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Sunday, October 20, 2002

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Wait a second. Wasn't the NHL's obstruction crackdown supposed to be the undoing of defensive teams such as the Wild?

If so, how is it that Minnesota went 7-0-1 in the preseason and is 3-0-1 so far in the regular season?

The answer is threefold:

One, while Jacques Lemaire always employs the neutral-zone trap, he maintains he doesn't coach his players to hook and hold. Rather, the emphasis is on sound defensive positioning, precisely what most teams are lacking now.

Two, Manny Fernandez has rediscovered his prime form of two years ago and given the Wild a towering presence in net to cover up for their few mistakes.

Three, Marian Gaborik looks like a young Joe Sakic.

"I'm excited," Lemaire told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "I know the team is getting better and better."

Pierre-Marc Bouchard, a 5-foot-9 offensive dynamo the Penguins considered taking with the fifth overall pick in the recent NHL Entry Draft, lasted until eighth, and the Wild are glad he did. Bouchard, playing well in limited duty, is one of five players from the class of 2002 already in the NHL. The others are the Blue Jackets' Rick Nash (first overall), the Panthers' Jay Bouwmeester (third), the Predators' Scottie Upshall (sixth) and the Capitals' Steve Eminger (12th).

The Penguins aren't the only team that thought it was a good idea to stack a line. The Avalanche went 0-1-1 before Bob Hartley united Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic and promising Radim Vrbata. If checkers can't check, the thinking goes, why spread out the offense?

The most dramatic drop in attendance isn't in Pittsburgh but in St. Louis, where the Blues are nearly 4,000 below their average of last season. They had 21 sellouts last season but have none so far.

Say it ain't so: Hockey's Mr. October, Brian Savage, has yet to suit up for the Coyotes because of a groin strain, and now a wrist injury threatens to keep him out all month. Isn't the same without him.

Manny Legace didn't draw much attention for being Dominik Hasek's backup on the Red Wings' championship team last season, which might explain why those who engraved the names on the Stanley Cup misspelled his last name by starting it L-A. No big deal, though. Jacques Plante's name was messed up five times but repaired with a stamp each time. The same will happen for Legace.

Early Calder Trophy candidate -- and the main player to watch on TV when the Penguins visit Detroit -- is Henrik Zetterberg. His points are not nearly as impressive as his poise. "I watched him on our first road trip go to three buildings against three teams he'd never seen, and he wasn't fazed at all," Coach Dave Lewis told the Detroit News. "He had a goal and a breakaway, was strong defensively, killed penalties, played the power play. He's got really good composure."

Early candidate for the far less coveted Petr Nedved Trophy is the Sharks' Evgeny Nabokov, who told San Jose management this week that he would rather spend the coming year in Russia than sign a long-term contract. The Sharks want to wrap him up for five or six years, and Nabokov wants one or two.

Three cheers for the Wild's Bill Muckalt, who scored three goals in two games this week after having none in 70 games for the Senators last season. Next up has to be the Devils' Ken Daneyko, who is working on his fourth consecutive season without a goal.