THE NHL / HELENE ELLIOTT : He’s Real Reason Devils Are Red-Hot

It’s unfortunate that the New Jersey Devils’ possible move to Nashville, Tenn., is overshadowing the masterful job Jacques Lemaire has done in coaching the team to the Eastern Conference finals.

The Devils barely broke a sweat in the first two rounds, beating the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins in five games, and they have opened the conference finals with two thumpings of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Most of the attention they’ve gotten has centered on the exploits of goaltender Martin Brodeur, and rightly so. But Lemaire’s ingenuity has been equally important and shouldn’t go unrecognized.

Unlike most coaches, Lemaire uses all four lines. That gave him fresh legs to send out against the Penguins, who repeatedly used only their top seven or eight forwards. When those players tired, the Devils’ “Crash” line of Randy McKay, Mike Peluso and Bobby Holik romped, with McKay scoring two goals against Boston and Holik scoring two against the Penguins. McKay also had a goals in each of New Jersey’s victories over the Flyers in the East finals, and Holik scored Monday.

The third line, of Sergei Brylin, Bill Guerin and Valeri Zelepukin, scored two goals in the opener against the Flyers.

Lemaire also neutralized Penguin winger Jaromir Jagr, the NHL’s scoring champion. Instead of having a forward shadow the speedy Jagr, he used defensemen Ken Daneyko and Scott Stevens. Jagr scored three goals in the first two games but was shut out the rest of the series.

Lemaire is using the same strategy against Flyer center Eric Lindros. He had Stevens--one of the NHL’s most physical defensemen--on the ice almost every minute Lindros was in Games 1 and 2. The strategy generally succeeded. Lindros had only one shot in Game 1 and one goal in Game 2 and the “Legion of Doom” line was not a factor.

NASHVILLE CATS

The Devils’ flirtation with Nashville, which began as a ploy to get a better lease at the Meadowlands Arena, has turned serious.

What would be funny, if it weren’t so absurd, is NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s saying the Devils “cannot be expected to continue to operate . . . with substandard arena and television arrangements,” when they’re to blame for those problems.

No one forced them to move from Colorado to northern New Jersey, where they’re competing with the New York Rangers seven miles to the east and the Flyers to the south.

Nor were they forced to sign an unfavorable lease, which has already been amended twice. They say the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority has breached the lease in 13 areas and hope to use that to escape before the lease expires in 2002.

Bettman is backing the Devils only because their owner, John McMullen, was among the hardest of the hard-line owners during last fall’s lockout. Keeping the Devils in a hockey-saturated area doesn’t help McMullen or the NHL.

Nashville is an idea whose time hasn’t come, despite a new arena and the $20-million relocation bonus it’s offering. The arena won’t open until the 1996-97 season and won’t have more luxury boxes than the Meadowlands. Nashville is a small market, and at last look, several NHL small-market franchises faced uncertain futures. Why invite more trouble?

Nashville is country music heaven, but its only hockey tradition comes from a minor league team that draws poorly. Tampa and Miami had no hockey history, but they’re magnets for thousands of transplanted Northerners and Canadians who are familiar with hockey. Nashville lacks that fan base.

EIGHT USED TO BE ENOUGH

Someone asks every year, so here’s the origin of the bizarre little custom of octopus-throwing in Detroit.

It dates to the six-team NHL, when it took only eight victories to win the Stanley Cup.

The Red Wings had swept their first-round series and had a 3-0 lead over Montreal in the finals when two members of the Cusimano family decided the eight-legged mollusk might bring the Wings luck in getting that eighth triumph. The first octopus was tossed onto the ice at the Olympia on April 15, 1952, and became a tradition after the Wings won that game and the Cup.

Players are used to the slimy creatures, but they were stunned by the 35-pound octopus that splattered onto the ice Thursday in the opener of Detroit’s Western Conference final series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

“We thought it was a whale,” Red Wing forward Keith Primeau said.

BURY THEM AT WOUNDED KNEE

The Red Wings took playoff paranoia to new heights in handling center Steve Yzerman’s arthroscopic surgery for slightly torn cartilage in his right knee. First, they registered him at the hospital under a false name, Joseph Smith. Then they refused to confirm a Detroit News report that Yzerman had the procedure. Coach Scotty Bowman told reporter Cynthia Lambert, “wrong hospital,” but didn’t deny the operation had taken place.

Yzerman has been spending two hours a day in a hyperbaric chamber because the super-oxygenated air is said to speed recovery, and he may return tonight at Chicago. Blackhawk defenseman Gary Suter, who missed the first two games because of a broken hand, is also using a hyperbaric chamber and he might be back soon.

Detroit hardly missed Yzerman in winning the first two bruising games. Youngsters Tim Taylor and Kris Draper got more ice time, which Draper used to score the game-winner Sunday. Their efforts are compensating for the lack of offense from center Sergei Fedorov, who is being stifled by defenseman Chris Chelios.

POST-MORTEM

Despite the Rangers’ exit in the Eastern semifinals, General Manager Neil Smith is expected to get a contract extension.

In the wake of the Cup champions’ early elimination, Smith promised unspecified changes. He did say he will make a contract offer to right wing Pat Verbeek, who will be a restricted free agent. The Rangers have the right to match other offers to Verbeek. It’s also likely they will pursue Calgary center Joe Otto, an unrestricted free agent.

SLAP SHOTS

Former NHL defenseman Craig Hartsburg, coach of Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League, interviewed for the Islanders’ coaching job. Other interviewees include Barry Melrose, Brian Sutter and George Burnett, who were fired by the Kings, Bruins and Oilers, respectively. The only fired coach they’ve skipped so far is Dave King, let go last week by Calgary. They have also talked with Bruin coach-turned-analyst Mike Milbury.

The Edmonton Oilers, who drew sixth in the draft lottery, may trade up so they can get a defenseman. Four of the top six prospects are defensemen.

Although the Canadiens missed the playoffs for the first time since 1970, they won’t fire Coach Jacques Demers. Says who? Says Demers. “Normally, a coach who doesn’t make the playoffs is gone, but I will be back,” he said. “There was an understanding here that we were rebuilding.”

St. Louis General Manager-Coach Mike Keenan, unhappy with goalie Curtis Joseph’s playoff effort, may make an offer to restricted free agent Brodeur, which the Devils would have a right to match. Keenan may also inquire if the Rangers will make Mike Richter available.