In The Crease

The NHL's most improved team is the Blues. Beset by injuries to key players like Brett Hull, Pierre Turgeon and Al MacInnis, they have put together a corps of former minor league workhorses, including Blair Atcheynum, Jim Campbell, Chris Conroy, Pavol Demitra, Scott Pellerin and Terry Yake, who refused to give up their NHL dream. These players have seen the inside of far more Motel 6's than Ritz Carltons. They're in St. Louis partly because of the influence of Jimmy Roberts, an assistant coach. Roberts, who played 15 seasons in the NHL and who coached many of these players in the minors, is a savvy hockey man. In his playing days Roberts was regarded as a smart, passionate player who would do anything to get the job done. That's also the kind of player he likes.

When the Canadiens departed-for an eight-day road trip recently, slumping forward Brian Savage packed more clothes than usual because he expected to be traded to the Flames for defenseman Zarley Zalapski and forward German Titov. Montreal general manager Réjean Houle, however, didn't pull the trigger on the swap. Wise move. During that trip Savage, who had been a left-winger his entire NHL career, was shifted to the right side on a line with Vincent Damphouse and Martin Rucinsky. The unit clicked. Last week against the Islanders, Savage, who has soft hands and a rocket shot, scored four goals and added two assists, more points than any Montreal player had gotten on the road since Joe Malone in 1917.

Travel with an NHL team and you hear grumblings about things as mundane as the soap in the visitors' dressing room, but the griping these days about the condition of the chippy and rutty ice at many arenas is genuine. The Edmonton Coliseum, though, has terrific ice, and building manager Chris McKenna is responsible. His formula is simple: Keep the ice temperature at 15º, the humidity in the arena at less than 40% and the air temperature at 68º. In addition, the ice must be seven eighths of an inch thick and Zambonied four times in the three hours before game time. The most important part of the formula is using distilled water when the ice is flooded. Why? Less iron in the
water allows the ice to set better.

Pierre McGuire coached the Hartford Whalers in 1993-94.