Fedorov Shows He Can Take a Check

It was an optional practice, and with two days to prepare for Game 5 of their playoff series against the St. Louis Blues, only nine members of the Detroit Red Wings skated. Among them was Sergei Fedorov.

One victory away from earning a $12-million bonus for his team reaching the conference finals, and he was skating with the grunts and assistant coaches.

“I never heard it was optional. I came and nobody was here,” he said, smiling. “I just wanted to skate, to recharge my battery. We do so many technical drills, I wanted to kick back and skate with the guys who don’t play. . . . I want to keep my head straight. I like to give support to the guys who don’t play and let them know they’re part of our team.”

No one plays for free, but Fedorov’s strong playoff performance is spurred by more than money. It’s about respect and self-respect.

The offer sheet given to him by the Carolina Hurricanes and matched by the Red Wings guaranteed he would get the $12 million. Had the Red Wings been eliminated before now, he would have been paid over several years instead of in a lump sum. He doesn’t have to fight through checks to get it and he didn’t have to sweat through that practice, but he’s doing all that and more.

His effort explains why he’s the top playoff scorer with eight goals and 14 points. It also explains why the Red Wings, who today will try again to advance to the Western Conference finals, have a good chance to become the first team to win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships since the Penguins in 1991 and 1992.

“It’s like you’re playing five against four when he has the puck,” said right wing Tomas Holmstrom. “He finds the open ice real good. He’s probably the best player in the league right now.”

And the richest. He will earn $28 million for a few months’ work, including a $14-million signing bonus and $2-million salary. He’s often kidded about his windfall and he takes it graciously, laughing last week when a fan in St. Louis held up a sign designed to look like a check payable to him for $12 million with the word VOID written across it.

“It’s all right. That’s [fans’] perception of how it should be. In this country, the perception is all about the dollar sign,” Fedorov said. “The contract is in a drawer. It is closed. I’m not going to pull it out and look at it. It’s nice. It’s extra stimulation to play well.

“The biggest stimulation for me is the five or six months I missed the players [before he rejoined Detroit]. I’m a hockey player, not a businessman or a banker. I go in the game and try to score some goals. That’s who I am.

“I feel pretty good. It’s all about winning. It’s a maturing process. I feel pretty comfortable with everything.”

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT

In pushing the Washington Capitals over the hump of their previous playoff chokes and to the Eastern Conference finals for only the second time in their 24-season history, Ron Wilson again proved he’s a master motivator and good at maximizing minimal talent. He also proved how foolish the Mighty Ducks were not to rehire him as coach.

“He’s a pretty good guy and he’s smart. He has some different tactics,” said Detroit defenseman Dmitri Mironov, who played for Wilson with the Mighty Ducks. “He knows what he’s got to do. I like him.

“Maybe why he left Anaheim is he didn’t get respect. He had a couple of superstars, but the rest . . . ,” Mironov shrugged. “He wanted to take a step forward and take a team that can make the playoffs, and that’s what he did with Washington. He had a good season with Washington.”

Of course, goaltender Olaf Kolzig deserves enormous credit. The Capitals were outshot by Ottawa in all five games of their second-round series and by a cumulative 168-90, but Kolzig shut out the Senators over the final 149:06 and had a .958 save percentage in the series.

HOME NOT-SO-SWEET HOME

Home ice hasn’t been much of an advantage in the playoffs. Home teams are 33-32, including the Blues’ 0-2 record at the Kiel Center and the Red Wings’ 1-2 record at Joe Louis Arena in their Western semifinal.

“They’ve seemed to play well in St. Louis this year,” Blues winger Geoff Courtnall said. “At home, we try to do too much, and it gets us in trouble.”

No wonder some coaches try to make players feel as if they’re on the road and take the team at a hotel the night before home games.

EVERYBODY IN THE POOL

Team USA’s 12th-place finish in the world championships and possible drop to the B pool at the next tournament are embarrassing, but they won’t have much effect on the U.S. at the 2002 Olympics. That’s because as the host nation, the U.S. automatically gets berths in the men’s and women’s hockey competitions.

The only possible effect is on Olympic seedings. However, the International Ice Hockey Federation did not declare this world tournament the one that will determine seedings at Salt Lake City. The results of the 2000 or 2001 championships will probably be used because they’re closer to 2002.

The world championships are often ignored because they’re held during the Stanley Cup playoffs. They were especially anticlimactic this year because they came soon after the Nagano Games and few top-level players participated. It’s difficult to blame players for staying home after they played a season that was condensed to fit in the Olympics and played at Nagano too.

That said, the U.S. team of minor leaguers and expatriates playing in Europe still might have done better.

The U.S. has another chance to retain A (elite) pool status when it competes in a relegation tournament with Ukraine, Slovenia, Estonia, France, Austria, Kazakhstan and Germany at an undetermined site in November. The top four teams will be in the A pool at next year’s world championships and the others will go to the B pool.

HABS NOT

The Canadiens’ goaltending situation disintegrated during their second-round loss to Buffalo.

Andy Moog, signed as a free agent to provide support for youngsters Jocelyn Thibault and Jose Theodore, was banged up and worn down. He was pulled from Game 2 in favor of Thibault, who in turn was pulled from Game 3 for Theodore. Moog wasn’t in uniform for Game 3, but the Canadiens never said why. He returned in Game 4 but was replaced by Theodore, who has made a strong case for becoming the starter next season.

Moog has a year left on his contract but he might be done with Montreal.

SLAP SHOTS

Carolina scout Sam McMaster (the former King general manager) and New York Ranger Coach John Muckler are watching free-agents-to-be Brett Hull, Courtnall, Steve Duchesne and Al MacInnis of the Blues. None has enhanced his market value in St. Louis’ series against Detroit. Duchesne has struggled against the Red Wings’ speed, Hull has been invisible, Courtnall hasn’t been aggressive and MacInnis, while adequate, faces shoulder surgery. . . . Washington defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who had five goals in 72 games this season, has seven in the playoffs. Also coming up big is Dallas left wing Benoit Hogue, who had six goals in 53 games this season and four in 11 playoff games.

Edmonton goalie Curtis Joseph, also soon to be a walkaway free agent, might have raised his value too much for the club’s new owners to afford him. The Oilers made big strides this season, and they will lose ground if they lose him. . . . Surprising that although the Oilers added skill on defense, their power play was one for 26 against Dallas. They’re still inconsistent up front, but not far away from being a Cup contender.

Commissioner Gary Bettman said he’s not concerned about the ratings decline on Fox’s telecasts. He attributed the fall in part to TV audiences being fragmented by the growing number of cable and satellite offerings. Fox wants to move telecasts to Sunday from Saturday and show two or three games to wide areas of the country instead of showing eight or nine regional games. “Our TV situation is a work in progress,” Bettman said.