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Sunday, September 22, 2002

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Offer all 30 of the NHL's general managers a chance to produce their fantasy classified ad, and it doubtless would read something like this ...

HELP WANTED: Defenseman. 6 feet 4, 225 pounds or larger. Age 25 or younger, but must have spent every year in NHL since age 18. Minimum requirements: Career plus rating, average of 20 points per season, 400 or more lifetime penalty minutes, checks that register 6.0 on Richter scale. Nice guys need not apply.

Of course, such an ad could be placed daily in every newspaper across the globe and never draw a response. That's because no company in its right mind would let such an employee get away.

Unless that employee decides he wants to work elsewhere.

This is playing out right now in Boston, where Kyle McLaren, the rare specimen whose resume meets all the above qualifications, has told management he wants to be traded.

McLaren is disillusioned about a history of injuries -- he has played 70 or more games only twice in his seven NHL seasons -- and is adamant that a change of scenery would be best for his career. His current holdout from training camp is evidence of his conviction, as he is insisting money is no matter.

The Bruins, understandably, are reluctant to meet this demand. As General Manager Mike O'Connell told the Web site Faceoff.com this week, "Right now, if I'm going to trade him, I'd want another Kyle McLaren in return. That's almost impossible. I prefer to have Kyle McLaren on the team."

If O'Connell can't have that, though, his hand will be forced. For one, he was saying much the same early last season about Jason Allison's holdout, but he eventually relented and shipped Allison to the Kings in the deal that netted Glen Murray. For another, O'Connell's team already must cope with the off-season losses of Bill Guerin and Byron Dafoe. Getting nothing for McLaren likely puts the Bruins out of the postseason picture.

All of which brings us to the Penguins.

That's right, the Penguins.

It is believed that there has been internal discussion among the team's hierarchy about pursuing a trade for McLaren. It isn't known if the talk has become serious, but it's a virtual certainty that, even if it did, it couldn't have reached Boston because the Bruins have not yet placed McLaren on the block.

When Boston ultimately relents and starts entertaining offers, there is no good reason the Penguins shouldn't be front and center.

No, Craig Patrick doesn't have the "McLaren in return" O'Connell says he would be seeking, but then neither does anyone else. And, fact is, the Bruins clearly could use help in more than one area with the losses they took this summer.

To boot, this is the rare bidding in which the low-revenue Penguins could compete on a relatively even playing field with the big-money franchises. If the Bruins seek NHL veterans, the Penguins have more of those than they can use. If they seek prospects, the Penguins might have more of those than at any point in franchise history.

Critical as it is to the future of the team to sign Alexei Kovalev to a long-term extension, because of his offensive skills and popularity in the market, nothing solidifies a roster like a No. 1 defenseman. Nor is any component more valuable in winning a championship.

Think about it: Which was the last team to win the Stanley Cup without a big-time defenseman? You have to go back to the 1993 Canadiens, although even they had Eric Desjardins in his prime. Since then, the Rangers had Brian Leetch, the Devils Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer, the Avalanche Adam Foote, Rob Blake and Raymond Bourque, the Red Wings had Nicklas Lidstrom and Larry Murphy, and the Stars Sergei Zubov and Derian Hatcher.

Now ask this: When was the last time the Penguins had such a defenseman? Was it Zubov, going back to 1996? Probably. After he was dealt to the Stars, Kevin Hatcher was cast in the role of No. 1 but never quite lived up to it. And since Hatcher, no candidate has come close. Not Jiri Slegr. Not Janne Laukkanen. Not even Darius Kasparaitis, whose profile usually was higher than his ranking on the depth chart.

A No. 1 defenseman is the rarest commodity in hockey, and McLaren, the ninth overall pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, has the makings of being one for years to come. Those closest to him in Boston believe that all that has kept him from becoming an NHL star has been a lousy-luck string of injuries, none of them career-threatening. He's big, he can play, and just ask the Canadiens' Richard Zednik about his on-ice disposition.

How much would Patrick need to give up to get him?

He'll never know if he doesn't call.

Icy chips

It's official that there will be another World Cup of Hockey in 2004 and that it will run Aug. 31-Sept. 14. What isn't known is where it will be played, although Pittsburgh doesn't appear to be a candidate for a game. As with the previous World Cup in 1996, preliminary games will be scattered across Europe and North America, and elimination games will be in North America. Toronto is expected to get the bulk of the North American games, with New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa and St. Paul, Minn., also on the NHL's targeted list. Pittsburgh has not played host to a major international hockey event since Aug. 31, 1991, a Canada Cup round-robin game between the United States and Sweden.

The World Cup field will be Canada, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Czech Republic and the defending champion U.S. team. What, no Belarus?

The Maple Leafs are ahead of the curve in protecting their defensemen from what is sure to be an onslaught of punishing hits as a result of the NHL's crackdown on forechecking obstruction: Air Canada Centre officials replaced all of the building's original no-seam, no-give glass with a more flexible model. The defensemen appreciate it. As Bryan McCabe told the Toronto Star, "Since they've changed the rules and we're going to get run every night, there's at least more give there now."

The fans' preseason consensus on the NHL's protective netting seems to be an almost universal thumbs-down. The complaint is that the netting is black, causing the puck to blend in. "I don't like it," said Bob Hrvatin, a 20-year Blackhawks season-ticket holder. "Maybe if it was white or fish-netting. It's frustrating." "It's hard enough to see the puck at the other end, and this obscures it even more," said Mark Benson, a Kings season- ticket-holder. "I might as well just go home and watch on TV." The Penguins are trying to have netting for the preseason opener Saturday.

Another new facet of the NHL this preseason is getting a thumbs-up. The hurry-up faceoff rule has shortened games to an average of two hours, 15 minutes. Television timeouts will lengthen that in the regular season but not by much.

Colin Campbell, the league's disciplinary czar, continues to maintain officials made a "fine call" by not penalizing Darcy Tucker for his infamous check to Michael Peca's knees in the playoffs this past spring. Still, Campbell doesn't want to see a repeat. "What we've said is, 'We don't like the Tucker hit on Peca and, in the future, that might draw a five-minute penalty depending on the referee's interpretation. And when I review it, it might result in a suspension." Might? No actual change was made to the official rule regarding such hits. You figure it out.

An outdoor NHL game at an Edmonton football stadium? Hey, they could play one at Mellon Arena with a flip of the switch, right?

Hockey traditionalist Brendan Shanahan of the Red Wings is unhappy that the NHL's growing move away from interconference play will keep Detroit from playing against the Rangers, Bruins or Canadiens, fellow Original Six teams. "I have to say it's a joke," he told reporters in Detroit. "It's pathetic that the Original Six, at the very least, don't play a home-and-home against one another. In an 82-game season, that's pathetic."

Rick Nash, first pick in the June draft, is in the Blue Jackets' camp without a contract, but he's making it hard for Doug MacLean to send him back to juniors. After wowing coaches and teammates in the early stages of camp, he had a goal and assist in Columbus' preseason opener Friday. If Nash isn't signed by Oct. 7, he must go back to the OHL.

Mark Messier is praising the additions of Kasparaitis and Bobby Holik to the Rangers' camp. "Just by their presence, they up the overall talent, the overall grittiness, the overall gamesmanship of the team," he told Newsday. "It's contagious. They're big, strong men and they came to camp to compete hard." Kasparaitis is reported to be leveling people left and right.

Only 18 days until the puck drops between Mario Lemieux and Mats Sundin.