What NHL teams did on their summer vacations

Sporting News, The, Sept 11, 2000 by Larry Wigge

It's no secret the season ends each year on a negative note for all but one team. But no team finished on as sour a note as the Maple Leafs, who were eliminated after a 3-0 setback to the Devils in Game 6 of the second round. The shutout was bad enough; what was worse was that the Leafs managed an embarrassing six shots.

A team doesn't go 45-30-7 without some positives, but it's clearly hard to erase the bad taste left by such a bitter ending.

"You've got that right," goaltender Curtis Joseph says. "Maybe that's why (GM.-coach) Pat Quinn did more than a little tinkering with the chemistry of the team."

The tinkering involved adding free-agent wingers Gary Roberts and Shayne Corson and defenseman Dave Manson--each of whom brings a physical presence to a team built more on quickness and finesse (plus excellent goaltending) than intimidation.

"We were pretty good at moving the puck, but more and more teams seem to be playing a dump-and-chase, crash-the-net style," Joseph says. "We didn't have players like Roberts and Corson in their end, nor a physical defenseman like Manson in our zone.

"Now we can also play it tough. We should be a more difficult team to face this season." (The much-rumored addition of Eric Lindros would also help in that regard.)

Clearly, the Leafs couldn't compete with the Devils physically. In crucial areas around the net, in the corners and along the boards, Toronto was pushed around.

"Quite frankly, watching which teams succeeded in the playoffs, I'm convinced that's the kind of hockey that's going to be played," Quinn says, pointing to defensive teams like New Jersey and Dallas winning the Stanley Cup the last two seasons.

This is not a case of survival of the fittest, however. It is the first lesson in Chemistry 101: Teams can't return unchanged and expect to roll over their opponents.

That's why the interesting teams to watch this season will be the Maple Leafs, Blues and Rangers for what they did in the offseason, as well as the Stars, Flyers, Red Wings, Avalanche and Stanley Cup champion Devils for what they didn't do.

Here's why:

* Blues: Defensemen Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis will no longer have to play all the quality minutes with the addition of Sean Hill. The club also added grit up front in Dallas Drake, Chris Murray and Reid Simpson.

* Rangers: Mark Messier gives the team leadership it didn't have last season. And Vladimir Malakhov may be just the defenseman to complement Brian Leetch. Plus, no one will intimidate this team with Sandy McCarthy around.

* Devils: Losing Malakhov and winger Claude Lemieux won't help.

* Stars: Guy Carbonneau retired, and center Scott Thornton and defensemen Sylvain Cote and Manson were lost in free agency.

* Flyers: Lindros is as good as gone. Already gone via trade is backup goalie John Vanbiesbrouck and free-agent winger Valery Zelepukin and defenseman Adam Burt.

* Red Wings: Detroit lost center Igor Larionov to Florida and wingers Stacy Roest and Darryl Laplante in the expansion draft.

* Avalanche: Star defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh and backup goalie Marc Denis were traded, and center Serge Aubin and left winger Dave Andreychuk were lost through free agency.

In these latter cases, addition by subtraction does not apply.

inside dish

Who's going to replace the offensive skills D Bryan Berard once provided the Maple Leafs? Berard is five months removed from nearly losing the vision in his right eye in a stick mishap, but he's telling friends he can be ready to play in January or February. Berard has had the last of a series of surgeries to improve his eyesight, but NHL bylaws prohibit a player with less than 3/60ths vision in an eye from playing. So, for right now, rookie Petr Svoboda is Toronto's only hope for offense from defense.... If Canadiens G.M. Rejean Houle balked at paying LW Martin Rucinsky $2.7 million, what makes anyone think he'd trade for Capitals RW Peter Bondra and pay him $3.7 million? ... More from the Phoenix soap opera: G Nikolai Khabibulin is skating with the Coyotes despite not having a contract with the club. Discussions with Wayne Gretzky apparently have convinced Khabibulin a new contract can be reached. Meanwhile, C Jeremy Roenick says he wants his contract renewed by the start of the season or he'll pursue free agency next July. Look for more Gretzky magic to make J.R. happy again.... G Mike Richter's surgically repaired left knee has been slow to come around, so look for Kirk McLean to start the season as the Rangers' No. 1 goalie.

Senior writer Larry Wigge covers hockey for THE SPORTING NEWS. E-mail him at wigge@sportingnews.com.