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Monday, May 06, 2002

What a rotten spring this must be for Craig Patrick. Not only did his Penguins fail to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 12 years, he can't turn on his television without seeing one of his former players doing something wondrous.

There was Ottawa goaltender Patrick Lalime stopping 39 shots in a 3-2 triple-overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night.

There was Colorado defenseman Darius Kasparaitis turning in a plus-three effort in an 8-2 win against the San Jose Sharks earlier Saturday.

There was Detroit winger Luc Robitaille deflecting in a slap shot by defenseman Fredrik Olausson for the winning goal in a 3-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues Saturday afternoon.

There was Carolina center Ron Francis scoring his second consecutive game-winner in a 2-0 victory against the Montreal Canadiens Friday night.

It couldn't have been any easier for Patrick to watch the first round of the playoffs.

New York Islanders winger Kip Miller scored a series-high four goals against the Maple Leafs. Boston forward Glen Murray's 41 regular-season goals were a big reason the Bruins were the Eastern Conference's No.1 seed. Vancouver forward Markus Naslund's 40 goals probably were the only reason the Canucks sneaked in as the West's No. 8 seed.

What really should bother Patrick is he gave away most of those players for little or nothing.

It's unfair to blame him for allowing Miller to walk as a free agent after last season. Miller was little more than Jaromir Jagr's willing stooge during his time with the Penguins.

It's also hard to criticize Patrick for trading Lalime's rights to Anaheim for the forgettable Sean Pronger late in the '98 season. Lalime gave little indication he would become a go-to goalie let alone a guy who is making playoff history this spring with an 0.80 goals-against average and a record-tying four shutouts.

And it's too soon to tell about Kasparaitis, who's playing surprisingly disciplined hockey -- he has just two penalty minutes in nine postseason games -- for the Avalanche. He was traded at the deadline in March for winger Ville Nieminen and defenseman Rick Berry. If Nieminen shows up for camp in shape this fall, it could turn out to be a good deal for the Penguins, especially because Kasparaitis was going to leave as a free agent anyway.

But what about Francis, a future Hall of Famer who's still going strong at 39 and might have had his finest season this year? Patrick knew he wasn't going to be able to re-sign him as a free agent after the '98 season because the Penguins were headed toward bankruptcy. But he could have traded him before the deadline. He chose not to because he didn't want to disrupt the chemistry of a team that would go on to win the Northeast Division title. The Canadiens then bounced the Penguins from the first round of the playoffs in six games. So much for chemistry.

What about Murray? Patrick traded him to Los Angeles for Ed Olczyk late in the '97 season. Olczyk is a terrific announcer but was at the end of the line as a player.

What about Naslund, who has averaged 36 goals the past four seasons? The thought of sending him to the Canucks for someone named Alek Stojanov late in the '96 season must still keep Patrick awake nights. It was his worst trade.

And what about Olausson? He left for Anaheim as a free agent after the '98 season. He wasn't good enough to play here, but he's good enough to be a regular for the Stanley Cup favorite Red Wings? The defense-poor Penguins are desperate for a defenseman who can get the puck out of their end and score a few goals. Olausson could have been that guy. If he came back to the Penguins tomorrow, he would be their No. 1 defenseman.

Maybe Patrick should do himself a favor and not watch the rest of the playoffs.

It would be a lot less painful.

Do you realize how long it's been since Patrick made the last of his three big trades that helped the Penguins to win the Stanley Cup twice and earned him a reputation that carried him all the way to the Hall of Fame last year?

It's been a decade since he sent Mark Recchi to Philadelphia for Rick Tocchet, Kjell Samuelsson and Ken Wregget.

Somehow this morning, it seems a lot longer.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.