Scouting Reports

Patrick Division

The only team that can beat the two-time Stanley Cup champion NEW YORK ISLANDERS this season is the New York Islanders. On the ice, Coach Al Arbour has talent galore. A bad year for Mike Bossy means about 50 goals; Center Bryan Trottier and Defenseman Denis Potvin are the dominant players at their positions in the league; Goaltender Battlin' Billy Smith saves his best for the pressure games; role players abound in Butch Goring, Bob Bourne and Anders Kallur (penalty killers), Bob Nystrom and Clark Gillies (body benders) and Dave Langevin and Ken Morrow (defensive defensemen); and the club's talent pool is so deep that two newcomers, Swedish Defenseman Tomas Jonsson and Center Brent Sutter, may well displace veterans by midseason.

Off the ice, though, G.M. Bill Torrey is perched on a powder keg. The speedy Bourne was a free-agent sitout throughout training camp before signing a five-year contract, worth $1 million, last week. Potvin and Bossy can become free agents after this season, and both want contracts worth $800,000 a year. If Potvin and Bossy get big bucks, Torrey knows that all the other Islanders will line up to renegotiate—with Trottier in the lead. So, the dilemma facing Torrey is this: What price harmony?

Herb Brooks deserves a gold medal just for taking on the challenge of the NEW YORK RANGERS , who haven't won the Stanley Cup in 41 years. Brooks's philosophy certainly seems to clash with that of Madison Square Garden president Sonny Werblin. Brooks wants his Rangers to eat, drink and sleep hockey—and stay in shape. Werblin, on the other hand, likes it when Barry Beck and Ron Duguay prowl the East Side and get their names in the gossip columns.

If Brooks expects another miracle on ice, he'll have to get steady goaltending from the oft-injured John Davidson and solid play from Beck and the other defensemen, including diminutive Finnish rookie Reijo Ruotsalainen. He also will need consistent scoring from Center Mike Rogers, who had 40 goals for Hartford last year, and from Swedish Forwards Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, who have never produced in New York the way they did in Winnipeg. To make Hedberg and Nilsson feel even more at home, Brooks may unretire their old Winnipeg linemate, Bobby Hull.

In an attempt to alter its image, PHILADELPHIA has changed its uniform style, dropping the traditional padded short pants in favor of girdle-type pads and full-length, sweatpants-style coveralls. "To the referees, though, our image will never change," gripes General Manager Keith Allen, who believes that all refs become whistle-happy whenever they officiate Philadelphia games. The Flyers insist they cleaned up their act last season, but they still led the league in penalty minutes for the 10th straight year.

While Bobby Clarke, who burned out by mid-March, remains the Flyers' heart and soul, and Bill Barber (43 goals) is still their best player, it's past time for Center Ken (Rat) Linseman, Wing Paul Holmgren and Defenseman Behn Wilson to shut up and put up—and stay out of the penalty box.

Washington may be first in war and first in peace, but the Capitals have been last or next to last in their division since joining the NHL in 1974. No. 1 draft choice Bobby Carpenter, the 18-year-old wunderkind from Peabody, Mass., centered the No. 1 line for Mike Gartner (48 goals last season) and Captain Ryan Walter (24) in training camp and hardly looked out of place. Aside from a reduction in injuries, what the Caps need most are a defenseman to operate their woeful power play and some consistent goaltending from Mike Palmateer, who was terribly erratic in 1980-81. If they get all that, the Caps may make the playoffs at last.

As always, PITTSBURGH is searching for a goaltender. Coach Eddie Johnston, an old goalie himself, thought he had a quality net-minder last season in Greg Millen, but Millen opted for free agency and signed with Hartford. None of the candidates for Millen's job has ever been confused with an NHL goaltender. Johnston has plenty of scorers—Rick Kehoe (55 last season), Paul Gardner (34) and Peter Lee (30)—at his disposal, and Randy Carlyle won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman last year because of his offensive skills (16 goals, 67 assists), not his defensive work. What it all means is that the Penguins will be on the short side of a lot of 7-5 shootouts.

Adams Division