Scotty Bowman remembers the days when an NHL team could pool the wool over the competition by hiding a top prospect in the minors and then unleash him on an unsuspecting opposition at the right time.

But those days are long gone and you can blame the increased of importance of pro scouts.

"When I look back to when I started, you did not have much information on players," says the affable Bowman. "It's changed. Now you have so much and there isn't much you don't know."

Pro scouts used to be a luxury item for NHL clubs but expansion and the competitive balance has made them a necessity. Teams used to employ one pro scout but the norm these days is three.

Bowman says pro scouts do more than keep an eye on the player pool. They also work as advance scouts, checking out things like break-out plays and how an opponent runs its power play.

When the Panthers acquired Ollie Jokinen and Roberto Luongo from the New York Islanders for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha, Florida relied on information from their pro scouts in order to make the deal.

"There is very little that goes on on teams that is not knowledgeable to the other teams and that has been a big change," says Bowman, who now works as a consultant with the Detroit Red Wings. "There is not much you can keep to yourself. If you are the first one to do it, to try something, if you are a little innovative you might get the edge early. But it is not there forever."

Pro scouts are not to be confused with the amateur scouts because their roles are entirely different. Amateur scouts keep tabs on junior leagues and the college ranks. Their job is projecting how a prospect might develop and the results of their efforts bear fruit three to five years after the prospect is drafted.

Pro scouts work in real time.

"It is more immediate," says Pierre Gauthier, the former GM in Anaheim and Ottawa who was hired by the Montreal Canadiens over the summer to oversee their pro scouting staff. "You have to know the player for what he does now. The pros what you see is what you get in many ways."

Pro scouts keep tabs on players at all levels of pro hockey. They are looking at approximately 1,400 players and the talent pool changes every year for various reasons. Their job is to know the talent pool as well as possible in preparation for things like the waiver draft, the waiver wire and trades. It's a daunting task to say the least, but a critical one given the razor-slim difference between wining and losing in the NHL.

"It's like a stock-market analyst. They figure out what is under-valued and what is over-valued," says David Conte, New Jersey's Director of Scouting.

Lightning scouts did an excellent job in the summer of 2000 recommending the team to sign Martin St. Louis as a free agent to help Tampa Bay out on offense.

Pro scouts have become much more important over the last decade and that is mostly related to money. The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHL Players' Association has created more freedom for players because the age when players can become unrestricted free agents has come down and there are more ways for players to become unrestricted. As a result, there are more decisions to make on players.

"Scouting is about evaluating players in terms of talent, competitiveness and character," said Gauthier. "But the new challenge is to evaluate according to their dollar value.

"I have a lot of experience in managing dollars. We worked with very little money in Ottawa and also in Anaheim, where two guys took half the payroll. That's good experience."

Pro scouts are part of the organization and they work closely with the general manager. Amateur scouting is more like research and development.

"They (pro scouts) help you make roster decisions, such as the players you want to keep and who is available to fill the holes," says Bowman.

And they are here to stay.