THE NHL / HELENE ELLIOTT : Referees Might Pay for Wrong Calls

Players are fined for missing meetings or the team bus. Why shouldn’t game officials be fined for missing calls?

NHL Senior Vice President Brian Burke said the league, which did not use its right to fine referees this season, might invoke that power next season.

“With the wages we pay those guys, we have the right to expect performance and to fine them if they fall below that performance level,” he said. “It’s common in the NBA if an official blows a call. They just don’t publicize it.”

The officials’ next training camp will be lengthened to 10 days and will include viewing tapes of calls Burke thinks were incorrect. Among them will be Pavel Bure’s elbowing of Shane Churla in the quarterfinals, which drew only a minor penalty from referee Andy vanHellemond. Burke said Bure should have been ejected.

“It was a cheap shot,” Burke said.

Burke, who is completing his first season as the NHL’s disciplinarian, said he’s satisfied players have gotten the message that he wants the game to be rugged but not vicious. About two-thirds of the 40 suspensions he imposed were handed out in the first half of the season, which he took as a sign players learned the limits of his patience.

“It’s not a crackdown on tough hockey,” he said. “I was GM of Hartford for one year and we were the second-most penalized team in the league. In Vancouver, we had the biggest team in the league. What I’m bouncing guys for is stupid stuff, gouging eyes, running other guys. Circus stuff.”

Burke, a former player, has shown good judgment in his rulings. Even so, he might be too lenient toward superstars such as Mario Lemieux, who charged out of the penalty box to argue with referee Kerry Fraser. Lemieux should have been suspended. Overall, Burke has given the office credibility.

BAGELS WITH BETTMAN

Commissioner Gary Bettman, flattered by Ted Turner’s reported interest in bringing the NHL back to Atlanta, said expansion is not in his plans.

“I have not promised them (a franchise) and I wouldn’t,” he said during a breakfast meeting Sunday. “We’ve got to get the collective bargaining agreement done and make sure we have 26 healthy franchises, preferably in the places they are now.”

Bettman also said the NHL and its players’ association are far from reaching a new agreement. The owners’ push for salary controls is the major difference.

“If it doesn’t happen, we’re going to have some really hurting franchises in a hurry,” said Bill Torrey, president of the Florida Panthers. “Among those of us that are involved in this business, everyone has reached a point where some sanity has to prevail.”

BYE-BYE, BRYAN

Someone had to pay for the Detroit Red Wings’ first-round loss to San Jose. It wasn’t going to be Coach Scotty Bowman, who has a year left at about $1 million, so it had to be General Manager Bryan Murray.

Murray told friends he believes Bowman and Senior Vice President Jimmy Devellano pushed him out. Possibly, but his poor judgment was the real problem. As late as last Wednesday, Murray said he didn’t believe the Red Wings’ goaltending was so bad and that their defense was adequate. Wrong and wrong.

Murray’s failure to acquire a top-notch goalie was his downfall. He claimed he couldn’t get Grant Fuhr or Bill Ranford without giving up Chris Osgood and at least one more prospect, but other general managers scoffed and said that only Murray’s indecisiveness prevented a deal.

Although Bowman said he doesn’t want the general manager’s job, he might take it. Either way, look for Steve Yzerman to be traded, perhaps for a goalie.

WHALE OF A SALE

Paul Holmgren’s future as general manager of the Whalers is uncertain in the wake of the team’s sale to Compuware executives Peter Karamanos and Thomas Thewes. The new owners appointed Jim Rutherford, a former NHL goalie who runs Compuware’s youth hockey programs, the Whalers’ chief operating officer and president. They said nothing about the GM duties, and it’s likely Rutherford will take those on.

Rutherford’s first move is probably going to be hiring Mike Milbury to coach. Milbury’s surprise departure from the Boston Bruins was followed by an even more surprising resignation from Boston College before coaching a game.

DIVIDED LOYALTIES

Clint Smith, a forward on the Rangers’ last Stanley Cup-winning team in 1940, has been a guest of the Rangers and Canucks during the finals. Smith, 80, isn’t sure which team to cheer for because he has lived in Vancouver most of his life.

“I’ve got to be a Vancouver man, but my heart’s still in New York,” said Smith, who played 11 seasons and retired in 1947.

Smith follows the Canucks closely and attends most home games.

“Pavel Bure, he’s a real crowd pleaser,” Smith said. “He’s one of those guys who comes along once a generation.”

Smith, however, doesn’t think much of how hockey has evolved.

“It’s not a better game, but it’s still a good game,” he said. “The finesse and stick handling have gone out. They shoot the puck in and run after it more.”

SLAP SHOTS

Brett Hull denied a St. Louis radio station’s report that he had demanded the Blues trade him to the Bruins or Kings. . . . Toronto Coach Pat Burns is about to get a contract extension and raise. He wants the same salary as Montreal’s Jacques Demers, about $800,000.

No matter who wins the Stanley Cup, a Russian-trained player will get his name on it for the first time. That honor could go to Bure or to Sergei Nemchinov, Sergei Zubov, Alexander Karpovtsev and Alexei Kovalev of the Rangers. The first Russian-born player to win the Cup was Chicago’s Johnny Gottselig in 1934.