HOCKEY / LISA DILLMAN : Kings’ Play During Second Quarter Leaves Coaching Award in Doubt

As you may recall, the race for the Jack Adams Award seemed all but over after only one-quarter of the NHL season.

Almost everyone was mentally delivering the coach-of-the-year trophy to the Kings’ Barry Melrose. Some even wrote that he had already earned the honor, actually coaching a team that had Luc Robitaille, Paul Coffey and Jari Kurri coexisting quite nicely.

Socialism was the new world order in Los Angeles.

There was one problem after the Kings opened with a 13-6-2 record in the first quarter.

They played the second quarter.

We all know what has happened next. The Kings won eight of their next 21 games, making them 21-16-5 at the season’s halfway point. And the futility has shown little sign of ceasing.

This isn’t the most unusual occurrence. Sudden turnarounds--good and bad--are commonplace in the NHL. How else can you explain the Calgary Flames? Or the Winnipeg Jets? In an 84-game schedule, strange things are bound to happen.

Nonetheless, the shifting order in the NHL calls for a revision among the top three in several categories as the league heads toward its All-Star break next week:

Second-Quarter Movers and Shakers

Coach of the Year:

1. Pat Quinn, Vancouver.

2. Jacques Demers, Montreal.

3. John Paddock, Winnipeg.

Previous ranking:

1. Barry Melrose, Kings.

2. Demers.

3. Terry Crisp, Tampa Bay.

Melrose fell from No. 1 simply because of his team’s free fall from the lead in the Smythe Division into fourth place, though it is now tied for third. Quinn rose to the top because his team moved to first in the Smythe.

Demers has kept the Canadiens at the top of the Adams Division and has managed to keep the hyperactive media at bay in Montreal. His only failure has been an inability to defeat former Montreal coach Pat Burns, who is now with Toronto.

Paddock could have panicked when his team won only four of its first 15 games. He stayed patient and helped turn around rookie center Alexei Zhamnov. He told Zhamnov to start shooting more, and put him on a line with Teemu Selanne. Zhamnov’s improvement, coupled with the arrival of Kris King and Tie Domi, helped turn the Jets into one of the best teams of the second quarter.

Most Valuable Player:

1. Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh.

2. Pat LaFontaine, Buffalo.

2. Pavel Bure, Vancouver.

Previous ranking:

1. Lemieux.

2. Mark Recchi, Philadelphia.

3. Jari Kurri, Kings.

It is unclear if and when Lemieux will return this season. His ailment was diagnosed as Hodgkin’s disease two weeks ago, just after the Kings’ Wayne Gretzky started his comeback from a career-threatening back injury.

Still, Lemieux is well ahead of everyone else in the scoring race with 39 goals and 104 points. No other player is close to 100 points. With the uncertainty regarding Lemieux’s health, there is a wide-open race for MVP. It appears that a player other than Gretzky or Lemieux could win the scoring title for the first time since 1979.

Rookie of the Year:

1. Teemu Selanne, Winnipeg.

2. Joe Juneau, Boston.

3. Alexei Zhamnov, Winnipeg.

Previous ranking:

1. Eric Lindros, Philadelphia.

2. Felix Potvin, Toronto.

3. Selanne.

At the one-quarter mark, Lindros was starting to live up to the hype. Then he injured a knee and has been in and out of the lineup since, playing in only 29 games. Selanne and Zhamnov have combined to form a potent 1-2 combination on the same line, looking like a young Gretzky and Kurri. Juneau, who leads all rookies in assists with 41, has proved to be versatile as he had to switch from his usual center position to left wing.

Top Goaltender:

1. Kirk McLean, Vancouver.

2. Ed Belfour, Chicago.

3. Mike Vernon, Calgary.

Previous ranking:

None.

Unlike Vernon, McLean is actually getting some support from his teammates, which is the difference here. Vernon has been outstanding and is keeping the Flames in games during their long winless streak. And his situation should stabilize after a 17-month contract stalemate ended this week when he signed a three-year, $3.2-million contract.

In Chicago, Belfour has been able to assume less of a workload because Jimmy Waite has emerged as a viable No. 2. Belfour and Waite have combined for the NHL’s best goals-against average.

McLean has 19 victories.