UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE

by Ihor Stelmach

Trendy developments in current NHL campaign

When Boston Bruins' defenseman Ray Bourque played in his first NHL game in 1979, winds of change were blowing across the league. Not so now. Now the winds bring crisp, green bills, lots of them, with about as many zeroes as the Boston Bruins have consecutive playoff berths.

Okay, okay, maybe not quite that many. Over the past decade, salaries have jumped higher than Mike Foligno in his prime, but the Bruins haven't missed the playoffs since 1966-1967 - an incredible 29 seasons. Bourque, 36, has now been there for 17 of them and he has been named to the first- or second-team all-star squad every year.

This season, Bourque played in his 18th All-Star Game, a streak of consistent excellence that may never be matched. But the way the Bruins are playing, if the trend holds, the playoff streak is over. If the season were to end February 25, the Bruins' winning percentage would leave them in 13th and last place in the Eastern Conference.

Here's a report of other interesting trends and developments of the 1996-1997 season. (The lockout-shortened 1994-1995 season is not used in comparisons.)

• Projected number of points to win scoring title: 138, Mario Lemieux. Last time so few points won the title (full season): 130, Wayne Gretzky, 1993-1994.
  
  
• Only player to finish in the top-10 in scoring in each of the past three seasons: Jaromir Jagr (second this season).
  
  
• Projected percentage of games in which a goalie will record a shutout: 12.6. Previous high: 15.1, 1969-1970.
  
  
• Average goals per game this season after 649 games: 5.9. Average goals per game last season: 6.3. Last time goals per game was so low: 1969-1970, 5.8.
  
  
• Number of coach-GMs at the start of the 1994-1995 season: five (John Muckler, Buffalo; Bob Gainey, Dallas; Scotty Bowman, Detroit; Mike Keenan, St. Louis; John Paddock, Winnipeg). Number of coach-GMs today: one (Bowman).
  
  
• Projected number of 50-goal scorers this season: four. Number of 50-goal scorers in 1992-1993: 13. Number of 50-goal scorers last season: eight.
  
  
• Number of projected 100-point scorers this season: four. Number of 100-point scorers in 1992-1993: 21. Last time there were fewer 100-point scorers: 1977-1978 (three).
  
  
• Strong candidates to miss playoffs: Toronto, Los Angeles, San Jose and Calgary in the Western Conference; Ottawa, New York Islanders, Boston and Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference.
  
  
• Last time Boston missed the playoffs: 1966-1967. Last time Toronto and Boston both missed the playoffs: Never.
  
  
• Number of trades involving NHLers since the start of the season: 25. Number of trades over same time period last season: 38.
  
  
• Early candidate for coach of the year: Ted Nolan, Buffalo Sabres.
  
  
• Candidate to be top rookie scorer and first St. Louis Blues player to be named rookie of the year: Jim Campbell, on pace for 55 points. Last time the leading rookie scorer had fewer points: 1976-1977, Willi Plett had 56 points.
  
  
• Number of goalies with a save percentage 91.0 or above: 20. Number of goalies who finished last season with a SP 91.0 or above: 10.
  
  
• Projected penalty minute total for Vancouver Canuck Gino Odjick: 412. Highest all-time single-season total: 472, Dave Schultz, Philadelphia Flyers, 1974-1975.

Ukrainian scoring leaders
(through games of February 20)

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
W.Gretzky	N.Y. Rangers	61	16	61	77	14
K.Tkachuk	Phoenix	59	37	26	63	144
P.Bondra	Washington	54	36	23	59	62
D.Andreychuk	N.J.	58	21	25	46	38
O. Tverdovsky	Phoenix	59	8	35	43	22
D. Khristich	L.A.	54	13	28	41	24
E. Olczyk	L.A.	57	17	17	34	36
D. Hawerchuk	Philadelphia	46	12	21	33	32
S. Konowalchuk	Washington	54	12	18	30	46
A. Zhitnik	Buffalo	57	4	22	26	73
A. Nikolishin	Washington	50	8	13	21	18
D. Babych	Vancouver	54	5	15	20	30
B. Bellows	Anaheim	46	8	10	18	12
C. Leschyshyn	Hartford	58	4	14	18	26
T. Hlushko	Calgary	49	6	9	15	26
R. Matvichuk	Dallas	55	5	7	12	85
K. Daneyko	N.J.	54	2	7	9	54
D. Nemirovsky	Florida	21	3	3	6	26
A. Godynyuk	Hartford	41	1	5	6	28
J. Kocur	Detroit	16	1	0	1	42
Y. Namestnikov	Vancouver	2	0	0	0	4
A. Vasilevski	St. Louis	3	0	0	0	2
W. Belak	Colorado	5	0	0	0	11
M. Kolesar	T oronto	7	0	0	0	0
D. Chyzowski	Chicago	8	0	0	0	6

Goaltenders	GP	MINS	GA	W	L	T	SHO	PCT
D. Wakaluk, Phoenix	16	782	2.99	8	3	1	1	89.9
K. Hrudey, San Jose	36	1927	3.24	14	17	3	0	88.7

Tverdovsky takes off in Phoenix

It isn't really accurate to say Oleg Tverdovsky is surprising a lot of people this season. There was always the feeling this 20-year-old Ukrainian defenseman was an offensive force just waiting to bust loose.

One trade and one franchise relocation later, Tverdovsky is ascending to the top. The third-year NHLer, selected second over-all by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 1994 entry draft, is one of the league's rising young stars. His selection to the Western Conference All-Star Team is confirmation of that.

"In Phoenix I am being allowed to do what I do best," Tverdovsky said, "I'm being given an opportunity to play by the coach. In Anaheim (coach Ron Wilson and I) didn't get along. Maybe I just didn't fit into his system.

"What surprised me was I was brought in to be an offensive player, but they weren't prepared to live with me playing that style. (Wilson) was afraid I would make mistakes and I guess he figured the team just couldn't afford mistakes."

Tverdovsky still makes the occasional blooper, but the Coyotes can live with them as long as he continues to deliver. He has been a consistent presence, as his scoring totals indicate: at press time he had eight goals and 35 assists in 59 games. These numbers are good enough to rank him third among all NHL defensemen in scoring.

"In a year when our team has been very inconsistent, he has been stable," said Coyotes' Coach Don Hay. "And we have put a lot of faith in him to play in all situations: power play, regular shift and short-handed. The way he has played, he deserves to be in all those situations."

The biggest difference this season, Tverdovsky says, is the lack of pressure he feels. During his draft year of 1993-1994, one NHL scout made an outrageous comparison between him and Bobby Orr. The comparison stuck with Tverdovsky through his stay in Anaheim.

"To be compared to the greatest player who ever played the game, in a new city where people don't understand there is only one Bobby Orr, was difficult," Tverdovsky said.

There were other factors. Aside from his inability to please Wilson, there was also an incident he still is uncomfortable discussing. His mother was abducted last year in Ukraine and held for ransom for three weeks. She was eventually released unharmed. While she was being held captive, he was traded, along with center Chad Kilger, to the Winnipeg Jets for superstar Teemu Selanne.

"It was a hard time," Tverdovsky said. "I don't really like to talk about my mother's situation. The trade was difficult because neither Chad nor I were capable of scoring 76 goals like Teemu did one year. I understand why fans would be upset, but there was nothing we could do about it."

Tverdovsky said he welcomed the move to Phoenix.

"Two months in Winnipeg was enough," he said. "The people were nice, but the weather ... it was too cold. Phoenix is more like California. I like that."

Away from the rink, he loves to shoot pool and go to the movies. His English is near perfect. Tverdovsky is making an impact in North America, and his success hasn't gone unnoticed by older European players.

"He has the speed and offense to be one of the best defensemen in the league - a top player," said 38-year-old Detroit Red Wings' defenseman Slava Fetisov. "Anytime a young Russian player [Fetisov stands to be corrected as Tverdovsky proudly admits to being 100 percent Ukrainian] does well, I am proud."

Hay has so much confidence in Tverdovsky's ability, he teams him with veteran Teppo Numminen to play against the opposition's top lines.

"What makes him special is he really wants to learn to play the game against the best players," Hay said. "He wants to learn how to play against the best players in his own zone. He has great offensive instincts, but it's the fact he wants to be a complete player that make him a player our team can build around."

Success may not change Tverdovsky, but it will change the amount he earns. He is getting $600,000 this season, his third and final year of a $4.2 million contract. When he signs a new deal, it will likely be in the range of $2 million a season.

Coyotes' Ukrainian teammate and team captain Keith Tkachuk said Tverdovsky is worth at least that.

"He's only 20 years old and look at the impact he makes," Tkachuk said. "It's going to be fun watching him develop into one of the best in the league. He's well on his way."

(Thanks to Mike Brophy, senior writer for The Hockey News, for quotes.)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 9, 1997, No. 10, Vol. LXV

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