INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PREVIEW : ATLANTIC DIVISION

Cleveland Lumberjacks--Going with the IHL trend, the Lumberjacks relocate from a smaller market, Muskegon, to a larger one. As the Pittsburgh Penguins top farm team, they are the favorites to win the division and will bank heavily an eight-year IHL veteran left wing Dave Michayluk, the league’s second-leading active goal scorer (446).

Atlanta Knights--The most difficult task for Coach Gene Ubriaco, who coached Italy in the 1992 Winter Olympics, might be to keep cool while continually repeating why he doesn’t start his third-string goalie. Manon Rheaume nonetheless will continue to draw attention as the only female in professional team sports.

Cincinnati Cyclones--Another expansion team, Cincinnati will operate as an independent and should be on par with the Gulls’ inaugural season of 1990-91 when they finished at 30-45-8. Cincinnati, after all, enlists four former Gulls: defenseman Al Tuer, defenseman Dean Morton, left wing Darcy Norton and center Dennis Holland.

CENTRAL DIVISION

Fort Wayne Komets--One of the IHL’s strongest franchises, the Komets are back for their 41st IHL season and expect to continue to sell out 8,000-seat Memorial Coliseum for nearly every game. They return two key players: forward Scott Gruhl, the league’s leading active goal-scorer (534), and left wing Bob Lakso, the third-leading active scorer (291).

Indianapolis Ice--The Chicago Blackhawks’ affiliate will feature goalie Ray Leblanc, who played well in the Winter Olympics but has been unable to duplicate his heroics in the professional ranks. The Blackhawks also provide Indianapolis with one of the IHL’s top young players in forward Sean Williams.

Kalamazoo Wings--The antithesis of Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo is just trying to hang at Wings Stadium, which seats only 5,000, as the IHL goes from minor-market dependency to playing in bona fide metropolises. Kalamazoo did chalk one up for the little guys with a major upset during last year’s playoffs, ousting Fort Wayne in the first round.

MIDWEST DIVISION

Milwaukee Admirals--With the signings earlier this week of forward Michel Mongeau and Steve Tuttle, the Admirals set themselves up as the team to beat in their division. Mongeau, who reportedly signed for $250,000, was the IHL MVP in 1989-90 and the playoff MVP in 1990-91. He played most of last year in the NHL with St. Louis but returned to Peoria in time for the playoffs and helped oust the Gulls from the first round in four games. Tuttle was the league’s second-leading scorer behind Gull Dmitri Kvartalnov last year.

Kansas City Blades--Aligned with the San Jose Sharks, the Blades were the recipient of a bevy of young stars who led them to 56 regular-season victories and then to the Turner Cup championship. Most of the players return for an encore, including goalie Arturs Irbe, who led the league in goals-against average last year (2.46).

Peoria Rivermen--With the loss of Michel Mongeau, Steve Tuttle and goalies Guy Hebert and Pat Jablonski (to the NHL), Peoria is expected to make like a caboose this season.

PACIFIC DIVISION

Gulls--The Gulls have 15 players with NHL experience, but what coach Rick Dudley likes most about his team is its tenacious style of play. Expect plenty of forechecking, tight defense and a quick transition game.

Salt Lake Golden Eagles--The Golden Eagles return their three top scorers: center Todd Harkins (32 goals, 30 assists), center Shawn Heaphy (41 goals, 36 assists) and right wing Rich Chernomaz (20 goals, 40 assists).

Phoenix Roadrunners--The worst team in the league last year offered little hope for improvement in two exhibition losses to the Gulls last week. One of the Roadrunners’ brightest stars is Sylvain Couturier, who two years ago scored 50 goals, 23 against the Gulls. Last season the Gulls limited him to one goal.