The NHL : Kings’ Taylor Is Among League’s Top 3

Only Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers and injured Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders will be paid more in base salary this season than Dave Taylor of the Kings, according to figures released by the National Hockey League Players Assn.

Gretzky will earn $1.1 million Canadian (about $825,000 U.S.), and Bossy will earn $850,000 Canadian and Taylor $838,000 Canadian, according to figures from a survey taken last October in which about 90% of the association membership participated.

Are the figures accurate?

“Actually, I think Dave makes a little more than that,” said Taylor’s agent, Ron Salcer.

Taylor, a 10-year veteran, played out his option in the 1981-82 season, which happened to be a season in which he was voted into the Campbell Conference starting lineup for the All-Star game, produced 106 points and helped the Kings upset the Oilers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

His timing was Taylor-made.

Taylor signed a lucrative seven-year deal not long afterward.

“You couldn’t have written a better scenario,” Salcer said. “Everything happened that had to happen for us to get what we got.”

In anticipation of the next question, Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the NHL’s leading scorer, will be paid $567,000 Canadian this season, according to the NHLPA figures.

Harold Ballard, the cantankerous 84-year-old owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs: “If the good die young, I’ll probably live to 203.”

Chris Nilan, traded last month from the Montreal Canadiens to the New York Rangers, said the transition has been smooth.

“It’s still the same colors: red, white and blue,” Nilan said. “It’s better than wearing purple and yellow in L.A. or black, gold and orange in Vancouver.”

In contrast to last season, Bob Probert of the Detroit Red Wings has attracted more attention for his play this season than for his off-ice problems with the law.

Probert, 22, was arrested three times on charges of drunk driving last season. Twice, the 6-foot 3-inch right winger was suspended by Coach Jacques Demers.

This season, Probert has 25 goals and 25 assists, including a goal in the Red Wings’ 6-1 victory over the Kings Monday at the Forum. And, last week, the NHL’s most penalized player--Probert has spent 308 minutes in the penalty box--was named to the Campbell Conference All-Star team by Coach Glen Sather of the Oilers.

Sather, defending his choice of Probert as an All-Star, said Probert should be seen as a role model.

Probert said he hasn’t had a drink in almost a year.

“He’s beaten a problem that millions of Americans and Canadians suffer with,” Sather told the Chicago Tribune. “Whether he’s going to beat it permanently or not, I thought this would be a great chance for him to get some recognition.”

As far as Coach Jacques Demers of the Detroit Red Wings is concerned, Steve Yzerman is untouchable.

He wouldn’t consider any offer for the All-Star center?

“That’s like asking me if I’d trade my son Jason for the kid next door,” Demers said.

It’s no mystery to Dino Ciccarelli why the Minnesota North Stars have fallen to the bottom of the Norris Division with the NHL’s worst record.

“The North Stars simply aren’t that good,” said the team’s all-time leading scorer. “Ever since we went to the Stanley Cup finals my rookie year (1981), everybody expects us to win every night. But we’re just not as good as everybody thinks we are.

“We used to be a pretty good team. We should be playing better than we are, but even when we’re healthy we’re only an average team, talent-wise. You know we’re not one of the top six or seven teams in the league. Lately, we’ve been an average team playing below average.”

Jack Evans apparently talked himself out of a job this month.

Emile (Cat) Francis, president of the Hartford Whalers, once said that Evans would be the Whalers’ coach as long as Francis was in charge. Francis changed his mind, though, after Evans, 59, told reporter Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant that he planned to retire at the end of next season.

Within a week, Evans was fired.

“He gave a statement to Jeff,” Francis said. “Jeff called me. I said, ‘What?’ I called Jack and said, ‘What the hell’s that all about?’ I knew nothing about it.

“That kind of thing can cause so much instability. The next day, there was a list of 20 coaching possibilities in the paper. You’ve got to know as a player who your coach is going to be. I don’t believe in lame-duck presidents, managers or coaches.”

Joe Nieuwendyk, who left Cornell and the Ivy League last March, has been somewhat taken aback by his success this season with the Calgary Flames.

“One night, I’m trying to scrape together $1.50 for a slice of pizza on campus,” he said, “and the next night I’m having a $60 pasta dinner in New York and going to Madison Square Garden.”

With 42 goals in 56 games, Nieuwendyk is on pace to break Mike Bossy’s rookie record of 53 goals. And, with 26 so far, he also has a chance to break the NHL record for power-play goals. Tim Kerr of the Philadelphia Flyers scored 34 in the 1985-86 season.

King General Manager Rogie Vachon has been the target of pot shots by reporters throughout the league. Before the season, Vachon said that while he conceded the Smythe Division championship to the Oilers, he would be disappointed if the Kings didn’t finish second.

Wrote Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Did he mean second from the top or second from the bottom?

Asked how to say, “Have a nice day,” in his native tongue, Czech defector Petr Klima of the Detroit Red Wings told a reporter: “We didn’t ever say that there.”