UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE (03/23/97)

UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE

by Ihor Stelmach

Oh, baby! Olczyk proud to be a King

Attempting to add some scoring punch and bolster to their power play, the Los Angeles Kings made their first foray into last summer's free-agent market, signing veteran forward Ed Olczyk to a two-year deal for slightly more than $2 million.

Olczyk, who turns 30 in August, played last season with the Winnipeg Jets. Despite a knee injury and limited playing time early in the season, he had 27 goals and 49 points in 51 games and picked up 65 minutes in penalties. Sixteen of his goals came with the man advantage, and in one 13-game stretch before Christmas he tallied 13 goals.

"He can play all three forward positions," said Kings' GM Sam McMaster. "He's an exceptional face-off man and exceptional on the power play as well as a team leader."

Olczyk, who had 294 goals and 688 points in 802 NHL games prior to the start of this 1996-1997 season, has always been known for his enthusiasm and was clearly excited at the chance he's gotten with the Kings.

"I didn't think twice about it," the Ukrainian said. "I said, 'Hey, let's go.' I was real excited and thankful I got this opportunity."

One reason for the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Chicago native to be thankful for the move is the increase in pay he received. He made $550,000 last season, and was reportedly offered a one-year deal worth $650,000 by the Coyotes.

Olczyk's most productive season was 1988-1989, when he garnered 90 points with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Olczyk has his own unique way of celebrating the birth of his children: by scoring a goal. He has done it before, and it happened again on the very night he made his debut with the Kings, last October 4 against the New York Islanders.

This time he did it all in the space of a few hours. His wife, Diana, gave birth to their fourth child, Nicholas, at 5:20 p.m., at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. He left the hospital at 5:47 p.m., then made his way through Friday night rush hour traffic in Los Angeles - no small undertaking - and entered the dressing room at 6:10 p.m.

The gift for the Kings and his new son was no run-of-the-mill goal. It was a second-period power-play goal, which turned out to be the game winner in a 1-0 victory.

An emotional Olczyk, who revived his career in Winnipeg last season, stood in the dressing room afterward still wearing his hospital bracelet.

"I wasn't that stressed out," Olczyk said. "I was pretty pumped up. This puts everything in perspective. The last couple of years have been tough. And without the support of my wife and family and friends, I wouldn't be where I am today."

His youngest son also has a souvenir of the goal, as another new King, goaltender Stephane Fiset, made sure he claimed the game puck and gave it to Olczyk, telling him it was for Nicholas.

Gretzky great for Ranger marketing

Hockey players shoot for hat tricks, baseball players for grand slams and golfers for holes-in-one. But what of the people who market and sell the game and the things that make it popular?

If you're a retail consultant, like Ray Bartow for the NHL's New York Rangers, NBA's Knicks and Madison Square Garden, it's an opportunity to market products related to a legend.

Bartow's job is to take a company logo and convert it to a profit-maker. And that's exactly what Bartow has been doing since superstar Wayne Gretzky joined the Rangers last summer as an unrestricted free agent.

Gretzky may be in the twilight of his phenomenal career, but he's still a huge name in the biggest media market in the world. That was obvious the opening week of the season when Gretzky and his old pal Mark Messier were featured guests on "Late Night with David Letterman."

Thousands of Rangers' team jerseys with No. 99 and Gretzky's name on the back, similar practice jerseys and photos of Gretzky decked out in the Rangers' familiar red, white and blue have been sold.

"You dream about something like this coming along," Bartow said. "It's an extraordinary opportunity. I can't remember anything like this."

The Rangers won't reveal exactly how much Gretzky merchandise has been sold, but they do say they have been forced to re-order more to keep up with the huge demand.

Sweaters sell for about $125 retail and practice jerseys for about $50. There are plans for more Gretzky-related merchandise to be made available for sale, but the Rangers will reveal neither exactly what is coming next nor when.

Bartow said there are two stores at the sixth-floor level of MSG where the Rangers play and there are four more at the lower mall level of the building, each carrying a substantial number of Gretzky-related items. He also said there is a trickle-down effect on the sale of other Rangers' paraphernalia. When fans enter a store to purchase Gretzky-related items, they often pick up other souvenirs.

"Having Wayne with the Rangers stimulates sales of all Rangers' merchandise," Bartow said.

Did the vast demand for Gretzky-related merchandise catch the Rangers off guard?

"Well, yes and no," Bartow said. "We thought we had postured ourselves well enough to handle the demand. But to be honest, we really didn't expect it to be this good."

Gretzky has been one of the leading spokesmen for the NHL and hockey since he entered the league as a teenager. Fans pay close attention to the products he uses and endorses.

That's what Easton is banking on. Gretzky is using Easton's new "Silver Tip" stick. It will be made available to the public in the spring of this year. It is worth noting that when Gretzky switched to using Easton sticks, so did 25 percent of players in the NHL.

Meanwhile, the Gretzky Upper Deck Authenticated Line will add to its collection, now that Gretzky has changed teams. It consists of Gretzky game-worn jerseys from Los Angeles, St. Louis and now New York, commemorative 802 hats, autographed photos of Gretzky and Gordie Howe, as well as autographed pucks, sticks and cards.

Kocur proves you can go back home again

Joey Kocur was chomping at the bit to come back to the NHL, and even more so to play for his original team, the Detroit Red Wings. And although only a couple of players remain from his first tour of duty in Detroit, which ended in 1991, it only took him a week to get used to things once again.

"I care about this team," Kocur said. "You know, you have to love the team you're playing for. Sometimes when you're traded it's slow to come. But here, it feels like I never left, like I would do anything for any of the guys in here."

This is a new life for Kocur, 32, who started the hockey season playing in a 30-and-over league in the Detroit area. From there he progressed to the Red Wings Alumni team, and finally ended up with the San Antonio Dragons of the International League for a week before signing with Detroit.

"I was working out six days a week, and it wasn't so I'd look good in the summer," the Ukrainian said. "When you see that possibly the end is near, you start to respect the job you have or the job you could have."

Kocur's contract pays him $250,000 for the remainder of the season. In this time he must prove he deserves another contract, a situation that does not at all disturb him.

"When you're a player like me, you're always auditioning," said Kocur, who had 2,270 penalty minutes in 684 NHL games.

UKRAINIAN UTTERINGS: The Capitals, at one point this season, were 0-3-1 when right winger Peter Bondra was out of the line-up, 13-9-3 when he scored and 9-15-2 when he was shut down. Bondra had 24 goals in a 25-game span ... Kings' coach Larry Robinson would not discuss a fight that erupted between forwards Dimitri Khristich and Barry Potomski during a team practice on February 7. Potomski hit Khristich in the eye with his stick and Khristich - the Kings' leading scorer underwent laser eye surgery three days later. He was out some 10 days, while Potomski was demoted to Phoenix (IHL) for disciplinary reasons ... The Devils' Dave Andreychuk collected a pair of assists in a 4-0 win over Hartford on February 13 to move ahead of Henri Richard into sole possession of 39th place on the all-time NHL scoring list with 1,047 points ... St. Louis Blues' fans booed center Wayne Gretzky every time he got the puck in his return to the Kiel Center as a member of the Rangers on February 13 ...

(Quotes courtesy of Lisa Dillman, beat writer for the L.A. Kings, Cynthia Lambert, who covers the Red Wings and the Hockey News.)

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