WESTERN CONFERENCE

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Rob Brown #44 of the Pittsburgh Penguins looks on the ice during a game against the Calgary Flames at the Canadian Airlines SaddleDome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Photograph by : Getty Images

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Brown good as gold

Take a bow, Rob Brown. When Ken Hitchcock, who just coached his 1000th NHL game was asked the best junior player he'd ever saw, he didn't hesitate.

"Nobody was even close to Brownie. He was the Wayne Gretzky of the Western Hockey League. He could do things with the puck at that level nobody else could. A special player, boy," said the Columbus Blue Jackets coach.

"Hitch was one of the biggest influences on my life, along with my family. He had two rules for me. 'If you have the puck, do what you want with it, but if you don't, do what I want,' '' said Brown, who had 212 points one unbelieveable season in Kamloops, playing only 60 games, with Mark Recchi on his wing for a chunk of them. That's the most points anybody's ever had in a single WHL season.

Brown, who finished fifth in NHL scoring in 1988-89 with 49 goals and 115 points in Pittsburgh, teaches at the St. Francis Xavier and the St. Albert Academy, and works on the Oilers broadcasts.

Yeah, now you're sorry

Shawn Horcoff has joined the chorus of players who are a little tired of offending players saying, "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you,'' after destroying somebody with a hit.

"It's a split-second decision that could be really bad for someone. I wish more guys would come out and say, 'I screwed up,' " said Horcoff, who gets the same vibe from Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, a victim of a wallop to his cranium by Willie Mitchell of the Vancouver Canucks --maybe not dirty, but a blow that put him down for several weeks.

"If you're going to sit there and answer questions after you've hit somebody and say you didn't want to hurt them, then you're lying through your teeth," said Toews.

Odd man out

If the Blackhawks only had enough money to sign two of Duncan Keith, Toews and Patrick Kane, some scouts think Kane would draw the short straw, as flashy as he is.

"I think they'll try and trade (Patrick) Sharp, (Kris) Versteeg, (Cam) Barker. The players in Chicago love Sharp. They can't take back players who make any money, but they could get some good young prospects," said one NHL executive.

This 'n' that

- After Mathieu Garon stoned the Anaheim Ducks after overtime on Friday for the Columbus Blue Jackets, he ran his shootout record to a ridiculous 17-4 lifetime.

- Minnesota Wild forward Benoit Pouliot looks like a bust. When he does play, it's on the third or fourth line. They continue to have to kick him in the butt.

- St. Louis Blues president John Davidson was hobbling around with a crutch at his induction to the broadcasters wing at the Hockey Hall of Fame. He needs both knees done again, 11 years after he had double surgery while a New York Rangers broadcaster. Davidson has had his wrists repaired recently for carpal tunnel. "Most pain I've ever had. Two (knees) done at the same time. A mistake," said the former NHL netminder.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Neale concerned

Harry Neale has never seen the game quicker or the players bigger, a wild recipe for players getting hurt, and there are more than 100 out.

There's a freight-train mentality now because nobody can get held up before a violent collision, and when is charging ever called, especially at the end of the rink?.

"The game doesn't need a complete enema, but they're going to wait until somebody doesn't get up. Then they'll do something," said Neale, who likes the physicality, but still shudders some nights. He especially feels for defencemen.

"Some defencemen have played their whole career and never cared (about getting hit). Now, they're thinking 'You know, I'll never be first in the corner anymore. I'll be a close second, and I'll be better off,' '' he said.

Neale scoffs at players who say they don't mean to hurt other players.

"Every hit, you mean to hurt the guy. It's like fighting. There's always an instigator."

Money matters

Atlanta coach John Anderson has kept a whimsical attitude to being in the NHL after years as a minor-league bench boss.

"Biggest difference? Payday," he chuckled. Anderson is coaching one of the world's greatest players, Ilya Kovalchuk, and knows the score.

"What's easier to get rid of, a $500,000 coach or a$7-million superstar?" he said with a broad smile.

"That's a hammer that's always over your head, but there's an open line of communication."

Bad heads for worst

If the Carolina Hurricanes lose today to the Wild, they'll tie the 1930-31 Philadelphia Quakers for the third longest losing streak in NHL history. The 1974-75 Washington Capitals and1992-93 San Jose Sharks, one year removed from expansion, both lost 17 in a row.

"We were the Washington Generals of the NHL and we were playing the Harlem Globetrotters every night," said Sharks longtime radio voice Dan Rusanowsky.

"I remember after the all-star break that year (coach) George Kingston decided to have a mini camp for three days, start over at 0-0, and we went into Calgary and they beat us 13-1, then went into Edmonton and they beat us 6-0 to tie the NHL record of 17 straight losses.

"Ronnie Low was the Oilers assistant coach then, I believe, and he was the goalie on the Caps team in '75. So it kind of went full circle.

"We ended the streak in Winnipeg in Doug Wilson's final NHL game, when Igor Ulanov hit him and he hurt his knee."

The Hurricanes aren't the Sharks, however. They made the Final Four last season but got old quickly. Now, general manager Jim Rutherford has a legitimate shot at the junior phenom Taylor Hall as the first pick in the draft.