CALLED FOR SLASHING

The National Hockey League would seem an unlikely enemy of violence. But that’s its complaint about MGM/UA’s “Youngblood,” with Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze (opening Jan. 31).

In fact, just last week the NHL dispatched a telegram to its teams telling them that Goal magazine (the official NHL mag) turned down an ad for the film because: “We find that it does not reflect well upon the game of hockey.”

A league spokesman in NYC noted, “We’re not fans of the film. We think it’s got an undue emphasis on violence.”

Isn’t that position a tad hypocritical, given the frequent slugfests on NHL ice?

“Not at all,” he said. “We may have a few fights, but we also get penalties for them. We don’t have gore, you know.”