AFTER careful consideration, the Rangers have decided to defer Wayne Gretzky’s number-retirement ceremony at the Garden until next season, Slap Shots has been told by team President Neil Smith.
“After watching the banner-raising on opening night in Edmonton, then projecting ahead to ceremonies planned for Wayne this year at the Hall of Fame, at the All-Star Game, probably in L.A., and one for him in Montreal, where his Team Canada No. 99 is going to be retired, I think we all might be better off to hold off for a year and present something distinctive,” Smith said on Friday. “Next year is our 75th anniversary, so I’m thinking that it would be special if we could find a way to tie it into a year-long celebration of the Rangers.”
It would be very special if Smith, guardian of Ranger history, dedicates next season to honoring the great Blueshirts such as Andy Bathgate, Jean Ratelle and The Cat, himself, Emile Francis, who have never been properly recognized for their service, not to mention those like Bill and Bun Cook, Frank Boucher and Bryan Hextall, who came much earlier and established the stage on which The Great One performed on Broadway. *MEANWHILE, Gretzky’s Nov. 22 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held in the Toronto museum’s small auditorium before a select audience of friends and family. Most of the hockey world in attendance will watch the ceremony on television monitors in the Hall’s reception area. Of course, fans – Gretzky’s adoring subjects – will have no chance to attend the signal Canadian event of the season.
But why not move the ceremony to Maple Leaf Gardens, the building The Great One revered more than any other, and open it to the public? Why not donate the proceeds from ticket sales to charities serving hockey players from an earlier time? *SO HERE is the NHL Board of Governors meeting this past Wednesday in Denver to vote on the sale of the Avalanche and to consider a censure motion introduced by the Blackhawks against Washington GM George McPhee for his preseason attack on goon-squad coach Lorne Molleken.
And who, lo and behold, should show up all by his lonesome to represent the Blackhawks? None other than John A. Ziegler, Jr., himself, apparently deputized by longtime crony, Chicago owner Bill Wirtz. Heads turned and tongues clucked, believe us they did, but not a single hand was raised when Ziegler introduced the motion and asked for a second to send it to the floor for a vote.
Now if only Al Eagleson had been on hand, perhaps the board would have gone along with Ziegler and Wirtz, just like the old days, when the three amigos conspired to run the league without letting the players in on the joke. *CANADIENS, decimated by injury on the defense to the extent that Eric Weinrich went into Philly on Thursday as the team’s No. 1, offered Ulf Samuelsson a one-year, $1.7 million (U.S.) contract, Slap Shots has learned. The former Ranger defenseman, believing that an offer will eventually come his way from a U.S.-based contender, declined.
Kirk Muller, among those for whom unrestricted free agency has equated to unexpected early retirement, is willing to play a fourth- or third-line role for $500,000, if not less, according to an individual close to the 33-year-old, one-time captain of the Devils and Canadiens.
With all due respect to his agent, Mike Barnett, if Muller wishes to distinguish himself from the employment pool consisting of forwards such as Joe Juneau, Pat Verbeek, Dmitri Khristich, Ray Sheppard and Joe Murphy still looking for major paydays, he’s advised to pick up the phone himself to solicit NHL general managers.
“I don’t think players realize how much of an impression that makes,” one GM told us. “It would probably be his best chance to get a job at this point.”
Impossible to believe that Muller, even in a league with an accelerated pace, wouldn’t be a terrific sign at that price for a dozen or more teams in search of character and leadership … and a guy who can play a little bit, too. *MARK Gandler, agent for the vilified Alexei Yashin, at least chuckled when he read reports from Ottawa that the center was considering an immediate return to the Senators.
“That is not at all accurate,” said Gandler. “Nothing has changed with Alexei or his situation with the Senators.”
Maple Leafs, we’re told, have made Khristich a one-year, $2.2M offer that the Bruins would have matched under salary arbitration walkaway rules before trading the winger to Toronto. Khristich rejected the offer.
Islanders dispatched prize defense prospect Eric Brewer to the AHL for an attitude check more than anything else, we’ve been informed by sources close to the scene.
Avalanche must be getting serious in their efforts to shop Claude Lemieux, eligible for unrestricted free agency next July. How else to explain Bob Hartley taking Lemieux off the power-play and penalty-kill units, and awarding him the ninth-most minutes among his forwards in Wednesday’s home opener against the Bruins? That’s the history of Hartley, burying veterans if they’re in the final season of a contract and not likely to fit into the budget for an extension, as he did last year with Valeri Kamensky.
Lemieux to the Rangers? He is exactly the kind of abrasive individual on and off the ice that this still vanilla team desperately needs, but there is no room in the lineup for him. Not unless, that is, the Rangers move Todd Harvey to Carolina in a package for Keith Primeau, who, despite Hurricane GM Jim Rutherford’s very public edicts, still is available, albeit for a whopping, all-but unaffordable price.
Flyers, seeking a goaltender to replace the unreliable John Vanbiesbrouck, are believed to have interest in Felix Potvin and Byron Dafoe. Smart move, wasn’t it, ignoring both Mike Richter and Curtis Joseph during the summer of 1998 to sign the Beezer. Boy, the Flyers sure showed those guys, didn’t they?
Blackhawks and Flyers are believed very interested in Billy Guerin, whose availability in a deal was communicated via fax to GMs around the league by Glen Sather. Problem for Guerin, whom just about everybody would love to have, is reluctance of teams to break ranks – even those that can well afford it – to reward his Group II holdout by paying him anywhere close to the $3.5M he’s been demanding from the Oilers. *FINALLY, when the Rangers do begin to honor their past, a place of honor should be reserved for Jeff Beukeboom, a foot soldier carried out too early on his own shield. Here’s hoping for a full recovery for No. 23, and for management to be judicious indeed before handing out that jersey another time.