PITTSBURGH --
Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis could miss Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals with a broken left foot.Kasparaitis was injured blocking a shot in the first period of Pittsburgh's 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night and played most of the final two periods
"That's the good thing about hockey. When you're playing, it makes the pain go away," said Kasparaitis, whose foot was badly swollen at practice Wednesday.
The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1 heading into Thursday's game at Pittsburgh.
Kasparaitis, whose overtime goal won Game 7 of Pittsburgh's semifinal series against the Buffalo Sabres, won't get a pain-killing injection and probably will decide from game to game whether his foot will allow him to play.
Tuesday February 12, 2001
Prior to this year, Alexei Kovalev had never been named NHL Player of the Week. Now he has won the honor twice.
The Pittsburgh right wing won the award for the period of Monday, Feb. 5 through Sunday, Feb. 11 it was announced by the League. He posted hat tricks in consecutive games to lead all NHL scorers with eight points (six goals, two assists) and a plus-minus rating of +5 in three games.
Kovalev edged Penguins teammate Jaromir Jagr (2-5-7 in three games), New Jersey Devils right wing Alexander Mogilny (4-2-6 in three games, +1 rating), Florida Panthers right wing Pavel Bure (4-2-6 in three games, +3 rating), St. Louis Blues goaltender Brent Johnson (2-0-1, 1.95 GAA, .933 save %) and Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood (2-0-1, 1.96 GAA, .933 save %) to capture his second career Player of the Week award. Kovalev is the first player to capture multiple Player of the Week awards this season.
Kovalev opened the week by recording a career-best five-point game, including his fourth career hat trick, in a 9-4 home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 7. On Feb. 10, he scored his league-leading third hat trick, including the game-winning goal, in a 5-4 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils. The Penguins completed the week with a 4-2 road loss to the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 11.
Playing in his ninth NHL season, the 27-year old native of Togliatti, Russia ranks fourth in the NHL's scoring race with 65 points (33-32-65) in 55 games, second among the League's leading goal-scorers in the race for the Maurice Richard Trophy.
The Penguins, 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 games, will complete the home-home series with Minnesota, 7-2-0-1 in their last 10, on Wednesday at Mellon Arena (7:30 p.m. ET).
February 2, 2001
Jaromir Jagr pulled out of the NHL All-Star Game two days after he was rammed into the boards and sat out the third period with dizziness and a headache. The league announced Jagr's withdrawal Friday, meaning the showcase game will be without the player who has led the All-Star voting three of the last four years. Boston's Sergei Samsonov will replace the Penguins winger on the World Team roster. Jagr was rammed hard into the boards by the Flyers' Todd Fedoruk in the first period of Wednesday's 5-1 loss. He returned briefly but sat out the last period.
Mario Lemieux's amazing comeback continued on Wednesday night, with perhaps his greatest effort to date. Lemieux netted his 40th career hat trick and led the Penguins to a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, and in the process bypassed the New York Islanders Mike Bossy for second place all-time on the hat trick list. Lemieux now trails only Wayne Gretzky, who holds the NHL record with 50.
Lemieux opened the scoring during an extremely quiet first period. His opening tally of the evening came at 16:36, with assists going to Jaromir Jagr and Kevin Stevens.
It took over 20 minutes for Lemieux to post his second of the night, but what a pretty goal it was. Jagr fed Lemieux with a swift pass at the goal mouth, which Lemieux held for a second and then roofed over a flopping Jose Theodore at 17:28.
It didn't take as long for number three to come. Lemieux and the Penguins took advantage of a double minor to the Habs' Karl Dykhuis to stretch the lead to 3-0 just 1:27 into the final period.
The depleted Montreal lineup (the team was missing nearly a dozen players to injury) mustered just 20 shots on Garth Snow, just missed recording his second consecutive shutout. The Canadiens' Eric Chouinard, who was just recalled from their Quebec farm club last week, recorded the lone visitors goal with 2:12 left in the game to erase the blank slate. It was his first of the season.
January 17, 2001
Wednesday brought more good news for the Pens, as Alexei Kovalev was named to the World All-Star squad. He will join teammate Jaromir Jagr on the international team, giving the Penguins three players in the All-Star Game for the first time since 1996-97. That season saw Lemieux, Jagr and Kevin Hatcher represent the team in San Jose. This year's game will be held in Denver on Sunday, Feb. 4.
Kovalev was named to the team after posting 50 points (23+27) in his first 45 games. That total placed him 11th overall in the league going into Wednesday night's game against the Phoenix Coyotes. He is just three goals and 16 points shy of tying his single season career highs, which were both set last season. This will be his first appearance in the All-Star Game.
The Penguins retired a number for only the second time in their history Friday, raising the late Michel Briere's No. 21 to the Mellon Arena ceiling. In his only NHL season in 1969-70, Briere had 44 points in 76 regular season games and eight points in 10 playoff games. Briere sustained head injuries in a car crash near his native Montreal just days after the season ended, and spent 11 months in a coma. He died from the injuries in May, 1971. Since that time, no Penguins player has worn No. 21, although the number was not officially retired until Friday. The Penguins retired Mario Lemieux's No. 66 after his 1997 retirement, but took down the jersey after Lemieux resumed his career last week.
NEW YORK (Jan. 2, 2001) -Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux and right wing Jaromir Jagr have been named co-winners of the Air Force Reserve Above and Beyond Player of the Week award for the period of Tuesday, Dec. 26 through Sunday, Dec. 31.
Lemieux recorded seven points (2 goals, 5 assists) in two games and added a plus/minus rating of plus-6, while Jagr led the week in scoring with eight points (4-4-8) in three games and posted a plus-8 rating as the Penguins completed the week undefeated.
Lemieux and Jagr edged Washington Capitals right wing Peter Bondra (5-2-7 in three games, plus-1 rating) to capture the award.
Jagr opened the week with an assist in a 5-3 road victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 26.
On Dec. 27, Lemieux returned following three seasons of retirement to help the Penguins to a 5-0 home victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lemieux tallied a three-point game (one goal, two assists), including an assist in his first shift, while Jagr scored two goals and added two assists.
On Dec. 30, Lemieux and Jagr each recorded milestones as the Penguins defeated the Ottawa Senators, 5-3. Jagr scored two goals and an assist to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau, while Lemieux posted a goal and three assists, becoming the 10th player in NHL history to record 1,500 career points.
Jagr has tallied 44 points (23 goals, 21 assists) in 38 games, leading the race for the Maurice Richard Trophy as the League's top goal-scorer. Lemieux ranks among the NHL's all-time leading scorers with 615 goals (ninth), 886 assists (15th) and 1,501 points (10th).
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) -- Hockey fans will have many opportunities to see Mario Lemieux's NHL comeback, with ESPN2 broadcasting the Hall of Famer's first five games after a 3-1/2-year retirement.
Lemieux, the Pittsburgh Penguins owner, is expected to return to the team Wednesday night at home against Toronto. The 35-year-old center retired after the 1997 season and bought the team, for which he starred for 12 years, in 1999.
ESPN2, which announced the schedule Thursday, also will carry Pittsburgh's next three games -- all at home -- on Dec. 30 against Ottawa, Jan. 3 against Washington and Jan. 5 against Montreal. Lemieux's first road game will be shown on Jan. 8 from Washington.
Dec 21, 2000
NEW YORK (Dec. 21, 2000) - The National Hockey League announced today that Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Matthew Barnaby has been suspended for four games, without pay, as a result of an incident that occurred after Mr. Barnaby left the ice during the first period of NHL game #492 at Florida, Dec. 20.
"As Mr. Barnaby left the ice he engaged in a confrontation with a fan. The NHL never has tolerated, and never will tolerate, inappropriate off-ice conduct such as this," said NHL Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell.
The incident occurred at 19:00 of the first period. Barnaby was sent to the dressing room following an altercation with Florida forward Peter Worrell and proceeded to engage in a confrontation with a fan. He was assessed a Gross Misconduct under Rule 68 for his actions.
Barnaby will miss the Penguins' next four games beginning tonight, Dec. 21 at Tampa Bay, Dec. 23 vs. Dallas, Dec. 26 at Buffalo and Dec. 27 vs. Toronto. He will be eligible to return Dec. 30 vs. Ottawa.
Based on his annual average salary, and his "repeat offender" status, which, under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, causes salary forfeiture to be based on the number of games (82) in a season, rather than the number of days (187) in a season, Barnaby will forfeit $53,658.54.
The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
Now that Mario Lemieux is officially back on the ice, the question in Pittsburgh shifts to who will be the lucky winger playing alongside Super Mario and Jaromir Jagr. According to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that lucky forward will be Jan Hrdina. There has been no official word, but Hrdina has just about every quality to be a perfect fit, the paper said. The 6-foot, 200-pound Hrdina leads the Pens in faceoff winning percentage (54.7) and has a respectable plus-3 rating. He also has a goal and four assists in three games since coming back from a groin injury. Even though he's not confirming anything, Hrdina would love the chance to play on the top line. "If that would be the case, it would be awesome, obviously," Hrdina told the paper. Playing with the two best players in the world would be a great opportunity for me."
Coach Ivan Hlinka wasn't confirming anything either, but had some nice praised for the 24-year-old Hrdina. "He's playing good hockey now," Hlinka told The Gazette. "He's playing the way we expect. He's been skating well, and sometimes he's shooting the puck. He should shoot more. He's got a great wrist shot."
Thursday, December 7, 2000
Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux will end his retirement and will play again for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team he now owns.
Lemieux, who wants to return to the ice later this month or in January, could make the announcement early next week.
An NHL source said that Lemieux's return is dependent on league approval and on how quickly and effectively he gets into shape.
Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr said Lemieux told him of his plans to return about 10 days ago.
"He told me there was a possibility he was going to come back," Jagr said. "He said he had a good feeling about this team and he felt like he could help the team.
USA Today, which first reported the story on its Web site Thursday, said Lemieux would resign his position as the Penguins' governor, which means he will not vote on league issues.
A source told The Associated Press that Lemieux will remain involved in the team's operations.
The NHL has no specific rule that prohibits an owner from playing. The Penguins are 13-10-3-1, one point behind first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic Division. But Jagr, the team's biggest star, has struggled for much of the year and has quarreled at times with new coach Ivan Hlinka.
The 35-year-old Lemieux retired as a player after the 1996-97 season with 613 goals in 745 regular-season games. He became the Penguins' owner in September 1999, saving the team from bankruptcy and perhaps moving to another city.
The six-time scoring champion began skating about two weeks ago.
In an interview with USA Today earlier this season, Lemieux said he had been very impressed with how rules changes had brought back more offensive flow to NHL games.
Jagr said it would be difficult for Lemieux to come back after being away from the game for so long.
"I've been out for a month, and it was tough to come back," Jagr said. "I don't know what it would be like to come back after four years, but he's a smart guy and he knows it's going to be tough."
Lemieux won three MVP awards and led the Penguins to two Stanley Cup championships, in 1991 and 1992.
"I came in today and I heard a scream from the back room," Jagr said. "They were saying on the radio that Mario might come back. I think a lot of guys are really happy. Now they're going to get to play with a legend."
It would not be Lemieux's first comeback.
In 1993, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, or cancer of the lymph nodes, and missed three-quarters of that season. He later sat out the 1994-95 season after recovering from the cancer and a second bout with back trouble, but returned to bring the Penguins to within one victory of a third trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 1996.
He won his fifth and sixth scoring championships in his final two seasons.
Lemieux, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame just months after his retirement, gained control of the Penguins on Sept. 3, 1999, the culmination of court proceedings that began when the team filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 13, 1998.
He was a major creditor because of deferred payments the team owed him from his playing contracts.
Lemieux is not the first NHL star to plan a comeback. Gordie Howe joined the World Hockey Association at age 45, two years after he retired from the Detroit Red Wings, and Guy Lafleur joined the New York Rangers at 37, three years after he retired from the Montreal Canadiens.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Thursday, December 7, 2000
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- When Mario Lemieux was asked if he would ever play hockey again, the answer always came quickly and without deliberation.
Why?
After all, he won two Stanley Cups, three MVP awards, six scoring championships, made stirring comebacks from cancer and back surgery and bought the team he once played for -- all by the age of 33. However, several weeks ago, apparently at his own prompting and without intervention by anyone inside the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, including Jaromir Jagr, Lemieux asked himself a different question.
Why not?
On the ice, he saw a talented but mostly leaderless team, one with plenty of goal scorers but not enough drive and discipline. It was a team, he surmised, that possibly was a player away from winning the Stanley Cup.
That player was Mario Lemieux.
Lemieux's comeback, which will become official on Friday but became known to the players on Thursday, should provide a jolt of excitement, confidence and energy to the Penguins. One that already has reached their ticket office.
The Penguins' phone lines were jammed Thursday by fans wanting to buy tickets for Lemieux's comeback, one that could occur in late December when they play four home games in a span of nine days.
There also was an audible buzz at practice, where the players first heard the news as they listened to a classic rock radio station while dressing for practice.
"I heard a lot of screaming," Jagr said.
"Our jaws just dropped in shock," defenseman Bob Boughner said. "It's going to be fun. It's going to give us a huge emotional lift, the last couple of weeks we've been playing .500 hockey, win one, lose one.
"Now that we know Mario's coming back, we can't sit back and wait until then, we've got to start right now."
Only six weeks ago, while taping a segment with Jagr for an ESPN telecast, Lemieux pulled on his skates again but said he had no plans to play again.
"Lose 20 pounds and come back? No," he said. "I do miss the game, obviously, but I've got four kids to raise."
The player most affected by Lemieux's return, of course, is Jagr, who has won three consecutive NHL scoring titles since Lemieux finished his career by winning two straight in 1995-96 and 1996-97.
Suddenly, Lemieux is Jagr's teammate again, not his boss, and Jagr might have to give back that "C" on his chest to the man who signs his paychecks.
"It's not a big problem who's going to be the captain," Jagr said. "He's been the man for so long, and will always be the man. Whatever he wants me to do, I'll do, I respect him so much."
There is no indication yet how much Lemieux will play, but it is almost certain he will displace Jan Hrdina as the center on Jagr's line. Jagr has slumped for much of the season -- he isn't even in the top 10 in scoring -- and Lemieux's return could be exactly what Jagr needs to get back on his game.
Jagr learned of Lemieux's comeback plans 10 days ago, but apparently didn't tell any of his teammates. However, some became suspicious when they saw skates and sticks bearing Lemieux's No. 66 being delivered to the practice rink.
"I always believed he was going to come back because I couldn't believe he had retired," defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said. "He was in his prime when he retired. I always figured he would come back one day."
Lemieux will share a locker room with the goaltender he beat for what was his final NHL goal, Garth Snow, during the Penguins-Flyers playoff series in 1997.
"I was always kind of proud of that," Snow said. "He was the best player in the game for so many years, and he's going to be a huge help. Everybody is excited."
Except the NHL's other goalies, that is.
"All I know, if I was on another team, I'd be glad right now if we were done with Pittsburgh for the season," Snow said.
Lemieux's return also raises the possibility he could play in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
He has always played internationally for Canada, but it seems more likely he would play in 2002 for the United States, especially since Penguins general manager Craig Patrick and former Penguins coach Herb Brooks will lead that team.
November 14, 2000
Three years ago, Joe Mullen scored his 500th career goal in Colorado. So it was only fitting that the night Mullen was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame that Jaromir Jagr reached his own milestone in the Mile High City.
Jagr recorded two goals, including the 400th of his career, but the Penguins fell to the Avalanche, 3-2, in overtime.
Colorado jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on Joe Sakic's sixth goal of the season, but Jagr evened things at 7:21 of the second with his 12th of the year.
Milan Hejduk put the Avalanche back in the lead after two, with his ninth of the season. But it didn't take Jagr long to even things back up.
Just 43 seconds into the third, Jagr took a Jan Hrdina pass and beat Patrick Roy for #400.
Sakic, on just his second shot of the evening, beat Garth Snow with just 1:04 left in the extra period to give the Pens their first OT loss of the year.
Third Career Hat Trick Helps Win Honors
November 13, 2000
Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Alexei Kovalev has been named NHL Player of the Week for the period of Monday, Nov. 6 through Sunday, Nov. 12. Kovalev led all NHL scorers with eight points (four goals, four assists) and a plus-minus rating of +5 in three games, helping the Penguins (9-5-2-0 in 16 games) finish the week undefeated.
Kovalev edged Buffalo Sabres goaltender Dominik Hasek (2-0-0, two shutouts), San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov (2-0-0, 0.97 GAA, .964 save %, one shutout) and Detroit Red Wings left wing Brendan Shanahan (3-4-7 in three games, +1 rating) to capture his first Player of the Week award.
Kovalev opened the week by recording his third career hat trick to lead the Penguins to a 5-2 home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 8. On Nov. 10, he tallied two assists in a 4-2 road win over the New Jersey Devils before notching a goal and two assists on Nov. 11 as the Penguins defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2.
Playing in his ninth NHL season, the 27-year-old native of Togliatti, Russia leads the Penguins in scoring with 21 points (9-12-21) in 16 games, ranking seventh in the League. Kovalev ranks second in the NHL with 73 shots on goal and is tied for third in power-play points with 12.
November 10, 2000
Current Penguins assistant coach and former player Joe Mullen will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday, Nov. 13
Mullen was the first American-born player to record 1000 points and 500 goals. He reached the first milestone with an assist in a 7-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Feb. 7, 1995, and recorded his 500th goal on Mar. 14, 1997 in a 6-3 loss in Colorado.
During his 16-year career, Mullen was a member of three Stanley Cup winning teams (Calgary 1989, Pittsburgh 1991 and 1992), captured two Lady Byng awards (1987, 1989), posted a league-best plus/minus mark (plus-51 in 1988-89) and was named a winner of the Lester Patrick Award in 1995.
The New York City native averaged a point per game (1063 points in 1062 games) over his career with the St. Louis Blues (1980-86), Calgary Flames (1986-90), Boston Bruins (1995-96) and Penguins (1990-95, 1996-97). He posted 325 points (153+172) in 379 regular season games for Pittsburgh, and added 32 points (15+17) in 62 post-season contests. He ranks eighth on the Penguins' all-time goal scoring list and 14th in total points. His 21 game-winning goals are tied for sixth in team history, and his seven short-handed tallies place him tied for 10th on the team register.
A 1998 inductee to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, Mullen goes into the Toronto shrine with Chicago Blackhawks great Denis Savard in the Players category, while Walter Bush, Sr. joins the Builders wing of the building. For more info on the induction ceremony and the inductees, visit the Hockey Hall of Fame website.
Sunday, October 15, 2000
By Dave Molinari, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
It was, in many ways, perfectly predictable that there would be a collapse in the third period. That 40 minutes of pretty fair work would be sabotaged by poor decisions and worse execution.
The Penguins, after all, were playing for the second time in 24 hours, and are just days removed from their 16-hour trip back from the far side of the globe.
The catch is, they weren't the ones who self-destructed with a game on the line. Who unraveled in an astonishing series of physical and mental breakdowns.
Then again, perhaps the New York Rangers shouldn't be held totally accountable for what happened during the final period of their 8-6 loss to the Penguins at Mellon Arena last night.
Not when so much of the damage was inflicted by Penguins right winger Jaromir Jagr, who recorded the first four-goal game -- and seventh hat trick -- in his 728-game NHL career. New York, after all, is not the first club to have a bit of trouble containing him.
"Jagr was terrific," Rangers Coach Ron Low said. "Man, was he terrific."
Better than that, actually, but Jagr's teammates acquitted themselves fairly well, too. Almost to a man, they found a way to elevate their play at a time when fatigue easily could have been causing them to implode.
"We were really focused going in [to the third], because we knew we fell apart [Friday against Tampa Bay] about halfway through the second," winger Matthew Barnaby said. "And guys sure picked it up."
The combination of games on consecutive days and the lingering effects of a season-opening trip to Japan prompted Penguins Coach Ivan Hlinka to tinker with his lineup -- left winger Rene Corbet played for the first time -- and to give his fourth-liners more work than they had gotten in the previous three games.
The Penguins played without injured defensemen Janne Laukkanen and Hans Jonsson, as well as right winger Dennis Bonvie. Laukkanen is nursing a bruised knee, while Jonsson received a mild concussion when he was checked Friday.
Because those two were unavailable, the Penguins went with just six defenseman for the first time this season. Ian Moran, who sat out the home opener Friday, was back on active duty last night.
New York's lineup wasn't entirely intact -- goalie Mike Richter and defenseman Vladimir Malakhov were missing -- but the spotlight has been on center Mark Messier since he joined New York as a free agent during the off-season.
Messier's return after three years in Vancouver has been hailed in Manhattan as one of the epic events in the human experience, rivaling the discovery of fire and the birth of most major religious figures.
His fabled leadership abilities represent much of Messier's appeal, although it appears to have gone unnoticed in New York that during Messier's tenure with the Canucks, Vancouver qualified for the playoffs all but, uh, three times.
Nonetheless, Messier is assured a spot in the Hall of Fame the moment he becomes eligible, and he padded his personal stats with Goal No. 629 -- sixth-most in NHL history -- during a power play at 6:43 of the opening period.
Messier got the puck from Valeri Kamensky, who was behind the goal line, and threw it by Penguins goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin from the inner edge of the left circle.
Messier's goal could have deflated the Penguins, but they got an enormous lift from the fourth line -- specifically, from Corbet and rookie center Milan Kraft -- less than two minutes later.
Corbet carried the puck into the right circle and threw a cross-ice feed to Kraft, who swatted a shot past Rangers goalie Kirk McLean at 8:24 for his first goal in the NHL.
"The fourth line produced," Jagr said. "They didn't have many chances -- they don't go on the ice very often -- but when they went, they played great."
The Penguins gained momentum when Jagr staked them to a 2-1 lead at 14:11, as he banked a shot off McLean's pads and into the net. Jan Hrdina made the goal possible by setting a pick on Rangers winger Sandy McCarthy to spring Jagr loose behind the net.
Michael York almost singlehandedly tied the game for New York at 6:41 of the second period, winning a faceoff cleanly from Roman Simicek, then going to the net to knock a Kim Johnsson rebound behind Aubin.
Theoren Fleury put New York in front of the second time, 3-2, at 10:09, but the Penguins' power play, dormant for most of the weekend, revived them less than four minutes later.
Jagr tied the game, 3-3, at 13:53, taking a slick cross-ice feed from Robert Lang and whipping a shot past McLean's stick from inside the right circle for his third of the season. Alexei Kovalev got the second assist on that goal, the Penguins' first in 11 tries with the extra man, dating to Friday.
New York negated Jagr's goal almost immediately, however, as Messier threw in a rebound at 15:22, eight seconds after Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis was penalized for slashing.
Messier figured in the next goal, too, but only because he was caught smacking Hrdina in the head with his stick at 18:37. Forty seconds later, Lang took a short drop pass from Martin Straka and flipped the puck by McLean on the glove side.
Logic suggested the Penguins would be almost out of energy at that point but, in reality, they were upbeat and eager for the final period to begin.
"We knew we'd been the better team the whole game," Straka said.
Jagr completed his hat trick 53 seconds into the third period, when the Penguins caught New York in a line change and Jagr lashed a shot between McLean's legs from the right dot for his fourth of the season.
"They made a bad change," Jagr said. "Both defensemen went to the bench, and I was screaming at our defensemen to give me the puck."
That triggered a rampage that included goals by Straka (1:29), Simicek (his first in the NHL at 6:06) and, finally, Jagr at 9:15.
Johnsson added a five-on-three goal for New York at 15:06 and Fleury scored on a power play at 17:24 , but those did nothing more than a little superficial damage to Aubin's goals-against average.
New York finished the game with four power-play goals but those did nothing more than balance out Jagr's production. And while the Rangers might not get four more man-advantage goals in a game for a while, no one is predicting it will take Jagr another decade to match his output from last night.
"This is the kind of game he needed to break out," Barnaby said. "He's too good a player not to be scoring four goals."
Wednesday, September 06, 2000
By Dave Molinari, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Mario Lemieux had a good first year as owner of the Penguins. He believes the second could be even better.
And he seems convinced the franchise will be viable for a long time if it gets a new home rink.
A study commissioned by the team has determined that a large-scale renovation of Mellon Arena is not a realistic option.
"Let's put it that way," Lemieux said yesterday: "It would be very difficult to rehab this arena. That's basically what we found in the study."
That assessment reinforces the team's professed need for a new facility, and Lemieux reiterated that the franchise would be doomed if it was forced to remain in Mellon Arena.
"We need a new arena for the franchise to survive," he said. "We're competing against all the other teams that have new building, a lot of revenue [sources]. For us to remain competitive, in this market, we need more revenues to keep our top players."
Lemieux doesn't anticipate immediate action, though, and said even in-house discussions about a replacement arena are in the embryonic stage. There isn't even a tentative target date for moving into a new building.
"It takes about two years to build an arena, once you have everything in order," he said. "We're still trying to figure out what's the best way to do this.
"It's going to be a long process. There are a lot of things that have to happen before you can start talking about it publicly. We're just trying to ... obviously, the sooner the better, but we know it's going to take a long time before we get everything in order."
Precarious as Lemieux believes the Penguins' long-range future would be without a new arena, he is decidedly upbeat about their fiscal outlook for the coming winter.
"Short term, it looks good," Lemieux said. "Obviously, we still need the total support of the corporate community and all of our fans. That's what's going to keep us in business, to have people come out and buy season tickets and support the team."
Tom Rooney, the Penguins' chief operating officer, said yesterday that about 8,500 season tickets have been sold, putting the team "5 percent ahead of this time last year." The goal, Rooney added, is to sell 10,500.
Reaching that objective would enhance the team's prospects for turning a profit during the 2001-02 season, which Lemieux said is entirely possible.
"I think we have a chance to make money this year and go forward," he said. "But ... it's going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of support from our fans."
That apparently hasn't been a problem so far.
"We're getting support," Lemieux said. "It's very encouraging, and the sponsorships have been going very, very well for us. I think we've made tremendous [strides] over the last 12 months. We know this is a tough business, and you have to keep working at it."
Although it's impossible to project the Penguins' payroll before the first drill of training camp -- especially when the Penguins probably will sign two or three more goaltenders before the start of the regular season -- Lemieux said General Manager Craig Patrick has clearance to spend more than the $31 million or so that went to NHL players in 1999-2000.
"We increased the payroll a little bit from last year," he said. "We're about in the mid-30's, a little lower than that."
Lemieux, who heads a group that took control of the franchise last Sept. 3, after it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, said there are no plans to add to -- or eliminate any of -- the original 12 investors.
Those people were critical to keeping the franchise alive, of course, but Lemieux said it took contributions from throughout the organization to make his first 12 months as owner so satisfying and successful.
"I think it was great," he said. "Considering we got the team Sept. 3 last year, just before training camp, I think we did a pretty good job."
By Brian Coe
An old friend returned to the Penguin's flock today, as team officials unveiled the much anticipated third jersey for the 2000-01 season, which features the "Skating Penguin" worn throughout the team's first 25 seasons in the NHL.
The new addition updates the old Pens logo with a new color scheme. Gold replaces the traditional Penguins yellow, and white striping adorns the sleeves on the mostly black garment.
The new sweater, which will be worn during select home games this season, makes its on-ice debut on Saturday, Oct. 28 when the Pens take on the Devils at 7:30pm. The game is being touted as the "New jersey against New Jersey."
Fans will be able to preorder these sleek new shirts at the Penguins Merchandise Expo, which will be held during Pens training camp from 9am-3pm on Sunday, Sept. 10 at the ICEOPLEX at Southpointe.
Delivery of the sweaters will be in October, while retail stores won't have supplies until weeks later.
The new sweaters are the first change to the Penguins wardrobe since the team introduced their former third jersey (now the away jersey) during the 1995-96 season.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS UNIFORM HISTORY When the Penguins made their NHL debut at the Civic (now Mellon) Arena on Oct. 11, 1967, the team wore a sweater consisting of dark blue, light blue and white. Both the home (white) and away (light blue) uniforms simply had the word "Pittsburgh: written diagonally down the front of the sweater with three dark blue stripes around the sleeve bottoms. The logo, although not on the sweater, had a hockey-playing penguin in a scarf over an inverted triangle, symbolizing the golden triangle of downtown Pittsburgh. The penguin and triangle were set inside a circle bearing the team name.
The following season (1968-69) saw a change which featured the logo on the jersey. This remained essentially the same as the 1967-68 logo, although the Penguin no longer wore a scarf. The white home uniforms had a wide band of dark blue around each sleeve and the bottom, while the light blue away sweater had bands of white trimmed in dark blue.
The uniforms were changed again four years later (1972-73). The circle around the logo was removed, leaving only a penguin and triangle. Added to the uniforms were inserts of color on the shoulders. On January 30, 1980, the Penguins wore black and gold for the first time. With the Steelers winning the Super Bowl and the Pirates capturing the World Series title in 1979, the struggling Penguins hoped to gain fan support by aligning their colors with the other teams in the "City of Champions."
The Boston Bruins, however, protested the color change to the NHL, arguing that black and gold had always been exclusively associated with the team from Beantown. However, the Penguins prevailed by virtue of a precedent set by the Pittsburgh Hockey Club of the late 1920's, which sported the colors. The Pens new uniforms were the same design as the previous ones, with black replacing dark blue and gold replacing light blue. From 1981-82 through the 1984-85 season, the team alternated wearing gold sweaters with white at home.
The black and gold uniforms remained unchanged until 1992-93 when the triangle and penguin logo were modernized. The white home sweaters featured a new logo on the front and gold shoulder inserts. The black away sweaters had the city's name diagonally down the front, much like the original uniforms, with the new logo on each shoulder.
During the 1995-96 season, the Penguins were one of five NHL teams to introduce a third jersey. The Penguins new uniform, which made its debut on Jan. 27, 1996 vs. the Philadelphia Flyers, featured a black background with a new, modernized logo design featuring innovative striping and a blend of team colors. This sweater replaced the "Pittsburgh" away sweater in 1997-98, and now serves as the team's uniform on the road.
Mario Lemieux will return to the Mellon Arena ice on Mar. 18, 2001, when he laces up the skates for the Pittsburgh Penguins alumni team. The Pens alums will take on the Washington Capitals alumni at 2:00pm.
Lemieux will be joined by fellow Hall of Famer Joe Mullen, and a list of Penguins from the past in the game.
Tickets to the game will be included in a three-pack, which also includes tickets to the Penguins fan-fest on Sunday, Nov. 19 and to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins game against the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks at Mellon Arena on Saturday, Feb. 3. Tickets to these events are available to season ticket holders now, and will be made available to the general public at an as yet undetermined date.
The Penguins FanFest and Dodge/NHL Super Skills will be held from noon to 5 p.m. on Nov. 19. In addition to having current Penguins players participate in a skills contest, the event will also feature on-ice activities involving local high school players and Penguins alumni. There also will be interactive games and activities held throughout the Mellon Arena concourse.
For ticket information, please call 412-642-PENS or 1-800-642-PENS.
By Chuck Finder, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh officials have talked with Ed Olczyk and Phil Bourque about taking over the analyst's role on their Penguins broadcasts, but Peter Taglianetti still wants to return to the job he maintains he was promised for another season.
Taglianetti, whose one-year TV deal ends next month, was officially informed last week that the cable channel no longer required his services. Yet the former Penguins radio analyst and defenseman said he believed he had a "verbal contract" to return for the 2000-01 season.
"I had other options," Taglianetti said yesterday, referring to coaching and business opportunities. "But I was loyal to Fox. I wasn't going to walk away from them. All summer long ... they told me it was my job. A week ago, [they] said it wasn't my job.
"Needless to say, I'm not too happy."
Taglianetti retained a lawyer to look into the matter but hoped it could be worked out without going to litigation.
Paul Kosuth, executive producer for Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh, read from a statement yesterday: "We had a one-year agreement with Peter Taglianetti that expires in September. We told him in June that we would be exploring other options. ... At no time did we extend any offers or provide any assurances that he would return in the analyst's role. We wish Pete the best in his future endeavors."
Taglianetti said Kosuth came into the press box the night of playoff Game 6 between the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers last spring and told him that the channel wanted to re-sign the analyst. Kosuth said he has no such recollection.
Taglianetti said there were other occasions when he was told not to worry about the job -- in July, after the Post-Gazette reported that the cable channel had spoken with Olczyk about the position, and in early August.
"I didn't want it to go on into September [without a new contract]," said Taglianetti. "[Kosuth] said, 'The job is yours, don't worry.'
"If they did this in June, hey, it's a business decision. I understand it. But you don't guarantee somebody."
Penguins management asked the cable channel only that the TV analyst have ties to the club. Olczyk was a winger for the Penguins in 1996-97 (68 games) and through the '97-98 season. Bourque was a defenseman/winger between 1983-92 and a member of the Stanley Cup championship teams.
Olczyk, who played 33 games with Chicago last season, did radio and ESPN broadcast work during the playoffs. He also is being courted by ESPN and the Columbus Blue Jackets for announcing duties, but he is seeking a free-agent tryout with an NHL team next month.
Bourque has been playing in Europe since his NHL days ended in the mid-1990s.
Kosuth declined to specify, saying "we're in the process of looking at a couple of candidates."
Penguins radio analyst Bob Errey also could end up a candidate. His new three-year contract with the team includes a clause that frees him to leave for TV, which Penguins officials consider their top marketing tool.
Taglianetti, however, still wants the TV analyst's job.
"I'm mad this is the way it happened," said Taglianetti, who worked in the Penguins' radio booth the previous three seasons, when Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh owned those broadcast rights -- which were returned to the team in bankruptcy negotiations last summer. "If I go back, no big deal. I'm committed to them. They committed a job to me, and I want the job.
"I thought I did a very good job last year. You don't just jump in and become the best analyst there is. It's a growing process."
In other media matters, Penguins officials excised Mark Madden from their intermission radio reports on their flagship, newfound all-sports WWSW-AM, because he works for WEAE-AM, a competitor. While Madden will continue to write for the Penguins' program and perform other functions, his radio duties likely will be filled by free-lance hockey writer Bob Grove and others.
"We haven't made all our decisions. But we are far ahead of last year," said Tom McMillan, the Penguins vice-president. "We didn't have a color commentator until Bob Errey got cut, a good week and a half into camp."
Saturday, August 26, 2000
By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Right winger Pat Falloon, who spent most of last season with the Penguins, yesterday signed a contract to play for Davos of Switzerland's elite league.
Falloon, 27, was claimed off waivers by the Penguins Feb. 4. He had four goals and nine assists in 30 regular-season games, no goals in 11 Stanley Cup playoff games. General Manager Craig Patrick opted to let Falloon become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
August 10, 2000
The Pittsburgh Penguins have named former Pens defenseman Randy Hillier to the coaching staff it was announced today by General Manager Craig Patrick.
Hillier, who will work primarily with the team's defensemen, joins assistant coaches Rick Kehoe and Joe Mullen on Ivan Hlinka's staff.
Hillier was originally drafted by Boston in the fifth round (102nd overall) of the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, and played three seasons (1981-82 through 1983-84) with the Bruins. The Penguins acquired Hillier from Boston in October of 1984 for a fourth round choice in the 1985 Entry Draft.
The Toronto, Ontario native spent seven seasons with the Penguins (1984-85 through 1990-91) and recorded 92 points (13+79) and 594 penalty minutes in 343 games with Pittsburgh. He also served as an alternate captain on the Penguins first Stanley Cup team in 1990-91.
Hillier signed as a free agent with the New York Islanders during the 1991 off-season, and finished out his 11-year National Hockey League career with the Buffalo Sabres later that season. In all, He totaled 126 points (16+110) and 906 penalty minutes in 543 NHL games.
The Penguins open training camp on September 7 at ICEOPLEX at Southpointe, and play their first exhibition game on Friday, September 15 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Mellon Arena. For information on tickets for the 2000-01 season, contact the Penguins at 1-800-642-PENS.
August 7, 2000
Can you believe it?!?! Less than a month until Penguins training camp gets underway at ICEOPLEX at Southpointe. So why not take a look back at some of the signings the Penguins have made so far during the off-season?
The first news on the Pens player front came on July 17, when the team signed forwards Roman Simicek, Alexander Zevakhin and Jan Fadrny.
Simicek, a 29 year-old center from the Czech Republic, was drafted this past June after playing for HPK Hameenlinna in the Finnish elite league the past two seasons. And Pittsburgh defenseman Jiri Slegr has nothing but good things to say about the hulking center.
"He's a big guy (6-3, 220), a strong guy in the middle, and he likes to stand in front of the net," said Slegr, who played alongside Simicek with the Czech national team at the 1998 World Championships. "He's good on faceoffs, has good hands. He's not speedy, but his size is the big thing, the reason he makes plays."
Zevakhin was the Pens second round choice in the 1998 draft, and has posted respectable numbers with CSKA Moscow in his native Russia over the last four seasons. The 6-0, 190 pounder also was a key player with the Russian contingent at the 2000 World Championships, recording five points (2+3) in five games, before separating his shoulder in a quarterfinal match against Finland.
Fadrny was one of the leaders on the Brandon Wheat Kings (Western Hockey League) last season, posting 26 goals and 51 points in 55 games. The 6-0, 190 pound native of Brno in the Czech Republic was drafted by the Penguins in the sixth round of the 1998 draft.
On July 28, general manager Craig Patrick inked defenseman Sven Butenschon and center Darcy Verot.
Butenschon appeared in just three games with Pittsburgh last season, but excelled with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL). The 6-4, 215 pound blueliner tallied 40 points (19+21) in 75 games with the Baby Pens, good for fifth on the team and 13th in the league among defensemen. And, with a little extra weight and muscle this season, look for Sven to get a serious look in training camp.
Verot was a pleasant surprise for the farm club last season. He began the year in Wheeling (ECHL), where he put 19 points (7+12) and 240 penalty minutes on the scoresheet in just 44 games. A rash of injuries in Eastern PA helped land Verot a roster spot with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he impressed Pens management with 10 points (5+5) and 96 penalty minutes in 23 games.
July 30 saw the signing of restricted free agent Janne Laukkanen, who joined the Penguins at the trading deadline last season. In just 11 regular season games with Pittsburgh, Laukkanen proved to be a valuable acquisition, posting eight points (1+7) from the blueline. He also led all Penguins defenders in the post-season with six points (2+4).
A flurry of signings hit on the first three days of August. The first three players to sign on the dotted line were Matthew Barnaby, Rene Corbet and Chris Kelleher.
Barnaby, the Penguin agitator, notched 24 points (12+12) during the regular season, and led the team with 197 penalty minutes. He may also have led the league by giving opponents more verbal abuse and headaches than can be counted.
Corbet was another late-season addition to the Pens roster, coming over from the Calgary Flames. He played in just four games with Pittsburgh before suffering a shoulder injury. But he returned for the playoff run, and contributed with two points and nine penalty minutes in seven games.
Kelleher, 25, played with the Baby Pens last season, recording 12 assists and just 40 penalty minutes in 67 games. A 1993 draftee by the Pens, the 6-1, 210 pound defenseman was steady in his own zone, and one of the most reliable defenders on the team.
August 2 saw Aleksey Morozov re-upping with the parent club. The promising right wing is coming off another sub-par year, with just 12 goals and 31 points in 68 games. But he did show flashes of brilliance, as with his first career hat trick against New Jersey on Oct. 7, 1999. Sources say that the former first round pick (1995) has put on more muscle in order to make his presence known this year.
The most recent signing cam on August 3, when Josef Beranek agreed to terms with the team. Acquired from Edmonton for German Titov at the trade deadline, Beranek put up an impressive eight points (4+4) in 13 games with Pittsburgh in the regular season. The 6-2, 195 pound left wing had a somewhat underachieving playoff run though, recording just three assists while appearing in all 11 Penguins contests.
So the 2000-01 Penguins are starting to take shape. But there are a few more moves to be made yet. Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Robert Dome, two of the younger pieces to the Pens puzzle, still remain unsigned, as do unrestricted free agents such as Rob Brown, Pat Falloon and Steve Leach. Keep your eyes posted here for all the latest signing news and information.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have had so much success relying on Mario Lemieux that they have dipped into his family pool to fill another vacancy in their organization.
Lemieux, the current owner and former star forward for the Penguins, helped Tuesday to introduce his brother, Alain Lemieux, as the new head coach of the Wheeling Nailers, the Penguins' minor-league affiliate in the East Coast Hockey League.
"He's got a lot of experience in the hockey world," Mario Lemieux said. "He's played in the NHL, he's coached, and he has a great attitude. He loves to win, loves to succeed, and that's what we want to bring here."
The move further illustrates the Penguins' attempts to bolster their relationship with the Nailers. The ECHL is considered two rungs below the NHL. Pittsburgh has an affiliate agreement with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Penguins in the American Hockey League, considered a step above the ECHL.
But, the lower status of the Nailers did not temper Alain's enthusiasm at being appointed to lead the team.
"This is exciting for the whole family," Alain said Tuesday. "I'm looking forward, of course, to working with Mario and the Penguins. Hopefully, I can help him with what he's trying to do. I have a lot of respect for everything he's done in Pittsburgh, and I'm glad to be a part of that."
Alain, 39 and the older brother to Mario, began his professional coaching career last year with the Jacksonville Lizard Kings of the ECHL. Jacksonville, however suspended operations after the season.
The Wheeling job opened at about the same time when Murray Eaves, brother of former Penguins assistant Mike Eaves, quit for personal reasons.
While not having the playing resume of younger brother Mario, Alain did make a go of it in the NHL, playing 119 games, mostly with the Quebec Nordiques.
He inherits a huge challenge in taking over the Nailers, who were at one time one of the ECHL's success stories. The team has struggled on and off the ice recently, however.
Last season, the Nailers compiled a 25-40-5 last season and missed the playoffs while struggling to draw fans. The franchise averaged just under 3,000 fans per game, approximately half of the capacity of the Wheeling Civic Center.
But, Mario Lemieux believes he can help the Nailers and Alain rebound. One of the team's biggest problems last year was the lack of Penguins prospects in their lineup.
Because of a lack of organizational depth and a new agreement with the Scranton club, Pittsburgh only assigned one player under contract -- defenseman Tom O'Connor -- to play in Wheeling.
That will change this year, says Lemieux, who would like to assign at least five players, if not more, to the ECHL club.
"We just didn't have enough players," Mario Lemieux said. "This year, we feel we'll have enough players to spread out the talent to give all of our franchises the opportunity to be successful. If players are not able to play in Wilkes-Barre, we'll send them here."
The Penguins also announced Tuesday that they are increasing their financial stake in the Nailers, insisting also that they plan to help the club coordinate Internet activities, merchandise sales, ticket plans and even the sharing of staff members.
"It's a perfect opportunity for us," Mario Lemieux said. "They're just an hour away from Pittsburgh. We want them to feel like they're a part of the organization."
Monday, June 26, 2000
By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
CALGARY, Alberta --
"If I wasn't going to get drafted by the Penguins, I didn't want to be drafted at all."
Seriously?
"I'm serious. I'd rather be a free agent or something. Why would I want to play for any team other than the Penguins?"
Spoken like a true Pittsburgh kid.
Abbott, a Mars product and left winger from the University of New Hampshire, got his wish yesterday when the Penguins selected him in the seventh round of the NHL Entry Draft, with the 216th overall pick.
"This is just the greatest," he said. "And I think it's great for the city that the Penguins will have a player from Pittsburgh on our team."
Abbott wasn't the only local player chosen. Defenseman Cliff Loya, a Mt. Lebanon product who shined as a freshman at the University of Maine, was taken by the Chicago Blackhawks in the same round, nine picks ahead of Abbott. Loya had five goals and five assists in 28 games this past season.
Abbott was born in Yonkers, N.Y., but his family moved to Mars when he was 3, and he grew up with the black and gold. He starred at North Catholic High School as a freshman and sophomore, then transferred to North Allegheny, where he graduated.
This past season, as a freshman at New Hampshire, he had seven goals and six assists in 28 games.
"I watched him grow up, as a kid and as a player," said General Manager Craig Patrick, whose sons played with Abbott at local rinks. "He's a very talented hockey player, very smart on the ice. We're happy we got him, and we're happy he's from Pittsburgh."
Abbott and Loya raise the number of Pittsburghers taken in draft history to six, including four in the past two years. Last June in Boston, Natrona Heights' Jason Crain went to the Los Angeles Kings, and Upper St. Clair's Ryan Malone went to the Penguins.
Word on the draft floor was that former Penguins defenseman Randy Carlyle is among the prime candidates to fill out Coach Ivan Hlinka's staff.
Craig Patrick is searching for a former NHL defenseman to be the staff's third assistant, joining former forwards Rick Kehoe and Joe Mullen.
Carlyle is more than qualified. He won a Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman in 1981 while playing for the Penguins, and he currently is the head coach of the Manitoba Moose in the International Hockey League.
The Penguins traded their fourth-round pick, 114th overall, to Montreal for the Canadiens' fourth-round pick, 124th, and fifth-round pick, 146th.
The Penguins will open training camp Sept. 6 and spend no less than a week of it in Wilkes-Barre, home of their American Hockey League affiliate.
Penguins goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin, in Pittsburgh to participate in the NHL Breakout tournament on Neville Island, said the ankle injury which ended his season April 3 is completely behind him. "I wish the season would start right now," he said.
Saturday, June 24, 2000
By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
CALGARY, Alberta -- The Penguins had a pretty good idea they would lose center Tyler Wright in the NHL expansion draft. And they knew they would lose another player, only they didn't know who it might be.
Meet Jonas Andersson-Junkka.
That's right ... who's he?
And how did the Columbus Blue Jackets know about him to select him?
"We didn't have a clue," Penguins General Manager Craig Patrick said. "Obviously, we didn't think they would take the Swedish defenseman on our available list. We're a little surprised."
The Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild stocked their inaugural rosters yesterday by taking 26 players each, including two from every established club except the Nashville Predators and Atlanta Thrashers, two recent expansion entries. Columbus chose Wright with the ninth pick among forwards and Andersson-Junkka with the 16th and final pick among defensemen.
Doug MacLean, Columbus' general manager, spent much of this past season at Mellon Arena scouting NHL games. And he apparently did his homework on the Penguins' prospects, too, having uncovered a low-profile player such as Andersson-Junkka.
"He had good offensive numbers in Finland," MacLean explained. "We had good scouting reports on him, and we'll monitor his progress. ... We wanted to find a few young Europeans whose progress we could follow. Then we'll decide if we want to sign them."
Andersson-Junkka, 25, was the Penguins' fourth-round choice in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, but he never attended an NHL training camp or played in North America. He spent the next five years in Sweden and the past two in Finland, netting 13 goals and 18 assists in 54 games for the HPK club this past season. After that, he began discussing a possible contract with the Penguins for next season.
"His game has come on quite a bit," Patrick said. "He felt his game had developed to the point where he could compete over here."
Whether or not the Penguins came away relatively unscathed in this expansion draft depends, of course, on how Andersson-Junkka develops. Still, Patrick seemed pleased that none of his other good bets to be taken -- notably forward Ian Moran and defenseman John Slaney -- was claimed.
"This isn't devastating for us," Patrick said. "But Jonas could become an asset for Columbus."
MacLean had more immediate dividends in mind when he chose Wright.
"Tyler is a guy we're very pleased to get," MacLean said. "He had 12 goals this past season and a great finish in the second half. He's a young player with lots of speed, determination and grit. He's exactly the kind of young player we were looking for. He can fill a key role for us. We think he has a future with the Blue Jackets."
Wright, 27, opened this past season with the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. But he was promoted in December and responded to the confidence shown in him by Coach Herb Brooks with a career-best 12 goals and 10 assists.
After spending four years in Pittsburgh, his feelings on heading to Columbus were mixed.
"I sort of thought I'd get taken," Wright said from his British Columbia home. "I mean, I'm disappointed to be leaving. I had a lot of friends in Pittsburgh, and we had a good team. I'm thankful for the chance Herb and Ivan Hlinka gave me to show what I can do. And this, I've got to look at this like just another chance for me. I'll work that much harder and do the best I can for Columbus."
Patrick acknowledged that Wright's feistiness won't be easily replaced.
"We're going to miss him," Patrick said. "He contributed a lot for us. But under the rules of expansion, you're going to lose some assets."
Columbus also selected goaltenders Rick Tabaracci, Frederic Chabot and Dwayne Roloson; defensemen Mattias Timander, Bert Robertsson, Tommi Rajamaki, Jamie Pushor, Lyle Odelein, Radim Bicanek and Mathieu Schneider; and forwards Geoff Sanderson, Turner Stevenson, Robert Kron, Steve Heinze, Kevyn Adams, Dmitri Subbotin, Dallas Drake, Bruce Gardiner, Barrie Moore, Martin Streit, Kevin Dineen, Jeff Williams, Sergei Luchinkin and Ted Drury.
Minnesota selected goaltenders Jamie McLennan, Mike Vernon, Chris Terreri and Zac Bierk; defensemen Sean O'Donnell, Curtis Leschyshyn, Ladislav Benysek, Chris Armstrong, Filip Kuba, Oleg Orekhovsky, Ian Herbers and Artem Anisimov; and forwards Stacy Roest, Darryl Laplante, Scott Pellerin, Jim Dowd, Sergei Krivokrasov, Jeff Nielsen, Jeff Odgers, Steve McKenna, Michal Bros, Joe Juneau, Darby Hendrickson, Jeff Daw, Steffan Nilsson and Cam Stewart.
Neither club's general manager promised that the players taken yesterday would comprise their opening-game rosters.
In fact, Minnesota traded three players shortly after the draft. Vernon was sent to the Calgary Flames, the team he led to the Stanley Cup in 1989, for Boston University center Dan Cavanaugh and an eighth-round draft pick. Juneau was sent to the Phoenix Coyotes for Swedish prospect Rickard Wallin, a center. And Terreri was sent back to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Brad Bombardir.
Columbus made a quick move, too, sending Stevenson to the Devils to complete an earlier trade for Krzysztof Oliwa.
Doug Risebrough, Minnesota's general manager, predicted that by the time the puck drops this season, MacLean will have made more trades.
"It's the history of expansion that players are turned over," Risebrough said. "But we didn't go into this looking for a lot of turnover."
And neither general manager is looking for a lot of wins next season, given the severely limited depth of their rosters.
"We'd like to put together a team that's fast and entertaining for our fans to watch," MacLean said. "And I'd like to say that will translate to a lot of points ... but I'm not sure it will."
The Pittsburgh Penguins did better than expected in former star Mario Lemieux's first year of ownership, breaking even on an operating basis, increasing ticket sales and selling the naming rights to their arena. After emerging from bankruptcy in September, the Penguins anticipated losses of between $2 million and $3 million. Advancing two rounds into the playoffs helped offset those projected losses.
"It's pretty remarkable -- this franchise lost $13 million last season,'' Lemieux said Monday in a state-of-the-team address. "Our franchise is worth a lot more today than we paid for it, and I'm very optimistic about the future.''
Despite the Penguins' dramatically improved financial state, they won't suddenly plunge into the free agent market, Lemieux said. Also, some ticket prices will go up slightly next season.
"We're going to keep getting our players through the draft, the way we did it in the past,'' Lemieux said. "We just can't afford (free agents) ... that's why we went into bankruptcy. Sooner or later, you have to pay it off when you sign a lot of guys.
"We've said all along that we're going to run this team like a business.''
The ticket price hike, to be announced to season ticket-holders in a letter mailed this week, will help offset a higher payroll -- $35 million next season compared to $32 million this season. Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka and Alexei Kovalev are among those due raises.
After Lemieux took over, the Penguins cut ticket prices in many sections of Mellon Arena and designated some upper-tier seats as family sections, with prices as low as $10. Lemieux said those seats will remain.
"The payroll is going up, so we have to adjust a little bit,'' Lemieux said. "We're 21st out of 28 teams in ticket revenue, and that's pretty far down the line.''
The Penguins' ability to keep selling corporate boxes and higher-priced seats will be tested next year when the Steelers and Pirates open new stadiums. Pittsburgh is the smallest city with three major pro sports teams, and there is considerable competition among the teams to sell boxes and luxury seats to a relatively small number of corporate and company clients.
Despite the Penguins' vastly improved financial state -- they were the first major pro sports team to go bankrupt in 25 years -- chief financial officer Ken Sawyer said they still aren't breaking even on a debt-to-revenue basis.
Lemieux's group is paying off $23 million in bank debt and $15 million in past debt, including money owed former players in deferred compensation.
"But we've come a long way,'' Sawyer said.
Even if the Penguins didn't go nearly as far as they wanted in the playoffs, especially after opening a 2-0 lead in the second round against Philadelphia. The Penguins lost the next two games at home, both in overtime, and never won again.
"If we had gotten a bounce in Game 3 or Game 4, we'd be in New Jersey right now and that would have been nice,'' Lemieux said. "We just ran out of gas.''
To keep that from happening again, Lemieux suggested the Penguins must add more size, especially on the third and fourth lines. He also wants to re-sign goaltender Ron Tugnutt.
"But what we can afford to pay him and what he might be able to get could be different,'' Lemieux said. Tampa Bay is among those interested in Tugnutt.
Lemieux also said:
The Penguins will announce next month whether they will push for a new arena or if they prefer to stay in a refurbished Mellon Arena, which opened in 1961 and is the NHL's oldest. Previously, Lemieux said the Penguins hoped for a new arena by 2004.
He sees no reason why Ivan Hlinka, who is signed to a three-year contract, won't be the next coach. Asked when the Penguins would make him their new coach, Lemieux said, "I thought we named him already.''
Lemieux doesn't foresee any scenario in which Herb Brooks, who replaced the fired Kevin Constantine in December, would agree to stay as coach. Brooks prefers to return to scouting.
He agrees with Jagr, who said the Penguins must guard against becoming too one-dimensional by acquiring too many European players.
"You need stars and you need grinders,'' Lemieux said. "You can't have everybody doing the same thing.''
The Penguins are no longer shopping for investors because his group is happy with its current makeup. Some investors have increased their stakes, he said.
"I'm willing to put more money in,'' he said. "We have a great group of investors who want to keep this group intact.''
