TSN 2002 NHL awards

Sporting News, The, May 20, 2002 by Tim Cronin

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: Mike Smith, Blackhawks

COACH OF THE YEAR: Brian Sutter, Blackhawks

It was a little more than a year ago that the Blackhawks were in complete disarray. Often-baffled Alpo Suhonen had been dismissed as coach. Players were sniping at each other. The team couldn't see a playoffs berth with binoculars.

G.M. Mike Smith, in conjunction with owner Bill Wirtz and senior vice president Bob Pulford, hired Brian Sutter as coach and then brought in players who wanted to pull together, rather than pull apart.

The combination of Sutter's demands on old hands and Smith's acquisitions, including veteran defensemen Jon Klemm and Phil Housley, worked wonders. The Blackhawks jumped from 71 points to 96, a 25-point improvement that brought Chicago a playoffs berth for the first time since 1997.

The upturn, even though it ended with a first-round exit, also has generated accolades: Smith and Sutter have been chosen by their peers as TSN NHL Executive and Coach of the Year.

Mike O'Connell of Boston and Ken Holland of Detroit were distant runners-up in the executive voting. In the voting for coach, which was very close, Bobby Francis of Phoenix and Robbie Ftorek of Boston finished second and third.

Sutter, 45, was the anti-Alpo, sure of both his strategy and his ability to motivate players. It worked. The Hawks checked hard, allowed fewer goals and created offense. Eric Daze had a career scoring year, Alexei Zhamnov enjoyed his best year in Chicago, and defenseman Boris Mironov finally threw his weight around.

"The group has got to get the credit," Sutter says of the turn in fortune. "It's certainly not me. I came here to be one of the group. We're pleased with where we've gotten but not satisfied with how far we went.

"The only bad feeling I've got in the belly is that we still should be playing."

Chicago had the second-best record in the league at one point, but the lack of depth on the two-line, four-defenseman team, exposed by injuries to Zhamnov and Mironov, brought on the Blackhawks' post-Olympic skid. No longer dictating the style of play, they won only eight of their final 22 games. Still, there's promise for the future.

"These types of awards are a statement of what the organization has done," Smith says. "Any manager works with a large number of people who give input into the good decisions that are made. I think in the hockey business, the only people who really understand what managers do are other managers."

Smith replaced Bob Murray as general manager in December 1999. Sending Doug Gilmour to Buffalo at the 2000 trading deadline, albeit for little in return, began the revamping of the roster. Fourteen of next season's Blackhawks, excluding draft picks, have arrived in the last 22 months.

"We had to do two things at the same time," says Smith, 56. "We had to improve our current roster and be competitive while doing so. Then we had to make a significant improvement in our future with draft choices. The hard part is making the team better short term."

Smith's award lauds in part his drafting skills. He was the first to go after European talent in a big way, bringing in Teemu Selanne and Zhamnov while with Winnipeg. Three of his current draftees are believed to be among the top 50 NHL prospects, more than any other team, and includes Tuomo Ruutu, a forward from Finland considered the best player in Europe.

Soon, Smith likely will be focused on more experienced talent. Tony Amonte, an unrestricted free agent, is virtually certain to sign a big-bucks contract elsewhere on or after July 1.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jarome Iginla, Flames

This was Jarome Iginla's breakthrough season. Iginla, a right winger for Calgary and the league's best bargain with his $1.7 million salary, not only led the NHL with 52 goals and 96 points, he was a plus-27 on a team ranked 22nd in scoring.

Iginla was dazzling almost every night. The only player in the league to top 50 goals, Iginla had 16 power-play goals and seven game-winners. And Iginla, 24, did so even though he was a marked man.

Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy finished second by a wide margin in the voting among players. Avs center Joe Sakic was third.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Dany Heatley, Thrashers

Heatley, 21, broke in with a flourish, leading the Thrashers--and all NHL rookies--with 67 points. Heatley, a left winger, finished with 16 points more than teammate Ilya Kovalchuk, who finished second in the league in points among rookies.

TSN NHL All-Star team

Player             Position   Team

Markus Naslund       LW       Canucks
Joe Sakic            C        Avalanche
Jarome Iginla        RW       Flames
Rob Blake            D        Avalanche
Nicklas Lidstrom     D        Red Wings
Patrick Roy          G        Avalanche

The stories about the awards were written by Tim Cronin, who covers the Blackhawks for the Daily Southtown in Tinley Park, Ill.