Rivals Warned to Keep Series Clean

In a Detroit-Colorado rivalry rife with bloodletting, the league wants both teams on best behavior when the Western Conference finals begin Thursday.

Players from both teams appear to be saying all the right things. Colorado, which gets center Peter Forsberg back from a concussion, talked about not taking dumb penalties and how much they respect the Red Wings.

Detroit players, meanwhile, promised to play disciplined hockey with no retaliation, and insisted their hatred of the Avalanche is a thing of the past.

But the league isn’t convinced.

Both general managers have been warned that savagery--such as the cheap shots, bloody fisticuffs and 148 minutes in penalties that marred the most recent meeting in Detroit on March 26--will not be tolerated.

That was the message of Brian Burke, the NHL’s director of hockey operations, who will attend the opener.

“We have a lot of bad blood in that series,” Burke said. “My message is simple: If it turns into a circus, we’ll start bouncing people and fining teams.”

The ill feelings stem from Game 6 of last year’s conference finals, in which Colorado’s Claude Lemieux blindsided Detroit’s Kris Draper and knocked him into the boards, causing severe facial fractures, including a broken jaw. Lemieux received a two-game suspension from the NHL.

The Red Wings, favored to win their first Stanley Cup since 1955 after posting the best regular-season record that year, lost to the Avalanche in six games, and Colorado went on to win the Stanley Cup.

The Wings vowed revenge and, after losing the first three regular-season meetings this year, they beat up on the Avalanche on March 26, winning, 6-5, in overtime. Darren McCarty pummeled Lemieux, and goalies Mike Vernon and Patrick Roy squared off at center ice, with Vernon bloodying Roy’s face.

Meanwhile, Colorado defenseman Uwe Krupp was scheduled to have back surgery Tuesday and winger Keith Jones was to have knee surgery today.

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Philadelphia Coach Terry Murray doesn’t plan to name the Flyers’ starting goalie in Friday’s Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers until at least Thursday.

Getting the nod will be either Ron Hextall, the season-long No. 1 whose slump at the end of the season--including two poor outings against the Rangers--put him on the bench for all but one of Philadelphia’s 10 playoff games so far.

Or Garth Snow, who took advantage of the chance to replace Hextall by posting a 7-2 record and a 2.53 goals-against average in his first Stanley Cup experience.

After playing Snow in the Flyers’ first nine playoff games, Murray switched to Hextall in the fifth and final game of the Flyers’ 4-1 series victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night.

Hextall didn’t have a great season against the Rangers, going 1-3-1 with a 2.97 goals-against average and saving 87% of his shots. By contrast, Ranger goalie Mike Richter was 3-2-1 against Philadelphia this year with a 1.98 goals-against average and a 94% save percentage.