LCS Hockey - My Thoughts On...

My Thoughts On...
by Dan Hurwitz, Correspondent

Ow, my aching groin! No, this isn't the U.S. President getting his just desserts, it's the goaltending corps of the Los Angeles Kings. More on that later, plus a fishing trip, a successful bit of tip-toeing around some sleeping giants, and another case made for the evils of expansion. So without further ado, let's see who ran the scoreboard, who put up a goose egg and who played to another 2-2 tie this week.

CONDITION: OUCH!
Just when things looked promising for the Los Angeles Kings as they attempted to build off last season's first playoff appearance in four years, the injury bug has taken a bite out of the soon-to-be- former tenants of the Great Western Forum.

Top center Josef Stumpel, after enduring public blasting from head coach Larry Robinson, finally admitted he's been hurt and has sat out to nurse a hip injury. Steve Duchesne, who was added in the offseason to what is arguably now one of the top defensive groups in all hockeydom, sat out with a bad groin. But the worst nightmare any coach has to deal with in terms of injuries hit last week during LA's 5-5 tie with the Colorado Avalanche: Both goalies injured their groins in the third period, causing the Kings to blow a two-goal advantage to the previously pointless Avs. After starter Stephane Fiset left the ice with a groin injury, backup Jamie Storr suffered a similar, and, in fact, worse injury. Storr, who could barely stand, let alone make a decent diving save, was victimized for two goals in the final minute, and both netminders were shelved.

So up came the minors: Long Beach sent Manny Legace, who before this year had toiled away in the Carolina/Hartford system. And some Russian kid was plucked from a Canadian Jr. team in a fairly uneventful story which involved Kings GM Dave Taylor having to fly to Toronto to arrange a work visa and then accompany the kid to Carolina, where he sat on the bench.

This past week, the Kings acquired Ryan Bach from the Red Wings, who has now taken over the backup role, even though Fiset has traveled with the team.

So what's the point of telling you all this? I want to highlight the fact that an entire organization is responsible for a win. It's easy to look at the players and we all tend to put coaches and GMs under the microscope. But for two people playing the same position for the team to hurt themselves in the same manner in the same game suggests the Kings still have a glaring weakness: training. Hopefully Legace's heroics (he has been stellar, by the way, 1.53 GAA) will give the organization a chance to fix this problem.

ROTTEN APPLE

A new feature in my columns, starting this week, will be the "Rotten Apple" award, where I single out one sinner in the sport who did something positively bad for the game's good name. This week, the award is given as part of the continuing saga of the Los Angeles goaltending situation.

When Los Angeles traveled to Tampa Bay for a game against the Lightning, Legace again got the start. He was playing his little heart out when this week's "Rotten Apple," Darcy Tucker, plowed right into Legace, giving the goalie a concussion. In came Bach, fourth on the depth chart, and Tucker proceeded to plow right into him, too, though, thankfully, there was no injury.

The reason Tucker deserves this week's award is that he has violated the crease. And that's bad. Let me elaborate. Of all the rule changes the NHL instituted this season, the shrinking of the crease was perhaps the most scientific. Too many goals were disallowed the past two years because of infractions on the fringe of the goal crease, which had little or no direct impact on the game or the goal that was scored.

That's why Tucker's blatant disregard for the safety of the Kings' goalies is such a bad thing. The last thing the NHL, which correctly wants to see an increase in scoring, needs is to have to re-expand the crease to protect the goalies.

BETWEEN THE LINES
While I admit the new dimensions of the goal crease make for a great change, I am firmly against the new rink dimensions.

More room behind the net has not really led to an increase in playmaking. Power plays are no more potent than they were a year before. And while it is certainly true that the extra room has prevented goalies from playing the puck, rather than eliminating the "third defenseman," it seems the curtailing of motion has persuaded goalies to stay in position. Goalies who play the angles better decrease scoring, not the opposite.

But the biggest backfire of all seems to be the new dimensions of the neutral zone. I can't figure out whose bright idea it was in a league where "trap" is a dirty word to take a sizable chunk out of the center ice area. After all, it is a "neutral zone trap," and taking pieces of the neutral zone away makes it easier to spring traps. Furthermore, the neutral zone used to be used for acceleration. With a length that has been cut by four feet, that simply doesn't work. And there have been precious few players like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Steve Yzerman who seem capable of using their own end of the ice as a neutral zone extension. Players are not adjusting to these new dimensions, and, as a result, scoring is down.

THAT WASN'T MUCH OF A BITE
I just want to put out an invitation. I want an explanation. Why do the Sharks suck? They have a great coach in Darryl Sutter. There's plenty of talent there with Owen Nolan, Jeff Friesen, Mike Ricci and Bernie Nicholls as well as strong goaltending from Mike Vernon. So why are they so very very bad?

As of right now, San Jose is the only team in the NHL without a win.

REMEMBER WHEN?
Granted, the Red Wings are showing no signs of slowing down after two straight Stanley Cups. But the previous three champs, Colorado, New Jersey and the Rangers, are off to miserable starts.

The Avalanche finally got their first point in the game against Los Angeles when Jamie Storr's impression of a pylon after injuring his groin allowed them two last-minute goals. They eventually got a win, too, but then got humiliated by the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-1.

New Jersey got off to their worst start since, well, since the year they won the Cup. It wasn't until they had games against the Rangers and Flyers, two teams they seem to own in the latter half of the decade in the regular season, that they finally put some points on the board.

And the Rangers? Remarkably, they've simply gotten older without getting better. Wayne Gretzky has no support on the scoreboard and no protection on the ice. Like New Jersey, the Rangers are showing signs of improvement, but they also have gaping holes showing through their years of tradition. And frankly, Esa Tikkanen and Ulf Sammuellson have acts that are getting old, fast.

New Jersey and Colorado have parallel problems. Both teams have had their ranks gradually thinned since their Cup wins, with key players gradually trickling away to other teams. Both teams are lacking their top rushing defenseman, as Colorado's Sandish Ozolinsh and New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer are both holdout Type II Free Agents. Both teams have seen their premiere goalies (New Jersey's Martin Brodeur and Colorado's Patrick Roy) put up sub- pay numbers as the defenses have lost key figures over the years. And both teams have first-year coaches who replace veterans of several seasons (Mark Crawford and Jacques Lemaire are both gone from the Avs and the Devils, respectively).

Fortunately for both teams, it is still early in the season. And they still rank high in terms of depth and talent. But if the growing pains with the new coaches don't go away soon, it's going to be long seasons for Colorado's current Avalanche and former Rockies.

ATTENTION MONEY MEN
The owners and management of the NHL have welcomed expansion because of increased exposure in new markets, fees paid to existing clubs, and a few more people to sell TV spots to. But here is a breakdown of a major economic disadvantage to continued expansion in hockey:

Let's say you have 26 teams in the league. To simplify the math, let's assume only one game's roster (20 players) per team. That adds up to 520 players in the league. Now you add another team. You now need 20 more players, not to mention the people you would normally need to replace the likes of Pat LaFontaine and Mike Gartner who retired in the offseason. Where do those bodies come from? Why, many of them are the career minor-leaguers and perpetual scratches who previously didn't earn much money.

Now, these players come up and play full-time, and because they're doing the jobs previously held with considerable skill by the Mike Keanes, Doug Browns and even Sandy McCarthys of the league, their agents demand that kind of money.

Now an Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya or Jaromir Jagr goes and compares himself to a Brent Fedyk or Jeff Nielsen. Hey, he's a lot better. A whole lot. Boom! The top players' salaries go sky-high. And then the Mark Recchis do some comparisons, and realize they're much more like a Lindros than a fourth-liner, so now they deserve $4 or $5 million a year.

For the love of Pete and the good of the game...stop expanding!!!!

MISCELLANY
*Mathieu Schneider's arrival in his home town, Manhattan, seems to be the best thing for him. The Rangers may not be so strong, but Schneider has looked great.

*I'd like to see one general manager simultaneously pick up Pavel Bure, Scott Niedermayer, Sandis Ozolinsh, Zigmund Palffy and Petr Nedved. These guys are not playing, and that's a crime.

*The reason defensemen such as Rob Blake deserve the same pay scale as forwards: the past couple of seasons, the top scoring defensemen have remained at the 60-70 point range, which is standard, whereas the top scoring forwards are down to 90-100 points from the old 150-point seasons of the 1980s.

*I'd love to be the Capitals' team doctor. I'd hate to be his family. Why do injuries keep hitting this squad?

*Anybody miss basketball? Me neither.

*Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne have awakened. It's amazing how much better Craig Hartsburg seems as a coach then he did, say, last year with Chicago.

*"Hi, unemployment office? My name's Paul, Paul Maurice. And this is my pal Bob Hartley." "Oh, we'll be with you as soon as we finish with Jim Schoenfeld."