These Are Two Teams With Different Agendas

The Kings will make the playoffs this season, if only because at least five other Western Conference teams are worse than they are.

Not a ringing endorsement, but it’s more than the Mighty Ducks can say.

The Kings see their deficiencies and make corrections. The Ducks see their deficiencies and make excuses.

Dave Taylor, the Kings’ general manager, needed a first-line center, a big right wing, an experienced defenseman and scoring on the left side. He traded for Jozef Stumpel and Sandy Moger, signed Garry Galley and dealt Kevin Stevens for Luc Robitaille.

The Kings are making progress, as shown by their 3-2 comeback victory over the Ducks Monday night.

Not that it’s time to plan the Stanley Cup parade. Their offense is spotty and their defense isn’t forceful enough. They’re allowing opponents too many shots, which will wear down their goalies. Still, Taylor has shown he can be decisive and will pay the price to get what he needs.

Jack Ferreira, the Ducks’ general manager, said he tried to sign Luke Richardson. He said he tried to sign Sergei Nemchinov. He said he tried to acquire Roman Hamrlik from Tampa Bay before Edmonton grabbed the still-salvageable defenseman. He said he tried to sign Joel Otto two years ago.

Notice a pattern? Here’s another ugly pattern: the 3-9-2 slide the Ducks are in.

Some free agents won’t come to Anaheim because Western Conference travel is too taxing, and Ferreira can’t change that. Others said the Ducks weren’t close to contending for the Cup. Ferreira can change that.

The Ducks haven’t developed enough skill players to compete with elite teams or provide trade fodder to get the brawny defenseman they need. They won’t deal draft picks for impact players, yet besides Paul Kariya, their top draft picks have done little. And although Ferreira claims he has no budget ceiling and can acquire high-salaried players, his actions and the whispers of others in the organization say otherwise. Disney still considers the Ducks a marketing tool. It wants huge profits and cuts corners everywhere.

The Kings got off to a fast start, but the rest of the NHL caught up. Taylor’s next move will be crucial--but at least there’s reason to believe he will make a move. Ferreira’s next move will be equally telling. If he merely waits for the Ducks to duplicate the 13-3-7 surge that carried them into the playoffs last spring, it will tell fans and rivals the Ducks are content to be profitably mediocre.

EAGLESON’S WINGS CLIPPED

Alan Eagleson got off easily with an 18-month jail term after pleading guilty to three counts of fraud in connection with his diversion of thousands of dollars from the NHL Players Assn. for his own use.

There is still a class-action suit pending against him in Philadelphia, filed by five former players who named Eagleson, former NHL President John Ziegler, Chicago Blackhawk owner Bill Wirtz and the 21 clubs that were in the NHL in 1991. It alleges that Eagleson accepted deals that artificially depressed players’ salaries while benefiting owners and himself.

The debate now is whether he should be booted out of the Hall of Fame.

He lied. He cheated. He skimmed $15,000 off an insurance payment to Glen Sharpley, whose career was ended by an eye injury, and did the same when Mike Gillis suffered a knee injury. Those transgressions and other shady dealings outweigh whatever good he might have done.

Note that letters of support read in court last week came from former stars such as Bryan Trottier, Bob Clarke, Darryl Sittler and Bob Gainey, not the fringe players who were hurt most by his collusion in keeping salaries down and diverting pension funds.

Eagleson, who was inducted into the Hall’s builders’ category, built only a dossier of deceit. He must be expelled when the Hall’s board meets March 31.

GETTING BUFFALOED

No one has threatened to run down a teammate lately, but the Buffalo Sabres are still missing the unity that made them so successful last season.

After losing top scorer Pat LaFontaine to post-concussion syndrome, the Sabres rallied under Coach Ted Nolan to play a rugged defensive game that complemented Dominik Hasek’s superb goaltending. Despite simmering tension between Nolan and General Manager John Muckler, the Sabres finished first in the Northeast Division and defeated Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs before losing to Philadelphia.

Since then, Nolan and Muckler have been let go, LaFontaine was traded to the New York Rangers after a nasty dispute over whether he was fit to play and Matthew Barnaby announced he would attack Hasek because the goalie had sided with Muckler and hastened Nolan’s departure.

Barnaby later cleared the air with Hasek, but fans in Buffalo haven’t been forgiving. The Sabres have had only three sellouts, two of them for visits by LaFontaine and the Rangers. And just as the team began to jell on the ice, minority owner John Rigas announced he will buy a controlling interest in the club, which could lead to more changes--possibly Nolan’s return.

“The team is going through a healing process,” said General Manager Darcy Regier. “Only now are we re-endearing ourselves to fans. We had to win them over again and we’re only part way through the process.”

It will be a long process. Hasek silenced his critics by recording a record six shutouts in December, but the Sabres aren’t in a playoff spot.

“I think it’s coming back together, but there are still small pieces of it that need to be adjusted and mended,” said center Michael Peca, who won the Selke Trophy last season but missed the first few weeks this season because of a contract dispute. “And now with an ownership change coming up, a lot of guys wonder what’s going to happen.

“You learn to deal with what you can control. We don’t have any control of the ownership situation and what might come from that. Our business is to win games. What we can control is wins and losses.”

OIL’S WELL

Despite being sent from New Jersey, an Eastern Conference power, to the still-rebuilding Edmonton Oilers, Bill Guerin doesn’t regret asking to be traded. Playing for the Oilers, whose free-flowing game is the direct opposite of the Devils’ tight defensive system, eases his pain.

“You have to realize you might not get the one place that you want,” he said. “I realized I could be in Edmonton as easily as I could be in Dallas or L.A. or anywhere,” he said. “I enjoy the style they play here. It’s something that I need right now.

“I like coming in and being one of the older guys [at 27]. I can help the younger guys. There’s a lot of talent on this team and all it takes is some experience and playing games and learning from your mistakes. This is going to be a good team in the future--the near future.”

SLAP SHOTS

New York Islander Coach Rick Bowness, told Saturday by boss Mike Milbury, “You’re on alert,” is days from hearing, “You’re fired.” The Islanders have been outscored, 41-16, in a 0-10-1 streak and they’re clueless. Look for Milbury to go behind the bench again. . . . Sergei Fedorov met with Detroit General Manager Ken Holland last week and got his Stanley Cup ring. He didn’t get a new contract, but Holland said he hasn’t ruled out Fedorov’s playing for the Red Wings this season. The rest of the team will be honored at the White House Jan. 30 for its Stanley Cup triumph.

Chad Kilger, acquired by Phoenix in the Teemu Selanne trade, reported to the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate after balking. . . . Carolina left wing Robert Kron is a likely addition to the Czech Olympic team. . . . Vincent Lecavalier, a 6-foot-4 center with Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, was rated the top draft prospect in the Central Scouting Bureau’s mid-season rankings.

Massage therapist Sergei Mnatsakanov, who was injured in the limousine accident that ended Vladimir Konstantinov’s career last June, recently underwent back surgery. Konstantinov is recuperating in Florida, where several Red Wings plan to visit him during the Olympic break. . . . The Calgary Sun’s headline after a streaker jumped onto the ice during the Flames-Panthers game Friday: “Puck Naked.”