In The Crease

Hurricanes goalie Trevor Kidd is having a career season, as
evidenced by his 2.17 goals-against average through Sunday and
his back-to-back shutouts of the Devils and the Canadiens last
week. A 1990 first-round draft pick who was acquired from the
Flames last summer, Kidd has finally emerged as a top netminder
for three reasons: 1) He knows he will not be pulled if he makes
a mistake; 2) he loves a heavy workload (with the Flames he was
part of a three-goalie rotation); and 3) he wants to prove that
his former roommate, Theoren Fleury, was wrong when Fleury said
Calgary couldn't win last year because of its goaltending....
Talk to the NHL's elite players and they'll tell you that
slashing, cross-checking and roughing have become worse than
ever when they're carrying the puck. For instance, in games
against the Panthers and the Flyers last week, Blackhawks
defenseman Chris Chelios was run from behind by Florida's Bill
Lindsay and slashed in the face by Philadelphia's Dainius
Zubrus. The referees' job has become much harder since the
league ordered a closer watch on obstruction penalties away from
the play.... Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy should have been
suspended for attacking Red Wings netminder Chris Osgood during
a game last week. While Roy may have won the fight, you have to
wonder if that brawl wasn't the perfect tonic for Osgood, who
had been sagging recently.... The Panthers will miss the
playoffs, but they may have found a unique package of size,
strength and desire in 6'6", 249-pound wing Peter Worrell. An
aggressive hard-nosed 20-year-old who will do anything to win,
Worrell has been playing on a line with Paul Laus, a 6'1",
216-pound bruiser and 6'1", 191-pound center Chris Washburn
since late March. Is there a more imposing line in the NHL?...
You have to wonder what has happened to Islanders second-year
defenseman Bryan Berard. He started the season on fire, with six
power-play goals in his first 11 games and was chosen to play
for the U.S. Olympic team. Over the next 56 games Berard had
only two more goals with the man advantage, and at week's end he
was third-worst in the league at -36.

Pierre McGuire coached the Hartford Whalers in 1993-94.