos Bartecko:  This guy's got some skills.  The speedy
Slovak was a threat from the very start, coming damn close on two
separate occasions to bagging the overtime winner.

Grant Fuhr:  The Coyotes didn't muster a whole lot of
offense during the later stages of the game, but Fuhr was amazing
in the second period when the Dogs were on the prowl.  His best
save of the night came in that middle frame when, during an
extended delayed penalty call, he did the splits to rob Rick
Tocchet from the slot with a remarkable right pad save.  

PHOENIX

Jeremy Roenick:  You gotta give Roenick credit for showing
up.  That takes some guts.  And he did more than fill a sweater. 
J.R. actually played a pretty spirited game for not having eaten
solid foods in three weeks.  But then again, I don't think I've
eaten food in like three years.  Food is vastly overrated.  It's
a fad, really.  It'll pass.

Teppo Numminen:  This game could have been over at the end
of regulation had it not been for a great play by Teppo.  With
exactly one minute left in the third period, Demitra stormed the
left wing and uncorked a heavy slapper that Khabibulin got with
his left pad but couldn't control.  Bartecko was driving the slot
and had the rebound come directly out to him, but before he could
pull the trigger Numminen raced in and belted him off the puck
with a stiff check.  That's just Teppo being Teppo.
   
Nikolai Khabibulin:  Khabby gave his club a chance to win. 
He held the Coyotes in it during the overtime when they were
getting severely outplayed.  He did perhaps his best work in the
bonus time, denying a Terry Yake slapper from the slot with his
blocker, turning aside a MacInnis slapper with his right pad, and
darting post-to-post to stuff Bartecko on a two-on-one.

Lines

St. Louis:  Like Phoenix, the Blues went with just five
defensemen.  And even that's stretching it, since Jamie Rivers
played sparingly.  Courtnall, Yake, and Mayers never skated as a
line, but were sprinkled in among the three provided combinations
when the situation called for it. 

OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)

Handzus - Turgeon - Young 
Picard - Demitra - Bartecko 
Atcheynum - Conroy - Eastwood 
Courtnall, Yake, Mayers

DEFENSE

Pronger - Persson  
MacInnis - Finley 
Rivers, McAlpine

POWER PLAY

Demitra - Turgeon - Young - Pronger - MacInnis 
Courtnall - Yake - Bartecko - Rivers - MacInnis

SHORT-HANDED

Atcheynum - Conroy - MacInnis - Pronger 
Eastwood - Handzus - MacInnis - Pronger

Phoenix:  J.J. Daigneault was the fifth defenseman and saw
a pretty regular rotation.  

OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)

Tkachuk - Roenick - Drake 
Adams - Reichel - Tocchet 
Noonan - Doan - Leach 
Corkum - Stapleton - Hansen

DEFENSE

Diduck - Numminen 
Lumme - Carney 
Daigneault, Neckar

POWER PLAY

Tkachuk - Roenick - Drake - Lumme - Numminen 
Adams - Reichel - Tocchet - Daigneault - Numminen

SHORT-HANDED

Tkachuk - Roenick - Diduck - Numminen 
Corkum - Stapleton - Lumme - Carney

                
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Avs Winning the Hard Way
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Jim Iovino

It wouldn't be too surprising if the Colorado Avalanche were
thinking ahead after taking a two games to none lead in their
series against the San Jose Sharks. 

The next Avalanche opponent would be the Detroit Red Wings.  The
much-despised Red Wings.  The Red Wings who beat the Avs in the
1997 playoffs and ended Colorado's hope of creating a dynasty.  

So after winning the first two games of the series against the
Sharks, the Avalanche players might have had the color red on their
minds.  But the Avs got a rude wakeup call when the Sharks stormed
back to tie the series at two games apiece.  

Avalanche followers know their team has a habit of winning (and
losing) the hard way.  The Avs arguably have the most talent in the
NHL, but are often labeled as underachievers.  So when the Sharks
tied the series by winning two games on Avalanche ice, many
Colorado fans groaned and said, "here we go again."  

But for once, the tragedy didn't happen.  The Avalanche didn't blow
it.  

Instead, they responded from a 7-3 drubbing in Game 4 with a huge
win of their own in Game 5.  Claude Lemieux and Theo Fleury came
alive to help out Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.  Patrick Roy
returned to his normal playoff-strong self.  And the defense played
a hell of a lot better than they did the game before.  

And there was much rejoicing.  For a day, at least. 

When the series resumed in San Jose for Game 6, the worried looks
came back because, once again, the Avs made things hard for
themselves.  The teams skated to a scoreless first period, but that
was mostly due to the heroic goaltending of Roy, who fought off two
San Jose power-play chances.  

Fleury got the Avs on the board first in the second period with a
slapper from the point.  Colorado looked to be in control, but Bill
Houlder tied it up not too long after that with a fluttering
wrister that flipped over Roy's shoulder.  

To make matters worse, Jeff Friesen gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead
halfway through the third period with a shot from the slot. 

Yes, my friends, the Avs got worry. 

Things seemed to be falling apart.  San Jose seemed to take control
of the game at that point.  But as quickly as the elation showed on
Friesen's face, it disappeared just as fast.  Friesen took a
penalty on his next shift.  The ensuing power play gave the
Avalanche new life.  

It was as if the Avs knew they had to score on that power play - or
else a Game 7 was in order.  Colorado didn't want to go to a Game
7.  It would be played the next night, causing the teams to play
four games in five nights.  Had that happened and the Avalanche
still win, they would have been an extremely tired club going into
the next round of the playoffs...against the Red Wings, who would
be fresh after an easy 4-0 sweep of the not-so-Mighty Ducks.  

So the Avs had to make the most of this man-advantage.  It was their
chance to make things a lot easier on themselves.  And for once, they
came through.  

Sandis Ozolinsh, who had played a less-than-spectacular game up
until this point, let a blistering shot go that zipped past
goaltender Mike Vernon, who was being screened by Fleury.  

And there was much rejoicing. 

Now the only thing the offensive powerhouse known as the Colorado
Avalanche had to do was score one more goal. 

Easier said than done. 

There were no more goals scored in regulation.  So the game went to
overtime - another place the tired Avalanche didn't want to go.  It
was bad enough they had to go to an extra session, but to make
things more difficult, Dale Hunter high-sticked a Sharks defenseman
in the mouth.  Hunter drew blood and was sent to the box for four
minutes.  

So here we were again.  The Avs were making their lives difficult
once again.  Sure, LCS Hockey editor-in-chief Michael Dell will
tell you the philosophy is called "making it fun," but it sure
didn't look fun when Houlder's slap shot from the right point
clanked off the post to the left of Roy.  Houlder almost forced a
Game 7 with that shot.  

But the Avs were given a second chance.  They made the most of it. 
Later in overtime Fleury corralled a puck and broke down left
wing.  He fired a pass across ice to a streaking Sakic, who fired a
shot on goal.  Vernon made the initial save, but rookie Milan
Hejduk stood at the doorstep and poked home the rebound for his
second overtime winner of his young career.  

It wasn't easy.  It wasn't the way they would have liked to have won
it.  But the Avalanche won.  

Now, finally, they can start thinking about the Detroit Red Wings.
 

And oh what a series it will be.  The two teams don't like each
other.  Some of the names have changed since the teams first
developed their hatred, but the tradition has been passed down from
one generation of Avalanche or Red Wing to another.  

"It's cool to hate the Red Wings," an Avalanche player might tell
Fleury, who missed out on all the fun and excitement the teams
shared over the past couple years.  "You ain't cool unless you hate
Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby.  You ain't cool unless you cross-check
`em in the back of the head and then kick `em when they're down."
 

Don't you worry about Theo Fleury.  He'll learn to hate the Red
Wings.  Lil' Theo wants to be cool.  He wants to fit in.  And
before all is said and done, he might just be able to experience
the thrill of beating an arch-nemesis in the postseason like the
Detroit Red Wings.  

But as all Colorado Avalanche fans know, and lil' Theo is finding
out, the Avs aren't going to make it look easy. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe Next Year
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by The Nosebleeders

In the Eastern Conference, the last two playoff seasons have been
tough on the top seeded teams.  For the second straight year, the
top three teams have fallen to defeat. Last season, the Ottawa
Senators finished eighth overall and defeated the Eastern
Conference Champion New Jersey Devils in round one of the
playoffs.  This season, the Senators finished first in the
Northeast division and were therefore favored to get past the
Buffalo Sabres.  

Instead of preparing to play in the second round of the playoffs,
Senator players find themselves stunned to be able to make other
plans for the month of May after they were defeated in four
straight games.  

At first glance, the reasons for such a stunning defeat were not
clear.  Was the team not playing with enough emotion?  Did they
have the physical and mental toughness?  Was their goaltending
adequate?  Was the required on-ice leadership lacking?  Was
Alexei Yashin playing to be traded?  And did they have the
scoring depth? 

After an Ottawa barrage (41 shots, Sabres had 15) in Game One (L
2-1) was held off by the play of Dominik Hasek, the Sabres'
confidence grew.  

Game Two (L 3-2 OT) was more of a physical affair and a closely
fought battle that extended into two overtime periods.  For the
second game in a row, Michael Peca held Yashin off the
scoresheet.  

The Senators simply didn't show up for Game Three. Foolish
penalties cost them the game (L 3-0). 

In Game 4 (L 4-3), the Senators partially redeemed themselves as
they rebounded to play a great game, but they could not put
enough pucks in the net to win (L 4-3).

Senators leading scorer Alexei Yashin was held pointless during
the series.  Yashin led all Senators with 44 goals and 94 points
this season.  Led by Mike Peca, Sabres' defensive specialists
played tight physically in open ice against Yashin, leaving him
with little skating room.  Yashin did end up with 24 shots on
goal during the series.  With Yashin in his own almost personal
war and getting little outside help, his teammates could not win
enough corner battles for the Senators to have a chance.  

"We will learn from this," said Yashin following the Game Four
loss.  The next day he made it fairly clear that he was expecting
some changes for next season. Yashin is looking for a big raise,
and perhaps also for some protection, as he enters the last year
of a three-year deal that pays him $3.1 million. 

Basically, their are four reasons for Ottawa's series loss. 
Firstly, Ottawa entered the playoffs in a slump.  They did not
score an even-strength goal their last three games and this
followed through to the first three games of the playoffs. The
Sens' power play had virtually disappeared and their overall play
in the last few weeks of the season allowed New Jersey to catch
and then overtaking them for first place in the Eastern
Conference.

The slump continued into the playoffs.  An increased level of
intensity was not shown.  Before each game of the series, Coach
Martin urged his players to "have some passion" and to "show some
emotion".  The team seemed to be playing nervous.  Had captain
Yashin or someone else on the team played just one breakout type
game, the series would more than likely have turned around.

Call the second reason for the series loss 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 Michal 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 needed to force the play and take the body - something
that they were, during the regular season, very good at and
something that they did not do during the playoffs.  Even with
the two-referee system helping to ensure fair play, the team
seemed almost to back away from plays in the corners. Very few
teams have won both the congeniality contest and the Stanley Cup. 
The Senators were the least penalized team in the NHL during the
regular season; they seemed to lack the capability of helping
Yashin and other scorers with their battles.

The third reason may be overall team confidence.  From the
goalies outward, confidence in the media and inside the team has
not been where it should be.  Coaching decisions after the Game
One loss were openly questioned more so than in the regular
season and this has got to have had some impact on the team's
play.  The Senators have two top caliber NHL goalies.  In the
playoffs goaltending is critical.  While neither Tugnutt nor
Rhodes have backstopped their teams to a Stanley Cup, it is
possible that both will do so at some point.  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 that could go to the finals.  They are a young team who
plays with a little bit of a mean streak and a lot of confidence.
In net, Dominik "The Eliminator" Hasek likes and gets a lot of
work and often makes the difference.  The Sabres 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.

Although the Senators were eliminated in four games, their
1998-1999 season was still their best ever.  The team improved by
20 points in the regular season. This season and last has proven
that requirements for a the team that does well in the regular
season are not necessarily the same requirements for teams that
do well in the playoffs.  

As a direct result of an early playoff exist, principal owner Rod
Bryden will be writing a cheque to the tune of $6 to $7 million
to cover 1998-1999 operating losses.  With 12 free agents, a
requirement to leave one goalie unprotected in the expansion
draft, and Alexei Yashin's contract to worry about, whatever the
reasons for the series loss, the team has until next playoff
season to complete actions that are required to avoid a similar
fate next season. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Peca Power
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

The first round of the 1998-99 playoffs witnessed Buffalo's
Michael Peca go head-to-head with Ottawa's Alexei Yashin.  On
paper, the matchup almost doesn't seem fair.  After all, Peca is
listed at a rather generous 5-11, 180 pounds, while the hulking
Russian center clocks in at 6-3, 225.  But, as we all know, games
aren't played on paper.  Except for like Hangman.  And Tic-tac-
toe.  Hell, there's probably a few other ones too.  But Peca and
Yashin didn't go at it on paper.  Although, if they did, Peca
probably would have had his X in the center square.  

Peca completely shut down Yashin, rendering Ottawa's Hart
candidate a mere afterthought in Buffalo's four-game sweep of the
Senators.  Yashin, who finished sixth overall in league scoring
this season with 44 goals and 94 points, was held pointless for
the series thanks in large part to the smothering defensive play
of the Sabre captain.               

"I think this year we wanted to be physical, and I think our
defense did a great job as being physical on him as well," said
Peca.  "But I think more than anything, we just wanted to plug
him up as much as possible, and not let him get to the net a lot;
not let him get speed through the neutral zone so he can handle
that puck, because he is a great puck handler.  He had to dump
the puck in a lot and his speed was stopped at the blue line, so,
we know he is a guy that we can be physical on not just because
it's an effective against him, but that there is really, you
know, no physical presence we feel coming from that team so we
are able to be overly physical."

Silencing the opposition's top gun is nothing new to Peca.  It's
who he is, it's what he does.  Peca captured the Selke Trophy in
1996-97 as the NHL's premier defensive forward and was runner-up
to Dallas' Jere Lehtinen in '97-98.  He's a sure bet to be a
contender for the honor again this season, as his name has become
all but synonymous with defensive excellence.    

"I just want to do everything well," said Peca.  "When I played
Juniors in Ottawa people were saying, oh, you remind us a lot of
Doug Gilmour because they have seen a lot of Doug Gilmour.  I
knew Doug Gilmour was a pretty solid, defensive player.  It was
just something I wanted to be consistent in.  I knew a lot of
guys that when they make the jump, spend years in the minors
because they are told that they have an inconsistent game
defensively and can't really be relied on that way, and I didn't
want to have any flaws in my game.  I always took pride in it.    

"But the specialty-type-tag came when Ted Nolan started using me
three years ago, started against the Peter Forsberg line where we
had a successful night and just kind of rode it from there."

While his defensive prowess gets most of the attention, Peca
isn't just a one-trick pony.  The 25-year-old center is a force
at both ends of the rink.  He finished second on the Sabres in
scoring this season, posting career highs in goals (27) and
points (56).  The production carried over into the first round of
the playoffs.  When he wasn't too busy muzzling Yashin, Peca
found time to lead the Sabres in scoring against the Senators
with a goal and six points.  Makes one wonder how Peca would
react to a little bit of his own medicine.  What would he do if
the opposition assigned someone to check him?        

"I don't know," admitted a puzzled Peca.  "I guess we would be
standing at center ice the whole game.  Nobody would know whom to
follow.  We would follow each other."
 
Despite his reputation as one of the game's top two-way players,
Peca has never really enjoyed postseason success.  Before his
recent dominance of the Senators, Peca had only three goals and
eight points in 28 career playoff games.  But this season things
are different.  This time Peca's healthy.  

"This year the difference with me is physically," explained Peca. 
"I feel I am coming into the playoffs for the first time in the
last three years at 100%.  That makes me feel confident -- coming
in expecting to do what I do best and that is play hard, play
hard defensively.  And, two years ago I had a back spasm thing
that nailed me early in round one and last year missing the end
of the season and the start of the playoffs with a knee injury
that just kept reoccurring throughout the playoffs was difficult. 
So this year I feel 100% physically, which makes me feel a lot
better."

Health should be one factor in Buffalo's favor entering the
second round of the playoffs.  By dispatching Ottawa so quickly,
the Sabres ensured themselves plenty of time to heal their
wounded, which includes scoring ace Miroslav Satan (bruised foot)
and speedster Geoff Sanderson (bruised hand).  Both should be
ready to roll when the puck drops on round two.  Now the club
just needs an opponent.  Depending on the outcome of the New
Jersey-Pittsburgh series, the Sabres could end up facing either
the top-seeded Devils or the sixth seed Boston Bruins.        

"I don't think there is really anybody in particular that we are
looking forward to playing or not looking forward to playing,"
said Peca.  "We are just kind of waiting for things to get
started.
     
"We are pretty happy with the way we started the playoffs. 
Beating Ottawa, obviously in four, was a pretty big feat for us. 
It is something we are proud of.  But going into the second round
we are looking forward to just playing anybody."

No matter who they play, the Sabres can rely on Peca to show up
and compete every night.  That's what being a leader is all
about.  And that C's on his sweater for a reason.  Peca's a
leader on and off the ice.

"I think with our team in particular being a young team, I think
leading by example is going to be the first and foremost thing
that the guys see, somebody that is going it go out and do a lot
of the little things and then hopefully get those young guys
following up behind you," stated Peca.
   
"The other thing, too, is away from the rink, having a young
team, sometimes certain things can become a distraction.  I don't
live my life that way, and trying to achieve the results as best
as possible and hopefully guys see that and try and conduct
themselves the same way."

Yes, Michael Peca is a tremendously cool player.  Rest assured,
if I had a Buffalo jersey it would have Peca's name on the back. 
So I enjoyed putting this so-called feature on him together.  But
at the same time I'm also kind of disappointed.  

See, the thing is, I went into this thing all excited about using
the line "I'm not a peck."  It's an obscure reference to a really
lame movie called "Willow" about some goofy little midget
sorcerer dude that is trying to protect a baby or something.  I
don't know.  It was a brutal flick.  All I remember is that
people in the movie used to pick on Willow because, well, he was
some goofy lookin' little midget dude.  They'd call him a peck
and then he'd get all huffy and fire back, "Don't call me a
peck!"  

Considering the vast disparity in the sizes of Peca and Yashin,
and that Peca's last name is damn close to mirroring the very
taunt that drove Willow loopy, the "Don't call me a peck" line
seemed like a perfect fit for the article.  I was even searching
the web for a picture of Willow to run with the story.  

And then it happened.  I came to the startling realization that I
was actually on a web page devoted to the movie "Willow."  Aw,
that's not a good thing.  I immediately shut down the computer
and bolted for the shower.  For some reason I just felt dirty...

       
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lemieux to Lead Pens Again?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Jim Iovino

Sunday, May 2, was a special sports day for the city of
Pittsburgh. 

The Pittsburgh Marathon was run under near-perfect weather.  At the
same time, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are celebrating their move
to a new stadium in three years, were beating up on the Colorado
Rockies.  

And in the Civic Arena, Jaromir Jagr led the Pittsburgh Penguins to
a come-from-behind, 3-2 win against the New Jersey Devils in Game 6
of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  

Jagr scored two goals on the afternoon, including the last one in
overtime.  It was an impressive game for Jagr, who had missed the
previous four games with a severe groin injury that left him unable
to play or even work out, for that matter.  Jagr, who was
questionable up until game time, played through the pain and turned
in a Mario Lemieux-like performance to lead his team to victory.
 

Jagr's overtime winner, a one-timer off a smooth pass from teammates
Martin Straka, could have proved to be a memorable goal for the
people of Pittsburgh in more ways than one.  Had the Penguins
lost Game 7, that goal could have been the last one at the Civic
Arena in the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise.  

The Penguins, in case you haven't heard, are bankrupt.  If a new
buyer isn't found by May 31, the NHL has said it could move or
dissolve the franchise, leaving hockey fans in Pittsburgh out in
the cold.  

While Jagr was producing magic on the ice against the Devils, his
former teammate and mentor, Mario Lemieux, was in attendance
watching it all.  But Lemieux is more than an average fan these
days.  He's trying to weave a little magic of his own by finding
the right offer to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh.  

Lemieux retired from the NHL just a few years ago after saving the
NHL franchise once.  The man called Le Magnifique is trying to do
it again.  

Lemieux and a group of investors have offered the current Penguins
owners $50 million for the team that is riddled with debt.  That
might seem like a small amount of money for an NHL franchise (the
price is actually less than an expansion team), but there are some
special circumstances surrounding this Penguins team.  

First of all, the debt.  The Penguins own a lot of money to a lot of
people.  Lemieux is no exception.  The franchise owes him $32
million dollars in deferred salary from his playing days.  Money is
owed to other creditors, as well, but none more than Lemieux.  

The second strike against the Penguin franchise is the arena lease.
Currently, the lease from the city is set somewhere between $5- and
$6-million per season.  That amount is staggeringly high for any
stadium or arena in the country.  It is considered to be the highest
lease in the NHL.  If Lemieux's bid is to be accepted, it depends on
his ability to decrease the amount of the lease.  Lemieux would like
it to be somewhere around $500,000 per season.  He has met once
already with the arena lease owners, SMG. Both sides said the talks
were cordial, but not much more.  

Issue No. 3 is the arena itself.  With the closing of Maple Leaf
Gardens midway through this season, the Civic Arena took over as
the oldest arena in the league.  While the arena itself is still
useful, and new improvements have been made during the last couple
seasons, it is still a detractor to potential investors because of
its age.  

The city recently passed a plan to build new stadiums for both the
Pirates and Steelers, but nothing was ever mentioned for the
Penguins.  Lemieux would like that to change.  A baseball only
stadium will be built for the financially strapped Pirates by the
year 2003.  Same for the Steelers, who seem to lose have its team
to free agency each season.  But the Penguins, who are quite
possibly in the worst financial situation of all three teams,
haven't received much more than a cold shoulder from the city. 
This despite the fact that the Penguins won the last championships
for Pittsburgh - with Lemieux leading the way.  

Within the next few weeks Pittsburgh will find out if the city
will see its last National Hockey League game.  At the same time,
Lemieux will find out if he'll be able to call himself an NHL owner
and perhaps do some good for the "garage league" he has despised
for so long.  He'll also find out if he's any closer to recovering
the $32 million dollars of back wages that are owed to him.  

And speaking of wages, Jagr and the rest of the Pens will have to
wait and see who will be signing their checks next season.  Jagr
knows, however, that Lemieux would be a damn good choice.  

"No more deferred salaries," Jagr said with a grin. 

Jagr can grin all the way to the bank.  He's scheduled to make
between $9- and $10-million next season. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
More Stuff...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

SECOND ROUND PREVIEW
When we first started LCS Hockey back in the day, I used to take
great pride in previewing playoff series and making predictions. 
And I used to hit at a pretty good clip.  But over the years my
interest has waned.  Frankly, I just don't care anymore.  The
apathy reflects in my first-round predictions.  

Of the eight first-round series, I only called four winners and
tagged only two of those in the exact number of games.  That's
not too good.  Granted, I did go out on definite limbs in picking
Carolina and Philadelphia, but Mark Twain used to say that you
shouldn't be scared to go out on a limb because that's where the
fruit is.  Yeah, that Mark Twain used to say a lot of stupid
things.  

The point of all this is that you really shouldn't pay any
attention to the following predictions for the second round.  I
would have done something more extensive, but the issue deadline
really didn't permit the time needed.  Plus, you know, I just
don't care anymore.  So this is going to be all quick like.

Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh (8) vs Toronto (4):  Pittsburgh is going to be
flying high.  And Curtis Joseph is usually only good for one
playoff win a year.  Pittsburgh in six.

Buffalo (7) vs Boston (6):  This should be a tight series. 
Byron Dafoe and Dominik Hasek were the two leading Vezina
candidates.  Hasek will win the Vezina, and he'll win this
series.  Buffalo in six.   

Western Conference
                     
 St. Louis (5) vs Dallas (1):  Let's go out on another
limb.  Mark Twain has to be right sometime.  St. Louis in seven.

Detroit (3) vs Colorado (2):  The prayers of hockey fans
everywhere have been answered.  There's nothing quite like a
Detroit-Colorado playoff series.  This is going to be quality. 
Everyone's on the Detroit bandwagon, but it's about to hit a
serious bump in the road.  When Colorado plays with passion,
there isn't a better team in hockey.  Detroit will bring out that
fire.  Look for the Avalanche in six.  And if you want to get
real crazy, take Detroit in Games Two and Three.   

JAGR SHOWS HART
There's no denying that Jaromir Jagr is the single greatest
offensive talent in the game today.  But there has been some
question about his character.  Just when it seems he's ready to
mature into a true leader and captain he goes and does something
stupid, like criticizing coach Kevin Constantine in the papers,
berating teammates on the ice for not getting him the puck, or
pouting on the bench when things don't go his way.  And then came
the first-round series with New Jersey.

Jagr wasn't much of a factor in Game One.  Scott Stevens kept him
under wraps the majority of the time and the Devils prevailed 3-
1.  Late in the contest, Jagr was driving the left wing when
Scott Niedermayer put a hook into him, twisting the Czech Wonder
Kid's leg awkwardly and aggravating a chronic groin problem. 
Jagr would sit out the next four games; the first two were won by
the Penguins, the final two by El Diablo.  

With his team now trailing 3-2 in the series and on the verge of
elimination, Jagr still wasn't sure if he would be able to play
in the pivotal Game Six.  Once again people began to question his
heart; his willingness to play with pain.  Scott Stevens even
came out in the New Jersey papers and said that there's no way
he'd miss four playoff games with a groin injury.  Pressure was
on Jagr.  And it didn't look like he was going to answer the
call.  

When I woke up this past Sunday morning... well, when I woke up
this past Sunday afternoon... okay, when I sobered up in the
middle of the second period to watch Game Six, I didn't expect to
see Jagr on the ice.  I didn't think he had it in him.  But there
he was.  Ol' number 68 was indeed on the ice.  That deserves a
wow.  And here's the kicker... he was actually
competing, not just skating around making designs in the ice.  

Knowing that he didn't have his usual stride, Jaromir decided to
opt for a positional game instead of his usual skating variety. 
He didn't feel strong enough to carry play through center. 
Instead, he instructed his linemates to get the puck deep.  That
was music to Constantine's ears.  The Penguins played some of
their best hockey of the season in the four games that Jagr
missed, due mainly to their commitment to dumping the puck and
forechecking like champs.  There was some concern that when Jagr
returned it would be business as usual.  But Jaromir didn't rock
the boat.  The Birds played as a team and battled the Devils
every inch of the way.  Then, when the game was on the line, Jagr
stepped up.

With his club trailing 2-1 late in the third period, coach
Constantine used some of that there strategy stuff and employed
Alexei Kovalev on defense.  The Penguins had failed on two
straight attempts to work the puck up ice through New Jersey's
trap when Kovalev gathered the biscuit in his own zone.  Soon as
I saw the Russian magician start his journey up ice, I knew
something interesting was about to happen.  

Kovalev's a one-man wrecking crew of defensive schemes.  He just
danced and weaved his way through center, using his unearthly
stickhandling and skating skills to bewilder the Devil defense
before sliding a nifty backhand pass to a charging Jagr.  Trap
broken.  

The league's leading scorer barged over the blue line, backed
Stevens and Scott Niedermayer off, and chipped a pass through to
German Titov driving the right wing.  Stevens, who had been
beaten on the play, was able to reach in and momentarily poke the
puck away from Titov as he bore down on Martin Brodeur, but the
Penguin winger recovered as he was swinging behind the Devil cage
and stuffed a shot into Brodeur's pads.  Niedermayer had left
Jagr to cover up for Stevens, but the Devil captain was slow to
switch.  That was all the time Jagr needed to swoop in and smack
the rebound between Brodeur's pads to tie the score 2-2 with 2:12
remaining in regulation, and Pittsburgh's playoff lives.

So there's Jagr, bad groin and all, coming through when his team
needed it most.  It was just so... so... so Mario.  But it gets
better.  The scene is overtime.  Marty Straka, the li'l Czech
Dynamo, blows right around Niedermayer along the left wing
boards, leaving the fleet-footed Devil defender a tangled mess on
the ice.  Straka then cut his way to the net and drew the
attention of both Stevens and Brodeur, only to fire a bullet of a
pass through the slot to a cutting Jagr who buried the game-
winner with a Selanne-esque snap shot.  More on that later.  

Needless to say, the Civic Arena went crazy go nuts.  Jagr, the
team's hero and icon, came through yet again in the clutch.  The
kid's got a flair for the dramatic.  Had it not been for seeing
Mario Lemieux in the blue seats at the Igloo with my own eyes, I
would have sworn it was 66 and not 68 providing the heroics.  

Jagr proved something to me by simply showing up to play.  I
truly didn't think he had it in him.  That whole scoring-the-
game-tying-and-game-winning-goals thing was a nice touch, but he
won me over with his mere presence and competitive play.  I'll
never make fun of him again.  Unless, you know, he does something
stupid.  But I swear I'll never question his heart again. 
Honest.    

Now, back to that Selanne-esque game-winning goal.  During his
time off Jagr was watching some tapes of the Finnish Flash,
studying how he snaps his one-timers.  

"Last week, I changed the way I shoot (one-timers)," said Jagr at
the post-game press conference.  "I was looking at Teemu Selanne
because I think he's the best at that.  He's got some kind of
tricky play the way he switches the hands, and I was trying to do
the same thing in practice.  When I knew Marty beat the guy, I
just did the same thing like Teemu Selanne did.  I was waiting
for the chance, and it worked."

I'm not really sure what the hell Jagr's talking about when he
says "some kind of tricky play the way he switches the hands",
but apparently he's referring to how Selanne will drop his bottom
hand to get more leverage on the shot.  Jagr definitely dug deep
on the winner, lacing a perfectly placed snapper over a sprawling
Brodeur.  And it had to be perfect, because Brodeur almost got to
it with his glove.  Thank you, Teemu.  

DON'T BLAME THE REFS
First off, let me say that I think, in general, the officiating
this postseason has been pretty shady.  I don't know whether it's
the two-referee system or not, but there's been a lot of
inconsistency in the calls.  

Having said that, there's no excuse for blaming the stripes when
you lose a game.  The last time I checked, there's never been a
referee that's scored a goal or made a defensive mistake.  Great
players and teams recognize their weaknesses and correct them. 
Losers blame the refs.  Which brings us to the Philadelphia
Flyers.

The Toronto Maple Leafs sent the Flyers packing in the first
round, again, with a 1-0 victory in Game Six.  The deciding goal
was scored by Sergei Berezin on the power play with just one
minute left in regulation.  The Leafs received the man-advantage
after John "I'm a 230-pound choir boy" LeClair was whistled for
elbowing Mike Johnson behind the Flyer net.  Wouldn't you know
it, LeClair takes like three penalties a year and this one costs
his club.  Doesn't seem fair.

The Flyers didn't think the call by Terry Gregson was fair.  The
men in orange and black were irate at the time of the alleged
infraction and only got more maniacal after the goal was allowed. 
Gregson was followed off the ice by several barking Flyers as the
Philly fans pelted the officials with rocks and garbage. 
Following the game, Flyer chairman Ed Snider went buckwild in
front of reporters, tearing Gregson to shreds and saying that the
officials had decided the game.  Weak.

Granted, the call was a bit questionable.  Although, the first
time I saw it at full speed I thought it was an elbow, too.  Only
after seeing it again in slow motion could I tell that LeClair
really didn't deliver a blow with his elbow as much as he lifted
his arm after making contact with his shoulder.  But then again,
I'm not that bright.  So maybe it was an obvious no-call to
everyone else.  Even Mike Johnson said he didn't think there
would be a call when it happened.  But I, for one, could see why
Gregson raised his arm.  

And while Snider was quick to blame the refs, he neglected to
mention that the Flyers had six power plays in the game, one more
than the Leafs, including five straight man-advantages from the
middle of the second to the middle of the third.   

The refs aren't the reason why the Flyers lost the game.  Their
inability to score on the power play or to kill off a single two-
minute minor when it counted is why they lost.  And if John
Vanbiesbrouck knew how to stop pathetic backhand shots from bad
angles the whole thing would be a moot point at best.  

At least the injured Eric Lindros spoke the truth, saying that
the Flyers shouldn't blame the officiating for the loss.  One of
the few times Eric shows some real leadership in his career and
he isn't even playing.  Go figure.

OZOLINSH OZO-RIFFIC!
Anyone who watched the Colorado-San Jose series has to marvel at
the greatness of Sandis Ozolinsh.  The guy's something special. 
He just doesn't care.  Sandis isn't scared to make it fun.  

Ozolinsh was at his best in Game Six.  Not only did he supply the
clutch tying goal late in the third period with a supersonic slap
shot, but the Loopy Latvian continued to press the attack into
the overtime, jumping up on the play at every opportunity.  It's
like watching old school Paul Coffey.  In an era of stagnant
offenses and defensemen that are scared to make mistakes rather
than striving to make great plays, Ozolinsh is a breath of fresh
air.  He's the last of the true offensive defensemen.  Enjoy him
while you can before his breed becomes extinct.  

PLAYOFFS COOLNESS UPDATE
These are the coolest players through the first round of the
1998-99 NHL playoffs.

 1. Marty Straka, Pittsburgh Penguins 
 2. Gary Roberts, Carolina Hurricanes  
 3. Sandis Ozolinsh, Colorado Avalanche 
 4. Alexei Kovalev, Pittsburgh Penguins 
 5. Michael Peca, Buffalo Sabres 
 6. Al MacInnis, St. Louis Blues 
 7. Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche 
 8. Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings 
 9. Mike Ricci, San Jose Sharks 
10. Dallas Drake, Phoenix Coyotes

              
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chiasson Killed in Auto Accident
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Joe Pelletier

On May 2nd, 1999, the Boston Bruins scored a 2-0 win to knock out
the Carolina Hurricanes from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Just hours
later, Canes defenseman Steve Chiasson was killed when he was
thrown from his pickup truck in a one-vehicle accident. He was 32
years old.  Chiasson is survived by wife Susan, sons Michael and
Ryan, and daughter Stephanie.

The Hurricanes had just arrived in Raleigh on their charter
flight from Boston. After attending a gathering at a teammate's house, 
Chiasson had gotten into his truck to drive home early in the morning. 
Chiasson's 1996 Chevrolet pickup truck went off the right side of the road 
and then veered back over the left and flipped, ejecting him from the vehicle. 
The ejection was an indication Chiasson was not wearing a seat belt. Preliminary
investigations, based on evidence at the scene and interviews
with those who earlier had been with Chiasson, indicated alcohol
and speed were factors in the fatal accident.

"This is a terrible tragedy," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.
"When a young life ends prematurely, when a young family loses a
husband and father, words cannot begin to express our sorrow. Our
thoughts and our prayers are with Steve's wife, Susan, and their
three children."

Canes GM Jimmy Rutherford said, "He was not the designated
captain, but was understood as being an honorary captain. He was
the kind of guy everybody wanted to be around, certainly a big
member with his teammates and a real ordinary guy that loved the
game of hockey and loved the people around him."

A native of Barrie Ontario, Chiasson was a solid defenseman who
was good at everything but did nothing spectacularly, although he
did have a booming shot. He was a good skater who overcame a
choppy stride. He was positionally solid and calm under fire. A
competitive warrior, he often played hurt. A top four d-man on
just about any team in the league, Chiasson was at his best when
he was cast as the #3 or #4 blueliner.

Chiasson was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings 50th overall in the
1985 Entry Draft. The following year he was returned to his
junior team - the Guelph Platers. It was a season to remember for
Chiasson, as he guided the Platers to the Memorial Cup
championships where he was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial
Trophy as the tournament's most valuable player.

In 1986-87, Chiasson made the Red Wings but was used sparingly.
He appeared in limited ice time in 45 games, recording one goal
and four assists.

For Chiasson, it was an apprenticeship more than anything. His
learning process continued the following season when he appeared
in 29 games. He also saw 23 games in the minors as the Wings sent
him down to get some playing experience. Part of the reason of
Chiasson's failure to play more in his first two years was a lack
of maturity, both physical and emotional. He also lacked the
conditioning to be a big time NHLer.

By 1988-89, Chiasson's apprenticeship had been completed, and he
showed that he learned his many lessons. He excelled in 65 games,
collecting 12 goals and 35 assists for 47 points.

That was just the beginning. For the next five seasons, Chiasson
was arguably Detroit's best defenseman. Here's a quick rundown of
those years:

1989-90 - scored a career-high 14 goals, leading all Detroit
defensemen in scoring with 42 points.

1990-91 - an injury plagued season saw Chiasson play in just 42
games, scoring three goals and 20 points.

1991-92 - rebounded from serious injuries to post a strong season
- 10 goals, 34 points and a career high +22.

1992-93 - Chiasson's best offensive season with 12 goals and 50
assists for 62 points. Steve's great play was rewarded with his
only All-Star game appearance.

After that incredible 1992-93 campaign, Chiasson came back to
reality a bit in 1993-94.  He scored 13 goals and 46 points, a
16-point drop in production, but did manage to continue his
strong two-way play.

By this time the Red Wings were developing into a strong Cup
contender, but they felt they lacked a proven goaltender. On June
29, 1994, the Wings got their veteran netminder in Mike Vernon
from Calgary.  Unfortunately, Chiasson was sacrificed in order to
get Vernon.  While the Wings would go on to be the class of the
NHL in the late 1990s, Chiasson played in relative obscurity in
Calgary for two years, and later with Hartford/Carolina.

Chiasson's offensive exploits all but dwindled since his days
with the Red Wings. But don't think that he wasn't a valuable
member on the blue line. He was a rock steady performer that any
team in the league would have liked to have had on its side.

The Hartford Whalers traded for Chiasson, on March 5, 1997, a
deal that brought immediate dividends to the club. In his very
first game as a Whaler, Chiasson scored a goal and was voted the
game's number one star.  He finished the year as an integral part
in Team Canada's gold medal-winning performance at the 1997 World
Championships in Finland, contributing three assists at the
tournament.

In 1997-98, Chiasson produced another solid season, notching 34
points in 66 games with the Carolina Hurricanes, leading all
Canes defenseman in scoring.

Chiasson was limited to 28 games due to a shoulder injury in
1998-99, managing to produce nine points and a plus-seven mark.
He was also one of Carolina's most productive players in their
very first post-season appearance, contributing three points in
six playoff games.

In 751 career contests, Chiasson scored 93 goals and added 305
assists.

"This morning we lost one of our teammates, but more importantly,
a friend," said teammate Glen Wesley. "We'll all miss him."


-----------------------------------------------------------------
NHLPA 93 and #3: Steve Chiasson Remembered...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Chris Schilling

Let me begin by telling everyone who reads this that this won't
be my typical article. For the most part, LCS hockey takes pride
in its physical humor and do-anything comedy antics, and for the
most part I agree that its marvelously simplistic cracks and easy
to understand, sarcasm-free jokes are great.

But from this point on, this isn't a post for celebrating. In
case you haven't heard, Steve Chiasson was killed in a
one-vehicle accident on May 3. Steve was a veteran, first-line
NHL defenseman, a one-time All-Star, and #3 on the Carolina
Hurricanes. The investigation is still going on now, but it's
suspected that he had a small amount of alcohol in his system
when he crashed at around 4 AM heading home after a gathering at
teammate and all-around cool player Gary Roberts' home. Earlier
that evening, the Canes were eliminated by the Boston Bruins in
Carolina's first ever playoff series with a 2-0 loss at the
FleetCenter.

Chiasson's death inspired hockey fans from all over to stop
insulting us about our attendance and show sympathy about the
loss. Even the most antagonistic of antagonists softened up and
gave a kind word or two, offered some prayers for #3, and gave
the Hurricane fan base a pat on the back. 

We all appreciate this. It's a tough time -- the team breaks the
fans' hearts, for the first time for some, for the millionth time
for me. Then something like this happens, and it's almost too
much.

I haven't done much since then. I've floated through my days,
waiting for the evenings when I've watched other teams play. It's
not the same. It won't be the same.

My father told me, and remains firm in his belief, that I played
most like Chiasson when I used to play hockey. He's right. I was
a balanced defenseman who hated practice, hated analysis, hated
drills, but did them anyway. Like Steve, I just wanted to play. 

Chiasson was the epitome of old school hockey. He worked hard,
he'd play as hard as you needed him to, and he played through
more injuries than a paraplegic hockey team. He never excelled in
any area, except maybe his heavy shot which scored him several
goals over his career and established him as a relatively
offensive defenseman.

I did my best to forget him, and watching him, but in doing so I
ended up remembering more than ever. I turned on my battered Sega
Genesis and slapped in my favorite game ever -- NHLPA Hockey 93,
the best hockey game ever made. If you've played it, you'd know,
if not, mail me and I'll help you out, cause you're missing out.

Hartford was my favorite team, but Detroit was the team I played
as best. My lineup was simple -- Yzerman, Probert, and Primeau on
offense, and Lidstrom and Chiasson on defense. Chiasson was my
favorite. He always was and always will be.

Now, don't get me wrong. I loathe the Wings, how they call
Detroit "Hockeytown" despite being anything but during their
losing years, their bandwagon fans, their ability to buy the Cup
and make a mockery of the playoffs and small-market teams. 

So I'm not a real big Detroit fan. But something about them in
this game always made me like them. It could have been Probert,
who was an invincible fighter, but it wasn't. It was Steve
Chiasson. It was how he skated on the slow side but whenever I
pulled the trigger on his shot, it was a guaranteed goal. It was
how he always made the right play, it was how he passed the best.
It was just like watching him, and that's not just reminiscing
"Damn, he was a fine hockey player" crap.

I mean it when I say he was the ultimate veteran defenseman, and
not just in a video game. Didn't need a C on his jersey to get
the team motivated, but deserved to wear it. Always nice to the
players on whatever team he was on, always gave his best whether
it was on the climbing Wings or the sinking Whalers. A picture
will always ring out in my mind -- the one of him in the Whalers'
locker room, upset over the team's imminent moving. He played on
this team for maybe a year or two, but he never gave up and
demanded a trade.

He was no Shanahan, no Burke, no Coffey. He never demanded out of
what most players deemed a hockey hell. He played some of his
best hockey in his prime years on one of the worst franchises
ever. And he did it with hustle and talent that most Whalers'
defenseman never had. 

This year, the Canes broke the Whalers' playoff jinx. Chiasson
revealed he was playing hurt for the past two years (but never
showed it) and was getting reconstructive shoulder surgery that
should end this season, and likely his career. The local news
said he wouldn't be back until the playoffs at the earliest, and
could have his career ended. But Chiasson sure as hell came back
-- and not just for the playoffs. He returned from major surgery
for the Islanders' game on March 24th, before even the April date
that he set for his return. 

His contributions in the playoffs included a goal and two
assists. I'll never forget his last goal -- he took a slap shot
from the center of the blue line on the power play, firing a
rising bullet past goalie Byron Dafoe to give the Hurricanes a
1-0 lead that they would eventually blow in a 4-3 double OT loss.

The team was in a shock after the ceremony honoring Steve. Ray
Sheppard was Chiasson's best friend and had obvious trouble
holding himself together, difficult to believe for the veteran
stone-faced winger. He buried his face in his wife's shoulder as
Susan Chiasson, Steve's wife, addressed the players and friends
of Steve Chiasson.

Friends described him as having a "zest for life". Former
teammate Nelson Emerson flew in for the service, and Stu Grimson
sent his respects.

Sheppard, obviously moved, spoke of Chiasson's honesty and
integrity. "I'll take that with me for as long as I live," he
said. "He'll be in our prayers forever. We should all be grateful
for him." 

Meanwhile, former Captain (and one of the grittiest, coolest men
ever to wear the Whaler/Hurricane uniform) Kevin Dineen talked to
Chiasson's children, the most difficult job he's ever taken. He
told them about their father's leadership skills and enjoyment of
fishing (another trait we share). "Your dad spoke when he felt he
had something to offer. He didn't speak just to be heard," Kevin
said. 

"He had a real satisfaction in knowing that he did everything he
could to get back and help his teammates," Kevin told the
congregation. He was right.

Chiasson ended his season with such promise -- being an
unrestricted free agent who would probably re-sign with the
Hurricanes. In the days of players who want the most money from
whatever team will give it, Chiasson was worried he couldn't re-
sign with his current team because of the shoulder injury that
limited him to just 28 regular season games.

Chiasson was a throwback to days past. But at the same time, he
helped the Hurricanes build for the future. 

For that reason, I wish him well wherever he is, and want him to
know he will always be remembered. While number 11 will always
grace my jersey, I hope number 3 will ascend to a much higher
place -- that of the first jersey ever retired by the Carolina
Hurricanes, the first jersey placed in the rafters of the Raleigh
Arena, whatever its name may be.

Rest in peace, Steve, you will be remembered. NHLPA Hockey 93 and
my memory will ensure that.

HONORING CHIASSON
All fans who wish to express their condolences can sign a book at
Brown Wynne, of which there are two in Raleigh (300 St. Mary's
Street and 1701 East Millbrook) and one in Cary (South-East
Maynard). All cards should be mailed to the Carolina Hurricanes
main office in Morrisville at 5000 Aerial Center, Suite 100,
Morrisville, NC 27560. 

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 8, 1999 in
Peterborough, Ontario. 

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be
made to the Steve Chiasson Memorial Fund at Interact, a family
violence prevention center, on 612 Wade Avenue (919-828-7501) or
the Rex Breast Cancer Center, Rex Foundation, c/o The Steve
Chiasson Memorial Fund on 2500 Blue Ridge Road, Suite 316
(919-784-4441).

Also, a member of the AOL hockey message boards is compiling a
collection of messages to send the Chiasson family. If you have
that service, I recommend heading to the Carolina Hurricanes
message boards and place your note there. If you don't have that
service, the creator of this compilation can be reached at
papyrus26@aol.com. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Who's Da Man?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Howard Fienberg

Righteous indignation was the norm. Cries of "Ridiculous!",
"Insipid!", and "Damn that Zippy!" were heard across the land.
Why was everyone so upset?  Besides Toronto being the only
Canadian team to survive to the second round, English Canada was
told that the Great One was not as great as the Magnificent One.
"Scientists prove Lemieux is the real Great One," headlined
the National Post (Apr. 22).

Statistics professors Scott Berry (Texas A&M University) and
Patrick D. Larkey (Carnegie Mellon University) wrote "Bridging
Eras in Sports", which was named Best Applied Paper by the
American Statistical Association.  However, it was labelled "Best
Toilet Paper" and "Most Likely to be Torched in Anger" by the
Canadian press.

The study attempted to model the effects of aging on sports using
statistical methods to compare athletes of different eras, with
the bridge being a player who overlaps two eras, allowing for
easier comparison between them. Now I may be only mildly
numerically competent and as statistically savvy as a chimpanzee
on hooch, but I figured this one out. Your garden variety
chimpanzee cannot decipher his return change on a bottle of
Fireball. Your average Canadian journalist may be able to
decipher his return change, but only after the fifth bottle -
perhaps explaining why they did not get it.

While the researchers looked at hockey, golf, and baseball, we
shall only concern ourselves with hockey. Well, that is what the
Canucks did! Because baseball and golf are about as exciting as
watching flies mate, and much more expensive. There is only one
true sport - hunting water buffalo.  However, hockey puts up a
good fight, so we will give it the benefit of the doubt.

One big objection from the press was that the researchers did not
include Bobby Orr. The assumption made in the paper is that
defensemen and goalies are in the game only to keep the puck out
of the net. Before we string these guys up, let's remember, they
are statisticians. So maybe they have never been to a game, or
haven't paid attention since the first defenseman joined the rush
a century ago. But given the average defenseman's propensity for
defense (funny that), they and goalies were not included in the
study. Case closed.

Second objection was that the Rocket Richard did not make the Top
25, and several other older stars ranked lowly. One of the main
ideas in the study was to compensate for the differing kids of
play in the different eras - when was it easiest to score goals,
who played in the era of greatest competition, what were the
effects of aging, who had the greatest ability, which era had the
best hot dogs, etc. Whine all you please, but the researchers
decided, quite rightly, that goals in the nineties are worth a
lot more than goals in the past (For instance, modern goalies are
made out of steel and oversized padding, versus the goalies of
old who lacked both face masks and, as a consequence, nose
cartilage). As well, the list is dominated by many modern players
because the talent pool has greatly expanded in the last twenty
years.

The results of the study put the optimal hockey player age at 27,
with a "sharp decrease after the age of 30. A hockey player of
age 34, the optimal golf age, is only 75% of his peak value." I
still don't know how you can justify the optimal golf age being
so young when so few play it at that age.

They did seem to have trouble adjusting for the length of seasons
played. Since they were much shorter in the early days, this
could be a source of error.

But come on! Hockey is a game, and this research, despite its
awards and pretension, is just fun. So stop getting all riled up.
Gretzky is still the Great One. Just not for the reasons lay
people may believe. It was not his prolific scoring by any means,
because Lemieux was definitely better. It was not his fantastic
skill, because Mario Lemieux had tons more. It was in his
character.

Not to disparage Mario in any way, cause he is a great guy and I
love him.  Platonically.  And he had the drive and guts to play
though a decade of pain and succeed like no one else. But he
never had the same love of the game and general good-guyness that
Gretzky continues to exude. Mario was in it to win and excel, but
Gretzky was in it to play. So in the eternal debate over who
was better, we are left undecided. It all depends on what you
value most.

And to stir the pot, I will say that I would take Lemieux over
Gretzky any day.

The mean points for the 1996 standard (with standard deviations)
are presented for each player below, along with his date of
birth.


                 Born  Pts in 1996
1  M. Lemieux    1965  187 (7)
2  W. Gretzky    1961  181 (5)
3  E. Lindros    1973  157 (16)
4  J. Jagr       1972  152 (9)
5  P. Kariya     1974  129 (15)
6  P. Forsberg   1973  124 (10)
7  S. Yzerman    1965  120 (5)
8  J. Sakic      1969  119 (6)
9  G. Howe       1974  119 (7)
10 T. Selanne    1970  113 (6)
11 P. Bure       1971  113 (8)
12 J. Beliveau   1931  112 (5)
13 P. Esposito   1942  112 (5)
14 A. Mogilny    1969  112 (6)
15 P. Turgeon    1969  110 (6)
16 S. Fedorov    1969  110 (5)
17 M. Messier    1961  110 (4)
18 P. LaFontaine 1965  109 (5)
19 Bo. Hull      1939  108 (4)
20 M. Bossy      1957  108 (4)
21 Br. Hull      1964  107 (5)
22 M. Sundin     1971  106 (7)
23 J. Roenick    1970  106 (6)
24 P. Stastny    1956  105 (4)
25 J. Kurri      1960  105 (4)



-----------------------------------------------------------------
Playoff Heroes - Mud Bruneteau
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Joe Pelletier

On March 24, 1936, the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Maroons
played the longest NHL game ever. The playoff match reached a
ninth period (six overtime periods) and, as you can imagine, both
teams were exhausted and fatigued beyond comprehension.

Of course, by the ninth period it became more and more essential
to keep fresh legs on the ice. Top players on each team were
greatly fatigued and teams began relying more and more on
inexperienced younger players as they had more stamina to
continue the marathon. One of those rookies was Moderre
Bruneteau, the youngest player on the ice that night.

At the 16-minute mark of the ninth period, Bruneteau gathered the
puck in the Detroit zone. He centered a pass to Hec Kilrea who
subsequently challenged the Montreal defense. He faked a return
pass and then slid it across the blue line and behind the
Montreal defense. Bruneteau swept in behind the defensemen and
banged home the loose puck in front of Montreal goalie Lorne
Chabot.

The rookie won the game, and became a hockey legend.

"Thank god," a relieved Bruneteau said. "Chabot fell down as I
drove it in the net. It's the funniest thing. The puck just stuck
there in the twin and didn't fall on the ice."

It was as if the puck was as tired as the players.

Detroit recovered from that marathon to sweep Montreal in the
playoff round. They later faced the Toronto Maple Leafs and swept
them in the Stanley Cup finals. The Red Wings had won their first
Stanley Cup.

Mud Bruneteau, of course, will forever go down in hockey legend
for ending the longest game in NHL history. Come playoff time,
the media, be it in print or broadcast, always does a feature on
his heroics. Often lost in the legend of Mud Bruneteau is the
fact that he was a very good hockey player as well.

Mud helped the Wings win another Cup in 1937 but didn't blossom
as a player until the Wings' third Cup championship in 1943. That
season he led the Wings in goals with 23. He added five more in
the playoffs, including a hat trick in Game One of the Finals
against Boston.

In 1943-44, Bruneteau had a career high 35 goals in just 39
games.

Despite another solid year with 23 goals in 1944-45, Mud left the
NHL by the 1946-47 season. Mud then turned to the Omaha Knights
of the United States Hockey League where he played for two
seasons before becoming the team's head coach. He led the team to
the USHL title in 1950-51.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Gold-Medal Winning Story
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Dell

The fine people from HarperCollins Publishing wrote to me the
other day regarding a new book about the U.S. Women's Ice Hockey
Team.  The book, entitled "Crashing the Net", is written by Mary
Turco and chronicles the club's remarkable journey to Olympic
Gold in Nagano.  

Always wanting to do my patriotic duty, I agreed to run an
excerpt from the book and help spread the good word.  It's the
least I could do for my country and those inspirational women
that did us all proud.  Plus, you know, I figured it wouldn't
hurt to suck up to a publishing company.  I mean, I am trying to
write a book.  And really, would it bust HarperCollins' ass to
give it a read?  Seriously, would it kill 'em to help a brother
out?  We'll just have to wait and see.  

In the meantime, check out these reviews and comments about
"Crashing the Net":   
   
"These heroes embodied the Olympic Spirit more than any athletes I've 
ever seen. In this age of spoiled and pampered athletes, this book is a 
warm reminder of what sports and teamwork are truly all about." 
-- Jim Nantz, CBS Sports

"The story of a world-class team with a pioneering spirit, a team that 
challenged the conventions of a sport dominated by men, a team that 
represents our hope for the future." 
-- Billie Jean King

"It's about women.  It's about hockey.  It's about women playing
hockey.  Those are pretty much all my favorite things in life
that don't come in a bottle."  
-- Michael Dell, LCS Hockey Editor-in-Chief

"This book brought back a lot of memories for me--Mary Turco 
successfully captures all the aspects of playing and training for an 
Olympic team. A great read for young athletes." 
-- Mike Eruzione, Captain, 1980 U.S. Men's Olympic Ice Hockey Team

"An exciting literary account of what went on during a significant time 
with a special group of athletes." 
-- Ben Smith, Coach, 1998 U.S. Women's Olympic Ice Hockey Team

"My teammates and I are excited that our story will be told and that 
this great moment for women will be recorded. Now future women athletes 
will know what happened, not so much on a game-by-game basis, but in 
the personal lives of the women on our team."  
-- Cammi Granato, Captain

"The 1998 U.S. Women's Olympic Ice Hockey Team is the best team I've 
ever played on. We have dedicated our lives to being pioneers and 
ambassadors for our sport. Never again will you read about a team like 
this one."  
-- Karyn Bye, Assistant Captain

If you'd like to read more about "Crashing the Net", visit 
<a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/scripts/redir.plx?006019264X">this here page</a>
at the HarperCollins website. 

Now, without further delay, an excerpt from "Crashing the Net"
by Mary Turco.

The Darlings of Nagano
"Red-White-and-Beautiful" 
Nagano, Japan - February 17, 1998

Karyn Bye grabbed Cammi Granato's arm and pointed down the runway to 
the open gate leading to the rink where their game had ended ten 
minutes earlier. Beyond the gate, Nagano's Big Hat Arena sparkled with 
the flashes of what seemed to be thousands of cameras. Cammi's dark 
eyes reflected the sparkling lights as Karyn asked, "Are you ready for 
this?"
  
Cammi smiled broadly and responded, "Are you kidding, K.L.? I've 
dreamed of this ceremony a thousand times and, honest to God, I don't 
think I can wait another second for it to begin." As she spoke, Amie 
Hilles, the team's leader, signaled to her and Karyn that the medal 
ceremony was about to start and that they should lead their teammates 
back onto the ice. Karyn and Cammi turned to the women standing behind 
them in the hallway and passed the happy word. Then, taking a very deep 
breath, Karyn Lynn Bye and Catherine Michelle Granato led eighteen 
excited teammates down the runway, through the gate, and into the 
sparkle.
  
The locker room Karyn and Cammi emerged from had been absolute 
pandemonium just five minutes earlier. After the victory, Olympic 
officials had interrupted the players while they were rejoicing on the 
ice and asked them to return to their locker room so they could arrange 
for the medal ceremony to take place. The excited players pranced down 
the hallway to their locker room hugging everyone in their path 
including the members of the U.S. men's hockey team, who were waiting 
to congratulate them. Pat LaFontaine, Mike Richter, and Ron Wilson gave 
high-fives and handshakes, while Bryan Berard gave Sara DeCosta a hug. 
Two years earlier Bryan and Sara had played against each other in high 
school in Rhode Island. Now both were Olympians and one had won a gold 
medal.
  
Moments later, when they were safely behind the locker-room walls and 
free from the scrutiny of the media, the American women went wild. Some 
hugged teammates and kissed their favorite staff person. Others hooted 
and hollered while stripping off their shoulder pads and throwing them 
in the equipment bags. They jumped around on their skate blades shaking 
hands, slapping backs, and spilling champagne. The mayhem quieted down 
slightly while they toasted their remarkable accomplishment.
  
When the toast was over, many players grabbed cameras and started 
taking pictures. Others pulled out cell phones hidden in their duffel 
bags and called loved ones in the United States. A few, like Karyn, 
retired to their stalls to try to regain their composure.
  
After the euphoria of beating Team Canada, Karyn needed a breather. 
Although she was the most high-spirited woman on the team, she felt 
exhausted. The game had been draining both physically and emotionally.
  
Since the start of the day, Karyn had concentrated on placing herself 
physically and emotionally "in the moment," which, as the team's sports 
psychology consultant, Peter Haberl, had taught her, meant being 
totally present in time and in space, totally focused on reaching her 
goal. Haberl believed that being in the moment meant practicing 
"focused fun." He told her that, in order to play her best, she had to 
think of herself as a child immersed in an activity, completely 
oblivious to everything around her. Peter said, "Stop evaluating 
yourself and just skate. Very few people have the chance to be an 
Olympian. Play well and enjoy it."
  
Karyn remembered that Haberl had told her about the great Olympic 
swimmer Sumner Summers, who, after winning a gold medal, said that she 
had just wanted her race to be over; it was too much pressure and too 
little fun. Haberl and Coach Ben Smith wanted the players to avoid this 
mind-set, for they believed that athletes perform at their highest 
level when they are having fun.
  
And Karyn loved to have fun. She had started playing hockey at age 
seven when her dad, Chuck, suggested that, as a practical joke, she 
substitute for her sick older brother Chris at a youth hockey practice. 
Karyn and her father succeeded in fooling the coaches and players into 
thinking Karyn was Chris for a very short time, but the impact of that 
experience was lasting. Karyn loved practicing the game and wanted to 
play. A naturally "wired" child bursting with energy, Karyn became a 
regular player. At every game she skated hard, led cheers from the 
bench, pulled pranks (like her dad), and teased her coaches. When she 
was nine years old she watched the 1980 U.S. men's team win a gold 
medal in Lake Placid and decided Bill Baker was her hero. I can do 
that, she thought. She adopted Baker's number, 6. When she turned ten 
her aunt gave her a plaque that read GIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING. Karyn made 
the motto her creed and a strong work ethic her method. At twelve she 
decided that she too would be an Olympian. She wrote a letter to the 
U.S. Olympic Committee petitioning for a women's ice hockey team. When 
the committee sent back a form letter thanking her for her interest in 
field hockey, she was irritated but undaunted. In her juvenile mind she 
believed that someday it would happen.
  
Inspired by an Olympic dream and fortified with french toast from her 
mom, Dotty, Karyn grew fast and strong playing hockey with her brother 
and nineteen other boys during four years of high school. To minimize 
negative reactions from opponents, she adopted the nickname "K.L." Most 
of the guys she played with and against respected her ability. Those 
who didn't had to deal with her protective teammates. Karyn also 
excelled at tennis and softball in high school, but the more she played 
hockey, the more it became her favorite.
  
When the time came to go to college, Karyn picked the University of 
New Hampshire, a powerhouse in women's ice hockey. She scored one 
hundred goals in eighty-seven games at UNH, became an Eastern 
Collegiate Athletic Conference All-Star, and earned a place on five 
U.S. national teams. By 1997, Karyn was considered one of the finest 
players in the world. She set her sites on making the Olympic team and 
happily started acting as the national team's archivist. On a daily 
basis she typed journal entries into her computer and saved precious 
team memorabilia. The truth was that Karyn had extraordinary energy, 
and all of it was positive.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From CRASHING THE NET by Mary Turco.  Copyright (c) 1999 by Mary Turco.  
Reprinted by arrangement with HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.  All 
rights reserved.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------
AHL Playoffs: First Round Review
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Tricia McMillan

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Empire Division

#1 Rochester Americans v. #4 Adirondack Red Wings

Game One:   4/21  Rochester 3, Adirondack 2 (OT)
Game Two:   4/23  Rochester 5, Adirondack 2
Game Three: 4/24  Rochester 2, Adirondack 1

(I predicted: Rochester in three) Nailed it.

#2 Albany River Rats v. #3 Hamilton Bulldogs

Game One:   4/22 Hamilton 4, Albany 3
Game Two:   4/24 Albany 3, Hamilton 2
Game Three: 4/28 Hamilton 4, Albany 3
*Game Four: 4/30 Albany 3, Hamilton 2
*Game Five: 5/01 Hamilton 3, Albany 2 (2OT)

(I predicted: Albany in five) Look at the scores and you know. Right length, not the
right team, but close.

Game Three
Hamilton's Joe Hulbig scored two goals in the first period to chase Mike Buzak, while
busy Steve Passmore stopped 45 of 48 Rat shots as the Bulldogs edged Albany to take a
lead in the series. Jim Dowd set up three for the Bulldogs and Terry Marchant scored
the game-winner, while Albany's John Madden further extended his points streak to 18
games with what had been the tying goal.

Game Four
This absolute last second thing continues, as the Rats' Eric Bertrand scored the game-
winning goal with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation. Apparently he has a real objection to overtime. It was Bertrand's second goal of the third period. Daniel Lacroix scored both goals for Hamilton, who didn't lead at any point in the game.

Game Five
It took almost two full overtimes before the man who sent the game into the extra frame finally ended the game. Hamilton's Chris Ferraro, the same guy who finally ended the All-Star Game, ended this one too at 17:55 in the second overtime. Albany, who were playing short a defenseman, Jeff Williams and David Cunniff for most of the game, still managed to keep it going late. 

The reason the Rats played shorthanded was Daniel Lacroix. Lacroix was involved in a
pregame skate incident with Albany's Mike Buzak in which Lacroix had some trouble
staying on his end of the ice, prompting Albany to sit a defenseman in favor of enforcer Rob Skrlac. Then Lacroix slew-footed David Cunniff, taking him out of the game and nearly taking coach John Cunniff out when the elder Cunniff tried to follow Lacroix down the tunnel and take him to task.

Mid-Atlantic Division

#1 Philadelphia Phantoms v. #4 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

Game One:   4/22 Philadelphia 4, Cincinnati 3
Game Two:   4/24 Philadelphia 5, Cincinnati 2  
Game Three: 4/25 Philadelphia 5, Cincinnati 2

(I predicted: Philadelphia in four) Philadelphia in three. Right team, close on the games.

#2 Kentucky Thoroughblades v. #3 Hershey Bears

Game One:   4/23 Hershey 3, Kentucky 2
Game Two:   4/24 Kentucky 5, Hershey 3
Game Three: 4/28 Kentucky 2, Hershey 0
*Game Four: 4/30 Hershey 4, Kentucky 2
*Game Five: 5/02 Kentucky 2, Hershey 0

(I predicted: Hershey in five) Right length, wrong team again. Unfortunately the series wasn't as close as its length.

Game Three
Hershey's power outage continued at home, as they have yet to score on the power play
in the entire series. Kentucky, meanwhile, scored both of theirs with an extra man, with Mike Craig getting the first, deciding goal when he was left alone in front of Marc Denis. Kentucky also had a few five-on-threes, including one at the end of the game after the Bears unsuccessfully challenged John Nabokov's stick. Nabokov stopped 28 shots for the shutout.

Worcester had complained bitterly about Bernie DeGrace's lopsided calling in Game
Two of their series; while not quite as obvious as that game, DeGrace's act was largely the same in Hershey. The T-Blades received quite a bit of leeway that the Bears did not, and DeGrace was again suckered by an acting job into granting a major.
 
But most interesting may have been the post-game exchange between the teams' coaches
in a public hallway. I caught the second half of the bout as Kentucky assistant Nick Fotiu went for the neck of Hershey assistant Jay Wells while streaming profanities such as to make a drill sergeant proud. Kentucky's scratched players and the T-Blades equipment manager were barely able to keep the two apart, then Mike Foligno came back from the Bears' locker room to join in the fray. This set-to was finally ended at that point by arena security, but Fotiu continued his tirade all the way into the locker room. 

Game Four
Marc Denis has been playing terrific for the Bears, but as was often the case during the regular season, the Bears weren't playing great for him. Case in point, Game Three. So David Aebischer got the call in Game Four and the Bears turned in a comeback, getting two goals from Christian Matte in the third period to force a Game Five. Kentucky's veterans gave them a two goal lead, but the T-Blades failed to hang on to it.

Game Five
Apparently Game Five was much like Game Three for the Bears, except with even less
life involved. The Bears managed exactly three shots on John Nabokov in each of the
first two periods before getting in 13 in the last period. Still, Nabokov only had to stop 19 shots for another playoff shutout and get a goal from Shawn Burr to finish off the Bears for the first playoff series win in Kentucky history.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

New England Division

#1 Providence Bruins v. #4 Worcester IceCats

Game One:   4/23 Providence 4, Worcester 1
Game Two:   4/24 Providence 3, Worcester 1
Game Three: 4/30 Worcester 5, Providence 3
*Game Four: 5/01 Providence 6, Worcester 3

(I predicted: Providence in four) El perfecto.

Game Three
Worcester did have some kick left in them, as Tyson Nash scored two goals minutes
apart early in the game and then Marty Reasoner added a pair to make sure the Bruins
would not have a sweep in this series. Juniors callup Ladislav Nagy also had a pair of
points for his first professional goal and points. The Bruins did manage 39 shots against
the IceCats.

Game Four
The Worcester IceCats hung in there for 50 minutes, as the game reached the mid-point
of the third period in a 3-3 tie. But then Antti Laaksonen managed a breakaway goal
and the Bruins added two more empty net goals to end the series. Providence's Eric
Nickulas had a hat trick, plus an assist; Nagy added two more points to his ledger for
Worcester.

#2 Hartford WolfPack v. #3 Springfield Falcons

Game One:   4/23 Hartford 2, Springfield 1
Game Two:   4/24 Hartford 5, Springfield 2
Game Three: 4/30 Hartford 6, Springfield 2

(I predicted: Hartford in five) Right team, but a lot easier for them than I expected.

Game Three
Hartford completed beating up on the Falcons with a rout in Game Three. Brad Smyth
scored two goals and Derek Armstrong had a three point game, while JF Labbe finished
the series with a .930 save percentage. Springfield briefly held a 2-1 lead, which was their only lead of the entire series. All in all, a rout.

Atlantic Division
 
#1 Lowell Lock Monsters v. #4 Saint John Flames

Game One:   4/23 Saint John 4, Lowell 2
Game Two:   4/24 Saint John 4, Lowell 3  (OT)
Game Three: 4/28 Saint John 6, Lowell 4

(I predicted: Lowell in five) Way off. Wrong team, and actually thought the series would be competitive.

Game Three
The Flames showed the Lock Monsters the door with a pair of goals a minute apart
early in the third period. Martin St. Louis and Allan Egeland were good for three points each, while Steve Begin supplied the game-winner. Lowell, for their part, wasted the two goals Vladimir Orszagh scored on the same power play and blew the lead for a second straight game.

#2 St. John's Maple Leafs v. #3 Fredericton Canadiens

Game One:   4/23 Fredericton 7, St. John's 4
Game Two:   4/25 Fredericton 4, St. John's 2
Game Three: 4/27 St. John's 3, Fredericton 2 (OT)
*Game Four: 4/29 St. John's 2, Fredericton 1
*Game Five: 5/01 Fredericton 3, St. John's 2

(I predicted: St. John's in five) Right length, wrong team. And given the rotten behavior exhibited by Fredericton, oh boy did the wrong team win.

Game Three
As seems to be habit in the AHL these days, a team scores late to tie up the game and
then wins in overtime. This time St. John's got a late goal from Kevyn Adams to send
the game into overtime, then Ryan Pepperall scored just minutes into the extra frame to give the Leafs their first win of the series.

As we certainly remember, back in November Lowell defenseman Jeff Libby lost his
right eye to the skate blade of St. John's Mark Deyell. In Game Three, it was Deyell
who may have lost his eye. A high stick from Fredericton's Miroslav Guren caught Deyell in the face and badly damaged his right eye. The present assessment is that Deyell will not lose the eye, but the extent of the damage to his sight is unknown and probably won't be known for a couple months. Guren visited Deyell in the hospital to apologize - and was criticized by his coach for doing so.

Game Four
St. John's decided to go with Jeff Reese in Game Four, but he wasn't physically up to
snuff and Marc Robitaille found himself in the game in the second period and stopping
25 shots for the win. St. John's got both goals in the first period, from Yuri Khmylev and Kevyn Adams, and then held on tight to send the game back to the Rock.

Game Five
Fredericton is in its last season, and they don't want it to end. Unfortunately they don't care to be sportsmanlike about it either (we'll get to that.) When attending to business properly, the young Habs got 32 saves from Jose Theodore and came back after giving up the first goal to take a lead and hang onto it. Lonny Bohonos started the scoring by sending a shot all the way through the net and out the back. It took some discussion before a goal was called. Marc Beaucage scored the goal that eventually stood as the game-winner. Every game in this series was won by the road team.

But the Canadiens refused to participate in the post-game handshake until they were
embarrassed into it by St. John's trainer Nick Addey-Jibb, who scurried about trying to get someone, <i>anyone</i> from the Habs to shake his hand. Even then, only six
players returned for the handshakes even though nearly every Leaf did. Then again, the
Canadiens are coached by a man whose idea of sportsmanship is spitting on opposing
players, so we shouldn't be surprised by their failure to uphold a respectful tradition. Fredericton players then complained to the media that St. John's was the dirty team, even though it's Fredericton's players who have the established track record for obscene gestures at the fans.

For that matter, Fredericton is coached by a man who likes to start fights in public
places, while St. John's is led by a player who can't walk away when he really should. St. John's leading scorer Lonny Bohonos was arrested after Game Five and charged with
assault after the St. John's police received a complaint from Fredericton coach Michel
Therrien about an incident in the local bar district the night previous. 

Evidently Therrien decided to cruise the 20-something bar scene, despite being way too
old for that, and went to a pub known to be frequented by the young Leafs, including
Bohonos. Therrien, knowing that Bohonos is best friends and roommates with Mark
Deyell, apparently said something to Bohonos to the effect that Deyell "got what he
deserved." The pub kicked them both out. And you can guess what Bohonos did to
Therrien once outside the pub. Therrien then filed the complaint with the local police - and had a hissy fit when the police declined to arrest Bohonos prior to the start of Game Five. Gee, wonder why he picked a fight with the opposition's leading scorer?

Other Notes:

Not a surprise, but the St. Louis Blues renewed their agreement with the Worcester
IceCats for five years. The teams will be cahoots for the next five years. A similar
agreement between the IceCats and the Centrum is expected shortly...


-----------------------------------------------------------------
AHL Playoffs: Second Round Preview
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by Tricia McMillan

Time for round two, after a first round in which the ants were marching two by two. I
had two series exactly right, two where I picked the right team but the wrong length, two where I had the right length but the wrong team, and two exactly wrong. At least I can blame the two exactly wrong, both Atlantic Division series, on the AHL schedule since Saint John never ventured near me and Fredericton and Lowell both wandered through quite early in the season. Tough to pick a series when you haven't seen the teams.

We now switch to a best of seven series. Except for Philadelphia/Kentucky, which is a 2-3-2 format, the teams will play 2-2-1-1-1. Ain't geography great?

One can only hope that in this round, maybe certain members of certain coaching staffs
around the league will start conducting themselves like responsible citizens. And I would certainly suggest to the Montreal Canadiens that their farm team's coach needs a curfew more than his players do. Hell, he needs a babysitter and a dictionary explaining the term 'sportsmanship', as he clearly has never heard of it.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Empire Division

#1 Rochester Americans v. #3 Hamilton Bulldogs

Game One:    Wednesday, May 5 at Rochester
Game Two:    Friday, May 7 at Rochester
Game Three:  Saturday, May 8 at Hamilton
Game Four:   Tuesday, May 11 at Hamilton
*Game Five:  Friday, May 14 at Rochester
*Game Six:   Sunday, May 16 at Hamilton
*Game Seven: Tuesday, May 18 at Rochester

Rochester in six.

I'm probably being really nice to Hamilton, giving them two games. Which is not to say
they're a bad team, heck, they're a darn good one. But they'll need every ounce of rust the Amerks have accumulated to get anywhere in this series. I'm liking the Amerks for the whole shebang, and their divisional patsies (Hamilton won what, one of ten games?) aren't going to slow them down. The AHL's all-time best defensive team will troop onward.

Mid-Atlantic Division

#1 Philadelphia Phantoms v. #2 Kentucky Thoroughblades

Game One:    Wednesday, May 5 at Philadelphia
Game Two:    Friday, May 7 at Philadelphia
Game Three:  Sunday, May 9 at Kentucky
Game Four:   Tuesday, May 11 at Kentucky
*Game Five:  Thursday, May 13 at Kentucky
*Game Six:   Saturday, May 15 at Philadelphia
*Game Seven: Sunday, May 16 at Philadelphia

Philadelphia in seven.

Former 800-pound gorilla Philadelphia has been distinctly vulnerable the back half of the season, particularly to their divisional mates Kentucky and Hershey. And the T-Blades have their power play cooking. But this series is really a tossup that's going to need all seven games. And while I like Kentucky, a Philadelphia win means I get to see another hockey game this season. So we'll go with the Phantoms.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

New England Division

#1 Providence Bruins v. #2 Hartford WolfPack

Game One:     Wednesday, May 5 at Providence
Game Two:     Friday, May 7 at Providence
Game Three:   Saturday, May 8 at Hartford
Game Four:    Monday, May 10 at Hartford
*Game Five:   Friday, May 14 at Providence
*Game Six:    Wednesday, May 19 at Hartford
*Game Seven:  Friday, May 21 at Providence

Providence in five.

Hartford and Providence saw a lot of each other this year and the results were almost
uniformly ugly. And almost uniformly ugly in the Bruins' favor. Indeed, the only favor
Hartford is going to get is that the big Bruins have moved on and hence will be keeping some of Providence's weapons up top a bit longer. But JF Labbe is not playing like a playoff hero right now and he'll have to be the best of his life to stop Providence.

Atlantic Division
 
#2 Fredericton Canadiens v. #4 Saint John Flames

Game One:    Wednesday, May 5 at Fredericton
Game Two:    Friday, May 7 at Fredericton
Game Three:  Sunday, May 9 at Saint John
Game Four:   Wednesday, May 12 at Saint John
*Game Five:  Friday, May 14 at Fredericton
*Game Six:   Sunday, May 16 at Saint John
*Game Seven: Tuesday, May 18 at Fredericton.

Saint John in seven.

The difference between these teams on the ice is razor-thin. The question is simply, who will be better, Theodore or Giguere? The only other possible question is whether
Fredericton's Francis Bouillon will be available after injuring a leg blocking a shot.
Earlier, I would have picked Fredericton to keep the franchise alive a little longer. Now, I'll take Saint John to keep sportsmanship alive a little longer. Hope the Flames don't expect a handshake line, since they'll be alone out there.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Publishing Change
-----------------------------------------------------------------
by LCS Hockey

Normally in the postseason we roll once a week in order to keep
up with all the fast-paced, heart-stopping action. 
Unfortunately, it gives us great pain to announce that due to
circumstances beyond our control there will not be an issue next
Wednesday.  

It gives us even greater pain to announce that LCS Hockey will
return the following week on Wednesday, May 19.  

So all you valued readers out there will have to survive an extra
week without LCS Hockey's special brand of mediocrity.  I know
it'll be hard, but try to fill the void somehow.  Like maybe the
twelve of you can get together and have a party or something.  Do
what ya can.  And be back here in two weeks.  Unless you don't
feel like it, then screw it.  It's not like we know you're here
anyway.  

  
================================================================
TEAM REPORTS
================================================================
EASTERN CONFERENCE
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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, Dallas Eakins. G -
Curtis Joseph, Glenn Healy. 

Injuries: Igor Korolev, lw (broken leg, indefinite).

Transactions: 5/2/99 - Dallas Eakins Called up from minors (St.
John's of the AHL).

Game Results
First Round vs Philadelphia: Leafs won 4-2
4/22 Philadelphia      L 3-0
4/24 Philadelphia      W 2-1
4/26 at Philadelphia   W 2-1 
4/28 at Philadelphia   L 5-2
4/30 Philadelphia      W 2-1 OT
5/02 at Philadelphia   W 1-0

TEAM NEWS by Jonah Sigel

Leafs Win, Leafs Win!

Out played, out sized, out scored but in the end, the team left
standing was your 1998-99 Toronto Maple Leafs!  

They beat the big bad wolf, they huffed and huffed and blew the
house down.  In the end, the Flyers could do nothing but whine
about penalties and go home.  Never mind the 0-6 on power plays
in game six, including five in a row and four in succession in
the second period.  It was a blatant, yet not lethal elbow by
John LeClair that gave the Leafs, owner of one of the worst power
plays in the league, the opportunity to go ahead 1-0.  So they
did, Sergei Berezin buried a rebound from Bryan Berard who had
the game of his life.  As the clock struck 59 seconds to go in
the third, the Leafs went up 1-0, an insurmountable lead the
Flyers could not tackle.

This was a series that should not have gone this far or this
long.  For the most part, the Leafs were never allowed to play
their game.  The highest scoring team in the league was held to
nine goals in six games.  However, as ruff and rugged as the
Flyers were in the end it was not enough.  The Leafs survived
playing the Flyers' game.  They got garbage goals when it
counted, key hits when they needed them, and for the most part
stayed out of the box when they had to.

More impressive is who the Leafs used to get there.  Mats Sundin
was invisible offensively the entire series, it was not until
game five that Yanic Perreault scored and of course Berezin is
Berezin.  Playing with the lego type helmet to protect an injured
face, he was able to get to the net when need be and score the
goals that the Leafs desperately needed. 

As for the Flyers, they simply could not come up big when they
needed to.  In the end, it was an owner left making a fool of
himself in front of the world crying about one call.  It took,
gulp, Barry Melrose to tell it like it was.  Melrose, on ESPN's
NHL Tonight, claimed that in crying to and about the officiating
Snider and Neilson took the blame away from where it belonged,
the players.  For it was the players who went 0-6 that night and
who were unable to score when it counted.

So the Leafs get the Pens, but it is almost as if it doesn't
matter.  After not being in the playoffs the last three 
years, getting there was enough.  Competing with the Flyers was
great, beating them tremendous.  So whatever happens, happens. 
As it sits tonight, the Leafs are the highest ranked Eastern team
left in the playoffs and that ain't bad.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
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 won 4-2
4/22 at Toronto  W 3-0
4/24 at Toronto  L 2-1
4/26 Toronto     L 2-1
4/28 Toronto     W 5-2
4/30 at Toronto  L 2-1 OT
5/02 Toronto     L 1-0

TEAM NEWS by Chuck Michio, Philadelphia Correspondent

KAPUT!
Could it have ended any worse?

The Flyers got shut out in a must-win game, scored just 11 goals
in six playoff games, and cost themselves the series-winning goal
with a mindlessly idiotic penalty.

And when the time came for them to admit that they stunk like a
400-pound homeless Florida resident in August, they launched into
all-too-familiar rants about hot goalies, bad bounces, and lousy
officiating.

Has anyone else had enough of this?

The company line is that this club just needs more time to gel.
Call me nuts, but I'm not convinced that more small-scale
tinkering such as "let's replace Trent Klatt with Jody Hull" is
going to put this team over the top.

Since arriving in the finals two years ago, the Flyers have
suffered three consecutive listless playoff series losses. And
they've left with hardly a whimper of resistance.

What the hell has happened to this organization? Used to be that
you were taking your life in your hands if you knocked the Flyers
out of the playoffs. Sure, you might beat them, but Paul
Holmgren, Dave Schultz, or Glen Cochrane might leave three of
your guys with permanent twitches and speech impediments. Now,
the guys in orange and black go as quietly as geriatric
Alzheimer's patients getting shuffled off to their respective
nursing homes.

Just 12 years ago, Flyer great Mark Howe cried after his
injury-crippled team suffered a Game 7 loss in the finals to a
healthy Edmonton club that was firing on all cylinders. "I just
wish I could have done more to help us win," Howe said.

The Flyers stars have lost that sense of accountability -- the
sense that the responsibility for winning or losing lies with
them. And it's not going to be restored with the same core group
of players. That has to be clear by now.

It's time for change, Mr. Clarke.

THE CALL
I can certainly understand why a lot of irrational Flyers fans
are going to cling desperately to the "bad penalty call" excuse
that presented itself when Terry Gregson raised his arm in the
final three minutes of Game 6.

What's more disturbing to me is the fact that the Flyers
organization seems to be voicing the same opinion.

Penalties are a part of hockey. And in the NHL, penalties almost
always even up over the course of a game. The Flyers know that.
And since the referees had gifted them with so many power-play
opportunities in Game 6, they should have done a better job of
guarding themselves against a possible even-up call in the game's
final minutes.

Was LeClair's penalty a vicious, "must-call" offense? Absolutely
not. But his elbow was clearly raised on the play in question,
and it did contact the Leafs player in the head. As a veteran,
not to mention an All-Star, LeClair should have known it was a
stupid risk to take -- particularly at that juncture of a
must-win game.

Flyers fans should also remember that the game didn't end when
Gregson made the call, it ended when the Flyers failed to kill
the penalty.

Good teams kill penalties in playoff games. The Leafs killed a
bushel basket of second-period Flyer power plays in the game. The
Flyers could've made Gregson's call insignificant by doing the
same thing.

ANOTHER NEW "ITIS"
In addition to whining about Gregson's call, coach Roger Neilson
also declared the Flyers lack of a right-handed sniper for the
power play as a key factor in the series.

Somebody pass me some potent booze and a crack pipe!

The problem with the Flyers power play wasn't that their players
all shot left-handed -- it's that most of them were reluctant to
shoot AT ALL.

Dedicated readers of this column already know of the dreaded
disease we know as Brind'Amouritis, the severe hardening of the
hands that afflicts numerous Flyers in key games. Now, I
reluctantly have to discuss a similarly terrible ailment,
Zubov-itis. This one causes sufferers to attempt impossible
cross-ice passes on the power play instead of rearing back and
firing the puck.

Although Curtis Joseph acquitted himself very well in the series
(a personal "F-U" to Bob Clarke?), he was hardly tested in the
deciding contest. Considering the high number of Flyers power
plays, that's inexcusable.

RIGHTING THE WRONGS
No matter how much talk we'll hear this summer about the absence
of Lindros, the poor officiating, and the lack of a right-handed
shooter for the Flyers so-called "power play," the real problem
with this team is still a decided lack of heart.

Prior to Game 6, Rod Brind'Amour gave one of the most disturbing
radio interviews I've ever heard. With the Flyers down three
games to two and on the brink of elimination, I expected to hear
the team captain voicing Messier-like promises. But instead of
guaranteeing increased effort and better results, Brind'Amour
spoke at length about bad breaks and how proud he was of his
teammates.

Does anyone else see a problem with this?

Champion sports teams all have one thing in common, they
absolutely HATE to lose. I don't sense that hatred and dread of
losing in the leaders of this Flyers team. They consistently say
the wrong things at the wrong time and ultimately come up short
when games matter most. I can't help but think that the two
things are related.

Fans who remember Bobby Clarke, the hockey player, know that he
never, EVER accepted any excuse for losing. And during his tenure
as Flyers leader, his teammates shared the philosophy that losing
was a cardinal sin. Small wonder that they captured two Stanley
Cups and made two additional trips to the finals.

Of all people, Clarke must realize that the current Flyers don't
hate losing nearly enough. The acquisitions of warriors such as
Keith Jones, Daymond Langkow, and Valeri Zelepukin indicate that
he probably realizes the Flyers need more heart, but there's more
significant work to do. I believe that Clarke is going to do it.

Personally, I would love to see him put an end to the Randall
Cunningham-like Lindros era in Philly, but I don't think that #88
will be the one to go. I think that Rod Brind'Amour is a much
more likely candidate.

Teams want Brind'Amour. The Flyers could have traded him
straight-up for Dominik Hasek just two years ago, and while that
opportunity is a distant memory, Brind'Amour could still bring a
good deal of talent.

Should they finally part with Brindy? If they're not going to
trade Lindros, I think they should. Something has to happen to
change the chemistry on this team. And that's not going to happen
if the same leaders are kept in place.

Clarke would also be wise to give the number one goaltender job
to one of the youngsters from the Phantoms. Both Brian Boucher
and Jean-Marc Pelletier have shown that they're ready for NHL
action, and both would likely be significant upgrades from John
Vanbiesbrouck. Had Geezer not allowed Steve Thomas' piddly
backhander to knot Game 2, 1-1, in the final two minutes of
regulation, the Flyers would likely be preparing to play
Pittsburgh right now.

The current Flyers regime has a history of putting faith in
talented young goalies. Back in 1987, Clarke had a big hand in
giving the starting job to an unproven rookie named Ron Hextall,
who carried the orange and black all the way to the finals. Let's
hope that Boucher or Pelletier gets the same chance to dazzle in
1999-2000.

There's a lot of talk that there won't be a change behind the
Flyers bench, but I truly hope that Clarke isn't set on keeping
Roger Neilson as his coach. The fact that the Flyers outplayed
the Leafs for much of the series is proof of his skills as a
strategist, but Neilson is the wrong man for this club. With no
inspirational leaders on the ice, the Flyers need a coach with
better motivational skills.

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but wouldn't Mike Keenan be a
nice fit for this team? Iron Mike has flopped as a GM, but
there's still no one better at ringing every ounce of talent out
of a team. I'd love to see him back behind the Flyers bench.

Unfortunately, Clarke's aversion to Keenan will probably prevent
that scenario even in the unlikely event that Neilson is fired.
Bill Barber is probably another long shot, but I think he'd do an
excellent job as well. Barber has already acquired a reputation
as an outstanding motivator. And if he doesn't get a shot with
the Flyers soon, his excellent work at the AHL level is sure to
earn him a post somewhere else in the big leagues in the next
couple years.

All in all, there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic
about the Flyers chances in the near future. A healthy Mark
Recchi should provide much more offense, and center Simon Gagne,
a player many scouts are calling the best player in Canadian
junior hockey right now, may also be able to contribute in
1999-2000. Factor in the likely trade of Brind'Amour for a
right-handed sniper and the Flyers look strong on "O."

The defense also looks solid. Prior to his knee injury, Eric
Desjardins was having a Norris Trophy caliber season and he'll
return at 100%. Adam Burt acquitted himself very well in the
playoffs and should replace Luke Richardson full-time. Dan
McGillis is emerging into one of the best young defensemen in the
NHL. Dmitri Tertyshny should display even more promise in his
second season. Chris Therien has not become the dominant player
the club hoped he would, but he remains a valuable performer. And
Karl Dykhuis is a decent veteran to have around.

Either Pelletier or Boucher is capable of having a break-out
season in the net. And the addition of either would add some
excitement to following the team.

Oh well. Time to say what the old Brooklyn Dodger fans used to
say. "Wait 'til next year."

Ah, hell.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
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: Landon Wilson, lw (shoulder, indefinite).

Transactions: None.

Game Results
First Round vs Carolina: Bruins won 4-2 
4/22 at Carolina    W 2-0
4/24 at Carolina    L 3-2 OT
4/26 Carolina       L 3-2
4/28 Carolina       W 4-1
4/30 at Carolina    W 4-3 2OT
5/02 Carolina       W 2-0

TEAM NEWS by Matt Brown

The Boston Bruins advanced to the second round of the NHL
playoffs for the first time since 1994 by beating the Carolina
Hurricanes four games to two.

But the festive glee of Boston fans was quieted by the sad and
horrible news that one of the Carolina Hurricanes best players,
defenseman Steve Chiasson, was killed in an automobile accident
only hours after returning to Carolina.  Chiasson, who did
yeoman's work all series, played Bourque-like minutes, set up a
game-winner, and scored a big goal himself, died at the age of
32, leaving behind a wife and three children. This heartbreaking
loss to the Carolina team, the NHL, and all of Steve Chiasson's
many friends, reminds all of us, but hockey fans in particular,
how fragile we all are, regardless of the money and the fame
and the cheers.  How boorish and immature and heartless the
seemingly innocent fan chants of "Primeau sucks!" and
"ERRRRRRRBAY" sound, when we realize that either of these players
could have been in Steve Chiasson's place. 

The teams and players have to get on with hockey now, but it is
very unlikely that they will forget about Steve Chiasson any time
soon.  Certainly Bruin Tim Taylor, who was Chiasson's teammate in
Detroit, won't forget. Taylor even said, with sadness, that if
the Bruins had lost game six, Steve would have gone straight home
instead of to a player's house after the flight, and he might
still be alive today.

The Bruins, led by the steady performance of goaltender Byron
Dafoe, fought back from a two-games-to-one deficit to win the
series. Boston was shocked on their home ice in game three by the
'Canes, and dropped their second 3-2 decision in a row. Things
looked bleak at that point, because the Bruins record in home
playoff games at the FleetCenter was abysmal: they were 0-3 last
year against Washington, and were now 0-1 against the ex-Whalers.

That was the low point, but what followed was glorious for Bruins
fans.  The B's won three straight, including a double-overtime
thrilla' in Carolina (OK, so it  rhymed better with "Manilla")
that took a lot of wind out of the Hurricanes. Then, returning to
the FleetCenter, the Bruins triumphed in a game six that brought
back memories of the old Boston Garden days. The Fleet was sold
out, and the fans were rocking way before the opening whistle. 
All the Bruins, from the brass to the bench, commented about the
effect that the crowd had on both teams.  Boston was lifted, and
the Hurricanes looked like lambs resigned to becoming lamb chops.

Of course, the game wasn't like that at all. Carolina played fast
and tough. They were beaten because the Bruins connected on goals
that no goalie could stop, and the 'Canes were unable to connect
on three times as many similar chances.  Hurricanes missed open
nets, dinged the crossbar, roofed the puck into the stands, and
generally were mesmerized by a 6x4 rectangle.  Carolina coach
Paul Maurice stated that for the first practice next season, the
goalies will stay in the locker room and the rest of the team
will practice shooting at an empty net. That's brutal, but an
accurate reflection of how frustrated the 'Canes must have been.

While Ray Sheppard was the offense for Carolina with five goals,
the Bruins divided 16 goals among 11 players, and scoring leader
Jason Allison did not score one goal. Allison had six assists,
however, and was a major factor throughout the series. He was the
only player to register a point in every game in the series,
setting up other Bruins with strong puck control and alert
passing.  Dimitri Khristich, seemingly left for dead on the end
of the bench farthest from Pat Burns, revived his play in the
last half of the series, and assisted on Joe Thornton's
first playoff goal, which was also the game six series-winning
goal.  Not a bad start for a 19-year-old.

But the two stories of the playoff series, from a Bruins
perspective, have to be the 53-minute performance of Captain Ray
Bourque in the Bruins' double overtime win, and the amazing
comeback of Tim Taylor from a devastating Gary Roberts hit from
behind in game five, to play a major role in keeping Carolina off
the scoreboard in game six.

Ray Bourque played the kind of series that both showed his age
and showed his immense value as an experienced veteran. Even
though the hands aren't quite as quick at miraculously keeping
the puck in the zone on the power play, and even though the
wheels can't quite chase down and hog-tie a bent for leather
young stud like Keith Primeau the way they used to, Ray hasn't
lost one bit of stamina. This is a guy who still has enough jump
left in overtime to rush the puck into the face-off circle
on offense and get back on defense. Ray's 53 minutes in game five
were 13 minutes more than any other player. With a guy like that
setting an example, how can the young guys give any less? His
performance, night in and night out, is an inspiration to a young
bunch of kids who are still not jaded enough to be
impressionable. Remember, when Ray Bourque started his NHL
career, his teammate Joe Thornton was three months old.

Boston management and fans were calling for Gary Roberts' head
after the hit on Taylor, and in all probability the hit did more
to fire up the Bruins than intimidate them.  Roberts was a marked
man for the rest of the series, though fortunately that meant
hard-nosed play rather than a bunch of cheapshots. 

Taylor's appearance on the Fleet ice in game six, brought to you
by industrial strength painkillers, was a major factor in
firing up the crowd, or at least it was one of the excuses they
used to hoot and holler. Taylor managed to convince the usually
reluctant Pat Burns that he could play, in part by telling Pat
that he had gone through the same thing while with Detroit, and
with the proper medication, he would be fine. While that may not
have worked for many of us back in our college days, it seems to
have worked for Tim, because he played a solid game. Carolina,
however desperate they were, showed a great deal of class by not
painting a target on Taylor's back: They hit him, but nobody went
gunning for his mildly separated should or cracked ribs.

The bummer of the series was that even though Landon Wilson
scored the winning goal in game four, the game that put the
Bruins back on the winning track, Wilson had to watch the end of
that game and the rest of the series from the bench with a
separated shoulder, and not one of the Tim Taylor ice-him-down,
shoot-hit-up variety. Wilson was just starting to be a presence
on the ice in this playoff when he was injured.  Wilson, acquired
from Colorado for a first round pick, had been widely criticized
as a bad trade, but his play near the end of the season had
stepped up considerably, and he was definitely pulling his weight
in the playoffs.

Not enough can be said about the play of Byron Dafoe. Byron had a
rough moment or two, like the fluky goal off a behind the net
shot from Robert Kron. But overall, Dafoe was stingy and tough.
He leads all playoff goalies with two shutouts, and his goals-
against average is 1.46, tied with Curtis Joseph and only a few
hundredths behind Hasek.

There is no question that Dafoe kept Boston in the series,
especially when the Bruins suffered many defensive breakdowns
down low and behind the net.  However good a Burns defense is in
front of the goal and in the box formation on penalty kills, it
seems to fare worst on players controlling behind the net and
curling out to the slot for a shot.  Time and time again in the
regular season, the Bruins gave up scoring chances and goals by
botching this coverage. The Bs were also victimized by it in the
playoffs, but the Canes did not beat both the defense and Dafoe
often enough to turn the series in their favor.

All in all, the Carolina Hurricanes were a worthy opponent, and
they fought the Bruins every inch of the way. They played a tough
hitting game that was on the razor's edge of legal, and stormed
the net, but never resorted to pure thuggery in the pursuit of
wins. Their players showed heart and class.  

In many ways, the Hurricanes were the perfect opponent for the
Bruins babes, few of whom had ever won a playoff series. In a
first round series, the Bruins might have been frustrated by a
Buffalo and Dominik Hasek (the way a young Ottawa club was), or
intimidated by the size of the Flyers, or the swift goal scoring
of Toronto, or the depth of New Jersey. Going into the later
rounds, the Bruins will be better prepared for any of these teams
by virtue of having played Carolina, which had a decent bit of
all of these qualities, but not enough of any one of them to win
the series. But they were tough enough to season the young Bruins
so that a Hasek won't seem so intimidating, or a Toronto offense
won't seem so unstoppable.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
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: None.

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

Bring on the B's

Kind of what you'd call a quiet week on the Sabres front.  

Hearkening back to the team's nine-day layoff before the Eastern
Conference final last year, Lindy Ruff wanted to spend the idle
week making sure his team stayed sharp.  Al Strachan wanted to
trade Dominik Hasek.  What about my wants?

With the Devils' collapse against the Penguins, completed Tuesday
night, the matchup with the Bruins was set.  Is your most
pronounced memory of the Bruins in the playoffs May Day in 1993,
or that goal Brad Park scored in overtime of game seven in 1983? 
I guess it would, in part, depend upon how old you are.  

Mine is from the year of Clint Malarchuk's injury, we were
playing the Bruins in the first round (it would have had to have
been, I suppose) and this Bruins fan in the Aud gets a load of
heckling from us Sabres fans and he turns around and swipes his
hand across his neck a few times and says "Malarchuk!  Give him
another one!"   Ha ha!  That droll, genteel Beantown humor.  In
any case, the Sabres have not drawn a cupcake playoff opponent
just because it's the sixth seed.  They did that in the second
round last year.  The Bruins are likely the best of the other
three remaining Eastern teams.  A beer!  Give me another one!


-----------------------------------------------------------------
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach: Kevin Constantine
   
Roster:  C - Martin Straka, Robert Lang, Jan Hrdina, Tyler
Wright. LW - German Titov, Kip Miller, Matthew Barnaby, Dan
Kesa, Brian Bonin.  RW - Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Kovalev, Aleksey
Morozov, Robby Brown, Martin Sonnenberg. D - Darius Kasparaitis,
Kevin Hatcher, Brad Werenka, Jiri Slegr, Ian Moran, Sven
Butenschon, Bobby Dollas, Neil Wilkinson, Jeff Serowik, Victor
Ignatjev, Maxim Galanov, Pavel Skrbek. G - Tom Barrasso, Peter
Skudra, Jean-Sebastien Aubin.   

Injuries: Darius Kasparaitis, d (knee, out for the year); Jeff
Serowik, d (concussion, indefinite).

Transactions: None.

Game Results
First Round vs New Jersey: Penguins won 4-3
4/22 at New Jersey  L 3-1
4/24 at New Jersey  W 4-1
4/25 New Jersey     W 4-2
4/27 New Jersey     L 4-2
4/30 at New Jersey  L 4-3
5/02 New Jersey     W 3-2 OT
5/04 at New Jersey  W 4-2
 
TEAM NEWS by Jerry Fairish

Seed, Smeed!

And then there were eight.  Not just eight teams left to vie for
Lord Stanley's Cup, but the eighth-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins.
The team that nobody gave a chance to win. The same Pittsburgh
Penguins team that I myself said would lose in five games.  The
same team that lost their leader and captain Jaromir Jagr in the
first game of the series.  The team that knocked the New Jersey
Devils out of the playoffs.

The Penguins headed into the Continental Airlines Arena Tuesday
night for a deciding Game 7 with the hope of being the second
straight Number 8 seed to send the Devils to the golf course
early after a first round exit.    

The Penguins were able to manage four goals on only 13 shots and
now advance to the second round to meet the Toronto Maple Leafs. 
Jan Hrdina's goal with 17 seconds left in the second period
proved to be his biggest goal as a pro, not to mention the game-
winner.  German Titov netted his first playoff goal of the year
in a Penguin's 3-goal second period.  Tom Barrasso was stellar
between the pipes to insure the Penguins would have at least four
more games to play.  Martin Straka had one goal and two assists
to bring his playoff point total to 11 (six goals, five assists). 
Oh yeah, Jaromir Jagr chipped in with a pair of assists and
finished the series with five points in three games.  

Jagr returned to the Penguin lineup Sunday afternoon for a
pivotal Game 6 in Pittsburgh.  And although he was not playing at
100% due to his groin injury, he only managed the game-tying and
overtime goals to force a seventh game.  Jagr was almost
Mario-like.  He showed the world Sunday that he, not only is the
greatest player in the world, but that he can really step up and
be a leader.  He single-handedly brought the Penguins back from
elimination.  

With just over two minutes to go in the third period, the Devils
were enjoying a 2-1 lead and the fact that this just might be
their year.  Their year to advance to the second round.  Their
year to win only their second playoff series since their Stanley
Cup in 1995.  Their year to take the number 8 seed out, and not
vice-versa.  Well guess what? Their year is over.  Jagr took a
German Titov pass in the third and stuffed in under Devils goalie
Martin Brodeur to knot the game at 2-2 and send the game into
overtime. Did you think he was done? Not a chance.  Jagr
delivered an encore that would send the team back to New Jersey
and send the Igloo into an absolute frenzy.  

With just about nine minutes left, Martin Straka skated down the
left wing boards.  He turned Scott Niedermayer inside out and cut
towards the net.  Jagr, who was breaking down the right side,
took a picture-perfect pass from Straka and roofed a goal past
Brodeur.  Not bad for a guy who didn't even expect to play. 
Which brings us back to Game 7.

The Pens, who trailed this series 1-0 and 3-2, now had the chance
to be the second straight 8 seed to say buh-bye to "El Diablo". 
The Pens did not waste their chance.  German Titov opened the
scoring in the second period.  He took a Martin Straka pass and
knocked it into a wide-open net to give the Pens a 1-0 lead. 
Jason Arnott scored about three minutes later to tie the game at
-11.  Later in the second, Alexei Kovalev collected his fourth
goal of the playoffs after a wrist shot found the five-hole on
Brodeur and gave the Pens a 2-1 advantage.  Rookie sensation Jan
Hrdina one-timed a Jagr pass with just 17 seconds to go in the
period and put the Pens up by two goals, 3-1.  

Dave Andreychuk brought the Devils within a goal in the third
after throwing a rebound past Tom Barrasso.  But once again it
was Straka and Jagr that put the nail in the coffin of the
Devils.  While New Jersey was in the midst of a line change, Jagr
and Straka broke in on a virtual 2-on-0, Jags put a shot on net
and the rebound came right to Straka who backhanded it upstairs
and gave the Pens a 4-2 lead and an eventual victory.  The Devils
once again managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  

Toronto, who eliminated the Flyers in six games, will host the
Penguins Friday night.  This series proves to be an equal
matchup.  The teams split the season series 2-2.  Both teams
scored 13 goals in the four games.  So now you gonna ask me who I
think will win.  Well, I've pretty much been wrong the entire
season about the Pens.  I said the Pens would suck this year, I
was wrong.  I said that Jaromir Jagr would not fill the skates of
Ron Francis and lead this squad, once again, wrong.  I said that
the Pens had zero chance to beat the Devils and that they would
lose in five, you guessed it; wrong again!   So now I will say
this, the team that wins four games first will win.  Finally I'm
right.  

=================================================================

=================================================================
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": Pat Verbeek, rw (sprained knee, probable for game one of
second round). Guy Carbonneau, c (ligament tear in knee, 7-10
days). 
 
Transactions: None

Game Results
First Round vs Edmonton: Stars wins 4-0  
4/21 Edmonton     W 2-1
4/23 Edmonton     W 3-2 
4/25 at Edmonton  W 3-2 
4/27 at Edmonton  W 3-2 3 OT

Team News by Jim Panenka, Dallas Correspondent

Oilers Would Not Go Down Quietly

Yes, on paper, the series was a sweep. When you drill down a little
("drill" I get it - Oilers, drill.) what you will see is a
four-game series that all players involved would probably tell you
felt more like 10 games.  Give Edmonton all the credit they deserve
- they fought as hard as they could for as long as they could.  

But in the end, they came up short on the number of opportunities
that were cashed in. The Stars were able to take advantage of their
opportunities a few more times than the Oil. Look at the scores,
for Pete's sake! All games were decided by a single goal, and
neither team scored more than three times in any game.  

This series was decided by defense and goaltending, no question
about it. And Ed Belfour came out on top in this series. He is a
major factor in why Dallas survived to see the second round. Eddie
was by no means brilliant, he did get a little rattled and went
swimming once or twice- but it was his stalwart efforts in game
four, especially the overtimes (yes, that was plural) that really
kept Dallas in the hunt. Belfour routinely turned away quality
scoring chances that could have very easily won it for the Oil and
sent the series to game five.  

That is Belfour's Modus Operandi, after all: not a lot of flash, but
good consistency and an amazing knack for making critically key
saves at just the right time. And that is what he did. If Belfour
retains this focus into the Western Conference finals, then Dallas
is gonna be tough to beat, Jack.  

Oh yeah, those overtimes. Game Four started out like the previous
three. But oh, Chester, did it ever finish differently! Before
everything was said and done, before both teams lined up to shake
hands, they played a marathon 5 hour, 20 minute contest. Yes - it
went to three overtimes. Nearly two complete games.  

In what color analyst Darryl Reaugh called "maybe the best game I've
ever seen," both teams fought and played hard for every shift of
every period. It wasn't until the second overtime that things began
getting sloppy.  

Think about the incredible shape these athletes are in - they played
for five hours of hockey at the NHL level! A few shifts would kill
the mere mortal out there at that level. Some of these guys (like
Sergei Zubov and Shawn Chambers) played over 60 minutes! Yes, that's
the equivalent of playing one entire game without a single shift off.
Incredible! That's the one word that kept coming to mind. Incredible,
that these guys could play at this level for this long, and still be
playing a quality game.  

Of course, towards the bitter end, things were nearly comical. You
could see players falling on each other just to get the break! One
player would just collapse on another, and they would both fall to
the ice and stay there until the refs told them to get up! Yes,
they were getting pretty tired.  

"It got to the point where I thought we were going to flip a coin to
decide it. ... It was a four-game sweep but it felt like it was a
seven-game series," said Stars' center Joe Nieuwendyk. The Oilers
would not yield.  

It wasn't until the 17:34 mark of the third overtime period, when
Joe Nieuwendyk positioned himself in front of the net to try to
deflect a point shot from Sergei Zubov, that the game finally
(mercifully) ended. Zubov's shot hit Nieuwendyk's shin pad and
deflected past Tommy Salo.  

Just like that, it was over. Salo sat there for several minutes in
stunned disbelief. That guy had the weight of a battleship on his
shoulders for the whole series. He stood on his head and
single-handedly kept the Oilers team alive. And then, what reward
did he get for that monumental effort? Watching a stinking puck
flip by you off of some guy's leg! Yeah, that'll suck.  

Realistically, if Salo hadn't played that well - Dallas would have
won at least two of the four by a score of something like 4-1 or
5-2. The Stars were getting that many quality chances. Salo just
kept saying no until fate decided the series for him.  

And to that end, give the Stars a ton of credit also. This team was
billed as old and slow, and wouldn't be able to handle the Oilers
youth and speed. Well guess again, Clyde! Dallas played a brilliant
series. And except for a few outmanned rushes, the Stars played
right with the young and speedy Oilers.  

And, they did that without their captain (Hatcher), without one of
their leading penalty killers and best face-off men (Carbonneau),
and without their number two defenseman (Matvichuk).  

So, Dallas survives to the second round. Opponent is yet to be
determined. But, it looks like the Phoenix Coyotes will have a
chance to avenge Hatcher's hit on JR. And, if that wasn't
surprising enough, it looks like Roenick has an outside chance to
play in the series! JR has been skating with the team and is
chomping at the bit to get back out there, pending doctor's
clearance.  Look out, Dallas. Better button down the helmets
tightly if Phoenix comes to town. Is it too late to pick up an
enforcer off waivers?  

Other Notes

* Shawn Chambers played brilliantly in the absence of Derian
Hatcher. He and Sergei Zubov held the ship together long enough for
the forwards to work their magic. Chamber's experience in the
playoffs proved invaluable in this series. Chambers was usually the
one to throw the first and last hits on the ice- all the while
playing water-tight D. Waytogo Shawn!  

* Sergei Zubov was a man possessed. Old Zuby just wouldn't be
bothered by all the hubbub out there on the ice. He played with a
zero-panic level at all times, and kept on keeping on despite all
the physicality. Zubov rejuvenated the wilting power play with his
silky-smooth puck movement, and also had several key assists,
including Nieuwendyk's game and series-winner in game four. Zubov
appeared as one of the three stars in at least two of the four
games. Welcome back, Zuby! (He's nuts- I tell ya!)  

* Joe Nieuwendyk has not only served as interim captain, but has
also come up with several game-winners, as well as playing with
abandon. Does this guy ever quit? He has to be one of the best
class-acts in the entire league. He is just too cool for words.
He's my hero. I'm naming my first-born after him! Go Joe! Joe is
cool! OK, you get the idea, no?  

* When will Brett Hull score? Does it matter? Not as long as he
plays defensively sound. Well, Ok, it DOES matter. More on that
later. But, he has heard it from his 'mates. The following was seen
posted on Hull's locker:  


"For soft hands to score goals:
1. Liberally apply baby oil to hands.
2. Rub in thoroughly.
3. Place baby powder on knob of stick.
4. Shoot between the pipes for best results."


Yep, dem's some funny boys out theyah in Dallas. 

* Pat Verbeek is due to come back for game one of round two. But
coach Hitchcock has vowed not to make Verbeek's comeback at
newcomer Blake Sloan's expense.  

"I don't see why we would even think about bringing him [Sloan]
out," coach Ken Hitchcock told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I
don't see that being a factor at all."  

Think Sloan has impressed Hitchcock? He sure has impressed this
reporter. Remember, kids, they picked him up from the Houston Aeros
of the IHL! How many other "minor leaguers" are out there that can
give the big NHL kids a run for their money?  Interesting...  

Anyway, Dallas lives to see another day. Good luck, boys!


-----------------------------------------------------------------
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 : Still, nope.

RESULTS:
First Round vs San Jose: Avalanche lead 3-2
4/24 at San Jose W 3-1
4/26 at San Jose W 2-1 OT
4/28 San Jose  L 4-2
4/30 San Jose  L 7-3
5/01 San Jose  W 6-2

Team News by Greg D'Avis

It just can't be easy, can it? Returning to Colorado with a solid
2-0 series lead, the Avalanche had a chance to put the Sharks away
quickly and get prepped for Detroit. Instead, the Avs let the ol'
home bug get `em and stunk out the joint. 

Why are the Sharks, who have - let's face it - a vast talent gap to
make up, still solidly in the series? Easy: intensity. Every Shark
has played hard, every minute. The Avalanche? Well, Joe Sakic's been
great. Milan Hejduk and Peter Forsberg have been solid. Stephane
Yelle and Shjon Podein are playing their hearts out. But the rest.

What are hopefully the "real" Avs showed up in Game Five. Theo
Fleury and Claude Lemieux, both nearly invisible in the first four
games, played fantastic. And, as he always does, Patrick Roy
responded strongly from a lousy performance. 

But the two previous games were worrisome. Aaron Miller's been the
best of the Avalanche defensemen, but that isn't an honor as the
Avalanche defense has been lousy and lethargic. No offense to our
good old pal Mike Ricci, but any time ol' Toothless gets FOUR
points in a game, there's problems. 

The third game was simply marked by the Avalanche not playing hard
enough. The fourth game, though, was an abomination, and it seemed
the Avalanche simply gave up halfway through. Roy was awful, but he
didn't have any help. Stupid penalties, stupid defense, all added
up.  

So hopefully Game Five was an indicator, the sign the Avalanche has
awakened. Sakic, Forsberg and Hejduk continued to be strong, and
Fleury and Lemieux were at their agitating best. Adam Foote,
Sylvain Lefebvre and others stepped it up on defense. And, of
course, Roy was superlative in goal. 

But it's a scary thought: if the Avalanche is having this much
trouble with San Jose, what's going to happen against the real big
guns? 

-----------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX COYOTES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach: Jim Schoenfeld 

Roster: C - Jeremy Roenick, Bob Corkum, Mike Stapleton, Juha Ylonen,
Robert Reichel, Mike Sullivan, Tavis Hansen, Daniel Briere.  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, Jimmy Waite.

Injuries: Juha Ylonen, c (broken right foot, 4-6 weeks); Deron
Quint, d (concussion, day-to-day).

Transactions: Recalled Tavis Hansen, c, Daniel Briere, c, Brad
Tiley, d, and Jimmy Waite, g, from Springfield (AHL). 

GAME RESULTS
First Round vs St. Louis: Blues win 4-3
4/22 St. Louis    L 3-0
4/24 St. Louis    W 4-3 OT
4/25 at St. Louis W 5-4
4/27 at St. Louis W 2-1
4/30 St. Louis    L 2-1
5/02 at St. Louis L 5-3
5/04 St. Louis    L 1-0 OT 

TEAM NEWS by Jim Iovino

It ain't over till Schoenfeld bets his career

I'm happy. 

The Coyotes' overtime 1-0 loss in Game 7 to the St. Louis Blues
means I only have to write about the Desert Dogs one more time in
the Season-in-Review issue. 

Being based in Pittsburgh, it's kinda hard for me to see Phoenix
games.  And watching the pride of Phi Kappa Sigma, Keith Tkachuk,
makes me sick.  

But I did watch Game 7.  And I did enjoy myself while doing it. 

Why?  Because it was one of the best games of the season. 

Sure, watching the game that started at 10:30 p.m. EDT and didn't
finish until 2 a.m. made it hard to get up in the morning.  But it
was well worth it.  Game 7 was simply an incredible contest between
two teams that desperately wanted to advance to the second round of
the playoffs.  Unfortunately, only one team could. 

The Blues will be that team, thanks to a Pierre Turgeon deflection
that found its way past goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin for the game
winner.  

The teams went to overtime in a scoreless draw, but it wasn't your
run-of-the- mill, regular-season sleeper.  This was raw,
unadulterated playoff hockey at its best.  

There were tremendous hits, like the one on Dallas Drake that led to
a bloody nose.  There were spectacular efforts, like those of St.
Louis defensemen Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger, who seemed to never
leave the ice.  There were amazing saves, like the acrobatic stops by
Grant Fuhr and the quick reflexes of Khabby.  There was the annual
heroic comeback, as Jeremy Roenick, who is still sucking in food
through a straw, returned to the lineup despite his broken jaw. And
there was a great storyline, as Coyotes coach Jim Schoenfeld put his
job on the line (as if it wasn't already) and guaranteed a Phoenix
win.  

Alas, there was only one winner.  It wasn't Phoenix. 

So now the Coyotes are left scratching their heads and dusting off
the golf clubs.  The Coyotes, remember, had a three games to one
lead in the series.  But they blew it.  With the Game 7 loss,
Schoenfeld is almost guaranteed to get the axe.  He's been in this
situation before, and he hasn't faired well.  

Roenick or no Roenick, there was still no excuse for blowing a 3-1
series lead. Expect some major changes in the off-season.  We'll
break all of the options down in the season-ending issue, but for
now let's all just take a month or so to sit back and clear our
heads of all the bad things associated with the playoff loss. 

Just think happy thoughts.  Like the tremendous effort the Coyotes
put forth in Game 7. 

And if that doesn't work, just crack open that bottle of
Jagermeister chillin' in the fridge and take a big gulp.  The happy
thoughts should start flowing any second now...


-----------------------------------------------------------------
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); Marc
Bergevin, d (pulled abdomin muscles 4/3, out rest of season). 

Transactions: April 29 - Extended affiliation with Worcester of the
American Hockey League through the 2003-2004 season.

Game Results:
First Round vs Phoenix: Blues win 4-3
4/22 at Phoenix  W 3-1
4/24 at Phoenix  L 4-3 OT     
4/25 Phoenix     L 5-4
4/27 Phoenix     L 2-1
4/30 at  Phoenix W 2-1 OT
5/02 Phoenix     W 5-3
5/04 at  Phoenix W 1-0 OT

TEAM NEWS by Tom Cooper

Game Four: On the Verge

Although they lost Game Three, the fact that the Blues fought all
the way back from a 4-0 deficit to make it competitive gave them
momentum going into Game Four in St. Louis. 

They used that momentum to jump on top early. 

Pierre Turgeon and Pavol Demitra set up Pascal Rheaume's first goal
of the playoffs to give the Blues a 1-0 advantage just under six
minutes into the second period. 

Then, Phoenix took the momentum. 

Sparked by two big saves Nikolai Khabibulin made following the
Rheaume goal, Phoenix shut down St. Louis' offense for a 2-1
victory and a commanding three games to one lead in the series. 

Greg Adams tied the game with nine minutes left in the second and
Dallas Drake tallied the game winner on a power play 8:25 later,
although the goal was originally given to Tempo Numminen. 

Need a Game Four hero? Look at Keith Tkachuk. He was paired against
Al MacInnis most of the night, falling down in front of numerous
MacInnis blasts, blocking two of them. 

"If you want to go down in front of that shot you've got to be a
little weird upstairs," Drake said of his teammate, "because he's
got a cannon."  

Grant Fuhr atoned for his four-goals-on-ten-shots performance the
previous game by stopping 18 of 20 shots in a losing effort. 

Al MacInnis was held without a point for the first time in the Cup
campaign.  

Game Five: Staving

Their backs were to the wall. 

And in a series where goals have been at a premium, with the
exception for Game Three, the Blues couldn't afford a mistake or
the season would be over.  

With so few players scoring goals, it would not come as a surprise
that a player who hadn't scored yet would be a hero. 

Scott Young was that man. 

Young picked up his first goal of the 1999 post-season 5:43 into
overtime to give St. Louis a 2-1 victory and hold off elimination
for one more game.  

"It was an exciting game," Young said. "We came back. We hung in
there, Al got the big goal, and we did what we had to do. We got
some timely goals tonight, which we hadn't been getting." 

Al's big goal, his third of the postseason, tied the game at 1-1
with 8:10 left in regulation. The power play goal, assisted by
Chris Pronger and Pierre Turgeon, was MacInnis' third of the
postseason.  

The Blues were almost eliminated by the play of Khabibulin. "The
Bulin Wall" stood strong all night, stopping a total of 41 shots,
including six shots the Blues made in overtime before their seventh
shot, on which Young scored.  

Grant Fuhr stopped 26 of 27 and helped kill off a Coyote power play
earlier in the overtime to earn the win, his second of the
post-season.  

Game Six: Frustrating The Opponent

My oh my how things change. 

Just six days earlier, the Coyotes were predicted to run the Blues
out of the playoffs and onto the golf course. 

Now, it's time for Game Seven. 

That ultimate game will happen thanks to a 5-3 St. Louis victory in
Game Six, tying the series at three games apiece. 

Craig Conroy contributed two goals and Pierre Turgeon helped thrice
to force a seventh game. 

The Blues led 2-1 after twenty minutes. 12:18 into the second the
Coyotes started a 1:33 stretch where Phoenix scored twice and took
a 3-2 lead late in the middle frame. 

On a power play with three minutes left in the period, Chris Pronger
collected a loose puck in front of Khabibulin and tied the game with
his first goal of the post-season. 

St. Louis took the lead for good almost nine minutes into the third
when "sniper" Jeff Finley beat Khabibulin to give St. Louis a 4-3
advantage.  

Craig Conroy added his second of the game with 4:41 left to ensure
the victory. Conroy was the third player of a three-on-one to touch
the puck. His goal sent the microscopic crowd of 16.629 to their
feet. (Here's a question: What else was going on in St. Louis on a
Sunday afternoon that kept the Kiel Center from being packed?) 

Grant Fuhr stopped 18 of the 21 puck that flew toward him to help
his team to a Game Seven, something the Blues have obviously been
involved with.  

St. Louis is 5-6 lifetime in seventh games during their 31 years of
hockey existence, losing there last three and five of the last six
Game Sevens dating back to the 1986 Campbell Conference Finals, a
series that was extended to a final game thanks to Doug
Wickenheiser's "Monday Night Miracle" that gave St. Louis a 6-5
overtime win, sending the series back to Calgary.  

The Blues have won a seven-game series when trailing
three-games-to-one before. Back in 1991, the Blues beat Detroit in
seven to win their Norris Division Semi- final series. 

Game Seven: The End

They are the two greatest words in sports when used together. 

Game Seven. 

One mistake and your team goes home. One great play and you will be
forever immortalized as a hero. 

At approximately 1 a.m. in St. Louis, Pierre Turgeon became the
hero. After 77:59 of scoreless hockey, Turgeon deflected a Richard
Persson shot past Nikolai Khabibulin for a 1-0 overtime win,
sending the Blues to a second-round meeting with President's
Trophy-winning Dallas.  

Grant Fuhr's 35 saves earned him his first shutout of this playoff
season and sixth overall. 

The game was the third-ever Game Seven that went to overtime
scoreless. The Blues participated in the second game, losing to
Detroit in the 1996 Western Conference Semi-final on a fatal Steve
Yzerman shot from the blue line that blew past then-backup Jon
Casey.  

This game, which will go down as one of the greats in playoff
history, was as close as a game could possibly be. Both teams had
35 shots. Both teams were 0- for-4 on the power play. Both teams
held the other without a goal for almost 78 minutes. 

Turgeon's goal gave him at least one point in every one of the last
six games. 

The Blues and Stars met four times during the regular season, with
the Blues going 1-2-1 in those games, being outshot 16-14 in the
season series.  

Both sides last met in the playoffs back in 1994, with Dallas
sweeping the Blues in four straight. Overall, the Blues and (North)
Stars have each won five series head-to-head... but that means
absolutely nothing now.  

Game One is Thursday. That means something. 

Brett Hull will be playing for Dallas. 

That means something too.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
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, Mike Leclerc, Jeremy Stevenson. 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, Joel Kwiatowski, Mike Crowley.
G - Guy Hebert, Dominic Roussel, Tom Askey, Patrick Lalime.

INJURIES: Paul Kariya, lw, (broken right foot) and Ruslan Salei, d,
(sore shoulder) missed Game 4; Pascal Trepanier, d (season-ending
knee surgery). 

TRANSACTIONS: 4/26 - recalled Patrick Lalime, g, from Kansas City
(IHL); recalled Mike Crowley, d, Joel Kwiatowski, d, Mike Leclerc,
lw, and Jeremy Stevenson, lw, from Cincinnati (AHL). 

GAME RESULTS:
First Round vs Detroit: Red Wings win 4-0
4/23 at Detroit  L 5-1
4/21 at Detroit  L 5-3
4/25 Detroit     L 4-2
4/27 Detroit     L 3-0

TEAM NEWS by Alex Carswell

BROOMBALL

As expected, Detroit completed its sweep of the Mighty Ducks with a
3-0 shutout in Game 4. That the Ducks put forth their most
competitive effort of the series was something of a moral victory,
as they played without their captain, Paul Kariya, who had broken
his right foot late in Game 3. The announcement of Kariya's injury,
sustained while blocking a Nicklas Lidstrom shot in the third
period of the 4-2 loss, came mere hours before game time.  

It was just 48 hours earlier that Coach Craig Hartsburg, in the wake
of that third loss, had hailed Kariya's character as exemplary, and a
shining example for his teammates to emulate -- this before the
extent of Kariya's injury (which should take four-to-six weeks to
heal) was known. Afterward, Kariya, who spent all season determined
to prove himself fearless, asserted he would do it all the same way
again, even knowing that injury would result. 

In Kariya's absence, the Ducks gave a spirited two-way effort,
surrendering the game's first -- and deciding - - goal to Tomas
Holmstrom late in the second period. Brendan Shanahan and Slava
Kozlov added tallies midway through the third, and the official
countdown to summer was on.  

A TIME TO HEAL

Summer will be a healing time not just for Kariya, but also for
several other important Ducks. Teemu Selanne, who played Game 4
with a bout of the flu, also seemed to be suffering from a relapse
of the strained right thigh that had hobbled him earlier in the
season. At no time in this series did Selanne exhibit the powerful
stride that keys his explosive bursts of speed. And while he was
duly smothered by All-World defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom -- who goes
about his job with extraordinary efficiency but little flash -- he
clearly was physically handicapped.  

Likewise, Steve Rucchin was suffering from a recurring groin injury
that kept him out of the lineup down the regular-season stretch.
While he battled through the pain as best he could, the effects of
the injury were obvious. At one point, after a false faceoff late
in Game 3, Rucchin fell to one knee and took a good 10 seconds just
to right himself.  

Not that it would necessarily have made a difference against the
team Hartsburg called "the best team I've seen since I started
coaching," but without their top three players hitting on all
healthy cylinders, the Ducks don't have enough to beat Phoenix,
much less Detroit.  

Then add Ruslan Salei, who missed Game 4 after re-injuring his right
shoulder early in Game 3, to the list of MIAs, and the Ducks were
playing with a virtual skeleton crew.  

But, again, that didn't stop them from putting up a good fight in
the season-ender. The respectable effort against Chris Chelios &
Co. was a hopeful sign for the character of a young, undermanned
club going up against a potential dynasty in the making.  

RESERVES CALLED, SIGNED

Prior to the final game, Anaheim called up a handful of reserves
from their minor-league affiliates. From among the group of Patrick
Lalime, Mike Crowley, Joel Kwiatowski, Mike Leclerc and Jeremy
Stevenson, only Leclerc dressed for the game, and played
respectably.  

Perhaps more significantly, however, was the signing of young
Russian star Maxim Balmochnykh, Anaheim's second-round pick in
1997. Balmochnykh, a dynamic offensive player, was Russia's top
scorer at this year's World Junior Championships, tallying three
goals and five assists over seven games in leading his squad to the
gold medal. Balmochnykh also earned first-team all-star honors at
the WJC for the second consecutive year. Now just 20, Balmochnykh
will attend Ducks training camp next season and either make the
squad or earn a seasoning assignment in the minors.  

FAN FRENZY

Anaheim's fans -- perhaps inspired by a free T-shirt upon entering
The Pond -- were less lethargic than usual in Game 4, proving that
home-ice can actually be an advantage. Detroit's fans also made
themselves heard once again, but this time in both flattering and
less-than-flattering ways. Continuing the sad tradition of victory
"celebrations" that has become a Motor City motif, inebriated Red
Wings boosters taunted the locals, littered the ice with debris,
engaged in fisticuffs, and committed acts of minor vandalism --
including lighting fires in the parking lot.  

All of which proves that a classy team -- and Bowman, Lidstrom,
Yzerman, et al can be considered nothing less -- is no reliable
barometer of its fan base. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
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, lw,
(day-to -day, but looks more like the rest of the season); 
Dave Lowry, lw, (knee injury, rest of season).

TRANSACTIONS: None.

GAME RESULTS
First Round vs Colorado: Avalanche wins 4-2
4/24 Colorado     L 3-1
4/26 Colorado     L 2-1 OT
4/28 at Colorado  W 4-1
4/30 at Colorado  W 7-3
5/01 at Colorado  L 6-2
5/03 Colorado     L 3-2 OT

TEAM NEWS by A.J. DaSilva

Since last issue, the cool stuff includes: 

* Had dinner with my sister and uncle - that's a relative
  type of cool
* Got half my work project done - that's a "half way there"
  type of cool
* Talked to some relatives for the first time all year -
  that's an "about time" type of cool
* Played two soccer games for the first time this year -
  that's a "getting back into shape" type of cool
* The Sharks played tough and hung in there - that's a
  gritty, gutsy type of cool

The season is over. But the Sharks made the fans proud, 
especially when they came back after being down two games
to none. In the end, the team with more talent won, but
the team with more heart made it interesting. 

Destination Denver...

The Sharks had played hard, yet all their efforts put them
within two games of another first round playoff exit. It
wasn't the effort that most San Jose fans found frustrating,
but rather the team's inability to convert on their scoring
chances. In addition, the team was giving Colorado too many
power-play opportunities, which is not a good thing. The
third game would be as pivotal a game as any in the series. 

Game 3 began with an early penalty against the Sharks. As
it turned out, it was the first of four against the Sharks
in the period, and any goal scored by Colorado at this
juncture would have sealed the Sharks fate. However, the
men in Teal held out against the barrage, particularly goalie
Mike Vernon, and no goals were scored at all. Instead, on a
Sharks power play, Mike Ricci tipped in Jeff Norton's shot
to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period. 

The second period saw both sides have their chances, but it
was Colorado who scored, albeit on a controversial play. 
Peter Forsberg was breaking away, and as he was hauled
down by Mike Rathje, knocked the puck in past Mike Vernon
with a forward moving motion by his hand. A video review
lasted several minutes, and was eventually ruled as 
inconclusive that the forward-moving motion actually 
occurred. The goal stood as called. 

The NHL replay officials then made an unprecedented
move to send a memo to all the media on why the ruling was
made - which made it look like they were trying to cover
their behinds on a blown call. Only after the game did one
NHL official acknowledge that they had blown the call.
A little late, guys!!! 

That kind of goal would have tormented most teams. Not the 
Sharks. Instead, they came out in the third period and
continued to play hard. The effort was rewarded when Mike
Ricci stripped Adam Deadmarsh in the Avalanche zone, then
made a perfect pass to Marco Sturm who one-timed it into
the net. A few minutes later, Owen Nolan passed to Mike
Ricci who passed to a streaking Marco Sturm who ended up
on a one-on-one with Patrick Roy. Marco made no mistake
this time as he scored on Roy's short side. And to cap
off the night, Mike Ricci passed to a wide-open Owen
Nolan who scored an empty netter to make it 4-1. 

And Now For Something Very Much The Same...

Momentum was now with the visitors as they started Game
4. However, it was the home team that opened the
scoring when Adam Deadmarsh scored early in the first
period. The Avalanche were dominant in all facets of
the game, and it was a surprise that they were only
up by one goal at the end of the first period. 

The second period turned out to be a wild period. Adam
Foote gave the Avalanche a two-goal cushion, but the 
Sharks were suddenly back in the game when Tony Granato
scored on a back-hander after a blown play by Patrick
Roy. San Jose was then on the power play, and just a 
mere 38 seconds after Tony's goal, Billy Houlder scored
the power-play goal to tie the game. A comedy of errors
in front of Vernie led to a Milan Hejduk goal, but
Patrick Marleau scored a beauty after a wonderful feed
from Alex Korolyuk. At the end of two periods, it was
tied 3-3. 

Unbelievable is the only word to describe the third
period. K-yuk scored behind the net to make it 4-3,
then with Billy Houlder in the penalty box, Vinny
Damphousse scored short-handed to make it 5-3, and
Mike Ricci knocked in the sixth. And in a case of deja
vu, Billy Houlder was in the box again, and Vinny 
Damphousse scored another short handed goal to make the
final score a "can you believe this?" 7-3. 

All Good Things Must Come To An End...

So far during the series, the Avalanche hadn't played
their A-game. Their B-game was good enough in the first
two games since the Sharks could not win without playing
their A-game. Well, Game 5 was to show that when the
Avalanche came with their A-game, the Sharks would feel
the impact in a big way. 

Steve Shields started out in goal. It wasn't a very
happy outing for Stevie as the Sharks couldn't cope
with the pressure and Stevie was left fending for
himself for most of the game. The Sharks were already
down 5-0 at the end of the 2nd period, and watching the
big guns (Sakic, Forsberg, Fleury) create one scoring
chance after another made the Sharks look like a bunch
of amateurs. The defense had a forgettable night and
the final score of 6-2 was not a true indication of
Colorado's total dominance of the game. 

The only consolation for the Sharks was that they had
taken two out of three from the mighty Avalanche on
the road, and had a return engagement at the friendly
confines of San Jose Arena, which was something that 
was totally unexpected just a few games ago. 

Home Again, But For The Last Time???

It was a tense sixth game. Both sides had their chances,
and momentum shifts were frequent. Theo Fleury opened
the scoring for the Avalanche, but Billy Houlder scored
on the power play to tie it up. In the third period,
Jeff Friesen scored to give the Sharks some hope, but
Sandis Ozolinsh scored on a power play to tie it up
again. A tense final minutes yielded no goals, so it
was sudden death overtime. 

In OT, the Sharks had a four-minute power play, but the
closest they came to scoring was Billy Houlder hitting
the post. That would prove the difference as Milan 
Hejduk scored the winner, just as he did in game 2.
And just like that, the season was over for the Sharks. 

Offensive lines - Shake, Shake, Shake

In an effort to give the Sharks a different look, and
hopefully a different outcome to the game, the lines were
juggled. Jeff Friesen remained with Joe Murphy and Vinny
Damphousse, but Owen Nolan teamed up with Mike Ricci and
Marco Sturm to form the second line. Stephane Matteau
returned to play with Ron Sutter and Ronnie Stern to
become the third line with increased playing time. The
fourth line was Tony Granato, Patrick Marleau and Alex
Korolyuk, and speaking of the fourth line... 

Coach Sutter played Tony, Patrick and Alex for a total of
5 minutes in the third game, which was meant to reduce the
burden on the kids while asking the guys on the third
line (Matteau, Stern, Sutter and possibly Dave Lowry) to
step up their play. In the fourth game, the kids stepped
up their play, and the result was that both Patty and
K-yuk scored their first playoff goals. Coach had been
pretty good about mixing up the lines and giving more
ice time to the more effective lines. 

Defensive lines - Shake, Shake, Shake, too

Although the tandems of Norton-Houlder, Rathje-Ragnarsson
and Rouse-Marchment played as usual, Coach Sutter ended
up double-shifting Rathje and Ragnarsson primarily to
counter Peter Forsberg, who was considered the primary 
threat to the Sharks. In those double-shifting situations,
Rags ended up playing with old partner Mush Marchment,
while Rat played with his old partner Bob Rouse. 

Trivia Time...

A playoff trivia question for you. Joe Sakic has scored at
least one point in every game of the playoffs this year. Who
on the Sharks has achieved that accomplishment? Answer at
the end. 

Where art thou ex Captain???

Our ex-Shark for this issue is former Sharks captain Bob
Errey. Errey arrived in the Sharks 3rd season, after stints
in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, where he had won the Stanley Cup.
He played a key role in the Sharks reaching the playoffs for
the first time, and his leadership was important in the 
Cinderella season that was. Errey was traded in the middle
of his 3rd season to Detroit after the team was slowly 
dismantled. Surprisingly he was traded back to the Sharks
in a futile attempt to rekindle the Sharks during their
worst season. In the end, Errey signed with Dallas, and
after playing part of the year, he was traded to the Rangers.
This year Bob has been playing in New York's AHL affiliate,
the Beast of New Haven. 

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 were many candidates, and since this
is the last playoff report from yours truly until the end of 
season report, I've decided to have multiple winners. 

And the award goes to Mike Ricci (for his 4 point effort in
game 3), Mike Vernon (who kept the Sharks in games that
normal goalies wouldn't), Marco Sturm (for his gritty play
and 2 goals in game 3), Owen Nolan (for leading by example),
Vinny Damphousse (who gave the Sharks the experience when
they needed it most, plus 2 short handed goals in one game),
and Marcus Ragnarsson (for his steady play on the defense),
and Jeff Norton (for his point scoring during the playoffs).
The team as a whole earns kudos for making it tough on 
Colorado, and playing tough all year. Congrats to the team
for the hard work and effort. 

Points per game...

Jeff Norton scored a point in every game the Sharks played
this post season. Congrats Jeff. 

P.S. Congrats to my students at CCD Class - Aneta, Kristine,
Catalina, Maria, Aethel, Kristina, Veronica, Sara, Jennifer,
Sheenalyn, Cynthia and Priscilla. 

See ya all in the season end issue after the playoffs!
================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Playoff Player Stats - Through May 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEAM P NO  PLAYER                 GP   G   A PTS +/-  PIM PP SH GW GT   S  PCTG
ANA  R  8  Selanne, Teemu          4   2   2   4  -1    2  1  0  0  0   7  28.6
ANA  L  9  Kariya, Paul            3   1   3   4   0    0  0  0  0  0  11   9.1
ANA  C 20  Rucchin, Steve          4   0   3   3   0    0  0  0  0  0  10   0.0
ANA  C 16  McInnis, Marty          4   2   0   2  -1    2  2  0  0  0  12  16.7
ANA  D  2  Olausson, Fredrik       4   0   2   2  -4    4  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
ANA  D 23  Marshall, Jason         4   1   0   1  -1   10  1  0  0  0   5  20.0
ANA  C 39  Green, Travis           4   0   1   1  -4    4  0  0  0  0  12   0.0
ANA  D  7  Trnka, Pavel            4   0   1   1  -3    2  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
ANA  C 22 *Davidsson, Johan        1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
ANA  L 12 *LeClerc, Mike           1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
ANA  D 34  Trebil, Dan             1   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
ANA  L 32  Grimson, Stu            3   0   0   0   0   30  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
ANA  D 24  Salei, Ruslan           3   0   0   0  -4    4  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
ANA  C 18  Drury, Ted              4   0   0   0  -6    0  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
ANA  R 17  Sandstrom, Tomas        4   0   0   0  -2    4  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
ANA  R 19  Nielsen, Jeff           4   0   0   0  -6    2  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
ANA  D  5  Haller, Kevin           4   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
ANA  C 14 *Aalto, Antti            4   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
ANA  L 33  McKenzie, Jim           4   0   0   0  -2    4  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
ANA  C 11  Cullen, Matt            4   0   0   0  -2    0  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
ANA  D  4  Pushor, Jamie           4   0   0   0  -3    6  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
BOS  D 77  Bourque, Ray            6   1   5   6   3    2  0  0  0  0  25   4.0
BOS  C 41  Allison, Jason          6   0   6   6   0    6  0  0  0  0  14   0.0
BOS  C 33  Carter, Anson           6   3   2   5   1    0  1  0  1  1  18  16.7
BOS  C  6  Thornton, Joe           5   1   4   5   3    2  1  0  1  0   7  14.3
BOS  R 23  Heinze, Steve           6   2   2   4   3    0  0  0  0  0  13  15.4
BOS  L 12  Khristich, Dmitri       6   0   4   4   0    6  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
BOS  C 19  DiMaio, Rob             6   2   0   2   2    2  0  0  1  0  11  18.2
BOS  L 14  Samsonov, Sergei        6   2   0   2  -1    0  0  0  0  0  16  12.5
BOS  R 27  Wilson, Landon          4   1   1   2  -1    2  1  0  1  0   7  14.3
BOS  L 11  Axelsson, P.J.          6   1   0   1   2    2  0  0  0  0  13   7.7
BOS  L 16  Belanger, Ken           6   1   0   1   1    6  0  0  0  0   2  50.0
BOS  D 32  Sweeney, Don            6   1   0   1   2    2  0  0  0  0   9  11.1
BOS  D 20  Van Impe, Darren        6   1   0   1  -1    4  1  0  0  0  13   7.7
BOS  D 36  Ledyard, Grant          1   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
BOS  C 21 *Robitaille, Randy       1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
BOS  R 10 *Mann, Cameron           1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
BOS  L 22  Baumgartner, Ken        1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
BOS  D 37  Timander, Mattias       2   0   0   0   1    2  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
BOS  D 44  Ellett, Dave            3   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
BOS  D 25  Gill, Hal               6   0   0   0   3    8  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
BOS  C 26  Taylor, Tim             6   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
BOS  C 17 *Bates, Shawn            6   0   0   0   1    2  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
BOS  D 18  McLaren, Kyle           6   0   0   0   1    2  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
BUF  C 27  Peca, Michael           4   1   5   6   4    4  0  0  0  0   8  12.5
BUF  R 25  Varada, Vaclav          4   2   3   5   4    2  0  0  0  0   9  22.2
BUF  C 90  Juneau, Joe             3   1   3   4   0    2  0  0  0  0   4  25.0
BUF  L 81  Satan, Miroslav         3   2   1   3   2    0  1  0  1  1   8  25.0
BUF  R 15  Ward, Dixon             4   1   2   3   4    6  0  0  1  0   8  12.5
BUF  D  5  Woolley, Jason          4   0   3   3   1    0  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
BUF  C 19  Holzinger, Brian        4   2   0   2   1    2  1  0  0  0   6  33.3
BUF  C 37  Brown, Curtis           4   1   1   2   0    2  1  0  1  0   6  16.7
BUF  D 44  Zhitnik, Alexei         4   1   1   2   0    8  1  0  1  0  13   7.7
BUF  C 22  Primeau, Wayne          4   0   2   2   0    0  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
BUF  C  9 *Rasmussen, Erik         4   1   0   1   0    2  0  0  0  0   6  16.7
BUF  D  3  Patrick, James          3   0   1   1   1    4  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
BUF  D  4  Warrener, Rhett         4   0   1   1   4    4  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
BUF  L 18  Grosek, Michal          4   0   1   1   0   10  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
BUF  R 46 *Sylvester, Dean         1   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
BUF  D  8  Shannon, Darryl         1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
BUF  L 80  Sanderson, Geoff        2   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
BUF  L 24  Kruse, Paul             3   0   0   0   1    2  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
BUF  D 74  McKee, Jay              4   0   0   0   4    6  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
BUF  C 41  Barnes, Stu             4   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
BUF  D 42  Smehlik, Richard        4   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
CAR  R 26  Sheppard, Ray           6   5   1   6  -2    2  1  0  1  1  23  21.7
CAR  L 13  Battaglia, Bates        6   0   3   3   3    8  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
CAR  L 23  Gelinas, Martin         6   0   3   3  -4    2  0  0  0  0  12   0.0
CAR  C 55  Primeau, Keith          6   0   3   3  -3    6  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
CAR  R 51  Kovalenko, Andrei       4   1   1   2   1    2  0  0  1  0   4  25.0
CAR  L 18  Kron, Robert            5   1   1   2   2    0  0  0  0  0   9  11.1
CAR  L 24  Kapanen, Sami           5   1   1   2  -2    0  0  0  0  0   8  12.5
CAR  L 10  Roberts, Gary           6   1   1   2  -3    8  0  0  0  0  13   7.7
CAR  D  3  Chiasson, Steve         6   1   1   2   1    2  1  0  0  0  17   5.9
CAR  C 21  Francis, Ron            3   0   1   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
CAR  D 77  Coffey, Paul            5   0   1   1   0    2  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
CAR  D  2  Wesley, Glen            6   0   1   1   0    2  0  0  0  0  15   0.0
CAR  C 92  O'Neill, Jeff           6   0   1   1  -5    0  0  0  0  0  11   0.0
CAR  C 31 *MacDonald, Craig        1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
CAR  D 33  Karpa, David            2   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
CAR  D  4  Pratt, Nolan            3   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
CAR  D  5  Malik, Marek            4   0   0   0  -2    4  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
CAR  D 14 *Halko, Steve            4   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
CAR  L 28  Ranheim, Paul           6   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
CAR  R 11  Dineen, Kevin           6   0   0   0   0    8  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
CAR  D  7  Leschyshyn, Curtis      6   0   0   0  -3    6  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
CAR  L 44  Manderville, Kent       6   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
COL  C 19  Sakic, Joe              5   3   7  10  -1    2  1  0  1  0  15  20.0
COL  R 14  Fleury, Theo            5   2   6   8   1    4  1  0  0  0  15  13.3
COL  C 21  Forsberg, Peter         5   2   5   7   0    0  0  1  0  0  15  13.3
COL  R 23 *Hejduk, Milan           5   2   3   5   2    2  0  0  1  1  14  14.3
COL  R 22  Lemieux, Claude         5   1   4   5   0    2  0  0  0  0  21   4.8
COL  R 18  Deadmarsh, Adam         5   3   0   3   0    6  2  0  0  0  11  27.3
COL  D  8  Ozolinsh, Sandis        5   1   2   3  -2    8  1  0  1  0  14   7.1
COL  D 52  Foote, Adam             5   2   0   2   0   10  1  0  0  0   7  28.6
COL  D  3  Miller, Aaron           5   0   1   1   4    6  0  0  0  0  10   0.0
COL  D  7  de Vries, Greg          5   0   1   1   0    8  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
COL  R 12  Donovan, Shean          1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
COL  D  5  Gusarov, Alexei         1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
COL  L 16  Rychel, Warren          3   0   0   0   0   14  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
COL  C 37 *Drury, Chris            5   0   0   0  -2    4  0  0  0  0  13   0.0
COL  L 25  Podein, Shjon           5   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
COL  D 24  Klemm, Jon              5   0   0   0   1    4  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
COL  C 32  Hunter, Dale            5   0   0   0  -1   18  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
COL  C 26  Yelle, Stephane         5   0   0   0  -1    4  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
COL  D  2  Lefebvre, Sylvain       5   0   0   0   2    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
COL  R 36  Odgers, Jeff            5   0   0   0   0    8  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
DAL  C  9  Modano, Mike            4   1   3   4   0    0  0  0  0  0  19   5.3
DAL  C 25  Nieuwendyk, Joe         4   3   0   3   1    2  1  0  2  1  19  15.8
DAL  C 15  Langenbrunner, Jamie    4   2   1   3   2    4  1  0  1  0   6  33.3
DAL  D 56  Zubov, Sergei           4   0   3   3   3    0  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
DAL  C 21  Carbonneau, Guy         2   2   0   2   2    0  0  0  1  0   3  66.7
DAL  R 26  Lehtinen, Jere          4   2   0   2   0    2  0  0  0  0  12  16.7
DAL  D  5  Sydor, Darryl           4   0   2   2  -1    2  0  0  0  0  12   0.0
DAL  L 14  Reid, Dave              4   0   2   2   2   10  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
DAL  C 33  Hogue, Benoit           4   0   2   2   1    4  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
DAL  R 12  Keane, Mike             4   1   0   1   0    0  0  0  0  0   9  11.1
DAL  D 37 *Lukowich, Brad          2   0   1   1   2    2  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
DAL  C 41  Hrkac, Tony             2   0   1   1   1    2  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
DAL  D 24  Matvichuk, Richard      3   0   1   1   1    4  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
DAL  R 22  Hull, Brett             4   0   1   1   0    2  0  0  0  0  18   0.0
DAL  R 11 *Sloan, Blake            4   0   1   1   2    4  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
DAL  D 27  Chambers, Shawn         4   0   1   1   3   14  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
DAL  C 10  Skrudland, Brian        2   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
DAL  C 18  Plante, Derek           3   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
DAL  D  6  Lidster, Doug           3   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
DAL  R 29  Marshall, Grant         3   0   0   0   0   10  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
DAL  D  3  Ludwig, Craig           4   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
DET  C 19  Yzerman, Steve          4   5   2   7   4    0  3  0  1  0  16  31.3
DET  L 14  Shanahan, Brendan       4   3   3   6   3    4  1  0  1  0  11  27.3
DET  C 91  Fedorov, Sergei         4   1   5   6   5    4  0  0  0  0  14   7.1
DET  D  5  Lidstrom, Nicklas       4   0   6   6   3    0  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
DET  L 96  Holmstrom, Tomas        4   3   1   4   1    2  2  0  1  0  11  27.3
DET  L 71  Clark, Wendel           4   1   3   4   2    4  0  0  0  0   8  12.5
DET  R 17  Brown, Doug             4   2   1   3   2    4  1  0  1  0   9  22.2
DET  C 13  Kozlov, Vyacheslav      4   2   0   2   3    0  0  0  0  0  13  15.4
DET  C  8  Larionov, Igor          4   0   2   2   2    0  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
DET  R 20  Lapointe, Martin        4   0   2   2   3    6  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
DET  D 24  Chelios, Chris          4   0   2   2   2    6  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
DET  D  2  Samuelsson, Ulf         4   0   1   1   2    4  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
DET  D 11  Dandenault, Mathieu     4   0   1   1   2    0  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
DET  D 27  Ward, Aaron             4   0   1   1   3    6  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
DET  D 55  Murphy, Larry           4   0   0   0   3    4  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
DET  C 33  Draper, Kris            4   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
DET  R 25  McCarty, Darren         4   0   0   0   0   10  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
DET  R 18  Maltby, Kirk            4   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
EDM  L 94  Smyth, Ryan             3   3   0   3  -1    0  2  0  0  0   7  42.9
EDM  L 18  Moreau, Ethan           4   0   3   3   3    6  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
EDM  R 25  Grier, Mike             4   1   1   2   3    6  0  0  0  0   9  11.1
EDM  C 26  Marchant, Todd          4   1   1   2   2   12  0  0  0  0  10  10.0
EDM  L 17  Murray, Rem             4   1   1   2  -1    2  0  0  0  0   6  16.7
EDM  C 39  Weight, Doug            4   1   1   2  -3   15  0  0  0  0   4  25.0
EDM  R  9  Guerin, Bill            3   0   2   2  -4    2  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
EDM  R 28  Selivanov, Alexander    2   0   1   1   0    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
EDM  D 21  Smith, Jason            4   0   1   1   0    4  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
EDM  D 24  Laflamme, Christian     4   0   1   1  -4    2  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
EDM  R 10  Falloon, Pat            4   0   1   1   0    4  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
EDM  D  5 *Poti, Tom               4   0   1   1  -3    2  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
EDM  C 19  Devereaux, Boyd         1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
EDM  R 34  Vorobiev, Vladimir      1   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
EDM  D  8  Musil, Frank            1   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
EDM  D 23 *Brown, Sean             1   0   0   0   0   10  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
EDM  L 20  Beranek, Josef          2   0   0   0  -1    4  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
EDM  D 22  Hamrlik, Roman          3   0   0   0   1    2  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
EDM  D 33  McSorley, Marty         3   0   0   0   1    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
EDM  R 16  Buchberger, Kelly       4   0   0   0  -4    0  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
EDM  D 44  Niinimaa, Janne         4   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
EDM  R 27 *Laraque, Georges        4   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
EDM  C 15  Kilger, Chad            4   0   0   0  -2    4  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
NJD  L 16  Holik, Bobby            6   0   7   7   0    6  0  0  0  0  20   0.0
NJD  R 21  McKay, Randy            6   3   2   5   2    2  0  0  1  0  15  20.0
NJD  C 17  Sykora, Petr            6   3   2   5  -4    4  0  0  1  0  12  25.0
NJD  C 18  Brylin, Sergei          4   3   1   4   3    4  1  0  1  0  10  30.0
NJD  D 27  Niedermayer, Scott      6   1   3   4  -4   18  1  0  0  0  13   7.7
NJD  L 26  Elias, Patrik           6   0   4   4  -1    6  0  0  0  0  12   0.0
NJD  D  4  Stevens, Scott          6   2   1   3   0   10  2  0  0  0  12  16.7
NJD  C 25  Arnott, Jason           6   1   2   3  -3    4  1  0  0  0  11   9.1
NJD  D 24  Odelein, Lyle           6   0   2   2  -1   10  0  0  0  0  12   0.0
NJD  L 23  Andreychuk, Dave        3   1   0   1   0    2  0  0  0  0   5  20.0
NJD  C 14  Rolston, Brian          6   1   0   1   0    2  0  1  0  0  13   7.7
NJD  L 20  Pandolfo, Jay           6   1   0   1  -3    0  0  0  0  0   8  12.5
NJD  C 10  Pederson, Denis         2   0   1   1   0    0  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
NJD  D  2  Souray, Sheldon         2   0   1   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
NJD  C  9 *Morrison, Brendan       6   0   1   1  -1    0  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
NJD  L 29  Oliwa, Krzysztof        1   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
NJD  C 12  Nemchinov, Sergei       4   0   0   0  -2    0  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
NJD  R  8 *Sharifijanov, Vadim     4   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
NJD  D  6  Bombardir, Brad         4   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
NJD  C 19  Carpenter, Bob          6   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
NJD  D  3  Daneyko, Ken            6   0   0   0   3    8  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
NJD  D 28  Dean, Kevin             6   0   0   0  -2    0  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
OTW  R  7  Emerson, Nelson         4   1   3   4   0    0  0  0  0  0  12   8.3
OTW  R 11  Alfredsson, Daniel      4   1   2   3  -1    4  1  0  0  0  13   7.7
OTW  D  6  Redden, Wade            4   1   2   3  -1    2  1  0  0  0  11   9.1
OTW  L 15  McEachern, Shawn        4   2   0   2   1    6  1  0  0  0  11  18.2
OTW  D 33  York, Jason             4   1   1   2  -1    4  0  0  0  0  12   8.3
OTW  L 18 *Hossa, Marian           4   0   2   2   1    4  0  0  0  0  11   0.0
OTW  L 20  Arvedson, Magnus        3   0   1   1  -1    2  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
OTW  R 10  Dackell, Andreas        4   0   1   1  -3    0  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
OTW  L 28  Donato, Ted             1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
OTW  C 21  Johansson, Andreas      2   0   0   0  -3    0  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
OTW  L  9  Berg, Bill              2   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
OTW  D  2  Pitlick, Lance          2   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
OTW  D  4  Phillips, Chris         3   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
OTW  C 25  Gardiner, Bruce         3   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
OTW  D 29  Kravchuk, Igor          4   0   0   0  -4    0  0  0  0  0  12   0.0
OTW  C 19  Yashin, Alexei          4   0   0   0  -4   10  0  0  0  0  24   0.0
OTW  C 22  Van Allen, Shaun        4   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
OTW  C 14  Bonk, Radek             4   0   0   0  -1    6  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
OTW  D  5 *Salo, Sami              4   0   0   0  -3    0  0  0  0  0  10   0.0
OTW  C 13  Prospal, Vaclav         4   0   0   0  -2    0  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
OTW  D 27  Laukkanen, Janne        4   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
PHI  D 37  Desjardins, Eric        6   2   2   4   1    4  1  0  1  0  21   9.5
PHI  C 17  Brind'Amour, Rod        6   1   3   4   1    0  0  0  0  0  19   5.3
PHI  L 10  LeClair, John           6   3   0   3   0   12  2  0  0  0  15  20.0
PHI  R 20  Jones, Keith            6   2   1   3   4   14  0  0  0  0  11  18.2
PHI  D 25  Duchesne, Steve         6   0   2   2   2    2  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
PHI  C 28  Bureau, Marc            6   0   2   2   2    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
PHI  C 18  Langkow, Daymond        6   0   2   2   3    2  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
PHI  L 26  Zelepukin, Valeri       4   1   0   1   1    4  0  0  1  0   5  20.0
PHI  D 24  Dykhuis, Karl           5   1   0   1   1    4  0  0  0  0  13   7.7
PHI  L 32  Berube, Craig           6   1   0   1   1    4  0  0  0  0   7  14.3
PHI  R  9  Greig, Mark             2   0   1   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
PHI  R 14  Andersson, Mikael       6   0   1   1   1    2  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
PHI  R 21  McCarthy, Sandy         6   0   1   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
PHI  R 11  Recchi, Mark            6   0   1   1  -1    2  0  0  0  0  18   0.0
PHI  D  3  McGillis, Dan           6   0   1   1   2   12  0  0  0  0  15   0.0
PHI  D  5 *Tertyshny, Dimitri      1   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
PHI  D  2  Burt, Adam              6   0   0   0   1    4  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
PHI  R 19  Renberg, Mikael         6   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0  18   0.0
PHI  R  8  Hull, Jody              6   0   0   0  -1    4  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
PHI  D  6  Therien, Chris          6   0   0   0   1    6  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
PHO  R 11  Drake, Dallas           6   4   3   7   4    4  2  0  1  0  15  26.7
PHO  R 19  Doan, Shane             6   2   2   4   4    6  0  0  2  1  14  14.3
PHO  L  7  Tkachuk, Keith          6   1   3   4  -3   11  1  0  0  0  18   5.6
PHO  C 16  Reichel, Robert         6   1   3   4  -2    2  0  0  0  0  12   8.3
PHO  D 27  Numminen, Teppo         6   2   1   3  -4    2  2  0  0  0  17  11.8
PHO  D  3  Carney, Keith           6   1   2   3   5    8  0  0  0  0   4  25.0
PHO  R 22  Tocchet, Rick           6   0   3   3  -3    6  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
PHO  L 29  DeBrusk, Louie          6   2   0   2  -1    6  0  0  0  0   5  40.0
PHO  R 23  Leach, Steve            6   1   1   2   0    0  0  0  0  0   3  33.3
PHO  C 36  Ylonen, Juha            2   0   2   2   2    2  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
PHO  R 18  Noonan, Brian           4   0   2   2   2    4  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
PHO  D 10  Tverdovsky, Oleg        6   0   2   2   3    6  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
PHO  L 17  Adams, Greg             2   1   0   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   6  16.7
PHO  C 14  Stapleton, Mike         6   1   0   1  -1    0  0  0  0  0   2  50.0
PHO  R 15  Cummins, Jim            3   0   1   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
PHO  D 24  Neckar, Stan            5   0   1   1   3    4  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
PHO  C 21  Corkum, Bob             6   0   1   1   1    4  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
PHO  D 20  Lumme, Jyrki            6   0   1   1  -1    6  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
PHO  C 47 *Hansen, Tavis           1   0   0   0   1    0  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
PHO  D 39  Tiley, Brad             1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
PHO  D  4  Diduck, Gerald          2   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
PHO  D 33  Daigneault, J.J.        5   0   0   0  -1    8  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
PHO  C 26  Sullivan, Mike          5   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
PIT  R 27  Kovalev, Alexei         5   3   6   9   3    6  0  0  1  0  12  25.0
PIT  C 82  Straka, Martin          6   5   3   8   2    4  1  0  0  0  18  27.8
PIT  C  9  Titov, German           6   0   5   5   3    0  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
PIT  D  4  Hatcher, Kevin          6   1   3   4   1    2  0  0  0  0   7  14.3
PIT  C 37  Miller, Kip             6   1   3   4  -1    4  1  0  0  0   9  11.1
PIT  R 68  Jagr, Jaromir           2   2   1   3   0    6  0  0  1  1   8  25.0
PIT  C 38 *Hrdina, Jan             6   2   1   3   0    8  1  0  0  0   6  33.3
PIT  R 44  Brown, Rob              6   1   2   3   0    4  1  0  0  0   8  12.5
PIT  D 71  Slegr, Jiri             6   0   2   2   1    4  0  0  0  0  10   0.0
PIT  D 49  Andrusak, Greg          5   1   0   1   0    4  0  0  1  0   4  25.0
PIT  R 95  Morozov, Aleksey        6   1   0   1   1    0  0  0  0  0   9  11.1
PIT  C 20  Lang, Robert            5   0   1   1  -1    0  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
PIT  D  5  Werenka, Brad           6   0   1   1   3    2  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
PIT  R 24  Moran, Ian              6   0   1   1   0    4  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
PIT  D 47 *Galanov, Maxim          1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
PIT  D 23  Ignatjev, Victor        1   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
PIT  C 28  Hlushko, Todd           1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
PIT  L 12 *Sonnenberg, Martin      4   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
PIT  D  8  Dollas, Bobby           6   0   0   0   0    4  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
PIT  C 29  Wright, Tyler           6   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
PIT  R 25  Kesa, Dan               6   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
PIT  R 36  Barnaby, Matthew        6   0   0   0   0   10  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
SJS  D  5  Norton, Jeff            5   0   6   6   4   10  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
SJS  C 18  Ricci, Mike             5   2   3   5   2   10  1  0  0  0   9  22.2
SJS  C 25  Damphousse, Vincent     5   3   1   4   0    4  0  2  0  0  17  17.6
SJS  C 19  Sturm, Marco            5   2   2   4   1    4  0  0  1  0  15  13.3
SJS  R 15 *Korolyuk, Alex          5   1   3   4  -2    2  0  0  1  0   6  16.7
SJS  C 14  Marleau, Patrick        5   2   1   3   0    4  2  0  0  0   5  40.0
SJS  D  2  Houlder, Bill           5   2   0   2   1    4  2  0  0  0   6  33.3
SJS  R 21  Granato, Tony           5   1   1   2   0    2  0  0  0  0   5  20.0
SJS  L 39  Friesen, Jeff           5   1   1   2  -2   12  1  0  0  0  13   7.7
SJS  D 10  Ragnarsson, Marcus      5   0   2   2  -4    6  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
SJS  R 17  Murphy, Joe             5   0   2   2  -1    4  0  0  0  0  18   0.0
SJS  R 11  Nolan, Owen             5   1   0   1   1    6  0  0  0  0  25   4.0
SJS  L 26  Lowry, Dave             1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
SJS  L 37  Matteau, Stephane       4   0   0   0  -2    6  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
SJS  D 27  Marchment, Bryan        5   0   0   0   1    4  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
SJS  C 12  Sutter, Ron             5   0   0   0  -1    4  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
SJS  D  3  Rouse, Bob              5   0   0   0   0    6  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
SJS  D 40  Rathje, Mike            5   0   0   0  -4    0  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
SJS  R 22  Stern, Ronnie           5   0   0   0  -1    6  0  0  0  0   8   0.0
STL  D  2  MacInnis, Al            6   3   6   9  -1   12  2  0  0  0  31   9.7
STL  R 48  Young, Scott            6   2   5   7  -1    4  1  0  1  1  21   9.5
STL  C 77  Turgeon, Pierre         6   1   6   7  -2    2  0  0  0  0  19   5.3
STL  L 38  Demitra, Pavol          6   2   2   4  -2    2  2  0  0  0  14  14.3
STL  D 44  Pronger, Chris          6   1   3   4   3   12  1  0  0  0  19   5.3
STL  C 22  Conroy, Craig           6   2   1   3   2    4  0  0  0  0  11  18.2
STL  L 14  Courtnall, Geoff        6   1   2   3  -5    8  1  0  0  0   8  12.5
STL  R 23  Atcheynum, Blair        6   1   2   3   3    4  0  0  0  0  12   8.3
STL  R 27  Yake, Terry             6   1   2   3  -1    4  1  0  0  0   5  20.0
STL  D  6  Rivers, Jamie           6   1   1   2  -2    0  1  0  1  0   3  33.3
STL  C 25  Rheaume, Pascal         4   1   0   1   1    2  0  0  0  0  10  10.0
STL  L 33  Pellerin, Scott         5   1   0   1  -1    4  0  0  0  0   7  14.3
STL  D 37  Finley, Jeff            6   1   0   1  -2    6  0  0  1  0   5  20.0
STL  C 26 *Handzus, Michal         4   0   1   1   2    4  0  0  0  0  10   0.0
STL  C 32  Eastwood, Mike          6   0   1   1   3    4  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
STL  D  7  Persson, Ricard         6   0   1   1  -1   13  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
STL  L 56 *Bartecko, Lubos         2   0   0   0  -1    0  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
STL  L 34  Picard, Michel          4   0   0   0  -3    2  0  0  0  0   6   0.0
STL  C 21 *Mayers, Jamal           5   0   0   0  -2    4  0  0  0  0   1   0.0
STL  D 19  McAlpine, Chris         6   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
TOR  D 34  Berard, Bryan           6   0   5   5  -4    8  0  0  0  0  10   0.0
TOR  R 94  Berezin, Sergei         6   2   2   4  -1    0  2  0  1  0  23   8.7
TOR  C 11  Sullivan, Steve         6   1   2   3  -1    4  1  0  0  0  12   8.3
TOR  L 32  Thomas, Steve           6   2   0   2  -2    4  1  0  1  0  14  14.3
TOR  C 13  Sundin, Mats            6   1   1   2  -2    6  0  0  1  0  15   6.7
TOR  D 36  Yushkevich, Dimitri     6   1   1   2  -2    4  1  0  0  0   7  14.3
TOR  C 44  Perreault, Yanic        6   1   1   2  -3    0  0  0  1  1   3  33.3
TOR  R 20  Johnson, Mike           6   1   0   1  -1    2  0  0  0  0   8  12.5
TOR  L 10  Valk, Garry             6   0   1   1   0   10  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
TOR  L  7  King, Derek             6   0   1   1  -2    0  0  0  0  0   9   0.0
TOR  D 33  McAllister, Chris       6   0   1   1  -1    4  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
TOR  D 55 *Markov, Daniil          6   0   1   1   2    6  0  0  0  0   2   0.0
TOR  D  2  Eakins, Dallas          1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
TOR  R 22  Korolev, Igor           1   0   0   0   0    0  0  0  0  0   0   0.0
TOR  D 52  Karpovtsev, Alexander   3   0   0   0  -2    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
TOR  D 15 *Kaberle, Tomas          3   0   0   0   1    0  0  0  0  0   5   0.0
TOR  L  8  Warriner, Todd          5   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
TOR  L 19  Modin, Fredrik          5   0   0   0  -1    4  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
TOR  R 28  Domi, Tie               6   0   0   0   0    2  0  0  0  0   3   0.0
TOR  D  3  Cote, Sylvain           6   0   0   0  -1    2  0  0  0  0   7   0.0
TOR  L 12  King, Kris              6   0   0   0  -1    6  0  0  0  0   4   0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Playoff Goaltender Stats - Through May 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TM  NO GOALTENDER          GPI  MINS   AVG  W  L  T EN SO  GA   SA  SPCT G  A PIM
ANA 31 Hebert, Guy           4   208  4.33  0  3  0  0  0  15  124  .879 0  0   0
BOS 34 Dafoe, Byron          6   411  1.46  4  2  0  0  2  10  164  .939 0  0   2
BUF 39 Hasek, Dominik        4   270  1.33  4  0  0  0  1   6  162  .963 0  0   2
CAR  1 Irbe, Arturs          6   408  2.21  2  4  0  1  0  15  181  .917 0  0   0
COL 33 Roy, Patrick          5   298  2.62  3  2  0  1  0  13  155  .916 0  1   2
COL  1 Billington, Craig     1     9  6.67  0  0  0  0  0   1    6  .833 0  0   0
DAL 20 Belfour, Ed           4   297  1.41  4  0  0  0  0   7   93  .925 0  0   0
DET 30 Osgood, Chris         4   240  1.50  4  0  0  0  1   6  115  .948 0  0   0
EDM 35 Salo, Tommy           4   296  2.23  0  4  0  0  0  11  149  .926 0  0   0
NJD 30 Brodeur, Martin       6   367  2.62  3  3  0  1  0  16  126  .873 0  2   2
OTW  1 Rhodes, Damian        2   150  2.40  0  2  0  0  0   6   65  .908 0  0   0
OTW 31 Tugnutt, Ron          2   118  3.05  0  2  0  0  0   6   41  .854 0  0   0
PHI 34 Vanbiesbrouck, John   6   369  1.46  2  4  0  0  1   9  146  .938 0  0   2
PHO 35 Khabibulin, Nikolai   6   371  2.75  3  3  0  1  0  17  201  .915 0  0   2
PIT 35 Barrasso, Tom         6   365  2.47  3  3  0  1  0  15  176  .915 0  0   2
SJS 29 Vernon, Mike          4   247  2.43  2  2  0  0  0  10  139  .928 0  1   0
SJS 31 Shields, Steve        1    60  6.00  0  1  0  0  0   6   36  .833 0  0   0
STL 29 McLennan, Jamie       1    37  0.00  0  1  0  1  0   0    7 1.000 0  0   6
STL 31 Fuhr, Grant           6   336  2.68  3  2  0  0  0  15  133  .887 0  1   0
TOR 31 Joseph, Curtis        6   370  1.46  4  2  0  2  1   9  189  .952 0  0   2

Stats provided by Brad Murray.  To subscribe to the free NHL boxscore or 
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