THE NHL / LISA DILLMAN : Bettman’s Forte Proves to Be Decisiveness

For NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, a potentially messy realignment was almost no problem at all. He has drawn praise from his bosses, the owners, who have often been an ornery lot. Any media criticism has been relatively muted.

His biggest problem is the ghosts of NHL past--in this case, President Gil Stein. Stein, though he has tried to distance himself from former president John Ziegler, is still very much a link to Ziegler’s era. Stein has been accused of rigging his own Hall of Fame election, which has cast the league in a negative light once again.

Stein dismissed three of the 12 board members who vote on Hall of Fame admission and filled a fourth spot when broadcaster Danny Gallivan died in March. Additionally, the board voted to change the requirements for induction, from a 75% majority to a simple majority. And Stein was in.

Chicago owner Bill Wirtz denounced the process, as did former player Gordie Howe. Murray Costello, president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Assn., resigned in protest.

This has caused a furor in Canada and drew attention in the United States. Stein denied he orchestrated the changes, but Bettman immediately appointed two independent lawyers to investigate the selection procedures--Arnold Burns, a former deputy attorney general of the United States, and Yves Fortier, the former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations. Bettman has asked them to “move as expeditiously as possible.”

This has been one of Bettman’s strengths: He moves quickly to solve problems. After Wayne Gretzky criticized several parties, including the NHL, for the Kings’ travel problems during the mid-March blizzard, Bettman immediately called Gretzky at home to talk to him, explaining the league’s rationale and listening to his concerns.

Even small problems don’t escape Bettman. During an all-star party, the caterers ran out of forks and Bettman chewed them out in front of several reporters. Within minutes, clean forks appeared from all points and everyone resumed eating.

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Quebec General Manager and Coach Pierre Page has tried his best to make sure his team is ready for the playoffs, because this is the first time in six seasons the Nordiques have qualified for postseason play.

Knowing there would be about 125 reporters covering the Quebec series--the Nordiques vs. the Montreal Canadiens--Page took his team to media school. In March, he also had them spend a couple of days at the U.S. Naval Academy, taking seminars on leadership.

Now he is comparing his team to the youthful Dallas Cowboys. Depending on injuries, as many as 16 Quebec players could get their first NHL playoff experience.

Still, the comparisons only go so far. Unlike Cowboy Coach Jimmy Johnson, Page has been spotted with messy hair.

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Notes and quotes from the opening of the long-running Stanley Cup playoffs:

--Toronto Coach Pat Burns was mildly irritated when he arrived in Detroit and started reading that the first round was merely a formality on the Red Wings’ way to the Stanley Cup. Then Detroit had little problem with Toronto in Game 1.

“I guess our guys believed everything they read,” Burns said. “I told them afterward there will be nights when you get your butts kicked. You just can’t have too many of them.”

--Penguin Coach Scotty Bowman is rumored to be going everywhere except Pittsburgh next season. One scenario has him becoming Washington’s general manager, if the Capitals current general manager, David Poile, accepts a job as Bettman’s right-hand man. Yet another has the Sharks wanting to hire Bowman as general manager in San Jose.

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Florida Panthers . . . what kind of a name is that?

Perhaps it would have been more imaginative to call them the Florida Thunder. The first game against Tampa Bay: Thunder and Lightning on ice.

Both expansion teams, the Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, are starting to form their extended management teams. The Ducks have hired New York Ranger scout Dave McNab, who is based in Minneapolis and has concentrated on college and high school hockey talent. McNab, whose title with the Ducks hasn’t been finalized, will stay with the Rangers until June 27 after the entry draft in Quebec City. He also has scouted for Washington and Hartford.

Monday, the Panthers named former Islander executive Bill Torrey as their club president. Torrey helped build the Islanders into four-time Stanley Cup champions. And he was there during their decline as well. In his last couple of years with the Islanders, the team was starting to rebuild with a strong nucleus of young talent.

Hockey fans in Southern California won’t have to wait long to watch the Kings play the Ducks. Anaheim General Manager Jack Ferreira said that the Kings and the Ducks will play an exhibition game at Anaheim Arena but didn’t give a specific date.

Traditionally, exhibitions begin within a week after training camp opens in early September. It also wouldn’t come as a great shock if the Ducks made their NHL debut against the Kings.

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Apparently, Edmonton owner Peter Pocklington isn’t aware that boosterism isn’t one of the media’s functions. Pocklington, who will issue a state of the Oilers address on April 27, says he had had offers from five other cities, asking him to move or sell the Oilers.

“I need the same help from the media to keep the Oilers in the city,” he said.

A quality product on the ice at Northlands Coliseum might help his cause more. The Oilers missed the playoffs this season for the first time. They had problems scoring. Their leading scorer was Petr Klima, who had 32 goals and 48 points in 68 games. King right wing Tomas Sandstrom had 52 points in only 39 games, and he was the team’s eighth-leading scorer.