Fleury’s Signing Will Have Domino Effect

The Colorado Avalanche’s acquisition of Theo Fleury on Sunday will have a ripple effect through the Western Conference.

By adding Fleury’s scoring punch and heart, without losing a key player, Colorado vaulted to the top of the heap.

The Calgary Flames, by trading their best player for forward Rene Corbet, defense prospect Wade Belak and other considerations, conceded the season and left the Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks and Kings to scramble for the last two playoff spots.

Colorado’s move is a challenge to the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings, the top two West seeds.

Dallas was looking at New York Ranger defenseman Ulf Samuelsson but may instead seek offensive depth and pursue New York Islander winger Trevor Linden.

Detroit, struggling on defense in an 0-2-2 slump, needs the kind of presence and spark Fleury brings to Colorado. With a rare chance to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup championship, General Manager Ken Holland can justify sacrificing a bit of the future, if need be, to get a short-term boost.

Fleury, who scored a goal Monday in his Avalanche debut--a 4-3 loss to Edmonton--is a perfect fit on a mature team that has improved as the season progressed. If he leaves as a free agent, the Avalanche won’t have lost much--and it may have won the Cup. If Fleury stays in Colorado, which is distinctly possible because he and Joe Sakic are pals, Calgary will get the Avalanche’s first-round draft pick in 2000 and a player off Colorado’s reserve list.

General Manager Pierre Lacroix again showed he’s not afraid to pull the trigger. He acquired Patrick Roy from the Montreal Canadiens and Sandis Ozolinsh from San Jose early in the 1995-96 season, and both were vital to Colorado’s 1996 Cup triumph.

“This was an amazing opportunity that we couldn’t let go by,” Lacroix said. “The depth in our system allowed us to go ahead with this.”

The Flames had few options. Handicapped by a Canadian dollar that’s worth about 60 cents U.S. and the limits of a small market, they couldn’t afford the $7-million salary Fleury will command July 1.

“It’s fair to say this wasn’t our first choice,” General Manager Al Coates said. “We wanted to sign Theo. Frankly and simply, it was something we couldn’t do here in Calgary. We can’t pay that kind of salary for one player on our team. It’s impossible.”

Fleury, who wept at a news conference Sunday, was surprised only by the timing.

“We had come so far as a team here in Calgary over the past couple of years. I didn’t think they would mess with the chemistry of the team,” he said. “The playoffs were a reality. . . . but when I heard it was Colorado, the first thing that came to my mind was ‘Stanley Cup.’ ”

Your move, Stars and Red Wings.

WORKING OVERTIME TO END OT

Less than two weeks into the American Hockey League’s experiment of playing four skaters on a side in overtime, the number of ties has plummeted.

Before the trial, 36% of games that went into overtime ended with a winner. Since Feb. 19, seven of 11 games that were even after 60 minutes ended with a winner--that’s 64%--and 36% stayed even. Under the AHL format, each team gets one point if a game is tied after 60 minutes and the team that wins in overtime gets an extra point.

In addition, overtime has been shortened to an average of 2 minutes 49 seconds, from 4:09, and offensive action has increased. Teams are averaging 1.5 shots a minute in overtime, compared with .93 a minute before the experiment began.

“The reactions have been really positive from fans, coaches and players,” AHL President Dave Andrews said. “Whenever you institute something like this, you usually get some negative comments, but we haven’t heard any. I’ve seen two of the games and they’ve been very wide open.”

NHL executives, weary of an abundance of ties, may try the experiment in exhibition games next fall. Through Sunday, 159 of 813 NHL games were tied after 60 minutes and only 41, 25.8%, were decided in overtime.

“I’d like to see it [tested],” said Pierre Gauthier, Mighty Duck general manager.

You want to be careful about using artificial ways to resolve games. But on the other hand, people want to feel they leave the game with a winner.”

His sentiments aren’t unanimous.

“I don’t like anything that changes the fiber of the game, the core of what our game is about,” said Doug Wilson, San Jose’s director of pro development and a Norris Trophy winner as a player. “I look back at Bobby Nystrom [a gritty winger who was a key member of the Islanders’ Stanley Cup-winning teams]. If you play four on four, players like that won’t get put into that situation, and some of the biggest goals in the history of the game have been scored by players like him.”

Duck right wing Teemu Selanne backs going to penalty shots if games are tied after five minutes of overtime.

“The fans now leave with 10 minutes left in the game, but they would stay for penalty shots,” he said. “If you play four-on-four in overtime, if the ice is bad you can’t do anything. Penalty shots are good for the players and the fans. Maybe not for the goalies.”

Traditionalists scorn tie-breaking penalty shots as a skills competition. But having seen the drama of penalty shots at the Lillehammer and Nagano Olympics, it may be the most entertaining alternative if the NHL makes any change at all.

GREAT ONE IN GREAT PAIN

Wayne Gretzky doesn’t consider the neck injury that will idle him two to four weeks a sign he’s becoming fragile and should retire.

“I’m a young 38,” said Gretzky, likely to play at least one more season.

Surprisingly, the Rangers won their first two games without him and scored nine goals. Petr Nedved ended a drought with a hat trick Sunday and rookie Manny Malhotra made good use of his ice time. But even with a $40-million payroll, the Rangers are still not in the top eight in the East--and Gretzky thinks a bigger payroll can solve their problems.

“On July 1, we have a lot of money that [club executives] can spend,” he said. “And I would hope that they would get into the free-agent market. They didn’t last year.”

He’s forgetting it’s not how much you spend, but how well you spend. The Rangers’ priority must be to re-sign defenseman Brian Leetch, which could be difficult. Leetch is tight with Mark Messier, who is still bitter over his exit from New York and may persuade Leetch to test the free-agent market.

SLAP SHOTS

Remember when Gretzky, still a King, urged management to acquire a 50-goal scorer and General Manager Sam McMaster got Kevin Stevens? That was more than three years ago, and Stevens has totaled 46 goals since. Stevens followed Gretzky to New York and is a $3.1-million checking winger. . . . Dallas center Mike Modano blamed the chronically bad ice at Reunion Arena for the hamstring injury that will idle teammate Brett Hull two weeks. “What a surprise, getting a skate caught in a rut in the ice surface,” Modano said sarcastically. “I think one of the reasons why we skate much better on the road is because we play on a superior ice surface.”

Flyer goalie John Vanbiesbrouck is 1-5-1 and has given up 28 goals in his last seven starts. . . . Aki Berg, who couldn’t come to terms with the Kings, was the first player picked for the Finnish team for the World Championships, which will be played next month in Norway.

Jerry Colangelo, owner of the Phoenix Suns and landlord of the Coyotes at America West Arena, plans renovations to improve sight lines in the arena’s 4,200 obstructed-view seats. However, the Coyotes seem intent on moving to a new arena in Scottsdale. They say they will lose $10 million this season because they get no revenues from concessions or advertising.

Cameron Mann, drafted 99th overall by the Bruins in 1995, was buried in the minors and never found favor with Coach Pat Burns. But the 21-year-old right wing improved his work ethic enough to get another chance, and capitalized by scoring four goals in three games last week. . . . The Bruins bought out the contract of former Vezina winner Jim Carey, who is playing in the AHL. Carey on Monday signed with the Blues, who lack goaltending depth.

Islander Coach Bill Stewart was lucky he was only shaken up when his van collided with a dump truck last Friday. That was his only good fortune last week: Felix Potvin suffered a potentially season-ending groin injury, Tommy Salo demanded a trade and so did Craig Janney. General Manager Mike Milbury’s thoughts are a mystery, because he won’t talk to reporters. How can he expect players to be accountable for their actions if he won’t be?

Coyote Coach Jim Schoenfeld was so angry after a 3-0 loss to the Rangers on Friday, he didn’t talk to his players and instead took a cool-down walk. He shouldn’t have bothered coming back. The Coyotes, whose loss at New Jersey on Sunday was their seventh in eight games, have reverted to the uninspired bunch they used to be.