| | It took Cleveland Lumberjacks winger Jock Callander 17 seasons to break Len Thornson's International Hockey League all-time scoring record. It took Thornson less than a week to get it back.
Callander had supposedly broken Thornson's mark of of 1,382 points, including playoffs, with a goal in a game against Houston on Jan. 14. This brought the quiet Callander into the limelight for several days, and the 38-year-old right wing handled the attention with poise and good humor.
Upon further review, however, Callander isn't there yet. Research by Tim Campbell of the Winnipeg Free Press showed that the NHL Guide and Record book had a misprint from the 1985 playoffs when the Lumberjacks were in Muskegon. The NHL Guide credited Callander with 34 points when he had, in fact, 21.
"I'm glad that the error was discovered," Callander said in a statement released by the IHL. "I did not want to take credit for something I didn't earn."
Thornson played, most for Fort Wayne, in the IHL from 1956 to 1969.
It gets even more complicated, though, and highlights the problems minor league hockey has with record keeping, especially the IHL and AHL, both of which have histories that predate the computer by several decades.
While the NHL Guide was wrong, the IHL Guide had Callander's playoff numbers correct through the end of the 1997-98 season. Except that the IHL's playoff stats for Callander's career, and his numbers using the supposedly corrected NHL Guide stats, plus the more recent Howe Sports Date stats, are also off by one assist.
In any case Callander, who has been hobbled by an abdominal strain for much of the season, has been hot in recent games and seems a cinch to break the record before much longer. The key word here being, of course, "seems."
Notes from the AHL
Springfield's Shayne Toporowski was briefly the co-holder of the league record for most penalty minutes in a game. Toporowski was originally assessed 54 PIM in a 7-4 loss at Philadelphia on Jan. 9, getting two minors, two majors, two 10-minute misconducts and two game misconducts. After looking at the game tape, however, the league rescinded one game misconduct. Rochester's Wally Weir had 54 PIM in a game in 1981.
Incidentally, the AHL's all-time scoring record seems safe enough for now. It is held by Willie Marshall at 523-852-1,375. No active player is even in the Top 50 all-time.
Chris Winnes' latest team is Springfield. The Falcons are Winnes' third AHL club this season, fourth team overall, and the sixth of his career. He has played for Boston and Philadelphia in the NHL and for five different IHL teams. Winnes has also been in 14 games for the B.C. IceMen of the UHL this year.
The All Star Classic in Rochester wound up an 8-3 victory for Canada over PlanetUSA, ending a string of close games. The previous four had all been one-goal finishes. Worcester's Marty Reasoner, who grew up in Rochester, was the PlanetUSA MVP with a goal and an assist and was recalled to St. Louis immediately after the game. The overall star of the game, though, was Portland goaltender Martin Brochu. The Pirates veteran had an unbelievable first period, stopping all 23 shots PlanetUSA threw at him.
The league announced that Wilkes-Barre will host the 2001 All Star Classic. That means the event will have been held in either New York or Pennsylvania for four years in a row.
After a surprisingly slow start, the Philadelphia Phantoms brought in reinforcements in the form of NHL vets Mark Greig and Steve Washburn. Philly is the league's best team right now, and it's hard to tell who has been more valuable. Washburn was plus-28 in his first 29 games. Greig had 51 points in his first 37 games to take over the league scoring lead.
Notes from the IHL
The Houston Aeros won the IHL All-Star Game, 5-3, in Houston. They beat a team composed of the best of the rest of the league. The Aeros scored five times in the third period for the comeback victory. Brian Felsner scored twice for Houston and was the game MVP, then two days later was traded to the Cincinnati Cyclones for defenseman Steve Bancroft.
|  | | Derek King, here as a Maple Leaf, has been lending a veteran presence to Grand Rapids. |
Grand Rapids, which is 5-0-0 in the third game of three-in-three weekends, is skating a line of Derek King, Michel Picard and Kevin Miller. They total 1,597 NHL games between them.
Long Beach signed holdout goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who couldn't agree on a contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. In his first game with the IceDogs, Khabibulin beat Kansas City in a shootout, 3-2.
The struggling Michigan K-Wings got a visit from Bob Gainey, general manager of the parent Dallas Stars, and coach Bill McDonald was fired. Assistant Jim Playfair was named interim coach.
Detroit Vipers defenseman Byron Briske scored his first professional goal on Jan. 25 in a victory over Milwaukee. Briske had played 218 games without scoring a goal, including stints in the AHL with Baltimore, Cincinnati and Quebec. It was his 10th game with the Vipers after being loaned from Quebec.
Kansas City goalie Tyler Moss had started and finished 15 consecutive games as of Jan. 22. Moss was 9-4-2 in those games, and had played in 19 of 20 over a longer stretch.
Bill Ballou covers professional hockey and baseball for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. | |
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