The NHL / Gordon Edes : Trottier May Be Next to Join the Parade of Departed Islanders

These are the bleakest of times for the New York Islanders, a dynasty at the start of the decade with four Stanley Cups, a disaster this season with the worst record in the league.

Al Arbour, the coach during the glory years, has been summoned back to salvage what he can out of the wreckage, but one by one, the players responsible for the Islanders’ extended run are disappearing.

Defenseman Denis Potvin retired. Mike Bossy’s back gave out on him, forcing him to quit. Chico Resch, Bobby Nystrom, Clark Gillies, Butch Goring, gone. John Tonelli is a King.

And now center Bryan Trottier, long recognized as one of the team’s leaders, may be on the verge of seeking employment elsewhere.

Trottier, angered by Arbour’s announcement that his ice time will be cut to make room for younger players, met with the coach the other day and afterward did not rule out the possibility of a trade. Trottier said he intends to sit down with Islander president Bill Torrey when Torrey returns from league meetings in Florida this week.

Trottier’s agent, Bob Thornton, said: “Bryan, to me, was hurt by them coming out and telling the press his ice time was going to be cut down. He’s been here long enough--it’s his 14th year, he’s won four Stanley Cups. If they decided they wanted to cut his ice time down, they should have come to him privately and told him.”

Trottier, 32, would probably be attractive to a team that believes it’s only a player or two away from winning it all this season. But he has 3 years left on a contract that eventually will pay him $900,000 a year, enough to scare off some bidders.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, another longtime all-star center, former King Marcel Dionne, has been left home by the Rangers, who began a 6-game trip Wednesday in Chicago. Dionne, who has 7 goals and 15 assists in limited action, has indicated that he believes Ranger Coach Michel Bergeron would like him to retire.

This would seem to be an opportune time for the Kings to open a greater lead on the third-place Edmonton Oilers, who have six key regulars--including three defensemen--out with injuries.

The biggest loss may be Wayne Gretzky’s former linemate, Esa Tikkanen, who broke his right wrist after being tripped by Gretzky in the first period of the Kings’ overtime win over the Oilers on Jan. 10 at the Forum.

Tikkanen was the Oilers’ third-leading scorer, with 24 goals and 30 assists for 54 points in 43 games. He said he also was slashed on the play--either by Tonelli or Bernie Nicholls--before Gretzky took Tikkanen’s skates out from under him.

Other injured Oilers are center Craig Simpson, who has an ankle problem; defenseman Steve Smith and winger Norm Lacombe, shoulder injuries; defenseman Jeff Beukeboom, wrenched knee, and defenseman Randy Gregg, badly pulled groin.

Meanwhile, trade rumors continue to swirl around former King Jimmy Carson, who had just 1 assist in 4 games on the Oilers’ extended trip, which ended Wednesday night in Winnipeg. Carson has 35 goals and 27 assists in 46 games, but he’s a shooter, and the Oilers are believed to be seeking another playmaking center.

The Oilers were taking some consolation in the play of all-star goaltender Grant Fuhr, who showed signs of breaking out of his prolonged slump. But then he suffered a strained neck in a second-period pileup during Wednesday’s 9-4 victory over Winnipeg and had to be carried off the ice.

The Kings aren’t the only team having a dramatic revival at the box office. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who were averaging about 6,000 fans a game 5 seasons ago, have sold out 10 straight games--16,025 capacity--and 17 of their first 23 games. They are averaging 15,518 fans a game.

The transformation, of course, is directly attributed to Mario Lemieux, which is why his contract was restructured to pay him $1.6 million this season--possibly $2 million with bonuses--with the promise of a new long-term contract after the season.

Alan Eagleson, executive director of the NHL Players Assn., wasn’t thrilled by the cavalier attitude taken by the Kings toward their New Year’s Eve exhibition against the Soviet Union’s Dynamo Riga. King Coach Robbie Ftorek, you may recall, said beforehand the game meant “nada” to him, and owner Bruce McNall went behind the bench to assist in the coaching.

“You can paint any scenario you want,” Eagleson told Jay Greenberg of the Philadelphia Daily News. “The fact of the matter is, we averaged 13,500 fans for the games and cleared $2 million for the (players’) pension fund.”

Said Eagleson of the Kings’ approach to the game: “It was spitting in your own eye. I felt sorry for Wayne Gretzky, who plays every game like it’s the seventh game of the Stanley Cup.”

Perhaps Eagleson was not aware that Gretzky himself expressed some reluctance about playing the game. In any event, the NHL has plans to require all 21 league teams to play the Soviets in exhibitions next season.