NHL Players May Take Run at Soviet Imports

Some of the player resentment over the tide of Soviet players hitting National Hockey League shores already is surfacing. In Los Angeles, King center Bernie Nicholls came out and said players will take runs at the Soviets. By the start of the season, there could be as many as 10 in the NHL. They are taking away jobs.

In the Hartford Whalers camp -- where there are no Russians -- there are mixed feelings. Newcomer Pat Verbeek, who arrives from the New Jersey Devils, where defensemen Viacheslav Fetisov and Sergie Starikov will play, said feelings run similar on the front line:

“Some guys like it,” Verbeek said. “Some guys hate it. The guys who hated it the most were the D (defensemen). Their jobs were in jeopardy. A lot of guys like the fact they were helping the team. But a lot of guys were bitter at how much they were being paid.”

Fetisov ran over the Devils’ No. 1 player, Kirk Muller, last week and put him out of action for a few days.

“The U.S.S.R. is using them as an export. They’re the ones making all the money out of it,” Whalers center Ray Ferraro said.

“They pay a guy $600,000 and half of it goes straight to their federation,” Dineen said. “The American and Canadian developmental systems get nothing compared to that. I don’t like that part one bit. I hear (NHL) teams pay them under the table a little, too, so the guy gets something out of it. They take jobs, but the NHLPA (players association) constitution says we don’t discriminate. It’s wide open and it’s the way it should be. It just makes me uncomfortable having too many coming at one time.

“Perestroika is great, but I don’t believe people are going to want to see 4-5 Russians on one team. Can you see Milwaukee with an expansion team and five of those guys going down to the Stroh’s or Harley plant for an autograph session? And they’re having a lot of problems over there politically. They’re talking about Gorbachev leaving in a year. What happens if the old hardliners get in and don’t like all this?”

When Dineen plays against the Soviets in international play, he battles them to the bone. He and Fetisov trade blows, give everything they’ve got and then have a vodka together afterward.

“From the talent aspect, they’re really going to help the league,” Dineen said. “I’m excited about playing against them. I get along with Fetisov. But (Calgary’s Sergei) Makarov and (Vancouver’s Vladimir) Krutov, I probably wouldn’t like them even if they were Canadian or American. Krutov and (Canucks’ Igor) Larionov are going to have problems. Krutov has an attitude. You should see Makarov and Krutov yell at each other when things don’t go their way.

“Alexander Mogilny (Buffalo’s young Soviet defector) buys a Porsche his first month here right off the bat. A month later, he buys a Corvette. They have no-self discipline.”

Ferraro, however, says he won’t be the one to teach Fetisov a lesson.

“I’m curious to see how they’ll do individually, but I don’t know about running those guys. I don’t know many guys who will throw Fetisov around. He’s as big as a house.”