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Wilson takes over Sharks

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Ron Wilson was hired to coach the Sharks on Wednesday, three days after the team fired Darryl Sutter and two assistants.

Wilson, fired by Washington in May after four seasons, coached the U.S. team in the 1998 Olympics, the 1996 World Cup and twice in the world championships. He also spent four years as the first coach of division rival Anaheim.

"When I got the call Sunday evening, I was rather shocked and happy," Wilson said. "This was the first opening this season, and I'm the first guy in line. I was thinking, 'Just how lucky can I be?' "

The Sharks moved quickly to fill their vacancy with a veteran. Sutter, the winningest coach in franchise history, was fired Sunday in a surprising shakeup of a struggling team that aspires to be a Stanley Cup contender.

"Ron Wilson is an experienced NHL coach with a strong track record in both the regular season and the playoffs," Sharks general manager Dean Lombardi said in a release.

The Sharks struggled to an 8-12-2-2 start that put them in last place in the Pacific Division, but they got a 3-2 overtime victory over Phoenix on Tuesday with scout Cap Raeder and team executive Doug Wilson coaching the team.

Ron Wilson got his first coaching job in Anaheim in '93. In his fourth year with the Mighty Ducks he coached Teemu Selanne, now the Sharks' leading goal scorer.

Wilson had his greatest success in Washington, where he led the Capitals to the Stanley Cup final in '98.

Wilson had been out of coaching since leaving Washington, where the Capitals missed the playoffs by two points.

PANTHERS 4, HURRICANES 2: Olli Jokinen scored two goals for host Florida. Viktor Kozlov and Stephen Weiss also scored for the Panthers, which won for the second time in 11 games (2-2-5-2 in that span). Roberto Luongo made 31 saves in the win. Ron Francis and Erik Cole scored for the Hurricanes, who had a three-game winning streak stopped.

STARS 5, CANADIENS 1: Jason Arnott scored three goals, two on setups by Pierre Turgeon, and host Dallas remained unbeaten at home in regulation. Arnott had his fourth career hat trick and the first by a Dallas player since Brett Hull scored four goals on March 21, 2001.

CANUCKS 3, DEVILS 2 (OT): Todd Bertuzzi got his second goal on a scramble in front of the goal 56 seconds into overtime to give visiting Vancouver the win. Trevor Linden also scored, and Dan Cloutier made 24 saves as the Canucks rebounded a night after having their franchise-record 10-game winning streak snapped.

SABRES 4, DUCKS 0: Curtis Brown scored three goals for the first time in his career, and Martin Biron made 22 saves for his first shutout this season for host Buffalo. It was Buffalo's second win in 18 games.

BLACKHAWKS 1, SENATORS 0: Jocelyn Thibault stopped 28 shots for his fourth shutout and Eric Daze scored as host Chicago stopped the Senators' 10-game unbeaten streak. The win was only the second for Chicago in its past eight games (2-6-0). ... Blackhawks defenseman Boris Mironov has left the team and demanded a trade. Mironov, who didn't play Wednesday against Ottawa, skipped practice Tuesday and didn't participate in the game-day skate. General manager Mike Smith said Mironov will not be paid during his absence. Mironov, 30, has a one-year, $3.3-million contract. He has three goals and an assist and is minus-1 in 20 games this season.

Lemieux leads All-Star voting; Khabibulin also popular

Mario Lemieux leads the Eastern Conference in All-Star voting.

Lemieux, the NHL's top scorer with 47 points, has received 72,366 votes for the Feb. 2 All-Star Game in Sunrise. Voting continues through Dec. 31.

This season's All-Star game pits the Eastern Conference against the Western after five years of North America taking on the World.

New York Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch (64,523 votes) was next, followed by Washington forward Jaromir Jagr (56,406), New Jersey defenseman Scott Stevens (51,801) and Tampa Bay goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (49,724).

The Western Conference's early results will be announced today.

BLUE JACKETS: Defenseman Duvie Westcott was sent to AHL Syracuse. He was recalled Tuesday and was scoreless in 18 minutes in a 5-3 loss to the Rangers.

FLYERS: John LeClair had shoulder surgery and is expected to be out 10-12 weeks. The 33-year-old left wing injured his shoulder after colliding with Pittsburgh defenseman Marc Bergevin last week.

THRASHERS: Goalie Milan Hnilicka was reassigned to AHL Chicago. The 29-year-old was 0-9-0 with a 4.16 goals-against average.

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