Kings, Ducks Renew Rivalry With Real Playoff Chances

Now, back to the real games. . . .

There could be no better way for the season to resume after the all-star break than with the Kings playing the Mighty Ducks tonight at Staples Center. Although they’re usually heading in opposite directions when they meet, they both have been playing well recently. The Kings won three of four games before the break and the Ducks completed a 2-0-2 trip that suggested their 2-10-2 slump and offensive woes may be over.

“When we put our best performance on the ice we can be not only a playoff team but a dangerous playoff team,” Duck goalie Guy Hebert said. “When we don’t play as well as we can, we’ll be in trouble.”

The Kings are seventh in the West, three points ahead of the 10th-place Ducks. The local teams have never made the playoffs the same season, but that may change.

With Ziggy Palffy and Jozef Stumpel in shape after recovering from injuries, the Kings can pass San Jose and move as high as sixth. They are two points behind the Sharks and have played five fewer games. The key will be how the Kings fare on a seven-game, 11-day trip in late February, during which they play only one team, Detroit, that’s above .500.

The Ducks’ slump put them in a difficult position. But they have shown signs of life and their power play was reborn when they moved Paul Kariya from the point to the half-boards, allowing him to shoot from closer range or draw a defender and pass to an open teammate, usually Teemu Selanne. Their power play was seven for 20 in the four games before the break. It had taken them 18 games to score seven power-play goals before that.

“This group has started to find some chemistry,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “That has to continue. It’s been a big boost for us. Our best players have used their creativity and skill. They’re hungrier, and that’s the big thing.”

Also in their favor is the fade of the Calgary Flames. The team immediately ahead of the Ducks is 2-5-1 since Jan. 19. Goalie Freddie Brathwaite was pulled in his last start after giving up three goals in one period.

The Edmonton Oilers, three points ahead of the Ducks, may be tougher to pass because Tommy Salo has provided strong goaltending and their scoring is more balanced than Calgary’s. Seventh is probably the best the Ducks can hope for. They would need a long winning streak to pass the Kings, who have better depth, even though they can’t match the game-breaking potential of Kariya and Selanne.

The Ducks also have a history of strong finishes. In three of the last four seasons, they have been well over .500 in their last 25 games. They made the playoffs last season and in 1996-97.

“Usually, we have our backs against the wall and we know every game is like a playoff game,” Selanne said of the Ducks’ late runs. “Guys care. Every year I’ve been here, we battled hard to make the playoffs. It hasn’t been easy.”

It won’t be easy this season, either, but it’s possible. Both teams in the playoffs, and eventually meeting? Nothing would do more for hockey in Southern California.

SO, CANADA?

Canada’s six NHL franchises, spurned by the Canadian government in their bid for financial aid, aren’t likely to get help from the NHL Players Assn., either.

Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHLPA, didn’t rule out reopening the collective bargaining agreement before its 2004 expiration but said the Canadian clubs’ problems can’t be remedied by concessions from the union.

“The first focal point that’s an issue with Canadian clubs is currency and taxation,” he said, referring to the weakness of the Canadian dollar against U.S. currency. “I don’t know many collective agreements that deal with issues you can’t control. That’s not a natural fit there, in terms of a collective agreement solution.

“Teams review the agreement from their own perspective. Likewise, the tax situation, such as the Montreal building tax and the [Ottawa] highway exchange [paid for by the Senators]. It has to be done on a case-by-case basis.”

The labor agreement, won after a long lockout in 1994-95, has served the players well. The average salary is about $1.3 million and salaries grew faster than revenues last season, although Commissioner Gary Bettman has said he expects the reverse to be true this season.

King defenseman Rob Blake, formerly the club’s union representative, isn’t sure the NHLPA should take on the Canadian problem.

“It’s tough for the players to get involved,” he said. “Our job is down on the ice. I think it’s a group thing.”

BROAD STREET CURSE?

Coach Roger Neilson’s bone marrow cancer is the latest in a string of tragedies that has afflicted the Philadelphia Flyers over the years.

Defenseman Barry Ashbee, one of their top young players in their early years, died of leukemia, and goaltender Pelle Lindbergh died of injuries he suffered in a car accident in 1985. But the list has grown dramatically the last few months.

Young defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny was killed in a boating accident last summer and longtime announcer Gene Hart died of cancer. Jerry Melnyk, the Flyers’ chief scout for many years, is gravely ill with leukemia; Neilson got his diagnosis in December, about a month before anthem singer Lauren Hart--Gene Hart’s daughter--learned she had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Assistant coaches Craig Ramsay and Wayne Cashman have had serious stomach problems, although both have recovered.

“We’ve been through a lot,” General Manager Bob Clarke said. “For whatever reasons, I don’t know.”

CZECH IT OUT

Czech newspapers say Ivan Hlinka, who coached the Czechs to an Olympic gold medal at Nagano, will become coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins next season, replacing interim Coach Herb Brooks, who replaced Kevin Constantine.

Hlinka, who played for the Vancouver Canucks in the early 1980s, would be the first European head coach in the NHL. Several Europeans have been assistants.

“Coaches are going to start coming here [from Europe] and there’s going to be pressure on them.” said Penguin right wing Jaromir Jagr, who played for Hlinka at Nagano. “They’ve got to make their names here.

“I remember when Dominik Hasek came here. He had been in the World Championships and was the best goalie, but no one heard of him here and they sent him down [to the minors]. They didn’t care. You can win the Olympic medal and the world championship, but you’ve still got to prove yourself here.”

SLAP SHOTS

Early reaction has been positive to Ottawa Senator owner Rod Bryden’s announcement last week that he must have 1,500 new season-ticket holders and renewal promises from 90% of current season-ticket holders by Thursday or he will consider offers to buy the club. Tickets have been selling well and renewals have been strong.

Washington goalie Olie Kolzig credited left wing Chris Simon for helping the Capitals overcome their early struggles and move into an Eastern Conference playoff position. Simon, known more for fighting than finesse, has 15 goals, one short of his career high. “He’s got one of the best wrist-snap shots in the league,” Kolzig said.

The St. Louis Blues haven’t been very charitable toward Canadian rivals this season. They’re 13-0-2 against the six Canadian teams. . . . A preliminary hearing scheduled last week in Illinois for New York Ranger forward Kevin Stevens, who faces felony drug-possession charges, was postponed at least a month while various reports and investigations are completed.