NHL Opens 81st Season Amid an Era of Change

The Mario Lemieux era has ended in Pittsburgh, the Mark Messier era is just beginning in Vancouver, and there’s a new era in international relations.

They’re only some of the changes for the NHL’s 81st season, which begins Wednesday. More than 60 players and nine coaches changed teams, and for the third straight year, a franchise moved.

Then there’s the NHL’s first-time participation in the Olympics, a way for the league to increase exposure by showcasing the world’s best players. Teams will break for 2 1/2 weeks in February and the league’s stars will play for their countries--and in many cases against their NHL teammates--in Nagano, Japan.

But the Winter Games have raised concerns about injuries, divided locker rooms when the Olympics are over, and lost momentum for teams less than two months before the playoffs.

“You might have three Americans, three Canadians and two Russians on your team who played in the Olympics,” Dallas Stars defenseman Shawn Chambers says. “There might be bad blood, and now you’ve got to be teammates again. It could be a little iffy.”

The 1997-98 season begins less than four months after the Detroit Red Wings ended 42 years of frustration by winning the Stanley Cup.

Triumph turned to tragedy six days later: star defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov were almost killed in a limo wreck while leaving a Red Wings celebration.

Konstantinov was comatose for more than five weeks. Mnatsakanov had emerged from his coma a week earlier and both are undergoing rehabilitation. Konstantinov’s locker is still filled with his equipment, skates hanging from hooks above with his pads and uniform. But it’s doubtful he’ll ever play again.

His loss will make it especially difficult for the champs to repeat, something a team hasn’t done since Lemieux led the Penguins to two straight Cups in 1991-92.

“Not having Vladdie in our lineup leaves a huge hole,” Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman says. “He’s one of the best defensemen in the league. Maybe the best.”

In the last six years, a total of six different teams have won the championship and 11 different teams have made it to the championship round.

The parity is the result of several factors, most notably the widespread influx of talent from abroad, plenty of good goaltending and a free-agent market that has allowed more movement of players.

Witness Messier, who moved from New York to Vancouver and suddenly made the Canucks a team to watch. The free-agent center, who has won six Stanley Cups, signed a three-year, $21 million deal with the Canucks in July and has been making the transition since.

“It takes some time,” Messier says. “Getting myself settled, getting a place to live, getting to know the guys better every day, obviously makes things more comfortable.

“When I was in New York I was there to play hockey and everything else took a backseat to the game itself. I’m here to play hockey again.”

Some other notable free-agent signings: goaltender Ed Belfour left San Jose to join Dallas; goaltender Andy Moog left Dallas for Montreal; forward Tomas Sandstrom left Detroit for Anaheim; forward Mike Keane left Colorado and forward Brian Skrudland left Florida for the New York Rangers; forward Rick Tocchet left Washington for Phoenix; Esa Tikannen signed with Florida after a second stint with the Rangers; and defenseman Luke Richardson joined Philadelphia from Edmonton.

Joe Sakic, one of the NHL’s top forwards, would have left Colorado for the Rangers if the Avalanche had not matched New York’s offer sheet for the restricted free agent, which included a $15 million signing bonus.

Among the notable trades during the offseason, the Red Wings sent goaltender Mike Vernon to San Jose for a couple of draft picks. Vernon, most valuable player in the playoffs, was deemed expendable by Detroit with Chris Osgood as the No. 1 goalie and Kevin Hodson as his backup. Elsewhere, Gary Roberts, a two-time All-Star continuing a comeback from a neck injury, was traded by Calgary to the new Carolina Hurricanes in a four-player deal.

The NHL continued a trend of moving into the Sun Belt when the Hartford Whalers became the Hurricanes, who will play for two seasons in Greensboro, N.C., before moving to Raleigh, N.C. Whether hockey will succeed in an area known for its rabid football and NASCAR fans remains to be seen.

“The game will sell itself,” Carolina forward Stu Grimson said. “We’ve talked a lot about the logo and the newness of our game to the market and I really think the guys have to look at it as a challenge. Our success first and last will determine how we’re going to go over in this area.”

Other areas also will be tested soon. The NHL will add four expansion teams by 2000 in Atlanta, St. Paul, Minn., Nashville, Tenn., and Columbus, Ohio.

It was one of the league’s established teams that caused problems in the offseason.

A proposed sale of the New York Islanders fell through because of a criminal investigation of prospective owner John Spano, who faced bank fraud charges in New York. Islanders owner John Pickett eventually found another buyer in Steven Gluckstern, part-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes. Gluckstern and three partners have signed a letter of intent to buy the Islanders for a reported $195 million and are awaiting league approval.

Meanwhile, there are nine teams with new coaches: Pat Burns replaced Steve Kasper in Boston; Brian Sutter replaced Pierre Page in Calgary; Jim Schoenfeld moved from Washington to Phoenix, replacing Don Hay; Kevin Constantine took over in Pittsburgh; and Darryl Sutter took over for Al Sims in San Jose.

Despite leading Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup finals, Terry Murray was replaced by Wayne Cashman. Winning the Coach of the Year award didn’t do any good for Ted Nolan. He was virtually forced out of Buffalo and replaced by Lindy Ruff.

Ron Wilson was kicked out at Anaheim despite leading the Mighty Ducks to the playoffs for the first time and he landed in Washington. Page replaced Wilson in Anaheim.

Constantine has taken over a new-look Pittsburgh team missing the retired Lemieux, a megastar who made the Penguins one of the most feared offensive teams in the NHL.

“We have to realize we’re not the same team we were in the early ‘90s,” said center Ron Francis. “We can’t go out and win on talent alone. It’s going to take a team effort and a disciplined style of hockey.”

As a precursor to the Olympics, the NHL for the first time has scheduled regular-season games in Japan. The first weekend of the season will feature a two-game series in Tokyo between Vancouver and Anaheim.

To make up for the 17-day Olympic break this season, from Feb. 8-24, each team will play an extra game every seven weeks. Opening night, featuring an unusual full schedule of 10 games, will be a few days earlier than normal.

In keeping with the international flavor of the season, the NHL has also switched the format of its All-Star Game featuring players from North America against players from the rest of the world. The North American All-Stars will take on the World All-Stars on Jan. 18 in Vancouver.

Yet another change in a season of changes for the NHL.