THE NHL / HELENE ELLIOTT : Fox Takes a Cutting-Edge Approach to Game Coverage

Ed Goren, executive producer of Fox Sports, imagines his late father, New York Ranger publicist Herb Goren, looking down and shaking his head over his son’s plans to enliven the network’s NHL telecasts.

“We cannot be traditional,” Goren said. “I keep hearing, ‘How come hockey’s not on national TV?’ As well as it has been done by CBS and NBC and ESPN, it has failed. We could put a ton of equipment into one game, have great audio, great announcers, but if we don’t do better than the 1.6 rating ABC got a year ago, five years from now, people will be asking again, ‘How come hockey’s not on national TV?’

“I told a seminar of our production people that we have a sacred trust to make this work and to do it well. But if all we do is duplicate what we’ve done in the past, then the sport is going back into a cave.”

Fox, which signed a five-year, $155-million contract with the NHL last fall, will begin its coverage Sunday with six regional telecasts. Games will be shown every Sunday in April and through the playoffs. Fox will show Games 1 and 4 of the finals and the seventh game, if one is necessary.

Like Fox’s NFL telecasts, hockey telecasts will feature the “Fox box,” displaying the time and score of the game. A penalty time clock will also be visible. Analysts will explain rules and plays on a scaled-down rink in the studio. And personality profiles will get precedence over statistics because Goren believes once fans become acquainted with NHL players, they will develop an emotional interest in the game.

He’s hoping to attract young viewers, although the NHL has traditionally pursued an older and more affluent audience.

“The second-most popular video game is the NHL video game, and roller hockey has really taken off among kids in the last few years,” Goren said. “We have got to get those kids excited not just about playing the game, but about watching it. Our graphic look will have a computer-game feel to it.”

Because last fall’s lockout cut Fox’s planning time, Goren admits he’s not sure how all of this will work.

“We didn’t find out we had a season until mid-January,” he said. “We had Dallas-San Francisco (in the NFL playoffs) and it was a hell of a time to say, ‘Oh, we’re going to have to do hockey.’

“I didn’t have time to watch hundreds of tapes and go after announcers. Because of the eight-week setup period, I’m not sure what you see this year is totally indicative of what you’ll see down the road. We don’t have three preseason games to shake out the cobwebs.”

It figures to be entertaining. But Clarence Campbell probably is spinning in his grave.

STAYING PUT

Although Pavel Bure’s name continues to surface in trade rumors, his agent, Ron Salcer, said the right wing is content with Vancouver.

“I talked to (General Manager) Pat Quinn, and he said he never talked to anybody and he doesn’t want to trade Pavel,” Salcer said. “We’re not opposed to a trade, but we haven’t made any request to be traded.”

Bure, with only nine goals in 24 games and none in his last nine, is struggling, as are the Canucks. He missed two games last week because of a sore right knee, but tests showed it to be merely bruised. He returned Saturday but was ejected in the second period for spearing Detroit’s Keith Primeau.

Salcer and the Canucks still haven’t resolved their differences over $1.5 million Bure lost to the lockout. Players weren’t paid, but Salcer says Bure’s contract specified conditions under which the Canucks would be absolved of paying him and a lockout was not one of those conditions.

NEXT TIME, HIT A PILLOW

The early favorite for bizarre injury of the year is Dallas goaltender Darcy Wakaluk.

Angry over being pulled after giving up three goals to the Detroit Red Wings on March 16, Wakaluk stormed into the locker room and punched a bathroom door. He broke his right hand, and is expected to be sidelined two more weeks.

THE MIGHTY KEEP FALLING

The Rangers’ acquisition of Pat Verbeek from the Whalers confirms how much they miss pesky winger Esa Tikkanen, whom they sent to St. Louis in settling their dispute over Mike Keenan’s departure.

Verbeek, a gritty right wing who has had three 40-goal seasons, soon will be 31. He will be a free agent after the season, and Hartford didn’t want to pay the $2-million salary he sought. To get him, the Rangers--who initially were said to be interested in the Kings’ Jari Kurri--gave up rugged defenseman Glen Featherstone, defenseman Michael Stewart, who was their 1990 first-round draft pick, a first-round pick this year and a fourth-rounder in 1996.

It was a costly deal for the Rangers, but necessary. Their grinders aren’t grinding, their scorers aren’t scoring and they finally realized what everyone else in the NHL already knew: that Petr Nedved has great skills but little intensity. The defending Stanley Cup champions have lost six consecutive games and are clinging to a tie for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot.

The deal helps the Whalers, who are sixth in the East, because they get a first-round pick to replace one they sent to Boston for defenseman Glen Wesley and they get two young players with low salaries.

SLAP SHOTS

Despite a 4-3 overtime loss to Harford on Sunday, Washington Capital rookie goalie Jim Carey still leads the NHL with a 1.58 goals-against average. He’s 9-2-2 since being promoted from Portland, Me., of the American Hockey League. Sunday’s game was the first in which he gave up more than three goals. . . . Pittsburgh goalie Tom Barrasso, who had wrist surgery Jan. 20, is scheduled for a checkup Sunday. If he’s cleared to begin practicing, he could return by mid-April. Backup Ken Wregget is day to day because of an injured ankle. . . . The Boston Bruins’ Brian Sutter could be the first coach fired this season. Management thinks he isn’t developing young talent, and players say he’s too distant.

Adam Graves had no points and Mark Messier had a goal and an assist in the Rangers’ 0-6 slump. . . . The Canucks restored defenseman Gerald Diduck to the lineup to showcase him before the April 7 trading deadline. . . . The Philadelphia Flyers’ line of John LeClair, Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg is so big it has three nicknames: the Main Line, the Legion of Doom and Lightning Incorporated.

Friends of former North Star Bill Goldsworthy plan a dinner and auction Friday in Minneapolis to raise money for his medical expenses. Goldsworthy recently disclosed that he has AIDS. . . . The New York Islanders are 0-10-2 on the road since Feb. 4.

An NHL spokesman denied a report that the Kings offered to play host to the entry draft if the event is moved. The Winnipeg Free Press said the site would change if Jet owner Barry Shenkarow sells his club. . . . Quebec politicians gave the provincial government approval to devise a “reasonable” plan to help the Nordiques build a new arena.