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tuesday, april 20, 2004
the university daily kansan 5E
hockey
5B
Konowalchuk shines for Colorado
The Associated Press
DENVER — There's Steve Konowalchuk, scoring goals and creating chances for teammates. Now he's in the face of the opponent's top scorer on a checking line.
Yep, that's him on the power play, too. The Avalanche are short-handed? Of course Konowalchuk's out there killing penalties.
penalties. Anywhere, anytime, against anyone it doesn't matter for Colorado's most versatile player. Heck, he'd probably give goalie David Aebischer a breather if he could get the pads on quick enough.
"When we got him we didn't expect him to have to play 18-19 minutes a game, but he's so reliable in all situations that it's pretty tough not to push him over the
boards to get him out there." Avalanche coach Tony Granato said.
Konowalchuk was steady, but
Konowak m ost l y unspectacular in 12 seasons with Washington, with 146 goals and 196
assists in 693 career games while playing mostly on checking lines.
That's why there wasn't much excitement when Colorado got him and a 2004 third-round pick for Bates Battaglia and the rights to prospect Jonas Johansson in an Oct. 29 trade with the Capitals.
It turned out to be the best deal the Avalanche made all season.
Steady with the puck, willing to crash the net and effective along the boards and in the corners. Konowalchuk was one of Colorado's most consistent plav-
ers during the regular season. He was fourth on the team with 19 goals, added 21 assists and was one of the best at face-offs, winning 45 percent of his draws.
ring 45 percent of the
Konowalchuk has been just as
good in the playoffs.
good in the play.
He had three goals in Colorado's first-round series against Dallas, including the go-ahead score in Saturday's 5-1 series-clinching 5-1 victory, and played a key role in getting Colorado's powerplay back on track—6-for 21 after ending the season 1-for 23. Konowalchuk also was a big part of the Avalanche's solid penalty kill and won several key face-offs late in games.
"He's very good at both ends, he doesn't make too many mistakes and he's good in the corners," Colorado forward Teemu Selanne said. "Overall, he's a predator."
Or Rahman. In November, injuries to Peter Forsberg, Andrei Nikolishin and Riku Hall left the Avalanche thin at center. No problem. Konowalchuk was a left wing with the Capitals and had never played center before, but shifted to the middle and led Colorado with seven goals in the month.
the month.
Konowalchuk was all over the place after that, sometimes playing on a line with leading scorer Joe Sakic and other times on a checking line with grinders like Matthew Barnaby and Chris Gratton. He became so good a filling different roles that he became his role.
became his top scorer.
Of course, Konowalukch also was out there on the power play, killing penalties and playing his usual game of crashing the net and getting back on defense.
Hockey player accused of trying to hire hit man
The Associated Press
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Katie Wolmeyer is a "young girl smitten with a hockey player who lied to her," her attorney told a federal magistrate in East St. Louis, Ill., Monday.
Monday.
Wolfmeyer, a 19-year-old athlete and nursing student at St. Louis Community College, sobbed throughout her initial court appearance on charges that she tried to help St. Louis Blues forward Mike Danton hire a hit man to kill an acquaintance of Danton's.
Danton's.
U.S. Magistrate Clifford Proud set a preliminary hearing for 9 a.m. April 30. Wolfmeyer was freed on $100,000 bond to the custody of her parents. She was ordered to wear an electronic monitor.
More than two dozen of Wolfmeyer's relatives and classmates packed the courtroom. Her father silently mouthed words of encouragement. Her mother held out her arm toward her daughter in quiet support as Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Clark emphasized the seriousness of the charges.
"This is not a theft, this is not a drug case," Clark said. "This was a crime of violence."
NHL
Danton was arrested Friday in San Jose, Calif., one day after the San Jose Sharks beat the Blues 5-1 to eliminate St. Louis from the NHL playoffs. He remains jailed in California, awaiting extradition. No hearing date for him has been set.
Clark said Wolfmeyer confessed to the crime. Her attorney, Donald Groshong, said she did not.
Groshong called Wolfmeyer "a nice young girl who is the real victim in this case. She was lied to by everybody." He would not elaborate.
ate. Danton's agent said the player is struggling, too.
is struggling, too.
"Mike is scared," agent Dave Frost said in a telephone interview. "He's still in a state where he doesn't actually understand what's happened. He's in desperate, desperate need of counseling, immediately."
immediately. Danton's mind-set was worsened by public comments from his estranged father, Stephen Jefferson, Frost said. In several interviews, Jefferson, of Brampton, Ontario, blamed Frost for his son's emotional problems. There was no telephone listing for Jefferson.
Jefferson told the Toronto Star that he introduced his son, then 11, to Frost at the urging of a
friend. Soon, Jefferson said, Frost took over the boy's life. Frost has served as an agent for Danton, now 23, since Danton was 15.
thejetterson.com Frost would say only that police have long documented the reasons behind Danton's problems.
"That man has ruined my son's life." Jefferson told the Star.
BOSTON — Richard Zednik scored midway through the third
awry.
Wolfmeyer's uncle, John Wolfmeyer, said the family believes she met Danton while working at the St. Louis Mills mall, where the Blues practice. It was one of three jobs Katie Wolfmeyer held while studying nursing at St. Louis Community College, where she played volleyball and lacrosse, her uncle said.
sons behind Danton's problems are unrelated to drugs or alcohol. He declined to elaborate but noted that when Danton legally changed his name two years ago from Mike Jefferson to Mike Danton, "He said, 'I will not wear that name on a sweater I play hockey in.'"
Canadiens defeat Bruins in record comeback
The FBI alleged Danton tried to hire a hit man for $10,000 to murder an acquaintance at the apartment the men shared. The complaint alleged the men argued Tuesday over Danton's "promiscuity and use of alcohol." Danton feared the acquaintance would talk to Blues management and ruin Danton's career, the FBI said.
where Danton sat When that witness and Danton spoke, Danton allegedly hatched a plot in which the slaying would occur at the apartment and be made to look like a burglary gone awry.
ball and face an-American type of "She's an all-American type of girl," John Wolfmeyer said. "Everyone's in her corner. Nobody is sleeping or eating. This is just tearing the family apart."
ing out the facts; Clark dismissed that defense, saying the "cooperating witness" was not a police officer. In fact, Clark said Wolfmeyer showed the man where Danton lived.
said:
Wolfmeyer was accused of conspiring to arrange the plot by passing Danton's call to another man, described in the complaint as "cooperating witness" for the FBI. Groshong said Wolfmeyer knew she was speaking to a police officer and was simply lay-
Danton has had a troubled NHL career, but seemed to be finding himself with the Blues.
He came to the Blues in a June trade from the New Jersey Devils, where he had been twice suspended for disciplinary reasons. He sat out all of the 2001-02 season and played in just 17 games in 2002-03.
Boston, which had never losta series it led 3-1, also had its sixgame winning streak in Game 7s snapped. Montreal has won four of the six Game 7s between the Original Six teams.
The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Blues learn money doesn't equal victory
1 series deficit to win for the first time, capturing two of the final three games in Boston. Seventh-seeded Montreal will take on the Eastern Conference's top team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in the second round.
ST.LOUIS — In the wake of their second straight first-round NHL playoff exit, the St. Louis Blues plan to have a lower-payroll team whenever play resumes.
The Blues have been active in
season, among the top in the league, with a roster dotted by high-priced stars such as Chris Pronger, Keith Tkachuk, Doug Weight, Al MacInnis and Pavol Demitra.
the free agent market in recent seasons and carried a payroll of about $60 million this
The big-ticket approach hasn't gotten the team very far. So once players and ownership agree on a new collective bargaining agreement, general manager Larry Pleau said Monday the team will have a different, cheaper and younger look.
"We're not going to be in the free agent market signing high-priced players."
But Tkachuk and Weight are under contract for next season, and Pleau said the Blues definitely intend to make a qualifying offer to Pronger. Together, those three make about $30 million.
Slicing the budget might be easier said than done.
easier said. Macnnis is likely to retire at age 40 following his second serious eye injury in two seasons, a detached retina that sidelined him most of this season. He's still having vision problems.
"We've said all along that Pronger is a guy we definitely want to build around," Pleau said.
"We want Pronger around for a long time and our goal will be to try to find something that's right for both sides."
Both Weight and Tkachuk could be trade bait. Weight was perhaps the team's best player in the playoffs, but was inconsistent in the regular season, and Tkachuk has no goals in the last two postseasons.
two possible:
"Privately, you judge yourself."
"Weight said." "Certainly I'm disappointed."
"There's no doubt about it, we're going to have a different budget than we had this year. I would say it's going to be considerably less. We're not going to be in the free agent market signing high-priced players."
I'm disapppearnt The team could cut some salary by making a qualifying
Larry Pleau Blues general manager
offer to Demitra and then trading him. Both Demitra and Tkachuk have been playoff busts. Goalie Chris Osgood also was a bit of a disappointment with inconsistent play in the playoffs and might not be back.
The Blues have an option on his contract for next season.
period and the Montreal Canadiens capped a comeback unprecedented in their rich history, beating the Boston Bruins 2-0 last night to win the first-round series in seven games.
"He could have played better, for sure," Pleau said. "We have a big decision to make with Chris, no doubt about it. But can I sit here and say he lost the series for us? I can't say that."
The status of forward Mike Danton also is in question after his arrest in what authorities described as a murder-for-hire plot last week.
plot last week. "It's in the hands of the authorities," Pleau said.
Whatever changes they make, the Blues don't want their next team to be labeled a rebuilding effort.
Their run of 25 straight playoff appearances is the longest streak in the four major sports, and they're proud of it even if they're never made the Stanley Cup finals during that time.
"You always want to try to be competitive," Pleau said. "Some of the teams that have lesser payrolls have been pretty competitive. We want to be entertaining."
taming. Pleau said it's too early to discuss specific changes, but one player who likely won't be back is forward Scott Mellanby, Mellanby, 57, struggled through an injury-filled season and said the best scenario for him to consider playing again would be in a season shortened by a labor dispute.
The Canadiens rallied from a 3-
pute.
"My gut feeling right now is I think I won't play," Mellanby said. "I didn't live up the expectations I have for myself and maybe it's time to give somebody else that ice time."