The Road Could Tell the Story for Coyotes

In a league dominated by the parity of mediocrity, the Phoenix Coyotes’ 12-0-2 streak is an impressive achievement. So is their ability to hold opponents to two goals or fewer in 17 consecutive games, the longest streak since the 1959-60 Montreal Canadiens had one of 18 games.

The Coyotes have displayed nearly every trait of championship teams: They lead the NHL with a 1.42 team goals-against average and a 92% penalty-killing efficiency rate, their scoring is balanced and they have an experienced, poised defense that moves the puck quickly out of their zone and generates offense. They have speed, grit and solid defensive play up front and strong goaltending from Nikolai Khabibulin.

Nor do they sacrifice much when they rest Khabibulin and play Jimmy Waite. Imagine what they might do if their power play--which has converted a mere 12% of its chances--ever gets going.

That said, the Coyotes must pass another crucial test before they can be rated a serious Stanley Cup contender.

Thanks to a favorable schedule, they have played only eight road games and back-to-back games only three times.

Their 4-0 victory over the Kings on Saturday began a stretch in which they will play 11 of their next 13 games on the road, ending Dec. 26 against the Kings at the Forum. When that’s over, the Coyotes’ physical and emotional strength will be easier to measure.

“We definitely have a lot of confidence, but we have to realize how tough it is to play on the road,” defenseman Keith Carney said. “We can’t have a letdown now. We got off to a great start, and that’s something we wanted to do. But we know it could easily turn the other way.”

The Coyotes were 16-19-6 on the road last season and their best stretch was a 4-0-1 streak from Dec. 10-29. However, they didn’t venture farther east than Chicago in that streak. This time around, they have two treks through Canada and one to the East and Midwest.

“This is going to be a good test for us,” said left wing Greg Adams, who has scored four goals in his last four games after an 0-for-14 start. “The road shows the character of a team, and so far, ours has been great. You look at the guys here and you see the foundation of a team that has guys with character, guys who are willing to do what it takes to win hockey games.”

It might take more in the next few weeks than it did in the first two months. Coach Jim Schoenfeld knows it.

“You can’t rest on your past games, even if they’re good,” he said. “The team’s been good, but we still have a long way to go. We’re 100 miles from where we want to be and 100 miles from where we have to be at the end of the season to have an extended run next spring.”

And a few thousand miles from knowing how good they really are.

RUSSIAN TO JUDGMENT

The New York Rangers’ acquisition of Petr Nedved, Chris Tamer and Sean Pronger from Pittsburgh last week for Alexei Kovalev, Harry York and cash, and their acquisition of defenseman Stan Neckar from Ottawa for Bill Berg and a draft pick a few days later, didn’t remove them from the Pavel Bure derby. It actually put them in better position to deal for the Russian right wing.

Vancouver General Manager Brian Burke said late last week he would make a move in 10-14 days, but he’d said the same thing two weeks ago. The Canucks want a goalie and the Rangers can give up Dan Cloutier because Mike Richter is still in his prime, which buys them time to develop a successor.

The Rangers, who have 11 defensemen with NHL experience, can throw in a defenseman and winger Adam Graves and hope that package will persuade Burke to pass on rookie center Manny Malhotra and two-way winger Niklas Sundstrom.

As for the King fan who waved a sign at the Forum Saturday that read, “Pavel Bure Please,” sorry. Although Burke and King General Manager Dave Taylor sat together Saturday at a game in Montreal between the Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins, Taylor apparently believes he can win with what he has.

He’s fooling himself.

Even when Rob Blake returns, the Kings won’t be an elite team. And if Taylor thinks the price for Bure is too high, he should consider the price for not getting an impact player: more disillusionment among fans and more empty seats.

If the Kings can’t get Bure, they should pursue Theo Fleury. He’s feisty, a leader and productive. It’s time for Taylor to take a chance and acquire a player he hasn’t played with. It’s time for him to take a chance, period.

TAXING DECISIONS

A Canadian government subcommittee on sport is expected this week to recommend that the six Canadian teams get tax breaks to compensate for problems caused by the weak Canadian dollar so they can better compete with their U.S. rivals.

Ronald Corey, president of the Canadiens, testified last spring that his team pays $11.3 million in taxes, whereas the Detroit Red Wings pay $25,000 and more than a dozen pay no local taxes.

The NHL Players Assn. took some heat recently when politicians became incensed that the union, under Canadian labor laws, doesn’t pay taxes on its revenues from merchandise sales and has a bank account of about $80 million. The government committee might also recommend that the NHLPA make financial contributions toward minor hockey programs in Canada.

THEY REALLY ICE THE PUCK

Continuing its effort to improve playing conditions, the NHL has ordered teams to keep pucks in a freezer instead of a bucket at the penalty bench. In addition, pucks will be changed at every commercial break and snow will be cleared at designated breaks. Those changes should result in truer bounces.

The league is already phasing in a directive limiting warmups before the second and third periods to players starting that period. Those who go for an extra skate will get a minor penalty, starting next Monday.

Bryan Lewis, the NHL’s director of officiating, said players will have ample time to stretch and get loose before taking to the ice.

“They have the pregame warmup and an opportunity at the end of the period to test a sore knee,” he said. “Someone can also go to an official and say, ‘I left at the end of the second and I want to check my knee,’ and there can be leeway.”

SLAP SHOTS

Right wing Tony Amonte has had a hand in 25 of the Blackhawks’ 48 goals, or 52%. He shares the NHL lead with 18 goals--37.5% of the team’s output--and has seven assists. He’s the only reason to watch the Blackhawks, who are 2-12-2 since Oct. 28. . . . Unable to dump the final year of its contract, Fox will scrap the glowing puck it spent so much money developing. The computer chip embedded in pucks cost about $50,000 per telecast, which Fox no longer considers a good investment. If it had spent that money on teaching its directors and camera operators how to anticipate plays, it wouldn’t have needed gimmicks like the radioactive puck. . . . As for Fox Sports News hiring Phil Esposito as a studio host for nightly sportscasts, he always did talk a good game--a better game than he managed as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The New York Rangers plan to begin contract talks this week with Brian Leetch, who can become an unrestricted free agent in July. He will erase Blake’s benchmark of $15.8 million for three years. . . . After goalie Dominik Hasek was pelted by 17 Florida shots in the first period Saturday, Buffalo Coach Lindy Ruff pulled Hasek and substituted Dwayne Roloson. “Why leave Dom in, with the way we were playing?” winger Rob Ray said. “It would have killed him.” Hasek returned Sunday in a 6-3 victory at Tampa.

Ziggy Palffy’s agent, Paul Kraus, told Islander General Manager Mike Milbury that Palffy will never play for the team again. . . . On the agenda for next week’s board-of-governors meeting in Arizona is a discussion of overtime. Fewer games are being resolved in the sudden-death session, and there’s some sentiment to drop it. Adopting an Olympic-style shootout is also an option but is less likely.

The six Canadian teams are discussing staging a preseason tournament among themselves next autumn, hoping national pride will sell tickets to otherwise meaningless games. Not a bad idea. A round-robin event involving the Kings, Sharks and Mighty Ducks is worth exploring too.

John Cullen’s comeback ended valiantly. Cullen, who had a bone marrow transplant as part of his treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, went to the minor leagues but couldn’t keep up. He took an assistant coaching job with the Lightning, which can learn from his courage. . . . Think the Colorado Avalanche is sorry it traded Mark Parrish and a third-round draft pick to Florida for Tom Fitzgerald, who left Colorado as an unrestricted free agent? Parrish leads rookies with nine goals.