Ultimate Power Play Might Involve Trade

The Stanley Cup championship might be determined by the deal one team makes today before the trading deadline at noon, Pacific time.

Over the years, trades made on or shortly before deadline day have put several teams over the top. One of the most noteworthy was in 1980, when the New York Islanders got center Butch Goring from the Kings for right wing Billy Harris and defenseman Dave Lewis. Goring propelled the Islanders to an 8-0-4 regular-season streak and the first of four consecutive Cup titles.

“I don’t think we would have won it without Butchie,” said former Islander goalie Bill Smith, now an assistant coach of the Florida Panthers. “In those days, you had to have three good lines and he gave us a second line behind Trots [Bryan Trottier]. He was the key. He made a huge difference. One player can really turn the tide.”

Ron Francis did that for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991, after he was acquired from Hartford with Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson for John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski. Francis provided depth up the middle behind Mario Lemieux, and Samuelsson added an element of nastiness. Both were key members of Pittsburgh’s Cup-winning teams in 1991 and 1992.

The New York Rangers made four deals on deadline day in 1994, acquiring Stephane Matteau, Brian Noonan, Glenn Anderson and Craig MacTavish. They helped the Rangers win their first Cup title since 1940, but the club is still paying for it because they dealt youngsters Tony Amonte to Chicago and Todd Marchant to Edmonton to get those veterans.

In 1997, the Detroit Red Wings rescued the supposedly washed-up Larry Murphy from Toronto for future considerations. Murphy had 11 points in 20 playoff games and a playoff-best plus-16 rating as the Red Wings won the Cup. A deadline-day deal last year sent Jamie Macoun to Detroit from Toronto for a fourth-round draft pick, and he fortified the defense in the Red Wings’ second Cup drive.

This season’s key move might involve a center. Pierre Turgeon will be a restricted free agent this summer and since he won a record $4.6 million in salary arbitration last year, the St. Louis Blues think he’s too expensive. Also, Montreal might trade Vincent Damphousse rather than lose him as a walk-away free agent. He was rumored to be headed to Phoenix before the Coyotes got Robert Reichel from the Islanders, but he could boost any contender’s chances.

Perhaps a defenseman will be the catalyst. Samuelsson, now a Ranger, was coveted by several teams until he broke his foot Sunday. He is expected to be sidelined for two or three weeks but should be ready for the playoffs. He would fit in well with the Red Wings, who miss Vladimir Konstantinov’s toughness, but they might look elsewhere for immediate defensive help.

Washington is shopping potential unrestricted free agents Mark Tinordi, Joe Juneau, Dale Hunter and Craig Berube. They might be packaged because the Capitals, who expect to lose more than $15 million and will miss the playoffs, must cut their payroll and average age. Ottawa and Dallas like Juneau, but the Stars made a depth move Sunday by acquiring Benoit Hogue from Tampa Bay for defenseman Sergey Gusev, and they’re probably done dealing.

HE’S NO TOM WEBSTER

Philadelphia Flyer Coach Roger Neilson’s stick-tossing act last Tuesday at St. Louis got him a too-lenient two-game suspension and $10,000 fine from NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell.

Campbell ruled that Neilson wasn’t trying to hit linesman Lonnie Cameron when he threw Mark Recchi’s stick onto the ice, but was merely trying to get the attention of referee Bill McCreary. Isn’t one of the duties of captains and alternate captains to communicate with the officials?

More deplorable than Neilson’s move was Flyer General Manager Bob Clarke’s approval of it.

“Roger was right in this,” Clarke told the Philadelphia Daily News. “Why shouldn’t Roger be mad? I’m not angry with Roger. I see it as a problem for the league.”

The problem Clarke sees is bad officiating. There’s plenty of it, and the Flyers had some debatable calls go against them in that game. But none of that excuses Neilson’s loss of control. He got off easily because Clarke is part of the NHL’s old boys’ network and Clarke and owner Ed Snider wield hammers in NHL board rooms. It was almost poetic justice to see the Flyers end their 0-8-4 slump without Neilson behind the bench Sunday.

At the very least, he could have come up with an original move. Former King Coach Tom Webster hurled a stick from the bench in 1991 and grazed the skate of referee Kerry Fraser--and got better distance. Webster, a repeat stick flinger, was suspended for 12 games and fined $10,000.

CRAZY EIGHTH

The chase for the last Eastern spot has narrowed to the Boston Bruins, Panthers, Rangers and Canadiens. Although the Panthers trail the eighth-place Bruins by four points, they have several factors in their favor.

Not only do they have the best schedule--nine of their 13 games will be at home, where they’re 14-12-6--they will soon regain Pavel Bure. He resumed skating after undergoing knee surgery three weeks ago and will probably return by the weekend. Bure has 13 goals and 16 points in 11 games with Florida.

“I like it,” Coach Terry Murray said of Florida’s schedule. “It’s good to get settled in and have control over our destiny.”

The Bruins have seven home and six road games left. The Rangers have only four home games and seven on the road, and Montreal has five at home and seven away.

“We don’t want to hope other teams get beat and squeak in,” Florida goalie Kirk McLean said. “We want to take charge and take the bull by the horns and get in that way, and we’ve got to take advantage of the schedule.”

NOT SINGING THE BLUES

The Blues have revived since goalie Grant Fuhr returned after knee surgery and defenseman Chris Pronger recovered from an ankle injury. They are three points behind the Central Division-leading Red Wings after defeating Carolina, 5-2, Monday.

“I wouldn’t say we have the same talent as Detroit, Colorado or Dallas, but I don’t think we can’t beat those teams,” said Pronger, who is again playing 30-plus minutes a game. “For the most part this year, we haven’t been as consistent as we would have liked, compared with last year. And the effort, some games it’s there, and some games it’s not.

“We really haven’t put too many games together where we played 60 minutes. Hopefully, we can fix that and, coming into the playoff stretch, try to solidify our playoff spot and work on some things that need to be fixed come playoff time.”

SLAP SHOTS

A panel of player personnel directors and scouts polled by the Hockey News rated Colorado’s prospects the best. Next were Buffalo, Calgary, the Mighty Ducks and New Jersey. The Kings ranked 15th and had no players in the top 50. The top-ranked prospect is goalie Roberto Luongo, an Islander draftee. . . . The Capitals, nine points out of eighth in the East with 12 games left, have all but given up. “It’s pretty academic now,” Adam Oates said Sunday after a 4-1 loss to Boston. “Mathematically, I guess we’re still in it but it’s hard. We lost to the team we’re trying to catch, so I think that’s about it.” The Capitals will be the first team since 1951 to miss the playoffs, go to the finals, then miss the playoffs again in successive seasons.

Edmonton improved its goaltending Saturday by getting Tommy Salo from the Islanders for Mats Lindgren, but Oiler players were unhappy that the other big deal--Boris Mironov, Dean McAmmond and a prospect to Chicago for Chad Kilger, Ethan Moreau, Christian Laflamme and Dan Cleary--stripped them of experience. But all that experience didn’t stop the skid that is jeopardizing their playoff hopes. Moreau and Laflamme should add speed and scoring, and Cleary is a former first-rounder who is in the minors. . . . So much for Jim Carey’s return to the NHL. The Blues farmed him out after he compiled a 3.86 goals-against average, .829 save percentage and 1-2 record in four games.

The Ducks like their chemistry and probably won’t make a deal, but they need a physical defenseman to get far in the playoffs. . . . San Jose suspended Andrei Zyuzin without pay for failing to make a flight to Boston to begin a five-game trip. They don’t know where he is and his new agent isn’t certified by the NHL Players Assn., so club executives can’t talk to him and get an explanation.

The Sharks want a forward before the deadline and have prospects to deal. . . . Ray Bourque is two goals from tying Paul Coffey’s record for defensemen of 385.