The NHL / Julie Cart : Kings May Have a Minor Problem

The future of the New Haven Nighthawks, the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate, is in doubt, at least until the club agrees to a new contract with the New Haven Coliseum.

King General Manager Rogie Vachon said that the Nighthawks and a few other teams were hot topics during the AHL meetings in Boston Monday.

After three years of sharing the New Haven team with the Kings, the New York Rangers have said that they are pulling out, intending to affiliate with a team in the International Hockey League.

“They (Rangers) aren’t for sure going to the IHL,” Vachon said. “They will have to come up with a lot of money by April 7. Several (NHL) teams are talking about going to (farm teams in) the IHL. Right now, the IHL is a little weaker. But if three or four teams went over, it would be a heck of league.”

Vachon said the departure of the Rangers would put a strain on the Kings, who would be left alone to supply players for the New Haven club. “It’s an expensive operation, just to keep the minor league franchise together,” he said. “You have to do it to keep the kids coming up.”

Actually, though, the Kings have borne financial responsibility for the Nighthawks since they affiliated with the minor league club in the 1982-83 season. The Rangers began to place players with the club in 1984-85.

Such a sharing arrangement suited the Kings, who were given players to fill out the team but for whom they had no contractual obligation. The Rangers, on the other hand, had a training ground for young players without the financial burden of a backing a full team.

The sticking point, apparently, was that the Kings had total control over which players play. Vachon said, however, that Ranger General Manager Phil Esposito told him that even if the Rangers move to the IHL, New York would like to put a few players in New Haven.

Vachon said that the Kings are negotiating with the city of New Haven on a contract to play in the Coliseum.

“I think now that they have thought about it, they don’t want the Nighthawks to leave,” Vachon said. “If we pull out of there, there’s no hockey in New Haven. The fans have made it clear that they want the Nighthawks to stay.”

Vachon said the negotiations will continue indefinitely. “We’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

Rumors persist that Toronto Maple Leaf General Manager Gerry McNamara and Coach John Brophy are on their way out.

Toronto is 31-41-6 and nearly out of playoff contention in the Norris Division. McNamara is seemingly unconcerned about his future with the team.

“Do I look like a worried person?” McNamara asked Steve Simmons of the Toronto Star in a rare interview last week.

“Do you think I’m worried because the press says I’m doing a bad job? The media doesn’t run the hockey club. Mr. Ballard (owner Harold Ballard) does. But as far as the heat is concerned, I can take the heat. I may even be made of asbestos.”

McNamara has been with Toronto for six years. If the Maple Leafs fail to make the playoffs, it will be the fourth time in six years.

“I think I’ve done a good job and I’ll continue to do a good job,” he said. “I’m a responsible person. You have to look at what I’m supposed to be doing. I think I’ve done that. I don’t think there’s anybody who can argue that this team hasn’t gotten better over the last few years. Other than the won-lost record, we’re right on target.”

Like his boss, McNamara holds no love for the media. “When I took this job, somebody told me I needed the press to succeed. I said, ‘I don’t need the press.’ It would be very easy for me to be a smiling guy and pat them on the back. . . . I refuse to do that. I’ll go to my grave before I’ll do that.”

NHL Notes The New Jersey Devils are negotiating with companies for the sale of advertising space on the dasher boards at Meadowlands Arena. The Devils are the only team in the NHL without such advertising, which can bring a team as much as $100,000 a year. . . . Think hockey isn’t big in Minnesota? The state high school tournament grossed nearly $1 million over three days. Half of the income came from radio and TV rights. . . . Brian Curran of the Islanders is the team’s designated enforcer. The 6-foot, 5-inch Curran said he has been fighting all his life--with his five sisters. “Oh, I fought with my sisters all the time,” he said. “It’s not like I would ever hit them, but my oldest sister, Michele, used to beat the heck out of me when I was real young. I’m talking real young. As for fighting, it just came kind of naturally. One day, I dropped my gloves and that was that.”