A chemical reaction

Sporting News, The, Nov 20, 2000 by Larry Wigge

Good lines can't make up for bad vibes when it comes to developing a winning formula

SEE A different GAME

The numbers were simple enough: Since October 17, 1998, the Stars had won 36 consecutive road games when they scored at least three goals.

When teams played the Stars, they got an advanced course in chemistry, which included great veteran leadership and one of the stingiest defensive game plans around. Unsuspecting teams had to learn to play at Dallas' slower pace.

"But that was then ... and this is now," Stars center Mike Modano said after that road winning streak ended in St. Louis with a recent 4-3 overtime loss. "With the way the rules are in today's game, we can't hook, we can't hold. For years we got away with obstruction and slowing down guys and bringing them down to our pace. Now we must change.

"We aren't quick enough, we don't move the puck fast enough on the transition to beat the quicker teams in the league. We don't get the extra two seconds we used to get to make a play. And if you don't have the right chemistry, everything blows up in your face."

In no other sport is chemistry heard more often. And in hockey it's not as simple as E=[MC.sup.2].

"It's more than just a buzzword in our sport. Chemistry is essential--whether it's from management down to the G.M., from G.M. to the coach, from coach to the players, or from player to player, chemistry is a part of our game in everything we do," says Maple Leafs GM.-coach Pat Quinn. "You never know how it's going to come together. And it doesn't just happen. You add new players, new systems, but you keep asking yourself: How will the players respond to one another? Will they be able to communicate? Maybe they don't even like each other."

"This isn't basketball, football or baseball, where the game is almost totally defined by 1-on-1 battles," says Maple Leafs left winger Gary Roberts. "This is a team game. And other than maybe Jaromir Jagr, you aren't going to find any forward or defenseman who can really win a game by himself. None."

Hockey is also a game of form. Every successful line has a goal scorer, a playmaker and a physical presence. Most successful defensive pairings include a puck mover and a stay-at-home guy. You have to have transition from defense to offense to create a flow that all of the winning teams have. And on and on.

"I remember one year in St. Louis, where I spent millions of dollars to put together what I thought was the perfect line," says Bruins coach and THE SPORTING NEWS' analyst Mike Keenan. "We had Brett Hull as our shooter, so I went out and signed Dale Hawerchuk as the playmaker and then traded for Shayne Corson as the physical presence. But it never worked."

The Blues even went out and traded for Wayne Gretzky that season. But Gretzky, Hull and Corson fared no better.

"I don't know how to describe it other than a feeling, a bond you have with other players and, most important, a hope that the skills of those players and coaches blend together," says Rangers six-time Stanley Cup champion Mark Messier. "But even that isn't enough. I've seen teams that get along fine and produce some great plays, but they don't win because they don't work hard enough.

"This isn't kindergarten. Players are being paid a lot of money to play hard."

Messier, Scott Stevens, Modano, Steve Yzerman and Patrick Roy are famous for showing others how to be leaders--and the fact that one member of this group has been a part of the past seven Stanley Cup winners shows how valuable that leadership can be.

"Look at the Oakland Raiders and some of Glen Sather's Edmonton Oilers teams," Quinn says. "Those teams had so much leadership, they could take on a guy who maybe didn't have the best reputation on another team and extract the best of his talent. Now that's a form of chemistry we'd all like to have."

Sometimes even the best general mangers lose control of a team's chemical mix because of elements out of their control. Take this offseason. Who could have known exactly how much of an effect director of officiating Andy VanHellemond's order to crackdown on penalties was going to take?

"It's funny," says Capitals coach Ron Wilson, "but the best chemistry I ever had on a team was in 1996, when I coached the United States to the World Cup championship. After that victory we had almost the same group of players in the 1998 Olympics but couldn't even get to the medal round. And it had nothing to do with how well the players felt about one another.

"What happened in Nagano was another dynamic.... The chemistry was different. John LeClair, Keith Tkachuk, Brett Hull, Tony Amonte were always buzzing around the net in the World Cup. But with the larger ice surface at the Olympics, our power forwards never seemed to have enough time to get from the wings or the corners in front of the net."

And while the dimensions of the ice surface in the NHL have not changed, the officiating has opened up lanes--and that has been the biggest chemical reaction in the game this season.

Recognizing that there are all sorts of chemical elements out there to deal with is the first assignment. Figuring out which equation works best is something we can all look out for this season.