THE NHL / HELENE ELLIOTT : Strike Deadline Approaches for Officials

When the parties in a dispute can’t even agree on where to meet next, prospects aren’t bright for a quick settlement.

On-ice officials, who have set a strike deadline of midnight Sunday, wanted to reconvene negotiations today in Toronto. League executives preferred New York. The officials won that point, perhaps the NHL’s final concession.

“We’ve got a lot of ground to cover,” said NHL Senior Vice President Brian Burke, who gave general managers an update Monday at La Quinta. “We’ve got some real differences.”

The NHL Officials Assn., represented by Don Meehan, opened talks by asking for a 100% increase in base salaries for referees, which ranged from $50,000 to $90,000 under the old agreement. Meehan is seeking a pay scale comparable to major league baseball’s, in which salaries are about $65,000 for first-year umpires to $200,000 for veterans, and the NBA, in which referees start at $60,000 and climb to about $180,000.

Linesmen’s pay ranges from $33,000 to $63,000. They also would get raises, but would remain at a lower salary level than the referees.

“We’ve been behind the other sports for a period of time,” Meehan said. “We want to be in a position for those officials to get their fair share.”

The union rejected the NHL’s four-year offer of salary and benefits equal to a 60% raise.

“They want a 60% salary increase in year one,” Burke said. “I don’t know of any industry in North America offering a 60% first-year increase.”

After attending a training camp for replacement officials in Indianapolis last weekend, Burke said he would be “perfectly comfortable” deploying them in case of a strike. However, players fear their safety might be jeopardized by replacements who won’t be authoritative or observant enough.

“I think it’s a big concern, and one owners and management are really concerned about, although I know they’re not talking about it a lot,” King center Wayne Gretzky said. “We have tough enough games going into Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver as it is. Imagine going in without good refs . . .

“The game has gotten so much bigger and so much faster, even in the time I’ve been in the league. That’s why there’s more injuries. If we don’t have proper officiating, that’s a big concern. We want them to do the best they can and get what they need.”

Jim Gregory, the NHL’s vice president for hockey operations, conceded that “if we have done our job properly, the better officials are in our league” and not among the replacements. He added, “Our priority is to get the deal done. But if the officials choose not to accept our offer and don’t work, we have to have a method of conducting the games.”

DOUBLE SHIFT

Because the Blues can’t decide who is the best center for Brett Hull, they are playing him on two lines, one with Ron Sutter and Philippe Bozon and the other with Tony Hrkac and Jim Montgomery.

Hull has four goals and three assists in his last three games, helping the Blues (10-2-1) overcome Phil Housley’s back injury and Jeff Brown’s foot injury. Hull averaged 71 goals over the last four seasons but has only five this season, partly because of an abdominal injury and partly because the Blues haven’t found a center who complements him as well as Adam Oates used to.

UP CLOSE AND SCORING

Mike Modano’s potential has never been doubted, but his willingness to get into the thick of things around the net has been questioned.

“I’ve been known as a perimeter player,” Modano acknowledged. “But I wanted to change my style.”

The Stars’ center said Dallas Coach Bob Gainey “drilled it into my head” that he needed to vary his game, and the change has worked wonders. Modano leads the NHL with 15 goals.

“He’s played well in the past and had a string of games where he’s been dominant, but now he’s more consistent,” Gainey said. “He’s getting himself quickly to the front of the net. In the past, most of his goals were scored from a distance. He’s trying to create more goals in different ways.”

HELPING A HEART

Flyer goaltender Tommy Soderstrom isn’t the only NHL player to have had Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause an irregular heart beat.

Chicago left wing Michel Goulet also had it, but was cured with a procedure performed three years ago in Oklahoma City. He has had no problems since, a Blackhawk spokesman said.

Soderstrom last week underwent a fifth procedure, also in Oklahoma City. Doctors believe his problem has been corrected.

STICK OF CONTENTION

The Hockey Hall of Fame was interested in the illegally curved stick Marty McSorley used in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals last June, but McSorley gave it to Gretzky for display in Gretzky’s new Toronto restaurant.

“It’s part of hockey history, and we actively pursue artifacts,” said Philip Pritchard, manager of the hall’s resource center and acquisitions.

Said Gretzky: “People talk about the stick being the reason we lost, but I always say we wouldn’t have gotten by Toronto (in the semifinals) without Marty. He did too many good things to get us there.”

SLAP SHOTS

Buffalo’s Pat LaFontaine, playing despite a groin injury, has only four goals this season. He had 53 last season. . . . The Washington Capitals have won seven of eight to reach .500 after their 0-6 start. . . . The Quebec Nordiques are trying to trade holdout defenseman Steve Duchesne. . . . The Board of Governors will meet Dec. 9-10 in Laguna Niguel to discuss the Oilers’ future. . . . The entry draft will be conducted June 28-29 in Hartford. The annual meetings, usually held at the same time, will be held later so the governors have an excuse to meet again at a posh resort.