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Midseason best and worst
Posted: Thursday February 01, 2001 12:43 PM
With the All-Star Game upon us, here's a look at some of the best and worst of
what the NHL provided in the first half:
Best Hatchet Burial Alexei Yashin and the city of Ottawa.
Sure, the hatchet is still in there somewhere but Yashin's play (he had 22 goals
in the team's first 50 games) and his conspicuous lack of complaining has the
home crowd cheering his
name.
Noblest Roman Hamrlik was the Islanders' best defenseman;
Turek played solid in net for the Blues, but it is Roman Cechmanek,
the Flyers' rookie goalie and an All-Star, whom Caesar would have
hailed.
Heaviest Additions
The Penguins, who in a 36-hour span in mid-January
imported a half-ton of flesh to insulate Mario Lemieux.
Best Player with a Marley Namesake Ziggy Palffy, who had 56
points in 42 games and who, as the Melody Makers would sing, knows how to Play
The Game
Right.
Biggest Benefactors of Rigged Election (other than Dubya) The Florida
Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Not many people were watching them anyway. The
Sunshine State's voting mess really thrust their lousy play into
obscurity.
Most Dimpled Chad That would be Mr. Kilger, who despite being
traded for the third time in three years (this time from the Oilers to the
Canadiens) kept on
smiling.
Worst Response to Success The Atlanta Thrashers who were at .500 and
nearing a potential playoff berth when they went into an 0-10-3 funk that killed
their
season.
Least Surprising Wig-out Ed Belfour, who bolted the Stars
after tiff with coach Ken Hitchcock.
Most Surprising Wig-out Well, it wasn't quite a meltdown, but who
would have thought we'd see the gentlemanly Teemu Selanne hurl his
stick to the ice in
disgust?
Most Effective Coaching Change The Bruins hiring Mike Keenan
to replace Pat Burns. Keenan has the Bruins playing more passionately
than they have since the 1998-99
season.
Least Effective Coaching Change The Lightning hiring John
Tortorella to replace Steve Ludzick. Ludzy had the ear of his
young team and many of Tampa Bay's players resent his having been fired. The
club went 1-9-0 in its first 10 games under
Tortorella.
Biggest Impact by a Major Offseason Signing The Maple Leafs' Gary
Roberts, whose gritty style gives the team a playoff look even when it's
struggling.
Least Impact by a Major Offseason Signing The Rangers' Mark
Messier. Yes, he still gives you goosebumps with his barreling forays into
the offensive zone, but Messier is a bottom-line guy who's all about winning.
And the Rangers aren't winning any more often with him than they were without
him.
Best Looking Johnson That would be the Blues' Brent, before
his sore
knee.
Best Lazarus Imitation The Rangers' Theo Fleury, who after
that dead-in-the-frozen-water season of 1999-00 is playing with all the dazzle
and grit of his younger
days.
Worst Showing by a Real Estate Developer Steve Ellman in
Phoenix. Sir, are you going to buy the 'Yotes or
what?
Joe Sixpack Mr. Murphy of the Capitals, whose career seems
to have ended after his pre-dawn skirmish in a New York
nightclub.
Not Joe Sixpack Mr. Sakic of the Avalanche, who has proven to
be this season's champagne of
centers.
Sports Illustrated staff writer Kostya Kennedy covers the NHL and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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