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Robinson's inability to mask frustrations wore on players

The New Jersey Devils' decision to fire coach Larry Robinson and replace him with Kevin Constantine has been oversimplified as a good cop/bad cop thing.

While Robinson is a good guy and often an effective coach, he was no softy. He didn't hesitate to bench his stars, which he did this season to all his A Liners -- Jason Arnott, Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. Robinson also often was blunt in his criticism of the Devils' work ethic, including during the 2001 Stanley Cup final.

It was Robinson's inability to mask his frustrations that wore on players and shortened his coaching tenure first in Los Angeles and now in New Jersey. Constantine does not come with an extended shelf life, but he did get a young San Jose team into the playoffs and brought discipline and a defensive style to Pittsburgh later in the 1990s before wearing out his welcomes.

Team Canada revels in Lemieux's return

With knee injuries to Steve Yzerman and Eric Lindros and Theo Fleury's personal problems, the return to form by Mario Lemieux couldn't have come at a better time for Canada's Olympic team.

Lemieux has been dazzling since returning Jan. 12. He has kickstarted a winning streak of six games, recording 10 points in the last three matches he played. Lemieux is being cautious about his surgically repaired hip and chronic bad back, skipping one end of back-to-back games. Of Team Canada injuries, only Yzerman's currently threatens his Olympic berth. He underwent arthroscopic surgery Monday but should be ready just prior to Canada's first game in Salt Lake City on Feb. 15.

Point production on the decline

Vancouver's white-hot Marcus Naslund led NHL scorers heading into Tuesday with 57 points in 55 games, one of only seven NHL players who began the week narrowly averaging more than a point a game.

In this dead puck era, it is conceivable that the 2001-02 scoring leader will average less than a point-per-game for the first time since Montreal's Toe Blake in 1938-39. To illustrate the sea change in the past decade, consider Philadelphia's Jeremy Roenick. When he had the first of his three 100-point seasons in 1991-92, his 103 points were 20 behind the 10th-place finisher, current Flyers teammate Mark Recchi.

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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