The NHL : After Cold Start, Dionne Is on Hot Streak

Marcel Dionne of the Kings got off to a slow start this season, but he is on a roll now.

Dionne has put together a 14-game scoring streak, getting 11 goals and 13 assists, and now ranks as the sixth leading scorer in the National Hockey League this season with 25 goals and 33 assists.

After missing the 1984 All-Star game with an ankle injury, Dionne figures to make the Campbell Conference All-Star team this time around. The All-Star game will be played Feb. 12 at the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary.

“Marcel has that spring in his legs. He looks like a young man again,” King Coach Pat Quinn said.

Earlier this season, Dionne reached a milestone when he passed Alex Delvecchio, former Detroit Red Wing star, and moved into fifth place on the NHL career assist list.

He also needs just two goals to tie Bobby Hull for third place on the all-time scoring list at 610.

“I’ll tell you how it feels after I pass Bobby Hull,” Dionne said. “I’m just feeling good about myself now. I’m excited about the second half of the season. I hope we can catch Winnipeg and Calgary.”

Said Charlie Simmer, who played left wing with Dionne on the Kings’ Triple Crown line: “Marcel’s main thing is that he’s so durable. Except for last season, he’s never really been injured.

“And he’s also played with some very solid players, guys like Dave Taylor.”

The main rap against Dionne has been that he only scores goals and can’t play defense. Simmer, however, said that Dionne is paid to score.

“The Kings used to have to score six or seven goals a game to win,” Simmer said, “and that was his job.”

Said Quinn: “I used to think that Marcel was just a one-way player, too. But now that I’ve been coaching him for a while, I can see that that’s not the case. He’s not an opportunist.”

Dionne, 33, has won just about everything in hockey except a Stanley Cup.

“I’m still hoping,” he said. “I can never remember when everything in this organization was so good. It’s easier for me to have more confidence. The mental part of the game is much easier for me.”

Barry Beck, captain of the New York Rangers, threw a trash can onto the ice and broke his hockey sticks during a heated argument with Coach Herb Brooks before practice Monday morning, according to the New York Times.

The two reportedly made up after practice, with Beck calling the incident “a misunderstanding.” Brooks refused to comment.

The argument reportedly stemmed from a meeting during which Brooks had called Beck a coward.

The latest dispute adds fuel to speculation that Brooks will leave New York at the end of the season to coach the Minnesota North Stars.

Brooks, who coached the U.S. Olympic team to the gold medal at Lake Placid in 1980, has been under fire in New York because the injury-plagued Rangers have hovered near the bottom of the Patrick Division.

Minnesota has also had trouble, firing Coach Bill Mahoney last November and replacing him with Glen Sonmor.

The move to Minnesota would be a homecoming for Brooks. He once coached at the University of Minnesota and his family lives in St. Paul.

Harold Ballard, the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is at the center of another controversy.

Earlier this year, Ballard said he would not allow a hockey team from the Soviet Union to play a Canadian team in Maple Leaf Gardens because of the Soviets’ downing of a Korean airliner in 1983.

Ballard relented, but he still managed to get his message across.

According to USA Today, Ballard had the following message printed on the scoreboard during a recent game between Team Canada and Moscow Dynamo: “Remember Korean Airlines Flight 007 shot down by the Russians. Don’t cheer, just boo--Harold.”

What do hockey players do on New Year’s Eve?

The Kings had a big celebration at a Beverly Hills mansion once owned by swimmer-movie actor Johnny Weissmuller.

The party was organized by Carol Ruskowski, wife of King captain Terry Ruskowski.

Tickets cost $100 apiece, dinner and drinks included.

All of the players and coaches attended, along with their wives or dates.