NHL Capsules: Yzerman, Hull, Robitaille, Leetch get Hall of Fame

Steve Yzerman's greatest accomplishment in captaining the Detroit Red Wings to the 2002 Stanley Cup might have been managing all the egos on that star-studded roster.

The talent of that team was never more evident than Tuesday, when three members were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille will be inducted alongside Brian Leetch and New Jersey Devils president Lou Lamoriello on Nov. 9.

"I think the biggest thing for me of having a guy like Stevie as a leader was the way he handled stuff around us," Robitaille said on a conference call. "We've got literally 20 big egos in the room. Everybody played a role on their teams for years, and they had to understand their roles and the common goal. I take that into the rest of my career and whatever else I do."

The maximum of four players was elected this year. Lamoriello was chosen in the builder category. All four players were eligible for the first time.

Yzerman ranks sixth all-time in points with 1,755. He played 22 seasons with Detroit and was the longest-serving captain in league history, holding the title from 1986-2006.

He won three Stanley Cups and a gold medal with Canada in the 2002 Olympics.

"Even now when I go back home in the summers, it's really something that's really important to Canadian hockey fans and Canadians in general that we were able to win that medal," Yzerman said.

Hull's 741 goals trail only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe, and his 24 career playoff game-winning goals are tied with Gretzky for the most in NHL history. He scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Dallas Stars in the third overtime of Game 6 of the 1999 finals.

He played 19 NHL seasons with the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Stars, Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes. Hull received the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1991.

His father, Bobby, is already in the Hall.

"It is hard to put into words what this means to me, especially since I'm joining my father in the Hockey Hall of Fame," Hull, who was traveling for his job in the Stars' front office during the announcement, said in a statement.

Hull, Leetch and Lamoriello have a history together, too. Leetch and Hull played on the gold medal-winning 1996 U.S. World Cup team for which Lamoriello was the general manager.

"For sure, Brett and I were part of a group that were old enough to remember 1980 and to be spurred on by that from a country standpoint," Leetch said.

Leetch became the first American-born player to earn the Conn Smythe Trophy after leading the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994. He also twice won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman.

He was driving Tuesday, receiving text messages from friends and family asking if he'd heard anything, when he saw a Toronto area code on an incoming call. Leetch's first reaction was relief. He pulled his car over to the side of the road and had to sit there for 15 minutes, letting the news sink in.

Robitaille played 19 seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rangers and Red Wings. His 668 goals and 1,394 points are the most by a left wing. He received the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie in 1987.

Lamoriello has served as the Devils' president since 1987 and has taken over twice as the team's coach, in 2005-06 and 2007. New Jersey has won the Stanley Cup three times under his leadership. He said he was stunned to receive a call from the Hall on Tuesday.

A player must be retired for three seasons before becoming eligible to enter the Hall. At least 14 of the Hall's 18-member selection committee must vote for a player for him to be elected.

Brent Sutter hired as new coach of Flames

CALGARY, Alberta - The Calgary Flames are adding another Sutter to their lineup.

General manager Darryl Sutter hired his brother Brent Sutter to be the coach of the Flames on Tuesday.

The addition of Brent pushes the total number of Sutters in the Flames organization to five.

Brother Duane is director of player personnel, brother Ron is a scout and Darryl's son Brett played for the Flames farm team last season.

"When you're in it long enough, it's probably going to happen when you have that many brothers who have been in the game as long as we have," Darryl Sutter said at a news conference.

The team has also hired Ryan McGill, Dave Lowry and Jamie McLennan assistant coaches.

Mike Keenan was fired as coach of the Flames on May 22.

Darryl Sutter said the Sutter name played no part in the hiring.

"I'm the GM, Brent's the head coach and this is the coaching staff," he said. "They were the very best people available. It didn't really matter what their last name was."

This marks the third coaching change in four seasons for the Flames. Darryl Sutter said there were three key things he wanted the new coaching staff to bring back to the team.

"Number one was leadership, (that was) very, very important," he said. "Number two was structure and number three was detail."

Brent Sutter quit the New Jersey Devils with one year remaining on his contract to return to Alberta, saying he missed his family and that he wanted to restore his Red Deer Rebels junior hockey team.

"There was some personal things that he understood," Brent said of Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello, who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Both Sutters have worked together before when Darryl coached Brent when he played for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Brent Sutter coached the Devils to a 97-56-11 regular-season record in his first two seasons as an NHL coach, but New Jersey was upset in the first round of the playoffs in both seasons.

Darryl Sutter coached the Flames to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004, when they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games. He vacated that position in 2006 and continued as GM.

Flames forward Craig Conroy played for Darryl and said he'll be interested to see if Brent's coaching style is similar to Darryl's.

"That's the one thing, the uncertainty, you're a little nervous going into camp," Conroy said. "It's a new coach and you want to get in the good books and you want to be able to play a lot and the only way to do that is to come in and be ready to roll."

The Flames underachieved last season with a fourth straight exit in the first round of playoffs. Calgary led the Northwest Division by 13 points in January, but injuries and inconsistent play eroded that cushion and cost Calgary home-ice advantage in the postseason. The Flames finished fifth in the Western Conference with a 46-30-6 record.

AP source: Babcock will coach Canada in Olympics

DETROIT - Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock will coach the Canadian men's hockey team at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, according to a person familiar with the decision.

Babcock will have Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock on his staff, according to the person who spoke Tuesday to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because Team Canada plans to announce its coaching staff on Thursday in Montreal.

Canada won the gold medal in Salt Lake City in 2002, but struggled in Turin four years later.

Babcock's team will likely be led by Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who played a part in preventing him from winning consecutive Stanley Cups earlier this month.

Just as he did in professional hockey, Babcock has paid his dues internationally.

Babcock led Team Canada to gold at the 2004 world championships, going 7-1-1 and beating Sweden in the final. He helped the Canadians win gold at the 1997 world junior championships.

He recently completed his sixth season in charge of an NHL team and made his third appearance in the Stanley Cup finals. The Red Wings lost to the Penguins in Game 7 after hoisting the Cup in Pittsburgh last year. He also led Anaheim within one win of a championship six years ago during his first season as an NHL coach.

Babcock has won more games in the playoffs (58) and regular season (282) than any other NHL coach in his first six seasons.

Scotty Bowman, Glen Sather and Fred Shero and Babcock are the only coaches in the expansion era to coach in three or more Stanley Cup finals in their first six seasons.

Babcock's climb up the coaching ladder included jobs in the American Hockey League, the Western Hockey League and Canadian Interuniversity Sport.

Steve Yzerman, a Red Wings vice president, is Team Canada's executive director. The former Red Wing great played for Canada in the previous two Olympics. Yzerman, who learned Tuesday he will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Nov. 9, has said about 40 players will try out for the team during the last week of August in Calgary.

-- Larry Lage

Bruins GM wants trade for better first-round pick 

BOSTON - The Boston Bruins are trying to move up from the 25th pick in the NHL draft to take a particular player they like.

That player is not among a group of about four in the draft who are ready to play next season, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said Tuesday.

"I've had a couple of discussions on moving a couple of slots up," he said of the two-day draft in Montreal starting Friday. "Our guys have our eyes on this one player that is (rated) higher than where we're picking and so, certainly, one of my goals is to at least try and move up.

"I don't know if I'll succeed at it, but we'll try"

There has been a lot of talk among teams about making trades "but I don't know if that translates into more trades," Chiarelli said during a conference call.

The Bruins have the 25th pick after posting the best record in the Eastern Conference and being eliminated in the second round. They chose earlier in each of the last four seasons but did well the previous two seasons when they had no first-round choices, taking Patrice Bergeron in 2003 and David Krejci in 2004, both in the second round.

Chiarelli doesn't have a second-round pick this year but would like to get one.

"I wouldn't be devastated if I didn't because we feel that there are a couple of good players a little later on down in the draft," he said.

He also could deal a veteran.

The Bruins began the offseason facing a challenge to re-sign restricted free agents Krejci, their second leading scorer last season, and Phil Kessel, their top goal scorer.

They signed Krejci to a three-year deal worth more than $11 million just before he had hip surgery that could sideline him for the first month of the season. Kessel, who had postseason shoulder surgery and may not be ready for the start of the season, remains unsigned and could be a victim of the salary cap.

"It's been well documented that I may have to do something," Chiarelli said. "I don't have to do anything at any point in time (but) because there's so many people in the same city, it's just easier to do it."

Asked about contract talks regarding Kessel, the fifth overall pick of the 2006 draft, Chiarelli said, "I don't comment on negotiations."

He's focusing on drafting the best player available, regardless of position, but said he has an alternate list that takes into account the needs of the franchise.

"We haven't drafted a lot of defensemen lately," Chiarelli said, but "it's sometimes dangerous when you draft on need. But there are some good defensemen in that first round."

None of the six players the Bruins drafted last year are defensemen. And none of the six defensemen they drafted in 2006 and 2007 has played for them.

But in the seventh round of 2004, they chose defenseman Matt Hunwick, who was solid in 53 regular-season games last season before having his spleen removed after the first postseason game. He thought he could have played had the Bruins gone farther in the playoffs.

-- Howard Ulman

Gretzky waiting as Coyotes future decided

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Wayne Gretzky would like to see NHL hockey in both Phoenix and Hamilton.

The Coyotes coach is watching Jim Balsillie and the NHL spar over the future of the Arizona franchise and hockey in Southern Ontario.

"It's been tough for everyone," Gretzky said Tuesday at an 2010 Olympic sponsorship event. "It's been tough for fans of the Phoenix Coyotes, it's been tough for the organization, but on the other side of it, Hamilton is a great city and one day it will probably eventually get an NHL franchise, so it's a tough scenario for both sides. Right now obviously we just are all sitting back and waiting to see what that outcome is and, to this point in time, we really don't know, there is no definite answer.

"The best-case scenario would be eventually that both cities have an NHL team."

While Gretzky has kept a low profile during the bankruptcy process, his name has been raised because of a reported $22.5 million owed him.

As for his future as coach and part-owner, Gretzky said he is not looking too far ahead.

"I haven't really talked to anybody, you know until something happens and something concrete, there is really no need to surmise or wonder what's going to happen. From my point of view, I just want what's best for the organization, what's best for the city of Phoenix and hopefully what's best for Hamilton one day."

Gretzky said he's not finding the wait stressful.

"At this point of time in the year, it's up to the management and the scouts to get ready for the draft and as coaches we just sit back and analyze and start getting ready for next season and right now it's in the hands of the commissioner and his office and the court system and we'll see what happens."

Chris Chelios to talk about his plans Wednesday

DETROIT - Chris Chelios has a plan to talk about his future.

The 47-year-old defenseman says he will host a news conference Wednesday morning at Cheli's Chili Bar and Restaurant in Detroit to answer questions just days after the Red Wings confirmed he will not be offered a contract to stay.

Chelios has said he wants to play next season.

He played in six of 23 playoff games this year for the runner-up Red Wings, extending his NHL records by appearing in his 24th postseason and 266th playoff game. He played 28 regular-season games.

Chelios is a three-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's top defenseman and 11-time All-Star. The Chicago native and former Blackhawks player won Stanley Cups with Detroit and Montreal.