THE NHL / HELENE ELLIOTT : Bowman: 1,605 Games and Counting

In an era when coaches are discarded as casually as a wad of gum, no one may ever break the record Scotty Bowman will set this week.

Bowman, the Detroit Red Wings’ coach and director of player personnel, will coach his 1,606th game today, tying the NHL record set by Al Arbour. Bowman will pass Arbour Friday, when the Red Wings play at Dallas. The Stars’ coach is Bob Gainey, whose six-season tenure is the longest among current coaches.

Gainey is also a member of the flock of NHL coaches who played for Bowman. Others are Montreal’s Mario Tremblay, the Kings’ Larry Robinson, New Jersey’s Jacques Lemaire and Washington’s Jim Schoenfeld. Arbour also played for Bowman, in St. Louis.

“I never thought I’d be doing this for so long,” Bowman said. “I thought I had enough five years ago, going back to Pittsburgh.”

Bowman coached the St. Louis Blues from 1967-71 before becoming coach in Montreal, where he won the Stanley Cup five times. When the Canadiens wouldn’t promote him to general manager, he went to Buffalo in 1979 to be coach and general manager. He was fired by the Sabres during the 1986-87 season and joined the Pittsburgh Penguins as director of player personnel in 1990. He took over as coach when Bob Johnson became ill before the 1991-92 season and led Pittsburgh to the 1992 Cup, his sixth as coach (his name is also on the Cup in 1991 as a Penguin executive). He moved to Detroit for the 1993-94 season.

Only two other NHL coaches put in 1,000 games behind the bench: Dick Irvin, who coached Chicago, Toronto and Montreal for 1,437 games and won the Cup four times, and Billy Reay, who coached Chicago for 1,102 games but never won the Cup.

“You have to have good teams to do something like this,” Bowman said. “It would be awfully difficult to last this many games if you don’t have a good team.”

Bowman is already the winningest coach in NHL history, with a record of 937-428-240 in regular-season games and 137-82 in the playoffs. The only significant coaching record he doesn’t own is most Cup winners coached, held by Montreal’s Toe Blake, with eight. The Red Wings, on a 19-2 roll and leading the Western Conference--which will make Bowman the Western Conference coach for the Jan. 20 All-Star game--may give him another shot at the Cup this spring. Detroit was swept in the finals by New Jersey last season.

IT’S THEIR MOVE

Line up the moving vans and send ‘em to Edmonton. Because when Oiler owner Peter Pocklington says he doesn’t want to leave town and thinks he can sell 13,000 season tickets by May 31 to qualify for a $7-million aid package from the NHL, it really means he’s taking calls from prospective buyers in Atlanta and Nashville.

It’s extortion. Buy tickets or we’re outta here, he told fans in a small city with an unsteady economic base. The Oilers have about 6,700 season ticket-holders and are drawing the worst crowds in their 17-year NHL history. Besides nearly doubling their season-ticket base, to get the NHL’s money the Oilers must sell all of their dasher-board advertising spaces and 18 unsold luxury seat boxes. It won’t happen.

“If [fans] don’t want to buy tickets, maybe this is an International League town,” he said. Maybe he’s just a minor-league owner.

WHEN YOU WISH UPON THE STARS

Even Calgary players couldn’t believe the Flames didn’t get more for center Joe Nieuwendyk than center Corey Millen and 1995 first-round pick Jarome Iginla. Theo Fleury said he expected the Flames to get “more of an impact player,” and it’s surprising they couldn’t make a deal with the New York Rangers, who offered Ray Ferraro and goaltending prospect Dan Cloutier. A stumbling block may have been the Flames’ request for defenseman Mattias Norstrom, whom the Rangers project as a future star.

Flame interim General Manager Al Coates wanted to make a deal before the trade freeze began last Wednesday, but other general managers apparently thought he was bluffing and didn’t make their best offers. They may also have thought Nieuwendyk’s signing price too high, and they can’t be blamed. Nieuwendyk, 29, got a five-year, $11.1-million deal from the Stars, whose financial picture has improved since they were sold to Tom Hicks last week.

AN AVALANCHE OF REASONS TO BE HAPPY

Pierre Lacroix, general manager of the Colorado Avalanche, was delighted when Jocelyn Thibault shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday even though he traded Thibault to Montreal in the Patrick Roy deal.

“I’m so happy for the kid. He’s a great kid and he’s going to have a great career,” Lacroix said. “But we have Marc Denis, who is one of the great prospects, and Stephane Fiset is only 25, so he wouldn’t have played here.”

Lacroix said he’s happy with the Roy trade and sees the Avalanche developing unity following three major deals. Lacroix acquired defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh and winger Claude Lemieux before grabbing Roy, who had been suspended and put up for bids by the Canadiens following an emotional showdown with club President Ronald Corey, and winger Mike Keane.

“I’m very happy with the trade, especially the way the team has been playing the last week,” Lacroix said, referring to a 2-0-1 surge. “We needed to improve our grit, and we needed Mike Keane to do that. We needed an adjustment. You don’t trade 50% of your lineup and expect to adjust overnight. We’re very comfortable with everything. The players we acquired have been very much accepted by their teammates.”

Roy gave up five goals to Edmonton Dec. 7 in his Avalanche debut but is regaining his old, steady form. He’s 3-3 with a 2.35 goals-against average; Thibault is 4-1-1 with a 2.47 goals-against average.

“That first game, I hadn’t skated in four days and so many things had happened, it was hard to come up with a big game,” Roy said. “We are playing better and we’re working hard. Everything has been fantastic. . . . There’s lots of travel for this team, and you need two good goalies. I’m ready to play less games now [than with Montreal]. The playoffs will be a big time for me.”

SLAP SHOTS

If the Oilers leave Edmonton, they would be the third of the four former WHA teams to be uprooted. Quebec moved to Denver this season and the Winnipeg Jets will be in Phoenix next season. The Hartford Whalers may make it four for four. They’re close to losing enough money to trigger an escape clause in their agreement with the state of Connecticut. . . . The Washington Capitals held “Furlough Friday,” offering government employees a 50% discount on tickets. But only 11,200 fans attended a 6-3 rout of the Oilers. . . . Chicago goalie Ed Belfour is 0-4-3 since Nov. 24. . . . Ranger winger Alexei Kovalev’s goal against Hartford Friday was his first in 19 games. . . . The Rangers must play a league-high 17 games this month. So far they’re 8-2-3.

Vancouver’s trade of defenseman Jeff Brown was a vote of confidence for Coach Rick Ley, who had been criticized by Brown in local newspapers. The Canucks’ owners had pressed General Manager Pat Quinn to fire Ley, but he resisted. It’s almost more difficult to find a defenseman like Brown, a good power-play quarterback, than it is to find a coach. . . . The world junior championships, a showcase for future NHL stars, open today in five Massachusetts cities. Team Canada has won the last three titles. . . . Another Red Wing near a milestone is center Steve Yzerman, who is three goals from 500 in his career.