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Sunday, November 03, 2002

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Thrashers, scratching their heads about Ilya Kovalchuk's one-way play, simply scratched him.

Coach Curt Fraser, frustrated by his team's 0-7-0-1 record and Kovalchuk's league-worst minus-13 rating, took his best weapon out of the lineup Thursday in Toronto. He came away with a 3-3 tie and, more important, brought a rare show of humility from his brash, young star.

"I'm an offensive player, but I have to be better defensively," Kovalchuk said. "Minus-13 is just no good. It's no good for me and no good for the team."

Kovalchuk had six goals at the time of his scratch, tops on the team, but management still struggles to tame this wild horse.

A week earlier, he stirred up a fuss in a game at Florida. Soon after Panthers Coach Mike Keenan caught him using an illegal stick, Kovalchuk scored a goal and skated by the opposing bench to rub his blade back and forth.

"Excellent players in the league such as Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, Peter Forsberg, they don't do that," Keenan told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. "They have a lot more respect for the game and for the people they're playing with and against."

Kovalchuk's version?

"There was just a little snow on my blade, so I cleaned it off. ... I'm just a very emotional player, and I show it in games."

The Maple Leafs have fallen so far that Alexander Mogilny couldn't be brought to acknowledge his team had no business tying Atlanta at home. "Anybody can beat anybody," he told reporters. "Who said we're one of the elite teams anyway? I mean, the way we're playing, we're probably one of the bottom teams in the league." The standings offer plenty of support.

The Islanders are allowing 3.7 goals per game and can't buy a win. Think they wouldn't mind having Dick Tarnstrom back? They gave him up on waivers this summer, much to the Penguins' delight.

Crowds are down around the NHL. Still, seeing 9,491 show up Thursday in Boston has to be a worry for league officials, not to mention unheard-of, less-than- capacity crowds in Philadelphia. In New Jersey, after a Tuesday game which drew 10,328, the Devils' Martin Brodeur said he was pleased the team is building a new arena which will have 2,000 fewer seats: "With the support we have, I don't think we need a big rink."

Goaltender Byron Dafoe, the Bruins' starter last season but still a free agent, has been waiting for a contender to come along. But the Thrashers have acknowledged speaking to him and might pursue his big ticket -- $4 million a year -- if Milan Hnilicka doesn't stop the occasional puck soon.

John Muckler, the Senators' general manager, chided his team after the 4-1 loss to the Penguins Wednesday, saying it failed to "respond to the adversity" of falling behind in the second period. One of the season's early mysteries is what happened to the 'O' in Ottawa. The Senators ranked fifth in the NHL with 243 goals last season but are last now at two goals per game.

One player who should help is Jason Spezza. He didn't get a point Wednesday, but he made plays well beyond an average 19-year-old.

Another mystery: The Rangers spent $45 million to sign Bobby Holik, one of the game's great matchup centers, but Coach Bryan Trottier has done little matching of lines. Holik has been such a bust so far that one New York scribe wrote that he is doing more damage to the Rangers now than when he worked across the Hudson.