Nicholls Jumps Into New Waters for Sharks

The Sharks haven’t staged a retirement ceremony for Bernie Nicholls. If they offered to throw him a party, he would probably decline.

“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “When you’re asked to retire, it’s different than when I decide it’s time. I don’t necessarily want it right now because I was told to retire and I wasn’t ready. Am I supposed to ask the guy who retired me to make some kind of speech?”

San Jose General Manager Dean Lombardi bungled it by telling Nicholls he was being taken off the active roster Nov. 21 after playing 10 games and recording two assists. Lombardi should have given the 37-year-old center time to prepare for his finale and to perform one last “Pumper Nicholl”--his trademark fist-pumping post-goal celebration.

“That was the most disappointing part, not so much for me, but I felt bad for my mom and dad,” Nicholls said. “My dad traveled a lot of miles for me. If I’d known that Saturday night was going to be my last game, I would have invited my brothers and sisters and family. They didn’t even watch the game.

“When everybody looks back, they’ll say it wasn’t handled right.”

Nicholls deserved better. And he deserves a nod of thanks from King fans Wednesday, when he visits the Forum for the first time as a Shark assistant coach.

The shy kid from tiny Haliburton, Canada, came to Los Angeles in 1981 and was a big hit. Few players caught fans’ imaginations as he did in 1988-89, when he scored 70 goals--still a club record--and had 150 points. In 602 games with the Kings, he had 327 goals and 758 points, in the top five in both categories, and twice led the team in scoring.

“L.A. was great for me,” Nicholls said. “I was there for nine years and played with some great people, like Dave Taylor, Charlie Simmer and Marcel Dionne, and then Wayne [Gretzky] came. “You’ve got Luc Robitaille in between, Steve Duchesne, John Tonelli, Tiger Williams--you look back at all the team pictures, and it was like there were 20 new guys every year.

“Having the opportunity to play with Wayne was incredible. We had a lot of loyal fans in Los Angeles, but it really took off in 1988-89, when Wayne came. Playing with Wayne opened up a lot of opportunities for all of us, and I capitalized on that. It was a lot of fun.”

The fun ended when he was traded to the New York Rangers for Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato on Jan. 20, 1990--some say because Gretzky was jealous of his popularity. “I was crushed. I wanted to stay there,” Nicholls said. “I wouldn’t trade anything for the years I spent in L.A. But [later] I played in Chicago with Chris Chelios, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss that. And in New Jersey, we had a great team. I loved New York too.

“I played with a lot of great players and for a lot of great coaches, and it’s going to help me in my new career. I worked with Roger Neilson, Jacques Lemaire, Glen Sather and Pat Quinn, and I can use what I learned.”

Nicholls’ transition to coaching has been smooth. He worked with San Jose’s top minor-league players in Kentucky but most often tutors the Sharks’ power-play unit and helps the centers hone their faceoff skills.

“I’ve always enjoyed the coaching part of it,” he said. “You and I could be out playing golf, and if I’m a better player, I’m going to give you my two cents. I just like to see people do good. The last two years with Darryl [Sutter, the Sharks’ coach] I’ve tried to help the kids. It’s hard to be a successful coach without a good background, and when you work with a lot of good coaches, you’ve gotten a lot of input.

“It’s been fun and it’s been worth it for where I’m going.”

Here’s to a successful coaching career for one of the game’s good guys.

HE CAN DO IT ALL

With a name like Muckalt--as in “we gotta muck in the corners”--Vancouver Canuck right wing Bill Muckalt was born to play hockey. And he’s playing well enough to merit consideration for rookie-of-the-year honors.

Muckalt, 24, played on two NCAA championship teams in four years at Michigan. He has won raves from Coach Mike Keenan--no small feat--and leads rookies in scoring with 11 goals and 21 points. He’s a great find for a team that Keenan, in his rare bursts of diplomacy, calls “a little short-handed” because of Pavel Bure’s holdout and injuries to Todd Bertuzzi and Alexander Mogilny.

“He can really skate,” Keenan said of Muckalt, the Canucks’ ninth pick and 221st overall in the 1994 draft. “He has good speed, can shoot the puck hard and plays with a lot of intensity. He’s having a good start. He’s going to be a solid NHL player.”

Muckalt can also roll out overused phrases like a veteran. Asked if playing in a city that’s out of the media spotlight might harm his chances of winning the Calder Trophy, he actually blushed.

“I don’t worry about things like that. It doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I just came here with the attitude that I have to try to do the best I could to help the team win, and I’m doing whatever I can. I don’t look at individual stuff. It’s nice to get attention and have a good start, but the team is the only thing that matters.”

He paused. “Those are real cliches, huh?” he said, smiling.

Uh, yeah.

“But in hockey it’s true,” he said. “This really is a team game.”

He meant it, which was marvelously refreshing.

PHOENIX STILL RISING

The Phoenix Coyotes may have lost some sleep during a stretch in which they played 11 of 13 games on the road, and they may have lost some luggage too. Early on, their unbeaten streak ended at 14 and their streak of giving up two goals or fewer ended at 17, but they didn’t fall apart.

Instead, they grew stronger and used that new grit to compile a respectable 7-4-2 record.

“You have to score ugly goals. It’s the key to your success,” center Jeremy Roenick said. “Ugly goals come from hard work. That’s one thing we’ve done this year, worked hard and grind when we have to. You just see who gets the most ugly goals, and we hope it’s us.”

SLAP SHOTS

Pavel Bure reportedly received a $4-million offer from the Belarus hockey federation to play in that country next season. The lure would be a tax-free paycheck, fewer games than in the NHL and less travel. Bure isn’t likely to be packing his bags just yet. He still wants to play in the NHL, although it remains unclear when (or if) the Canucks will deal him. . . . Vancouver General Manager Brian Burke intends to claim that because Bure didn’t honor a valid contract, the contract should not be considered over after this season and Bure should not be considered a free agent next summer. Burke said he has the league’s backing, but the NHL Players Assn. is sure to fight that.

Montreal’s hiring of Jacques Lemaire as a consultant can only mean General Manager Rejean Houle’s days are numbered. The Canadiens’ emotional victory Saturday in their last game at Maple Leaf Gardens bought Houle some time, but it can’t disguise the struggles of offensive stars such as Saku Koivu, who has only one goal in his last 12 games. . . . Pat LaFontaine, who retired last summer because of the cumulative effects of six concussions, will appear in a TV documentary on head injuries. He has counseled players who have concussions, urging them not to come back too quickly and risk additional damage while they’re most vulnerable. . . . Mark Messier offered this evidence that he hadn’t lost his wits after suffering a concussion: “I didn’t put the milk in the oven this morning after I had my cereal, I put it in the refrigerator.”

The Red Wings are likely to make at least one move to beef up their defense before the playoffs. They’re unhappy with their defensemen’s play around the slot and figure a muscular defenseman might cut down some of the close-in scoring chances they’ve been allowing. . . . Florida General Manager Bryan Murray said his Pittsburgh counterpart, Craig Patrick, asked if he wanted Stu Barnes back, but Murray hadn’t decided. The decline of the Panthers from 1996 Stanley Cup finalists to playoff spectators last season is often linked to the Panthers’ trade of Barnes to the Penguins on Nov. 19, 1996, for the disappointing Chris Wells. . . . Winger Markus Naslund, scratched by Vancouver in two of its first four games, has vaulted into the ranks of NHL goal-scoring leaders with 18. . . . With 15 goals, center Bobby Holik is on pace to become the first Devil to score 30 goals since John MacLean scored 37 in 1993-94.