NHL

Slapshots

By TOM JONES
Published January 1, 2006

THE WRONG STUFF: When the Senators were awarded a penalty shot against the Hurricanes last week after defenseman Mike Commodore grabbed the puck in the crease, Ottawa coach Bryan Murray could pick anyone on the ice to take the shot.

His choice, essentially, came down to super-scorers Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley.

So he picked ... defenseman Chris Phillips?

"The players wanted him to do it," said Murray, who initially said no. "I thought he must be really good at it or something."

Nope, Phillips was simply looking for his first goal of the season, and Murray allowed him to take the shot because the Senators were up 5-1 with less than eight minutes left. Phillips moved in, tried to go five-hole and was stopped by goalie Cam Ward.

"I came over to the bench and asked what to do, so I'm going to blame it on them," Phillips joked in the Ottawa Citizen. "I got some bad advice. They told me to shoot right at his pads."

WANT TO DANCE?: We love Edmonton tough guy Georges Laraque. When he broke into the league, he appreciated veteran enforcers such as Tie Domiand Tony Twist agreeing to drop the gloves with him. And now that he's a veteran, he's passing along the same courtesy to the NHL's young guns.

"I'll never refuse somebody," Laraque, 29, told the Edmonton Journal. "But it's hard to get mad that way. Guys come up and ask you, so politely, "Georges, would you do me the honor? Could we go?' It's almost like they're asking for candy."

BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE: Here's a nice little story from the World Junior Championships.

The United States is being coached by Walt Kyle, who is lucky to be alive after two bouts of cancer in his late 20s. Now 59, Kyle has an impressive coaching resume, including stints as an assistant with the Ducks and Rangers.

He married the nurse who helped treat him during his second round of chemotherapy. But because of the treatment, he could not have children. So he and his wife, Ann , adopted four. "Out of this thing, the worst day of my life, came the five most important things in my life," Kyle told the Vancouver Province. "I talk to a lot of people about this. I tell them, "God has a plan, and I'm proof of it.' I was lucky, really lucky."

[Last modified January 1, 2006, 00:29:14]