Eastern Nhl Conference

Sporting News, The, Nov 20, 2000 by Paul Grant

WHO'S HOT

Start practicing the name Martin Havlat. Insiders say Havlat, 19, is flashy and has singlehandedly picked up the game of fellow Senators third-liners Rob Zamuner (8 goals through Saturday; career high 17 points) and Vinny Prospal (no, really). That depth is one more reason the Sennies are in the thick of it in the East. Havlat had a 7-game point streak (4 goals, 5 assists through Saturday).

WHO'S NOT

Arturs Irbe was a workhorse for the Hurricanes last season. This year he's the proverbial rented mule. In his last seven starts Irbe has gone 1-5-1. He was pulled in the middle of the debacle last week in Toronto after whiffing on three of eight shots. He bounced back in Friday's rematch with the Leafs but the Hurricanes need him on top of his game, or they'll be just another lousy playoff team from the Southeast.

CHALKDUST

With every team loading up so that the guns always are a-blazin' and the fire wagons runnin' fast, the Devils are having a hard time adjusting. (It's a Stanley Cup curse, apparently.) Other than Brian Rafalski (Scott Niedermayer, answer your pager), New Jersey doesn't have a mobile enough blue line to move the puck, and Rafalski was doling out more giveaways than Sports Illustrated. Plus, shock of all shocks, Scott Stevens was minus-3 against the Predators. Zoiks.

GAME OF THE WEEK

It's men against boys on the Left Coast. And you know what that means. Yup, Mark Messier and his traveling band of merry old men are on the road. This Friday game promises to be a killer confrontation. The Rangers were floating atop the Atlantic thanks to a monster power play, and the young-gun Canucks were threatening to stay in second in the Northwest. It's mentor vs. student: The Canucks hope someday to grow up to be the Rangers.

STICKS & STONES

So Marty McSorley is eligible to return to the NHL after February 20, 2001. Now he knows when he can stop waiting for the phone to ring. In today's faster NHL, free of obstruction and stick-swinging, McSorley doesn't stand a chance. Who would gamble on a slow, old guy for its defense (put your hand down, Toronto)? Especially not before the playoff drive. Adieu, Marty.

DROPPING THE GLOVES

"My shooting percentage is as high as it has ever been. I'm a lot more patient, a lot more confident, not squeezing the stick like I did last year."

--Rangers' Theo Fleury