The Fans Speak Out - Letter to the Editor

Hockey Digest, Dec, 2001

Legislative lapse

In your 2001-02 NHL preview issue [November 2001], you state that Jacques Martin has led the Ottawa Senators to a 2-14 record in the playoffs over the last three years. This can not be true, since you also stated that the Senators have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for three straight years. Thus, the maximum number of losses they could have recorded over the last three playoff years is 12, and not 14.

David Satriano
Via e-mail

Nice catch, David. The Senators are in fact a no-less pathetic 2-12 in the playoffs over the last three seasons. They'll have to improve on that mark if Jacques Martin wants to keep his job.

Code blues

I was wondering if there was any way that you could please move the UPC barcodes that are usually in the lower left-hand corner of the cover to the back of the magazine? I keep all my back issues and have even managed to get some NHL players to autograph them. The barcode is such an eyesore on what is otherwise such a slick little cover.

Just a suggestion.

Daniel Cline
Raleigh, N.C.

Daniel, unfortunately, as much as we too would love to banish them to design hell, the UPC code is a fact of life. Thanks for the compliment, and we'll keep working on making the rest of the cover so cool that you don't even notice the barcode.

Moose loose ends

This is in response to the letter about who is the true "Moose" ("The Fans Speak Out," November), It sounds as if the letter-writer, Tony Sabados, is a Mark Messier fan. We are also, but we must point out that Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Johan Hedberg did not get the nickname "Moose" because of the way he plays. He got the nickname because when he got to the NHL, he still wore the mask from his minor league team, the Manitoba Moose. Messier earned his "Moose" for his style of play

Keith and Michelle Lockhart
Via e-mall

The rest of the story

I'm a monster Ray Bourque fan, so I just wanted to thank you for the look at his illustrious career ["The Stat Sheet," November]. There was one intriguing item, however, that I had wished you had pursued. Your magazine states that there were seven players who suited up with Bourque for only one game, but neglected to mention whom those players were. Could you please identify them?

Pete Stanley
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

Pete, we're looking for that list and when we find it again, we'll let you know who the players are.

Ice, ice, baby

Andy Van Hellemond? Harris Peet? If I wanted to read about the people behind the scenes of the NHL, I'd pick up a trade paper or People Behind the Scenes Digest. This is HOCKEY DIGEST, right? Let's have more about the players, please.

Jason Barrelle
Barrie, Ontario

Jason, thanks for the letter. We do try to balance our content between the game on the ice and the game behind the scenes. We're sure you'll get your fill of on-the-ice action in this and every future issue.

On the map

I've noticed that there are two players in the NHL with names that are also the locations of NHL franchises, Dallas Drake and Martin St. Louis. I was wondering if there have ever been any other players in NHL history with geographic names of NHL locales.

Gary Ceru
Naples, Fla.

Gary, we racked our brains and couldn't come up with another player. How about you readers?

"C" as in cold cash

I've been reading a lot about how NHL teams are forced to trade star players in order to stay out of bankruptcy, and I have kept quiet about it long enough. The thing that irks me the most is the fact that a lot of these players are the "leaders" of their teams. These so-called "captains" should not play the game for the money, but for the sport. If they want their team to be a Cup contender, they should sacrifice some of their unneeded millions to allow their team to sign some star free agents and improve.

The Ottawa Senators had this trouble with Alexei Yashin. When he came back last season, Ottawa put the "C" on his sweater, despite all the trouble he had caused them. Hopefully, Yashin will learn from his mistakes while his career suffers on Long Island. I was the happiest person on the planet when the Islanders gave up their only decent players to bring in the NHL's biggest baby.

Now, before this summer, I would've thought that the workhorses of the NHL, like the Colorado Avalanche's Joe Sakic, wouldn't be phased by the money thing, especially since Colorado not only had to re-sign him, but also Rob Blake and Patrick Roy. And since both Roy and Blake wanted hefty contracts, I would think that Sakic, who already has truckloads of money, would take a pay cut so that the Avs might at least be able to give Roy and Blake what they wanted. But no, he had to go and make owner Pierre Lacroix spend over $100 million to keep all three future Hall-of-Famers.

If any player, especially the team captain, thinks about his own needs before his team's, then I seriously doubt whether he is entitled to wear that "C" on his jersey. Say what you want, but Sakic has now unfortunately joined the ever-growing NHL Greedy Players Association, which is what the NHLPA's name `should be changed to.