Forget the Victory Record, Red Wings’ Goal Is the Cup

A significant NHL record is within their grasp, but the Detroit Red Wings consider it merely a mileage marker on the way to their real destination.

At 58-12-5, the Red Wings--who have clinched the Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular-season record--are two victories from tying the record of 60 set by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens.

If the Red Wings are nervous, they’re hiding it well. Their practice Monday at the Forum was lighthearted, capped by defenseman Marc Bergevin winding a roll of gauze around his head and dancing around the locker room, imitating the Invisible Man.

“Is that how many wins we have?” winger Bob Errey asked. “If we didn’t hear about it, we’d never know. It’s something we never talk about. We’re shooting for the best season we could possibly have, and if that includes a record, fine. . . . Success means the Stanley Cup. Success doesn’t mean anything else to us.”

Said forward Vyacheslav Kozlov, “We want to win so teams will be scared of us and think they can’t beat us. That will be very good for the playoffs.”

The Red Wings, who play in San Jose tonight, against the Kings at the Forum Wednesday and against the Mighty Ducks at the Pond on Friday, are spreading fear throughout the league. They are 12-0-1 in the last month and 30-3-2 since early January.

What most pleases Coach Scotty Bowman, who also coached the 1976-77 Canadiens, is their team goals-against average of 2.17, the NHL’s lowest. “That’s been our focus [instead of 60 victories],” he said.

Bowman said the Red Wings compare well with his Montreal team, which went on to win the second of four consecutive Stanley Cups. Bowman and nine players from that team are in the Hall of Fame.

“The defense on that team was great, but we’ve got a good one here with the emergence of [Vladimir] Konstantinov and [Nicklas] Lidstrom,” he said. “Maybe our depth on defense was better. . . . Up front we had about five scoring lines and a checking line and guys like [Jimmy] Roberts, [Rejean] Houle, [Doug] Jarvis and [Bob] Gainey.”

King Coach Larry Robinson, who played on that record-setting team, also sees that squad and the Red Wings as comparable.

“They’re probably a quicker team than we were,” he said. “They have a lot of speed. We had a few guys that were quick, but we would just grind the other team down defensively. Detroit just keeps coming at you, but we might have been a tougher team.”

The Red Wings’ true measure will be taken in the playoffs.

“The worst part of it is, you could go through a year like that and not win the Cup,” Robinson said. “You could have 70 wins and never lose a game all year, but once you get to the playoffs, it’s wiped out.

“What they’ve done so far is a great feat, anyway. Will they be known as a great team? Only if they win the Cup.”

END OF THE ROAD

In 20 years as a player and two as an assistant coach of the New Jersey Devils, Robinson never missed the playoffs--until this season.

“It was inevitable. Everything comes to an end,” he said. “I was hoping it wouldn’t. That was one of the goals I set when I came here, to make the playoffs. If somebody would have told me we would have had this many injuries and this many things would have happened, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Would he have taken the job if he knew then what he knows now?

“Yeah,” he said.

Would he have asked for more money?

“Oh, yeah,” he replied.

While on that subject, Robinson disclosed that his contract has a mutual escape clause that kicks in after two years. It was previously believed that his was a three-year contract with a one-year option.

NOT A FOXY MOVE

Fox has gone from blue-light specials to Tinker Bell.

The network’s new version of its electronic “dot” had its debut Sunday, and it was no better than the original. It’s white instead of blue, resembling Tinker Bell flitting after Peter Pan. The problem that plagued its predecessor remains unresolved: When the puck is along the boards, the dot floats into the stands and becomes a distraction.

Someday, Fox will see the light--and it won’t be on a puck. It doesn’t need gimmicks to make the puck visible. Simply watch some “Hockey Night in Canada” telecasts, study them, and adopt their methods.

HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW

Rick Ley’s firing by the Vancouver Canucks last week increased the number of dismissed coaches to eight, the most in-season changes in a decade. In that span, only the Chicago Blackhawks haven’t changed coaches in midstream.

Ley had been walking a tightrope and bought a reprieve with a 5-1-1 run that put the Canucks three games above .500 in early March. A six-game losing streak left him on shaky ground again. Stuck with a huge payroll--and eager to get as many home playoff games as possible to pay that payroll--General Manager Pat Quinn went for the short-term jolt of dumping Ley.

Ley was faulted for the team’s haphazard defensive play, but Quinn was equally to blame for constructing a team that lacked grit.

PENGUINS AND STORKS

There’s an interesting story behind Mario Lemieux’s five-goal, two-assist performance last Tuesday, two days after the premature birth of his son.

Before his spree, Lemieux had been criticized because his scoring pace had “slowed” to a point a game. He never told anyone his wife was enduring a difficult pregnancy that left her bedridden and, eventually, hospitalized. He was caring for their two young daughters, besides nursing his sore back. All apparently has ended happily, with mother, baby and father doing well.

SLAP SHOTS

Grant Fuhr’s streak of 76 consecutive starts may be in jeopardy because he strained his leg during the St. Louis Blues’ 8-1 loss to the Red Wings Sunday. Will Coach Mike Keenan’s insistence on playing him every game backfire now? . . . Keenan acquired Wayne Gretzky to center for Brett Hull, but Keenan separated them even before a pulled hamstring Sunday idled Hull. He claimed Hull didn’t give Gretzky enough support, but Hull had six goals and 11 points in 13 games with Gretzky.

When the New Jersey Devils’ American Hockey League farm team, the Albany (N.Y.) River Rats, recently ran short of players, Coach Robbie Ftorek activated himself. He didn’t have to suit up, but Devil scout Bob Hoffmeyer, who retired in 1985, played one game. . . . Colorado Avalanche defenseman Uwe Krupp, who had knee surgery in mid-October, may be back before the playoffs. . . . Red Wing stars Igor Larionov and Viacheslav Fetisov were left off Russia’s preliminary World Cup roster. “It’s kind of a political game,” Fetisov said.

Perhaps the AIDS-related death of Bill Goldsworthy will spur the NHL and the players’ union to agree on an AIDS education program. The NHL still has no drug-alcohol education program, either. . . . Rick Tocchet sat out the Boston Bruins’ last five games because of back spasms. Losing Tocchet, Cam Neely to a sore hip and Joe Mullen to a torn knee ligament took players with 1,225 lifetime goals out of the lineup. . . . Richard Burke, co-owner of the Winnipeg Jets, said John Paddock will remain as general manager when the team moves to Phoenix for next season. Its new name is likely to be Coyotes.