Masked man needed to steal spotlight

Sporting News, The, August 23, 2004 by Kara Yorio

Fans, friends, fantasists, they all had the same hope, dream and vision: Legendary American goalie Mike Richter becomes completely free from postconcussion symptoms. He can work out, really work out, get into game shape. By mid-August he is ready to stage a dramatic comeback and say a proper goodbye to the game.

Richter was too good to simply fade into the darkness of a concussion and never return. He meant too much to USA Hockey never to know when he had played his last game in the red, white and blue jersey. The hope was he would come back one last time--at the tournament he won for his country eight years before. He would come back and play in the World Cup of Hockey, then take his final exit from the international stage and the ice and retire in a fitting way.

It's a good dream. It would be a great story. But it will never happen.

As the U.S. World Cup training camp opens Friday in Columbus, the goalie competition will involve the Flyers' Robert Esche, the Islanders' Rick DiPietro and the Oilers' Ty Conklin.

"It's an opportunity for one of these guys to step up and fill in shoes Mike Richter traveled in for so many years," says Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette, who coached Conklin and the U.S. team to a bronze in the 2004 world championship and will be an assistant coach at the World Cup. "Only time will tell who that's going to be. We've got thee young goalies ready to make their mark in the NHL, and this is another step toward doing that."

One of the three will be in net when the United States plays its first tournament game that matters--and it's a big one: against Canada on August 31 in Montreal. By then, through practices and three pre-tournament games, one goalie will have made himself No. 1. But it might not last. There are three games in the round-robin competition, and it takes only one shaky start to change goalies for the next game. (Just ask Canadian Curtis Joseph about his Olympics experience in Salt Lake City.)

In a short tournament such as this, a team rides its hot goaltender, no matter who came into camp with the edge of experience or better name recognition.

U.S. goalie coach Keith Allain says a team "very definitely" must play whoever has the hot hand through the round robin. Allain was careful to point out repeatedly that head coach Ron Wilson would decide who would play. Allain's job is to talk to the goalies, get them on the same page, help them be their best. But it comes down to Wilson. Of course, Wilson's decision will be easier if one goalie--no matter who it is--clearly outplays the others. In short, the goalies themselves will make this decision by the way they play.

Allain admits that based on this past season's success, Esche might come in with a bit of an edge, having led the Flyers to the Eastern Conference finals. He had ups and downs but overall proved himself to be a No. 1 for a Cup contender, someone who wouldn't melt in the spotlight.

But DiPietro is a talented kid still waiting to become a consistently good goalie. The No. 1 overall pick in 2000, he comes with an attitude and confidence but needs to find the game to back up the swagger. He'll get a pretty good stage on which to do that.

And then there's Conklin. Signed as a free agent by the Oilers in 2001, Conklin played 38 games for Edmonton last season and did well with that opportunity. He played his way onto Team USA with great performances in big games this spring at the world championship. Laviolette didn't know much about him when he went to the Czech Republic for the tournament, but Conklin impressed Laviolette--with his personality more than his technique.

"He's got a fiery competitiveness about him," Laviolette says. "He wants to be in the net. He wants to play. I'm sure he's looking forward to getting a crack at the World Cup."

Three goalies are looking forward to that. It's a new time for American hockey. The United States needs a goalie. For so many years, that job wasn't up for grabs.

"In '96, it was a little more clear-cut that Mike Richter was going to be our No. 1 goalie," Allain says. "(This year) I think it'll be a healthy competition. I see it as one that will spur each to play their best. Ultimately, all anyone cares about is success of the team."

Ultimately, especially in a two-week tournament such as this, success doesn't come without excellent goaltending.

The 300 clubs

In the August 9 issue, an incomplete
list appeared of players who have
recorded 300 or more points in the past
five seasons. The complete list, with
goals and assists:

Player               G      A      Pts.

Jaromir Jagr         192    255     447
Joe Sakic            167    256     423
Markus Naslund       191    227     418
Mats Sundin          169    205     374
Joe Thornton         141    232     373
Mike Modano          147    224     371
Jarome Iginla        188    182     370
Milan Hejduk         183    185     368
Patrik Elias         170    197     367
Marian Hossa         173    186     359
Alexei Kovalev       153    206     359
Mark Recchi          123    236     359
Daniel Alfredsson    141    217     358
Brendan Shanahan     164    186     350
Pavol Demitra        142    207     349
Sergei Fedorov       157    190     347
Todd Bertuzzi        149    198     347
Brett Hull           155    190     345
Robert Lang          125    218     343
Doug Weight           90    253     343
Zigmund Palffy       150    190     340
Miroslav Satan       154    180     334
Steve Sullivan       127    207     334
Paul Kariya          143    184     327
Jeremy Roenick       131    196     327
Glen Murray          164    160     324
Keith Tkachuk        159    164     323
Alex Tanguay         108    214     322
Tony Amonte          145    173     318
Bill Guerin          164    152     316
Ron Francis          100    212     312
Petr Sykora          138    170     308
Teemu Selanne        139    168     307
Scott Gomez           70    236     306
Nicklas Lidstrom      72    231     303
Owen Nolan           139    162     301
Peter Forsberg        88    213     301