NHL Profiles: Philadelphia / Phoenix / Pittsburgh

Peter Forsberg (Phi) - needless to say, Forsberg's return to Swedish hockey directed unprecedented media attention on MoDo, a relatively small market club .. despite playing with minor injuries all through the season, he posted an impressive point-per-game average until his season came to early end in January when he injured his wrist severely .. struggled with his skating over the course of the season and never seemed to find any quickness, though still displaying superb balance and nifty turns .. excelled as always due to his uncanny vision on the ice .. proved the definition of a playmaker as he constantly found passing lanes that shouldn't exist and set up his teammates with 'can't miss' opportunities .. seemed very reluctant to shoot the puck however and always tried to find the pretty pass instead, which hurt his goal output a bit .. didn't get any free rides from the opposition either as every opposing team seemed bent on getting him in a variety of ways .. the constant physical abuse sometimes prompted a frustrated Forsberg to retaliate when he lost his temper, leading to some unnecessary penalty time.

Pavel Kasparik (Phi) - registered only an average season .. the arrival of locked-out NHLers caused his role on the Sparta Praha senior team to be reduced to that of a depth player on the third or fourth offensive unit .. served as a checking player who could make adequate use of his strong size tools .. worked hard in his own end and continues to show progress in his defensive awareness .. lacked quality prowess in the offensive zone however and was not a significant factor in five playoff games .. scoring was a constant issue with him this season as he failed to build on the steadily improving numbers from the previous three seasons .. would need to add more productivity to make his living as an NHL grinder.

Mike Knuble (Phi) - benefited greatly from playing alongside Kristian Huselius and racked up goals when his Swedish sidekick was in the lineup .. once Huselius was suspended, Knuble's scoring pace clearly faded though he did manage to hang on to share the league goal title with MoDo's Mattias Weinhandl .. kind of a choppy skater, but gets to where he needs to be on time .. best ability is definitely his terrific shooting arsenal - excellent wristshot and an equally good slapshot, which makes a lethal entity if he gets the puck within striking distance .. good frame and physically strong, wins many battles but isn't really aggressive in a nasty way .. could look a little lost defensively at times as his work ethic was merely average when it came to taking care of his own end .. sometimes he just floated around, waiting for Huselius or Brendan Morrison to put the puck on his tape so he could score yet another goal.

Milan Kopecky (Phi) - a fringe member of the Slavia Praha senior team thanks to the arrival of several quality locked-out NHL forwards .. only saw playing time on the fourth line and virtually no icetime on special units .. asked to fill a dependable role and scored the odd point .. a durable player who didn't miss any single regular season game .. posted double digits for the third consecutive time in his senior Extraleague career, but didn't manage to surpass his personal best from the previous season .. wasn't invited to any event of the senior national team and lost the fringe spot he battled out during the previous season .. progress is too slow for any NHL consideration.

Roman Malek (Phi) - returned back to the Czech Extraleague at mid-season after a stint in the Russian Superleague .. signed a contract with Karlovy Vary at mid-season .. handed the starting role and didn't allow his backup to see virtually any action for the whole remainder of the season .. held the team's chances on a playoff spot .. showed his usual acrobatic style with strong reflexes and quickness .. quickly re-established himself as one of the best Extraleague netminders .. signed a contract with Plzen for this season and will return to the team where he played in 2003-04 .. still a prospect to keep an eye on for the Flyers team.

Liam Lindstrom (Phx) - didn't have much to beat last season after failing to score a single point in '03-4 .. managed to improve his offensive output though not by much .. possesses a decent set of tools - he's a fairly good skater, has a good frame and seems to handle the puck well, however still nothing really happens .. should try to be more physical and work his way into the games if everything else fails, which it has for the past couple of seasons .. overhyped in his draft year and Phoenix bought into it .. at this stage it appears that the Coyotes won't get any return on their investment here.

Petr Nedved (Phx) - spurned his hometown Liberec team and accepted a more lucrative contract from the powerhouse Sparta Praha team .. centered an NHL line last season with David Vyborny and Jan Hlavac, the trio showing strong chemistry throughout .. could finish the chances prepared for him by the playmaking Jan Hlavac .. a strong force in the opposing crease and also showed a good nose for the net, surpassing the 20-goal plateau .. played with solid toughness and emerged as a force along the boards .. along with David Vyborny, the only Sparta Praha player who registered a point-per-game in the sub-par performances against the underdog Vitkovice team .. wasn't invited to any international game due to his previous appearances for Team Canada .. a should be an asset to the Coyotes given his NHL experience and maturity .. no lock to have a career season, but can still be among the better Phoenix producers.

Branko Radivojevic (Phx) - the Slovak spent the beginning of last season practicing before he accepted a contract from Vsetin in November .. a regular on the top two lines .. willingly mixed things up and served as a regular physical presence .. more of a playmaker than sniper .. would have been more effective had he been surrounded by better scorers who could make the most of his passes .. willing to help out the defense and was a regular on special units .. despite being one of the offensive leaders, he still couldn't help the subpar Vsetin club sneak into the playoffs .. should stick with the Coyotes team as a depth player and serve as a grinder .. could be pressed for his job by the arrival of new faces in Phoenix, although his spirited style and adequate offensive instincts may save his NHL job.

Oleg Saprykin (Phx) - Saprykin followed up his strong NHL breakout season in '03-4 with a terrific effort last season with CSKA, at least until his campaign came to a premature end as the result of a serious leg injury .. the young forward was knocked out late in the regular season and spent most of the summer recovering .. would have very likely been a member of Russia's national team at the World Championships in Vienna had he not been sidelined by injury.

Tomas Duba (Pit) - loaned to Extraleague team Plzen for the duration of the '04-5 season where he was the starter .. posted solid numbers and confirmed his status as one of the most impressive young goaltenders in the senior league .. still registered the occasional poor game however and failed to lift his club into the playoffs despite a strong effort in the late stages of the regular season .. made his debut on the Czech senior national team at the Karjala Cup in Finland, a shaky start that saw him give up five goals in two periods .. the return of Roman Malek to Plzen prompted Duba to return to the Finnish SM-Liiga for `05-6 .. still a prospect to keep an eye on.

Daniel Fernholm (Pit) - struggled early in the season and was sent to Bolzano, Italy, of all places, to get more icetime .. returned from Italy and, rather surprisingly, managed to grab a spot among the top six defensemen in Djurgarden .. still has some rough edges in his game to fine-tune however last season was still an encouraging one for Fernholm to build on .. big and strong blueliner who excels in the physical game .. not very mobile though - slow strides, bad acceleration and almost poor lateral movement .. possesses a booming and fairly accurate slap shot and a good passing game .. takes a few unnecessary penalties, mainly due to immaturity and his weak skating .. puckhandling is choppy as well and these parts of the game seem to progress at a rather slow pace for him .. works hard though and is willing to dedicate himself to improving his game .. still, far away from NHL duty however.

Sergei Gonchar (Pit) - endured an up and down season in '04-5 with Metallurg Magnitogorsk .. started off quickly and was among the league's early scoring leaders among defensemen .. unfortunately, his season was almost cut short early when he was nailed by a heavy hit from Alexander Ovechkin .. Gonchar suffered a concussion on the play which knocked him out of the lineup for most of November, December and January .. returned to the lineup late in the winter and managed to stay healthy until a leg injury sidelined him from the playoffs.

Milan Kraft (Pit) - signed with Karlovy Vary prior to last season instead of returning to his native Plzen .. skated on the second or third offensive unit with part of his offensive potential sacrificed in order to fill defensive duties .. focused on a playmaking role rather than scoring goals .. wasn't very happy with his situation on the team as the season progressed and was finally loaned to Plzen .. needed an adjustment period to get used to his new linemates but finished the season as a solid two-way center who could make adequate use of his size tools .. also performed well on the penalty-killing units .. still his performance wasn't good enough to receive even a single invitation to the senior national team .. signed with Avangard Omsk of the Russian Superleague and won't play in the NHL this season.

Zigmund Palffy (Pit) - accepted a lucrative offer from the wealthy Slavia Praha team and a possibility to be reunited with his friend Jozef Stumpel .. served as one of the offensive leaders on the top two lines and got prime time on special units .. one of the best offensive forwards in the Extraleague .. left Slavia for a ten-game stint with his parent Slovak team Skalica .. returned to Slavia for the remainder of the season and stepped up as the offensive leader in the playoffs, registering a point-per game average .. showed a tendency to worry about offense too much which led to occasional defensive gaffes .. couldn't avoid the playoff elimination by Liberec despite his solid offensive effort .. a regular on the Slovak senior national team .. participated in the 2005 World Championships in Austria where he led his team in scoring .. still has enough petrol in the tank to be a quality boost to the Penguins .. will be a regular on the top two lines and powerplay .. skilled playmaking centers such as Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby should fare well with Palffy around to finish .. expect a strong season.

Lasse Pirjeta (Pit) - produced a solid but rather unspectacular performance in '04-5 .. seemed to get better and better as the season wore .. though he wasn't always paired with the most talented linemates, he still managed to lift them to another level .. still needs to work on his consistency, although this area is much improved thanks to his NHL experience .. often guilty in the past of disappearing during some contests, however no longer experiences major outages .. a big forward with good reach and strength .. possesses an excellent shot, which he could still utilize more frequently .. steadily learning to use his size more effectively and can line up at all three forward positions .. developed into a serviceable player for the lower NHL lines.

Dick Tarnstrom (Pit) - a complete non-factor early in the regular season, however he got up to speed as the season progressed .. never the same dominating force in Sodertalje as he had been in Pittsburgh for a couple of seasons .. smooth-skating rearguard moves with a very fluid stride, though he is neither very quick nor speedy .. lacks some aggressiveness in his own end as well and can sometimes get outplayed rather easily .. the offensive game is certainly his biggest strength as he's very adept at running a powerplay from the point .. boasts an accurate slapshot and a quick wrister which he favours closer to the net .. an accomplished passer, always delivers crisp feeds and very poised with the puck .. seems to lack intensity and competitive drive at times though and isn't really a true leader on the ice.