Hunt for the Cup Taking Their Shots

Hall of Famers Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Terry Sawchuk never did what Steve Yzerman, Darren McCarty, Nicklas Lidstrom and the rest of the Detroit Red Wings can accomplish this season.

Only the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs have won the Stanley Cup three or more years in a row, and no one has done it since the Islanders won four consecutive Cups from 1980 through 1983. Another triumph by the Red Wings would give them a claim to dynasty status, but the Red Wings aren’t after accolades. And they’re not about to become complacent, even though Coach Scotty Bowman is still recovering from heart and knee surgeries and won’t be behind the bench when the season starts. Associate coaches Barry Smith and Dave Lewis will lead the team until Bowman decides whether to return.

“That’s not our main motivation, to say, ‘Let’s three-peat,’ ” McCarty said. “We want to win because we want to win. We know what it’s like to win. We know what it’s like not to win. We want to keep this winning feeling going.

“You don’t have to question our team about whether we’re going to be hungry or going to want to play.”

The Red Wings’ excellence provides one of the few elements of continuity in a season that brings an assortment of changes to the NHL as it begins its 82nd season.

The Nashville Predators will become the NHL’s 27th team, beginning an expansion phase that will increase league membership to 30 teams by the 2000-01 season. The Maple Leafs have moved from the Western Conference to the East and each conference has been divided into three divisions instead of two.

Seven new coaches and four new general managers are in place, as is a new NHL disciplinarian. Colin Campbell, a former player and former coach of the New York Rangers, replaced Brian Burke as the NHL’s senior vice president for hockey operations when Burke became general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

The most heralded changes, however, were devised to increase offense after a decline in goal scoring from 5.8 goals in 1996-97 to 5.28 with a record 157 shutouts last season.

Goaltenders will be affected by limits on the size of their jerseys, catching gloves and chest and arm pads and a reduction in the size of the crease by two feet on each side. They must also adjust to the nets being moved two feet farther out from the end boards, to 13 feet, which gives skaters more room to operate and makes it more difficult for goalies to play the puck.

In addition to continuing the NHL’s crackdown on obstruction, a two-referee system was designed to eliminate fouls behind the play and improve the flow of game. Each team will play 20 games under that system.

“We’re fine tuning,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We’re doing what any sport needs to do to keep up with what needs to be done to keep things competitive on the field or on the ice. . . . The feedback we’ve been getting is that the tweaking we’ve done is going to work.”