The NHL : Penguin Rookie Sticks to His Guns

Rookie center Mario Lemieux of Pittsburgh said Penguin Coach Bob Berry was outcoached by Quebec’s Michel Bergeron in a recent game.

Pittsburgh General Manager Eddie Johnson had a chat with Lemieux, whose agent also flew into town to try to settle the matter.

But Lemieux, the No. 1 player selected in the 1984 draft, said he was sticking by his statement. “I plan on being a controversial player, just like Guy Lafleur,” Lemieux said.

Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky is trying to buy a junior hockey team in the Quebec town of Hull.

Gretzky’s brother, Keith, a 19-year-old center who plays for a junior team in Windsor, is projected as a second-round pick in the National Hockey League draft next June.

The scalpers who work Toronto games are taking a beating this season, the Toronto Star reported.

Officially, all 16,182 seats at Maple Leaf Gardens have been sold out for the season and season tickets have even been handed down in wills. But fewer people want to go to the games now that the Leafs have the worst record in the NHL.

Except for games against Edmonton, the Islanders and Montreal, the scalpers say they’re having trouble selling tickets at even below face value.

Several Toronto newspapers ran pictures of a half-empty arena at a Maple Leafs game last week.

Bill Clement, a former center for Philadelphia and the Atlanta Flames, posed in the nude for a beefcake calendar in Atlanta.

Clement has started an acting career as a result of his modeling assignment, appearing in commercials.

Kings trainer Pete Demers will work his 1,000th consecutive game tonight when the Kings play Toronto at the Forum. This is Demers’ 13th season with the team.

“There’s nothing that really stands out,” Demers said. “I’ve been around the rink since I was 8 years old and I still like to go to work each day. There are a lot of trainers that have worked 1,000 games, but I don’t know how many haven’t missed any games. I’m lucky that I haven’t had an illness in my family.”

Demers said he didn’t realize that he was approaching a milestone until he was checking one of Marcel Dionne’s records with broadcaster Bob Miller. “I said, ‘I wonder how many games I’ve worked?’ And then we sat down and figured it out,” Demers said.

Goalie Pete Peeters of Boston says the esprit de corps the Bruins established has diminished considerably this season because the team hasn’t fared that well.

“It reminds me of when Kenny (Linseman) and I were in Philly my final season,” Peeters said. “Everyone’s tense and no one wants to come to the rink. We are still solid in the dressing room. But the fun is gone from the game.”

When the Bruins landed at Los Angeles International Airport last month, a bus collided with the left wing of their plane at the loading gate.

Quipped Dick Trust of the Quincy Patriot Ledger: “The Bruins’ problems at left wing continued.”

NHL Notes

Curt Fraser of Chicago will miss at least six weeks after being hit in the face with a stick by goalie Billy Smith of the New York Islanders in a game last Sunday. Fraser suffered a fractured cheekbone and a break in the bone supporting his right eye. The Black Hawks have sent tapes of the play in which Fraser was injured to the NHL office and have asked that Smith be suspended. . . . The NHL has suspended Mark Messier of Edmonton for 10 games for sucker-punching Jamie Macoun of Calgary in a game Dec. 26. . . . Butch Goring, after Boston picked him up for $2,500 on waivers from the Islanders: “It’s like a race horse going for the cheapest claiming price. I never thought that’s all I’d be worth when the Islanders got rid of me.” . . . Here’s a conversation between Edmonton defenseman Paul Coffey and Montreal’s Chris Nilan during a recent game. Nilan: “Hey, Coffey, how does it feel going around the NHL knowing that Rod Langway is a better defenseman than you?” Coffey: “Hey, Nilan, how does it feel going around the NHL knowing that there are 500 better guys than you?”