NHL Notes : U.S. Players Are Making Greater Inroads

Last June, Detroit native Mike Modano was the No. 1 pick in the National Hockey League draft, becoming only the second American-born player to earn that distinction.

Last week, Boston-born Jeremy Roenick became the first American to lead the world junior tournament in scoring with a record eight goals and 16 points in seven games. A look at the NHL’s top rookie scorers through Wednesday showed Americans in second, third, fourth and sixth places; of the 11 highest-scoring defensemen in the league, four are Americans.

“It didn’t just happen,” said Bob Johnson, the executive director of USA Hockey, amateur hockey’s governing body. “This has been a long development process. Finally, today American kids are getting an identity as good hockey players. There’s a lot of good Americans out there.”

There were always a lot of good players on the ponds in Minnesota, Michigan and Massachusetts. The trick was to entice players from all parts of the country, making good instruction available and pinpointing the best players so their skills could be refined to the level of their Canadian, Soviet or Scandinavian counterparts.

Toward that end, USA Hockey runs developmental camps for 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds and juniors, sending them on to the national and Olympic teams, and eventually to the NHL.

“We’re giving the American boy a chance to reach his full potential,” said Johnson, who has coached the Calgary Flames and at the University of Wisconsin. “When I grew up, the NHL was a mountain Americans never had a chance to climb. There was one, Tommy Williams, who played for Boston. Now there’s 100 (112 at the start of the season), and 100 more in Europe.

“People think our program wasn’t very strong because we were seventh in the (1988) Olympics. I think we would have won a medal if our goaltending was stronger. That’s how we won it in ‘60, with Jack McCartan, and in ‘80, with Jim Craig. Look at the talent on that (‘88) team: Brian Leetch, Craig Janney and Tony Granato, and the best player, Corey Millen, isn’t in the league.”

Millen didn’t sign with the Rangers and is playing in Europe. “It’s great to see these kids doing so well in the NHL, and I like what I saw of our junior team in Anchorage. We’re awfully competitive now.”

If the New York Islanders finish last in the Patrick Division, which seems likely, they’ll be the first team to fall from first place one season to last the next in more than 45 years. The 1941-42 Rangers finished first with a 29-17-2 record but plunged in 1942-43 with an 11-31-8 mark.

People will chuckle at the news that the Philadelphia Flyers will soon test-market a men’s cologne called “Bully” in Philadelphia stores. The letter “B” will be shaped like the “P” in the Flyers’ logo. Great name, anyway.

The Chicago Blackhawks are looking for an experienced goaltender, and the man they want is Boston’s Rejean Lemelin. After losing goalie Darren Pang because of a severe hamstring pull, they promoted John Reid from Saginaw, Mich., of the International Hockey League, only to have Reid break a bone in his hand Monday. They’re in the midst of playing seven games in 11 nights and need help fast.

Pittsburgh’s trade of Ville Siren to Minnesota for Gord Dineen and Scott Bjugstad was curious to begin with. It looks even worse since Zarley Zalapski underwent arthroscopic knee surgery that will idle him for six weeks and since shoulder problems have bothered Paul Coffey.

Besides Coffey and Zalapski, the Penguins have no defensemen capable of moving the puck out of the defensive zone, as Siren can. But sources have said the Finnish defenseman was sent packing because General Manager Tony Esposito doesn’t like European players. Bjugstad is a winger who lost his scoring touch in Minnesota, and Dineen is a marginal defenseman who isn’t physical. Defense is the Penguins’ sole weakness and might ultimately prove their downfall come playoff time, when defense traditionally outweighs offense.

The Winnipeg Jets will retire Bobby Hull’s No. 9 in a special ceremony scheduled in March. His number has been retired by the Chicago Blackhawks, so he will join Gordie Howe (Detroit and Hartford) as the only other player to have enjoyed two such honors.

The NHL’s jump to SportsChannel America this season would have looked brilliant if SportsChannel America had won the cable TV rights for baseball. Many cable systems that don’t carry SportsChannel would have picked it up to get baseball; as it stands, fans in many NHL franchise cities can’t get SportsChannel telecasts.