NHL ALL-STAR GAME : Injury Sidelines Blues’ Brett Hull

There will be an NHL All-Star game today.

But not for Brett Hull.

Wayne Gretzky has been saying all week he would cancel the game if he ran the show in light of the war in the Persian Gulf.

But the man who does run the show, NHL President John Ziegler, has announced that the Wales Conference will face off against the Campbell Conference at 10 a.m. PST in Chicago Stadium as expected.

Said Ziegler in a prepared statement: “The 42nd NHL All-Star Game is scheduled to go forward as planned. The expressed policy of the United States in World War II was that professional sports, as well as all business and entertainment, carry on. The same was true for the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.

“We will take our guidance from the President of the United States as to the All-Star game, and from both the President and Prime Minister of Canada as to our regular schedule. We have had no indication or signal from the governments that they would wish us not to go forward.”

Hull has trouble going forward, backward or in any other direction because of a sprained ankle that will force him to miss the game. Hull had a league-high 432,879 votes from the fans, who select the All-Star starters.

“It would have been fun to have a Hull on the home team again,” he said with a downcast shake of his head, referring to his father, Bobby, a Hall of Famer with the Chicago Blackhawks. “Maybe going into Chicago Stadium, I would have had a cheer for a change.”

The younger Hull, who plays for the St. Louis Blues, got hurt on Tuesday night against the Washington Capitals.

“I got beat along the boards, and Joel Quenneville landed on my ankle,” Hull said. “I’m lucky because I thought it was broken at first.”

When the Blues played the Montreal Canadiens Thursday, Hull, who has 46 goals in 47 games, tested the ankle.

But not for long.

“I tried to play,” he said, “but I was very useless. It only hurts when I put on skates. I plan on playing in the next game.

“It’s very disappointing considering the honor bestowed on me by the fans, but I have to look at the whole season.”

Taking Hull’s place on the squad will be St. Louis teammate Adam Oates.

Friday night, a sellout crowd of 18,472 attended the old-timers game, followed by an All-Star skills competition.

A team of Blackhawk old-timers defeated a squad of All-Star old-timers, 3-1.

Scoring for Chicago was Cliff Koroll, Peter Marsh and Jim Pappin. Serge Savard, who spent most of his Hall of Fame career with Montreal, got the goal for the other side.

Stan Mikita also scored for the Blackhawks.

Sort of.

He used a trick stick, with the puck tied to it like a yo-yo.

After much deliberation, the goal was disallowed.

Bobby Hull, who had threatened to boycott the game because of a dispute between the owners and the old-timers over a surplus of pension funds, relented and put on his skates.

Highlights of the skills competition were MacInnis winning the hardest shot contest with a 94-m.p.h. blast into the net, Chicago’s Steve Larmer scoring four breakaways on five attempts, Coffey winning the fastest skater competition and Mark Messier of the Edmonton Oilers, injured knee and all, smashing four targets placed around the net on only five shots.

All-Star Notes

Other than the Blues’ Adam Oates, Campbell starters are Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille of the Kings, Chris Chelios of Chicago, and Al MacInnis and Mike Vernon of Calgary. . . . Starters for the Wales Conference are Cam Neely of Boston, Rick Tocchet of Philadelphia, Joe Sakic of Quebec, Ray Bourque of Boston and Paul Coffey of Pittsburgh and Patrick Roy of Montreal.

The game is scheduled to be shown on Channel 4. . . . A third King, Tomas Sandstrom, will also play in the game as a reserve for the Campbell Conference. Two other All-Stars forced to join Brett Hull on the sidelines are Brian Skrudland of Montreal and Chris Nilan of Boston. Skrudland, out with a broken foot, has been replaced by teammate Denis Savard. Nilan, who has an ankle injury, will give way to teammate Dave Christian.