The NHL / Chris Baker : Forum Ice Time Helped Him Get His Act Together

Actor Rob Lowe skated with the Edmonton Oilers last season when they practiced at the Forum before games against the Kings.

Lowe wasn’t just having fun, though. He was preparing for his starring role in a hockey movie, “Youngblood,” which opens this week.

“It was the hardest role I’ve ever done,” Lowe recently told the Associated Press. “I went through great stretches in the movie where I never spoke. Not only did I not speak, but it was not even acting in the sense that I’m used to.

“It was like, ‘Skate down the rink, fall down, look in the camera and grunt.’ After weeks of that, I thought I’d lost my mind.”

Lowe took skating lessons from Eric Nesterenko, a former star of the Chicago Black Hawks.

“(Nesterenko) was like the enforcer,” Lowe said. “He’s a very sweet man, but on the ice, he’s a maniac.”

The Kings, who have been playing hockey since training camp opened in late September, will take a vacation during the three-day break for the All-Star game next week.

Last year the Kings went to Las Vegas during the All-Star break, and this year they’re going to spend it in Reno.

They will play a two-game series at Winnipeg Saturday and Sunday, then Monday they will fly to Reno, where they will be joined by their wives. They will leave Wednesday for Calgary and a game Thursday night.

Only one King, right wing Dave Taylor, was selected to play in the All-Star game next Tuesday at Hartford, Conn.

On the other hand, the Edmonton Oilers have so many All-Star players that they’re going to charter a jet for their official party of 60.

Center Wayne Gretzky, right wing Jari Kurri, left wing Glen Anderson, goalie Grant Fuhr and defenseman Paul Coffey were voted onto the Campbell Conference team by fans.

Then Edmonton Coach Glen Sather, who is coaching his third straight All-Star game, added four more of his Oilers--defensemen Lee Fogolin and Kevin Lowe, left wing Mark Messier and backup goalie Andy Moog.

The Oiler charter will stop in Toronto to pick up Gretzky’s parents. Also included in the traveling party are the wives and girlfriends of the players. Peter Pocklington, who owns the Oilers, is picking up the tab for the jet.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are probably the only NHL team that doesn’t allow beer in the locker room after games.

The Penguins have also quit serving steaks, baked potatoes and ice cream at their pregame meals.

Why the change?

Coach Bob Berry hired Doug McKenney, a conditioning and strength coach, last summer and he told Berry to change the players’ diets.

McKenney is reportedly the only full-time conditioning coach in the NHL.

“Despite what the light beer labels say, it’s high in calories and fat,” McKenney told a Vancouver newspaper.

“The hockey player’s main source of energy used to be your basic 16-ounce steak with all the trimmings. Their diet was far too high in fat content. For their pregame meal they’ll have spaghetti, chicken or white fish, salad and lots of bread. Food that is high in carbohydrates and low in fat.”

Berry said that the players have grumbled about their new diet. “Some players may not always like what they have to eat,” Berry said. “But the bottom line is they believe in Doug and what’s doing for them.”

Said Penguin assistant captain Terry Ruskowski: “We’ve been feeling better about ourselves and our performances. Doug’s diet and conditioning programs have helped our quickness and endurance and reduced the frequency of our injuries and muscle problems.”

The Penguins are one of the most improved teams in the NHL this season. Last week they beat the Edmonton Oilers.

They had a 22-22-5 record going into Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Last season the Penguins won just 24 games.

Two Soviet hockey teams made a reported $250,000 during their recently completed 10-game exhibition series against NHL teams, the NHL Players Assn. said.

The Soviet Red Army and Moscow Dynamo were guaranteed $25,000 for each game, after expenses. And they were paid in American money, not rubles.

Alan Eagleson, executive director of the NHLPA, said the NHL pension fund also made between $500,000 and $700,000 from the tour.