Reasons for the Penguin's Most Wanted
Have you seen 'em?
Penguins' Jagr complains about line breakup
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (Apr 13, 1998 - 2:13 EDT) -- A shakeup of the Pittsburgh Penguins' best line is
drawing some criticism from center Jaromir Jagr, who says players are being punished for the team's
recent slump.
The NHL's top scorer ripped coach Kevin Constantine for breaking up the line of Jagr, Ron Francis
and Stu Barnes during a 3-3 tie Saturday with the Florida Panthers.
The Penguins blew a two-goal lead against Florida, and are 1-5-4 in their last 10 games.
"He is perfect," Jagr said of Constantine. "Blame it on us. I'll take the blame."
He said he views breaking up the line as punishment and called it a wrong move after two bad weeks.
"If that's the way he's going to do it, go ahead," Jagr said. "It's good for me. I can play anywhere. It
doesn't matter."
He said Constantine has put him "through hell.
"I'm not a bad player," Jagr said. "I don't think I deserve it."
He said it was wrong to penalize his line for "a bad two weeks."
Constantine said the line may be reunited later.
"They haven't scored a lot, five-on-five, and they've been minus players," he said. "We tried to let
them work their own way out of that, but sometimes change is healthy. There's a lot of the changed
lineup that I liked tonight."
Jagr said he has no plans to discuss his concerns with Constantine.
"Never. I'll do anything he tells me to do ... and we'll see what's going to happen later," Jagr said.
Jagr played Saturday with Martin Straka and Robert Lang -- "a checking line," he said.
He just signed a four-year contract extension worth $38 million. He is the only European to win an
NHL scoring championship, and also got a gold medal with the Czech Republic team at the Olympics
in Nagano, Japan.
Francis had no comment on the switch.
[Taken from Nando.net Hockey Site]
If scoring's the goal, ban expansion
By Sam Ross Jr.
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Unsolicited advice to the NHL regarding its desire to increase offense: Ban expansion for
maybe 10 years. The league's anguish over low-scoring games, and the perceived damage
that does to hopes for increasing the fan base, could be eased if the talent pool wasn't being
stretched over an ever-increasing number of teams. Going in three decades from the original
six teams to the present 26, with more in the pipeline, has been excessive.
The irony is that expansion in baseball has upped scoring because pitching has been
stretched thin. In hockey, expansion has created the need for teams to find ways to win
without superstar players. Defensive emphasis with average talent and above-average effort
gets the job done.
For a while, the influx of European players to the traditionally North America-dominated
NHL kept expansion from diluting the product too badly. But now most of the
hockey-playing countries of the world have been assimilated in the NHL mix. Great portions
of the planet have no facilities to play hockey or interest in building them. Contrast that to
the relative worldwide distribution of baseball and basketball.
[Taken from Tribune-Review Site]
USA Cries Foul at Nagano
Three apartments occupied by U.S. players were
trashed after the U.S. team was eliminated from the
Olympic tournament with a 4-1 quarter-final loss to
the Czech Republic last Wednesday. A few chairs
were broken, a couple of fire extinguishers were
emptied, and damage was estimated at $3,000.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said the
league will investigate the matter, interviewing
players as they resume practice this week.
"Under the NHL constitution, I have the power to
discipline action that is detrimental to hockey,"
Bettman said.
Wilson said his understanding is that one or two
players did the damage, but he is still embarrassed
by it. "Unfortunately, everybody is guilty by association,"
Wilson said. "...I'm disgusted with the culprits."
Wilson added that those responsible "should come
forth so we can put it behind us."
[Taken from SLAM! Hockey Site]
Saku very much!
More importantly, the Canadiens welcomed back center Saku Koivu, who returned after missing
nearly a month with a broken left hand to give an emotional lift to a team badly in need of it.
Koivu assisted on the first of Mark Recchi's two third-period goals, one that made it 3-0, as
Montreal's reunited No. 1 line of Koivu, Recchi and Shayne Corson combined for three goals
and three assists.
"We're not the same team without him, without a doubt," Canadiens coach Alain Vigneault said.
"They've been a great line all year. He showed tremendous courage playing through the pain, and
I think he'll get better as the series continues."
[Taken from Nando.net Hockey Site]
Lindros Knocked out by Kasp.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Philadelphia Flyers centre Eric
Lindros could be out 10 days to two weeks with a
concussion.
Lindros was hurt when he was checked by Pittsburgh
defenceman Darius Kasparaitis during Saturday's loss to
the Penguins.
Lindros spent the night at a Pittsburgh hospital and flew
home Sunday. He did not play in Sunday's home game
against the Penguins.
"I feel tired, have a headache," Lindros said Sunday.
"My eyes aren't as sharp as they could be. Gotta go
home, get some sleep."
He doesn't remember the hit, but watched a replay
Saturday.
The Flyers' captain, who leads the team with 67 points,
had his head down, looking for the puck near the blue
line in the second period when Kasparaitis rammed a
shoulder into Lindros' face. It appeared to be a clean
check and no penalty was called.
"I recall a lot of things after it, but I don't recall that play
at all," Lindros said.
Lindros crumpled to the ice along the boards and was
dazed as he tried to stand. A trainer tried to help him up,
but Lindros fell to his knees two more times. Teammates
helped Lindros to the locker room.
"He did not lose consciousness but he had a period of
confusion that extended beyond 15 minutes," said Dr.
Jeff Hartzell, the team's physician.
[Taken from SLAM! Hockey Site]
Hasek is the best netminder in NHL today
Hasek is one of the elite goaltenders in the NHL despite the
lack of physique. He looks more like a hockey fan than a
superior goaltender, and his on-ice style often defies
description, as he believes in no philosophy except stopping
the puck.
Hasek is the prime reason
the Buffalo Sabres remain a
factor this season. As the
1996-97 season opened, the
Sabres, involved in a
cost-cutting plan that sapped
the roster of many of its
stars, were picked as pretenders for the Stanley Cup
playoffs. Then, star center Pat LaFontaine suffered a
concussion that has sidelined him for the majority of the
season. Surely that would sound the death knell for the
Sabres.
But the Sabres, thanks primarily to Hasek, refuse to lose.
They sport a more-than-respectable 27-19-6 record that has
them in second place in the northeast division.
"It's not so bad," Hasek said. "My teammates depend on
me. That's the way it is. I like that."
[Taken from Fox Sports Site]
Nedved wants too much
(c) 1997 Copyright Nando.net
(c) 1997 Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (Oct 7, 1997 - 19:28 EDT) -- Petr Nedved will decide within two weeks whether to
join the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.
Nedved, a restricted free-agent center, is in Prague, Czech Republic, while his agent and the team are
in negotiations.
Nedved is seeking $18.5 million over five years, while the Penguins are believed to be offering $15
million over that same span.
"He can't sit still," Nedved's agent, Tony Kondel, said. "Petr is very frustrated, and when he makes up
his mind that enough is enough, that will be it."
In Prague, Nedved has stopped playing for Sparta Praha, his club team, because an NHL rule
stipulates that if he plays for them after Oct. 1, he must clear waivers before rejoining the Penguins.
That would effectively end his chances for resolving the dispute this season.
[Taken from Nando.net Site]
Florida Ousts Pens in first round of 1997 Playoffs
PITTSBURGH -- The upstart Florida Panthers followed a simple
formula in the Eastern Conference finals: Shut down superstars Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, beat the Penguins.
Florida succeeded when just about everybody failed.
The Panthers held Lemieux and Jagr without a
goal six times in the series, including the final five
games, culminating with Saturday night's 3-1
victory that boosted Florida into the Stanley Cup
finals in just its third year in the NHL.
"I would never have believed it," Pittsburgh
coach Ed Johnston said. "I think in the last three
to four games, Jagr had four or five breakaways and you can almost go to the bank that he'll bury one or two of those.
"I don't think I've seen anybody in a zone like the Beezer has been in these playoffs, not only in our playoffs, but against Boston and Philadelphia. He has been the difference in every series." Johnston was referring to Florida goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, who made 39 saves in Saturday night's series-clincher and held the powerful Penguins to only six goals in the Panthers' four victories.
"You've got to give a lot of credit to Florida,"
Johnston said. "As for the Beezer, he stopped
everything but the kitchen sink."
[Taken from ESPNZone Site]
Bourque kicked out for
cross-check on Jagr
BOSTON (AP) -- Boston Bruins defenseman Ray
Bourque was given a game misconduct Thursday night
for checking Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr from behind and
sending him headfirst into the boards.
With 1:13 left in the first period, Bourque pushed Jagr
behind the net and he hit the boards with his head and
shoulder as he fell. Penguins forward Alex Hicks then
cross-checked Bourque in the back, drawing the rest of
the players on the ice into a scrum.
Jagr remained on the ice for a few minutes but skated
off on his own. He did not play again in the first period
but started the second.
Jagr entered the game as the No. 2 scorer in the NHL
with 22 goals and 39 assists. On Tuesday, he signed a
four-year contract extension worth $38 million.
The Bruins said that Bourque, a five-time Norris Trophy winner as
the league's top defenseman, was never ejected before in his 17 year career.
[Taken from SLAM! Hockey Site]
Montreal knocks of Pittsburgh
The same can be said for the Eastern Conference's
seventh-seeded Montreal Canadiens, who rebounded from
numerous injuries and a mid-season slump to dispatch of the
Northeast Division Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
Hockey's most fabled franchise, which hadn't won a playoff
series since capturing the Stanley Cup in 1993, got off to a strong start under first-year Head Coach Alain Vigneault, posting a 13-5-2 record to start the season. But after a rash of injuries to the likes of Saku Koivu (out 13 games), Shayne Corson (out 20
games) and Brian Savage (out 18 games), the Canadiens
managed to play only around .500 hockey from New Year's
through the end of the season.
Even more disheartening than the injuries was the team's play on home ice. In their 41 contests at the Molson Centre this season, the Canadiens were just 15-17-9. The last time a Montreal team finished the regular season with a sub-.500 home record was 1939-40, when it went 5-14-5 and failed to qualify for postseason play.
Even without Koivu, a 57-point
scorer, for the first four games of the series, Montreal was constantly putting the puck in the net. The Canadiens, who
were led by veterans Corson (3-4-7), Mark
Recchi (3-5-8) and Vincent Damphousse
(2-6-8), found the back of the twine 18
times during the first round. Only the Oilers
and Detroit Red Wings scored more.
And, when the defense did falter, 38-year-old netminder Andy Moog was almost always there to back them up.
[Excerpt from the NHL news page.]
� 1997 