McNall Wants It All--Nicholls Takes Fall

Bernie Nicholls is gone--gone to the New York Rangers for two able bodies. King of Kings until you-know-who came along, Nicholls used to be the most valuable asset of a nickel-and-dime hockey team. This was before coin collector Bruce McNall started buying and selling.

Now that the Kings have established themselves as the tradin’est team in the NHL, we have to wonder whether McNall, as committed as he is to winning, is merely willing to do anything and everything it takes to make Los Angeles a winner, or if he is as impulsive, impetuous and impatient as that nincompoop who owns the New York Yankees.

Slow down, Bruce, before you hurt yourself.

Nicholls, Jimmy Carson, Jay Wells, Bobby Carpenter, Larry Playfair, goalies Glen Healy and Mark Fitzpatrick . . . all of them have been peddled at the Inglewood swap meet since McNall took command of the Kings in March, 1988. Lesser players, too. The man has swung more deals than Jack McKeon. Heck, he has made more deals than Cal Worthington.

Why? Because when Bruce the Boss turns the morning sports page to the NHL standings, he sees the Kings not only still behind Edmonton and Calgary, but even behind Winnipeg, for heaven’s sake. And this puts fire in his eyes.

Even with the greatest player in the History of the World, Part 1, on their side, the Kings today do not have as good a record as Toronto’s or New Jersey’s. Their record is no better than Hartford’s. And this is a King team that is supposed to be a challenger for the Stanley Cup. This is a team that wasn’t eliminated last season until it crossed blades with the eventual NHL champions.

We sympathize. No wonder McNall and his emissary, Rogie Vachon, go a little bit nuts. No wonder they turn to one another and ask: “Who else can we trade?”

We’d like to remind them to be patient, that Edmonton wasn’t built in a day.

Trouble is, the Kings can’t wait.

By trading for Wayne Gretzky, who has a limited number of seasons left, the King management believes it imperative to assemble the best possible team surrounding him, before it’s too late. There is no time to be waiting for draft choices and kids to develop. You don’t want them coming into their own just as Gretzky is skating off into the sunset. You want success now.

That is why you trade for Kelly Hrudey, rather than wait for a Fitzpatrick to pan out. That is why you pick up Larry Robinson, even though he is 38 years old and far beyond his prime. That is why you discuss trading Luc Robitaille, even though he is a three-time All-Star at 23. It’s called the panic button.

You have increased your attendance by 3,000 a night, you have trebled your season ticket sales, you have increased rinkside tickets from $45 to $100 apiece, so you cannot afford to be putting some fourth-place team out there, night after night. You feel you have to take drastic measures. You feel Bernie Nicholls, bless him, has gotta go.

And now, the skate’s on the other foot. Because when the Kings first inquired about Gretzky, the question became: How much do you give up for one guy?

Well, by the time the Kings and Oilers were through wheeling and dealing, they had thrown a couple more players into the pot. First and foremost, though, the trade had been Whatever It Takes for Wayne Gretzky. And the Kings were astonished that Edmonton would be willing to give up a superstar.

Now they know the feeling. Nicholls was a 70-goal scorer, a team player, a center as dangerous, in his own way, as Gretzky. He was not a great skater, not much of a forechecker, but there was much to be said for Nicholls’ superior sense of balance, his stickhandling strength and his skill in hittin’ ‘em where the goalie ain’t. He was a fine penalty-killer, too.

Did the Kings absolutely have to trade him?

Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato are a couple of young wingers. They do not play defense, which is where L.A. is particularly lax. Yet, Sandstrom is a swift, picturebook skater with a wicked shot, while Granato was one of the few good things to remember about the 1988 U.S. Olympic squad. The Kings hardly traded something for nothing.

We will not accuse them of making a mistake. We did that when they traded for Gretzky, and we are willing to admit being wrong in that instance, even though the Kings are no higher in the standings than they used to be, while Edmonton leads the division and still owns L.A.’s 1991 and 1993 first-round draft picks.

We’ll just leave the Kings with a warning, for now.

If you like it here, play better. The Boss is tired of being a nice guy, because he knows where nice guys finish.