THE NHL : Hockey League Goes NBA’s Way of Trying

Earlier this season there were complaints that the National Hockey League was becoming more like indoor soccer, that excessive penalty calls and higher scores were signs of weakness. Some said it was becoming a game for pansies.

Bah, humbug!

The NHL had to change or face extinction the same way the National Basketball Association had to change going into the 1980s. Speed and skill rule in the NBA, and the same message is becoming clearer in the NHL.

Everyone wants to be like Mike Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the NBA, where the game has evolved around the versatility of big and small skilled players. The same should be true in the NHL, where Mario Lemieux and the skillful Pittsburgh Penguins have won consecutive Stanley Cup titles.

The Penguins combine a North American ruggedness and European flow that should be the NHL’s blueprint in the ‘90s and beyond.

“The NHL is a good game now, but it is going to get better,” New York Islanders coach Al Arbour says. “The NHL is developing a unique style of play. It’s not a North American style and it’s not a European style. It is a combination of the best of both worlds.

“When the NBA began to display and promote the offensive talents of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, their game took off. That’s what the European stars and North American stars are beginning to bring to the NHL. Once we get that balance, that unique skill level, the NHL will have a game that I think will capture the enthusiasm of all sports fans.”

Arbour lends a unique outlook because he has seen it all as a player and coach in the NHL for nearly four decades. His Islanders’ teams won four consecutive Stanley Cup titles (1980-83) with the power and muscle of the old game and the skill of the new game.

Arbour is now building a team with skill and speed. Pierre Turgeon, Ray Ferraro and Derek King each scored 40 goals in 1991-92 and Benoit Hogue and Steve Thomas scored 30 goals apiece. Vladimir Malakhov and Darius Kasparaitis of Russia have combined with holdovers Uwe Krupp from Germany and Jeff Norton and Scott Lachance from the United States to create that universal mix on defense that Arbour believes will return the Islanders to the top.

All the Islanders need is the consistency in goal of a Billy Smith and the grittiness up front of a Bob Nystrom and Clark Gillies.

“With the change in society, you naturally have a different brand of player today,” Arbour says. “You used to tell a player something and he would do it with no questions asked because he was scared to death of losing his job. The players run the game now, and money has made the game a business. Now, when a coach tells a player to do something he wants to know why.”

That’s why a coach such as Arbour has to have some forward-looking answers. Arbour likes that challenge. It keeps him young. He would have been a good teacher because he can change with the times, something the NHL is attempting to do under Commissioner Gary Bettman.

“The NHL has done a good job of eliminating the hitmen,” Arbour says. “I have no problem with spur-of-the-moment altercations. My complaint is that a coach should not have to be a boxing promoter, and that was the way we were headed not long ago.”

Who would you rather pay to see, Mario Lemieux or Tie Domi?

FOR THOSE WHO thought the Dream Team concept for the 1994 Olympic Games was dead when NHL President Gil Stein lost out to Bettman, think again.

“I believe the Dream Team is a great concept for hockey, especially when you consider that the NHL stars come from so many great countries and the NHL would be represented by more than one team,” Bettman says. “I believe it is something that should happen. The only issue is whether the first time is going to be 1994 or ’98. My concern is that the practical and logistical issues are insurmountable based on the time frame we are under for 1994. If they can be dealt with to my satisfaction for ‘94, then I think we should go forward.

“I’m a big proponent of the Dream Teams. If we are not in a position for ‘94, then we’ve got to be in a position for ’98.”

Look for the NHL Board of Governors to vote in favor of the Dream Team concept for ’94 at meetings Jan. 27.

LESS THAN a month ago, the New Jersey Devils were in second place and casting an eye toward the top of the Patrick Division. Now, they are in danger of missing the playoffs. Look for New Jersey to step up efforts to obtain forwards Joe Murphy and Esa Tikkanen from Edmonton for right wing Claude Lemieux, center Kevin Todd, left wing Zdeno Ciger and cash. The Devils are keen on getting Tikkanen to shadow Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux and the New York Rangers’ Mark Messier in the playoffs. . . .

With the St. Louis Blues’ Brett Hull struggling and the Boston Bruins’ Cam Neely out until mid-February with a knee injury, the Buffalo Sabres’ Alexander Mogilny has become the NHL’s best right wing. It’s hard to argue with a player who has four hat tricks in his last 10 games.

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Cliff Fletcher obtained Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson, Doug Gilmour, John Cullen and Jamie Macoun for only one quality player--Vincent Damphousse. But he still needs a goal scorer--Joe Murphy or Dave Andreychuk--to finish some of those great scoring opportunities created by Gilmour and Cullen. . . .