Who's passing, failing at NHL midterm
Posted: Tuesday January 19, 1999 06:38 PM
The NHL's midpoint is here, the '98 portion of '98-99 behind us, and we can begin to take legitimate stock of what this season has wrought. There are familiar laggards (Tampa Bay, Calgary) and familiar leaders (Dallas, Philadelphia) and numerous successes and failures in between. Here's a look at some of those who've fared best and worst in our favorite categories.
Best performance by a player
Flyers' Eric Lindros. He has dominated on offense, he has thrown his body around on defense, he has intimidated opponents league-wide. Many others have played well, but no one's come close to Lindros' level.
Best performance by a coach
Penguins' Kevin Constantine. So his bosses are bankrupt? Constantine has stayed the course on the ice and has his players upbeat and rallying around his two-way defensive system. Constantine has responded well to Penguins injuries and has kept Jaromir Jagr happy and motivated in his captain's role.
Best performance by a general manager
Coyotes' Bobby Smith. Phoenix is a vastly improved and more interesting team since Smith reshaped the roster in the offseason. Partly through his addition of Jyrki Lumme, Smith has assembled a highly mobile corps of blueliners, the perfect antidote to trapping defenses. He also smoothed over a potentially rancorous holdout by his best player, Keith Tkachuk, and brought in some needed team-first veterans like winger Mike Sullivan.
Worst performance by a coach and general manager
Mike Milbury serves both roles for the Islanders and has done both equally ineptly. Yes, it's tough working for penny-pinching owners who don't give a whit about their fans, as Milbury does, but after three-and-a-half seasons he should have something to show for this team. This season could be the worst of Milbury's playoff-free regime; his players aren't playing for him, and last week's trade of 21-year-old defenseman Bryan Berard, an Islanders cornerstone, to Toronto was the latest in a string of managerial stumbles.
Best performance by a big-name goalie
Sabres' Dominik Hasek. He says he intentionally uses his skull to stop some high shots. However you get it done, Dominik, at this point you make the rules. Another Vezina Trophy is on the way.
Worst performance by a big-name goalie
Constantine has kept Jaromir Jagr happy and motivated in his captain's role Rick Stewart/Allsport |
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Capitals' Olaf Kolzig. He got a sweet new contract in October, but hasn't been filling the net the way he did in leading Washington to the Cup finals last spring. He's so big that some pucks hit him accidentally. The rest go in.
Most exciting line
Mighty Ducks' Teemu Selanne, Steve Rucchin and Paul Kariya. Don't ever, ever blink when this trio is on the ice.
Least beneficial offseason expenditure
The Blackhawks signing Doug Gilmour for $6 million per annum. Gilmour's a great character player with excellent offensive ability, but he's not enough to carry this truly awful team. Chicago would have done better investing in two or three second-tier players.
Most underrated offseason expenditure
The Maple Leafs signing Steve Thomas for $2.5 million per annum. Yes, the addition of goalie Curtis Joseph is at the heart of Toronto's turnaround, but Thomas has added scoring punch, wiles and serious grit. Toronto wouldn't be leading the Northeast Division without him.
Best published Yogi Berra-ism
The just-released The Life and Times of Darryl Sutter is a compendium of the Sharks coach's alleged wit, and you've gotta love his math on this one: "I'd rather have a fifteen-goal scorer and ten of them are key goals than a guy that scores twenty-five goals and fifteen of them don't mean s---."
Most inspiring star: Bruins' Ray Bourque
At 38 he remains an elite defenseman. Dignity, thy name is Ray.
Most courageous call by discipline czar Colin Campbell
His decision not to punish Lindros for slamming the Senators' Andreas Dackell into the corner glass. The hit was legal but because Dackell's face was badly mangled and because the often unruly Lindros was the perpetrator, many cried for punishment. Risking charges that he was favoring a superstar, Campbell refused to discipline. He was right.
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