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Sunday, August 19, 2001

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Truth is, Brooks Orpik had made up his mind weeks ago that he would leave Boston College before his senior year and turn professional.

But that wasn't the source of his agonizing. Rather, it was how he would tell his coach, Jerry York. Or his teammates, with whom he had just won the Eagles' first NCAA title since 1949.

Wednesday, he decided, would be the day. So he started with his roommate, center Jeff Guiliano.

"Telling Jeff and everybody ... I don't know, but that was probably one of the hardest days of my life," Orpik said. "I knew what I wanted to go after, but it was really tough to tell everybody about it."

Other aspects of Orpik's call were considerably easier.

Near the top of his list, he readily allows, was the three-year contract he signed with the Penguins which will pay him an estimated $3.23 million, a bit of a raise over the complimentary room and board he was receiving at Boston College.

"I wasn't sure how the talks with Pittsburgh were going to go," Orpik said. "But they made an outstanding offer and showed me they wanted me there."

Still, the No. 1 reason Orpik cites for leaving school early is that he feels he has a shot to carve a spot for himself on the Penguins' blue line. With no detour through Wilkes-Barre.

"To be perfectly honest with you, if I thought I had no chance to make the big team, I probably would just be going back to school. I mean, I know it's tough for a college kid to make it straight to the NHL on defense. Everybody has told me that. But that's what I'm hoping for, what I'm aiming for."

To make it, Orpik no doubt will have to make a big impression with his 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame, as he did throughout his career at Boston College. He is plenty aware that a physical presence is the Penguins' greatest need on the blue line.

"Obviously, if you look at my stats, you know I'm not going to come down there and try to do something other than play my game," Orpik said, referring to his two goals in 119 career NCAA games. "My hitting is how I've always been noticed, anyway. I don't think I'll go out of my way for a big hit to get attention, but if it's there, I'm going to take it."

And if Orpik nails enough guys and keeps the slot area clean ...

"I like my chances."

Icy chips

Alexei Kovalev made it clear after his arbitration signing this week that he would have no issue with filling Jaromir Jagr's big skates on Mario Lemieux's line. "I've played with Wayne Gretzky, with Mark Messier and with Mario a little at the end of last season," he said. "I always say it's easy to play with those guys. You don't have to do much. They always know where you are and how to get you the puck. No, I wouldn't mind playing with Mario at all." That said, it seems Kovalev's first choice would be to remain with Robert Lang and Martin Straka on the second line. "When you play with guys for so many years, you only get better."

Think the Penguins were jarred by the arbitration award given to Lang, which nearly tripled his salary from $1.025 million to $2.9 million? Imagine how the Devils felt this week after left winger Petr Sykora leaped from $675,000 to $3.3 million. That 388 percent increase was the largest in NHL arbitration history. Lang and Sykora each had 80 points last season.

Tired of the same referees? You might appreciate those guys a bit more come this fall. The NHL's contract with its officials expires at the end of this month, and already a search is being conducted for replacements if no new agreement is struck. If there is a strike or a lockout, the one-referee system would return.

No officials in any of the four major sports make more than those in the NHL. Referees start with a $115,000 salary, compared to $105,707 for Major League Baseball umpires, $93,000 for NBA referees and $24,825 for NFL officials.

Upon becoming the first goaltender picked by Craig Patrick to the U.S. Olympic team this week, the Predators' Mike Dunham told the Tennessean, "To be put in a group with the guys who have already been chosen is an honor. When you look at the forwards named, there are going to be some high expectations for us." The forwards, yes. The goaltenders, no. The other four invited to try out for the remaining two spots in the U.S. net are Robert Esche, Damian Rhodes, Brent Johnson and an injured Mike Richter. Then again, who ever heard of Jack McCartan before Squaw Valley in 1960 or Jim Craig before Lake Placid in 1980?

If any of the NHL's arbitrators worked for a newspaper and failed repeatedly to make deadline, they wouldn't be working for long.

Johan Hedberg has spent the summer working out with some of Sweden's top NHL players, many of whom will represent his homeland in the upcoming Olympics. But he insists he hasn't expended much energy dwelling on his chances of making the roster. Of the 10 players named so far, only the Oilers' Tommy Salo is a goaltender. "I really don't think about it much, and the guys really don't talk about it too much when we're together. We pretty much just concentrate on our training," Hedberg said. "I know it would be a great honor, though. I'd love it."

We'll save you the trouble of looking it up: Eric Lindros meets Scott Stevens Oct. 17 at Madison Square Garden. Better get a good look at him in that blue sweater.

Before anyone wrings their hands wondering if the Penguins could have done better in the Jagr deal by taking the same package the Rangers are offering the Flyers for Lindros, consider this: Patrick and the Rangers' Glen Sather had been in talks for more than a month, and Patrick didn't like any of what he heard. Yet, one day after his first serious chat with the Capitals' George McPhee, he pulled the trigger.

Only 45 days until the puck drops between Lemieux and Joe Sakic.

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