Rock Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Stan Fischler Bluelines: Brodeur, Gomez have their bests http://www.msgnetwork.com/fans/personality...&subnav_key=nhl October 15, 2002 Should Boston's goalie committee (Steve Shields, John Grahame, Andrew Raycroft, Tim Thomas) fail, Mike O'Connell will have to deal Kyle McLaren for a netminder. But who? Jeff Hackett, perhaps. Then again, O'Connell might wise up and re-sign Dafoe. The word from Chicago is that Mike Smith DOES expect Theo Fleury back playing for Chicago in the not-too-distant future. The Chris Drury acquisition looks like a no-brainer in favor of Calgary to us. But one NHL source says there's been a "red flag" up on Drury in Denver since last season. The buzz is that Colorado tried to deal Chris at last March's trade deadline and failed. So what's the rap on Drury? The worst thing we've heard is that he can be moody. Then again, you can say that about anybody. As for Derek Morris, the word from Calgary is that his general, on-ice decision-making is sub-par. Before Bobby Holik moved to Manhattan, he was -- according to Scott Gomez -- "my closest friend on the team." But, adds Gomer of Bobby H, "He does think he's the smartest man in the world." It seems that a Porsche has become the car-of-choice for many NHLers who've made it. Patrik Elias, just awarded an "A" for the first time, has one. Dany Heatley got one last Summer. And Doug MacLean tells us that when he drove home to the Maritimes for vacation, he thought he had the only Porsche in New Brunswick! An exception is Ilya Kovalchuk, who recently settled for a $140,000 Mercedes. To which Don Waddell laughs, "Our first NHL year -- in the parking lot we had a lot of Fords and Chevys!" Some numbers to contemplate: the Lightning payroll will come to about $30 million; $8 million below last season's NHL average: meanwhile, the Coyotes claim a $20 million loss last year! Surprise of the Canadian broadcast business is that -- after considerable fuss and fanfare about her arrival -- Linda Freeman resigned as host of TSN's highly-touted NHL telecast two days before the season's start. Vet anchor James Duthie replaced her. A thought making the media rounds is that Don Cherry failed to sufficiently support his partner, Ron MacLean, in the latter's contractual war with the CBC, eventually won by The Ronald. But when we talked to a CBC producer about it, she told us that Grapes did as much as he had to up until the new deal was hammered out. Texas continues to be a minor league hockey hotbed. Hidalgo -- in the Rio Grande Valley -- is the newest addition to the Central League. CHL prexy, Rick Kozuback, expects the club to open its new arena next October. Roman Cechmanek spent the last month trying to patch wounds with teammates because of damage inflicted by his playoff outburst last Spring. The goalie's alibi is the language barrier. "It was different from what I meant and what it means in Europe. It was important to explain to the team what I meant," says Cechmanek, who had a heart-to-heart with captain Keith Primeau on the first day of camp to clear the air. Flyers' goalie coach, Reggie Lemelin, claims that Roman's improved English will help his dialogue with teammates. "In the past," says Lemelin, "it was grunts and facial expressions, trying to read his body language." Eddie Mio exited the agenting business to run the Coyotes' minor league development program. In case you've forgotten, Mio, in 1988, was Wayne Gretzky's best man at The Great One's wedding to Janet Jones. The latest we hear about NHL teams for sale is that the number rounds out at eight. Although the desire may be muffled in some cases, the list of available clubs includes Buffalo, Dallas, Anaheim, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Pittsburgh and Nashville. We hear that the Sherry Bassin group is the least likely to buy the Sabres. Gary Valk suffered -- then smiled -- through some of the most interesting 24 hours of his life recently. The 11-year vet was released last Tuesday by Chicago and quickly re-signed with the Hawks on Wednesday when Theo Fleury was suspended. Valk, a solid checking-line forward, will help soften the blow of injuries to Eric Daze and Bob Probert. Little-known facts about Martin Brodeur: Scariest shooter to face -- Al MacInnis. Players he wishes he faced -- Mike Bossy and Guy Lafleur. Players he's glad he faced -- Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Word is Chris Pronger may be out of the Blues lineup longer than expected, due to his surgically repaired wrist not healing as planned. Pronger is rehabbing from last post-season's knee injury, but the wrist injury is from the previous season. The Sabres sale could be helped by the fact that the franchise's lease is said to be one of the best in the NHL. Some Red Wings are talking as if Joe Louis Arena is going to be a country club without Scott Bowman around, but they can forget that notion. One close to Dave Lewis points out that he is as confident a person as anyone in sports and no Red Wing will take advantage of him and get away with it. We agree. One NHL player with good insights is betting that Byron Dafoe winds up in Vancouver. We disagree. The thinking in Montreal is that if the Habs are failing by mid-season, Larry Robinson will step in as Head Coach. Neat move by Mike Barnett when his Coyotes played an exhibition in Oklahoma City. Joe Burton, 35, a 10-year Central Hockey League vet, was given a shot to skate for Phoenix in one game. "It was nice to have a guy like Joe get a chance to play for us, as a bit of a reward for all the years he's put into the game; even if it's just for one night." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Little-known facts about Martin Brodeur: Scariest shooter to face -- Al MacInnis. Scariest in terms of he could knock the wind out of you for an hour or so with one shot perhaps...but scariest ON the ice for Marty has to be between Kovalev and Morozov He does think he's the smartest man in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSkirt Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Robinson is under contract for 2 or 3 more years. Lou won't let him go/go for nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyk Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Robinson is under contract for 2 or 3 more years.Lou won't let him go/go for nothing. I think he would. He had let him talk to other teams (even the Rangers) in the past, why not now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Larry's just a consultant; he can be hired away as a HC, I would think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomezz23 Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 i thought he would be on the devils cause he went to all the devils pre-season games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomezz23 Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 (larry robinson) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 The thinking in Montreal is that if the Habs are failing by mid-season, Larry Robinson will step in as Head Coach. Larry! Now I have to root for the Habs so they won't sack their coach! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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