Knickle Awaits His Shot by Stopping Them : Hockey: Goalie Rick Knickle, passed over by the NHL, stops 27 shots in Gulls’ 4-1 victory over Phoenix.

Shortly before faceoff Sunday, Gulls Coach Don Waddell was talking about one of his favorite hockey players: Rick Knickle, a career minor-league goalie who once seemed to have a bright future in the National Hockey League.

Waddell pondered the fact that Knickle, who turns 32 in 10 days, never got a shot at the big time. Sixty minutes later, after Knickle stopped 27 of 28 shots to lead the Gulls to a 4-1 victory over the Phoenix Roadrunners in front of 7,329 at the San Diego Sports Arena, Waddell still had Knickle on his mind.

“I’ll tell you, he’s good enough to play (in the NHL) now,” Waddell said after Knickle became the IHL’s winningest goalie at 22-7-3. “I think so. He’s my MVP. Hoff (back-up goalie Bruce Hoffort, 10-8-2) has played well, but Knickle has carried us.”

With a 3.45 goals-against average and an 89.1 save percentage going into Sunday’s game, Knickle was not rated among the leaders in the International Hockey League--nor has he been at any time this season. Knickle, who is 9-0-1 in his last 10 starts, didn’t make the IHL All-Star team.

He has simply been a constant, quiet force that has kept the Gulls (34-19-5) in second place for much of the new year. In beating the Roadrunners (20-33-6) for the ninth time in 10 meetings, the Gulls stayed in a second-place tie with the Peoria Rivermen (73 points each) in the West Division.

“I’ve played well for years; I’ve heard it all before,” said Knickle of the NHL talk. “It doesn’t play on my mind anymore. I was the top (junior) goalie in Canada one year. I led the league my first year at 17. This is not new to me.

“Kelly Hrudey. Andy Moog. Guys like that, they just passed me by and got their start within their first or second year. Meanwhile, I never got much of chance to play even in the American (Hockey) League.”

He was drafted in the seventh round by Buffalo in 1979 and later signed as a free agent by Montreal in 1985. He played little in the minors and never made the NHL. Knickle, however, rewarded those teams that gave him a chance in the IHL. He had 25 victories for Flint three years ago, and 22 victories and a 3.11 GAA the year before that.

While Knickle, a native of New Brunswick, Canada, was making some big saves against Phoenix, the Gulls got goals from Dmitri Kvartalnov (his IHL-leading 47th), Ray Whitney (25th), Derek Mayer (third) and Ron Duguay (ninth). Knickle is 6-0 with a 2.77 GAA against the Roadrunners.

The Gulls are 17-5-5 in their last 26 games. Only once in that span has the opponent outscored them by more than one goal. The Gulls are also 11-1-3 in their past 15 home games. They are getting used to second place. It has been nearly a month since they let the defending Turner Cup champion Rivermen take over that spot.

Those numbers and others--like Kvartalnov’s IHL-leading 88 points, Len Hachborn’s league-high 59 assists and 87 points and the Gulls’ IHL-best 4.3 goals per game--have taken the focus off the strong goaltending.

“I’ve known all my life that I can play,” Knickle said. “But it’s always been a big pride thing for me to show scouts that, ‘I think you might have missed something.’ ”

Gulls Notes

Coach and General Manager Don Waddell might regret that he signed only one player after his weeklong scouting spree back East last week. He was missing five players Sunday, with Ron Duguay playing with a sore neck and assistant coach Charlie Simmer in uniform for the second time this season.

Center Glen Goodall and right wing Jason Prosofsky were reassigned by the New York Rangers. Goodall, who had 12 points in 19 games, was sent to Erie of the East Coast Hockey League and Prosofsky (111 penalty minutes in 31 games) was moved to Binghamton of the AHL. Defensemen Alan Leggett (shoulder) and Dave Korol (knee) are out for at least another week with injuries. Left wing Robbie Nichols (52 points in 55 games) has been hospitalized since Saturday with a kidney stone. If Nichols does not pass the stone, surgery will be required. Waddell signed defenseman Steve Shaunessy on the trip, and he considered former Gull defender Darin Banister and Danny Elsener, a high-scoring defenseman from Switzerland currently playing for Cincinnati of the ECHL.

Sunday’s game was the sixth since live Gulls broadcasts were pulled off the air on XEK radio (AM 950), which had been operating without the proper license. The Gulls, who claim XEK owes them $20,000 for prepaid air time, are searching for a replacement station. So far, only KCEO, which carried the Gulls last year, has expressed interest in picking up the remaining games. Waddell said he hopes to meet with a few stations today. Gull assistant general manager Jeff Quinn suggested that he had lost confidence in XEK and expressed concern that the station might have financial trouble. A former XEK employee who asked not to be identified Thursday said the station’s San Diego office/studio--a suite at the Handlery Hotel in Mission Valley--was padlocked last week and he has not received a paycheck that was due Jan. 15.

Gull Keith Gretzky, 25, and assistant public relations director Lisa Katz celebrated birthdays Sunday. . . . The San Diego Cable Sports Network will televise live the Gulls’ game Feb. 28 at Phoenix. Faceoff is 6:35 p.m. Phoenix and the Gulls will play again Tuesday at the Sports Arena. The Gulls are promoting a dog race on the ice between periods. The dogs will be entered by fans.