Morganti: Penguins scoff all the way to the top

Well, there are flames all right. But those flames are the result of the Penguins being one of the hottest teams in the NHL over the first three months of the season, and Mario Lemieux burning up the league with his return.

"Don't let anybody fool you," said Ron Francis, the Penguins veteran center, and among the most underrated players in the history of the sport. "We're playing great, but nobody here ever could have dreamed of this. Not even him ..."

With that, Francis moved his shoulder toward Lemieux, who actually looked relaxed as he got ready for a Sunday night game against the Flyers in Philadelphia. "I really didn't know what to expect," Lemieux said. "What I know right now is that this game is so much more fun when there is no (back) pain. The difference is unbelievable."

What is also unbelievable is how the trades engineered by general manager Craig Patrick have worked out. "We knew there were going to be some rules to make the game more wide open." said Patrick, "but I wouldn't say that was the real reason we made some of the moves.

"Let's face it, the big thing is having Mario healthy, and Tom (Barrasso) healthy in goal. The players we traded for have fit in nicely, and with Mario back, some other guys have raised the level of their game."

Patrick said the Penguins were just "trying to dodge the bullet" when it came to trading both Larry Murphy (to Toronto for Dimitri Mironov) and Ulf Samuelsson (to the New York Rangers). "There were just some salaries we could not afford."

There was also some outrage that he let popular Kevin Stevens get away to Boston, but the combination of Stevens struggling and Bryan Smolinski coming on strong has even made that deal look good.

So, if Patrick was forced to scramble so much with last season's payroll, what will he do when Lemieux is supposed to make $11 million next season.

"I haven't been told to expect that," Patrick said. "I think there is some erroneous reporting on that. Maybe (technically) that's what is due, but Mario's contract is always being reworked."

Then again, the way Lemieux is playing, $11 million and a Stanley Cup might look like a bargain. Including his assist in Sunday night's 6-5 loss at Philadelphia, Lemieux has scored at least one point in each of the 26 games he has played.

Shark warning
The San Jose Sharks' management remains ambiguous about the long-term status of interim coach Jim Wiley. The longer the term "interim" remains in front of Wiley's name, the more apparent it becomes that Wiley will not finish the season with the Sharks.

Here's some friendly advice: If Wiley really wants to keep his job, he should reconsider the kind of honest remarks he made after the Sharks' 3-2 loss Saturday night in St. Louis. It was the first time the Sharks lost two consecutive games since Wiley took over (3-5-0), and Wiley suggested his team did not have the emotional energy needed to win the game.

"I don't understand how a team in such desperation could come out so flat," Wiley said after the loss.

Well, when it comes to stepping onto the ice ready to play, that's usually the coach's responsibility.

The Sharks' losing streak stretched to three games Sunday night when the Dallas Stars used them as fodder to end a six-game losing streak with a 4-2 win.

The game in Dallas also marked a low point for Owen Nolan, the sometimes sulky forward who San Jose acquired in a trade with Colorado. Wiley benched Nolan for the last half of the third period for lack of hustle.

If the Sharks do not turn some sort of corner by the start of the new year, watch for team management to make calls to former Bruins coach Tom McVie to get them on track this season.

Senatorial approval
I'll bet the fans in Ottawa can't wait for their Senators to return Saturday from a five-game trip out West. Even with a new coach and a new general manager, the Senators looked ineffective while losing consecutive games at San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim.

However, there are some positive signs for Ottawa. First, the league has made some strides to further help small market Canadian teams. At the Board of Governors meeting last week, a proposal would create a pool of league-wide resources to aid those markets.

Second, virtually every polled general manager or management person maintains that the selection of Pierre Gauthier as general manager will immediately help the club's credibility. This will be especially important to the fans who will be asked to support the club in a new building next month.

Alexandre Daigle and Radek Bonk are even showing signs of improvement. Mind you, not enough to justify their high draft status, nor their salary, but those two are being more productive. In fact, enough scouts have seen signs of life in Daigle that there has been some interest in the trade department -- most notably from the New Jersey Devils.

By the way, like Wiley, don't count on Dave Allison to remain the head coach very long. If he does make it through this season, keep an eye on New York Islanders assistant Guy Charron as a candidate to be the Senators next coach.

Streakless in San Jose
As bad as the Senators have been, they managed a torrid streak, for them, with three consecutive victories back in October. The only NHL team that still has not won consecutive games is San Jose.

The Sharks had a chance after a 2-1 victory over those same Senators in San Jose last week, but they botched it two nights later with a 4-1 loss to Toronto.

International flavor
New Jersey general manager Lou Lamoriello will be the head man for Team USA at next summer's World Cup tourney. This means two possible coaches will be Ron Wilson of the Mighty Ducks and Albany River Rats coach Rob Ftorek.

Wilson is a product of Lamoriello's coaching reign from when they were both at Providence College, and Ftorek coaches the Devils' American Hockey League farm team.

As for team Canada, Glen Sather will run that operation. Mario Lemieux is leaving his options open as to whether or not to take a "pass" on the tourney. One mitigating factor that likely will cause Lemieux to say "no" is that the NHL will likely reject a proposal to start the season two weeks later. That proposal would allow the players who compete in the tourney to get some rest.

The issue was supposed to be brought before the Board of Governors last week in Florida, but it was tabled. Sources around the NHL say most general managers and Commissioner Gary Bettman are against the idea.

Jetting the Devils?
Getting back to Ftorek, the first move the Winnipeg Jets franchise should make when it moves to Phoenix is to sign the former World Hockey Association star as its head coach.

Ftorek was a local legend during his days with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the WHA. And replacing steady, but boring Terry Simpson as head coach in a new market is almost a mandate from the franchise's marketing department.

Rookie Daze
It is the opinion here that Chicago's Eric Daze will win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year. However, Los Angeles forward Vitali Yachmenev has made a pretty good early run with 11 goals in his first 28 games.

Interestingly, each one of those goals was assisted by Wayne Gretzky. The Great One says playing with Yachmenev has helped rejuvenate him, adding that it's something about feeding off the energy of a rookie.

Well, if Yachmenev wins the Calder, he should give a piece of it to Gretzky. After all, it's one piece of NHL hardware that will never have Gretzky's name etched upon it. If you'll recall, when Gretzky broke into the NHL in 1979-80, he came over as part of an Oilers team from the WHA. The NHL banned Gretzky and other players with WHA experience from Calder competition because of their professional experience.

Who won the Calder Trophy in Gretzky's "rookie" season? That answer at the end of this column.

Hollywood no-shows
The Wayne Gretzky era with the Kings has been marked by sellout crowds, or at least the Kings have sold about 16,005 seats for every game (a lot of nights, the Hollywood types buy the tickets and then don't show up).

Anyway, the Kings are starting to see some gaping holes in the attendance, including the lowest crowd of the Gretzky era when only 11,221 showed up to see the Kings beat the Ottawa Senators at the Forum last week. The previous evening, the Senators had played before an "announced" sellout at San Jose, but there were huge gaps in the crowd again as many elected to avoid the matchup with Ottawa.

The Board of Governors spoke briefly about some attendance worries last week, and the word from Bettman was that teams should stop looking at an increase in ticket prices as the cure all. Instead, there should be some renewed fiscal responsibility in salary structure.

The average salary in the NHL for this season is about $760,000 and it's expected to be around $850,000 next season.

Have a seat
Kings tough guy Rick Tocchet missed Saturday night's loss to Toronto because of a suspension. Tocchet got the automatic suspension when he accrued his third game misconduct of the season. The problem now gets larger as Tocchet will be suspended for two games after another game misconduct, three for his next, etc.

Blue notes
According to two NHL general managers, St. Louis coach/general manager Mike Keenan has let it be known that he would consider trading Chris Pronger in the right deal. It would have to involve some big names, but imagine Keenan being bold enough to move the player who cost the Blues fan favorite Brendan Shanahan.

If Keenan moves Pronger, who scored his first goal since Oct. 25 on Saturday night against San Jose, Keenan would probably have to wear a suit of armor to the Blues' remaining home games -- unless he gets back a popular player such as Adam Oates.

One thing Keenan did right in the off-season was signing goalie Grant Fuhr. Although there was a point when Blues management asked about voiding Fuhr's contract because of his physical condition, Fuhr has been amazing in net and has started every game.

Fuhr earnestly wants to start every game, and one of his biggest allies will be the St. Louis schedule. The Blues have only 10 sets of games in which they play on consecutive nights -- the lowest number of back-to-back games in the NHL.

Blank Russian
The Rangers have remained patient with forward Alexei Kovalev who has struggled through a stretch of 18 consecutive games without a goal (through Monday night's game against Washington). Coach Colin Campbell has even double-shifted Kovalev during the drought to try to get him untracked.

Deserting the Island?
The New York Islanders were not interested in a deal with the Washington Capitals that would have sent forward Joe Juneau to the Island. They also were less-than-thrilled with a proposal from the Dallas Stars in which Dave Gagner and a first-round pick would go to Long Island for disgruntled Kirk Muller.

The Isles should get defenseman Scott Lachance (groin injury) back in their lineup just after Christmas.

And for those who thought Los Angeles forward Eric Lacroix's five-game suspension, for driving New York's Dennis Vaske into the boards from behind Nov. 22, was too stiff a penalty, you should know that over the weekend Vaske missed his 12th game since that incident.

On another Islander injury front, it continues to look more and more bleak for the career of forward Brett Lindros. Still suffering from headaches and blurred vision, Lindros has returned home to Ontario to check with medical experts about the damage he has suffered from a couple of concussions, the last coming Nov. 24 against Buffalo.

There is a growing concern that the concussions will end his career.

The Islanders were counting on Lindros and his physical style to be a crowd attraction. And they could certainly use something. In seven of their last 15 home dates, they have drawn crowds of less than 10,000 with an average attendance of 10,891 over those 15 dates. Their latest embarrassment occurred Saturday night when only 8,254 showed up to see the Isles play the Hartford Whalers.

House hunting
Here's the list of cities that will line up when the NHL finally announces some sort of formal expansion plan:

Portland, Ore., Nashville, Tenn., Houston, Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Charlotte, N.C., and Orlando, Fla. Then again, one of those cities may wind up with the Florida Panthers or the Hartford Whalers next season.

The situation in Florida will have a big bearing on which cities get expansion franchises. Bettman remains adamant that the problem in Miami is a building problem and not a hockey problem. So, you can bet that a major part of any expansion dealings will be a sweetheart deal with an arena -- that deal will have to be locked in place.

The NHL already has seen what was supposed to be a tremendous deal with a new arena fall apart in Colorado where the Avalanche are already looking for a new building. They won't be in one until at least the 1999-2000 season.

High flying
If fans of the Montreal Canadiens don't feel badly enough about the trade that sent Eric Desjardins and John LeClair to the Philadelphia Flyers for Mark Recchi and a third-round draft pick, they should know the Flyers are 5-0-0 against the Canadiens since that deal. That includes a 4-2 victory Saturday in Philly's final meeting at the Forum.

Desjardins finally scored his first goal of the season during a power play Sunday night when the Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5. Despite his low goal total this season, Desjardins' smooth style has been a key element in allowing the Flyers to move the puck out of their zone.

Hurting Hawks
The Chicago Blackhawks, who used Jeremy Roenick on right wing with center Denis Savard and Tony Amonte on the left side for a while during Sunday night's victory over Winnipeg, have been a one-step forward, one-step back team all season. They still have not won more than two consecutive games. Of course, the Hawks have missed center Bernie Nicholls (spleen injury, out at least three more weeks).

The Hawks also are missing defenseman Steve Smith, who could be back within a week from his latest bout with a bad back. Part of the problem this time is that the Hawks' medical staff prescribed a less-than-optimum set of exercises for recovery. Smith has been steadily improving since a new exercise regime was set up by a back specialist from Los Angeles who has worked with many NHL players.

On the positive side, the Hawks are now getting the snarly play they expected from tough guy Bob Probert, who has already fought 10 times this season.

Probert received a lot of criticism for not throwing some heavy checks and punches when he made his return visit to Detroit. During that game, the Red Wings buried some of Probert's teammates with big checks, including an especially a heavy check on little Joe Murphy.

A lot of people wanted Probert to respond with a flurry of punches, but the game was too close for a dumb penalty. However, in the Hawks' next game, Probert responded with a couple of battles, taking on Montreal's Lyle Odelein and Stephane Quintal.

And in the next game, Probert scored the game-winning goal against the Winnipeg Jets. Probert said some of the therapy he needed to halt his addictions might have affected his game face.

"I have to get some therapy just to get back from my therapy," Probert joked with reporters from Chicago.

Slap shots