Kings’ Nicholls ‘The Funky One’ : Hockey: Bernie Nicholls proves he has style <i> and</i> substance as one of the premiere players in the NHL. Fans love his flashy play; goalies fear the power of his shot.

As Wayne Gretzky emerged from the Los Angeles Kings’ bus and walked into Jennines Rink at Avon Old Farms, the prep school kids gathered around to get a peek.

“There he is,” one boy whispered with dutiful prep school reverence.

A few strides later, in walked a dude with a full-length fur coat. Head up, Bernie Nicholls’ hair shone California blond in Tuesday’s grayness.

“Whoa. Nice coat, man,” the boy said, reverting to rad teen-age form.

Gretzky is hockey’s Great One. But Bernie Nicholls may be the sport’s Funky One.

To watch Nicholls play high-tempo offense and carry himself, one would swear he belongs on the floor with the Lakers running the fast break and slapping high fives with Jack Nicholson.

There are better hockey players in the world, but there aren’t many more fun to watch. And last season, he pushed his game to a new level when he became only the fifth man in National Hockey League history to score 70 goals and 150 points in one season.

As a young flash from tiny West Guilford, Ontario, (population: 60, next to Haliburton, population: 1,800) he scored some delicious goals back in the early 1980s and pumped his arm furiously in celebration. Announcer Bob Miller dubbed it the “Pumper Nicholl.” As they say in Hollywood, that’s entertainment.

“I enjoy myself,” said Nicholls, who has 21 goals going into tonight’s game against the Hartford Whalers. “We get a bad rap out there as ‘Hollywood types’ but that’s our environment. There’s so much you can do in California. If I was at home, I’d probably go golfing or to the race track today. There’s nothing cocky about that. You can’t fault a guy because of his environment, whether it’s L.A. or Winnipeg.”

Nicholls owned his first fur coat back in junior hockey, not because he was rich but because a family he became close to in Kingston, Ontario, sold it to him at a huge discount. Now that he’s got a contract that, including deferments and bonuses, can bring him $700,000 a season, he selects clothes “the funkier the better.” Nicholls, 28, has been quoted as saying the only thing in life he is afraid of is growing old.

Before Nicholls was married, he dated Playboy bunnies and did all the L.A. things.

But more than flash, the Whalers who know him say he is a friendly, outgoing guy who is heavy on humor.

“When we were in Prague (Czechoslovakia) in the world championships, Bernie would sneak out of team meals, get somebody’s hotel key and hide in the shower with the curtain closed,” Ron Francis said. “The guy would use the washroom and Bernie would throw open the curtain and scream at the top of his lungs. Guys almost died of heart attacks.”

“He may be the craziest guy in the world who never drinks,” Kevin Dineen said.

Nicholls can shoot a puck as true and accurate as Crocodile Dundee can fire a knife.

“When you’re playing against (the Calgary Flames’) Al MacInnis you’re waiting for an incredible shot to come booming from the point,” goalie Mike Liut said. “Bernie shoots bullets all in the flow of the game out of a crowd. They’ll come over the blue line, cut, little drop pass to him, and--boom--out of nowhere. High short side or low far side, you don’t know.

“It doesn’t even look like he’s going to slap it that hard. But he’s a terrific ballplayer. Fantastic stroke. His hockey shot’s the same--he can pound it.”

Nicholls’ sharp tongue may have gotten him into trouble at training camp. He said the new Soviets would “take a beating” in the NHL, and was portrayed in some corners as a perestroika- basher.

“You have guys coming over taking our jobs and obviously we don’t want that,” Nicholls said. “Management’s point of view is they’re bettering their teams. To us, we’re just a piece of meat. If you don’t have it anymore, you’re gone.”

And from fur coat to goal scoring, it’s obvious Nicholls still has it.