A Whole New World for Captains

It wasn’t too long ago when all the captains in the NHL were from Canada or the United States. That’s not the case anymore.

“There is a lot of criteria that coaches look at when they select captains and nationalities are not one of them,” said Dave Taylor, senior vice president and general manager of the Kings, who named Swedish defenseman Mattias Norstrom captain this season.

“When we look at Matty, he’s a player who has tremendous amount of respect in our organization. It’s the way he carries himself as a professional on and off the ice. It doesn’t matter if he was born in Sweden, Canada or the U.S. If the player has the material you would like to see in a captain, he’ll be named captain.”

Toronto’s Mats Sundin, Vancouver’s Markus Naslund, Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson and Phoenix’s Teppo Numminen are the other European NHL captains playing this season, while Montreal captain Saku Koivu is not playing because of cancer.

The NHL has come a long way since the Winnipeg Jets raised eyebrows when they joined the league in 1979-1980 and had Swedish Lars-Erik Sjoberg as captain.

“There were fewer Europeans in those days and the style of the game wasn’t like it is today,” said Taylor, captain of the Kings from 1985-89. “Europeans were known for their very high skill level. They were used to training in Europe and playing on a bigger ice surface, but they weren’t too many captains back then. But now that it’s an accepted fact that Europeans are world-class players who belong in the NHL ... it’s not surprising to see some of them being named captain.”

When Phoenix traded captain Keith Tkachuk to St. Louis before last season’s trade deadline, Coach Bob Francis knew Numminen was the logical choice to replace him.

Numminen, who last week established a franchise record for most games played with 951, trails only Detroit’s Steve Yzerman and New Jersey’s Ken Daneyko in games played among active players with their original team.

“Teppo has given 13 years to the organization and he’s the consummate pro,” Francis said. “He prepares himself as well as anyone I’ve ever seen. He has the utmost respect from his peers. He knows how to treat people on and off the ice. When you play this game now, where you come from is really irrelevant. Your impact in the locker room and on the ice is what counts.”

Being selected an NHL captain is a special achievement for Numminen, who began his career when the franchise still called Winnipeg home.

“It is a great honor,” he said. “There are only so many captains in the league and I’m one of them. It’s a real step ahead for Finnish hockey and players from Europe. I think this will only help players in the future to play in this league and have some respect.

“The game has changed into an international league. There are so many foreign players now. It doesn’t matter where you are from or born any more.”

Just Like Old Times

Much of the credit for the New York Islanders’ turnaround this season has gone to the arrival of forwards Michael Peca and Alexei Yashin and goaltender Chris Osgood. But a major reason for the Islanders’ early success has been forward Mark Parrish.

Acquired from Florida for promising goaltender Roberto Luongo after the 1999-2000 season, Parrish has been a force in front of the net for New York and leads the league with nine goals after scoring only 17 times in 70 games last season.

“I’ve been getting a lot of chances,” Parrish said. “I’m getting the puck in a position where I can bury it.”

In getting off to the best eight-game start (6-0-1-1) in team history, the Islanders have been getting it done on all fronts. Osgood, who has two shutouts in seven games, has provided solid goaltending and the team’s offense has been opportunistic enough to win five consecutive road games to open the season, which is two shy of the league record set by the 1940 Toronto Maple Leafs.

Not bad for a team that posted only nine road wins last season and a league-worst 21 victories overall.

Hot Start

Another team off fast is the Calgary Flames.

After failing to reach the playoffs the last five seasons, the Flames have one of the best records in the Western Conference, thanks to strong play in goal from Roman Turek (league leader in save percentage and goals-against average among goalies who have played at least two games) and steady special teams (third in power play heading into Monday’s games).

“Obviously people are going to start talking about us now,” hard-hitting defenseman Denis Gauthier said after Calgary defeated Toronto, 4-1, on Saturday. “Not just here in Calgary but out east, the scouts and everyone will be aware of us and that’s a good feeling. I haven’t had that feeling in five years here. It’s kind of new for a few of us but it’s great.”

With Marc Savard sidelined by a sprained knee and Rob Niedermayer day-to-day because of a sore hip, the top offensive threat for the Flames has been Jarome Iginla, who has eight points in eight games.

Big Bad Donald

Vancouver’s Donald Brashear added to his reputation as a heavyweight enforcer last week when he gave a hand-dusting gesture in front of the Toronto bench after he beat down the Maple Leafs’ Wade Belak.

“It’s disrespectful to do that to another fighter, especially for a guy who fights all the time,’ Belak, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound defenseman said about Brashear. “It’s showboating. It looks childish out there.”

Brashear received a 10-minute misconduct in addition to his fighting major in a 6-5 game won by Toronto.

Line Shifts

Don’t expect St. Louis forward Mike Keane to exchange Christmas cards this year with his former coach, Dallas’ Ken Hitchcock. In the game program for the Blues and Stars matchup last week, Keane was quoted as saying about Hitchcock: “Was he a horse’s ass? Yes. I don’t think that’s a big mystery. Does he win games? Yes. As far as the way he handled the team and his coaching staff, I didn’t agree with it. It’s well documented that he wasn’t a player’s coach, but he’s been successful and I guess that’s the bottom line.” Hitchcock responded to the article by saying Keane is “one of those little guys who guards the bridge, you know, a troll.”

Edmonton forward Georges Laraque, the league’s most intimidating enforcer at 6-foot-3, 260 pounds, is trying to lose weight. Laraque, whose ice time has been cut to less than nine minutes per game, has been working with a nutritionist to get down to his playing weight listed on the team’s roster at 249.

Marty McSorley’s NHL playing career may be over, but he and his brother, Chris, are trying to buy the struggling Cardiff Devils of the British National League.

Quote of the Week

“If you look around the league, the market is pretty well set. I’m not going to sign anything I’m not happy with. Fair market value. I like it here, but it’s got to be that.”

New Jersey defenseman Scott Stevens after the St. Louis Blues gave Al MacInnis, 38, a two-year deal at $7 million a season. Stevens, 37, is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season and makes $4.2 million less than what MacInnis will earn next season