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Sunday, September 24, 2000

NHL officials are offering tough talk about penalties. Vowing crackdowns on obstruction. Shouting from the rooftops of Manhattan about zero-tolerance enforcement.

It must be September.

The latest set-in-stone-for-now edicts include no new rules but a strong emphasis on the following:

Obstruction calls for locking onto an opponent's hands or stick in the neutral zone.

Stiffer penalties for slashing, including possible majors and misconducts for whacks above the waist.

Tougher suspensions and fines for blows to the head and hits from behind.

But what should make this pronouncement special?

Every year about this time, league executives make noise proclaiming that this will finally be the season in which the rulebook gets taken seriously. And, without fail, they're right. Referees obey their superiors and call as many as 20 or 25 power plays a game, scoring goes way up, and the newspapers all write about how the sport is changing for the better.

For a month or so, anyway. Then, gradually, referees fade back to their old patterns of calling games.

"It generally has slipped in the past," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman acknowledged three days ago. "For two reasons: One is that the players adjust to the new standard, and that's a credit to them. Two, the officials wear down or even get a little lax over time. But even what that happens, it never slips back to where we started. Obstruction is much better than it was four or five years ago."

Consider the Penguins' most recent preseason game, a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche three nights ago in Wilkes-Barre, in which referees issued 102 penalty minutes and 18 power plays.

"It's going to benefit good-skating clubs like ours because we're going to be able to go at the net a little bit more freely," Avalanche Coach Bob Hartley said. "And, I think it's going to reduce injuries, especially hand injuries, throughout the league. But it's going to be a big adjustment for everyone, especially players."

To ensure that the league doesn't get lax again, Bettman this summer hired Andy van Hellemond, a former referee with a sterling reputation, to be the director of officiating. And he has provided all officials with laptops to stay in constant touch, with each other and with van Hellemond.

"We're going to have the ability to give officials instantaneous critiques," Bettman said. "We think that accountability and supervision will be a plus."

It also won't hurt the cause that this will be the first season in which two referees are employed for every game. Last season, two referees were used for only 50 of each team's 82 regular-season games.

Still, as has been proven in the past, those four eyes will mean nothing without some direction and diligence from the NHL's braintrust.

Icy chips

To heighten the dramatic effect of center Mark Messier's return to Manhattan, the New York Rangers are keeping him out of home games during the preseason. He'll return to Garden ice for the Oct. 11 home opener against the Montreal Canadiens. ... Messier had plenty of ugly run-ins with center Petr Nedved during his previous stint in New York, but he now speaks glowingly of Nedved: "I think everybody here who has seen him play the last couple of years can admire his courage and his heart." ... The New Jersey Devils are offering defenseman Scott Niedermayer, a restricted free agent, $2.7 million less than he is seeking on a three-year deal. But don't ask Niedermayer if he plans to seek a trade. "How can you ask for a trade when you win the Stanley Cup?" he told reporters. ... The Vancouver Canucks apparently see more in left winger Markus Naslund than the Penguins did. Naslund, dealt away by Craig Patrick in 1996 for Alek Stojanov, has been named the Canucks' team captain, replacing Messier. ... Player to watch: Slovak sniper Zigmund Palffy, long notorious for his poor conditioning habits, has reported to the Los Angeles Kings' camp in the best shape of his life. Which is probably a good thing on the heels of an atypically low 27-goal output last year. ... The Florida Panthers are building an intriguing first line. They're using Rob Niedermayer, a natural center, on left wing alongside center Igor Larionov and right winger Pavel Bure. Niedermayer has been told to use his 6-2, 205-pound frame to dig in the corners and let his Russian linemates work the finesse. ... The boos were surprisingly mild for Ottawa Senators center Alexei Yashin upon his return to the Corel Centre Monday. That, of course, might have had something to do with the two goals he scored. Funny how that works. ... Bettman said Columbus and Minnesota will be the last expansion teams "for the foreseeable future." ... Right winger Claude Lemieux remains an unrestricted free agent, but he has committed to signing with the Phoenix Coyotes once Wayne Gretzky buys the club. ... George McPhee, general manager of the Washington Capitals, was asked by The Sporting News to pick the NHL's top performer: "Jaromir Jagr is to the Penguins what Michael Jordan was to the Bulls. He's also the best player in the game at using his teammates and making the whole team better." ... Only 10 days until the NHL's first puck drops in Dallas.

Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@ post-gazette.com.