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Hlinka's coaching questionable
Updated: Tuesday February 06, 2001 6:03 PM
Pittsburgh coach Ivan Hlinka's philosophy is to let other teams adjust to his offensively gifted Penguins, an interesting theory but one that has backfired. Hlinka continues to struggle manipulating his bench as witnessed in a 5-1 loss to Philadelphia last week. Hlinka never bothered using his most physical defenseman, Bob Boughner, against Keith Primeau's line, a decision that essentially handed the advantage of home-ice matchups to Flyers coach Bill Barber. Earlier in January, on the road, Hlinka made no effort to get owner/player Mario Lemieux away from Mike Modano's line and at the end of the night, Lemieux was on for four even-strength Dallas goals. Hlinka was hired, in part, because of a preponderance of Czechs on the Penguins -- 10 on the 23-man season-opening roster. But Pittsburgh is down to five Czechs now, a smaller buffer for a rookie coach. Hlinka continues to be under scrutiny.
Carolina bluesThere has been a glimmer of improvement in Carolina defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh's play in the past 10 days, but considering the five-year, $25 million contract he signed after his trade from Colorado last year, general manager Jim Rutherford rightly expects more.The problem is the Hurricanes have not found the steadfast on-ice babysitter for their wildly unpredictable blueliner like the Avalanche had in Adam Foote and Aaron Miller. There might be some interest in Ozolinsh -- despite his contract -- from playoff-bound teams, but the Hurricanes are on the cusp of the playoffs and could wind up as the No. 3 seed in the East. Rutherford can't afford a move that would weaken Carolina in the short-term.
Peter pipes downThe most impressive statistic in the NHL recently? Well, given Peter Forsberg's legendary short fuse, his one minor penalty in the 16 games preceding the All-Star break might qualify.Forsberg, who has averaged more than a minor penalty every two games in his superb career, has stopped extracting revenge and meting out self-styled justice for the Colorado Avalanche. His self-control, which first surfaced late last year, augers well for the NHL's most talented team, one that hasn't shifted in anything approaching playoff gear yet. Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Farber covers the NHL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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