UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE
by Ihor Stelmach
Several Ukrainian stars surprisingly swapped
In actuality, the active movement of Ukrainian professional hockey stars began during the past off-season. Five Ukes relocated last summer: Dimitri Khristich was acquired by the Los Angeles Kings in a trade with Washington; while four others were signed by new clubs as free agents - St. Louis eagerly bid on Dale Hawerchuk, Winnipeg re-opened its arms to Eddie Olczyk, Tampa Bay added veteran Brian Bellows and Vancouver gave Jim Sandlak a second chance. A sixth Ukrainian star, Keith Tkachuk, actually signed a restricted free-agent contract with Chicago. Tkachuk did not have to change his address, as Winnipeg matched the Blackhawks' offer.
Early on in the 1995-1996 NHL season another Ukrainian, winger Brent Fedyk, was moved by the Flyers to the Dallas Stars. Aside from the normal number of minor league call-ups and demotions, the Ukrainian transaction wire was quiet almost right through to the all-star break. Then it started...
Anaheim's Mighty Ducks decided the future is now and the playoffs attainable this year, only their third in the league. Wanted: one proven NHL sniper (Teemu Selanne, from Winnipeg). In exchange: top draft picks Chad Kilger and Ukrainian Oleg Tverdovsky. Tverdovsky joins fellow Ukes Keith Tkachuk and Eddie Olczyk in Winnipeg for a few scant months. Next year the trio is Phoenix-bound.
After many weeks of procrastinating and listening to offers, Los Angeles Kings' management finally decided to unload Wayne Gretzky, his huge contract and his demands for future years. The Great One lands in his wife's hometown of St. Louis. Mike Keenan, meet Wayne Gretzky. Brett Hull, meet the play-making center you've always dreamed of having on your line. Hey, St. Louis: your Stanley Cup is on its way. Well, maybe.
Just a scant few weeks later the NHL trading deadline beckons. General managers and coaches do last- second evaluations of their rosters and draff want-lists, which hopefully push their squads into the playoffs or solidify their positions for an actual Stanley Cup run. A veritable plethora of trading activity burned almost all team telephone and league fax wires right up to the March 20, 3 p.m. trading deadline.
Among those moved were three more Ukrainians, including the Blues' "Ducky" Hawerchuk, who was still settling into his new St. Louis home. Blues' czar Mike Keenan rationalized Hawerchuk was not really worth the $2.6 million/year contract he gave him last summer. With Gretzky's $6.5+ million contract coming aboard, cuts had to be made. "Ducky" goes to Philadelphia, in an attempt to create a second scoring line for the Flyers, thus taking undue pressure off the "Legion of Doom" line.
Just one in a series of coaching and player moves saw veteran Ukrainian goal scorer Dave Andreychuk shuffled out of Toronto and into a new home in New Jersey. With long-time Leafs' captain Wendel Clark returning to Toronto, another high-salaried winger had to go. The Devils, languishing in a season-long goal scoring drought, grabbed Andreychuk, a two-time 50-goal scorer, for a package of conditional draft picks.
And Andreychuk had no problem leaving Toronto. "Obviously there are a lot of talented players there, but the key is chemistry," he said. "A lot of nights, hard work is going to beat talent...There was a lot of media and the guys had a lot of pressure on them. When you are in the hockey capital of Canada, all eyes are on you and when the snowball gets going, it's hard to stop."
Rangers' right wing Joey Kocur was one of three players picked up by the Vancouver Canucks, hours before the trading deadline. The Canucks wanted to beef up with Kocur, who was not getting much ice time in New York.
"We needed solid players who work and know how to play," Vancouver coach/GM Pat Quinn explained, "Our problem hasn't been individual skills, but team skill," Quinn admitted. "We have to learn to play together."
After all of these recent moves and countermoves, every National Hockey League team which joined in the trading frenzy (almost each one did) is now hoping for better team chemistry and more of the guys playing together as a team. Those who achieve this goal are destined to go far in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.
Salaries of Ukrainian hockey stars
| Player | Team | Salary |
| W. Gretzky | L.A.-St. Louis | $6,545,400 |
| K. Tkachuk | Winnipeg | $6,000,000 |
| D. Haverchuk | St. Louis-Philadelphia | $2,600,000 |
| D. Andreychuk | Toronto-New Jersey | $2,100,000 |
| O. Tverdovsky | Anaheim-Winnipeg | $2,100,000 |
| K. Hrudey | L.A. | $1,690,000 |
| P. Bondra | Washington | $1,178,200 |
| K. Daneyko | New Jersey | $1,047,600 |
| B. Bellows | Thunder Bay | $1,000,000 |
| D. Khristich | L.A. | $1,000,000 |
| C. Leschyshyn | Colorado | $800,000 |
| D. Babych | Vancouver | $690,000 |
| R. Matvichuk | Dallas | $607,000 |
| E. Olczyk | Winnipeg | $550,000 |
| D. Wakaluk | Dallas | $550,000 |
| A. Nikolishin | Hartford | $550,000 |
| S. Konowalchuk | Washington | $500,000 |
| B. Fedyk | Philadelphia-Dallas | $450,000 |
| A. Zhitnik | Buffalo | $450,000 |
| D. Nemirovsky | Florida | $360,000 |
| D. Berehowsky | Pittsburgh | $325,000 |
| J. Kocur | N.Y. Rangers-Vancouver | $300,000 |
| P. Elyniuk | Ottawa | unknown |
| G. Shuchuk | L.A. | unknown |
These are 1995-1996 salaries as of December 1995. Figures were obtained from a Players' Association compensation report released to player agents and subsequently published by The Hockey News.
Individual player compensation includes base salary, signing or reporting bonus payable this season, deferred income allocated to 1995-1996, marketing bonus and agent fees. All above salaries are in U.S. dollars.
UKRAINIAN UTTERINGS: Washing-ton's Peter Bondra scored three consecutive goals in a four-minute-21-second span in the third period as the Caps defeated the Islanders in a game on March 26...The same night, Winnipeg's Keith Tkachuk had the first four-goal game of his career as the Jets moved into the eighth spot in the Western Conference with a victory in Dallas. Tkachuk scored his first goal just 26 seconds into the game and added three goals in the third period...Devil Ken Daneyko was furious at Washington's Kelly Miller after a knee-to-knee hit to the same leg that kept the defenseman out for 23 games last season...Vancouver's Dave Babych returned to the line-up after missing 23 games with a broken foot. He returned to the Canucks in February...More Bondra: the right winger celebrated his 28th birthday with a game-winning goal against Edmonton. He also had a six-point night against the Islanders in early February, a career high...More Tkachuk: the NHL suspended the Jets' left wing for two games and fined him $1,000 for high-sticking Dave Ellett of Toronto in a March encounter...Ottawa's Michel Picard was also suspended and fined for cross-checking Ukrainian Richard Matvichuk of the Dallas Stars...Right winger Dave Andreychuk spent five days in a hard cast after surgery on his left thumb on January 15. He wasn't available for the Leafs' first game after the all-star break...Goalie Darcy Wakaluk returned from a hamstring injury and eventually reclaimed back-up status to starter Andy Moog...Even more Tkachuk: his goal-scoring run of 12 goals in 10 games spurted him to over 30 back in early February...Fort Wayne Comets acquired nine-year NHL right-winger Pat Elynuik on loan from the Ottawa Senators back in November. For Elynuik, 28, a veteran of almost 500 NHL games with Washington, Winnipeg, Tampa Bay and Ottawa, it was his first minor league stint since playing seven AHL games in Moncton in 1988-1989. It lasted but a few months, as Elynuik's been back in Ottawa the past two months...Milwaukee Admirals' center Mike Tomlak notched his 300th pro point in a 5-4 shootout win against the San Francisco Spiders...Cleveland Lumberjacks' winger Dave Michayluk had a three-point game to pass Chick Chalmers and move into third on the all-time point list with 1,237. Minnesota Moose traded for defenseman Alexander Godynyuk. Godynyuk had been assigned by the Hartford Whalers to the Detroit Vipers (IHL)...Albany goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz was arrested in the early morning hours of February 8 and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. A court date hadn't been set and coach Robbie Ftorek indicated the matter was being handled internally...Syracuse Crunch netminder Sergei Tkachenko faced an onslaught of 63 shots by the Binghamton Rangers in a February AHL matchup. An overtime goal won it for the Rangers in a 5-4 final...Veteran NHL-er Greg Paslawski had a three-point night in Peoria's victory over Las Vegas (IHL)...Speaking of Vegas, ex-goalie Clint Malarchuk is an assistant coach/assistant GM with the Las Vegas Thunder. He's also raising emus on the side (no kidding). In a March 5 ceremony, the Thunder retired Malarchuk's No. 30 jersey. Go Clint!!!
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 5, 1996, No. 18, Vol. LXIV
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