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Week at a glance: Burned in Boston

Keenan takes over Bruins, but Sinden may be sorry

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	• Storylines we're following • Bandwagon

By David Harsanyi, CNNSI.com

Here we go again. After wearing out his welcome in Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, St. Louis and Vancouver, the NHL's leading Machiavellian, Mike Keenan, gets another shot in the league, this time with the Boston Bruins.

ONES TO WATCH Brad Richards, C, Tampa Bay Lightning Despite his extraordinary success in junior hockey, Lightning management was cautious about putting too much pressure on rookie Brad Richards. To their delight, the 6-1, 187-pound center has surpassed their expectations this early season, leading the league in rookie scoring with two goals and eight assists in just seven games. Playing on a line with Fredrik Modin and Wayne Primeau, Richards has given the Lightning a legitimate scoring threat after Vincent Lecavalier. Richards led the Rimouski Oceanic to the Memorial Cup last season, was selected 64th overall in the 1998 draft and led all junior players in scoring last season with an incredible 71 goals and 115 assists in 63 games. Steven Reinprecht, C, Los Angeles Kings Last year's Rookie of the Year award was won by Scott Gomez, a graduate of collegiate hockey. The Kings' Steven Reinprecht hopes to follow Gomez' lead. The 23-year-old center led the Wisconsin Badgers -- and the entire NCAA -- in scoring last season, with 26 goals and 40 assists. He was the Badgers' team captain the past two seasons and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, which is given to the most valuable player in NCAA hockey each year. Reinprecht, who started the season on the fourth line, has four goals and five assists in 11 games playing center between scorers Luc Robitaille and Glen Murray. The Edmonton native is ranked second in rookie scoring and tied for fourth on the high-scoring Kings.

Keenan replaces Pat Burns, who became coach of the Bruins in after the 1997 season, during which the franchise finished with the worst record in the NHL and missed the playoffs for the first time in 30 years. The former Quebec policeman turned the organization around, and the team finished finishing 30 points better. Times have not been kind since then, and Boston GM Harry Sinden decided to fire Burns after the Bruins dropped four straight games following a 3-0-1 season-opening run.

Two years of protracted contract problems with key players, and injuries to goalie Byron Dafoe, defenseman Kyle McLaren, top scorer Jason Allison and Anson Carter, had crippled the Bruins last season

In what has become customary procedure in Boston, owner Jeremy Jacobs absolved management and blamed the coach for the Bruins' troubles last season.

"I think our team has been managed well by Harry and Mike (O'Connell),'' Jacobs said last January, sealing Burns' fate. "But our coaching has not been what I think it should be.''

The Bruins did struggle last season, losing 328 man-games to injury last season, and they traded franchise star Ray Bourque. Sinden and O'Connell, "managed" this offseason, by signing aging defenseman Paul Coffey and 32-year-old journeyman Peter Popovic. Both players have combined for one point

By hiring Keenan, who coached the Rangers to a Stanley Cup in 1994, Sinden has likely found a short-term solution to the Bruins problems -- Keenan won his first game 4-1 against the Capitals on Thursday night. In long run, however, Sinden might have found trouble. The abrasive Keenan has never been able to see eye-to-eye with management, leaving in his wake a string of damaged relationships and reputations. But Keenan's inflexibility is something Sinden, who has been immune to criticism during his 30-year reign in Boston, will deal with, if only because of his new coach's prior success.

As for Burns, don't expect him to be out of a job for long.

Burns led the Montreal Canadiens to 115 points and the Stanley Cup finals -- earning him his first Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year -- in 1988. In 1992 and '93, Burns turned around a poor Toronto club that hadn't been above .500 in 13 years and made consecutive appearances in the conference finals. Expect his name to surface at the first sign of trouble elsewhere.

Let's make a deal

Chris Pronger is one of the top players in the NHL; now his paycheck will reflect it. Pronger, winner of both the Hart and Norris Trophies last year, signed a three-year contract extension on Thursday for $29.5 million -- $9.5 million per season plus a $1 million signing bonus. Pronger, 26, scored 14 goals, 48 assists and was a league-leading plus-52 last season. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound defenseman has one goal and five assists in seven contest this season.

Major funk

Is there a more frustrated player in the NHL right now than Calgary's Valeri Bure? After a breakout season in which he scored 35 goals, Bure can't find the net. Through the first nine games he had no goals and four assists. Overall, his scoring drought covers the final 15 games of last season as well. "It seems like everything is piling up on me -- the hits, not scoring -- and the frustration just keeps growing," said Bure. The cause for concern made Bure give a quick call to brother Pavel, who told the younger sibling to relax and keep shooting. -- Ken Klavon

Simon says

Washington and Chris Simon finally came to an agreement on a contract, which will pay the winger $2.25 million over the next two seasons. "I'm very excited to be here," Simon told the Washington Post, "but this should have been done a long time ago." Simon also caught teammates off guard when he showed up with a shaved head. Long locks gone, Simon quipped, "I'm sure the trainers will be happy; the budget will go down on the shampoo." --K.K.

Martin Gelinas		And it's not because his name rolls so smoothly off the tongue. After fighting for a roster spot, the Carolina forward notched eight points in seven games.
Alexei Yashin		Embittered over a trying court case regarding his contract situation, Yashin has shrugged off his off-ice problems and produced. He accumulated 11 points in the Senators' first seven games.
Chicago Blackhawks		A 2-5 start isn't what new coach Alpo Suhonen envisioned. In addition, through the first seven games no player had a positive plus-minus rating.
Patrick Roy		A week after passing Terry Sawchuk on the victories list, the Avs goalie was arrested for investigation of misdemeanor criminal mischief and misdemeanor domestic violence counts.
Paul Coffey		Future Hall of Famer came back from injury and quickly posted a minus-5 mark in three games.
Dominik Hasek		Has only one win in seven games. Backup Mika Noronen earned both of the Sabres' other victories.
Scott Neidermayer		The disillusioned defenseman bristled at the Devils' latest offer and openly wondered whether it was time to move on to greener pastures. -- K.K.

 

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