Home >  Sports >  Notebooks

Sunday, May 20, 2001

In the early days of these Stanley Cup playoffs, Johan Hedberg often would get asked how it felt to be getting his first taste of postseason play. And each time he heard the question, his answer would be the same.

It wasn't his first time.

No, he had never played in the NHL's version, but he had participated in 23 playoff games in the AHL, IHL and Sweden.

"It helped me so much, I believe, to have that experience," he said. "I know it's not the same as the NHL, but you're still a part of that experience. It's a great feeling, a really big challenge to be a part of the playoffs."

Just imagine how it feels in Wilkes-Barre these days.

The Baby Penguins are two games into the best-of-seven Calder Cup championship round, having drawn a split so far with Saint John, New Brunswick. And they've come that far with a roster loaded with prospects, younger players who stand to gain invaluable experience before their time comes in Pittsburgh.

Consider what it means to the Penguins' organization to have youngsters such as Toby Petersen, Michal Rozsival, Josef Melichar, Eric Meloche, Alexander Zevakhin, Chris Kelleher, Martin Sonnenberg and others performing their best when the games mean the most. To have them competing in four consecutive overtime games. To have them sacrificing the self for the good of the team. To have them believing that they can be champions.

History backs the impact of the Calder Cup, in its 65th year.

Seventeen members of the Hall of Fame have won it, including Terry Sawchuk, Al Arbour, Gerry Cheevers, Johnny Bower and New Jersey Devils Coach Larry Robinson. Pat Quinn, Bob Hartley and Barry Trotz won the Calder Cup as coaches before gaining their current jobs behind NHL benches. And, most pertinent to the Penguins, three times an AHL club and its NHL affiliate have won championships in the same season.

Craig Button, general manager of the Flames, is delighted that Calgary's top prospects in Saint John are getting a chance to face off against the Baby Penguins.

"You have a greater understanding of the price that is required to win," Button said. "Once you go through something like they are in Saint John, you develop a greater understanding of what it takes at the NHL level."

Icy chips

Forget about Jason Spezza. The growing consensus among the Thrashers' scouts is that Ilya Kovalchuk will be the No. 1 pick in the NHL Entry Draft. And remember, Atlanta owns that pick, unless someone will send them a young goaltender in a trade.

Government officials in Alberta are working toward developing a 50/50 sports lottery to benefit the Flames and Oilers. Some folks are critical that it will pull money away from other lottery-based charities, but most seem to feel it's the only way those franchises will survive.

Sentiment continues to mount in Chicago that the Blackhawks will make a big push to get Jeremy Roenick back as an unrestricted free agent this summer. The trade of Roenick to the Coyotes for Alexei Zhamnov in 1996 was one of the most unpopular in club history.

It now looks like Kevin Constantine is out of the running for the Islanders' coaching job. Look for it go to Ted Nolan.

The Canucks' Daniel Sedin had surgery to repair a herniated disk in his lower back this week, but the team expects him to be ready for training camp. He was hurt playing for Sweden at the World Championship earlier this month, which is bound to make more players reconsider the notion of participating in that increasingly meaningless tournament.

It's starting to look like John LeClair and the Flyers will part ways this summer. He could be worth as much as $8 million a year on the open market, but you can be sure any contract will contain plenty of provisions to guard against his ailing back acting up again.

Ted Leonsis, the Capitals' owner, told the Washington Post he lost $20 million this year, mostly because of a $40 million payroll that consumed 80 percent of his revenues. And to think, his most crowning achievement this past season was finding ways to exclude select fans from the MCI Center.

Sharks General Manager Dean Lombardi strongly denied a New York Post report that he would look to dump Teemu Selanne and clear payroll space to acquire Jaromir Jagr. Get used to it. It's going to be coming from all sides this summer.

As much as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman loves to downplay the impact of Mario Lemieux's return on the league, the numbers speak for themselves: Figures released yesterday show the Penguins led the league in regular-season road attendance, averaging crowds of 17,934 outside Pittsburgh. That's a 7.3 percent increase from last season, largest in the league.

Do you suppose that when Bettman was the No. 2 executive in the NBA he was downplaying the impact of Michael Jordan?

Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@ post-gazette.com.