1991-1992* NHL Season preview.
The national Hockey League saw so much movement and news during the offseason that we will take the time to report the major stories heading into the new season.
A new team arrives in the San Jose Sharks. The team will play in the Cow Plaace until the construction of their arena will be complete. Don't expect much from this expansion team's first season, though Pat Falloon and young latvian Sandis Osolinsh are intriguing prospects to watch. The Sharks will be joined by two more expansion teams next season, with Milwaukee, Tampa Bay and Ottawa rumoured to be the strongest possible candidates.
With Harold Ballard dying and Eric Lindros coming in as the next great star of the league, you would think the Toronto Maple Leafs would be pretty happy with what they had. That is not kmowing former calgary flames GM Cliff Flethcer, who pulled off two huge blockbuster trades, bringing in his former proteges in Doug Gilmour and Jamie Macoun in exchnage for Leafs leading scorer Gary Leeman and sending Vincent Damphousse to the rebuilding Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Goalie Grant Fuhr and right einger Glenn Anderson, alomg with signing Dmitri Mironov and Nikolai Borchevsky from the former Soviet Union. Fletcher said that, as the dawn of a new era approached at the Garden, it was mecessary to build the most competitive environment possible for Lindros's arrival next year.
Many more blockbusters would come. Brendan Shanahan, who wanted out of New Jersey, signed a multi-million dolllar offer sheet with the St. Louis Blues. Since it came a year after the Blues signed Scott Stevens also to an offer sheet, the Devils and the Blues went to arbitration, where the blues, despite offering Curtis Joseph and Rod Brind'amour as compensation to the Devils, were forced to give away Stevens, leaving quite a hole to fill in their defense. New Jersey weren't done moving, for they traded Star Center/Left winger Kirk Muller to Montreal for Stéphane Richer and sent Eric Weinrich and ztarting goalie Sean Burke to Hartford in exchange for promising prospect Bobby Holik.
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Philadelphia, meanwhile, are in a retooling following some less than stellar years. Ron Hextall has shown signs of a slump, while Mark Howe is on the way out next year and Murray Craven left for Hartford in exchange for Kevin Dineen. Some very promising youth are coming though, namely Rod Brind'amour, acquired from the blues along with Dan Quinn for Murray Barron and Ron Sutter, as well as recent draft picks Mike Ricci, Chris Simon and swede Peter Forsberg, whom many european hockey experts state that he could be an elite NHL superstar in the future. Another Swede, Mikael Remberg, also made into the roster this year due to his size and good hands, while Steve Duchesne, Garry Galley and Terry Carkner highlights a strong blueline that could become even better with the signing of solid shutdown russian D-man Dmitri Yushkevich. The retooling could take a drastic turn, however, what with rumours of captain Rick Tocchet possibly going to Pittsburgh, along with fellow 1987 cup finalist Kjell Samuelsson, to the Penguins in exchange for high scoring Mark Recchi...
Even if they end up trading Recchi somewhere down the road, the reigning champions Pittsburgh Penguins has more than enough tools in their arsenal. Scotty Bowman and Mario Lemieux's side arguably got even better with the addition of brilliant, but troubled defenseman Bryan Fogarty from the Quebec Nordiques in exchange for speedy forward Scott Young to add to an already impressive blueline containing Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy and Ulf Samuelsson. With that boosted blueline, Jaromir Jagr fully adapted to the NHL, Ron Francis in tow and Lemieux better than ever, the Pens are the favorites to retain the stanley cup.
Not to say there isn't any competition, however. The Detroit Red Wings welcomes promising Swede Niklas Lidstrom to their blueline and teenager Chris Osgood as Tim Cheveldae's new backup keeper., while Sergei Fedorov moves to Steve Yzerman's right wing to make way for Keith Primeau at center. Ray Sheppard, formerly of Buffalo, signed an offer sheet with the organisation to provide even more firepower to their forward core. In the east, Boston will look to avenge their conference final lost last season, while the New York Rangers would pull off a major coup, acquiring none other than Mark Messier, along with defensman Jeff Beukeboom, in exchange for Bernie Nicholls. Following a long purgatory to end the 80s, the rags can look on to the 90s as the decade where they will hopefully come back to the dance, with messier surrounded by fellow veterans mike Gartner and former oiler Adam Graves as well as a very promising young core formed by Brian Leetch, Goalie Mime Richter, Rob Zamuner, Tony Amonte, Darren Turcotte and Doug Weight, with russians Alex Kovalev and Sergei Zubov quite possibly being the steals of the draft. Richter's emergence in net also fuels rumours of their longstanding goalie John Vanbiesbrouck being on the way out, with Detroit, Quebec, Minnesota and Winnipeg emerging as possible destinations for the michigan native.
Out west, Wayne Gretzky welcomes his partner in crime Jari Kurri to the fold as L.A looks to build on the post season run of last season. Kurri joins Luc Robitaille, Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato as potential linemates with the great one, while an impressove batch of incoming prospects on defense, such as Rob Blake, Alexei Zhitnik and Darryl Sydor, means that the Kings have a bright future ahead of them.
Mike Keenan finally got rid of Denis Savard in exchange for a talismanic defensmean in Chris Chelios. The rehaul doesn't stop here, for he added Steve Smith of the imploding Oilers into the mix as well as Brent Sutter fo the New York Islanders in exchange for Adam Creighton and Steve Thomas. Chicago has the potential to come out of the west with Jeremy Roenick and Michel Goulet lighting up the lamps and Ed Belfour in front of net.
Buffalo continues its drastic retooling into competitiveness. After acquiring Dale Hawerchuk last season, the Sabres sent franchise center Pierre Turgeon packing, along with Uwe Krupp and Benoit Hogue, to the Islanders for Pat Lafontaine, one of the best centers in the league, to play alongside Alexander Mogilny and Dave Andreychuk. They also acquired Chicago's backup Goalie Dominik Hasek to become their new netminder.
Quebec, meanwhile, continues its long rebuild, acquiring Scott Young in order to make way for a very promising pair of defensemen in Adam Foote and 3rd overall pick Scott Niedermayer. Rumour has it that they are seeking to acquire John Vanbiesbrouck during the season.
Winnipeg has a bunch of young talent from europe coming in to join the already hefty foreign legion. Alexei Zhamnov from russia and Teemu Selanne from Finland jpins Freddie Olausson, Teppo Numinnen and Thomas Steen, with Eddie Olczyk moved to Steen's right wing.
Vancouver is building a potential dark horse thanks to a big trade that sends Cliff Ronning, Geoff Courtnall and Sergio Momesso from St. Louis to the Canucks in exchamge for Dan Quinn and Garth Butcher, as well as revamping their defense with Jyrki Lumme and Gerald Diduck from Montreal, Dave Babych and Dana Murzyn from Hartford and the arrival of superstar winger Pavel Bure from Russia to join Trevor linden, Petr Nedved and fellow countryman Igor Larionov.
91-92 Season Review coming soon.