All-Star Post To Hitchcock

Around the NHL

Ken Hitchcock of the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers coach Doug MacLean were selected Monday as head coaches for the NHL’s All-Star Game.

Hitchcock, who formerly coached Kamloops of the Western Hockey League, is making his first all-star appearance. His assistant coach will be Marc Crawford of the Colorado Avalanche, who served as a Western Conference assistant last year.

MacLean will make his second straight appearance behind the bench for the Eastern Conference team, which won last season 5-4. MacLean’s assistant coach will be Paul Maurice of the Hartford Whalers.

MacLean and Hitchcock earned the all-star nominations based on their teams leading their respective conferences. Each conference assistant is the head coach of the team in first place in the other divisions.

Dallas leads the Western Conference’s Central Division with 45 points while Colorado tops the Pacific Division with 43 points.

The All-Star Game will be played in San Jose, Calif., on Jan. 18.

Maybe a bonus baby

New York Islanders defenseman Bryan Berard is becoming a strong candidate for rookie of the year. With four goals and 23 points, he’s tied for fourth among defensemen and he’s third among all rookies. His heady play is especially impressive at a position kids usually take years to grow into.

The Islanders’ only problem is a $650,000 bonus he’s due if he wins the Calder Trophy and a $500,000 bonus if he scores 60 points. He’s on a pace for 58.

“Bad contract, boy,” said Mike Milbury, the Islanders’ general manager and coach.

Letter of the law

It’s typical of the NHL to trumpet its Dec. 15 crackdown on illegal goalie equipment, only to back off and give four teams more time because the pad police didn’t get around to checking the gear of those teams’ goalies.

Sounds suspiciously like its crackdown on interference last season, which initially was gung-ho but rapidly lost its steam.

No goalie has been nabbed with oversized equipment, but some are still grumbling about switching their gear, no matter that the difference was often no more than half an inch on their leg pads.

“They might as well make us play naked out there,” Dallas goalie Darcy Wakaluk said.

Double shutout

Goaltenders Dominik Hasek and Martin Brodeur each made 37 saves Monday night as the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils played a 0-0 tie at East Rutherford, N.J.

It was the first scoreless tie in Devils history and the sixth for the Sabres, their second this year.

Other games

Daniel Alfredsson had a goal and three assists, and Ottawa limited Montreal to just 14 shots in a 6-0 victory over the slumping Canadiens… . Peter Bondra scored his 16th goal and Dale Hunter added three assists to lead Washington to a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay… . Ray Sheppard’s goal at 1:46 of overtime spoiled a three-goal comeback by New York as Florida escaped with a 4-3 victory… . Boston’s Troy Mallette scored with 6:30 left in the third period as the Bruins earned a 3-3 tie with Chicago… . Pittsburgh’s newest line - Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis - combined for 10 points as the Penguins beat Toronto 6-5… .

Eric Lacroix scored a wraparound goal at 19:15 of the third period and Joe Sakic scored his 300th career goal, leading Colorado past Calgary.