Sunday, September 07, 2003

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The unfortunate, early close to the career of Mike Richter this week is sure to open debate in hockey circles as to whether or not he was the United States' greatest goaltender.

It should not.

It should be an open-and-shut case in Richter's favor.

When Richter announced Thursday in New York that concussions are forcing him out of the game at age 36, the Rangers, his only NHL employer in 15 seasons, let it be known that his No. 35 will be retired and hung from the rafters of Madison Square Garden. It was an appropriate gesture for someone who was the winningest goaltender in franchise history and, more important to New Yorkers, the driving force behind the 1994 Stanley Cup title which erased 54 years of failure.

But he is deserving of much more.

Just as Herb Brooks was aptly feted for his role in establishing the United States on the international hockey scene for his work as coach and public figure, so, too, should Richter be known as the most important American hockey player to date. At any position.

Arguments could be made for forwards Mike Modano, Pat LaFontaine, Joe Mullen and Jeremy Roenick. Or defensemen Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios and Derian Hatcher. But none was as responsible for the nation's permanent ascent into the global elite.

In the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Richter led the U.S. to a surprising championship against Canada, the nation's most important hockey victory other than the 1980 Miracle on Ice. He made 35 saves in the final and was named most valuable player of the tournament.

In 1998, the first year the Olympics officially allowed professionals, he again was the starter.

And at the 2002 Olympics, Richter again was in net and led the U.S. to a silver medal in the strongest field for any tournament in the sport's history.

Every time America needed a goaltender in the past decade, it called upon Richter. In fact, each time, no other goaltender even received serious consideration.

Which is precisely why no American rivals Richter, especially not in goal.

Not John Vanbiesbrouck, who has the best overall numbers of any American in net but lacks the rings to enter the discussion.

Not Frank Brimsek, who had 40 shutouts in 1939-50 but was the beneficiary of a no-offense era.

And Tom Barrasso?

He has an edge in some statistics: 368 victories to Richter's 301, 37 shutouts to Richter's 34. Barrasso also has one more Vezina Trophy and one more Stanley Cup than Richter, having won the Vezina as a rookie in 1984 and the Cup with the Penguins in 1991 and 1992. But Richter has a better goals-against average, 2.89 to 3.24, and a better save percentage, .904 to .892.

All of that plays out as fairly even, but there is one whopper of a tiebreaker: Barrasso represented the U.S. once, in 2002 as a third-stringer, and played a round-robin game against Germany, while Richter was the national goaltender for a generation.

It will not help Barrasso in this debate that he was surly with the media and others he encountered throughout his career. Richter, by contrast, was bright and friendly even in pressure-filled situations. When Barrasso retired this summer, a press release was issued. When Richter retired, tears were shed openly by Rangers officials, players and fans.

But personality issues should not color anyone's view.

The only relevant colors here are red, white and blue.

Icy chips

Randy Kelly, mayor of St. Paul, Minn., will form a committee this week to erect a statue honoring Herb Brooks outside the Minnesota Wild's Xcel Energy Center. Kelly hopes the statue can be unveiled in time for the NHL's All-Star weekend Feb. 7-8.

Expectations could not be lower for the Penguins, judging by various preseason publications: The Hockey News ranks them last in the Eastern Conference and assigns them a D-plus grade, lowest of any team in the league. The Sporting News ranks them last in the conference, and it rates the coaching 30th of 30 teams, the forwards 27th, the defensemen 30th and the goaltenders 28th even before Johan Hedberg was traded. Hockey Digest and the Sports Forecaster of Toronto each rank them last in the Atlantic Division. "That's OK," Martin Straka said yesterday. "We'll just sneak up on everybody. We can make that work for us."

At the other extreme, the Ottawa Senators are emerging as the choice to win the Stanley Cup.

One potentially ominous sign for the Penguins if they should attempt to sign Marc-Andre Fleury this month: Allan Walsh, one of two agents representing him, also counts among his clients the Wild's Marian Gaborik and the Senators' Martin Havlat, both of whom are entrenched in contract disputes with their respective teams.

While the Penguins might emerge from camp with one of the youngest rosters in the NHL, the Rangers are a virtual lock to emerge with its oldest. The signing Friday of Mark Messier, 42, brought to 12 the number of players who will be 31 or older by late February.

Old faces in new places: Alexandre Daigle, who made $700,000 from the Penguins last season after making the team on a tryout contract, is on the camp roster of the Wild. Again, he will compete for a job as a tryout. Also, Jiri Slegr returned to the NHL after spending last season in Europe by signing a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

The retirement this week of the Dallas Stars' Kirk Muller, the choice just behind Mario Lemieux in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, leaves only two members from that exceptional first-round class still in the league: Lemieux and the Toronto Maple Leafs' Gary Roberts. Eddie Olczyk was the third selection in that round.

Steve Mountain, agent for former Canucks defenseman Murray Baron, had talks with the Penguins about signing his client as an unrestricted free agent in July, but the Penguins went with Drake Berehowsky. Baron signed Friday with the St. Louis Blues.

A year ago, Michel Therrien was coaching the Montreal Canadiens, dealing with arguably the second-greatest pressure of any position in sports behind the manager of the New York Yankees. Now, he is coach of the Penguins' AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre, where the scrutiny will be less than a fraction of what he knew the previous three years. He has no plans to relax on the job, but he is planning on enjoying his next birthday in November: "I'm looking forward to being 40. I'm only 39 now and, at least, when I turn 40, I don't have to explain all these gray hairs."

Only 33 days until the puck drops between Lemieux and Jason Allison.

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