UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE
by Ihor Stelmach
Tverdovsky's season in jeopardy: diagnosis debate continues
When New Jersey Devils blueliner Oleg Tverdovsky suffered from dizziness and nausea for more than three weeks, he feared he might be suffering post-concussion syndrome from a hit he took in a late November game against Detroit.
But a battery of tests determined Tverdovsky had a viral infection and then suffered a relapse.
"It was all viral," said GM Lou Lamoriello. "If he'd had a concussion he couldn't have played. He wouldn't have played."
After missing five straight games and seven of 10, Tverdovsky returned to the line-up last January 13.
"I felt fine. No dizziness," he said. "I got sick twice, and maybe I got shaken up a little bit on the hit.
"Maybe it's the different climate. I haven't been in winter since I left Russia. [Or is it actually Ukraine?] That's nine years."
A week or so later the Devils and the ailing defenseman were continuing to play head games. Indeed, the speedy skater's season appeared to be in jeopardy.
Although the team maintained tests conducted by several neurologists and noted head injury expert Dr. Karen Johnston did not show Tverdovsky had suffered a concussion back in November, the player's agent claimed otherwise. Don Meehan had his client visit Dr. Johnston in Montreal when fatigue and dizziness sidelined Tverdovsky for all but three games in January.
Meehan said the examination by Dr. Johnston showed that "In all likelihood, he had sustained a concussion."
That prompted GM Lamoriello to call a press conference. He said the team was willing to treat Tverdovsky as if he had suffered a concussion, but there was no proof.
"I've talked to (Dr. Johnston). She did not determine Oleg had a concussion," Lamoriello said. "The things he has complained about were symptomatic [of a concussion], but tests did not show he had one. We don't know what it is. He just doesn't feel good. I will challenge any claim that he had a concussion."
Lamoriello pointed out Tverdovsky had suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome in the past.
Tverdovsky was placed on injured reserve by the Devils in early February. As the diagnosis debate rages on, a very talented member of one of the league's best defense corps hopes to be medically cleared to lace up his skates before the 2002-2003 season comes to an end.
Tkachuk not blue with contract
True to his repeated desire that he get the chance to retire as a member of the St. Louis Blues, Keith Tkachuk agreed to a long-term contract which could result in a five-year, $45 million deal.
After many weeks of intense negotiations, Tkachuk accepted a guaranteed four-year, $40 million contract with a team option at $5 million for the fifth year - a sticking point for the Blues throughout the discussions.
"All along, I've wanted to stay a Blue," said Tkachuk, who led the Blues with 38 goals last season and now is the team's highest paid player. According to the 30-year-old left-winger, he and his family "did what we had to do to make (the contract) happen."
Gretzky back for Olympics
Wayne Gretzky will be back to help Canada defend its Olympic title in 2006 and is leaning towards running Canada's entry in the 2004 World Cup.
Attending a Hall of Fame ceremony on October 16, 2002, celebrating Canada's gold-medal-winning men's team, Gretzky reiterated that the only way he won't be at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy, is if NHL players don't participate.
"I think if we are going to go to the Olympics, we should take our best players. If we don't send our best, then I do not want to be part of it," he said.
As for the World Cup, Gretzky wants to see whether he has the time to commit to running Team Canada. Gretzky is managing partner of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Shvidki aims to make impression
Florida Panthers right-winger Denis Shvidki knows last season was the definition of the term "out of sight, out of mind."
By the end of the 2001-2002, Shvidki wasn't even included in discussions of the Panthers' promising young forwards. While left-wingers Kristian Huselius and Niklas Hagman were getting rookie of the month awards, Shvidki was either healing from a concussion or recovering from a ruptured ankle ligament. He played 16 games all year, split evenly between the Panthers and the minor leagues.
This season Shvidki has resolved to put himself back on the radar screen. "I just want to show everybody the kind of player I am," Shvidki said.
After a solid showing in training camp, Shvidki joined hot shots Huselius and Hagman on the parent club roster for the first month of the 2002-2003 season. Showing a need for more regular ice time, Shvidki was assigned to San Antonio of the AHL, where he has shown a few flashes of his offensive skills. His overall play has been somewhat spotty, no doubt due to his nasty head injury.
Though some scouts envisioned him as an NHL regular by now, this 22-year-old Kharkiv, Ukraine, native has a major upside. If nothing else, he's blessed with one of the most perfect surnames for a fast-skating professional puckster.
(Oleg Tverdovsky and Keith Tkachuk quotations courtesy of Rich Chere and Derrick Gould, beat writers for New Jersey and St.Louis, respectively.)
Transactions/Injuries
BUFFALO - Alexei Zhitnik, D, suspended two games on November 8 for knee-on-knee hit on Carolina's Jan Hlavac; Alexei Zhitnik broken bone in right foot, late December.
CALGARY - Rick Mrozik, D, recalled from St. John (AHL) and later returned.
CAROLINA - Steve Halko, D, recalled from Lowell (AHL) and returned in two team moves; Ryan Bayda, LW, recalled from Lowell.
CHICAGO - Andrei Nikolishin, C, right knee ligament, indefinite.
DALLAS - Richard Matvichuk, D, cracked fibula, late February.
FLORIDA - Denis Shvidki, RW, recalled from San Antonio (AHL) and later returned.
MINNESOTA - Dieter Kochan, GT, recalled from Houston (AHL).
NASHVILLE - Darren Haydar, RW, recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) and later returned.
NEW JERSEY - Oleg Tverdovsky, D, viral infection, day-to-day; then fatigue and dizziness, indefinite.
OTTAWA - Curtis Leschyshyn, D, strained groin, day-to-day.
PHILADELPHIA - Todd Fedoruk, LW, sprained right thumb, day-to-day.
PHOENIX - Drake Berehowsky, D, knee surgery, late February; Darcy Hordichuk, LW, suspended 10 games for bumping referee in October 31 loss to Philadelphia - eligible to return on November 27; Hordichuk assigned to Springfield (AHL).
PITTSBURGH - Ross Lupaschuk, D, recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) and later returned.
ST. LOUIS - Keith Tkachuk, LW, broken left foot, early December; Sergei Varlamov, LW, recalled from Worcester (AHL), returned and later recalled/returned again; Cody Rudkowsky, GT, recalled from Worcester (AHL) and later returned; Rudkowsky reassigned to Trenton (ECHL).
TAMPA BAY - Ruslan Fedotenko, LW, strained left shoulder, day-to-day; Nikita Alexeev, RW, recalled from Springfield (AHL).
TORONTO - Alexei Ponikarovsky, RW, recalled from St. John's (AHL) on two occasions and returned.
VANCOUVER - Zenith Komarniski, D, recalled from Manitoba (AHL) and later returned.
WASHINGTON - Andrei Nikolishin, C, traded to Chicago in three-player and two-draft pick deal; Steve Konowalchuk, LW, strained groin, day-to-day; Peter Bondra, RW, back spasms, day-today; Glen Metropolit, C, waived and assigned to Portland (AHL).
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| Keith Tkachuk | St. Louis | 46 | 25 | 18 | 43 | 115 |
| Peter Bondra | Washington | 54 | 22 | 16 | 38 | 38 |
| Ruslan Fedotenko | Tampa Bay | 57 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 34 |
| Steve Konowalchuk | Washington | 55 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 63 |
| Dave Andreychuk | Tampa Bay | 49 | 15 | 7 | 22 | 24 |
| Ivan Novoseltsev | Florida | 56 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 16 |
| Tony Hrkac | Atlanta | 57 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 10 |
| Alexei Zhitnik | Buffalo | 42 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 65 |
| Oleg Tverdovsky | New Jersey | 35 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 16 |
| Brad Lukowich | Tampa Bay | 52 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 24 |
| Andrei Nikolishin | Chicago | 35 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 20 |
| Ken Daneyko | New Jersey | 49 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 22 |
| Curtis Leschyshyn | Ottawa | 43 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| Glen Metropolt | Washington | 23 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Nikita Alexeev | Tampa Bay | 13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Vitaly Vishnevski | Anaheim | 56 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 58 |
| Richard Matvichuk | Dallas | 46 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 44 |
| Denis Shvidki | Florida | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Wade Belak | Toronto | 31 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 103 |
| Alexei Ponikarovsky | Toronto | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Todd Fedoruk | Philadelphia | 48 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 96 |
| Ryan Bayda | Carolina | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sergei Varlamov | St. Louis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zenith Komarniski | Vancouver | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ross Lupaschuk | Pittsburgh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Steve Halko | Carolina | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darcy Hordichuk | Phoenix | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 |
| Player | Team | MINS | GAA | W | L | T | PCT |
| Cody Rudkowsky | St. Louis | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1000 |
| Dieter Kochan | Minnesota | 60 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.821 |
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 2, 2003, No. 9, Vol. LXXI
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