THE RENDEZ-VOUS CONTROVERSY : IT’S BEEN SOME FUN, EH : The Soviets’ 2 Games Against NHL Stars Are Merely the Icing on the Party’s Cake

If you called together all the Chambers of Commerce and all the Welcome Wagons and a few Hollywood press agents, you might be able to produce something close to the hoopla surrounding Rendez-Vous ‘87, the National Hockey League’s All-Star series with the Soviet national team.

Nothing this big and overblown is without either controversy or exaggeration. What we have here is a week-long party with a couple of hockey games wedged in.

Here is a roundup of the key elements:

THE COACHES

You thought the Cold War was an East-West ideological conflict? Get real.

In hockey terms, the Cold War is between Michel Bergeron, coach of the Quebec Nordiques, and Jean Perron, coach of the Montreal Canadiens. The East (Quebec) can’t stand to be in the same province as the West (Montreal). In addition, the teams both play in the Adams Division.

So, naturally, Bergeron and Perron are two of the three coaches for the NHL team. Bob Johnson of the Calgary Flames is the third coach.

It’s being billed as the Odd Couple and Badger Bob, whose nickname stems from his long tenure as coach of the University of Wisconsin’s hockey team.

Bergeron and Perron have agreed to suppress their heated rivalry, which over the years has been marked by insults, intimidation tactics and ill will both on and off the ice.

Both coaches have pledged to be on their best behavior.

“Some guys spend 25 years with their wife, and they don’t even love them,” Bergeron said. “We have to work together only a week of our lives.

“It doesn’t matter to me to work with Jean Perron. We are pros and we have to forget the rivalry for a week. It’s like the players. Some of them have fought each other and for a week they have to forget that rivalry. They have to forget the bing-bang.”

Perron said: “We’ll not work hand in hand, but very closely to make sure that the players realize that the three coaches are in unison to make sure we produce at our fullest potential.”

As long as you all agree, guys.

THE POLITICS

Alan Eagleson has a headache. He has been thinking. He’s been thinking and talking and planning--bargaining, you might say. And that has given him a headache.

Eagleson’s problem is that, as president of the NHL Players Assn., he has to look out for the interests of the players, coaches and trainers here.

The first thing Eagleson thought about was tickets. He was not at all satisfied with the allocation of tickets for his people. He wanted more and better tickets.

Eagleson decided to tell the organizers that the players would boycott the games unless this big problem with tickets was straightened out. It was.

There was also a big concern about the cost of the housing for the players and NHL staff. Much, much too high, he said. Really, the price, which was the same as the press rate, was totally unacceptable.

He fixed that, too.

The more Eagleson thought about the event itself, and the extraneous events that the organizers wanted the players to be involved in, the more his head hurt.

Too, much extracurricular stuff--parties and galas--that would make the players tired, he said.

Eagleson added that if this violation of the players’ rights didn’t stop, he’d just take the game and move it to another city. A quieter one.

The players were summarily excused from several of the parties, allowing them more time to sit quietly and think about the big games.

Of course, the entire All-Star game format benefits the Players Assn., since 90% of the receipts go to the union’s retirement fund.

And for the players who aren’t here, the week is a midseason vacation, a perk Eagleson negotiated for the players this season.

So, there has been a lot to think about, what with keeping everyone’s rights safe and well. No wonder Alan Eagleson has a headache.

THE PLAYERS

Was there controversy over the fan balloting? Try this: Wayne Gretzky was not selected as an All-Star. In hockey, look no further for controversy.

The fans, who did the voting, picked Montreal-born Mario Lemieux, who is, as they say, a fine player in his own right.

How did this happen? In the fine tradition of ballot-box stuffing, hockey fans in the province of Quebec voted early and often. Lemieux is not Gretzky, but he does speak French.

That also accounts for the heavy emphasis on players from the Canadiens and Nordiques. Or those from the province of Quebec. No one even bothered to disguise what was happening, even as the ballots rolled in for Lemieux. Even as Lemieux was out of action for nearly a month with a sprained knee.

In out-polling Gretzky by about 35,000 votes, Lemieux won the Procter and Gamble Cup, and the scorn of his peers.

Not only is Gretzky the best player in hockey, the argument goes, he has also had more international experience and works hard every shift--a habit not frequently associated with Lemieux, who even tried to beg off the game.

Did the snub grate the Great One? How would anyone know, since Gretzky is unfailingly polite. “Maybe they’re tired of Wayne Gretzky winning things,” Gretzky said of the balloting fans.

Last week, Lemieux asked the NHL to allow Gretzky to start on the first line, a privilege accorded the players voted to the team by the fans. Lemieux, who had hoped to take the week off, will be here to play, though, apparently after getting heavy pressure from management and other players.

THE SOVIETS

None of them admit they speak English and they are all “happy to be here as part of this important international exchange, which will foster world-wide peace.”

The Soviet federation is being paid $80,000 for the games, and the Rendez-Vous organizers are paying all the delegation’s expenses. They are shopping a lot.

THE FANFARE

Here in Quebec City, the Greatest City in the Province of Quebec, there are no small parties, there are international galas. There are no quiet dinners, there are affaires gastronomiques.

The organizers of Rendez-Vous make the Ewings and the Carringtons appear to be the pictures of restraint and taste.

Take the Big Dinner, s’il vous plait.

A team of chefs from Canada, the United States and the Soviet Union prepared the eight-course meal. Because the diners--who paid $350 to eat--could not be there for the preparation, it was videotaped and shown on a big screen.

Each course had its own wine and its own atmosphere.

For example, when the pheasant was served, some guys rode a horse around the room. When the main course, roast buffalo, was served, some ballet dancers capered among the tables. Evocative.

Everybody here is celebrating the Winter Carnaval, which is like a week-long block party, only colder.

There’s the Red Army Choir, the lunch with Lee Iacocca, the Gala with pop stars from the Soviet Union and Canada (it’s a short program), the salute to Pierre Cardin, the rock show with the Soviet group, Autograph . . .

There’s much more and it’s all very, very big.

THE DEFICIT

Probably more than $9 million.

Rendez-Vous had been ticketed at $5 million. So far, about $14 million has been spent. And they haven’t played a game yet.