Blues’ Feud: Undertones of Intrigue

There are several possible reasons why St. Louis Coach-General Manager Mike Keenan benched Brett Hull at Colorado last Friday, besides Keenan’s mention of a “team concept” and Hull’s implied lack in that area:

--Keenan was trying to fire up his sagging team and jolt Hull, who feels pressured as he nears 500 goals. If that’s all it was, it worked. The Blues defeated the Avalanche on Friday and on Sunday, after meeting with Keenan, a chastened Hull was reinstated. He scored his 497th goal, the winner in a 3-2 victory at Edmonton.

“It was something Mike thought he had to do,” Hull told the Edmonton Sun. “Actually it’s been great for [his teammates]. It showed them whether I’m in there or not, they can win.”

--Hull had had enough of Keenan’s tyranny and had eased up, giving Keenan an excuse to trade him. Rumors had Hull giving Keenan a list of preferred trade destinations before Keenan could exile him to Washington for Joe Juneau and two other players.

--Keenan wanted to force the Blues’ owners to choose between him and Hull, knowing he would win either way. Hull is the team’s main draw, so if the owners backed him and fired Keenan, the coach would have walked away with about $6 million, because his contract is guaranteed. He would also have escaped a team whose talent he stripped in a series of questionable deals--giving up three players and two draft picks to rent Wayne Gretzky in one of them. If the owners backed him and gave him permission to trade Hull, his authority would be reaffirmed.

The guess here is the first option, although the third is devious enough to be true.

Gretzky, who speaks to Hull often and has the same agent, Mike Barnett, said Saturday he didn’t think Hull would be traded. Also, Hull has often said he doesn’t want to leave St. Louis and the Blues deny getting any kind of list from Hull or Barnett. That makes the middle scenario unlikely.

There is reason to believe Keenan had the third scenario in mind--and hoped the owners would back Hull. They told Keenan to cut his payroll this season, and he knows the team lacks the depth to be a Stanley Cup threat. If he’s forced out, he can’t be blamed when the team falls short again in the spring.

If Keenan is fired, someone else is sure to hire him. Which will prove you can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time and NHL owners pretty much at will.

NO AVALANCHE OF PROBLEMS

Colorado defenseman Adam Foote spoke quietly and wore a solemn expression.

“The key is not to push the panic button,” he said after the Avalanche’s 4-2 loss to the Kings Saturday.

Panic button? After two consecutive losses? That doesn’t seem like a reason to lose sleep, but the defending Cup champions have high standards, which they generally meet. Saturday’s loss was only their seventh, and they lead the Western Conference with 36 points. They are tied for the NHL lead with 102 goals, despite scoring only 11 in their last five games.

“So we can’t pull our hair out,” Coach Marc Crawford said.

But what makes his hair gray is the knowledge that defending a title can be as difficult as winning it.

“Of course, teams are going to be up for us,” he said. “That comes with the territory. But that can sometimes work to your advantage. If you work hard and get ahead, the other team can start saying, ‘Not tonight. Those guys can’t be had.’ ”

Said goaltender Patrick Roy, who last week marked the first anniversary of his trade from Montreal to Colorado, “The other teams are always ready for us, but it’s up to us to be prepared. So far we can’t complain. . . . There’s no doubt in my mind we’re good enough to repeat. We also have more experience than we did last year.”

BURNED TO A CRISP

He yelled, pleaded and cajoled, and still the Tampa Bay Lightning plunged to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Terry Crisp was so frustrated during his team’s 2-14-2 free fall, he was almost ready to jump out a window.

“If I thought it might accomplish something, I might do it,” said Crisp, the NHL’s longest-tenured coach at four-plus seasons. “If the effort wasn’t there, you’d go in and tear some strips out of them. But if they’re giving everything the good Lord gave them, what can you do? What do you go in the [locker] room and say that hasn’t been said? You have to stay positive with everyone and keep working.”

Crisp’s patience paid off last week in consecutive-night victories over the Kings and Vancouver Canucks. His job is probably safe because he has the owners’ support, but apparently he’s not worried in any event.

“If I go in there and do my best, I’ll stay, If it’s not good enough, I’ll be gone,” said Crisp, who coached the Calgary Flames to the Cup in 1989 and was fired the next season. “I’m not going to get ulcers. Been there, done that. It ain’t worth it.”

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Expansion issues will dominate the agenda when the NHL’s Board of Governors meets in Phoenix Thursday and Friday. The governors will also vote on last week’s sale of the New York Islanders to Dallas businessman John Spano.

Expansion won’t be voted on, because the 11 applicants won’t make pitches to the league until next month. However, realignment will be discussed, as will the stocking of new teams.

A key question is whether existing teams will be allowed to protect two goalies, as they did in the 1992 expansion draft that stocked Ottawa and Tampa Bay, or one, as in the 1993 draft that stocked Florida and the Ducks. That change was significant because it allowed the Panthers to grab John Vanbiesbrouck, who led them to the Cup finals last spring.

“If you’re looking to make these teams competitive from the get-go, the best thing is [for existing teams] to protect one goalie,” said Tony Tavares, the Ducks’ president and governor. “If you’re looking at it selfishly, you say, ‘I don’t give a rat’s behind, we should protect two.’

“Having gone through it myself, I’d have to say one. What good does it do to place people at a huge disadvantage? You’re taking their money and cheating them.”

Interesting that the Coyotes are out of town this week. Wouldn’t want to have a game cut into the governors’ cocktail hour.

SLAP SHOTS

A flurry of knee injuries hit last week. Washington lost defenseman Sylvain Cote for a month, Vancouver lost center Trevor Linden for six weeks and Montreal lost Saku Koivu for eight weeks and Marc Bureau perhaps for the rest of the season when they tore ligaments. . . . The Capitals are reeling. Besides losing Cote, they’re missing Peter Bondra, Juneau, Michal Pivonka, Pat Peake and Calle Johansson with various injuries.

Scotty Bowman, Detroit’s coach and personnel director, denied reports that the Red Wings offered the Boston Bruins forward Greg Johnson and goalie Mike Vernon for right wing Rick Tocchet. . . . Eric Lindros of Philadelphia should avoid teammate Ron Hextall. Lindros fell over his goalie’s skate and pulled his groin muscle, keeping him out of the Flyers’ first 23 games. Then on Sunday, Hextall’s skate cut Lindros in the head during a stretching exercise. He needed 20 stitches.

A gear box failed in the scoreboard at St. Louis’ Kiel Center as workers raised it during an arena changeover last week, leaving it tilted at a 45-degree angle. Unlike the scoreboard in Buffalo, which fell to the ice Nov. 16, safety features kept the Kiel Center board aloft. . . . Duck President Tavares denied a report by Toronto Sun columnist Al Strachan that, “Tavares tried to sign Gretzky but insisted that his general manager, Jack Ferreira, be kept in the dark about the negotiations.” Tavares said the Ducks never made Gretzky an offer when Gretzky was a free agent. “That’s a flat-out lie,” Tavares said. “Jack knew everything that was going on. Mr. Strachan should check his sources.”

The Ducks talked to NHL officials about holding the All-Star game. The 1998 and ’99 games will be in Vancouver and Tampa Bay, respectively. . . . The Edmonton Oilers raised the glass behind the visitors’ bench a foot after a rowdy fan dumped beer and popcorn on Calgary assistant coach Guy Lapointe recently.

Alan Eagleson, former head of the NHL Players Assn., has serious legal problems in two countries. He was charged with eight counts of fraud and theft by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police last week and has long been fighting extradition to the U.S. to face a 32-count indictment on charges of racketeering, fraud and embezzlement.

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NHL Ironmen

A knee injury last week ended Vancouver Canuck center Trevor Linden’s consecutive-games streak at 482, the longest at the time. Here are the longest current streaks--and the all-time leaders.

CURRENT LEADERS

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Player Team G Mark Recchi Montreal 409 Doug Weight Edmonton 286 Rod Brind’Amour Philadelphia 267 Darryl Sydor Dallas 257 Larry Murphy Toronto 250 Kelly Buchberger Edmonton 247 Brian Leetch New York 245 ALL-TIME LEADERS Doug Jarvis Montreal, Washington, Hartford 964 Garry Unger Tor, Det., St Louis, Atlanta 914 Steve Larmer Chicago 884 Craig Ramsay Buffalo 776 Andy Hebenton New York, Boston 630

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