THE NHL / HELENE ELLIOTT : Kings Seem to Accept Mediocrity

The fact that the Kings, Mighty Ducks, Winnipeg Jets, San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers are still competing for a playoff berth is no commendation for the intensity of play this season. It’s a condemnation of every Western Conference team outside of Detroit, St. Louis and Calgary.

Worse teams have qualified for the playoffs--the 1988 Maple Leafs were 21-49-10, a .325 winning percentage--but whichever team emerges from the scrum should decline out of embarrassment. The Jets, 5-4-1 since John Paddock appointed Terry Simpson coach and stepped back to being general manager, and the Mighty Ducks, 6-5-1 in April, are the only teams making anything resembling a playoff run.

A coaching switch helped Winnipeg because the Jets are loaded with skill players, giving Simpson plenty to work with. It won’t help the Kings because they’re short on skill, long on plodders and glaringly lacking leadership.

“You can’t really blame the coaches,” King forward Jari Kurri said of the fired Barry Melrose and Cap Raeder. “The way we were playing, I don’t care who was behind the bench. We were playing awful hockey.”

Said Duck goaltender Guy Hebert: “The Jets have an awful lot of talent that we’re not fortunate enough to have.”

The second-year Ducks have an excuse for having less talent, although next season they’ll have to win games to keep fans entertained, instead of staging sideshows.

The Kings’ supposed talent has brought them nothing but a league-high, $24-million payroll. Their injuries are no excuse. Every team has lost key players, but none besides Chicago has fizzled so badly.

After Friday’s game, his first since replacing Melrose as head coach, Rogie Vachon declared he was proud of his players. Proud of a team that had a 3-1 lead with 3 1/2 minutes to play and tied a game it urgently needed to win? That has always been the Kings’ problem: accepting mediocrity because they’re incapable of excellence. When Bruce McNall was solvent, they’d throw money at problems. Now they can’t even do that.

The Stanley Cup was at the Forum on Friday to be photographed for a TV commercial. Too bad the Kings were showering and didn’t see it roll past their locker room, because that’s the closest they’ll come to it for a while.

CRY ME A RIVER

So Mighty Duck Coach Ron Wilson believes he gets no respect from referees. So he believes referees slight his team because it’s only 2 years old. “(Toronto Coach) Pat Burns yells at them and it’s, ‘Yes sir, Mr. Burns,’ ” Wilson said last week. “I yell and it’s, ‘Shut up, you punk.’ ”

So let’s analyze this. What has Burns done to earn any deference?

In six-plus seasons with Montreal and Toronto, Burns has won 280 games, lost 180 and tied 72, a winning percentage of .594 (actual points divided by possible points). He took the Maple Leafs to the playoff semifinals in 1993 and ’94. He was 133-76-31 in three seasons with the Canadiens and led them to the Stanley Cup finals in 1989. He is a two-time winner of the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year. He has never missed the playoffs.

Through Sunday, Wilson had won 47 games, lost 70 and tied 10 in two seasons for a .409 winning percentage. He has not coached a team to a playoff berth.

Wilson has done a commendable job, but he hurts his credibility when he lets his frustration turn into whining. Last season, he complained Arturs Irbe and John Vanbiesbrouck used illegal goalie pads against the Ducks. This season, referees’ disrespect is to blame for the Ducks’ failures.

There’s no evidence they have suffered from a lack of respect. Through Sunday, they were the NHL’s third-least penalized team, with an average of 15.8 minutes per game. They had 180 power plays, below the league average of 188 and the seventh-lowest total, but not low enough to say referees have ignored an inordinate number of infractions committed against the Ducks.

Wilson should worry less about other coaches and more about how to improve his power play. In comparing himself to Burns instead of pleading his case on its own merits, he sounded petulant and set back his cause.

IRISH EYES SMILING

When last we saw St. Louis left wing Brendan Shanahan, Coach Mike Keenan was chiding him for not working hard, failing to take into account Shanahan had been weakened by a severe virus. Shanahan was upset at Keenan’s criticism, and Keenan was upset Shanahan’s scoring didn’t match his $3 million salary.

Since settling their differences, they’re getting along fine. Shanahan is third in team scoring, behind Brett Hull and Esa Tikkanen, and the Blues are 10-2-3.

“It was funny timing,” Shanahan said. “Right on the heels of a slump we went through, I started to feel better and I had four game-winners in a row. That’s the best way to get Mike off your back. When the team is winning, Mike and I don’t need a lot of communication. . . . I saw (Keenan’s success) last year in New York and I’m willing to make sacrifices in my game.”

SLAP SHOTS

National ratings for Fox’s first three NHL Sundays were 2.1, 1.9 and 2.1, the last on Easter Sunday when 15% fewer homes were using television than in the previous two weeks. The ratings average is 2.0, 18% ahead of ABC’s telecasts last year, a Fox spokesman said. ABC’s season average was 1.7. The average rating in Los Angeles for the first three telecasts was 1.9, up 12% over ABC’s first three regular-season games last season. . . . Red Wing players collected $14,000 for victims of the Oklahoma City federal building bombing. . . . The Dallas Stars will open the playoffs without goalie Andy Moog, who has a recurring hamstring problem. Even without center Mike Modano (knee) and defenseman Grant Ledyard (broken ankle), they’re on a 3-0-2 streak. . . . The Sabres’ special teams are keeping them in the East race. They had three power-play goals and a short-hander in their 4-2 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday and lead the NHL with 13 short-handed goals.

When the Kings start searching for a new coach, their first call should go to Larry Robinson, an assistant with the New Jersey Devils. . . . Veteran defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov has been a good acquisition for Detroit. He has 12 points and is plus-eight in 10 games. . . . Missing two games because of a bruised right shoulder might have cost Quebec right wing Owen Nolan the goal scoring title. He returned Saturday to get his 30th, but Washington’s Peter Bondra tied him while he was out. . . . It’s a contact sport for officials too. Referees Rob Shick and Dave Jackson and linesmen Mike Cvik and Baron Parker were injured last week.