Joseph Hurts the Maple Leafs

Dominik Hasek’s groin injury gave him a reason for being absent Sunday when the Buffalo Sabres opened the Eastern Conference finals at Toronto.

What was Curtis Joseph’s excuse?

The Maple Leaf goaltender, who has correctly been credited with being the foundation of the team’s renaissance this season, was outplayed by first-time playoff starter Dwayne Roloson in Buffalo’s 5-4 victory at the Air Canada Centre. Cujo gave up five goals on 21 shots, which is unforgivable in the playoffs. And he knew it.

“It seemed like everything they touched turned into a goal,” Joseph said. “They made some good shots, but I didn’t make saves at the right time.”

Geoff Sanderson’s one-handed effort on the winner was spectacular, but Joseph didn’t distinguish himself by going down early on two other goals and going in the wrong direction on the first goal. The Sabres made things difficult for themselves by taking a succession of penalties that gave Toronto nine power plays, and they can’t do that again.

As for Hasek, the two-time MVP knew Saturday he couldn’t play Sunday. He doesn’t expect to be ready for Game 2, today at Toronto.

“[Sunday] morning I saw the doctor one more time, so we decided I cannot play,” said Hasek, who suffered the injury in February and aggravated it during Buffalo’s second-round series against Boston.

“[Saturday] after practice, my groin was so bad, I could not go up and down. I was in so much pain. It’s nothing new. I already had this problem. . . . I wish I would wake up and it will be OK, but I don’t think so. I don’t have to be 100% to play, but I’m not able to go up and down.”

The Maple Leafs face enormous pressure at home, and that’s magnified by an entire country’s Stanley Cup hopes on their heaving shoulders. They will eventually solve Roloson, but the Sabres might have already solved Joseph. The much-anticipated goaltending duel in this series may not be a matter of who’s left standing, but of who flops less.

HELLO TO A GOOD BUY

Missouri billionaire Bill Laurie, whose purchase of the Colorado Avalanche will be completed next month, was a basketball point guard at Memphis State and played in the NCAA Final Four. He had never seen an NHL game until March 26--but that look helped convince him that the Avalanche was worth owning.

A conversation with General Manager Pierre Lacroix about the organization’s depth and its ability to replace older, high-salaried players with talented kids within a few years also did much to win him over. The Hockey News recently rated Colorado’s prospects the best of any NHL team.

Laurie will pay $400 million for the Avalanche, the Denver Nuggets of the NBA and the Pepsi Center, which will house the teams starting next season.

“We’re rich in depth,” Lacroix said. “We could turn over 50% of the club in the next two years with our kids and still be competitive. . . .

“Mr. Laurie is knowing not much about hockey, but he knows sports and he sees that our structure is good. He’s a winner. He’s got no loser blood, and his wife [Nancy] is the same. She’s involved too, and so is their daughter.”

LISTEN TO ME, KID

Dale Hunter’s contributions to the Avalanche’s playoff effort can’t be measured only on the score sheet. The veteran center deserves credit for counseling impressive rookies Chris Drury and Milan Hejduk about what to expect in the playoffs.

“He pulled me and Milan aside and said the intensity was going to change and we had to be prepared for that,” Drury said. “He said the preseason would be at one level, the regular season at a higher level and the playoffs at another, and he was right.

“Each round has been more and more intense. Obviously, the older guys, the guys that have been in the league a long time, they’re going to kick it up. I’ve learned you can’t really have any slow shifts or take it easy.”

THERE’S GOTTA BE A BETTER WAY

Colorado appeared to have been robbed of a goal Saturday when officials ruled a puck redirected by Valeri Kamensky hit the padding inside the net and caromed out without entirely crossing the goal line.

As ESPN announcers Gary Thorne and Bill Clement alertly noted, the padding should have been recessed enough so any puck that hit it would clearly have been a goal. However, close-ups showed the padding was close to the goal line and wasn’t flush against the ice. It was later adjusted.

Clement found the best reason to believe the goal should have counted. He pointed out that after Kamensky’s shot caromed out, Dallas defenseman Darryl Sydor fired the puck away and into traffic--the typical reaction of a player whose team has been scored on. If it hadn’t been a goal, Sydor would have made a safe play and wouldn’t have risked having the puck intercepted.

OUTFOXED

Fox officials objected to claims by NHL executives that Fox didn’t actively cross-promote telecasts on cable rights holder ESPN.

“Anyone at the NHL that seriously believes that must be a closet member of the Flat Earth Society,” said David Hill, president of Fox Sports.

Fox insiders point out that NHL executives didn’t say air time on Fox is worth more than time on ESPN, and that ESPN didn’t give equal value to promoting Fox games. Nor did the NHL pressure ESPN to cross-promote Fox telecasts equally.

Fox’s top ratings average during its five-year deal was 2.1, in 1996. It averaged a 1.4 last season and matched that this season. The overnight rating on Sunday’s Toronto-Buffalo game was a 1.2, the lowest of any Fox postseason telecast in five years. That’s not surprising, though, because Buffalo is a small TV market and Toronto isn’t a Fox market at all.

The NHL gains nothing by criticizing Fox, which gave it more weekly over-the-air exposure than it will get from the five-year, $600-million ABC-ESPN deal that begins next season. Fox tried to be innovative and invested a lot of money in its telecasts. Trashing Fox now helps no one.

SLAP SHOTS

When Coyote Coach Jim Schoenfeld guaranteed his team would win its first-round series against St. Louis, he knew a loss might cost him his job. Phoenix lost a few weeks ago and Schoenfeld lost on Monday, when he was fired. It’s long past time for a new philosophy and sweeping changes, starting with splitting up the poisonous Keith Tkachuk-Jeremy Roenick pairing. . . . Voters in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale approved the formation of a stadium district to proceed with plans for an arena-mall complex to house the Coyotes. But that’s several years away.

Former King coach Larry Robinson talked to Tampa Bay General Manager-Coach Jacques Demers about an assistant coaching job. Demers has no openings, but that could change if Ottawa GM Rick Dudley becomes GM in Tampa, as is rumored. . . . Matt Zultek, drafted 15th by the Kings in 1997, scored the overtime winner Sunday as Ottawa defeated Calgary for the Memorial Cup, the major junior hockey championship.

The four-year, $35-million deal that kept Brian Leetch with the Rangers makes him the NHL’s highest-paid defenseman. It’s a steep price, but one the Rangers had to pay to have any hope of contending in the next five years. . . . The San Jose Sharks started contract talks with free agent-to-be Vincent Damphousse, whose arrival boosted their playoff run. He wants a five-year deal worth $5 million a season, but he’s past 31 and the Sharks are leery. They want to sign him before July 1, when he can talk to other teams, because they fear the Rangers will throw piles of money at him.

Mario Lemieux declined an offer to work for a group formed by SMG and Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh and intends to pursue his own plan to reorganize the Penguins’ finances. Under the joint plan, he would have been chairman of a management committee with a 5% stake in the team. With their own plan in place, SMG--which manages the Civic Arena--and Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh have no incentive to grant the breaks Lemieux’s plan counts on.

The Blues weren’t inclined to offer center Pierre Turgeon a new deal, but his strong playoff efforts may earn him a new contract. . . . Stu Barnes’ goal Sunday was his first in 32 games and first since the Sabres got him from Pittsburgh March 11. . . . The Kings, Avalanche, Stars, Sharks and Lightning are finalists for the 1999 Pro Team Community Award, given by the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame to a professional sports franchise that demonstrates the most effective humanitarian community program.

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Good, Not Great

Colorado’s Peter Forsberg is the leading playoff scorer with seven goals and 20 points in 14 games, but he’s well off the record pace to match the NHL record for points in a single playoff year. Teammate Milan Hejduk leads rookies in playoff scoring with six goals and 10 points in 14 games, but he’s not on a record pace, either. Most points in a single playoff year:

Pts.: Player, Team, Season Scoring Breakdown

47: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton, 1985 / 17 goals, 30 assists in 18 games

44: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh, 1991 / 16 goals, 28 assists in 23 games

43: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton, 1988 / 12 goals, 31 assists in 19 games

****

Most points by a rookie, single playoff year:

21: Dino Ciccarelli, Minnesota, 1981 / 14 goals, seven assists in 19 games

20: Don Maloney, Rangers, 1979 / Seven goals, 13 assists in 18 games