It Was a Trade That Cut Two Ways

Keith Primeau has no regrets over forcing the Detroit Red Wings to trade him last month. He’s only sorry Paul Coffey got dragged along for the ride.

“Actually, I’m quite pleased with the way it came about,” said Primeau, who was unhappy with his role in Detroit and was dealt to the Hartford Whalers--with a reluctant Coffey--for Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn. “I made a decision that ultimately could have cost me the entire season without playing, and I understood the effects of that decision.

“It was the culmination of things, most of all the opportunity for me to move on and see what I could accomplish as a centerman on a team that’s growing. It was a perfect opportunity. . . . I felt bad for Paul. He really enjoyed his time in Detroit. But you have to understand it’s a business.”

Coffey is still unsure whether to stay in Hartford or ask to be traded again. The Whalers want to keep him and offered to extend his contract through 1999-2000, a show of great faith given that he’s 35 and has had back problems. But Coffey, knowing the Whalers may leave Hartford after next season, isn’t sure he wants to uproot his wife and 17-month-old daughter so many times.

If Coffey asks out, Whaler General Manager Jim Rutherford will act quickly to minimize the distraction. This week’s general manager meetings in Ottawa offer a perfect opportunity to make a deal.

Coffey has behaved with class, plunging into the Whalers’ locker-room banter and working with his young teammates. “I just enjoy playing hockey. That’s what I’m paid to do. That’s my job,” Coffey said when asked why he didn’t block the trade. “There are good people here. They’ve been fair to me, and Jimmy [Rutherford] has been upfront with me, which is nice.

“I hope to get something resolved here soon. I think that would be better for everyone involved. But hoping and getting resolved are two different things. . . . Mentally it’s a little draining, but I enjoy these guys. We’ve got a good hockey team.”

Primeau had mixed emotions about returning to Detroit on Monday for the first time, but Coffey looked forward to it. “I had four very enjoyable years there,” he said. “I’m just learning it’s a business. I don’t hold any grudges. It’s out of my life. To worry about it would be wrong.”

TURGEON MIGHT SING THE BLUES

Pierre Turgeon, acquired last week by the St. Louis Blues in a five-player deal with Montreal, will have a career year under hard-driving Coach Mike Keenan or will run off screaming into the night. There will be no in-between.

Turgeon is a talented playmaker but is notoriously soft, often disappearing at critical moments. He had an excellent postseason with the New York Islanders in 1992-93, but was invisible last spring during the Canadiens’ first-round loss to the New York Rangers. After being criticized for that and being relegated to the third line behind Vincent Damphousse and Saku Koivu, Turgeon asked to be traded. That’s not an attitude coaches like, and Keenan won’t tolerate it.

The Canadiens did well in getting Murray Baron, a steady and physical defenseman, and winger Shayne Corson, who has matured since his first tour in Montreal. Once known as the Flying Frenchmen, the Canadiens now rely more on feistiness than finesse with forwards such as Scott Thornton, Turner Stevenson, Marc Bureau, Donald Brashear and Chris Murray. Winning and filling seats in the new Molson Centre are the mandates for General Manager Rejean Houle and Coach Mario Tremblay, and this deal should help.

MATURE BEYOND HIS YEARS

Most rookies are concerned with their scoring totals, but Calgary right wing Jarome Iginla is equally interested in the defensive end of the ice. Not that his offensive contributions are weak: He has six goals and 13 points, tops among rookies.

“He is the best fundamentally strong 19-year-old I’ve seen in my 16 years in the NHL,” Flame Coach Pierre Page said. “I’ve never seen a kid work as hard as he does. He’s humble, and he’s got all the basics you usually don’t see in players for four, five years. People said, ‘But he didn’t score a goal during training camp,’ but I said, ‘Don’t worry. He’s going to be OK.’ ”

Iginla attributes his strong start to his education playing junior hockey for Kamloops, which was coached by current Phoenix Coach Don Hay.

“They really stressed defense, and we were pretty successful,” said Iginla, chosen 11th overall by Dallas in the 1995 draft and traded to Calgary last December for Joe Nieuwendyk. “Back there, if we didn’t play defense we didn’t get ice time.”

GROWING PAINS

As interesting as who applied for NHL expansion franchises is who didn’t. Notably missing was Portland’s Paul Allen, a friend of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and owner of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. It was widely expected that Allen would apply for a franchise, but Allen was said to have doubts the city could support another professional team.

Applications submitted before Friday’s deadline were from Atlanta; Columbus, Ohio; Hamilton, Canada; Oklahoma City, Okla., Nashville, Tenn.; St. Paul, Minn.; Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, Va.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and three groups from Houston.

CAPITAL GAINS

Are the Washington Capitals going to collect every available defenseman in the NHL before season’s end?

Their acquisition of Curtis Leschyshyn from Colorado last Saturday was baffling, especially with forward Michal Pivonka out six to eight weeks because of a knee injury. They already have eight quality defensemen, enough for Coach Jim Schoenfeld to use Ken Klee on the wing. Unless they’re going to trade a couple for a big scorer, this move makes no sense.

Tough guy Chris Simon, who accompanied Leschyshyn to Washington, has some skill, but he won’t solve the Capitals’ perennial goal-scoring problem.

SLAP SHOTS

Detroit is shopping Bob Errey around the NHL and may sign enforcer Joe Kocur, who is playing in an over-30 league and for the Red Wings’ alumni team. . . . Who’s in charge here? After the Boston Bruins cut a 4-0 Ranger lead in half Saturday, it was Mark Messier, not Coach Colin Campbell, who delivered an angry intermission speech. In an earlier game, Messier called a timeout and sparked a rally.

Anyone on the waiting list for Colorado Avalanche season tickets who buys Denver Nugget season tickets will move to the head of the Avalanche list. That arrogance could haunt the Avalanche some day. . . . Realignment may follow the next expansion and split the NHL into three divisions. . . . Ranger defenseman Ulf Samuelsson is impressed by the Florida Panthers. “Gone are the days when we could laugh at them,” he said. “I used to say that they looked like my fridge on a Monday morning: lots of leftovers.”

Because the Bruins fell $165,000 short of Daniel Goneau’s price after choosing him in the 1994 draft, Goneau went back into the draft this year and was taken by the Rangers. He leads rookies with eight goals. . . . Edmonton Oiler center Doug Weight was glad to see teammate Curtis Joseph narrowly miss scoring into an empty net. “No way I was playing the first month and having the goalie with twice as many goals as me,” he said. Weight’s goal-scoring problems obviously carry over to math: He has no goals, and zero times two is zero.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Of Kings and Presidents

Would reelecting President Clinton be good for the country, or would Bob Dole be better? Which one would be better for the Kings? In honor of election day, here is the Kings’ record by presidential administration and political party as compiled by Justin Kischefsky, the team’s media relations assistant (who obviously has too much idle time):

*--*

President (party) Kings’ Record (Pct.) In playoffs Lyndon Johnson (D) 44-53-16 (.460) 1 Richard Nixon (R) 132-232-59 (.381) 2 Gerald Ford (R) 95-71-40 (.558) 2 Jimmy Carter (D) 141-128-52 (.520) 4 Ronald Reagan (R) 235-317-89 (.436) 5 George Bush (R) 153-126-39 (.542) 4 *Bill Clinton (D) 89-131-46 (.421) 1 *DEMOCRATS 274-312-114 (.473) 6 REPUBLICANS 615-746-227 (.459) 13

*--*

*Through Saturday