Muckler Helps Senators Lose Fear of the Cup

Emerging from the muck of their awful beginnings, the Ottawa Senators drafted wisely and developed players well enough to cross the threshold of respectability and make the playoffs in their fifth season, 1996-97. But Roy Mlakar, the Senators’ president and a former King executive, believes his club wasn’t psychologically prepared to succeed until John Muckler took over as general manager in June 2002.

“Everybody here, until last year, was afraid to talk about the Cup,” Mlakar said. “John Muckler, at his first press conference, said, ‘I’m here for only one reason. At my age [now 69] I’m only looking at winning the Cup.’ I went, ‘Oh, no,’ because I’d never heard that before. The previous years, nobody talked about it because they were scared. But it all started from there.”

The Senators’ journey isn’t finished. After compiling the NHL’s best record last season, they lost a seven-game Eastern Conference final to the New Jersey Devils, the eventual Cup champion. They began this season as a favorite to hoist the Cup next spring, and they’re no longer shying away from expectations.

Depth and talent that begin with goalie Patrick Lalime, continue through a mobile and sound defense and reappear in a squadron of swift, skillful forwards are the obvious strengths of the Senators, who will face the Kings on Wednesday at Staples Center and the Mighty Ducks on Friday at the Arrowhead Pond. Less obvious is that their attitudes are now equal to the task too.

From Muckler, an assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers during their dynasty years, the Senators learned the value of purposefully pursuing a goal. From watching assistant coach Roger Neilson battle the cancer that killed him in June, they learned the value of courage, unity and faith.

They’ve dedicated this season to Neilson, whose 1,000-game coaching career included 28 games with the Kings in the 1983-84 season. They will honor him with a patch on their jerseys and by raising funds to build a residence for kids with life-threatening diseases near the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. The best way to honor him, though, is to make the most of their assets and opportunity.

“His name will carry on,” Mlakar said. “We’re going to do this the right way because of him.”

They’re largely the same as last season, but with a new owner. Pharmaceutical magnate Eugene Melnyk rescued the club from bankruptcy after it had been dragged down by arena-related debts and approved a $10-million payroll increase, to about $40 million. Melnyk lives in Barbados 30 weeks a year and lets Muckler and Mlakar make the decisions; their key move was signing center Bryan Smolinski, whom they acquired from the Kings in March, to a four-year, $10-million deal.

“I knew he wasn’t going to sign here,” Mlakar said, “but Julie [Smolinski’s wife] came here with their baby for the playoffs and loved it. He told me, ‘This is different than the three clubs I’ve been on.’ Everyone has a house within a par-five of the arena, the school system is one of the top school systems, and there’s absolutely no crime....

“We have 18 guys on the team that were drafted here or never played for another NHL team. These guys are really close, and Smolinski really liked that.”

Closeness doesn’t always translate to success, but Mlakar credits Muckler for urging them to be eager to win, instead of scared to lose.

“One time, John told them about going to the team bus after the Oilers were spanked four times by the [New York] Islanders, and instead of seeing the Islanders celebrating, he saw them with their heads down,” Mlakar said. “Nobody was going crazy because it was what they were supposed to do. The Oilers wanted to go crazy, but they learned you have to sweat and work and earn your way there. He said, ‘Sure, we won four Stanley Cups and one more without Wayne Gretzky, but we learned most from that summer [of 1983] after we lost.’

“I think the whole way our guys were going about their business during training camp was very Oilers-esque. They know they’ve got a job to do, and that, in itself, is remarkable.”

Bulletin: NHL Reaches West Coast

Mike Murphy, the NHL’s vice president of operations, will work out of Southern California one week a month to better keep an eye on what’s happening west of the traditional Toronto-New York power axis.

Murphy has had a home in Encino since his playing days with the Kings, and his daughter is attending college in the area. With this arrangement, he won’t have to stay up so late to watch every game on TV -- he customarily stays in his Toronto office past 1 a.m. -- he can see his family, and the NHL gets a respected representative who can dispense quick answers or quick justice, as needed.

“The league would like to have a stronger presence on the West Coast, just for everyday things,” said Murphy, who will make his first visit this weekend. “It should work out great for everyone involved.”

Symbolically, it’s important. Many Western Conference executives say they feel neglected and believe the distance between them and the NHL’s main offices creates delays in resolving problems. Murphy should be able to handle problems before they turn into crises.

Honoring Brooks

Herb Brooks, the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey coach who died in a car accident in August, will be remembered with a statue in his hometown of St. Paul, Minn., and a foundation that will provide financial help to amateur hockey players and coaches.

The bronze statue will stand near the performing arts center and the Minnesota Wild’s home rink, the Excel Energy Center, and plans include unveiling it during the NHL’s All-Star weekend in February in St. Paul. The NHL paid tribute to Brooks and to Roger Neilson this season by placing pictures of each on its rulebook cover.

The Minnesota State Patrol determined that the likely cause of Brooks’ fatal crash was fatigue, after eliminating other possibilities such as being distracted by his cell phone or being intoxicated.

Loyalty, Thy Name Is Gretzky

The list of friends and former teammates working for Gretzky grew this season when former King Gary Shuchuk signed on as a player/assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes’ top minor-league affiliate at Springfield, Mass. Shuchuk had spent the last two seasons playing in Switzerland.

Gretzky, the Coyotes’ managing partner, previously hired his brother, Keith, as a scout; his former agent, Mike Barnett, as the club’s general manager; Marty McSorley as Springfield’s coach; Pat Conacher as an assistant coach of the Coyotes; Paul Coffey as a special teams consultant for the Coyotes; Shane Churla and Warren Rychel as scouts; Eddie Mio as the Coyotes’ director of player personnel, and former King media relations director Rick Minch as a personal assistant.

If things keep going downhill in New York, Glen Sather has a place to go.

Slap Shots

The Buffalo Sabres might have set a record for the earliest team meeting from the start of a season. After being blanked by Philadelphia and the Islanders in their first two games, they had a closed-door gathering Saturday. “If I pointed fingers, I’d need all my fingers,” Coach Lindy Ruff said, “and I’d save the thumb for myself.”

Pittsburgh General Manager Craig Patrick was in a tough position negotiating with goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, the team’s first No. 1 draft pick since Mario Lemieux in 1984 and a standout in training camp. Fleury is a potential franchise player, but the Penguins are hurting financially. “I’m not proud of myself,” Patrick said after signing Fleury to a three-year deal worth $1.24 million in salary per year plus lucrative and laughably easy bonus clauses that could make it worth about $12 million.

Former King Bob Berry, a Southern California resident who had been scouting for Ottawa, is now scouting for the Blues.... San Jose is rotating its captaincy, as Minnesota did last season. The Sharks had no captain after Owen Nolan was traded to Toronto late last season, instead designating several alternate captains. Mike Ricci has the “C” for the first 10 games.

Penguin defenseman Brooks Orpik was lucky to be suspended only one game for his dangerous hit on King defenseman Tim Gleason last week. Orpik led with his knee, not with his hip, as a defenseman would do in making a hip check, and that warrants severe punishment.... The Vancouver Canucks are talking to Todd Bertuzzi about a contract extension, which should be interesting. General Manager Brian Burke is outspoken about holding the line financially, but that will be tough when it’s one of his own players seeking a big payday -- perhaps $7 million a season -- and can make a good case for it.