Sinden Had One Last Move to Make Before Stepping Down

Harry Sinden wanted to make sure the Boston Bruins were on the right path before he handed over the general manager’s reins after 28 years.

The road led him to fire Pat Burns after only eight games and hire Mike Keenan as coach--his last major move before stepping down last Wednesday as Bruins’ GM.

“Last spring I sat down with Coach Burns and we kind of agreed we would take a different approach to the way the team played and style of play and we would work at that,” Sinden said Thursday after assistant GM Mike O’Connell took over the post he held since 1972.

Changes were needed in Boston, where the Bruins failed to reach the playoffs for the second time in four seasons after a 29-year run of making the postseason.

“I was concerned that that may not take place,” said Sinden, who will remain as team president. “I wanted to see if it would take place and if there would be an attempt to do it. And if there wasn’t, I thought I probably had to replace the coach.

“I did not want to make the general manager switch until I had the coach in place.”

Enter Keenan, the man who almost got the Bruins’ coaching job three seasons ago when Burns was hired. With Keenan in place along with O’Connell, Sinden feels the time is right to step away--after considering it for a few years.

“I did it at what I thought was an opportune time with Mike Keenan coming aboard and Mike O’Connell being the manager now,” said Sinden, the first GM to reach 1,000 victories. “The two of them can work together to improve this hockey club.”

They will have work to do, starting with resolving a contract impasse with Anson Carter--the team’s second-leading scorer last season.

“We are going to continue to talk with Anson,” O’Connell said. “We’ve explored trade possibilities with a number of teams. We are going to make a decision whether what they offer is more than what Anson can do for the team.

“I’m sure it’s all about money with Anson. I don’t think it’s gotten to that point where he doesn’t want to play with the Bruins. I’m sure if I open up the checkbook, he would come back as quickly as expected. I don’t think that it’s gotten to that point.”

THEY KEEP SCORING: Scott Young and Theo Fleury have a lot to do with rise in scoring.

Through Thursday’s games, Young of the Blues led the NHL with 13 goals and Fleury was next with 10 goals for the Rangers.

Last season, Young, selected as last week’s player of the week, scored 24 goals in 75 games. His 12 goals in St. Louis’ first 11 games this season marked the fourth fastest start in a decade.

Only Mario Lemieux, who had 16 goals with Pittsburgh in 1992; Brett Hull, who scored 14 for St. Louis in 1990; and Owen Nolan, who had 13 with Quebec in 1991, got out of the gate quicker. Lemieux also had 12 in 11 games in 1995 as did Pittsburgh’s Kevin Stevens in 1992.

Fleury finished the 1999-00 campaign with a career-low 15 goals in his first season with the Rangers. His 10th goal was scored last Dec. 29 in New York’s 36th game.

“The puck’s going in right now and that’s something that wasn’t happening last year,” said Fleury, who had his first Rangers hat trick--15th career--Wednesday against Tampa Bay. “It’s fun to play right now.”

Through the first 161 NHL games this season, goal-scoring is up five percent over 1999-00 and 10 percent from two seasons ago.

NOT ON BROADWAY: John MacLean is not used to not playing. But with the new Rangers regime of general manager Glen Sather and coach Ron Low, the veteran in his 18th NHL season finds himself on the outside looking in.

The right wing, who will turn 36 later this month, has three 40-goal seasons under his belt but its not enough to get him into the Rangers lineup.

MacLean has been a healthy scratch for all but two of New York’s first 12 games. After his first season with New Jersey in 1984-85, when he played 61 games, MacLean has been in at least 74 games every season since--except for the 1994-95 season which was shortened by a labor dispute.

Sather and Low have determined that MacLean does not fit into the current Rangers system and Sather took to criticizing MacLean in an Edmonton newspaper last week.

“MacLean’s giddyap doesn’t giddyap anymore,” Sather told the Edmonton Sun, while also saying several high-priced Rangers playing under long-term contracts weren’t living up to their ends of the bargains.

MacLean hopes to continue his career, but it won’t be with the Rangers. The sides have not been able to agree on a contract buyout or a trade and Sather said he might assign MacLean to the minors--not necessarily the Rangers’ top affiliate in Hartford.

“I think John’s capable of playing, but he’s not going to play here as a fourth-line center,” Sather said. “It’s the same situation down there (Hartford). We’re trying to develop young players.”

HEADACHES: The Philadelphia Flyers are having lots of trouble keeping their heads out of danger.

Eric Lindros’ numerous concussions led to his eventual banishment from Philadelphia and his inability to work out a free-agent deal with another NHL club while he recovers.

But it’s spreading throughout the rest of the Flyers as well.

Mark Recchi has missed numerous games since developing concussion-like symptoms from an early season game; forward Keith Jones took a big hit against Anaheim on Oct. 21 and has been out since; and now Keith Primeau is sidelined with similar problems after he slammed his cheek into the shoulder of teammate Rick Tocchet last Sunday in a game at Washington.