A 50-game schedule would add meaning

Sporting News, The, Nov 21, 1994 by Larry Wigge

The 84 games almost always blend together, with only one of every five or six leaving an imprint on our memories.

We remember the Rangers' April 8 victory over the Devils that helped clinch first place in the overall standings. We remember Buffalo goaltender Dominik Hasek's 1-0 April victory over the Canadiens and Patrick Roy at Montreal, putting Hasek in a position to become the first goalie since 1973-74 to allow fewer than two goals per game. We remember Wayne Gretzky's record-breaking 802nd career goal, Pavel Bure's 60th goal and Bob Probert's 15-round knockout of Marty McSorley.

Still, the yawners far outnumbered the memorable games.

When this season finally begins, we could be in for a pleasant surprise. No more boring early-season games where Joe Fan puts down his cash and gets a lackluster effort.

If more progress is made this week, games could be played as early as December 1. The NHL could stuff 60 games into the season's final five months, but a 50-game schedule is more likely.

A 50-game schedule, in which all games would be played within the conference, could effectively make every game a three-pointer. Suddenly, every game would be meaningful. Think about it. You wouldn't have to listen to arguments that the NHL's regular season, when seven months' worth of games eliminate only 10 of 26 teams, doesn't mean anything.

"If it's 50 games that we play, I think they will be the most competitive 50 games you can think of," Oilers Owner Peter Pocklington says. "The intensity level would go up 200 percent."

He's right. Fifty games has a special ring, especially for the goal scorers who have long been trying to match Rocket Richard's 50-goals-in-50-games record set in 1944-45.

Wayne Gretzky has accomplished the feat three times (1981-82, '83-84 and '84-85), Brett Hull twice (1990-91 and '91-92) and Mike Bossy (1980-81) and Mario Lemieux (1988-89) once.

But none of them has done it in a 50-game schedule, as Richard did. None of them had to endure the pressure of doing it with a division title on the line in the final week of the season when personal achievements take a back seat to team goals.

"Scoring 50 goals in 50 games is still quite a feat, but you don't bring the same mentality to it you would if there was only 50 games to play," Hull says. "That would be the only way to truly measure up to the 50-50 standard that Rocket Richard set.

"Seriously, for a goal scorer, that would be the ultimate achievement."

Let the buyer beware

Most general managers realize they are at fault for the league's salary escalation. But sometimes they can't help themselves. "It's a bit like alcoholism," Capitals G.M. David Poile says. "We have to take responsibility for our weaknesses."

Panthers President Bill Torrey, Canadiens G.M. Serge Savard and Bruins G.M. Harry Sinden say they can't worry about public perception.

"If you do sign a big guy, people say you're spending too much," Torrey says. "If you don't, you're a cheap S.O.B."

First things first

Here's a trivia question: Which team's two highest-paid players have not played a game in the NHL?

Answer: the Mighty Ducks, who recently signed first-round draft choices Paul Kariya and Oleg Tverdovsky to the biggest contracts in club history.

"You look at a situation like ours and you say, 'We definitely need an entry-level salary cap,'" Ducks G.M. Jack Ferreira says.

Islanders G.M. Don Maloney agrees, saying he would have signed first-round pick Brett Lindros to a smaller contract if he had a choice. "We're cognizant of the environment," Maloney says. "But we have to operate with the best long-term interest of the franchise in mind. We view Brett Lindros as a special situation, and we treated it that way."

That's why owners are willing to give in on the luxury tax in order to get an entry-level salary cap and a less restrictive salary arbitration system -- issues owners have little control over now.

No pot of gold

Norman Green says the North Stars payroll included $4 million in player salaries when he bought the club in 1990. That total has risen to $16 million this season for the Stars.

"The pot of gold is empty," Green says. "I think that's the misconception -- that because salaries went from $4 million to $16 million in the last four years, there's nothing to stop it from going to $32 million in the next four years.

"It's physically, mathematically, irrevocably impossible to ever expect that to happen. Just because we were stupid before doesn't mean we're still stupid."

Icy bits

Those who doubt that the Stanley Cup-champion Rangers lost money last season should look at the documents prepared by Viacom for its sale of Madison Square Garden, the Rangers and the Knicks. They show that the Rangers indeed lost $4.2 million. Those figures are hard to dispute because Viacom would not downgrade the numbers while trying to get a good price for its product. ... The fall of Bruce McNall, from his Hollywood success story as owner of the Kings, will likely end this week when he is expected to be charged with bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy. McNall probably will resign as president of the team.