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Bad blood could spill into playoffs

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Posted: Wednesday April 21, 1999 09:28 PM

The Dallas Stars were pretty peeved regarding the seven-game suspension to defenseman Darien Hatcher for his late-season hit on Phoenix Coyotes forward Jeremy Roenick, and it could spill over into the playoffs.

Hatcher will miss five of the seven games in the first-round of the playoffs [assuming the Edmonton Oilers last that long], but the Stars are already thinking about a possible matchup with Phoenix and it doesn't sound pretty.

"There's a rivalry, there's a hate," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said of the situation between the two teams.

The issue isn't just limited to Dallas and Phoenix. Buffalo Sabres forward Joey Juneau is trying to come back from a concussion for the start of the playoff series with the Ottawa Senators and he resents the fact he's injured.

"What Dale Hunter did to Pierre Turgeon was nothing compared to this,"' Juneau said in recalling an incident in which Hunter received a 21-game suspension some six years ago in a playoff situation. ""I thought it was dirty when it happened and then I saw the tape. The league has got to do something about this. There was no reason to do that. I was already sliding into the boards at 100 miles per hour. I could have been hurt just from that...but to take my head and slam it into the boards, that's just not right."

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Dan McGillis was the culprit on the play, but there was no penalty or suspension. Juneau's helmet shattered in three places as a result of the collision with the dasherboards. He's had headaches and problems focusing his vision for the last week.

In the closing days of the regular season, there's been a slew of high-sticking and violent collisions involving head trauma. It appears that Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell's best efforts to tone down the violence in the game hasn't gotten through to the players.

Hatcher for one, showed little remorse.

"It's unfortunate that his jaw ended up being broken,'' Hatcher said. "His head was in a bad place."

His head was at the end of Hatcher's elbow, a situation that many believe came about because Roenick hit Dallas center Mike Modano from behind the last time the two teams met.

Flameout not pretty in Calgary

While Colorado forward Theo Fleury prepares for his first playoffs with the Avalanche, the team he left behind is on the outside looking in.

And none too happy about it.

The Flames went hard on emotion immediately after Fleury was traded in a contract matter. That got the faithful's hopes up, but they went 0-7-1 down the stretch. The big problem, a lack of scoring.

"We had our chances but we blew it,'' said Calgary defenseman Denis Gauthier. Yet Gauthier also noted the absence of Fleury impacted the drive. "Theo's a great player,'' he said. "Down the stretch he probably would have scored five, six, seven goals. That would have changed the outcome of a few games, but he wasn't here. So why cry after the fact.''

Mainly because small market teams can't often afford to commit to players on the cusp of total free agency. The issue is emotional for both sides and it's hard to tell a veteran player not to go out and position himself for all he's worth.

This is an issue that has enormous long-term impact on the NHL and could very well lead to charges of buying the Stanley Cup once the playoff season is over.

Tugnutt's tough luck

This is how close Ottawa goalie Ron Tugnutt came to the record books. Going into the final game of the regular season, Tugnutt needed a shutout in Carolina to tie the record for the lowest goals-against average in NHL history (1.77). The game ended in a 1-1 tie and Tugnutt finished with a league low 1.79.

Not only did he not get the record, but he may not get the start in the playoffs. The Senators are leaning toward their other No.1 goalie, Damien Rhodes. No one is saying exactly why, but it should be remembered that Tugnutt was in net when the Sabres beat the Senators in overtime of a seventh game in a playoff series two seasons ago.

Oilers only finished 40 points behind

A quote from Edmonton's Doug Weight regarding drawing the league's best regular season team, the Dallas Stars, in the playoffs.

"When a team is 40 points better than you, you can't say anything but good things about them,'' said Edmonton center Doug Weight. "We're going to play our game plan and we're going to try and make them react to us. We have a great team too.''

It just happens to be 40 points lower in the standings.

Cranking up the mind game

Look for Toronto coach Pat Quinn, the master of the mind game, to crank it up in the playoffs. Even before the postseason started, Quinn was doing a little referee mind massage, claiming that first-round opponent Philadelphia tends to run goaltenders; a lot.

"It [crease infringement] is not overblown,'' Quinn said. "The league mandated it to stop a few years ago, but Philly is one of the teams that still does it.

"It's not just when the puck goes in the net...they back in there all the time. They do all those little things, encroaching, poaching...it's not a mean thing on their part, but they seem to get away with it, especially the physical contact [with the goalie].''

Funny, but years ago Quinn used to play for the Flyers, back in an era where the team was accused of breaking or bending every rule in the book on the theory that the referee won't call every infraction.

Quick picks

In the East: Ottawa over Buffalo; Boston over Carolina; New Jersey over Pittsburgh; Toronto over Philadelphia.

In the West: Dallas over Edmonton; Colorado over San Jose; Detroit over Anaheim; St. Louis over Phoenix.

 

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