News from April 2000
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St. Pete Ready for Hockey Madness
 "I'm going to St. Petersburg because it will be my first and probably last appearance before my own fans at the world championships," Bure said when he arrived earlier this week. The potholes have been covered up, the rubbish cleared away and the brand-new sparkling $80 million ice palace swept for bombs: St. Petersburg is at last ready for the Ice Hockey World Championships, which start Saturday. The country's very own "Russian Rocket," Pavel Bure ? representing Russia in the tournament for the first time ? will share the limelight with a hockey-playing moose, St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev and President-elect Vladimir Putin when the tournament opens. Hundreds of city workers and soldiers were working frantically Friday to make the stadium as shiny clean as the ice that the U.S. and Swiss teams will skate out on as they launch the 12-team tournament, which runs through May 14. Russia's first game will be Saturday evening at the Ice Palace against France. The authorities have been frantically preparing St. Petersburg for the flood of visitors expected for the tournament. Thousands of extra local police and security guards will be doing their best to ensure that spectators can concentrate on enjoying the second-best hockey the world has to offer ? most of the world's finest are still in the United States competing in the National Hockey League playoffs. Dozens of hostages were freed Thursday by the security services in mock operations as the police burst into rooms with heavy weapons, rehearsing their response to any possible terrorist attack. National television showed dozens of German shepherd dogs ? and one King Charles spaniel ? checking out the inside of the stadium. The dogs, who served in Chechnya, their handlers said, were sniffing for explosives. "This one saved three patrols," said one dog handler on television. Security is high because of the war in Chechnya and the impending visit of Putin, who is expected to attend the opening at the very least. The return of the championship to Russia for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union has attracted a number of the country's greatest players for the chance to play at home. The tournament's first appearance in St. Petersburg is the first time the championships have been held in this country since the 1986 tournament in Moscow. "He's not only one of the strongest hockey players in the world, he's the leader. Thank God that a leader has arrived for the national team," said Gennady Tsygunov, former national team coach, in an interview published Friday by the country's best selling sports paper, Sport Express. Bure is the star of Russia's pack of NHL players, but the presence beside him of Alexei Zhamnov of the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers star Valery Kamensky ? and the still possible inclusion of Ottawa Senators holdout Alexei Yashin ? means the team starts as rare favorites. Dominant in the World Championships of the 1960s and 1970s as the Soviet Union, hockey has conspicuously flopped in the last 10 years. The national side hasn't won the tournament or even a medal since 1993, when it grabbed the gold in Germany, beating Sweden 3-1 in the final. Optimism is high, with this year's lineup already dubbed Russia's own Dream Team. "I'm 100 percent certain that our team will get first place," said Boris Mikhailov, the legendary Soviet forward who in 1993 coached the last Russian team to win the World Championships, in Sport Express. If it comes, victory will be May 14 at the shiny new stadium in front of the governor and the newly inaugurated president. It will also coincide with St. Petersburg elections for governor. Many doubted whether the new stadium would be finished on time, and several local politicians have asked where the money came from for the event. However, by the end of this week there was only praise. "A Super Palace for a Dream Team" was Sport Express saw matters on Friday. The shining glass exterior and ultra-modern facilities inside make the Ice Palace one of the best sports stadium in Russia and even Europe, visiting officials said. Every crowd member gets a good view, instant replays show on the large television screens and cartoons of the tournament's mascot, a goofy looking moose with a stick and puck, are flashed up on the screen during stoppages. "This is a terrific building and I'm really impressed," said Butch Goring, assistant coach for the Canadian team, after Wednesday's game against Russia, which the home side won 4-3. "I've been in arenas all through Canada and the United States, and this is as good as anything that I've seen there." "There is a Russian saying that the first pancake always comes out wrong," Viktor Vlasov, deputy general director of the arena corporation, said after the first games ? exhibition matches between Canada and Russia on Wednesday and Thursday ? held at the stadium. "But this trial run was 100 percent successful. Any difficulties were very minor." High ticket prices for the tournament ? reaching $150 for games in the final rounds ? have priced out many locals, and by the start of this week only 20 percent of all tickets had been sold. Fans did get a chance at free tickets earlier this month, when the city announced that all comers for a citywide subbotnik, community cleanup effort, would receive free passes. Over 350,000 St. Petersburgers turned out to sweep the streets, plant 8,500 new bushes and 536 trees across the city and those who cleared up near the Ice Palace were rewarded with free tickets, officials said. The city has invested heavily in sprucing up the city for the thousands of foreign visitors expected for the championships.
Many of the roads in the center have been relaid in the last weeks, although judging by one of the first to have been completed ? Prospekt Bolshevikov near the stadium, which has already begun to sag ? haste may have been more important than quality.
Russia Opens With Thrashing
 It usually wouldn't be much of a pretty sight to witness a bully mercilessly beating a schoolkid who wandered onto its turf - but in this case we will make an exeption. Big, bad Russia skated circles around an overwhelmed French team to post an 8-1 win in their Group D matchup at the Ice Palace last night. "We watched the weather and thought we saw a tornado coming, and tonight we saw it for three periods," France head coach Stephane Sabourin said following the rout, in which his team was outshot 48-14 and was only spared from a greater margin of defeat by some big saves from goalie Patrick Rolland. Comprised of some of the best hockey players on the planet, including 11 from the National Hockey League and six from Russian Hockey League champion Dinamo Moscow, the Russian squad toyed with the inexperienced French. "We had some young guys playing, and we knew they would be impressed by the rink," Sabourin said. "And some of the people they were facing are the idols of our players." Facing the Russians at home in front of a frenzied partisan crowd of 11,000 was an inenviable task for ther French, and much credit should go to their team therapist after they managed to hold Russia to one late goal in the third after going into the period down 7-1. The French did do enough to reveal some holes, however slight, in the Russian game. "Even though we were counting on a win, I didn't expect to have as many problems as we did," Russia head coach Alexander Yakushev said. "We've taken in some NHL players in the last two or three days, and it takes time for [the squad] to adjust, but my first line was not as successful as we wanted them to be, even though they scored two goals." That line was made up Florida Panthers' Pavel Bure on the right wing, the New York Rangers' Valery Kamenski on the left, and was centered by the Chicago Blackhawks' Alexei Zhamnov. While Bure, the NHL's leading goal-scorer with 58, had two dazzling scores and received star of the game honors, he was bettered by a hat-trick from left wing Maxim Souchinski, who has been honing his scoring skills with Avangard Omsk in the RHL. "We also had trouble killing penalties, and we have a lot to work on," Yakushev said, although the French powerplay was held scoreless. "We are not overly confident after our win tonight." Souchinski's third line opened the scoring 1:14 into the first period, and then added a second two minutes later off an assist from right wing Alexander Kharitonov. With the French attempting to run with the Russians, the game opened up full-throttle and left wing Maxim Afinogenov added another Russian goal to make it 3-0 at 9:31 into the first period. Then, with the puck deep in the Russian end, French right wing Benoit Bachelet found the puck right in front of the Russian net and wasted no time at all in ripping a shot past Ilya Bryzgalov, Lada Togliatti's star 20-year-old goaltender. The second period saw Russia put on a real show, as the team scored four goals. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar scored a power-play goal at 2:54 of the period, and Bure turned on the jets to blast past the French defense to make it 5-1 one minute and 19 seconds later. Souchinski got his hat-trick with a nifty score 8:52 into the second, in which Alexander Prokopiev won a faceoff in the right circle and Souchinski took the pass, put his back to Rolland, then wheeled to fire past the frozen goalie. Bure scored his second at 10:41 to end Russia's second period scoring spurt. Camped out at the front of the net, and playing the puck like it was on a string, Bure darted back and forth in the corner until he streaked across the goalmouth and slotted it past a dumbfounded Rolland. Throughout the third, play turned chippy , with the frustrated French team drawing four penalties to Russia's two, including one for Bure. The "Russian Rocket" was cited with retaliating with a cross-check after being slammed against the boards while breaking for a hat-trick attempt. But despite Russia's peppering of Rolland, the goalie held tough until he gave up a goal to Prokopiev with just over two minutes remaining in the game to reach the final tally of 8-1. Rolland ended with 40 saves on the night, and Sabourin took the loss as a learning experience for his young squad.
"We had a bad start, and we couldn't skate and play the way we had in the third," he said. "We just have to forget this one and look forward to the next game."
Pavel scores two goals In Group B, NHL goal-scoring leader and Russian captain, Pavel Bure, had two goals as Russia routed France 8-1 before a boisterous sell-out crowd that included Russian president Vladimir Putin. Pavel also took a cross-checking penalty in the third period. Russia outshot France 48-14.
Pavel chose as 'Player of the Year' by "Hockey Digest"
 Hockey Digest's Player of the Year
Stepashin's Note Says Bure's Clean Sergei Stepashin, head of the Federal Audit Chamber and former Russian prime minister said that Russian national team member Pavel Bure had asked as a joke gift from Stepashin for a Spravka or official certificate, which attests that he is "trustworthy" and does not have ties to Russian organized crime. "When I worked as Minister of Internal Affairs I met Bure, who had had problems with traveling to the United States at the time because some people believed that he was linked to so-called Russian mafia," Stepashin said in interview with Interfax on Wednesday. "I filled in a form with an official stamp, saying that Pavel Bure has nothing to do with Russian mafia," Stepashin said.
According to Stepashin, Bure told him later that the certificate he had issued him "did help."
Moscow's mad about Bure
MOSCOW -- Alexei Yashin, the spoiled millionaire and sometime hockey superstar, awaits word today from an arbitrator in New York whether his reward for refusing to honour his US$3.6- million contract with the Ottawa Senators will be to have his global suspension lifted so he can play for Russia at the World Hockey Championships in St. Petersburg.
Russians leave nothing to chance at worlds ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- Playing at home and boosted by the presence of Pavel Bure, the NHL's leading goal scorer, Russia begins pursuit of its first world hockey championship in seven years on Saturday. Reigning Olympic and world champion Czech Republic -- forsaken by longtime coach Ivan Hlinka, mastermind behind the nation's recent successes -- starts the championships troubled and unsure. The Czechs, who have won before without Olympic hero Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres or NHL scoring leader Jaromir Jagr of Pittsburgh, will now have to show they can win without Hlinka. Hlinka, who led the nation to an 1998 Olympic gold medal in Nagano and world titles in 1996 and 1999, transformed the Czech Republic into a global hockey power. But all that could change with Hlinka auditioning for a coaching job in the United States and a dozen Czech NHLers, including Jagr, still chasing the Stanley Cup. Only three Czech NHL players accepted invitations to play in Russia but the country will have three members of the Olympic gold medal winning team -- Pavel Patera, Martin Prochazka and Jiri Dopita. There will be no lack of recognizable names on the Russian roster, with Florida's Bure headlining an all-star cast that includes Chicago's Alexei Zhamnov and Valeri Kamensky of the New York Rangers. Coach Alexandre Yakushev will rely heavily on Bure, but remains hopeful that Alexei Yashin, who sat out the NHL season in a contract dispute with Ottawa, will also be allowed in the lineup. The NHL has prohibited Yashin from playing at the worlds because he is still under suspension by the Senators. An arbitrator will rule on Yashin's participation Saturday. But even with home ice advantage and Bure leading the way, the Russians will be hard-pressed to reclaim their glorious past. After 22 world titles as the Soviet Union, Russia has not won since 1993 in Munich, and missed the podium completely the past six years. The Russians did manage a silver medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Finland, runner-up the last two years, is once again expected to be in the medal hunt, despite having fewer NHL stars than usual. Its top recruits from North America are Montreal's Juha Lind and Olli Jokinen if the Los Angeles Kings. The United States squad will blend youth and experience, with just half the team stocked from the NHL and the rest coming from European pro, minor and college leagues. Damian Rhodes of Atlanta will be the No. 1 netminder and the team includes the NHL's all-time American scoring leader, Phil Housley of Calgary, Darby Hendrickson of Vancouver and Derek Plante of Chicago, who helped the Americans to bronze at the 1996 worlds. Canada, still rounding out its roster with Stanley Cup playoff dropouts, will have plenty of speed and scoring with Buffalo's Curtis Brown, Chicago's Steve Sullivan, Tampa Bay's Mike Johnson and Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi leading the offense with Vancouver's Adrian Aucoin and Ed Jovanovski heading the defense. Montreal's Jose Theodore, who won gold with Canada's junior national team in 1996, will share netminding duties with Calgary's Fred Brathwaite. Sweden, the 1998 champions, will be bolstered by the addition of Edmonton goalie Tommy Salo.
Pavel arrives in Russia
 
Q: Pavel, what feelings do you have on arriving in Moscow, and what are you looking for from the World Championships in St.Petersburg?
Q: Are you feeling fatigued from this past NHL season?
Q: What is your physical and playing condition?
Q: Will you rest up in Moscow, or will you head straight to St.Petersburg, to get a feel of the atmosphere, and to bond with the national team?
Q: Are you planning to visit the Olympic Sports Complex where your well known friend and tennis player, Anna Kournikova, is training for the Federation Cup?
Q: Can you give us an overview of your play this past season with the "Florida Panthers"?
Q: Have you had the opportunity to be associated with the head coach of the national team, Aleksandr Yakishev, and what position is he he planning to play you?
Q: Would you be happy if your front line consisted of yourself, Valeri Kamensky and Alexei Zhamnov?
Q: Will you line mate from Florida, Viktor Kozlov come to play in St.Petersburg?
Q: Will the Florida goalkeeper, Mikhail Shtalenkov be playing for the national team?
Q: Will there be any other players from your Florida team be playing at the World Championships?
Q: Do you think that the Russian national team can win the World Championships?
Q: What has to be done to achieve that?
Q: When was the last time you visited St.Petersburg?
Q: Do you still have any fond memories of it?
Q: Were you awae that the World Championships will be staged at the new arena built especially for this event?
Q: Judgement notwithstanding, you are not the first NHL'er to play on the national team. Do you think that local players are bitter that they don't have as much chance to partake in the World Championships?
Q: What is your opinion of the Alexei Yashin situation?
Q: When did you decide to take part in the World Championships?
Q: Is your participation in the World Championships prestigious to you?
Q: Do you remember your first World Championships?
Q: Team Russia will be playing Team Canada in some pre-tournament warm-up games. Are you planning to take part in any of them?
Q: How much time will you need for acclimatization?
Q: Who is going to come to visit and root for you in St.Petersburg?
Q: Pavel, you called your Russian national team at the Nagano Olympics as 'a team of brothers'. How would you characterize your recent frienship with Aleksandr Yakushev?
Q: What plans do you have after the World Championships?
Bure Gets on Board for St. Petersburg Tourney Pavel Bure has said he will play for Russia in the World Ice Hockey Championships in St. Petersburg later this month if his NHL team is knocked out early in the Stanley Cup playoffs, according to Sport Express. Bure, who led the NHL with 58 goals this season, will be available only if the Florida Panthers lose to the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs. Another prominent NHL player, Alexei Yashin, who is sitting out this year due to a contract dispute with the Ottawa Senators, has already begun practicing with the Russian team. Yashin will be allowed to play only if the Senators are eliminated from the NHL playoffs.
The world championships run from April 29 to May 14th.
Tick, tick: Get Bure help now For the past 31/2 years, dating back to the Panthers' first-round elimination from the playoffs in 1997 and beyond, General Manager Bryan Murray has been talking -- almost dreamily at times -- about all the young prospects who were someday going to make this franchise great. Forget that. Pavel Bure will turn 30 late next season, and just as the clock has been ticking on the Dolphins' Super Bowl hopes with Dan Marino the past few years, it's starting to tick on the time Bure has left as one of the game's premier players. Murray had that timetable in mind when he offered the New York Islanders Oleg Kvasha and Ivan Novoseltsev just before the trade deadline for center Mariusz Czerkawski and defenseman Kenny Jonsson. And he'll have it in mind when he goes after two or three other veterans who can immediately contribute this summer. The NHL is a follow-the-leader league. When Dallas won the Stanley Cup last season with veterans they had stockpiled over the past few years, it sent a signal that, especially in these days of overexpansion and a relatively small ice surface, experience and savvy might be more valuable commodities now than youth and speed. Look at Detroit. It's easy to say the Red Wings are old, but some of their oldest players -- such as Chris Chelios and Pat Verbeek -- are some of the biggest contributors to their success. Colorado recently has gone the same route with Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk, Dallas with Kirk Muller and Philadelphia with Rick Tocchet. After so long taking the more conventional route of trying to grow his prospects into players, Murray also took a similar tack when he sent Ryan Johnson and Dwayne Hay to Tampa Bay last month for Mike Sillinger, who became the Panthers' best player in the playoffs. Murray may no longer pursue the Isles' Jonsson -- he missed the last couple of weeks of the season with what the club called "headaches" and seems to be surrounded by serious medical questions -- but he will be after a similar player, an established defenseman who can quarterback the power play. Paul Coffey? He'll be an unrestricted free agent and had a rebirth this season at Carolina, but at 39 that's a stretch. Murray probably is more interested in a Janne Niinimaa or Roman Hamrlik from Edmonton, a Fredrik Olausson from Anaheim or a Boris Mironov from Chicago. Will such a player fall within the Panthers' salary scheme? The team had a $34 million payroll this year and had just one sellout, which had to be disappointing when fans had the opportunity to regularly watch the game's most exciting player. Murray understands the relative apathy, blaming it on the two seasons prior to this one, when Florida for the most part had an uninspiring, losing team. As disappointing as this year's brief playoff run was, he figures it might trigger a surge in interest that the team can continue by winning. "I'm convinced we've got a real core of big fans here," he said. "Part of the job facing us now is selling the game. We have Pavel, but we've got more than that. We have to get the word out that this is a team on the rise. "I've got a legitimate belief that we're going to give the fans their dollar's worth, which we didn't do for two years. Winning is very important to that." Only a handful of teams -- Detroit, Dallas, New Jersey and Philadelphia, to name a few -- have established a tradition of being competitive year in, year out. With Bure, the Panthers are in a position to join them for at least the next few years.
Murray has done well in getting them close. Let's see if he can finish the job.
Bure: This was his best season yet Pavel Bure was relaxed Saturday, content to just hang out and talk hockey, but he made it clear how disappointed he was that he will be flying back to Russia on Monday rather than continuing in the NHL playoffs. "It's always disappointing when you don't win the (Stanley) Cup," said Bure, who had only one goal against New Jersey. "It doesn't matter if you lose in the first, second or third rounds, it still hurts. But there's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to learn something and get better." After having major reconstructive knee surgery in March 1999, Bure returned to score a league-high 58 goals. Despite scoring 60 goals twice before and advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals with Vancouver in 1994, Bure said this was his most successful season. "I would say this regular season was my best," Bure said. "The game has changed so much right now. It's almost impossible to score 50 goals. Before, 50 was the big mark in goals to get. I think the big mark should be moved to 40. "When I started, the scores used to be 7-2, 8-5. Now they're 2-1 or 1-0 or sometimes 0-0." Bure loves to score goals, but at times in the second half and postseason, his lack of defense impaired the Panthers. Some Panthers have argued that teams with 50-goal scorers don't win anymore. Teams whose top scorers settle for 35 goals and play complete games such as Detroit's Steve Yzerman and Dallas' Brett Hull or Mike Modano are the ones that win. "It's always nice to play well defensively, but sometimes you got to choose," Bure said. "You can't do it all. That's why we got some players that play really well defensively, some guys play well offensively and some guys play a little tough. "That's what a team is all about -- different types of players put together and you get good team." Bure will spend most of his summer in Moscow. Later this month, he will play on a line with the Rangers' Valeri Kamensky and Chicago's Alexei Zhamnov in the World Championships in Russia. "I think it's really important when people go and play for their country," Bure said. "It is special it'll be in Russia too." Post-game interview by Pavel Bure
No need for B. Murray to overhaul Cats
Trade Pavel Bure. Jettison Mike Vernon. Fire the team's coach, who happens to be his brother. But that would be a mistake. And the Panthers general manager knows it. Those moves would no more increase this franchise's chance of winning the Stanley Cup than would moving back to Miami Arena. No, what these Panthers need, even in the face of a stunningly thorough playoff loss to New Jersey, is a course adjustment, not a complete turnabout. "If we were a veteran team and had a group of guys that have been together for years and were starting to show a decline, much like our '97 team did, then we'd need an overhaul," Murray said Friday. "This time we have a core [of players] that is just in [its] prime or is still real young. "Three or four changes is the most we'd ever think of doing. Now if we get to Christmastime next [season] and don't see marked improvement, then we'd make another decision. But this is not a team that has to be taken apart." Murray has a plan. It's the same plan he set in motion when the '97 Panthers got old after their improbable '96 Cup run. Murray blew up that roster like it was the Seattle Kingdome and began building from the rubble. Two years ago, the Panthers were the NHL's second-worst team. Last year, they were thisclose to making the playoffs. This year, they recorded a franchise-record 98 points and got in the playoffs. Next year? "[We are in a] very close, competitive conference," Murray said. "We have to play at a level that allows us to be in the playoffs. And we need to see growth in our players. "At playoff time, there are no guarantees. A lot has to do with matchups and so forth. But we should learn from this [playoff experience] and be better from it. I expect our team will be a better team. "Our team will be one of the most exciting in the NHL." The Panthers should be better when the 2001 playoffs begin because the experience of 2000 will be invaluable. Players like 21-year-old Oleg Kvasha, 23-year-old Mark Parrish and first-time playoff participant Viktor Kozlov will draw from the lessons the Devils taught. "This club has good chemistry," Vernon said. "It's tough to lose four straight, but we have to use it as a learning experience. We should look at New Jersey. They pay attention to the details, and those little things they do help you win playoff games. Hopefully guys learn from that so we can have success in the playoffs." Murray is counting on experience to improve the Panthers so much, he called up left wing Marcus Nilson, right wing Ivan Novoseltsev and defenseman Brad Ference from the minors -- just so they could get a taste of what playoff hockey is about. But Murray will not rely solely on time to make Florida better. He must, and will, improve the club through aggressive management. One day after Florida was bounced from the playoffs, Murray met and spoke with half a dozen players who could be key figures for the 2001 Panthers. He has spoken with center Jiri Dopita of the Czech League and is already envisioning how this 31-year-old could help Bure be better. "He passes the puck extremely well and could be a good match with [Bure]," said Murray, who is so excited about this prospect he spoke with Bure about it. Murray knows fans are frustrated with the play of Florida's defensemen. And that frustration will be addressed. "We need to add one defenseman who has a little more skill with the puck," Murray said. The defenseman duo of Robert Svehla and Jaroslav Spacek, who played together much of the year but were separated at times late in the season, seems destined for a divorce. "Both lack the speed to be dynamic," Murray said. "We want to upgrade there even if that means Spacek has to move down to another spot in the roster." The Panthers will also address their goalie situation. Vernon has an option clause in his contract whereby he must tell the Panthers if he wants to return to the team within seven days, starting Friday. Once Vernon makes his decision, the Panthers then must decide which goalie they will protect in the expansion draft because Murray said the club will likely only protect one. All these are necessary tweaks that should not affect the chemistry of the team.
"We expect some changes," captain Scott Mellanby said. "Some changes are always inevitable . . . and they can be a good thing as long as it's not overdone."
Current All-Stars 3, All-Century All MONTREAL - Pavel Bure scored two goals, including the game-winner, and Dominik Hasek stopped 28 shots as the Current All-Stars handed the All-Century All-Stars their second straight loss, 3-1, to take a commanding two-games-to-none lead in The Dodge/NHL All-Time Series. In what was being billed as the All-Star Game to end all All-Star Games, the series has turned into a one-sided affair. The Current All-Star took Game 1 by the score of 5-3 and looked to barely break a sweat in capturing Game 2. Gordie Howe led off the scoring with his second goal of the series. The NHL’s second all-time leading scorer sped down the right wing with Wayne Gretzky to his left. Howe gave every indication he was going to pass but instead wound up and fired a slap shot through the five-hole of Dominik Hasek. Hasek looked surprised by the outcome as Gretzky and Howe celebrated the 1-0 lead. Hasek’s teammates were there to pick up their dejected goaltender just over the midway point of the first period. Steve Yzerman knotted the game at one apiece with his second goal of The Dodge/NHL All-Time Series. Chris Pronger wristed a shot from the point that Terry Sawchuk easily sticked aside. Pavel Bure picked up the loose puck in the corner and found Yzerman wide open at the right side of the net. Sawchuk attempted to slide over but was too late as the Current All-Stars pulled even at 1-1. Hasek’s first period miscue on the Howe goal was the only mistake he would make in the game. He shut down the All-Century All-Stars from that point on, highlighted by a denied penalty shot attempt by Maurice Richard in the second period. Bobby Orr hauled down the “Rocket” from behind as the Montreal legend zoned in on Hasek.
Richard was granted the first penalty shot of the inaugural Dodge/NHL All-Time Series. The “Rocket” looked poised as his eyes peered in on Hasek. Richard gracefully skated down the ice, faked to his backhand and then shot the puck to the top corner that Hasek snatched with relative ease. The save seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the All-Century squad despite the fact that the game was still deadlocked at 1-1. The legends were unable to mount any type of offense in the third but the Current All-Star did behind the efforts of Pavel Bure. Bure scored his second and third goals of the series in the first eight minutes of the final stanza. The “Russian Rocket” scored the eventual game-winner when his wrist shot trickled past Sawchuk for a 2-1 lead. Exactly three minutes later, the 2000 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner masterly worked the puck behind the net that would have made even Gretzky proud. Bure banked the puck off the back of the net to avoid the attacking Orr and then tucked the biscuit in the short side of the net for the final goal of the game 3-1. The All-Century All-Stars hope the change of venue helps their cause as the team finds itself down two games. Game 3 of the series will be played in Toronto on Tuesday, April 25.
GOAL SCORING:
Valeri Bure answers your questions
Panthers' weaknesses exposed in playoffs SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- One fan, seemingly poised for the Florida Panthers to be swept Thursday night, brought a "Help Wanted" sign to Game 4 of Florida's first-round playoff series with New Jersey. He held it high above his head after each of the Devils' four goals. Then he left it behind, tossed to the floor amid cups, napkins and other bits of trash. Maybe he should have hung it on the door. New Jersey, outscoring Florida 12-6 in the series, exposed the Panthers' biggest weaknesses -- a one-man offense and a porous defense. It also reiterated that Florida, though young and talented, needs to make some changes this offseason. "It is disappointing; it's frustrating," coach Terry Murray said. "We are a much better team than we showed throughout the series. We just didn't get it to the level that we had to. "We have some thinking to do, some talking to do. We have to try to figure out what it is that we need to be better at." Defense will be addressed. General manager Bryan Murray, Terry's brother, already has acknowledged the problem. He tried to solve it prior to the trading deadline, but couldn't finalize a deal with the New York Islanders for defenseman Kenny Jonsson. In addition to bringing in some help, Florida would like to keep the nucleus of the team in tact. The Panthers might lose two of three goaltenders. Mikhail Shtalenkov could be picked in the expansion draft because Florida probably will protect Trevor Kidd, who played so well early in the season before injuring his shoulder. And 37-year-old Mike Vernon has an option to return to the Panthers or become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Also, Florida has three main Group-II free agents -- left wings Ray Whitney and Peter Worrell and center Rob Niedermayer -- it will work to sign. Whitney scored 29 goals this season, second on the team to Pavel Bure, and re-signing him will be a priority despite rumors that he is unhappy in South Florida. The Panthers need a second and third scoring threat to keep teams -- like New Jersey -- from focusing so much attention on Bure. The Russian Rocket led the league with 58 goals this season, but was held to one score in the postseason. "We were shooting for the playoffs at the beginning of the season, but when we actually made the playoffs you want to win," Bure said. "You don't want to just go out there and participate. "Bure was the main reason for Florida's turnaround this season. When Bure scored, the Panthers were tough to beat. When he scored multiple goals, they were unbeatable. During the regular season, Florida was 29-10-2 when Bure scored, including 12-0 when he found the net more than once. With Bure in the lineup and out of the scoring column, the team was 10-19-4. He still needs help, though. The Panthers were a combined 64-77-33 the last two years. Bure gave them a huge boost in his first full season in South Florida. Starting the year 27-14-3, the Panthers had a 16-point lead in the Southeast Division over the Washington Capitals in mid-January. Then came the slump, going 16-19-3 the rest of the way and falling to the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. Making matters worse, Florida drew the Devils in the first round, a team it had beaten just once in the last 10 meetings. Now it's one win in the last 14 meetings. "This was a good experience," team captain Scott Mellanby said. "You hate to lose four straight, but it was a lesson from an outstanding team and will help this team down the road. "We had a successful season. Was the postseason successful? No." Will next year be successful?
"I just hope all the young players ... take an awful lot away from the series and bring it back to the season next year," Terry Murray said. "And we'll be a lot better because of it."
Sweeping change for Devils Respectability regained, finally, and reputations restored, the Devils have the chance for more than just repair work. Now they want to do some damage. "We want to go all the way," said Martin Brodeur, again a post-season hero after the Devils emphatically and auspiciously snapped their streak of three straight playoff flops, sweeping the Panthers with a 4-1 victory here last night. "I don't think anyone is satisfied with beating the Panthers. The matchup, we were happy when we got it, and we made the best of it." They will have at least six days, and probably more, for their injured players to heal and their weary to rest before the second round begins against Philly, Toronto, Ottawa or Washington. Scott Stevens, the star of this series, will be among those who can most use the rest, hampered by a pinched nerve in his neck that left his right arm numb during stretches of the first round. Ken Daneyko will rest his abdominal strain, Colin White his forearm bruise, and Sergei Brylin and Krzystof Oliwa their injured knees, along with the other sore groins and bumps of this nasty series. They were feeling little pain last night. "What we wanted to do was win the first series. We did it, and it's great. But there's more to accomplish. This team has the potential," Bobby Holik said. The relief was palpable. "The pressure's off a little bit. Now it will be time for us to put some pressure on," said Brodeur, who allowed only six goals in the series, and one each in the final three games. Scott Niedermayer, branded a villain here for his March 19 whack on Peter Worrell's head, put the Panthers to sleep for the summer by scoring the series-winner to snap a second-period tie. Brodeur allowed only six goals in the series, and only one in each of the final three games, each a comeback victory. The Devils outscored Florida 12-6 in this series, and at the end, Niedermayer shook hands with Worrell in the traditional line. "We didn't say anything. It was up to him whether he wanted to shake hands, and he did," Niedermayer said. It put the final touch on the Devils' first series victory since beating Montreal in the first round in 1997, ending a string of three ousters by the 1997 Rangers, 1998 Senators and 1999 Penguins, upsets all. New Jersey is now 10-9 all-time in playoff series. "It erased any ghosts of playoff history," John Madden said. The sweep was the Devils' second ever, joining their 1995 Cup-clinching victory over Detroit. After blowing two chances to clinch against Pittsburgh last season, the Devils finished off the fifth-seeded Panthers on their first try, lifting their mark in possible clinching games to 10-11. For the third straight game, the Panthers took the first-period lead, but for the first time in this series, the NHL's leading goal-scorer did the deed. The Florida power play had been stymied in all 10 previous attempts in this series, but Pavel Bure's slap from the left circle ended that drought and his own just 5:17 into play. Bure's shot went under Daneyko's block attempt and under Brodeur, extending Bure's point streak to all four playoff games. Patrik Elias tied the score with his first goal in 19 playoff games, going back to that 1997 victory over Montreal. Elias created the play with a bodycheck on Rob Niedermayer at the left boards, freeing the puck for Petr Sykora to send to Jason Arnott in the right circle. Elias raced to his familiar haunt at the left side of the crease to lift in Arnott's pass at 4:26. Niedermayer put the Devils in front to stay at 15:02 with his second, after coming out of the box for high-sticking Bure. From right wing, Niedermayer's shot was misplayed by Mike Vernon, the fifth bad goal of the 10 Vernon had allowed to that point. The Panthers claimed, with some cause, that the Devils should have been penalized for too many men on that goal, as Vladimir Malakhov was late getting off the ice. They had earlier had a 3-on-2 halted by an erroneous whistle ending play when Niedermayer high-sticked Bure. Sergei Nemchinov sealed victory with two goals in the final 3:48, and the Devils were no longer first-round folders. "Elated and relieved," Daneyko said, "but on the other hand, it's only one round." And they have plans to do some damage of their own.
To Leave No Doubts, Devils Gain the Sweep The nightmare is over. The Devils advance. Haunted by first-round eliminations for the past two seasons, the Devils were determined tonight to put the Florida Panthers out of their misery. Spurred by a pregame speech by Coach Larry Robinson, the Devils skated to a convincing 4-1 victory over the Panthers to sweep the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series by four games to none. Robinson, the Hall of Fame defenseman, preached to his players about the danger of failing to finish a series when the opportunity was there. "The longer a series goes," Robinson said, "a lot of strange things happen." Strange things such as Toronto defeating Detroit in 1942 after falling behind by three games to none, or the Islanders eliminating Pittsburgh in 1975 after the Penguins had won the first three games. "A lot of weight is off our shoulders," Robinson said. "'This game scared me the most; the fourth victory is always the toughest." The Devils refused to let the series linger another night. After falling behind by 1-0 on Pavel Bure's first goal of the series, they rallied with second-period goals by Patrik Elias and Scott Niedermayer and two third-period goals by Sergei Nemchinov. Martin Brodeur had another brilliant game in goal, stopping 35 shots. "Marty was as good as I've ever seen him," Bobby Holik said. "He was absolutely sensational." Brodeur said he was more lucky than good. "A lot of the shots, I didn't see," he said. "But my body was in the right position and they hit me." For long stretches of the first period, the Devils played without a sense of urgency in the attacking zone and repeatedly made bad decisions in the defensive zone near Brodeur. Florida had two excellent scoring chances in the first two minutes of the game, but Brodeur denied Mark Parrish from close and Bure from point-blank range in front. The Panthers struck first, 62 seconds after Bobby Holik was sent off for interfering with Bure. Lurking around the left circle, Bure exhanged passes with Victor Kozlov before he fired a slap shot from just outside the left circle that found its way under a sprawling Ken Daneyko and between Brodeur and the right post. It was the first power-play goal in 11 attempts for the Panthers. The Devils took 17 shots at Mike Vernon in the first period, but the goaltender was equal to the task. New Jersey's best scoring chance came with 58 seconds left in the session, when Claude Lemieux came out of the penalty box and found himself skating in alone on Vernon, but his shot sailed wide to the left.
New Jersey finally solved Vernon at 4:26 when Elias went to the net from the left side and redirected Jason Arnott's centering pass from the right wing over Vernon's right leg. Niedermayer scored his second goal since returning from a 10-game suspension for hitting Florida's Peter Worrell over the head with his stick on March 19, gave the Devils a 2-1 lead with his second goal of the series playoffs with 4:58 left in the period. Niedermayer was slammed on the right-wing boards as puck squirted to Randy McKay at the side of the net. McKay smartly flicked the puck back to Niedermayer, who fired the puck from a sharp angle that sailed through a crowd and beat Vernon short side. Nemchinov scored his first goal of the game on a nifty play by Elias, who faked a forehand pass and then slipped the puck on his backhand out of Vernon's reach in front of the Florida net to a streaking Nemchinov, who poked it into the net at 16:12. Nemchinov closed out the scoring with 1:57 remaining. Parked to the left of the Panthers net, Nemchinov took a pass from Lemieux and banged it past Vernon, who had no chance to make a save. Vernon, who was the goaltender for Detroit in 1995 when the Devils swept the Stanley Cup finals against the Red Wings, again was under siege, and made 32 saves.
Now the Devils, a relieved bunch, will have a chance to rest at least six off days before they resume their quest for the cup.
Devils sweep away Panthers Like it's been all series, the New Jersey Devils were just a little better than the Panthers on Thursday night. They got more breaks, they capitalized on more chances and they got more of the same unbelievable goaltending Martin Brodeur's given them the past few weeks. And with that, with a winning goal by Scott Niedermayer late in the second period flawed by controversy, the Panthers' rug was swept out from under them as they lost 4-1 and were knocked out of their first playoffs in three years in four consecutive games. When Sergei Nemchinov scored the first of two goals with 3:48 left, it took the steam out of the exhausted Panthers. With the Panthers looking dejected, he scored again with 1:57 left. "I thought we played with a lot of passion, a lot of hard work and intensity," coach Terry Murray said. "There was a lot of offensive play. It certainly was not a 4-1 game. When you break it down to smaller parts of the game, Brodeur was the best player on the ice." It was a disappointing finish for the Panthers, who had a franchise-best 98 points. It was a glorious finish for the Devils, who avoided a third straight season by being upset in the first round. "It's nice to get that first series out of the way,"Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "This game scared me the most. The fourth is always the hardest to win." In the past three games, the Panthers scored first and never again. They finally broke their 0-for-10 power-play spell when Pavel Bure scored his only goal of the series 5:17 into the game, but the Panthers can blame Thursday's defeat on not scoring on two successive power plays in the second. "We failed to score throughout the series," Murray said. "We got three goals in the first game and we score one in the next three. That's not going to win you a series." But before the second power play, the Panthers had a legitimate gripe after Niedermayer high-sticked Bure. The Panthers had a 3-on-1 down low with the puck on Ray Whitney's stick and Bure the trailer to make it a 4-on-1. It was an ideal chance to extend their lead to 2-0 with Robert Svehla and Mark Parrish down low helping out. But referee Dan O'Halloran, not a Panthers' favorite after a season-full of curious calls, prematurely blew his whistle and the play dead because he thought Niedermayer had touched the puck to end the Panthers' possession. His supervisor, Wally Harris, said after the game O'Halloran was wrong. "As soon as [Niedermayer] slashed [Bure], [O'Halloran] just have blown it down," said Harris, saying O'Halloran thought there was a change of possession. "If he would've have seen it, yes, it would've been a delayed penalty because [the Panthers] did not lose possession. "When [Bure] got slashed, it was still on his stick. Then he passed it [to Viktor Kozlov]. It was one of those fast whistles." Whitney wasn't as forgiving. "It was a horse---- call," Whitney said. "It was par for the course." "Unfortunately we didn't get any breaks in four games," veteran goalie Mike Vernon said. "A lot of calls didn't go our way. We go down on a 3-on-1, and [O'Halloran] blows the whistle and there guy never touched the puck. It's those little things that I think got to us eventually and frustrated us." Just 16 seconds after Niedermayer's penalty expired, the offensive defenseman got out of the box and eventually scored from the right circle. Only one problem though. A press box replay showed when Niedermayer shot, John Madden was sprinting toward the bench. For a period of time, the Devils had six men on the ice -- three defensemen, Madden, McKay and Lemieux. Harris insisted this was not true. "We could not find it on every review," Harris said. "I phoned our office in Toronto and they reviewed this tape as the same findings as we came up with. So there definitely not six men on the ice" The Panthers had several chances in the first and second, but Brodeur was phenomenal. "It was a really good effort," defenseman Todd Simpson said. "The guys were throwing everything at them. We did a lot of good things. I wish we all done that in the first two games.
"Brodeur was just too tough to beat."
When push came to shove, Devils were doing the pushing and shoving There was nothing left now. No time. No hope. No games. Florida's hockey season was dead, and it hardly mattered whether the obituary described the Panthers as slaughtered or merely slain. The New Jersey Devils wiped their sword and went off in search of another fight, leaving this swampland near the Everglades knowing that they were the reason the Panthers had gone quickly and quietly from endangered to extinct. People will go to the predictable places today, looking for somewhere to put the blame for this season-ending 4-1 loss, so there will be questions about Florida's lack of heart or pride or character, which is every bit as unfair as it is wrong. You don't get swept out of the playoffs like this because you didn't care. You get swept like this because you had neither the talent nor the luck nor the matchups to keep from getting overwhelmed. New Jersey's goalie was better in this series. New Jersey's stars were better. New Jersey's defense was better. New Jersey's team was better. That about cover it? About the only thing the Panthers did better than New Jersey in this series was give up goals with five-on-three advantages. "No question they were better," Panthers captain Scott Mellanby said. "Their team defense is overwhelming. And I've never seen a team with a greater ability to take your one mistake and put it in your net." Afterward, a handful of Panthers fans hurled junk on the ice. A lot of white towels, appropriately enough. Makes you wonder, given how the last two professional teams have exited the playoffs, the Dolphins by a 62-7 score, the Panthers in four meek games, if Pat Riley isn't worried that a meteor might hit his practice facility. Hard as this is to say today, this Panthers team -- the franchise's most talented ever -- remains gifted enough to win something as tight as the Eastern Conference. For various reasons, from goaltending to defensive style, the Panthers merely ran into the worst opponent possible. Once New Jersey started believing, getting past the choking that enveloped its previous three first-round exits, it played like the champion it was back in 1995. Thursday? The Panthers played well enough and honorably enough to save their season, save for the game's final five minutes. They were a victim of bad luck more than anything. Ray Whitney fanning on a point-blank shot in front of an empty net? That has nothing to do with New Jersey's smothering defense or goalie Martin Brodeur's greatness. Pavel Bure getting only eight shots and no goals in the first three games. That had to do with smothering defense and Brodeur. In this game, New Jersey produced good fortune with good play. The previous three games, the Devils needed only the good play. "In hindsight, this was a bad matchup for us," Mellanby said. "We didn't think that going in, obviously. We were confident. We didn't force Brodeur to be unbelievable in the first three games. We forced him to be unbelievable tonight, and he was." The Panthers seemed to announce their intentions early Thursday night, coming out the way Cats do when backed into a corner. Mike Wilson, as part of an attack more aggressive than Florida's defensemen had shown at any point in this series, wound up and unleashed three game's worth of frustration toward Brodeur, who literally never saw what hit him. The puck hit New Jersey's goalie in the mask with a thwack that echoed throughout the arena, and Brodeur's head snapped back as if Bobby Knight had been choking him. Alas, New Jersey was just like Brodeur, staggering backward from Florida's best punch but standing straight enough to win the remainder of the fight. Take the way winded, wheezing New Jersey defended consecutive Florida power plays in the second period, killing four minutes in exhausting fashion, and then turning around and producing the game-winning goal an absurd five seconds later. There was this symbolic snapshot in Thursday's second period. Florida's Peter Worrell and New Jersey's Scott Stevens became entangled, and Stevens extracted himself by crosschecking Worrell right across the. . . . um. . . . ouch. . . . how do you say this delicately? . . . . right across the testosterones. Worrell keeled over with a pain every groaning man in the audience seemed to feel. Stevens, face scrunched, skated away merrily, continually rubbing a glove under one eye, sarcastically suggesting for everyone to see that Worrell was a giant crybaby. This is what the Devils did to the Panthers in this series: Hit them where it hurts. Then left them to cry about it.
New Jersey 4, Florida 1
 SCOTT WISEMAN/The Palm Beach Post The New Jersey Devils ended a string of early playoff failures in impressive fashion, defeating the Florida Panthers, 4-1, to complete a four-game sweep of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Patrik Elias and Scott Niedermayer scored second-period goals for the Devils, who completed just the second playoff series sweep in franchise history. The other came against Detroit in the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. Since that championship, the Devils had won just one previous postseason series, getting upset in the first round each of the previous two years as the top seed in the East. "It's nice to get that first series out of the way," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "This is the game that probably scared me the most of all because the fourth one is the hardest to win and in each game you risk injury." Sergei Nemchinov broke the game open with a a pair of goals in the final four minutes with Elias assisting on both tallies. The support would be more than enough for Martin Brodeur, who stopped 35 shots to extend his unbeaten streak against Florida to 12 games (9-0-3). "That's the Marty I've seen in the past," said Devils center Bobby Holik. "What else can I say? You saw it. He was awesome." Pavel Bure scored for Florida, the only goal of the series for the Russian star who was frustrated by the Devils' tight checking and was shadowed for most of the game by Scott Stevens. The Panthers have lost 12 of their last 13 playoff games. "I thought we played with a lot of passion and a lot of hard work and intensity," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "There was a lot of good offensive play. It certainly wasn't a 4-1 game when you broke it down. Brodeur was the best player on the ice tonight. That's why they won." The banged-up Devils, who fired coach Robbie Ftorek in March in favor of Robinson, likely gave themselves at least five days of rest before beginning their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Defenseman Ken Daneyko (strained abdominal muscle) and center Jason Arnott (sprained wrist) were among the Devils playing with injuries. Florida goalie Mike Vernon stopped 31 shots in defeat, but fell to 0-8 lifetime against New Jersey in the playoffs. Vernon was in the nets for Detroit in the 1995 Finals. Niedermayer gave the Devils their first lead of the game at 15:02 of the second. He bounced off a check from Mike Wilson in back of the net and skated along the back line. Randy McKay gained control of the loose puck in back of the goal and fed Niedermayer, who found the back of the net with a shot from a sharp angle. Elias manufactured New Jersey's first goal at 4:26 of the second period. Rob Niedermayer of Florida coughed up the puck along the right boards after being checked hard by Elias. Petr Sykora gained control of the puck and passed cross ice to Arnott. Elias, streaking toward the goal, poked a pass from Arnott past Vernon to tie the game at 1-1. Brodeur, meanwhile, continued to frustrate the Panthers by stopping 14 shots in the second period, including a spectacular kick save on Peter Worrell. "We played hard and they had a lot of chances the second period," Brodeur said. "But we find ways to win hockey games. We go out and play the game the way it's supposed to be played." Bure, who led the league in scoring with 58 goals during the regular season, finally broke through with a power-play goal at 5:17 of the first period. With Holik off for interference, Bure blasted a slap shot from the top of the left circle through the legs of Brodeur. "In the playoffs, it doesn't really matter if you lose 4-0 or in the seventh game. You're still losing," Bure said. Florida scored just one goal in each of the last three games. "We certainly would need more than one goal to beat the New Jersey Devils. Scott Stevens did a great job on Pavel and Marty Brodeur did the rest," the Panthers' Ray Whitney said. "Show me a happy loser in the playoffs and I'll show you a loser." Nemchinov made it 3-1 when took a cross-ice pass from Elias and put a backhander past Vernon at 16:12. With 1:57 left, Nemchinov parked himself in front of the goal and easily converted a pass from Lemieux.
Pavel registered seven shots on goal and was even in the plus minus column.
Kournikova chronicles Let's get that part over with. Rarely has a hockey player inspired as many flashbulbs, late-night jokes and press-box gossips as Fedorov did when he dated Anna Kournikova. His photo showed up in entertainment magazines, British tabloids, supermarket rags. He was in his late 20s. She was barely of legal age. What they did and didn't do is nobody's business, of course, but that didn't matter. People assumed.
And when Fedorov reportedly split with Kournikova -- Did she dump him? Was she stolen away? Why do we care? -- fans actually looked for a drop in his play. Heartbreak was supposed to affect his skating.
Never mind that all the other married or dating players in the NHL don't get asked if a fight or a breakup is behind every missed shot. "What I think happened with me and Anna is this," Fedorov says, leaning forward. "I am a hockey player. I am known in North America and maybe in Russia. Anna plays all over the world. She is popular in North America, South America, Australia, maybe Africa, all over Europe. And obviously, she is a good-looking lady, and so many people make assumptions about her.
"When I was with her, I was living in a soup bowl. I tried to just do my job, concentrate on my hockey and support her career like she supports my career. In the beginning, I didn't hear any of the comments or jokes, thank God. But then the media took a big shot at her. Instead of seeing her tennis, they saw everything else.
"People start talking. It snowballs. I was dating someone who was more famous than me, more famous than probably anyone in our locker room."
Fedorov heard the stories about their breakup, how he supposedly sent a plane's worth of roses to Kournikova, how he desperately wanted her back when she reportedly became engaged to Pavel Bure.
"Believe me, nobody really knows what went on," he says. "But the rumors.... after a while it was just sad, you know? Like, why? Who cares about that in the hockey world?"
I ask Fedorov if the experience will keep him from dating other famous women. The easy answer would be yes. Laugh. Say, boy, I'll never do that again.
He does not take the easy answer.
"I can't say that. Wherever my life will take me, I will go and be myself and do my best.
"Dating Anna was a learning experience, that is for sure. Sometimes not very fun, but that is what it is."
Scoreless Pavel Bure doesn't panic Mike Sillinger looked around the Florida Panthers' locker room. The only sounds were the shuffling of television cameras and tape recorders. "We've got no quitters in here," the Panthers center said after his team's draining 2-1 loss to the Devils at the National Car Rental Center put them down 3-0 in the four-of-seven-game series. "We're not out of it yet. We'll take it period by period, game by game." Sillinger pause and said, "It's desperation time." "I don't have any magic words," said a weary Mike Vernon, the goalie. "But I've been here long enough to feel these guys will play hard however many more games we get to play." The Devils outshot Florida by 40-22, and held the National Hockey League's scoring leader, Pavel Bure, to one lonely scoring attempt. "Pavel is getting a lot of attention," Panthers Coach Terry Murray said in understatement. "It is going to be difficult for him to get close to the net for any length of time." Bure acknowledged that the Devils' reputation as a strong defensive team is richly deserved. "I thought we had something going," he said. "But then they pretty much shut us down. They don't give you many chances." Bure has been a marked man long before the Devils' captain, Scott Stevens, took up the chase in these playoffs, holding him to just three assists in the series. But rarely in his career has the man with 58 goals this season been so throttled.
He was referring to a first period 2-on-1 break on Martin Brodeur. Boring in on the goalie, right wing Mark Parrish took a shot that slipped between Brodeur's legs. The only problem: the puck went wide of the net. "I was in shock when it didn't go in," Parrish said. "I was ready to throw my hands up already. They're not a team where you're going to score pretty goals. I thought we had gotten one by them." Bure managed an assist early in the game, as he sent the puck to Sillinger, who deftly flipped it to Whitney for a Florida lead. There were signs even that this could be a special game for Bure. People who watch these Panthers on a regular basis were saying that it had been some time since Bure was so physical in a game. In the first period, atypically, he curled back on defense to check a Devil and prevent an odd-man break. He even drew an elbowing penalty in the second period in fighting off a collision with defenseman Brian Rafalski, but that became a major break for the Devils. The visitors promptly tied the game on right wing Alexander Mogilny's power-play goal. And that was the beginning of the end for the Panthers. "I saw the collision coming," Bure said. "But I didn't have any intention of throwing an elbow. That was unfortunate." Murray came into the game believing his team's problem wasn't Bure, though Stevens covered him so tightly in the first two games that he probably could tell what Bure had for lunch. The coach chose to blast the guys around him, principally center Viktor Kozlov, a 70-point scorer during the regular season who has been virtually invisible in these playoffs. "His play has been unacceptable," Murray had said after an intense Panthers' closed door meeting on Monday. "It's not even at the minimum that I need from him." Yet, Murray's dilemma is that he was no more ineffective than most of his teammates.
"We have to put these three games behind us," Bure said
Who's the MVP?
 The April 28 issue of The Hockey News features Pavel Bure, Jaromir Jagr and Chris Pronger as the three favourites for the 1999/2000 Hart trophy as the NHL's MVP.
A distant third in the Hart balloting should be the Panthers' Bure, who won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer. Bure scored 58 times - 14 more than runner-up Owen Nolan of San Jose - in 74 games and added 36 assists. Bure had 14 game-winners, tops in the league, and his scoring exploits helped propel the Panthers into the playoffs.
But as dynamic as Bure was for Florida, he plays a largely one-dimensional game. He led the league in breakaways mostly due to his blazing speed, but partly because he seldom went deep defensively, instead choosing to hang around the blueline and neutral zone and look for breakout passes.
Devils Go Up 3-0 The New Jersey Devils again neutralized Pavel Bure and moved within one win of a sweep of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers. Rookie defenseman Brian Rafalski's goal with 16:49 remaining snapped a tie and gave the Devils a commanding three games to none lead in the best-of-seven series. They can complete the second playoff sweep in franchise history with a win on Thursday in Florida. New Jersey's only other sweep came against Detroit in the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. Since then, the Devils have won just one postseason series, getting upset in the first round each of the previous two years as the top seed in the East. "This is a new year. We have a lot of new players," Rafalski said. "I think even the veterans have forgotten about the past. This isn't as much about atoning about the past as it is dealing with the present and the future." New Jersey has gotten offensive contributions from its defensemen, who have kept Bure under wraps while stringing together three one-goal victories. "The bottom line is we're not giving up scoring chances. And I know that frustrates them," said Devils captain Scott Stevens. "It's what's put us in a position to win the series. This is where we wanted to be, in this position. We're playing pretty well." "It's not like we're losing games by four or five goals," Florida left wing Alex Hicks said. "Things can turn around, we just have to keep battling. We're just not getting that goal when we need it." With the score tied, 1-1, Bobby Holik won a faceoff in the Panthers' zone and got the puck back to Rafalski. The 5-9 defenseman let go a wrist shot from above the circle that went in off the right goalpost after goaltender Mike Vernon missed it with his glove. "It's always nice to have a game-winning goal in the playoffs," Rafalski said. "This isn't Game Seven, but I'll take it." "I did see it," said Vernon. "It just hit my glove and just kind of rolled, kind of angled in on me. It went off my glove and into the net. Kind of an unfortunate one and one I wish I could have back." Defensemen have accounted for half of the Devils' eight goals in the series, with Stevens getting the winner in Game Two on Sunday. Martin Brodeur handled only seven shots over the first two periods but stopped all 15 in the third to extend his unbeaten streak against Florida to 11 games (8-0-3). Bure led the league with 58 goals during the season but has been held to three assists and eight shots in this series. "We can win with Pavel creating. We can win with other people scoring," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "He is getting a lot of attention. It is going to be difficult for him to get close to the net for any length of time. We have enough people on this team that can create and score. And with Pavel making some of the plays he is making through the neutral zone, that should be good enough for us." The Devils tied a team record by allowing just one shot in the second period, after which they had a 31-7 edge. But they needed a late power-play goal from Alexander Mogilny to emerge with a 1-1 tie. "I think sometimes shots are a little misleading," New Jersey coach Larry Robinson said. "They had a couple of opportunities where we made really good defensive plays. Otherwise, they would have had some really good scoring chances. A couple of times they had a wide-open player over at the side of the net and the puck bounced over their stick." The Panthers scored first for the second straight game. Mike Sillinger veered right as he skated deep in the Devils' zone, drawing three defenders before sliding a pass to a wide-open Ray Whitney. Whitney whipped the puck past Brodeur, who was caught at the opposite side of the net, for his first goal of the series. Vernon almost singlehandedly kept Florida in front, although New Jersey rookie John Madden shot over the net on a shorthanded breakaway with 2:41 left in the first period. The Devils finally broke through with 3:35 left in the second. Just 47 seconds after Bure received a questionable elbowing penalty, Mogilny slapped a shot from the right faceoff dot that made it through a maze of players and found room between Vernon's pads. "There was no elbow," Florida coach Terry Murray said. "In my view, it was right in front of me, there was no elbow on that." Brodeur wa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
