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Thantks for the reply. I'll let them know about this weekend.
JR
From that write up: LOOK AT THESE NUMBERS?????
This season the Rangers are responsible for paying Bure $10 million, Leetch $9.6 million, Holik $9.6 million, Petr Nedved $4.8 million, Darius Kasparaitis $4.1 million, Mike Richter $4 million, Mark Messier $3.9 million, Vladimir Malakhov $3.6 million and Eric Lindros $2.7 million, which could quadruple with attainable games-played bonuses. Even fourth-liner Sandy McCarthy ($1.3 million) and spare part David Karpa ($1.7 million) make more than $1 million.
Unbelievable!
Rangers' troubles are deeper than their pockets
January 8, 2003 Print it
Jay Greenberg
For the Sporting News
After years of going around throwing coins at practically any player who would take them, the Rangers last summer signed the squarest peg on the board.
If Bobby Holik, one of the most competitive players in the NHL, wasn't an overdue fit for a team that had been too easy to play for and, more tellingly, too easy to play against, then general manager Glen Sather is the monkey's uncle, and fans six seasons removed from a playoff game at Madison Square Garden should cry out in submission.
Signing Holik for $45 million over five years was an unprecedented sum for a center who never had scored 30 goals or had 70 points. But Holik, a 6-4, 225-pound, two-time Cup winner and ultimate antidote for the opposition's biggest and/or best center, was supposed to be just what the doctor ordered.
Instead, the Rangers had to order the doctor when Holik reported to camp in what Sather says was disappointing physical condition, then suffered a groin problem that sidelined him for 18 games. Putting on that Blueshirt had turned Holik into Alexandre Daigle, just as it once had turned Mike Keane and Brian Skrudland, two respected bulls, into lost sheep.
Why does that always happen to the Rangers? Big money? Bright lights? Mean media? What keeps the franchise swirling down the toilet along with all the money it has thrown at players? Since last making the playoffs, in 1997, the Rangers have had either the highest or second-highest payroll in the NHL. This year, the best bang for their 69 million bucks seemingly would come from a shot that would put them out of another season of misery.
Joe Micheletti, an analyst on Islanders broadcasts and a former NHL player, says injuries to Pavel Bure and Brian Leetch are partially to blame for the team's current woes, "but the Rangers had the same problems when those players were in there."
"Their highs and lows are so dramatic, there is just too much there (to justify) those kinds of lows," he says. "When they are totally outworked and their best players become unnoticeable, that's not the fault of the G.M. and coach. That's players not taking responsibility."
This season the Rangers are responsible for paying Bure $10 million, Leetch $9.6 million, Holik $9.6 million, Petr Nedved $4.8 million, Darius Kasparaitis $4.1 million, Mike Richter $4 million, Mark Messier $3.9 million, Vladimir Malakhov $3.6 million and Eric Lindros $2.7 million, which could quadruple with attainable games-played bonuses. Even fourth-liner Sandy McCarthy ($1.3 million) and spare part David Karpa ($1.7 million) make more than $1 million.
With the exception of Leetch, all those players were brought in or re-signed by Sather, who once waved Edmonton's small-market banner for fiscal sanity. He now appears to be rolling in dough with a half-baked plan, trying to build a champion in a New York minute.
"No, he didn't get suddenly stupid when he went across the border," Micheletti says. "It only indicates there is a long way to go to building a base up."
And that is the root of the evil the Rangers have wrought upon NHL coffers: The Bagman Franchise hasn't developed enough of its own players, forcing the Red Wings, Stars, Avalanche, Blues and Flyers to pay increasing dollars to keep their best while the Rangers continue to prove you can't buy contention.
Holik says the Rangers' chemistry, which he observed from afar while playing for the Devils, is worse than he thought. Players weren't able to grow up with the team, coming to the Rangers later in their careers with families and other obligations. And opportunities to build camaraderie are further limited because the team is based in the low-travel East. Bure and Lindros are largely loners. Mark Messier, 41, whose leadership skills helped slay a 54-year-old dragon when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, no longer can justify the minutes he is being given.
So a team that has three players -- Leetch, Richter and Messier -- with any recollection of success in New York, cycles its own failure better than the puck.
Panthers coach Mike Keenan, who overcame some of those inherent problems in coaching the Rangers to that 1994 Cup win, says his former team will make a run at the playoffs when Bure (knee) and Leetch (ankle) return in February.
Sather agrees but refuses to add himself to the list of the wounded, even if it appears that the man who built the greatest offensive machine in NHL history in Edmonton, then changed with the times and reassembled a fast, if starless, playoff team on a shoestring, suffered a bruised brain falling off the turnip truck.
That must have been where Sather found a head coach, Bryan Trottier, who never had run a bench, who plays Messier more than 18 minutes a game, who leveled a withering public criticism of underachieving winger Radek Dvorak ("He's scared") and criticized Bure's defensive indifference when Bure was one of the team's few plus players. Trottier, who also benched Lindros for taking penalties that looked a lot less stupid than the calls, is feeling his way, although not very well.
"The ice time doesn't make any sense," one NHL coach says. "Trottier should use Mark like Detroit uses (42-year-old) Igor Larionov, 12-13 minutes a game, and lean on Holik more. But Bryan has never done this before. So how would he know?"
Sather's critics contend he is determined to run prospects out of town, refusing to acknowledge the dust bowl he inherited in 2000 from his predecessor, Neil Smith. Sather says he was handcuffed by having players -- Theo Fleury, Val Kamensky, Adam Graves, Sylvain Lefebvre -- with $8 million to $10 million left on their contracts that no one would take.
"But I knew that going in," he says. "The plan all along has been to develop guys while trying to put together a playoff team. "We're buying time."
No pun intended. And no sale to Smith's media friends, never mind how little Sather actually has risked in deals. For Lindros, a player who has considerable health concerns, Sather traded winger Pavel Brendl, a fourth overall pick in 1999 who can't crack the Flyers' lineup; Jan Hlavac, a winger who has been subsequently moved twice; a third-round pick in 2003; and defenseman Kim Johnsson, who has been a nice fit for the Flyers but hardly a high price to pay for a star.
The jury still is out on the Bure deal, but the short-term cost was low. Bure, the game's most dynamic goal scorer, was acquired with a second-round pick (Lee Falardeau) for a spare defenseman (Igor Ulanov) and a B prospect (Filip Novak), plus a 2002 second-rounder (Rob Globke), a first-round pick the Panthers dealt to the Flames (who took Eric Nystrom) and a fourth-rounder in 2003.
Sather erred by not re-signing Martin Rucinsky, a journeyman who complemented Bure and Lindros after replacing Mike York, who was traded to the Oilers for Tom Poti, 26. York, 25, undersized at 185 pounds, had run out of gas after dynamic first halves in all three of his Ranger seasons, and was moved for a young, 6-3 defenseman with offensive skills, if also a tendency for coverage mistakes.
Another prospect, defenseman Tomas Kloucek, 22, was sent to the Predators in December for goalie Mike Dunham when Richter was sidelined for the rest of the season with post-concussion syndrome. Kloucek had lost most of his aggressiveness after tearing an ACL and was bumped by an improved Dale Purinton.
Forward Jamie Lundmark, the ninth overall pick in 1999 and the lone survivor of Smith's prized prospects, is playing for the Rangers, as is goalie Dan Blackburn, Sather's first pick in 2001. The team hasn't gotten better, but it's not because it has gotten older.
Sather has tried to add gumption, in one case by overpaying for Kasparaitis, in others by making low-risk moves for McCarthy, Matthew Barnaby, Mikael Samuelsson and Ronald Petrovicky. But the Rangers' essential problem is that those players are all fourth-liners. Beyond Holik, who is coming on slowly, the team lacks grinders good enough to play on the top three lines.
The Rangers always will be able to afford stars who are unrestricted free agents. But bedrock players remain largely unattainable until the age of 31, when they could become unrestricted free agents and close to the point when their energy begins to ebb.
And when a restricted free agent (with compensation) occasionally forces his way out, as Michael Peca did from the Sabres, the Rangers have little to offer teams who want affordable, young, promising players in return.
"How many draft picks can you trade and remain competitive?" Sather asks. "It's a complicated answer, but the only (young player) I was reluctant to trade was Johnsson, who we could afford because of the (Fedor) Tutin kid we drafted (second round, 2001).
"I want the same kind of team we had in Edmonton. Aggressive, with good speed, that doesn't throw the puck away blindly under pressure like we do now. Garth Murray may be that good second- or third-line player you are talking about, but it just doesn't happen overnight. I really am having to do it backward here."
Such is the deep hole in the bottomless pockets of the Rangers, one that can't be darned with all the money in the Cablevision empire.
"Free agency usually works best with one or two signings around a base of home-grown players," Capitals general manager George McPhee says.
Glen Sather knows. Believe him, he knows.
Bob,
regarding Happy Hour. I live out west and some of my friends have opened free accounts and I am trying to convince them to upgrade. However, Happy Hour occurs at a time when they are all still at work and unable to try it out(2 and 3 hour time difference). Has that ever been considered?
JR
I'm really looking forward to the game. I hope the excitement level stays high til the superbowl. There have been a few years that I just couldn't have cared less who wins of loses.
My flyers still missing 2 top players.
PHILADELPHIA INJURY STATUS
Chris Therien D Flu Did Not Play Sun. Questionable Tue. vs Buf. 1/6
John LeClair LW Dislocated Shoulder Out 10-12 Weeks. 11/30
Marcus Ragnarsson D Back I.R. Out until mid-Jan. 1/2
Simon Gagne LW Facial Laceration Did Not Play Sun. Questionable Tue. vs Buf. 1/6
todays moves
Tuesday, January 7, 2003
TEAM
New York Rangers Recalled right wing Jamie Lundmark from Hartford of the American Hockey League.
Ottawa Senators Recalled right wing Toni Dahlman from Binghamton of the American Hockey League.
Philadelphia Flyers Assigned right wing Mark Greig to Philadelphia of the American Hockey League.
Pittsburgh Penguins Recalled goaltender Sebastien Caron from Wilkes-Barre-Scranton of the American Hockey League.
Washington Capitals Assigned rookie defenseman Steve Eminger to his junior team.
Florida Panthers Recalled goaltender Wade Flaherty from San Antonio of the American Hockey League.
Columbus Blue Jackets Fired coach Dave King; named general manager Doug MacLean interim coach for the remainder of the season.
Minnesota Wild Recalled goaltender Dieter Kochan from Houston of the American Hockey League; assigned left wing Hnat Domenichelli to Houston.
2003 Power Rankings: Week 11
Rk Team Rec. Comment
1 (3) Red Wings 22-8-7-1 Just one loss during the month of December (10-1-4).
2 (4) Senators 23-9-5-0 Not only are they first in the East, but they play for free!
3 (5) Canucks 22-11-5-0 After compiling an 0-6-1 record on New Year's Eve, next year's game on Dec. 31 is cancelled.
4 (1) Stars 20-10-9-1 4-3-3-0 in their last 10? What, leading the conference was getting boring?
5 (6) Blues 20-11-5-2 Isn't Brent Johnson supposed to be rusty after missing so many games due to injury?
6 (2) Wild 20-11-7-1 OK, so we've found the Wild are a deep team. Quality depth is another matter.
7 (8) Devils 20-11-2-3 After going 0-for-36 on the power play (a span of 13 games), the Devils are 4-for-18 in their four games. Not exactly a turnaround of headline proportions, but a turnaround nonetheless.
8 (12) Maple Leafs 19-14-4-1 Who needs Mats Sundin and Alex Mogilny when you've got Darcy Tucker and Jyrki Lumme?
9 (7) Bruins 21-11-4-1 2-7-1 in their last 10. Enough said.
10 (10) Kings 16-14-4-3 They'll be dangerous in the playoffs ... if they make it that far.
11 (13) Blackhawks 18-13-6-0 The Hawks are 8-2-3 without Boris Mironov. Exactly why would they want him back?
12 (9) Oilers 17-13-4-4 Instead of an overtime loss, why not call it a "parachute point?" After all, it's the only thing that has kept the Oilers from falling out of the playoff picture.
13 (11) Flyers 17-10-8-1 Sorry, but if Pavel Brendl needs to be "inspired to pick up his game," as Jeremy Roenick told the Philly Inquirer, then he doesn't belong in the league.
14 (14) Lightning 17-13-5-3 The Lightning are 10-52-5-2 in January during the past five seasons. Just a heads up.
15 (20) Avalanche 15-9-9-5 In his last five games, Peter Forsberg has registered 5-8-13. Heck, if he had scored that in his last 10, Bob Hartley would still have a job.
16 (26) Capitals 18-16-3-2 Instead of just looking like a playoff team on paper, the Capitals are finally looking like one on the ice.
17 (16) Canadiens 16-14-5-3 Jose Theodore has allowed just seven goals in his last 13 starts. Now if his teammates would score a few goals ...
18 (17) Sharks 15-15-4-3 The Sharks play 11 of their 14 games in January at home. We'll know on Jan. 31 if they'll be in the playoffs.
19 (15) Mighty Ducks 15-14-6-3 A four-game losing streak is one thing. Getting beat by Nick Schultz, Matt Johnson and Jeremy Stevenson in one game is a completely different level of despair.
20 (18) Penguins 15-15-3-5 The Penguins' power play slipped to 17.2 percent efficiency during Dick Tarnstrom's absence.
21 (21) Coyotes 14-16-6-3 Pardon the rest of the West if their able to contain their enthusiasm about Sean Burke's return.
22 (22) Islanders 16-16-5-0 In case you missed it, the Islanders picked up the option on Peter Laviolette's contract for next season.
23 (19) Hurricanes 15-15-5-3 Shut out by the Rangers?
24 (25) Panthers 11-11-9-7 If the Panthers won half of their overtime games (OK, 9 of their 19), they'd be first in their division.
25 (23) Rangers 15-20-5-1 Yes, Bryan Trottier is still the coach. For now.
26 (27) Predators 10-18-6-4 Can the Predators play division leaders every game?
27 (24) Blue Jackets 13-19-3-2 The Jackets lose Andrew Cassels, they lose three straight games. What their excuse was in the two games before that is anyone's guess.
28 (28) Flames 11-18-6-3 The Flames were 11 points out of a playoff spot at Christmas, the farthest they've been out at the same point in the last seven seasons, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
29 (29) Thrashers 10-21-1-4 First win over Carolina. First win over Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, those are their only two wins in their last six games.
30 (30) Sabres 8-22-5-2 When goalie Ryan Miller gets called up from Rochester, does he file that under good news or bad news?
Referee disallows Montreal goal, allows Devils' game-winner
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECAP / BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The Montreal Canadiens came to New Jersey and got robbed, at least that's what they are accusing referee Kerry Fraser of doing to them.
Nieuwendyk
Fraser disallowed a first-period Montreal goal and allowed Joe Nieuwendyk's game-winning, third-period goal to stand even though Canadiens goaltender Jeff Hackett was knocked down by a Devils player in a 3-2 New Jersey victory on Tuesday night.
Canadiens coaches and officials screamed at Fraser as he walked off the ice after the game, and general manager Andre Savard had to be physically restrained from going into the dressing room seconds after the game, according to security officials at the Continental Airlines Arena who asked not to be identified.
When reporters walked past the officials' room to the Canadiens locker, there were six security guards outside the room. Normally, there are one or two.
"First of all, we believe we got robbed," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said after emerging some 20 minutes after the game. "There is no doubt about that."
Therrien was already miffed that Fraser disallowed an apparent first-period goal by Mike Ribeiro for incidental contact with Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur.
Replays did not show any contact.
Nieuwendyk's second goal of the third period infuriated the road-weary Canadiens, who saw their winless streak reach seven games (0-4-1-2), all on the road.
Devils forward Jeff Friesen split two Canadiens in their zone but the puck slid off his stick and went to the right of the net.
As Hackett played the puck toward then corner, Friesen bumped into him and knocked him to the ice.
Friesen retrieved the puck and fed Nieuwendyk for a shot into an open net.
Hackett refused to talk to the media after the game.
Friesen denied running the goaltender.
"I wasn't trying to hit him or hurt him," Friesen said. "I was trying to get the puck. He was trying to shield me. I don't know what he was doing. He may have felt the bump and tried to draw a penalty."
The Canadiens felt Friesen deserved one.
"I haven't seen a play like that in a while," former Devil and current Canadiens Randy McKay said.
Fraser told a pool reporter that a goalie can be bumped when he's out of his crease and playing the puck.
"There may be a misconception that goalies are protected everywhere on the ice, that they can't be touched," Fraser said. "That's a fallacy."
That's something the Canadiens had trouble believing.
Even Martin Brodeur was surprised after stopping 20 shots to pick up his 20th win of the season.
"If it happened to me I wouldn't be too pleased," Brodeur said.
Nieuwendyk, who was riding an eight-game goal drought, tied the game at 2-2 on another bang-bang play at 6:36. Christian Berglund had the puck along the sideboards in the Montreal end and he threw a no-look pass in front that Nieuwendyk one-timed past a startled Hackett, who was outstanding in making 33 saves.
"I have felt better recently," said Nieuwendyk, who now has 499 career goals. "Hopefully tonight will be a good springboard."
Although outshot 27-17 in the first two periods, the Canadiens took a 2-1 lead into the final period on second-period goals by Quintal and Hossa.
Saku Koivu set up Quintal's third goal of the season by beating John Madden on a faceoff in the Devils' zone and getting the puck back to the defenseman for a shot between Brodeur's legs at 8:41.
Hossa, who was recalled from Hamilton on Friday and was playing in his first game of the season, gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead at 16:34, putting the rebound of a shot by Andrei Markov into an open net.
The Devils took the lead minutes later when Elias lifted the rebound of a wrap-around attempt by Sergei Brylin over Hackett.
Game notes
Devils defenseman Colin White suffered a charley horse in the first period and did not play in the final two periods. ... Devils defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky missed his third straight game with a viral problem. ... Canadiens C Doug Gilmour (back spasms) missed his third straight game. ... New Jersey has won two of the three games with Montreal this season. The Devils are 6-3-1 in their last 10.
A little boy got on the bus, sat next to a man reading a book, and noticed he had his collar on backwards. The little boy asked why he wore his collar that way.
The man, who was a priest, said, " I am a Father."
The little boy replied "My Daddy doesn't wear his collar like that."
The priest looked up from his book and answered "I am the Father of many."
The boy said, "My Dad has 4 boys, 4 girls and two grandchildren and he doesn't wear his collar that way.
The priest, getting impatient, said "I am the Father of hundreds," and went back to reading his book.
The little boy sat quietly...but on leaving the bus, he leaned over and said, "Well. maybe you should wear your pants backwards instead of your collar."
The "Key of Dreams" and Psychoanalysis
A comparative analysis of the classical and psychoanalytical
method in the interpretation of dreams points out striking similitudes.
By Horia Vasilescu
In his peerless work dedicated to dreams and their interpretation in psychoanalysis - Traumdeutung ["The Interpretation of Dreams", 1900] - Freud also mentions the famous "keys of dreams", these genuine interpretation guides of common use. Considering the fact that the popular mentality grants signification to the dreams, unlike the scientists contemporaneous with him to whom dreams appear only as aberrant nervous manifestations, Freud doesn't linger in bringing them forward in a critical manner.
A "key of dreams" is, in fact, a "deciphering method", " because it treats the dream as a secret writing, in which case every sign is translated by a correspondent sign, by means of a certain key" (1). Starting from the deciphered key words, all we have to do is to comprise them in a relation, regarded in a future's prospect. Because, we shouldn't forget, in the popular mentality dreams are always premonitions concerning future events.
That's how we could use such a "deciphering method". Let's suppose I have dreamt the following: I went to the station to take up the train and I suddenly discovered that I had forgotten my luggage home.
I open a key of dreams and find out that: "going by train" means "a trouble that lies in wait for you from an unexpected direction". "Luggage" means "good news" or "rapid unexpected enrichment". "To forget" (the luggage) - "something you don't know about yet, but you'll find out in its season"; "news (from the other end of the world)".
It's easy to elaborate the interpretation of dream if I build up a logical connection between all these elements: Overnight enrichment due to a misfortune (probably decease) of a distant person (relative); inheritance.
There is another alternative to this method, Freud continues, expounded in the writings of Artemidor from Daldis: "Here we take into account not only the content of the dream, but also the personality and circumstances of the life of the author of the dream: so-and-so detail has different significances from one individual to another, as he/she is rich or poor, married or single, orator or merchant"(2). What is characteristic to this proceeding is the fact that "the interpretation doesn't take into account the whole dream, but each of his content elements, as if the dream would be a conglomerate in which each mineral fragment demands a special determination"(3).
"The deciphering method", Freud concludes, cannot be used in the scientific treatment of the dreams. Because it depends upon a "key", and therefore it lacks any warrant"(4). It's impossible for us to detect how was drawn up this correlation between the raving element and its significance from the "key of dreams". For instance, we can't see how we could come from "going by train" to "trouble that lies in wait for you from an unexpected direction", or from "luggage" to "good news, rapid unexpected enrichment".
Psychoanalytical method
We must emphasize that psychoanalysis doesn't consider dreams as a product of our mantic aptitude, neither as gods' messenger. The scientific approach, which Freud himself hints at, rejects those "virtues" of the dream that cannot pass the examination of the scientific investigation.
As far as it concerns him, Freud states that dream is always the hallucinating expression of a repressed wish. He insists on the fact that the interpretation cannot be deprived of the dreamer's associations, of his recollections and impressions that the elements of the dream, considered separately, evoke to him. In the above quoted dream, Freud would obtain the following information:
- Travel by train. It suggests to the dreamer a travelling manner, which he doesn't like. Because it's uncomfortable. He (the dreamer) prefers to go by his personal car, especially when he spends his weekend in a trip to the mountains or at the seaside.
- Forgetting luggage. The dreamer complains of the fact that, from some time, he noticed a suspect change of his character. He forgets easily, he is absent-minded, confused, inattentive, with his thoughts far away. All these happenings, apparently harmless annoy him. Adding to these, he was never so "scatter-brained" and, of course, he imitates his wife, who embodies the distraction itself, by this behavior.
Further examining dreamer's impressions, Freud would find out that dreamer's wife behaves like a "little princess" to him, arrogant and all airs and frills, she looks down on her husband, she treats him with an air of self-satisfied superiority. The conclusion of the dream imposes so without saying: it expresses dreamer's wish to change places with his wife (this is where the idea of imitating her comes from), for him to be "the prince" and his wife "the servant"(5).
Freud's statement that dream is the accomplishment of an unconscious desire creates the impression that psychoanalysis brought a revolutionary contribution in the realm of interpretation. Because it is supposed to posses, in this regard, a vision considered as "scientific", radically opposite to the popular or traditional one.
The facts are not at all like that. Anyone that studies the classification of dreams in the Antiquity period, and I especially refer here to Macrobius' work "Comments upon Scipio's vision", would notice that the tradition also remarked the dreams with a "scientific" content, the same type as those approached by psychoanalysis.
On short, Macrobius distinguishes four categories of dreams. Three of them are interesting to the interpretation effort, while the last one remains, so to say, the appanage of common people. The first three categories include: symbolical dream, vision dream and oracular dream (6). The last one refers to the dreams that comes from the nocturnal ebullition of our daytime impressions. We could clearly notice that the last category defines the dreams examined by Freud.
The conclusion imposing to us as a consequence of the above-mentioned (facts) would be: the ancient mentality also had the knowledge of the dreams of "profane" nature, namely those that aren't worth to interpret them, but which, later on, represented the subject matter of the psychoanalytical "scientific" research. On the other hand, it's obvious that, being interested in the "profane" dreams, having doubts concerning the traditional mentality, from a scientific position, Freud ignored the sacred dreams (the first three categories at Macrobius). He gave the sensation that these could be included to the chapter of desire-dreams, familiar to him, when they are not the result of the poetical creation or of an ideological conjuncture.
continued...http://www.freudfile.org/psychoanalysis/dreams2.html
You should get a Freudian analysis done on that one, it might be eye opening.
JR
Flyers nip Sabres for 4th straight win
January 7, 2003 Print it
RECAP / BOX SCORE / SCOREBOARD
PHILADELPHIA -- Justin Williams scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
The Atlantic Division-leading Flyers have won four straight. Buffalo had won two in a row after losing seven straight.
Ales Kotalik scored both of Buffalo's goals. He also had both of the Sabres' goals in a 2-1 win over Ottawa on Saturday.
Keith Primeau and Jeremy Roenick also scored for the Flyers, who were coming off a season-long seven-game road trip in which they went 4-2-1.
The Flyers hadn't taken a shot in the third period before Williams unleashed a slap shot from just outside the right faceoff circle that soared over the left shoulder of Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller.
Philadelphia's previous shot was Roenick's game-tying goal with 26.4 seconds left in the second period.
Mark Recchi started a barrage of backhanders with a pass behind the net to Roenick, who backhanded a pass to Williams in front of the net. Williams then backhanded a shot that hit the stick of Sabres defenseman Jay McKee and went to Roenick, who backhanded it into an open net for his 13th goal.
Primeau's power-play goal cut it to 2-1 seven minutes earlier. Primeau won a faceoff, went to the net, positioned himself in front of Miller and put in a rebound off a shot by Kim Johnsson for his 11th goal.
Robert Esche made 21 saves to improve to 8-2-3.
The Sabres took a 1-0 lead when Kotalik slapped a shot past with 15 seconds left in the first period. His power-play goal midway through the second made it 2-0.
Miroslav Satan set up the goal with a pass that went between Johnsson's legs right to Kotalik, who one-timed a shot for his 10th goal.
Notes: The Sabres are a league-worst 3-13-2-1 on the road, and have scored just 89 goals, fewest in the Eastern Conference. ... Flyers left wing Simon Gagne returned after missing five games because of a concussion. Defenseman Chris Therien missed his third in a row with a concussion. ... Buffalo had won five of the last six games against the Flyers. ... Recchi's two assist gave him 1,100 points, making him the 46th player in NHL history to reach that mark. ... It was Miller's first loss in regulation in six career starts. He's 3-3.
Reports: Senators close to bankruptcy filing
January 7, 2003 Print it
OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators are on the verge of filing for bankruptcy protection, according to media reports Tuesday.
Canadian television's The Sports Network reported that an official announcement that the team will file for protection from its creditors would come "as early as the next 24 hours." The Ottawa Sun reported the franchise would file for protection in both Canada and the United States and receive a short-term cash infusion from the National Hockey League.
Senators spokesman Phil Legault declined comment Tuesday afternoon.
Bankruptcy protection allows a company to continue operating and prevent creditors from going after the team's assets. It also gives a business time to deal with creditors and come up with a long-term business plan, and could lead to a sale of the Senators and their venue, Corel Centre.
The Senators' debt is around $160 million to creditors, with its main creditors the NHL, owed about $14.3 million, CIBC, $40 million and U.S. bank FleetBoston Financial, $20 million.
Total debt, including the arena, is in excess of $350 million.
A complex $234 million financing deal that would have seen investors pump some $42 million in cash into the franchise -- which was unable to pay its players last week -- failed on New Year's Eve after at least one major creditor rejected the plan.
Court-ordered protection does not allow a company to abandon union contracts, such as the Senators have with the NHL Players' Association.
The Companies Creditors' Arrangement Act in Canada -- similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States -- gives a company protection from its creditors, usually for an initial 30-day period that can be extended by a judge if progress is being made towards a restructuring.
Under bankruptcy protection though, outside interests can put in offers on all or just part of a troubled company and a judge can rule if a sale is in the company's and creditors' best interests.
Bankruptcy protection isn't always successful. Companies such as northern Ontario's Algoma Steel have successfully restructured under CCAA protection and made a return to profitability this year. Others -- such as Canada 3000 -- failed in its attempts to restructure in the fall of 2001. The now defunct airline was unable to secure financial assistance from the federal government, a key part of its restructuring plan.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday he expects an interim financing plan to be in place this week to help the Senators pay their players.
The Senators, 25-9-5-1, play in Vancouver on Wednesday.
The Canadian Alliance, meanwhile, formally asked the federal ethics counselor Tuesday to investigate Finance Minister John Manley over a telephone call to a banker regarding the Senators.
The party says Manley may have been in a conflict of interest when he called the chief executive of the Bank of Commerce about financing for the NHL team.
Manley has defended calling CIBC executive John Hunkin, saying he was doing his duty as an Ottawa member of Parliament.
Lemieux leaves game with injured groin
January 7, 2003 Print it
UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Mario Lemieux left Tuesday night's game with the New York Islanders in the second period with a groin injury and didn't return.
It was unclear when the Penguins' captain/owner was injured, but he lifted Pittsburgh into a 1-1 tie with his 20th goal of the season early in the second. He has a league-high 68 points this season.
Lemieux, 37, logged 10 shifts totaling 7:46 of ice time in the first period but only four shifts and 2:50 in the second before he left the game.
It is the 12th time that Lemieux has reached the 20-goal mark in a career that has already landed him in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lemieux, who scored a career-high 85 goals in the 1988-89 season, has only failed to reach 20 three times in 15 NHL seasons.
He has played in 40 of Pittsburgh's 41 games this season, his third since returning from a 3 1/2-year retirement in December 2000. A hip injury limited Lemieux to just six goals and 31 points in 24 games last season.
Various injuries led to Lemieux's retirement in 1997 after he helped the Penguins to championships in 1991 and 1992 and won three MVP awards and six scoring titles. The Hall of Fame waived its three-year waiting period to induct him immediately.
Blue Jackets fire coach King
January 7, 2003 Print it
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- GM Doug MacLean wanted to see more progress in the Columbus Blue Jackets' third season. So he fired coach Dave King and gave himself the job Tuesday.
At 14-20-4-2, the Blue Jackets have the second-worst record in the Western Conference, a point ahead of Nashville.
"Dave was certainly preaching the right things. There just wasn't a consistent performance," said MacLean, also the team's president. "I was extremely patient the last 2 1/2 years."
King, who came to Columbus after three seasons as an assistant with the Montreal Canadiens, leaves with a 64-106-21-13 record as the franchise's only coach.
MacLean will be the interim coach for the rest of the season, giving him a chance to evaluate players from behind the bench rather than a luxury suite. He plans to hire a permanent replacement during the offseason.
"I was frustrated by the inconsistencies, good stretches, bad stretches and tremendous letdowns at times," MacLean said after leading practice Tuesday.
He has spent 17 years in coaching and front office jobs with five teams. Before joining Columbus, MacLean went 83-71-33 as coach of the Florida Panthers, leading the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996.
After finishing with 71 points as an expansion team in 2000-01, Columbus stumbled to 57 points last season, fewest in the Western Conference.
The Blue Jackets have lost six of their past nine games, including 5-1 to Nashville on Monday. Hours later, MacLean and owner John McConnell decided to fire King.
Players took the blame for the decision to dismiss King, who was in the final year of a three-year contract.
"He taught us everything. We just didn't get the job done for him," forward Jody Shelley said. "It's a business, and we've got to win to keep people's jobs."
After acquiring a young scoring threat in Rick Nash and signing three veterans -- defensemen Scott Lachance and Luke Richardson and center Andrew Cassels -- MacLean thought the playoffs were possible.
"It's a shame the coach has to take the penalty for our mistakes," said Nash, the top pick in this year's draft.
King blamed the team's inconsistency on its lack of depth. Injuries also were a problem. Centers Espen Knutsen, Tyler Wright and Andrew Cassels all missed time.
"Behind the bench, sometimes you just look down and say, 'Gee I wish we had another player or two who could make a difference,' " King said.
After going 7-5-1-1 for the franchise's best-ever start, the Blue Jackets went 7-15-3-1 since Nov. 12.
King had more success in his previous NHL coaching job, going 109-76-31 and winning two division titles with the Calgary Flames from 1992-95. But he was fired after Calgary lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year.
Yeah, I'm just pumping them so I can sell into the rally, ha ha ha.
Seems they have a goalie who earns his keep right now. Hopefully they can keep it up.
JR
Check out this link
http://www.thestockbroker.com/htm/home.htm
It appears things are gearing up for a bit of increased PR
JR
A bit of trucking news - Diesel fuel up 1 cent.
Diesel surges above $1.50
By Sean Kelley
After more than 18 months below the $1.50 mark, the national average price of a gallon of diesel rose to $1.501 for the week ending Jan. 6.
The last time the average broached $1.50 was on June 4, 2001. Diesel is now more than 33 cents higher than the same week last year and has risen a dime in three weeks. Truckers in the South and on the East Coast have seen the most severe increases - more than 12 cents in some cases.
The main culprit for the increase is a labor strike in Venezuela, which is in its fifth week of turmoil. U.S. crude oil imports fell to their lowest level since January 2000. Refiners are relying on oil reserves to get diesel and gasoline to the pump.
According to the Department of Energy, which tracks diesel prices and petroleum supplies, if more oil doesn’t enter the system, “crude oil inventories are likely to be drawn down even further … Once that happens, a decline in product inventories is likely, unless demand falls sharply.”
With winter weather already socking parts of the country, demand isn’t expected to fall, and energy analysts are predicting higher prices for fuel. The surge in prices hasn’t been helped by an Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries pledge to cut oil production, although the group has promised to make up for the oil lost in the Venezuela strike.
The analysts also say that diesel prices are not expected to decrease in the next few months because supplies have fallen below the normal range and are expected to remain low for a few months.
Golf
A husband takes his wife to play her first game of golf. Of course, the wife promptly hacked her first shot right through the window of the biggest house adjacent to the course.
The husband cringed, "I warned you to be careful! Now we'll have to go up there, find the owner, apologize and see how much your lousy drive is going to cost us!"
So the couple walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A warm voice said, "Come on in."
When they opened the door they saw the damage that was done: glass was all over the place, and a broken antique bottle was lying on its side near the broken window.
A man reclining on the couch asked, "Are you the people that broke my window?"
"Uh...yeah, sir. We're sure sorry about that," the husband replied.
"Oh, no apology is necessary. Actually I want to thank you. You see, I'm a genie, and I've been trapped in that bottle for a thousand years. Now that you've released me, I'm allowed to grant three wishes. I'll give you each one wish, but if you don't mind, I'll keep the last one for myself."
"Wow, that's great!" the husband said. He pondered a moment and blurted out, "I'd like a million dollars a year for the rest of my life."
"No problem," said the genie. "You've got it, it's the least I can do. And I'll guarantee you a long, healthy life!"
"And now you, young lady, what do you want?" the genie asked.
"I'd like to own a gorgeous home complete with servants in ever country in the world," she said.
"Consider it done," the genie said. "And your homes will always be safe from fire, burglary and natural disasters!"
"And now," the couple asked in unison, "what's your wish, genie?"
"Well, since I've been trapped in that bottle and haven't been with a woman in more than a thousand years, my wish is to have sex with your wife."
The husband looked at his wife and said, "Gee, honey, you know we both now have a fortune, and all those houses. What do you think?"
She mulled it over for a few moments and said, "You know, you're right. Considering our good fortune, I guess I wouldn't mind, but what about you, honey?"
"You know I love you sweetheart," said the husband. "I'd do the same for you!"
So the genie and the woman went upstairs where they spent the rest of theafternoon enjoying each other. The genie was insatiable! After about three hours of nonstop sex, the genie rolled over and looked directly into her eyes and asked "How old are you and your husband?"
"Why, we're both 35," she respondedonded breathlessly.
"NO SHIT! Thirty-five years old and both of you still believe in genies?"
Giants deserved a second chance at victory
January 6, 2003 Print it
The instant replay rules must be changed. That was made clear on the final play of Sunday's NFC playoff game between the Giants and the 49ers. Because the current rules are restrictive, the Giants must live with the knowledge they deserved another chance to continue in the postseason.
We'll never know what they would have done with that opportunity. Perhaps long snapper Trey Junkin would have botched his assignment for the third time on the afternoon. But maybe he would have made a perfect snap and Matt Bryant would have kicked a field goal to win the game.
But this much is certain: Junkin, Bryant and the Giants should have been given another attempt.
Instead, what was obvious -- and I mean obvious -- pass interference following a botched field-goal attempt was not called. The officials were so focused on flagging an ineligible receiver downfield that they forgot to call the interference.
As a result, instead of having offsetting penalties -- ineligible receiver and pass interference -- that would have cancelled the play and allowed another field-goal try, the game was over, the 49ers moved on to Tampa and the Giants flew home crushed.
You remember what happened: The Giants lined up for a 41-yard attempt but Junkin's snap bounced on the ground. Holder Matt Allen picked up the ball and rolled to his right, then launched a pass downfield. Rich Seubert was open but was brought down prematurely by the 49ers' Chike Okeafor. Three flags were tossed; all for ineligible receiver downfield.
It was a chaotic and unexpected situation, but these officials are experienced pros, and they have been trained to respond correctly under such pressure.
On Monday, the league said it botched things. It is a difficult, but typically honest and open admission by Mike Pereira, the NFL's supervisor of officials. The league works hard to upgrade the standards of its officiating, and to have this happen in the playoffs, with a crew comprised of all-star officials chosen for their regular-season merit, is particularly devastating.
The problem is, under current instant replay rules, the missed pass interference call could not have been reviewed by the instant replay official. He is the one who determines what plays are reviewed in the final two minutes, but as blatant as this was, he had to ignore the mistake because it was a judgment call.
I want all questionable plays reviewed in those final two minutes, all of them. One of the mantras that Pereira preaches to his crews is to make "Super Bowl" calls. In other words, ignore the ticky-tack stuff but don't ever, ever miss the game-turning big-time plays. And who knows, this bungle could have cost the Giants a Super Bowl.
But if every questionable play in the final minutes -- whether it was a judgment call or not -- was open to review, the beauty of having instant replay would not be destroyed at the most telling moments. After all, it was instituted to make sure missed or incorrect calls did not determine the outcome of the game.
Now, unfortunately, one possibly has. But it should never happen again after this season if the instant replay rules are modified correctly.
Recchi scores twice; Flyers nip Thrashers
January 5, 2003 Print it
RECAP / BOX SCORE / SCOREBOARD
ATLANTA -- It's hardly an exclusive club, but Mark Recchi is establishing himself as something of a Thrashers killer.
Recchi snapped two third-period ties to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-4 victory Sunday over the Atlanta Thrashers. He has eight goals and 12 assists in 13 career games against Atlanta, leading Philadelphia to a 10-1-3 record against the expansion team.
"It's hard not to fall into their trap," Recchi said of Atlanta's wide-open offensive style. "They're a young team that likes to run and gun. We can't afford to do that. Fortunately, we ended up scoring more than them."
Recchi put the Flyers ahead 4-3 at 11:11 of the third, knocking a rebound past Pasi Nurminen.
But Atlanta's Marc Savard answered at 12:24 on a similar goal, diving to poke in the rebound of Shawn McEachern's shot from the point. Savard, who didn't score in his first 15 games with Atlanta, has two goals in two games and three overall.
The Flyers then came back again as Recchi fired in a high wrist shot over Nurminen at 14:29 for his second game-winning goal of the season and his 11th score overall.
Justin Williams, Dennis Seidenberg and Radovan Somik scored the other goals for Philadelphia, which finished its seven-game road trip 4-2-1. It was the longest trip of the season for the Flyers, who don't play more than three consecutive road games the rest of the way.
"That was really a great stretch for our hockey club," Recchi said. "Really there was only one bump in the road (a 4-0 loss in Phoenix). But this is a great steppingstone to getting back into first place."
The Flyers did just that, moving two points ahead of New Jersey in the Atlantic Division and into sole possession of second in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta lost its third straight, getting outscored 17-6 in that stretch, to remain in last place in the NHL.
"We lost the game again and I think we should have that one," forward Brad Tapper said. "We played really well for 50 or 55 minutes, but we were in another place for five minutes."
Williams opened the scoring just 1:11 in, deflecting Eric Desjardins' shot past Nurminen for his seventh goal.
The Thrashers took a 2-1 lead on goals from Patrik Stefan, who tied a career high with his 10th, and Tapper, who scored his fifth in just his 10th game.
Tapper, an undrafted free agent playing on a line with top overall picks Stefan and Ilya Kovalchuk, scored from his hands and knees when Kovalchuk's shot banked off him and past Roman Cechmanek at 8:19 of the second period.
Seidenberg slipped a weak backhand past Nurminen at 17:19 of the second to tie it, and Somik scored the first of his career just 19 seconds later when he got two whacks at the rebound from the left post to give Philadelphia a 3-2 lead.
Atlanta tied it early in the third on McEachern's 10th. His pass from behind the net hit Cechmanek's pad. Dany Heatley swiped at the puck but missed. It hit the skate of Flyers forward Michal Handzus and scooted in.
"Three fluke goals against," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "(Tapper's) was unbelievable. The guy was laying on the ice and it hit his blade and went in. And two more bounced in off our own players."
After McEachern tied it, Tapper and Kovalchuk had a chance on a two-on-one, but Tapper's pass was smothered by a sprawling Desjardins.
Nurminen, who stopped 93-of-99 shots in his past three games, started again as Byron Dafoe is still nursing a lingering groin injury. Nurminen faced 40 shots.
"I have no problem with the effort we made. It was good," Thrashers GM/interim coach Don Waddell said. "We gave them a lot of shots, but they were mainly point shots. And if we had to sacrifice someplace, that is where we had to do it."
Dafoe will likely miss Tuesday's game against Carolina but could start Thursday at Tampa Bay.
Notes: Mike Mills of the band REM attended, adorned in a Thrashers jersey. ... Atlanta hasn't allowed more than one power-play goal in 19 games. ... Tomi Kallio returned for the first time since being waived by the Thrashers. He played his third game for Philadelphia. ... Atlanta right winger Slava Kozlov served the second of his three-game suspension. ... Atlanta right winger Lubos Bartecko (wrist) has been out since Nov. 9 but could play Tuesday. ... The Flyers were without defenseman Chris Therien and left winger Simon Gagne, who are both recovering from concussions.
Hossa lifts Senators past Rangers
January 6, 2003 Print it
RECAP / BOX SCORE / SCOREBOARD
NEW YORK -- Success is coming so easily to Marian Hossa that he isn't concerned about when his paycheck will finally arrive.
Hossa scored twice, giving him six goals in three games, and Magnus Arvedson snapped a third-period tie as the Ottawa Senators beat the New York Rangers 5-2 Monday night.
The only place things aren't going well for the Senators is in the bank, where the team was unable to meet payroll last week after a financing plan fell through.
But Hossa, with 27 goals, brought the NHL's top team into a 1-1 tie in the first period and then stretched Ottawa's lead to 4-2 at 5:25 of the third. Hossa is just one goal behind Vancouver's Markus Naslund for the league lead.
"Everybody seems to be focused on the game. Nobody is focused on the money issue which is really good," said Hossa, who scored four of Ottawa's eight goals last Wednesday. "We're going to get our money back and everything is going to be fine."
Arvedson's goal came just 2:37 into the final period to help the Senators jump over Dallas atop the league standings with 56 points.
"So far we're pretty happy with what we've accomplished. But it's still early," Hossa said. "It's a long way until the end of the year so we have to make sure we keep going."
Todd White also scored, and Petr Schastlivy added a power-play goal for Ottawa, 12-2-1-1 in its last 16 games.
Again the Senators looked every bit like a focused team despite waiting for paychecks that weren't delivered on Jan. 1. A finance plan is expected to be in place this week that will help the club meet its obligations, commissioner Gary Bettman said last Friday.
Ottawa improved to 2-0-0-1 in the new year, thanks to a power play that connected on both chances in the third period.
Arvedson's go-ahead goal and Hossa's second were the products of hard work and a little luck -- both characteristics of winning clubs.
Arvedson beat New York's Eric Lindros to a rebound to score a power-play goal just before Hossa sent a shot toward the Rangers net that hit the right skate of goalie Mike Dunham and redirected in.
"When everything is going your way, you can score from anywhere," Hossa said.
Mark Messier and Bobby Holik had goals for the Rangers, the last place team in the Atlantic Division who trail Ottawa by 19 points despite a payroll that exceeds the Senators' by over $40 million.
"It seems like we wanted it a little more," Hossa said. "We had more chances and we had lots of power plays."
Messier gave New York a 1-0 lead 6:20 in with his 13th goal and New York's ninth on the power play in eight games.
"We have pride. We know what to do," Holik said. "Nobody should feel down because there's nothing else you can control except the next game."
Hossa tied it 3:01 later by wristing a shot in off the right post. White gave Ottawa a 2-1 advantage at 4:54 of the second when Schastlivy fended off Messier with one hand and got the puck to White with just one hand on his stick. White scored his 15th goal this season.
"I thought we had a good second period, and we played really well in the third," said Ottawa's second-leading scorer Daniel Alfredsson. "Hossa scored one of those nice goals, and the power play was good as well which is nice."
The Rangers tied it with just 1:28 left in the second as Holik drove to the net, after Matthew Barnaby's rebound, and had the puck go in the net off his skate.
"It was 2-2 at the beginning of the third and we gave them a rebound power-play goal," said Dunham, who made 31 saves. "It just kind of fell apart from there."
Patrick Lalime faced only 19 shots in earning his 18th win.
Notes: Bettman sat in the stands with players' union president Bob Goodenow. Players and owners have not yet begun negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current one expires following next season. ... Lindros, who assisted on both New York goals, played in his 600th NHL game. Messier, second on the career list with 1,643 games, is third on the NHL points list with 1,824 (671 goals, 1,153 assists). ... Ottawa defenseman Zdeno Chara had two assists. ... White, who assisted on Schastlivy's goal, was the NHL player of the month for December after he recorded 18 points in 15 games. ... New York left wingers Ronald Petrovicky (ankle sprain) and Gordie Dwyer (hamstring strain) left the game in the second period.
Matt, I would think that with all of the new members who have showed up here, myself included, you could afford to do away with certain non-contributing members and those who present this website in a less than pleasant manner on other boards. I believe that while they may be entertaining to you, they detract from the credibility of the website and represent exactly the sort of image you are attempting to be the alternative of. Please do all of your legitimate members a favour and clean up the membership list. They are far more of a liability to you and ihub, then they are an asset.
JR
Bruins get Oliwa from Rangers
January 6, 2003 Print it
BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins acquired left wing Krzysztof Oliwa from the New York Rangers on Monday in exchange for a ninth-round draft pick next year.
Oliwa began the season with the Rangers and played nine scoreless games before being assigned to Hartford of the AHL, where he had one assist in 15 games.
He was expected to join the Bruins in Toronto for Tuesday's game against the Maple Leafs.
Oliwa was drafted by New Jersey in 1993 and played seven seasons with the Devils before stints in Columbus, Pittsburgh and New York.
The Bruins have lost four of their last five and are 2-9-1 in their last 12 games.
2003 NHL draft: preliminary rankings
November 23, 2002 Print it
TORONTO -- Here are the preliminary rankings by NHL Central Scouting for the 2003 draft (with position and club team):
NORTH AMERICA
Ontario Hockey League
Skaters
1. Nathan Horton, C, Oshawa Generals; 2. Eric Staal, C Peterborough Petes; 3. Dustin Brown, RW, Guelph Storm; 4. Patrick O'Sullivan, C, Mississauga IceDogs; 5. Dan Fritsche, C, Sarnia Sting; 6. Anthony Stewart, C, Kingston Frontenacs; 7. Kamil Kreps, C, Brampton Battalion; 8. Kevin Klein, D, Toronto St. Michael's Majors; 9. David Liffiton, D, Plymouth Whalers; 10. Frank Rediker, D, Windsor Spitfires.
11. Corey Perry, RW, London Knights; 12. Jamie Tardif, C, Peterborough Petes; 13. Ryan Donally, LW, Windsor Spitfires; 14. John Mitchell, C, Plymouth Whalers; 15. Jeff Carter, C, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds; 16. Mike Richards, C, Kitchener Rangers; 17. Ryan Oulahen, C, Brampton Battalion; 18. Aaron Dawson, D, Peterborough Petes; 19. Paul Bissonnette, D, Saginaw Spirit; 20. John Vigilante, C, Plymouth Whalers.
21. Rob Hisey, C, Erie Otters; 22. B.J. Crombeen, RW, Barrie Colts; 23. Pavel Voroshnin, D, Mississauga IceDogs; 24. Brad Richardson, C, Owen Sound Attack; 25. Mark Flood, D, Peterborough Petes.
Goaltenders
1. Mike Brown, Saginaw Spirit; 2. Jeff MacDougald, Peterborough Petes; 3. Gerald Coleman, London Knights; 4. Ryan Munce, Sarnia Sting; 5. Jeff Weber, Plymouth Whalers.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Skaters
1. Marc-Antoine Pouliot, C, Rimouski; 2. Richard Stehlik, D, Sherbrooke Castors; 3. Steve Bernie, RW, Moncton Wildcats; 4. Alexandre Bolduc, C, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies; 5. Maxim Lapierre, C, Montreal Rocket; 6. Louis-Philippe Martin, RW, Baie-Comeau Drakkar; 7. Patrice Bergeron, C, Acadie-Bathurst Titan; 8. Jean-Francois Jacques, LW, Baie-Comeau Drakkar; 9. Marc-Andre Bernier, C, Halifax; 10. Guillaume Desbiens, RW, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
11. Philippe Dupuis, C, Hull Olympiques; 12. Joshua Hennessy, C, Quebec Remparts; 13. Jean-Michel Bolduc, D, Quebec; 14. Danny Stewart, LW, Rimouski Oceanic; 15. Cory Urquhart, C, Montreal Rocket; 16. Zbynek Hrdel, RW, Rimouski Oceanic; 17. Benoit Mondou, C, Baie-Comeau Drakkar; 18. Alex Picard, D, Halifax Mooseheads; 19. Petr Vrana, C, Halifax Mooseheads; 20. Dany Roussin, C, Sherbrooke Castors.
21. Maxime Boisclair, LW, Sherbrooke Castors; 22. Bruno Gervais, D, Acadie-Bathurst Titan; 23. Francis Wathier, LW, Hull Olympiques; 24. Vladimir Kutny, LW, Quebec Remparts; 25. Vladimir Balaz, LW, Sherbrooke Castors.
Goaltenders
1. Marc-Andre Fleury, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles; 2. Jonathan Boutin, Halifax Mooseheads; Corey Crawford, Moncton Wildcats; 4. Sylvain Michaud, Drummondville Voltigeurs; David Tremblay, Hull Olympiques.
Western Hockey League
Skaters
1, Braydon Coburn, D, Portland Winter Hawks; 2. Dion Phaneuf, D, Red Deer Rebels; 3. Ryan Getzlaf, C, Caglary Hitmen; 4. Ryan Stone, LW, Brandon Wheat Kings; 5. Brent Seabrook, D, Lethbridge Hurricanes; 6. Stefan Meyer, C, Medicine Hat Tigers; 7. Jonathan Filewich, RW, Prince George Cougars; 8. Eric Fehr, RW, Brandon Wheat Kings; 9. Tyler Redenbach, LW, Prince George Cougars; 10. Colin Fraser, C, Red Deer Rebels.
11. Shawn Belle, D, Tri-City Americans; 12. Jeremy Colliton, C, Prince Albert Raiders; 13. Zack Fitzgerald, D, Seattle Thunderbirds; 14. Masi Marjamki, LW, Red Deer Rebels; 15. Nate Thompson, C, Seattle Thunderbirds; 16. Clarke MacArthur, C, Medicine Hat Tigers; 17. Paul Brown, RW, Kamloops Blazers; 18. Brett Novak, RW, Prince Albert Raiders; 19. Matej Trojovsky, D, Regina Pats; 20. Mike Egener, D, Calgary.
21. Petr Jelinek, C, Moose Jaw Warriors; 22. Jeremy Williams, RW, Swift Current Broncos; 23. Shaun Landolt, RW, Moose Jaw Warriors; 24. Aaron Bader, LW, Seattle Thunderbirds; 25. Shea Weber, D, Kelowna Rockets.
Goaltenders
1. Kevin Nastiuk, Medicine Hat Tigers; 2. Brenden Cuthbert, Medicine Hat Tigers; 3. Aaron Sorochan, Prince Albert Raiders; 4. Jordan McLaughlin, Vancouver Giants; 5. Josh Lepp, Kelowna Rockets.
U.S. Colleges
Skaters
1. Zach Parise, C, North Dakota; 2. Thomas Vanek, RW, Minnesota; 3. Ryan Kesler, C, Ohio State; 4. Mark Stuart, D, Colorado College; 5. Patrick Eaves, RW, Boston College; 6. Jeff Tambellini, LW, Michigan; 7. Danny Richmond, D, Michigan; 8. Shane Hynes, RW, Cornell; 9. Gino Guyer, C, Minnesota; 10. Corey Potter, D, Michigan State.
11. Greg Moore, RW, Maine; 12. Tim Wallace, RW, Notre Dame; 13. Alex Leavitt, C, Wisconsin; 14. Evan Shaw, D, Michigan State; 15. Ben Lovejoy, D, Boston College; 16. Hugh Jessiman, RW, Dartmouth College; 17. David Booth, LW, Michigan State; 18. James Pemberton, D, Providence College; 19. Matt Moulson, LW, Cornell; 20. Peter Kennedy, D, Minnesota.
21. Cody Blanshan, D, Nebraska-Omaha; 22. Jonathan Lehun, RW, St. Cloud; 23. Stephen Werner, RW, Mass-Amherst; 24. Brett Sterling, LW, Colorado College; 25. Jaime Milam, D, Northern Michigan.
Goaltenders
1. James Howard, Maine; 2. Alvaro Montoya, Michigan; 3. Travis Russell, Vermont; 4. Justin Tobe, Michigan State; 5. Travis Weber, Minnesota.
EUROPE
(top-ranked only)
Belarus
1. Andrei Kastsitsyn, C, Junost Minsk.
Czech Republic
1. Milan Michalek, W, Budejovice; Goaltender, 1. Jakub Cech, Havirov.
Finland
1. Arsi Piispanen, C, Jokerit; Goaltender, 1. Jere Myllyniemi, Blues.
Germany
1. Alexander Sulzer, D, Hamburg; Goaltender, 1. Patrick Ehelechner, Landshut.
Russia
1. Nikolai Zherdev, LW, CSKA; Goaltender, 1. Ruslan Sidikov CSKA 2.
Switzerland
1. Tim Ramholt, D, Zurich; Goaltender, 1. Thomas Baeumle, Sierre.
Slovakia
1. Stefan Blaho, C, Trencin; Goaltender, 1. Jaroslav Halak, Bratislava.
Sweden
1. Robert Nilsson, W, Leksand.
Coyotes' Burke named player of week
January 6, 2003 Print it
NEW YORK -- Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Sean Burke, who posted three consecutive victories, was named the NHL player of the week Monday.
Burke recorded a 1.61 goals-against average and .953 save percentage last week to edge Colorado Avalanche centre Peter Forsberg, Vancouver Canucks winger Markus Naslund and New York Islanders winger Mark Parrish for the award.
Burke made 30 or more saves in each of his three appearances, beginning with 31 stops in a 4-3 overtime victory against Edmonton Dec. 30. Burke also made 31 saves in a 2-1 overtime victory at Washington Jan. 1 and turned aside 40 shots in a 4-1 victory at Detroit Jan. 3.
A finalist for the Vezina Trophy last season as the league's top goaltender, Burke has been limited to just nine appearances this season due to injury. The 35-year-old Windsor, Ont. native returned to action Dec. 28 after missing 29 games with a high ankle sprain.
But he suffered a sprained knee in the victory at Detroit and is expected to miss approximately three weeks.
Playing in his 15th NHL season, Burke has posted 281 career victories and is 19 from becoming the 20th goaltender in NHL history to reach 300.
Understudies take center stage in AFC playoffs
January 6, 2003 Print it
Part II: Pennington's accuracy is among the best ever
When everyone is looking for leaders, quarterbacks Tommy Maddox of the Steelers and Chad Pennington of the Jets are raising their hands. Truth be known, they have been raising their hands for a while, but no one paid much attention until recently.
Maddox has the attention of the Titans, who will play at home against the Steelers on Saturday. And Pennington has caught the eyes of the Raiders, who will be host to the Jets on Sunday.
Neither quarterback was a starter on his team until the season was about a month old. Maddox, a football vagabond for 10 years, had been traded by the Broncos and cut by the Rams, Giants and Falcons. Before getting another shot in Pittsburgh, he sold insurance and then played in the Arena League and the XFL. Pennington, after two seasons of failing to break through, was on the verge of being considered a bust.
Of course, both played well in their playoff debuts last weekend. But they did so much more than complete passes.
The Browns are leading the Steelers, 17-7, at halftime, and it is quiet enough at Heinz Field to take a nap. Most of the fans are spreading relish on hot dogs or working their way in or out of restrooms as the Steelers come on the field for the start of the second half. Maddox gathers up his team on the sideline. Not just the offense. Every Steeler.
He wants every teammate to see the look in his eyes. He has something to say, and the Steelers are all earholes. "If anybody here doesn't think we're going to win," he says in slightly earthier language, "go back in the locker room. We are going to find a way to win this game."
The Steelers fall behind, 24-7, before going to a no-huddle offense about midway through the third quarter. That's when Maddox, calling his own plays except for when the Steelers huddle, shows there is more to him than mouth. From that point on, he completes 23-of-32 pass attempts for 257 yards and three touchdowns.
Last season, when the Steelers needed a comeback to beat the Patriots in the AFC championship game, Kordell Stewart was intercepted twice on Pittsburgh's last two possessions. It's a different game with Maddox, as the Steelers' 36-33 wild-card victory over the Browns demonstrates.
Says Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, "Tommy has proven his ability to (come from behind)."
It is the calm of pregame last Saturday. Most of the 80,000 seats in Giants Stadium still are empty. Much of the meat on the grills in the parking lot still is sizzling and dripping grease.
Pennington and Wayne Chrebet are playing catch, loosening up, dreaming the dream, going through the battles in their heads, just like some of their fans out in the lot. Chrebet asks Pennington what he thinks about it all. Pennington just wants to get it started.
The receiver reminds the quarterback that the Jets, who had started 1-4 and barely made the playoffs, have nothing to lose. "You just point us in the right direction," Chrebet tells him, "and we'll follow you. You're our leader."
Pennington, a third-year player and first-year starter, has provided the fuel for the Jets just months after many of his teammates questioned his ability to be a starter. Now, receiver Laveranues Coles calls him "Franchise."
Says tight end Anthony Becht, "I don't care what anybody says, I wouldn't pick another quarterback in this league to lead us to where we want to go."
Pennington blinks about as often as the Statue of Liberty. "The thing that strikes me about him is his poise," Oakland defensive end Trace Armstrong says. "It didn't affect him if it was blitz or a four-man rush; he didn't get rattled."
He has been at his best in places others wilt. In the red zone, the most difficult area to throw because of congestion, Pennington has thrown 20 touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Pennington nearly rallied the Jets to a victory over the Raiders in early December. Down 26-20 with 1:12 remaining, Pennington drove the Jets to the Oakland 35 before being sacked and then, two plays later, intercepted on a desperation throw as time expired. All Pennington needed was another 30 seconds or so. He'll get those ticks Sunday in Oakland, and the Jets won't come out on the losing end this time.
Maddox never had the chance to rally the Steelers to a victory when they played the Titans in mid-November in Nashville. Late in the third quarter, Maddox suffered a concussion and a spinal concussion when his head hit the ground. The 15 minutes or so he lay motionless on the field were among the most unsettling of the NFL season. The Titans won, 31-23, in what was a high point for Tennessee and a low point for the Steelers.
Since then, the timing and trust have grown between Maddox and receivers Plaxico Burress, Hines Ward and Antwaan Randle El. Maddox throws more balls to receivers who are not primary targets, and he's passing with anticipation. Steelers receivers, especially Burress, have run their routes with greater urgency with Maddox at quarterback, knowing the ball will be delivered where it's supposed to be, and quickly. The pass often is made before the receiver comes out of his break.
"They've become pretty good with timing stuff, much better than they were," Browns defensive coordinator Foge Fazio says. "They'll run a 15-yard comeback, and he puts it right on the money."
NFL: Giants should have had 1 more play
January 6, 2003 Print it
NEW YORK -- The San Francisco 49ers' 24-point comeback victory over the New York Giants ended with an officiating error.
The NFL said Monday that pass interference should have been called against the 49ers on the final play of the 39-38 thriller.
A botched field-goal attempt by the Giants ended Sunday's game, when New York was called for having an ineligible receiver downfield while holder Matt Allen attempted a pass. However, the league said that the pass interference that was ignored would have resulted in a replay of the down.
"How they missed that, I don't know why," Giants coach Jim Fassel said.
After a videotape review of the 41-yard attempt with six seconds left, NFL Director of Officiating Mike Pereira determined:
The Giants' Tam Hopkins, No. 65, lined up as the left guard and was illegally downfield on the pass. All three flags thrown by the officials were for that penalty.
Rich Seubert, No. 69 and normally a guard, lined up as an eligible receiver on the play. He reported to the officiating crew before the game that he would man that position on field goals.
49ers defensive end Chike Okeafor interfered with Seubert when he was attempting to catch Allen's pass. No defensive pass interference penalty was called.
"If defensive pass interference had been called," an NFL statement explained, "there would have been offsetting penalties (ineligible receiver against the Giants and pass interference against the 49ers), with the down replayed at the original line of scrimmage, the San Francisco 23-yard line. Although time had expired, a game cannot end with offsetting penalties. Thus, the game would have been extended by one untimed down."
It was a cluttered ending to an exhausting game, but the 49ers didn't apologize Monday for their victory. After all, they're still convinced that Ahmed Plummer intercepted a pass by Kerry Collins two plays before the botched field-goal attempt.
When Pereira called 49ers coach Steve Mariucci to explain the league's statement, Mariucci's response was sarcastic: "Bummer."
Actually, Mariucci thought Okeafor would be called for pass interference in the moments after the play occurred -- but when no penalty was called, he joined his team in the celebration.
"That's the way it goes," Mariucci said. "What do you want me to say? Just like coaching and playing, in officiating, there's never going to be a perfect game."
Allen could not have spiked the botched snap, because it was a long snap. Pereira said the only time a player can spike the ball is when he takes the ball directly from the center.
Matt Bryant lined up to try the potential game-winning field goal, and the snap from newly signed Trey Junkin was in the dirt. Allen fumbled the ball, then made the desperation pass downfield to Seubert.
Pereira said the only other option would have been to throw to an eligible receiver.
The 49ers also couldn't understand why Plummer wasn't awarded an interception at the San Francisco 28 with 15 seconds left, though the league's explanation was more clear-cut on the play.
Plummer and Amani Toomer went down in a pile after Collins' pass, and Plummer appeared to have possession of the ball -- to everybody but the officials in the replay booth, that is. Even the side judge threw his yardage-marking beanie, which typically signals a change of possession, but the pass was ruled incomplete.
"From the coaches' copy of the film, yes, it looked like an interception, but that doesn't give you the best view," said Mariucci, who strenuously argued for a video review after the play.
Officials said the play was reviewed immediately after it occurred, and the replay officials didn't see a reason to overturn the ruling on the field.
Packers' Favre plans to play next season
January 6, 2003 Print it
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Brett Favre will return to the Green Bay Packers next season.
The 33-year-old star quarterback had fueled speculation about his future Saturday night when he did not speak to reporters, only the third time in his career he failed to do so after a game.
"As I said during the season, I have every intention to come back," he said Monday.
"Right now I'm playing great," he added. "This team has a chance, and I'm having fun. So that's how I'm going to leave it."
The Packers lost to Atlanta 27-7 in a wild-card game at Lambeau Field. Favre fell to 35-1 in cold-weather games and the Packers lost for the first time in 14 home playoff games.
"As I've done over my career, in time it will heal and I'll come back and we'll go on and start a new year," he said.
Favre has started an NFL-record 190 consecutive games at quarterback, including 17 playoff games. He has thrown for 3,000 or more yards for 11 straight seasons, a league best.
He was named a Pro Bowl starter this season and finished a close second to Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon in the MVP vote. It would have been Favre's fourth such award.
He is the new king of spam at ragingbull. EOM
If you are not lying, please provide the phone number and I will attempt to verify that info myself.
whats a grub? Maybe I need one. I never had a grub before. ha ha ha
Is this allowed:
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/memalias.cgi?board=all&member=rsmith2k30
Apparantly this new member is using multiples to spam ihub all over raging bull. Not the sort of stuff that should be promoted.
JR
wow, member 17300 aka 'stocks' is spamming under many alias on ragingbull. what an idiot
JR
Hi there people. I just got my personal invite to come on over. I'll read back and catch up on the issues, ha ha ha.
That was down to the wire and could have went either way.
JR
Philly is taking it to Atlanta tonight! Yeah!
JR
The trap is turning off NHL fans
January 5, 2003 Print it
You want to be heard? Well, now you can! Throughout the week, we let readers speak out as guest columnists. Want to get something off your chest? Put it in writing and send it to us. Be sure to put "Fans' View" in the subject heading.
Today, NHL fan Steve Szmyt explains why the trap is ruining the game, and he says the league is losing fans because of it.
What is a fan to do? I'm a longtime Bruins fan, but after watching the B's lose to New Jersey recently, I made a New Year's resolution: I solemnly swear to never watch another New Jersey Devils or Minnesota Wild game in my life.
I rarely miss a Bruins game, but after watching "the trap" executed to perfection and the Devils win a 1-0 game, why should I bother to even pick up the remote? Seriously, don't we all have something better to do with our time than to sit and watch a three-hour game featuring five guys clutching, grabbing and holding another team against the boards? I can assure you that I do.
The trap is a poison that the NHL just can't seem to cure itself of. Jacques Lemaire should be banished from the league, and Pat Burns should be ashamed of himself for perpetuating something the league is trying to abolish.
Yes, you can argue that the trap is effective, and the Devils have won two Stanley Cups with it. Great, good for you. I hope you win 50 more Stanley Cups with it. However, I won't be watching, and neither will a many other fans. Besides, there are 100 other teams that have won the Cup without using the trap.
The only reason that a team uses the trap is because the coach realizes that he has a pathetic team with no talent and the GM demands results. So the coach implements the trap in hopes of winning a lot of one-goal games.
The NHL is making an effort to crack down on clutching, holding and grabbing in an attempt to get the game going again. Well the league has been doing a good job, and certain players have altered their playing styles to accommodate the new rules.
Lately, though, the refs definitely have relaxed the amount of calls being made, and teams such as New Jersey and Minnesota have taken advantage of it. So what are other teams to do -- take dumb retaliation penalties because they are fed up with being held? Personally, I don't care what they do because I won't be watching.
Good luck to all of the teams that use trap. I hope you have great success and win many Stanley Cups, but I won't have any idea that you won because I won't be watching.
NHLPA willing to wait out Sens' troubles
January 5, 2003 Print it
OTTAWA -- The NHL Players' Association is willing to be patient with Ottawa Senators majority owner Rod Bryden regarding the financial problems plaguing the team.
The Senators are reportedly $360 million in debt and missed their team payroll Wednesday after a deal to restructure the club's finances fell through.
In a statement released by the NHLPA on Saturday, union executive director Bob Goodenow confirmed that the players are willing to wait and see what kind of financing plan Bryden comes up with.
"Rod Bryden and the Ottawa club's recent financing difficulties raise important short- and long-term issues for the club's ownership group, the players and the league," Goodenow said.
"At present, all parties are focused working to resolve the short-term issues so the club can pay their ongoing operating expense."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said on Friday that he expects a short-term financing plan to be in place by the middle of next week. Under the terms of the agreement, Bryden would be able to meet all his obligations, including missed payroll for players.