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Wednesday, November 8, 2000
Some things to watch in 2000-01
By Al Morganti
Special to ESPN.com
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The 2000-2001 season is moving toward us faster than Scott Niedermayer
busting out of the zone to break a trap ...
Oh, Niedermayer's not in camp? Well, welcome to business as usual in
the NHL, where every season seems to start with unhappy players sitting out as
they try to keep up with the Jagrs in the pecking order of NHL salaries.
And let's see, the Sabres are without their captain, Mike Peca; the Kings'
captain, Rob Blake, gave up his "C" as the result of contract woes -- but then took it back again for the team's sake.
What you won't see this year is another mistake along the lines of
Alexei Yashin, or even Nikolai Khabibulin. If nothing else, players and agents are very aware that the new hard line against salaries is much more rigid than in the past, so at
some point, these guys will arrive ready to play.
Staring into the looking glass of the 2000-01 season, and
you'll see some of these issues. Some clearer than others, but all waiting to unfold:
The Dallas Stars will have "issues" with coach Ken Hitchcock.
It's no secret that the Stars' locker room has been near revolt at times while
under the reign of Hitchcock. However, the team's success has always been enough to
convince the players that Hitchcock's way, while stressful, gets results.
The Stars are now two seasons removed from their Cup in 1999, and
if there is any struggle early in the season, you can bet Hitchcock will start hearing
the rumblings of an unhappy locker room.
What the players need to realize is that GM Bob
Gainey knows the price a team has to pay to win a championship, and he will not
surrender a premier coach for players who are tired of paying the price.
There will be a quiet, behind-the-scenes revolt by the referees.
How would you like to come home after work, and find the phone message
blinking with comments from your boss about mistakes you made during the day?
It's not a perfect parallel, but the NHL is about to do just that to the officials who
will have their performances evaluated by supervisors watching every game, and then
convey their criticisms -- and hopefully some plaudits.
Eric Lindros will wind up in Toronto.
The Kings will try, but eventually the Leafs will land number 88. Watch
for the Flyers to become increasingly anxious to make some kind of deal for the
rights to Lindros in large part because the management and locker room will get sick of
answering questions about him. At this point, he's out of town, but not out of mind.
The Sabres will start talking to teams about their interest in Dominik
Hasek.
The fact that Marty Biron had a contract dispute gave the Sabres reason
to watch Mika Noronen more closely in the preseason. It's one thing for a team to
have one solid kid on the way, as the Sabres do with Biron, and quite another to have two.
Buffalo will try to keep it quiet, but word will leak out that Hasek can
be acquired. Hard as it is to believe, the Islanders will not be in the running for
another goalie.
The play of Chris Drury and Alex Tanguay will make Joe Sakic a hot
commodity on the trade market.
| |  | | | Sakic |
The Avalanche only have Sakic signed for this season ($7.9 million) and
then he can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Remember that Tanguay and Drury are
natural centers.
Sakic for John LeClair?
To nobody's surprise, the front office is shaken up in Phoenix.
As soon as Wayne Gretzky is allowed in the building, look for an exit by
GM Bobby Smith, and the addition of agent Mike Barnett to the Coyotes' front
office. This will mean that Khabiboulin is safe, but it will also likely mean an exit
for Jeremy
Roenick.
Pavel Bure will sail away with the goal scoring title.
The addition of Igor Larionov will help Bure leave Jaromir Jagr and the
rest well back in his dust.
The Boston Bruins will trade Anson Carter.
Even if Carter gets signed, watch for him to be the Bruins player who
pays the biggest price for his contract dispute with management. Expect him to land someplace like
Long Island, where the Bruins would like Tim Connolly as part of the deal.
But the Isles vehemently deny this possibility.
"Never. No way," GM Mike Milbury said. "Not in a month of Sundays, even if they threw in (Sergei) Samsonov."
Now, that's a denial.
Raymond Bourque will get his Stanley Cup.
Well, it's been a dream for the past two decades, why stop now?
Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.
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