THE NHL : Out-of-Shape Krutov May Become Out of Sight Soon

The Cold War might be over for the rest of the Soviet Union, but not for Vladimir Krutov.

His battle, however, is with one small segment of the Western world--the National Hockey League in general and the Vancouver Canucks in particular.

Krutov has become a hockey player frozen out of his own sport, a Russian living in self-imposed exile from the ice.

A 30-year-old left wing with a dozen seasons on the Central Red Army team behind him, Krutov signed a contract with the Canucks last season for two years plus an option season.

He arrived in the flush of euphoria over the Soviet invasion of the NHL, but his numbers, like many of his fellow transplants, were less than spectacular in his first NHL season. Krutov had 11 goals and 34 points in 61 games for Vancouver.

He arrived in training camp this year out of shape and overweight, and Canuck officials fumed.

When he didn’t look much better in the exhibition season, his days in Vancouver seemed over. The Canucks were ready to send him to the minors.

“Our entire management team has had enough of him,” said Brian Burke, the Canucks’ director of hockey operations. “After repeated and stern warnings, he showed up at training camp in horrendous shape, and we all decided we can’t tolerate it anymore. . . . It’s nothing less than sad for everyone, the hope we had for him, the reception our fans gave him.

“Everything was right there on the table for him.”

Unfortunately for Krutov, who reported 10 pounds overweight at 205, the only thing on the table he seemed interested in was food.

End of Krutov, end of story?

Not quite.

It seems that when the Soviets arrived last year, some of their contracts included clauses forbidding trades or shipment to the minors. Such clauses are not permitted in standard NHL contracts.

Several of the Soviet contracts, including the one signed by Igor Larionov, Krutov’s teammate in Vancouver, have since been reworked to exclude the prohibitions on trades or demotions.

But not Krutov’s.

Therein lies the problem. The Canucks don’t want him, but they can’t legally get rid of him.

What to do? So far, nothing.

Krutov has not been in a Vancouver uniform since opening day, nor has he been paid a penny of his $375,000 salary this season.

Krutov, who does not speak English, has remained in Vancouver, working out with a local university team.

The Soviet Ice Hockey Federation has gotten involved in negotiations to work out a deal.

There are four possibilities:

--The Soviet officials will order Krutov home because he has become an embarrassment.

--The Soviet officials will order him to go to the minors in order to collect his money--the Soviet government also receives $375,000 a season from the Canucks for Krutov’s services and it may consider the money the prime consideration.

--The issue could go to court.

--A buyout could be reached.

Until then, Krutov remains in limbo, the hockey player who refuses to come in from the cold.

Tough Call: The Winnipeg Sun, in a headline, calls the Kings’ Tomas Sandstrom “Public Enemy No. 1.” Labeling him “the most hated NHL player” because of his tactics on the ice, the article says: “Militant Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should be so hated.”

Tough Call II: The Toronto Maple Leafs followed up Friday’s trade of center John McIntyre to the Kings for center Mike Krushelnyski with the shipping of center Ed Olczyk and wing Mark Osborne to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for wing Paul Fenton and defenseman Dave Ellett.

Olczyk was at a Toronto hospital, awaiting the birth of his second child, when the deal was completed.

Not wishing to have him hear the news through the media, a Maple Leaf official called Olczyk while his wife, Diana, was still in labor.

“I held off telling my wife because I just wanted her to worry about the labor,” Olczyk said. “But she knew something was up. She just looked at me and said, ‘Where are we going, Winnipeg?’ I said, ‘Yes.’

“I was thrown off the roller coaster for a minute. But then I got back on track and realized the most important thing was my family.”

Miami Ice: Some people have expressed reservations about the NHL’s $50 million fee for expansion teams, but Godfrey Wood is not one of them.

Part of a group attempting to land a franchise for Miami, Wood is undaunted despite the fact a group in Milwaukee recently pulled out of the expansion derby, citing the financial difficulties involved.

“I don’t happen to agree with any of (their) reported reasons,” Wood told the Boston Globe. “I don’t see how you can lose money, given the league’s requirements (for arena size and season-ticket sales) and the southern Florida market area. We’ve got 4 million people to draw from, and our reports show they are just dying for hockey.”

Dying for fans: Expansion groups are not the only ones interested in this potentially lucrative territory.

The new management of the Minnesota North Stars, beset by low attendance and morale problems, is reportedly looking at Florida as well.

And the Winnipeg Jets, supposedly headed for Anaheim last year, are rumored to be on their way to Wisconsin next season, perhaps under new management, to fill the void left by the Milwaukee group’s exit from the expansion picture.

Why not? Existing teams in trouble at home could get all the benefits of enthusiastic new fans and a shiny new home without the $50-million expansion fee.

Of course, the league might not look too kindly upon such carpetbagging, but as Al Davis proved, so what?

Add expansion: Owner Bruce McNall of the Kings doesn’t think the $50-million fee is exorbitant.

“Not when you figure that baseball is talking about $95 million to $100 million for an expansion team,” he said. “We’ve got nine groups prepared to pay that right now.

“The important thing is, we want to take our time and bring in the right people, not just grab the money.”

Monopoly game: Although the season is only six weeks old, Pittsburgh Penguin center John Cullen’s moving to the top of the scoring list is news.

It’s only the second time since 1982-83 that anyone except Wayne Gretzky or Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux has led the NHL in scoring this far into the season.