THE NHL / HELENE ELLIOTT : Looking for a Little Change, Blackhawks Find Nicholls

Coaches can diagram power plays until their pens run dry and not find a winning combination. The Chicago Blackhawks don’t do anything radical when they have the advantage, but their power play is the NHL’s best this season, and Bernie Nicholls is a key reason.

Nicholls usually stations himself in the left faceoff circle, with defensemen Gary Suter at the left point and Chris Chelios at the right point. Joe Murphy or Jeremy Roenick goes to the net to screen the goalie or swat home a rebound if the defensemen shoot. The other forward is free to chase rebounds or take a pass.

They move the puck so well and so quickly that Nicholls, a former King, is second in the league with seven power-play goals, Roenick and Murphy each have four, Suter has three and Chelios has two. Nicholls’ 16 power-play points constitute the league’s second-highest total, and Chelios trails him by one.

“We obviously have some set plays, but look at who’s out there--guys like Roenick and Joe Murphy and two of the best defensemen who ever played the game,” Nicholls said. “What makes our power play so successful is our talent. You’ve got to ad-lib a little bit, and our talent helps a lot.”

Chicago’s power play is 28 for 99 (28.3%), up from 17.5% last season. The league-wide decline in power-play efficiency the last few seasons makes that especially impressive. Through Sunday, NHL teams had converted 17.4% of their advantages, down from 18.6% last season and 19.6% in 1992-93.

“He plays with a lot of enthusiasm for an older guy,” Hawk Coach Darryl Sutter said of Nicholls. “He certainly keeps everybody loose. The thing about it is, he finds a balance between being cool and being a great competitor. That’s why he’s a great playoff player. He wants to be out on the ice in big situations and he’s loose enough to be able to handle them.”

Nicholls, 33, signed with the Blackhawks last July as a free agent for $2.2 million over two years. He’s having fun, and he’s taking scoring pressure off Roenick and Murphy.

“An opportunity to play with guys like these brings out the best in you,” said Nicholls, who was tied for fifth in scoring through Sunday, with 12 goals and 27 points. “If we can play the way we’re capable of playing I think we have a good shot at winning.”

NEW BUILDING, NEW LINEUP

Blackhawk General Manager Bob Pulford also deserves kudos.

Realizing that the new United Center has a longer ice surface than Chicago Stadium’s, Pulford stopped collecting grinders and gathered skill players who can take advantage of the extra 15 feet between the blue lines. That philosophy was behind the Hawks’ signing of Nicholls, their promotion of minor league forward Sergei Krivokrasov and their trade for Suter.

“Chicago changed the look of their team,” Detroit goalie Mike Vernon said. “They used to be a good forechecking team, but they didn’t have a lot of talented guys. This year they acquired a lot of talented guys. . . . Bernie Nicholls is a great player and he’s rising to the occasion.”

A NET GAIN

Vernon, acquired by Detroit from Calgary last June, is thriving in his new home. Through Sunday, he and Chris Osgood had helped the Red Wings compile the NHL’s second-lowest team goals-against average, 2.14. Last season, the Red Wings ranked 16th at 3.24.

“I had spent all my career in Calgary and it was time for a change,” Vernon said. “I had contract disputes with the Calgary Flames’ organization that were ongoing since Mr. (Cliff) Fletcher left (for Toronto). It was a good move for me to come to a team like Detroit.”

It has also worked out well for Osgood, who has rebounded from a shaky playoff performance last spring.

“Mike’s won in the playoffs and he can teach me about pressure in the playoffs,” Osgood said. “That’s something Tim Cheveldae and Bob Essensa couldn’t do.”

NO TRADE-OFFS ON THESE TRADES

After being criticized for sending Alexei Zhitnik to Buffalo in the Grant Fuhr deal, King General Manager Sam McMaster joked last week that acquiring defenseman Dave Karpa from Quebec for a draft pick couldn’t possibly be controversial.

Oh no? Karpa failed his physical and the league voided the deal.

McMaster had the foresight to make the trade contingent on Karpa’s recovery from a broken wrist, but he still got taken for a ride by Quebec General Manager Pierre Lacroix. Karpa apparently has another injury and might not play again.

McMaster would have been a good head scout or assistant general manager, but he’s in over his head as GM. His trade of Luc Robitaille for Rick Tocchet is even, but the Zhitnik-Fuhr deal is a loser so far. McMaster claims he dealt Zhitnik because of concern for the future, but neither Denis Tsygurov nor the injured Philippe Boucher combines Zhitnik’s offense and physical play. Fuhr has been adequate at times, awful at others.

Because Fuhr is eligible for free agency after this truncated season, McMaster essentially rented him at an exorbitant price. The next time he feels the urge to rent something, he should rent a tuxedo. Or a car. He should also find better sources of information on potential acquisitions.

A NEW SHARK IN THE TANK

San Jose’s acquisition of Craig Janney on Monday was a curious move. Players who were unhappy after Bob Errey was traded last week had just settled down when Jeff Norton--the team’s steadiest defenseman--was dealt to St. Louis for Janney, the playmaker who couldn’t make enough plays to satisfy Mike Keenan.

Janney, who will center the first line while Igor Larionov recovers from a broken left foot, provides splendid setups. But who’s going to turn those passes into goals? The only proven scorers on the wing are Ulf Dahlen and Sergei Makarov, who play the right side. Losing Norton also depletes a defense that recently lost Michal Sykora for 10 weeks because of a shoulder injury. That puts more pressure on Sandis Ozolinsh and on goalie Arturs Irbe.

With rookies Jeff Friesen and Andrei Nazarov playing well, the Sharks will have enough talent to win the Pacific Division. The problem is chemistry. Larionov had resigned his alternate captaincy before he was hurt and other players felt management was dumping veterans to play raw youngsters. Coach Kevin Constantine can add chemist to his already long list of chores.

INTERFERING WITH INTERFERENCE

Reacting to complaints that interference is slowing games and shackling scorers, Brian Burke, the NHL’s director of hockey operations, said general managers will recommend that the Board of Governors change the rules to more strictly penalize interference.

“Coaches have perfected the technique of interference to an art form,” he said. “Some level of interference is tolerated. It always has been. We have to quantify it for the officials.”

Other possible changes include amending the offside rule to produce fewer stoppages and barring checks below the knee. They’re all fine ideas, but the governors probably won’t meet again until June or July. That means two more months of clutch and grab.

SLAP SHOTS

Their names sound the same and they both wear masks, but the Jim Carey who plays goal for the Washington Capitals earns a few million dollars less than Jim Carrey of “The Mask” movie fame. Carey, a rookie, has won his first three games since being promoted from Portland of the American Hockey League. . . . Buffalo Center Pat LaFontaine, still strengthening his surgically repaired knee, skated Monday and may play in about a week.

New York Islander defenseman Darius Kasparaitis had season-ending knee surgery. He probably won’t receive get-well cards from Montreal’s Brian Savage, or Chris LiPuma and Chris Gratton of Tampa Bay, whom he injured on low checks this season. . . . Doug Weight, Edmonton’s leading scorer last season, finally scored his first goal of the season Friday. . . . Tensions are said to be so high in Montreal that goalie Patrick Roy and Coach Jacques Demers barely speak to each other. . . . The entry draft will be held July 8 in Winnipeg.