Only the Timing Is Out of Line

Fighting to make a bigger impact in an increasingly crowded professional sports scene, the Los Angeles Blades of the Roller Hockey International league hope their winning season will result in larger crowds at the Forum.

But that quest gets more difficult this week as the team loses its top three players for at least three games. The trio will be participating in the second in-line hockey world championships, which begin today and continue through July 25 at the Disney ICE skating facility in Anaheim and at The Pond of Anaheim.

League officials and owners, including Jeanie Buss of the Blades, support the second annual world championships, which include teams from 12 countries. The timing of the event, though, has created its share of grumbling since it coincides with the league’s regular season.

“This is the ultimate dilemma,” said Buss, who owns the team along with her father, Laker owner Jerry Buss. “I am committed to doing everything I can to continue to gain exposure for the sport, but I also want the Blades to do well and bring home a championship. Now I’m without a very talented part of my team.”

The Blades, in their fifth year, are 9-3 and have the second-best record in the 10-team league. For the next three games and possibly four, they will be without captain Steve Wilson, forward Doug Ast and defender Scott Drevitch. Wilson and Ast will compete for team Canada and Drevitch for the United States.

The Blades, who have an announced average of 3,543 fans for eight home games this season, play host to Ottawa tonight at 7:30 and Sacramento on Saturday night.

“We have specifically made the championships and our player losses not a topic of conversation,” Blade assistant coach Jim Fox said. “When we’re together as a team, this is not something we’re going to talk about.”

The Anaheim Bullfrogs will be without two players--Doug McCarthy, who will play for the Canadian team, and Joe Cook, who will play for the United States but is expected to retire after the championships.

The world championships, which are sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation and the National Hockey League, debuted last August at St. Paul, Minn. The RHI league was upset the tournament was held during the final two weeks of its regular season and asked that it be moved up this year.

“We definitely support the event because it’s promoting our sport, but perhaps next year we’ll have a break in our schedule so no games are affected by the losses of key players,” said David McLane, an RHI executive.