Final Analysis: Less Hullabaloo and More Scoring

A high-ranking NHL executive, voicing genuine curiosity, asked a group of reporters last week why hockey writers seem more critical of their sport than writers who cover basketball, baseball or football.

Here’s one theory: Writers who cover hockey tend to be passionate about the game because it’s not considered a prime assignment at many newspapers and magazines. It’s usually seen as a steppingstone to better things, and hockey writers must enjoy what they’re doing to compensate for the professional indignity of covering a sport some sports editors are happy to ignore.

The criticism springs from that passion, from loving the game and knowing that NHL hockey is nowhere near as good as it could be, nor as good as the league insists. The same passion leads to outrage because the NHL seems to make up rules as it goes along, as in Brett Hull’s dubious Stanley Cup-winning goal Saturday, scored while his foot was in the crease.

There were many compelling stories in the Dallas Stars’ six-game victory over the Buffalo Sabres: Dallas center Mike Modano playing with a broken hand, Hull’s knee being held together by tape and hope, the passion of fans adopting the Sabres as a symbol of something good in a much-maligned city. Those were dwarfed by the final goal, which was ruled legal because of an arcane and debatable rule regarding possession of the puck that no one had ever seen invoked. In truth, it would have been too embarrassing to call it back and halt the Stars’ celebrations. Credibility was sacrificed for convenience.

All six games were remarkably close, yet they weren’t always artistic. The teams surely set a record for most icing infractions, so cautious and unimaginative were they at times and so inept offensively were the Sabres. Most teams become slaves to defense because they have little talent; for the Stars to have an abundance of offensive skill and repress their skill in order to win is a crime. However, before the finals began, winger Mike Keane said the end--the Cup--justified the means of getting there, which meant sticking to the defensive drudgery preached by Coach Ken Hitchcock. The Stars won, and congratulations to them. But is their triumph a victory for hockey and the wider audience the NHL seeks?

At its best, hockey is a spectacular game played at a fast tempo by highly skilled players. As played by teams that see a defensive style as the fastest route to becoming competitive in a talent-thin league, it’s often tedious. After a season in which Commissioner Gary Bettman boasted scoring had not declined, the Stars and Sabres set a record for fewest goals by two teams in a six-game final series, 22, and fewest goals by one team, nine, by Buffalo. For the Cup to be won on a disputed goal is another headache the NHL doesn’t need.

For every two steps forward, the NHL seems to take one step back. It got the long, dramatic finals it craved after four consecutive sweeps, only to see that final end in a cloud of controversy. The damage to its credibility won’t be easily repaired.

IMITATION IS FLATTERY

Opponents traditionally copy the style of the Cup winner. But with so many teams already emphasizing defense, what will the Stars’ legacy be?

“Maybe the way the team was built,” center Guy Carbonneau said. “I think [General Manager] Bob Gainey made some right moves, not just this year but the last three or four years.

“I think maybe you will see teams go with younger players during the season and with veterans in the playoffs. You need youth in the regular season because it’s so long, but in the playoffs, veterans can play big roles.”

Although the Stars have a veteran team and will experience some turnover, Hitchcock expects them to be contenders for a while.

“I think the future was told by what Bob [Gainey] did at the trade deadline,” he said, referring to their trade for speedy center Derek Plante and winger Benoit Hogue. “The feeling is that this organization has a terrific opportunity to have a smooth transition in the next few years.

“We could have been involved in the sweepstakes for some impact players at the trading deadline but that would have meant giving up some of your young players. We had a great [minor league] team in Kalamazoo and we have four or five young players there and we’re looking forward to those players coming here. We have players in Europe, too. Our team really revolves around [Mike] Modano, [Derian] Hatcher, [Darryl] Sydor, [Sergei] Zubov. Our role players and younger players are going to come into that in the next few years.”

BUSY TIMES AHEAD

The Cup has been paraded around the ice, but the NHL season isn’t over.

This year’s Hall of Fame inductees will be announced Wednesday--Wayne Gretzky was already granted early entry--and Thursday, the NHL hands out its awards. Also Thursday, a confirmation hearing will be held in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh on reorganization plans for the Penguins submitted by Mario Lemieux, the NHL and jointly by SMG and Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh. The expansion draft will be held Friday in Boston, followed Saturday by the entry draft.

The Penguins’ hopes of survival look better, thanks to the emergence of a utility company as an investor and Judge Bernard Markovitz’s ruling last week that the lease between the Penguins and SMG was “a financing device masquerading as a lease,” freeing them from a lease that cost $6 million to $7 million annually. If they pay the balance, they will regain control of the arena.

Lemieux, who last week got the backing of unsecured creditors who are owed $10.5 million by the club, was expected to file another reorganization plan this week. Under the new terms, he would be paid less than he previously stipulated, Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh would no longer have the team’s broadcast rights and SMG would no longer be the Penguins’ landlord.

Thursday’s events may determine the Penguins’ fate and allow the NHL to publish a 1999-200 schedule. It formulated schedules with the Penguins, without them and with them in another city, presumably Portland.

SLAP SHOTS

Coyote General Manager Bobby Smith said he followed Bobby Francis for three years before hiring the former Bruin assistant to coach in Phoenix. That may be the first time a coach has been scouted longer than his players. Smith wants the team to be more creative offensively, which previous coach Jim Schoenfeld refused to consider. Amen to that, but with a smothering defense having brought the Stars the Cup, coaches may be inclined to stay with defense and not open up offensively. . . . Detroit defenseman Nick Lidstrom hasn’t decided whether he will return or remain in his native Sweden. The Red Wings hope for an answer by July 1 so they can plan their free-agent strategy.

Dallas backup goalie Roman Turek had less than 24 hours to celebrate the Stars’ victory before he was traded to St. Louis for a third-round draft pick. He probably will be protected in the expansion draft, leaving Grant Fuhr available to the Atlanta Thrashers. Fuhr doesn’t expect to move. “Old, high salary. I’d say I’m pretty safe,” said Fuhr, 36, who will earn $3 million next season. . . . Good luck to new Edmonton Coach Kevin Lowe. He was a smart player and fine assistant coach but his lack of coaching experience may handicap him. At least he proved he has good bargaining skills: His salary, reported as about $450,000 U.S., is about a third more than predecessor’s Ron Low’s $450,000 Canadian. . . . The Flyers are interested in Montreal defenseman Vladimir Malakhov. . . . The Kings may try to get winger Brian Savage from the Canadiens.