Notes on a Scorecard - Feb. 20, 1992

Paul Coffey could turn the Los Angeles Oilers into a Stanley Cup contender. . . .

Those who liked Steve Duchesne, the high-scoring defenseman who was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers before the season, will love Coffey, the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history. . . .

The price of Coffey--Jeff Chychrun to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Brian Benning and a first-round draft choice to Philadelphia--was cheap. . . .

But if there were a salary cap in the NHL, the Kings would be over it. . . .

King Coach Tom Webster could send out a lineup of former Edmonton Oilers--Wayne Gretzky at center, Jari Kurri and Marty McSorley at the wings and Coffey and Charlie Huddy at the blue line. . . .

Coffey is no defensive wizard, but, remember, the Penguins were able to win the Stanley Cup last season with offense. . . .

The shootout that gave Canada a victory over Germany in the Winter Olympics hockey tournament after a scoreless 10-minute overtime period was an exciting, but unfair way to decide a medal-round game. . . .

Why not let the teams play until someone scores instead of resorting to a gimmick? The winner Tuesday was not going to have to play again until Friday. It could have played another 90 minutes and not been tired the next game. . . .

Defenseman Scott Lachance, who will sign with the New York Islanders soon after the Olympics, seems to be the best NHL prospect on Team USA. . . .

Wonder if they will be chanting, “Beat the Unified Team! Beat the Unified Team!” in Meribel, France, Friday. . . .

I never thought Herschel Walker would come to appreciate Jerry Burns. . . .

The two weeks of the Winter Games could be packed into 10 days if not for TV requirements. . . .

The leading NCAA Division I basketball scorer, 6-foot-8 forward Brett Roberts of Morehead State, is a pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization who had a 3-0 record in a rookie league last season. . . .

There are as many black head coaches in the NFL as in the NBA. . . .

The Houston Rockets should have traded Vernon Maxwell instead of firing Don Chaney. . . .

Stanley Roberts, the rookie center who wasn’t drafted until low in the first round because of his girth, is starting to play well for the Orlando Magic. . . .

“The Only Thing,” a play about winning and basketball, opens tonight at the Group Repertory Theatre in Burbank. . . .

The USC-UCLA game next Thursday at the Sports Arena is sold out. The last Trojan sellout there was for the 1979 game against the Bruins. . . .

Rubber match: The USC-California series is tied at 103 games apiece. . . .

Richard Petruska, the 6-10, 260-pound center from Czechoslovakia who transferred to UCLA from Loyola Marymount and is ineligible to play this season, has been making a good impression in practice sessions. . . .

With Petruska in the lineup, the Bruins might be better than 20-1. . . .

Two-time Olympic track champion Kip Keino soon will have electricity for the first time at his 574-acre ranch in the highlands of Kenya. . . .

Four decades after helmets became mandatory for jockeys in this state, it is time for the California Horse Racing Board to take more danger out of the sport. . . .

Some jockeys have begun to wear protective vests, but others have resisted because the 1 1/2 pounds count against their assigned weight. . . .

The board should make the vests, known as flak jackets, mandatory and exempt them from the weigh-in, the same as it does the one-pound helmets. . . .

Among those wearing the extra protection are Chris McCarron and Jerry Bailey. . . .

“Bill Harmatz told me that jockeys didn’t like the idea of mandatory helmets at first,” McCarron said. “The first day Harmatz wore one, a horse flipped him in the gate. He landed on his head. His skull would have been crushed had it happened one day sooner.” . . .

“Flak jackets protect you against rib injuries, spinal cord injuries and broken collar bones,” said Bailey, president of the Jockeys Guild. . . .

Think of what a flak jacket might have spared Laffit Pincay Jr., who has had his collar bone broken 10 times during his 28-year career.