GULL NOTEBOOK / JOHN GEIS : Joining the NHL Loses Some Luster

As the Gulls make their final preparations for a season in which they hope to prove San Diego a bona fide hockey market, it has become apparent how difficult any transition into the NHL will be.

Engineering such a move was Fred Comrie’s intention when he bought the team a year ago, when the NHL was expanding.

Now the Gulls are going forward, and some NHL teams are struggling.

Last week the state of Connecticut approved a $29-million package for the Harford Whalers to refinance debt and allow owner Richard Gordon to purchase the 37.5% share of the team owned by the bankrupt Colonial Realty Co., thus keeping that franchise from moving.

It was the second time in as many years an NHL team received financial aid from government sources. Last year the province of Manitoba approved a publicly financed arena to keep the Jets from moving.

Comrie’s reaction? He might not need the NHL, after all.

“I think we can really draw big in the IHL,” Comrie said. “And this year we will prove that San Diego is a good hockey market.”

More than that, Comrie said, the Gulls will prove that the IHL is a high-caliber league.

“If you look back 10 years ago, you will see we still have basically the same number of NHL teams,” Comrie said. The NHL recently expanded from 21 teams to 24. “And at that time, there were very few Europeans players over here. The Soviets wouldn’t let their top players come over. But now the whole world has changed, the Eastern bloc players are signing contracts and the quality of play is way better than it was 10 years ago.

“So what happens is our league also gains in quality.”

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The Gulls have been especially alert in picking up players with NHL experience. Don McSween today will become the 14th such veteran on a 24-man roster, General Manager Don Waddell said.

McSween, 28, on loan from his hometown Detroit Red Wings, is a defenseman who was in the Buffalo organization when Gulls Coach Rick Dudley was coaching the Sabres.

There are whispers that the Gulls will add a couple more veterans, though no one is saying who they might be.

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The Gulls had 10 players score during their two exhibition victories against the Phoenix Roadrunners last week in Tucson: Scott Arniel, Dale DeGray, John Anderson, Dan Shank, Perry Anderson, Hubie McDonough, Mitch Lamoureux, Darren Perkins, Robbie Nichols and Steve Martinson.

They combined for 16 goals and probably silenced critics who figured the Gulls’ emphasis on defense would hurt them in the attacking zone.

“We won’t have anyone who will score 60 goals for us like Dmitri Kvartalnov did last year,” Waddell said. “But we also won’t have to rely on one player to win games for us.”

Added Dudley, “I think some people have underestimated the ability of some of our players to score. We have a lot of guys who can score between 20 and 40 goals, and when you have that kind of situation, you’re in pretty good shape.”

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Comrie thinks his team is in more than “pretty good shape.”

“I believe we’ll have one of the strongest professional hockey teams ever assembled that didn’t play in the NHL,” he said. “Donny has done a great job bringing in players.”

Comrie might have forgotten that American Hockey League teams--especially the Cleveland Barons and Hershey Bears--boasted some stellar talent before the NHL expanded from six teams in 1967-68.

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The NHL remains the preferred address for Gulls owners. But for now, the time is not right.

“I’m really interested in the NHL,” Comrie said. “But first of all, we have something to look at right here.”

Besides the higher quality of minor-league hockey in this era, Comrie said there is more value in the IHL.

The Gulls, an independent team, will have a player payroll of approximately $1 million this year. That compares to an average of $12 million in the NHL.

“So where are you going to make up that difference?” Comrie asked. “You’re going to have to charge the fan for that.”

And San Diego might not be ready for that. The Gulls received several complaints leading up to the Kings-Rangers exhibition a couple weeks ago. Tickets ranged from $20 to $35.

“Some people just couldn’t afford that,” Comrie said. Gulls tickets, in comparison, begin at $6 for adults.

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If you do any TV watching between now and game time Friday, you’re likely to see some Gulls flying across the screen. Comrie bought 1,000 television ads promoting the opener against Salt Lake (7:30 p.m.).