THE NHL : C’mon, Howe Has Had Enough Comebacks

Gordie Howe said Wednesday he would like to wait until his 11-year-old grandson makes it to the National Hockey League so that he can make another comeback and play with him, just as he made a comeback to play with his sons, Mark and Marty, until he was past 50.

Let’s say his grandson, Travis Gordon, is at least seven years away from the NHL. Howe would be 68 then.

Crazy? Is it any crazier than the talk about him coming back at 61 to play on a line with Wayne Gretzky?

Oh, he was joking about the grandson comeback?

So what? This whole furor over his comeback started out as a joke. Or at least as teasing. He mentioned it first at the Hall of Fame dinner to Richard Gordon, owner of the Hartford Whalers, the team he last played for and the team he still works for. Back East, the first flurry of stories concerned a one-game comeback with the Whalers after New Year’s, so he could claim to have played in six decades.

Gordon originally thought it sounded like a good idea, but then started to back off. Gordon was quoted in the Hartford Courant as saying: “I haven’t thought about all the ramifications. It reminds me of, ‘What’s a person’s last wish?’

“I want to do what’s right for Gordie. We’ve got to discuss this with the general manager, the coaching staff and the players.”

And when the idea was compared to the publicity stunt that Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck pulled when he sent a midget up to bat, Gordon said: “Are you saying I’m turning the greatest hockey player into a midget?”

It would be hard to pass off Howe’s one-game comeback as an attempt to improve a team and win a hockey game. It wouldn’t exactly be a publicity stunt, but it would be more ceremonial than serious.

Gordon turned the matter over to NHL President John Ziegler for consideration regarding questions of “roster, insurance and league image.”

When Howe arrived in Los Angeles to await Gretzky’s breaking of his scoring record, he joked in the locker room that he would like to make the one-game comeback after New Year’s and “challenge the little guy to do that.”

Owner Bruce McNall of the Kings, asked if he would let Howe play for his team, said it would be a fun thing to do, that the fans would enjoy it, that it would be an honor for the Kings and that he would like to “accommodate” whatever Howe wants.

Coach Tom Webster of the Kings said it was “a nice idea to try to do something for this man who did so much for hockey.”

Through the league, Howe’s wife, Colleen, called it “a fantasy which will be given some further thought.”

Gretzky has said that if Howe wants to extend his five-decade record to six decades, he needn’t bother. “I think five decades is a safe record,” Gretzky said.

With his idol sitting at his side Wednesday, Gretzky was asked how he would feel about playing with Howe again. Gretzky said: “If there’s anyone who can play at this age, it’s Gordie. People say, ‘He’s 61.’ But believe me, I know he can take care of himself out there. If Gordie wants to play, I’m sure he can play.”

Howe has said much the same thing, sort of: “I wouldn’t want to just stand out there. How does John Candy look on blades? If I get there, Walter Gretzky (Wayne’s father) would probably want to suit up, too.”

Next: Will Walter Gretzky skate with Wayne or wait until Wayne has a son, and the grandson learns to skate?

The first NHL game pitting Soviet players against one another occurred Tuesday night in New Jersey, and the Calgary imports ended up on the winning team.

This was no surprise to Viacheslav Fetisov, one of the two Soviets on the Devils. Fetisov said of Calgary’s Sergei Makarov, who won the Soviet League scoring title nine of the last 10 seasons and who started his NHL season with two goals and eight points in three games: “He’s a player the same caliber of Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky. He’s one of the strongest offensive players in the world today.”

Fetisov and Makarov played together on the Central Red Army team.

After the game, New Jersey Coach Jim Schoenfeld concluded: “We’re a better team with the Soviets. So are (the Flames). Especially with Makarov, a damn good hockey player.”

Mike Liut lost his ranking as Hartford’s No. 1 goaltender last March, so his start Wednesday night against Washington was his first in more than six months. Peter Sidorkieweicz started the first two games of the season, and Kay Whitmore started the third. In the Whalers’ fourth game, Liut made 24 saves as they beat Washington, 4-1. It was hailed as a turning point in his 11-year career.

Teammate Ray Ferraro said: “Lootie was kidding that never before has 24 saves evoked such a round of enthusiasm.”

Whaler Coach Rick Ley said he does not like a three-goalie system. “We have to give all three a chance,” he said. “But if one guy gets hot, he could become the man. We’ll have to make a decision by the end of the month.”

Hockey Notes

At the end of the first week of NHL competition, the Whalers’ Ron Francis was the league’s points leader. His response: “Scary, isn’t it? Quick, draw me a finish line before the other guys catch up.” Francis has never had even a 100-point season. . . . Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur had three goals in his first three games with Quebec. . . . Defenseman Doug Crossman, who played in 10 of the Kings’ 11 playoff games and then was let go in the trade for goalie Kelly Hrudey, is the Islanders’ leading scorer with eight points in four games.

Chicago defenseman Dave Manson was suspended for three games by the NHL for inadvertently knocking official Ron Asselstine to the ice during a tussle with the Rangers, after Chris Nilan poked Chicago goalie Alain Chevrier in the mask with his stick. Manson argued that he didn’t even see Asselstine: “I only had eyes for Nilan.” Blackhawk General Manager Bob Pulford was amazed by the three-game suspension and will be watching to see if everyone who touches an official this season gets hit with three games. By the way, Manson will be back just in time for the Blackhawks’ rematch with the Rangers Tuesday night.