GOAL ORIENTED

He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale, yet he is content to let guys shoot frozen pucks at him at 100 mph.

He is 32 years old, an age when most NHL goalies are in their prime. But he clings to the game with the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the International Hockey League, where you sometimes play three games in three nights.

Mike O’Neill teeters between passion and obsession.

“Certainly, I hope to use my degree,” O’Neill said. “It’s something I’ve thought more about in the last few years. At the same time, I want to enjoy the time I have left and not get too preoccupied with the next stage.”

So, for now, O’Neill spends his time as the No. 2 goalie for the Ice Dogs, the Kings’ minor league affiliate.

He signed with the Kings this summer after spending last season playing in Austria. It is the fourth NHL team for O’Neill, who spent time in the Ducks, Winnipeg and Washington organizations. He has played in 21 NHL games since turning professional in 1989 and is 0-9-2.

Time to put that college education to work? Hardly.

O’Neill still has hopes. Maybe not the same ones he had as a youngster, watching Ken Dryden in goal for the Montreal Canadiens, but it isn’t too far off either.

“If you don’t aspire to be in the NHL, then you really shouldn’t be playing,” O’Neill said. “That’s always in the back of your mind. You want to be successful with the team you’re with, but you also hope to get another opportunity. That’s why I started playing professionally and that’s why I continue to play.”

Even if it means playing consecutive nights in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Detroit. The compensation isn’t bad, though. He will make $65,000 with the Ice Dogs this season, and $400,000--pro-rated--should the Kings call him up. But when the Kings needed a goalie last week, they brought up his Long Beach teammate, Marcel Cousineau.

A man with a Yale economics background could make a lot more. “You can have a spot on Wall Street with that degree,” a Yale official said.

O’Neill settled for Shoreline Drive in Long Beach.

“Realistically, I still have a few years left,” O’Neill said. “Another reason I came back was to win a championship over here. That is what attracted me to the Ice Dogs. I know they are always competitive and are always vying for the championship.”

O’Neill, who played for Villach in Austria last season, first approached Ice Dog Coach John Van Boxmeer, who didn’t know what money the team had available. O’Neill then cut a deal with the Kings, who sent him to the Ice Dogs, for whom he had played while under contract with the Ducks in 1996-97.

He has spent much of the season giving Cousineau an occasional night off, which still gives him considerable playing time. O’Neill has one of the highest goals-against averages and one of the lowest save percentages in the league.

The numbers were a bit deceiving Saturday, when O’Neill gave up five goals. But he could hardly catch his breath in the second period, when the Chicago Wolves put 17 shots on goal and scored three times.

In the third period, O’Neill stopped 12 of 13 shots and shut out the Wolves the last 17 minutes. Long Beach rallied for a 7-5 victory.

“I feel I improve every day,” said O’Neill, who stopped 25 of 26 shots in a 3-1 victory over the Michigan K-Wings on Nov. 6. “For me, making it to the NHL is a constant goal. Maybe the odds of me making it have decreased because of my age. I want to play at the highest level.”

He has had opportunities, and near opportunities, in the past.

In fact, O’Neill nearly had the spotlight with the Ducks in the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs. He had been brought up when goalie Guy Hebert was injured in the second-round series. He spent three games watching Mikhail Shtalenkov try to hold off the Red Wings. But with five minutes left in Game 4, Shtalenkov went down to stop a breakaway. Eyes--and TV cameras--focused on O’Neill, waiting for him to start shaking.

Shtalenkov was able to continue. Not that O’Neill was relieved.

“That would have been a difficult situation,” he said. “I mean, the Ducks were outshot 70-18 at that point. It wasn’t like I would have gotten any time to warm up and the Red Wings would have come flying at me. Still, there wouldn’t have been that much pressure. No one would have expected anything from me. I’ve been in a lot of situations where you’re expected to deliver.”

O’Neill grew up watching Canadien games and admiring Dryden. What young goalie in Montreal didn’t?

“I eventually had to change because I realized I wasn’t going to be 6 feet 4,” the 5-7 O’Neill said. “So I started watching Rogie Vachon. But Dryden was my inspiration. That was why I became so focused in wanting to go to a United States college. Dryden went to Cornell. I went to Yale.”

O’Neill was 28-38-2 in four years at Yale but was an NCAA East All-American in 1989. He was drafted by Winnipeg in the first round of the supplemental draft.

“That must mean something,” he said.

It meant being in an organization that hit bottom in 1993-94. Only Ottawa won fewer games than the Jets (24-51-9) that season. It was not the best situation for a young goalie.

O’Neill had appeared in three games over the previous two seasons, but he was called up in 1993-94 and played in 17. He was 0-9-1 and gave up four goals a game.

“When I got there, the team was already struggling,” O’Neill said. “Even the veterans weren’t having good years. I wasn’t very successful. When you’re a rookie, your confidence is fragile.

“You have to make the most of your opportunity. That was my opportunity. It wasn’t the best situation to come into, but I’m grateful I got the opportunity. Some guys never do.”