League Wrestles With Rumblings, Bumblings

Holy wars continue to break out all around the league, embarrassing all involved. Or at least you would think they would be embarrassed, if they stopped and thought about what they were saying and doing.

Of course, maybe the rules have changed, now that Vince McMahon is involved in legitimate professional sports. The bar certainly appears to have been lowered considerably in the NHL. Or perhaps we should call it the XHL now. Maybe Commissioner Gary Bettman will ditch his navy-blue suit in favor of dark shades, slicked-back hair, jeans and biker boots. Perhaps you’ll soon see strippers in a hot tub at a rink near you.

Bettman already has a number of intriguing plot lines in place to keep fans entertained as the 2000-01 season rolls on with no end in sight. As any wrestling fan can tell you, no story line is worth its weight in hype without a good guy and a bad guy, although they often are subjective labels.

And so it is with “NHL Smackdown 2000-01”:

* Minnesota Wild Coach Jacques Lemaire squares off against Pittsburgh Penguin owner-center Mario Lemieux in a loser-leaves-the-league match.

* San Jose Shark General Manager Dean Lombardi battles Bettman in a no-holds-barred boardroom brawl.

* Colorado Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy goes against Journal de Montreal columnist Bertrand Raymond in a dressing room donnybrook.

All of which merely could be a warmup for Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock’s next blowup. He was furious recently with the Kings because they were laughing at a joke enforcer Stu Grimson cracked at Luc Robitaille’s expense on the bench late in an 8-0 victory Jan. 30 at Staples Center.

Here’s a closer look as the league sinks to new levels of NBA-style immaturity:

Bad guy: Lemaire.

Good guy: Lemieux.

Story line: At the heart of this spitting match is a fundamental difference of opinion on how the game should be played. Lemaire choked the life out of opponents--and fans--by employing the neutral-zone trap as coach of the New Jersey Devils. He has done the same as coach of the expansion Wild, irking the free-skating Lemieux and his creative Penguins, who were suffocated by the trap in a 4-2 loss Feb. 11.

“There were times I was very frustrated,” Lemieux told the Minneapolis Star Tribune when asked about the Wild’s clutching-and-grabbing style of play. “That’s not what we’re trying to sell [to the fans].”

To which Lemaire, 55, sarcastically responded: “It’s not a wide-open game, which Pittsburgh would love to play. If we’re not allowed to hit, if we’re not allowed to check, I’m going to make a comeback. I’m going to play in this league if nobody touches me.”

Outcome: To be determined, but Lemieux scored twice in the rematch last week, leading the Penguins to a 2-1 victory.

*

Bad guy: Bettman.

Good guy: Lombardi.

Story line: Lombardi believes the league’s 11-game suspension of San Jose captain Owen Nolan for his forearm shiver Feb. 1 to the head of Dallas’ Grant Marshall was too stern. Lombardi made noises about previous incidents involving opponents’ hits on Shark players going unpunished.

He also seemed to be suggesting last week that Bettman is angry at him because of a lucrative contract the Sharks gave Nolan, which calls for guarantees if the 2004-05 season is disrupted because of labor strife after the league’s collective bargaining agreement runs out. A team executive later backed away from that charge.

In a rare move, Lombardi appealed Nolan’s suspension. Bettman heard the Sharks’ case Friday, but on Saturday upheld the original 11-game suspension. Nolan will be eligible to play March 1.

Outcome: Bettman certainly would have looked weak if he had reduced a suspension many around the league believed to be a tad light. Lombardi lost loads of credibility in fighting a no-win battle that many viewed as a waste of everyone’s time and effort. He would have been wiser to clam up and accept the league’s punishment.

Bad guy: Roy.

Good guy: Raymond.

Story line: Roy has had some season already. He has passed Terry Sawchuk and become the winningest goaltender in NHL history. He has been pinched for domestic violence after an argument with his wife at their suburban Denver home. He has been warmly welcomed back to Montreal, where he left town in a huff after leading the Canadiens to Stanley Cup victories in 1986 and 1993.

Les Habs did their best to mend fences with Roy last week, choosing to forget that the goaltender demanded to be traded in December 1995, after he felt he had been left in a one-sided loss to the Detroit Red Wings for too long. The team honored Roy’s contributions to the franchise with a pregame ceremony Feb. 13.

The local newspapers wrote glowing features on Roy upon his return. But Roy apparently didn’t like a small, secondary headline over Raymond’s story in the Journal that referred to his arrest. Raymond, a member of the writers’ wing of the Hall of Fame, told Roy that reporters don’t write headlines. Roy only grew angrier, chewing out Raymond in front of a mob of reporters at the morning skate.

Outcome: Later, in the press box, Raymond turned his thumb down and said, “A 16-year relationship gone.”

You don’t have to be a journalism major to know that reporters write everything beneath their names and that copy editors write the headlines and photo captions that go with the articles. Roy should know better.

KICK SAVES

Lemieux has many good ideas about opening up the game and creating more scoring. But going to a four-on-four format, as the league does for five-minute overtime periods during the regular season, is not one of them. It probably would lead to even more conservative game plans, simply because fewer players would be asked to cover more ice. Fatigue would rule out a 60-minute game filled with end-to-end rushes. It’s a safe bet that five-on-five hockey is here to stay.

Look for Bob Clarke, Philadelphia Flyer general manager, to finally deal Eric Lindros to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a package of young players and draft picks later this week. A deal is close, according to Lindros’ attorney. Clarke would have preferred to trade Lindros to a Western Conference team, such as the Kings. The trade deadline is March 13.

Now that Wayne Gretzky is at last in command of the Phoenix Coyotes, how long will it be before holdout free-agent goalie Nikolai Khabibulin is signed and Sean Burke is dealt? Gretzky completed his management shake-up over the weekend, firing Bobby Smith as general manager and replacing him with Cliff Fletcher. Pat Conacher is now an assistant coach. Shane Churla and Warren Rychel, former NHL players, are now scouts.