THE NHL / HELENE ELLIOTT : Brooks Has a Handle on Another Side of the Business

They laughed when Herb Brooks brought his motion system into the NHL in 1981. Now, the fluid skating game he advocated is standard.

The idea of a hockey stick with an eight-sided handle might bring similar guffaws. But Brooks, ever an innovator, is determined to market it to NHL players.

“It’s like a tennis racket, an octagonal shape, which engineers say prevents torqueing or twisting in the hand because the hand twists,” he said. “We think it’s got potential. It’s like a merry-go-round, where you try to jump on at the right time. “

Brooks, coach of the gold-medal-winning 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, had NHL coaching stints with the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and New Jersey Devils. He resigned from his last job, with the Devils last season, in the wake of conflicts over personnel with General Manager Lou Lamoriello. He won’t comment on his departure, in which he forfeited a year’s salary.

Deciding he preferred being his own boss, he and some partners started two hockey-related companies in St. Paul, Minn. One develops sticks with graphite shafts, like golf clubs, and another imports wooden hockey sticks from Russia and sells them to mass merchandisers. Brooks is involved mostly with the latter company.

“Coaches are never through with coaching, so I’m going through the normal withdrawals,” said Brooks, whose 40 victories last season set a franchise record. “This has been sort of an education for me. If it’s a hit, it could be a home run with the bases loaded. Or maybe we’ll never get the bat off our shoulders. . . . I’ve got a couple of other business things going, too. I’m keeping busy and I’ve put New Jersey behind me.”

WE HAVE QUESTIONS

Some matters left unresolved by King owner Bruce McNall’s announcement last week that he has formed a partnership with IDB Communications Group to exchange a substantial part of the club for equity in a new arena:

--Is this the beginning of the end of McNall’s stewardship? McNall insists he’s going to run the team, but money talks and the big money here belongs to Jeffrey Sudikoff and Joe Cohen of IDB. Remember, Cohen was an executive with Madison Square Garden network, and MSG has a couple of teams called the Rangers and Knicks, so he probably is not totally unfamiliar with running a franchise.

--Why won’t McNall say how much financial interest he retained in the Kings? Is it because when it’s made public, it’s going to be shockingly low, reflecting the uncertain state of his finances?

--Will the new arena’s interactive electronic toys help the Kings’ defense reduce the barrage of shots opponents take at their hapless goalies? And can Kelly Hrudey hang on until then?

THERE’S A METHOD TO THIS MADNESS

It’s curious that the NHL’s best referees and linesmen haven’t yet been to Southern California, but the officials’ schedule-maker says he’s not discriminating against West Coast teams.

“If it were ideal, everybody would work three or four times in every building, but you have to work around injuries and the like,” said Bryan Lewis, the league’s director of officiating. “Around the holidays, we try to put everybody close to home, and that complicates things.”

Neither Andy vanHellemond nor Kerry Fraser, considered the top referees, has been here and neither is scheduled to officiate a King game through Jan. 9, which is as far as Lewis has compiled his hand-drawn schedule. However, they will probably come west after that. Dan Marouelli, a senior referee, worked the Kings’ last home game and Don Koharski will be here in January. Koharski would have come earlier but the Mighty Ducks and Kings were away for much of December.

A LITTLE HELP FROM THIS FRIEND

Twice during his club-record 17-0-3 unbeaten streak, Ranger goalie Mike Richter escaped being charged with a loss after he was pulled from a game and replaced by Glenn Healy. Asked if he owed Healy a favor for helping keep his streak alive, Richter replied: “He should be in the record book with me. He deserves more than a dinner.”

Richter had never heard of the previous record-holder, Davey Kerr, but was delighted to learn that Kerr had set the record in 1940, the year of the Rangers’ last Stanley Cup triumph.

“Cool,” Richter said.

MERELY A LITTLE DUST-UP

Bob Probert and Joe Kocur were roommates when they played for Detroit, but they didn’t let that stand in the way when they met as opponents Friday and got into a fight. Still, neither considered it the end of their friendship.

“The next time we see each other, we’ll laugh about it,” Probert said.

Said Kocur, now with the Rangers: “We got madder at each other when we lived together--he’d never clean the house.”

SLAP SHOTS

Boston’s Ray Bourque on Sunday became the third NHL defenseman to score 300 goals. He trails Paul Coffey, 336 and counting, and Denis Potvin, who scored 310. . . . Pittsburgh goalie Tom Barrasso, recovering from a left hip injury, has resumed skating but his return hasn’t been scheduled. Mario Lemieux continues to exercise primarily on his own in an effort to return from back problems.

The St. Louis Blues will miss defenseman Phil Housley, who is scheduled for disk surgery next month. . . . The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is guaranteed decent hockey next season, even if the Oilers move to Minneapolis’ Target Center. That’s because St. Paul got an International Hockey League franchise last week. . . . OK, no more Oiler jokes: They had their first three-game winning streak of the season.

Chicago’s Jeremy Roenick has gone eight games without a goal and has scored only two in his last 12 games. “I feel like I’m getting the worst breaks I’ve ever had,” he said “I’m very frustrated. . . . When the New York Islanders showed signs of revival, going 4-0-1 in their last five games, they lost defensemen Dennis Vaske because of a broken foot and Uwe Krupp because of an injured hamstring.

Hartford Whaler owner Richard Gordon, who expects to lose $12 million this season, might dump the team in the state’s lap. Connecticut has the first option to buy the Whalers before Gordon would be allowed to move them. . . . David Emma, a 1992 U.S. Olympian, has five goals and seven points for the Devils in six games since being recalled from the minor leagues to fill in for the injured Bernie Nicholls and Alexander Semak.

The Red Wings have won seven consecutive home games but have lost three in a row away from Joe Louis Arena. They expect Steve Yzerman, who has been sidelined because of because of a herniated disk, to return New Year’s Eve.