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Sunday, April 14, 2002

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

BOSTON -- As the NHL's regular season draws to a close today, and Southpointe becomes better known for its golf course than its ice rink, a look back at the pluses and minuses ...

Plus: The Bruins. No team made a more dramatic leap, going from ninth to first in the East, thanks to fresh footing from a retread coach, Robbie Ftorek.

Minus: The team the Bruins played last night, if only because no one fell further from prominence. Yes, the goal of reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs was rendered nearly impossible by injuries, but not even that excuses the late nosedive.

Plus: Jarome Iginla. He was the league's only 50-goal man, its top scorer and a blast to watch.

Minus: How much more fun would the scoring race have been if Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr had stayed healthy and duked it out?

Plus: The Thrashers' sensational rookies, Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley, give hope the league finally can produce another wave of pure scorers.

Minus: Is there any forward younger than 30 known primarily for excelling at playmaking?

Plus: Ron Francis' class.

Minus: Billy Tibbetts' phone etiquette.

Plus: The Olympics gave the NHL's players their highest profile in American television viewing history, producing ratings unseen since the 1980 Miracle on Ice.

Minus: Soon as those new fans tuned in an NHL game, they found soccer instead. Goals per game dropped to 5.2 from 5.52 a year ago, lowest level since 1955.

Plus: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman vows the league will enforce obstruction rules next year.

Minus: The very need to make such a declaration underscores its impotence.

Plus: Markus Naslund comes back from a broken leg to regain his spot among the NHL's elite offensive performers.

Minus: Martin Straka's two tries at the same don't last a period.

Plus: Bill McCreary.

Minus: Dan Marouelli.

Plus: Jose Theodore, Sean Burke and Patrick Roy, who should be the three finalists for the Hart Trophy.

Minus: What would it say about the NHL if the Hart race is limited to goaltenders?

Plus: For the first time in recent memory, no player sits out a significant portion of the season in a contract dispute.

Minus: That meant Petr Nedved played, which, judging by the rabid treatment he is getting at Madison Square Garden, was not a good thing for the Rangers.

Plus: The Rangers, with a league-high $68 million payroll, missed the playoffs a fifth consecutive year, proving again that money alone can't buy the Stanley Cup.

Minus: How will that bolster management's case concerning competitive imbalance when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in 2004?

Plus: Alexei Kovalev hobbling back onto the ice on his bad hip to give his sweater to a fan Friday night at Mellon Arena.

Minus: The $825,000 given to Mike Wilson to play in Wilkes-Barre most of the season. Might that extra money have kept Darius Kasparaitis?

Plus: Jagr's quote after being booed in his former home: "Of course, it is bad. But, hey, if those fans are able to pay a hundred bucks to boo me, that's their right."

Minus: Jim Dowd's quote about criticism he and his Wild teammates hear for their dull ways: "It doesn't matter. People can complain. They always do. It's just an excuse. If people don't like it, too bad."

Plus: The high-flying Kings will end up hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Minus: A Capitals season didn't end with a loss to the Penguins.

Plus: Saku Koivu.

Minus: No negative for that one. If they made a Heart Trophy, it would be all his.

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