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Undeterred overachievers Wild, Lightning haven't faded much after fast starts
Harken back to late November and recall this amazing sight in the NHL standings. The Minnesota Wild were 13-5-4-0 and atop the Northwest Division, while the Tampa Bay Lightning led the Southeast with a 12-6-2-1 record. Most people assumed the fast starts by Minnesota and Tampa Bay were nothing more than early-season charades. After all, the Calgary Flames and New York Islanders got off to quick starts last season, and the Flames missed the playoffs while the Isles faded to the fifth seed and were out in the first round. But with four weeks left in the regular season, the Wild and Lightning look like safe bets to be among the field of 16 to skate for Lord Stanley's Cup. And chief among the reasons for their consistent seasons is a pair of underrated centers: Brad Richards and Wes Walz. Richards has played in the shadow of Vincent Lecavalier for several seasons now. The duo played one year together with the Rimouski Oceanic in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 1997-98, each tallying 115 points. Richards followed up his impressive first QMJHL season with a monster 131-point year in 1998-99 and a ridiculous 115 assists in 1999-2000, leading Rimouski to the Memorial Cup while winning the player of the year award for the CHL. The 6-foot-1, 194-pound Richards finished with 62 points in each of his first two seasons and was a surprising Calder Trophy finalist after his rookie year. But it is his emerging all-around play, rather than just his scoring alone, that is moving him into the elite level in the NHL. Richards has blossomed on the power play in his third year with four goals and 28 assists with the man advantage. Only Lecavalier, Alex Tanguay, Simon Gagne and Scott Gomez have more points from the 1998 draft class, despite the fact that Richards was the 36th forward selected. Richards is playing nearly 20 minutes per game and has added penalty-killing duties to his role on the first power-play unit and his regular shift with Fredrik Modin and Martin St. Louis. Richards is minus-1 after going a combined minus-28 in his first two years, and his defense has come along to the point that John Tortorella isn't afraid to have him on the ice late in close games. After beating Colorado 4-3 on Friday, the Lightning are four points ahead of the Islanders and Bruins for seventh in the East, and eight points ahead of the ninth-place Rangers. If Tampa Bay gets just 11 points in its final 14 games, New York would need 20 points in its last 12 games and Montreal would need 23 in its last 14 games to pass the Lightning at 87 points. Walz is a journeyman pivot who bounced around four organizations over six seasons before settling with the expansion Wild in 2000. He had a prolific junior career of his own, scoring 244 points with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL from 1988-90, and was a third-round pick of the Bruins in 1989. A swift skater and quick thinker, Walz scored 30 points in each of his first two seasons in Minnesota. Through 65 games this season, Walz has 12 goals and 16 assists, putting him within a fast finish of his career high of 38 points set in 1993-94 with Calgary. Most impressively, Walz has developed into the Wild's most fierce forechecker, circling brilliantly in the opposing zone and using his stick to create the turnovers on which Jacques Lemaire's pressure defense (or as it's referred to after the kids are tucked in bed, the trap) subsists. He is among the best penalty killers in the NHL and could be a first-time finalist for the Selke Award this season. Walz flies around the ice on every shift as part of one of the best third lines in the league, teaming with Antii Laaksonen and Richard Park to form this year's version of San Jose's Niklas Sundstrom-Mike Ricci-Scott Thornton trio of a year ago. The Wild are three points ahead of the Oilers for eighth in the West, and nine points up on the Predators for the ninth spot. Minnesota probably needs only 11 points in its final 15 games to make the playoffs, with Nashville needing to finish 10-5 to pull even with the Wild at 87 points.Fast starts are one thing, but unless they are followed up by a steady remainder of the regular season they don't mean much. Thanks to consistent play from underrated centers Richards and Walz, the Lightning and Wild won't be cleaning out their lockers on April 6. Richards adds franchise owner to his resumeMost 22-year-old hockey players are only concerned with finding the next watering hole, but Brad Richards is a star-in-waiting off the ice, too. Richards purchased a share of the Prince Edward Island Rocket of the QMJHL, a team which will relocate from Montreal next season and begin play in the Charlottetown Civic Center in Richards' home province in the Maritimes. "I have seen how it worked in Rimouski, and Charlottetown is a lot like that," Richards told the Canadian Press. "It's a great step for the Island to see the future NHL players and [P.E.I.] can benefit from that. There will be NHL scouts coming into town, there will be chances to host Memorial Cups, seeing young players turn into NHLers. They are all playing for a reason at that age." Former NHL great Pat Lafontaine is also among the 40 investors. The team sold 900 season tickets before it even opened an office. Manic Monday in Canadian capitalThere is nothing like adding two additional Stanley Cups to the team history on a Monday afternoon in March. The Senators announced this week that the club's former franchise, the Ottawa Hockey Club, is now an 11-time Cup winner as opposed to the nine-time champs they had previously been listed with. It was deemed that Ottawa successfully defended the Stanley Cup in a pair of midseason Cup challenges in 1905-06 and 1909-10, though the league title later went to the Montreal Wanderers both seasons. The league previously acknowledged multiple Cup challenges and therefore multiple winners in this era prior to when the Stanley Cup playoffs became a postseason competition. The Sens plan to raise two more banners in the Corel Centre to honor these great Ottawa teams of nearly a century ago. You have to love revisionist history and creative accounting, all in the name of a couple of extra banners. Rumor millIf the Sharks are serious about a fire sale, the Devils and Stars are apparently interested in Teemu Selanne. ... The Flyers remain hot to trot for Jarome Iginla, with their latest offer being Simon Gagne, Jeff Woywitka and a first-round pick for Iginla. ... According to radio reports on WFAN, the Islanders are prepared to send Brad Isbister to the Sabres for Miroslav Satan. The trade would give Alexei Yashin an offensive winger, but would also lighten Buffalo's payroll by $1.7 million. ... The Rangers want to pry Geoff Sanderson from the Blue Jackets, but Columbus is asking for Radek Dvorak. ... The Senators still want Brad May from the Coyotes, though Phoenix's asking price of 2001 first-round pick Tim Gleason is frightening Ottawa a bit. But after the Leafs got Owen Nolan on Wednesday, the Sens need to do something to match that move and beef up their own front line further. ... If the Blues don't meet the Coyotes' asking price for Sean Burke, a cheaper deal can be made with the Hurricanes to acquire Arturs Irbe. ... The Lightning's quest for a defenseman has them interested in Aaron Miller, Phil Housley, Glen Wesley and Alexei Zhitnik. Tampa Bay could be scared off by the fact that most teams are asking for Modin or Vaclav Prospal in return. ... The Mighty Ducks want to add some scoring punch, and could be interested in Donald Audette or Niklas Hagman. Worth notingAl MacInnis will become the 20th player to reach 1,400 career games Friday at Detroit. ... Mats Sundin had an assist Thursday to give him 999 points in his career. ... Scott Mellanby was the leading active goal-scorer who had never scored a hat trick before netting four goals Thursday against the Coyotes in his 1,209th career game. ... Tommy Salo improved to 12-4-2 lifetime against the Kings on Thursday with the Oilers' 2-1 victory. ... The Canucks' last overtime loss before Thursday was Feb. 28, 2002, against the Stars. ... Fourteen of Dany Heatley's 28 goals have come in the first period. ... The Hurricanes were 0-11-2-2 on the road since Jan. 4 before winning in Pittsburgh on Thursday. ... Buffalo has not lost two home games to Toronto in the same season since 1977-78. ... The Mighty Ducks will put first-round playoff tickets on sale on Sunday, March 16. Anaheim is just four wins and nine points away from setting new franchise marks in each category. ... The Stars are going to accept donated toiletry items to send to U.S. troops overseas at the five Metroplex Dr Pepper StarCenters in the Dallas metro area starting Friday. ... Coyotes season-ticket holders will get discounted tickets for the spring training games of the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland A's, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. And fans of those eight Cactus League teams can also get reduced ticket prices for Coyotes home games for the remainder of the regular season. ... Ray Bourque will host the Ray Bourque Celebrity Gala at Brooks Steakhouse in Greenwood Village, Colo., on March 20 to benefit the National Sports Center for the Disabled. ... Sabres fans can pick up specially marked cans of Pepsi to get $10 off tickets to five remaining home games. Shameless plugThe National Hockey League Officials Association has 67 full-time NHL officials and 17 full-time minor league officials in its membership currently, but they didn't have a Web site before hiring London, Ontario company Cyberteks Design in December. While the NHLOA site is an excellent source of information about officials, the most noteworthy part of it may be that the President, CEO & Chief Creative Director of Cyberteks Design is 15-year-old South East London Major Bantams goaltender Keith Peiris. While the officials are cracking down on obstruction on the ice, a teenager reeled in the refs on the Web. "Our decision to select Cyberteks Design was based on the quality of their service offering, and we were extremely impressed with their comprehensive portfolio of Web sites," NHLOA Web coordinator and NHL referee Don VanMassenhoven said. Peiris' company will be among those showcased at the NHL's Club Marketing Meetings in Atlanta from March 12-14, with TSN planning to follow Keith's exploits during the trade show. In addition to the new NHLOA site, Peiris and his company have built sites for the London Knights of the OHL, Kewl Sports (the sportwear company owned by Shayne Corson and Darcy Tucker), Rogers Television, TPS Louisville Hockey, Vaughn Custom Sports, the University of Western Ontario and many others. Peiris founded the company in June, 1999 when he was 11 and has won numerous design awards over the past four years. Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for SI.com. Got a comment, question or scoop for Jon? Click here. |
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