The Hall for another Hull

The Golden Brett may have started out as just another sixth-round pick but he wound up becoming one of the premier goal scorers in NHL history

NHL saturday Week 5

BY THE NUMBERS

Leafs seek vaccine for sickly starts

Toronto has yet to score the first goal in a game, but Hurricanes are in even worse shape

HOCKEY / WILL GRETZKY ATTEND INDUCTION CEREMONIES?

Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies begin in Toronto this weekend and the question is, will he or won't he? Will Wayne Gretzky attend with his wife, Janet, when the careers of five of his closest friends in hockey are honoured? Or will he sit out as part of his lingering discontent with the NHL, which treated him shabbily during the Phoenix Coyotes' bankruptcy hearings after he helped put the league on the map in the first place? All four player inductees have close ties to the Great One. Gretzky played with Brian Leetch in New York, with Luc Robitaille in Los Angeles, with Brett Hull in St. Louis, and internationally with Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings. As executive director of Canada's 2002 men's Olympic hockey team, Gretzky relied heavily on Yzerman to provide a key on-ice leadership role with the gold medal-winning squad. Now that Yzerman has succeeded him as the manager of the 2010 team, the former Red Wings superstar has called on Gretzky repeatedly this fall for advice. St. Louis Blues president John Davidson, who will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award Monday for broadcasting excellence, was behind the microphone for most of Gretzky's games with the Rangers and they remain good friends. With so many close ties to the Hall's class of 2009, Gretzky would send a strong message about his current frosty frame of mind toward the NHL if he were to skip this year's awards ceremonies. The Hall Of Fame made a direct overture to Gretzky this week, to coax him into coming, but as of yesterday morning, according to Hull, the Great One is still mulling his plans. "I know he really wants to go and I know Janet really wants to as well, but I don't think a final decision has been made on that yet," Hull said.

CHUM creating second Vancouver station to boost Lions

dowbboy@shaw.ca

Moving up from B-Rod to A-Rod

Yankee superstar sheds insincerity tag with season of humility and success

Leafs deny players received flu vaccine improperly

Some players and staff have shots after treatment made available following Tuesday game

Godzilla takes New York

Slugger Hideki Matsui slams six RBIs and is named most valuable player in Yankees' 27th World Series win

Adapt or else

Yankees' Teixeira better adjust to longer season because he's likely to have many more

Pettitte enters Game 6 with less rest, more doubt

jblair@globeandmail.com

100 DAYS OUT

BUILDING UP The hype surrounding Canada's third Olympics is immense, but the real stories will be written in 2010

100 DAYS OUT

COUNTING UP Olympic prognosticator picks Canada to finish first in the medal standings - just as Canada hopes

The Kessel era begins

dshoalts@globeandmail.com

Yzerman making his list - and checking it twice

eduhatschek@globeandmail.com

TEAM CANADA COUNTDOWN / VANCOUVER 2010 / MEN'S HOCKEY

STOCK UP / PATRICK MARLEAU

IT'S ALL EYES ON THE GOALIES

Every week until the 2010 Games, The Globe and Mail examines the Canadian men's hockey team as it takes shape. The focus today is on the men between the pipes and the pressure they'll face in the most important role on the team.

Foreign relations / Finland

Four years ago, when Finland won the silver medal in Turin, Italy, Calgary Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff was roundly criticized for bowing out the tournament to rest a chronic hip problem. Antero Nittymaki stepped in for the goalie-rich Finns and did a credible job, helping them get all the way to the gold-medal game.

Wilson wants crackdown on head shots

Ron Wilson thinks the NHL's general managers need to take another crack at legislating head shots at their annual meetings early in the new year.

Yankees glad Damon stuck around

jblair@globeandmail.com

BlackBerry plugs its neighbours at Score

dowbboy@shaw.ca