Former Capital Sings a Different Tune in Nashville

In his 15 years as general manager of the Washington Capitals, David Poile’s face could have illustrated the dictionary definition of “gloom.” For just as the cherry trees blossomed each spring, the Capitals faded into playoff oblivion, never realizing their perennial promise.

Poile smiles a lot now, and no wonder: He’s no longer with the Capitals and his new team has a perfect record. Of course, it hasn’t played a game yet.

Shortly after he was fired by the Capitals, Poile was hired as general manager of the Nashville Predators, who will join the NHL next season as the first of four expansion franchises to be admitted by 2000. Among his duties is scouting players who might be available in the expansion draft, but it hasn’t all been work. Somewhere along the way, Poile rediscovered how much fun hockey can be.

“This is the first time in a lot of years that I’ve been able to watch two teams play a game,” he said. “When you’re a GM, it’s like you have tunnel vision and see only your team, and my scope was getting smaller and smaller. You miss the competitiveness of having your team out there, but it’s been very enjoyable.

“Every day there’s something new and different to deal with. Personally, it’s not something I wanted to do. I wish [the firing] had never happened, but I’m real excited. It was my choice where to go, in terms of going to an expansion team. Every situation with an established team has some excess baggage, but this is all brand new and we can start it.”

The luxury of a year’s preparation means Coach Barry Trotz and assistant coach Paul Gardner can study the styles and strategies of future rivals. It also means the Predators--unlike the hastily moved Carolina Hurricanes--can do some promotional groundwork in Nashville.

“It’s a smaller area and people seem to be proud of the city and getting NHL hockey and NFL football,” Poile said. “There’s a warm feeling there and a real sense of community. [Tennessee] isn’t called the Volunteer state for nothing; there’s a lot of charity work there. I think we should be and will be received very well, but having said that, everybody seems to know and have grown up with football, but not hockey. So it’s equally important what we do off the ice as on the ice. Hockey just hasn’t had much exposure there.”

The Predators won’t be instant Stanley Cup contenders, but being near the center of the country’s music industry should give them one distinction.

Said Poile, “We’re going to lead the league in good national anthem singers.”

GOALS ARE THE GOAL

The NHL has appointed a committee of general managers to study the decline in scoring. Members are Jack Ferreira of the Mighty Ducks, Harry Sinden of Boston, Glen Sather of Edmonton, Bob Clarke of Philadelphia and Lou Lamoriello of New Jersey.

Interesting choices, since Lamoriello’s Devils popularized the neutral-zone trap that has choked much of the offense out of the game and Ferreira’s Ducks have played variations of the trap since their inception.

The league is also taking a look at goalies’ equipment, figuring goalies are stopping more pucks because their oversized jerseys and floppy sleeves give shooters less net to shoot at. Regulating their gear is like taping an aspirin to a broken leg. The real problem is, there’s not enough offensive talent to go around. Most teams can’t score more than two goals a game and will sit on a lead if they get it and pray for a 1-0 victory.

The decline in scoring can also be attributed to an improvement in goaltending. Good athletes who used to avoid the position because it wasn’t glamorous are now drawn to it because of the visibility of Patrick Roy, Mike Richter and others. Goalies are also better conditioned and better coached than ever, and they benefit from the no-encroachment rule around the crease.

Only Mario Lemieux and Teemu Selanne had more than 100 points last season and only two players are on pace for 100 this season since Mike Modano was injured. That’s bad news. With expansion imminent, the NHL must improve the product it will present to new fans--and to old fans it wants to keep.

HE’S IN THE SOUP

New York Ranger Coach Colin Campbell might have been fired last weekend if his team hadn’t erased a three-goal deficit to tie the Flyers on Friday and a two-goal deficit to tie the Canadiens at Montreal on Saturday.

General Manager Neil Smith pronounced himself “very much” encouraged by the Rangers’ resilience in those games, but there are still some major problems. What about the team-wide defensive lapses and puck-handling mistakes by Richter that put the Rangers in holes in those games, not to mention the four losses and two ties that preceded them?

Smith doesn’t want to fire Campbell, a loyal soldier and good coach, and the Rangers’ woes aren’t Campbell’s fault. He didn’t get dumb last summer, he got a team that’s smaller, older--a league-high average age of 29.4--and stocked with supposed leaders who don’t lead.

Six Rangers--Pat LaFontaine, Wayne Gretzky, Brian Skrudland, Mike Keane, Bruce Driver and Doug Lidster--have been captains of other teams, yet none has been willing or able to take over Mark Messier’s role as the team’s conscience and pacesetter. It’s time for Brian Leetch, the Rangers’ captain, to stop talking about how much he misses Messier and do something to fill that void.

The Rangers’ $50-million payroll proves that it’s not how much you spend, it’s how well you spend. Smith has spent a lot, but perhaps not wisely.

OLYMPIAN FEATS

NHL players not from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic or Russia will be shortchanged under the new Olympic format.

To allow players to represent their homelands at Nagano with a minimal disruption of the NHL season, the six major hockey powers got byes into the championship round and a preliminary tournament was put together to determine the final two teams. Because the preliminary tournament begins Feb. 7 and the Olympic break doesn’t begin until Feb. 8, players from “minor” countries will miss at least one game unless their NHL teams release them early. Some of the Olympians are major players, among them Washington right wing Peter Bondra and New York Islander left wing Ziggy Palffy of Slovakia.

Islander General Manager Mike Milbury has already said he won’t let Palffy go early. King GM Dave Taylor is torn over what to do about Slovakian center Jozef Stumpel and left wing Vladimir Tsyplakov, who was chosen by Team Belarus.

“If they were to make the first game, they’d have to leave the fourth or fifth [of February] and we have the Rangers on the fifth and Anaheim on the seventh, and those are big games,” Taylor said. “My first feeling is it would be great for them to go over and participate, but it’s a difficult decision.”

SLAP SHOTS

The NHL’s three-game suspension of Bryan Marchment for his hit on Dallas’ Modano was too lenient. Replays show Marchment stuck out his leg and made knee-on-knee contact, tearing a ligament in Modano’s knee and jeopardizing Modano’s Olympic hopes. Marchment has always been semi-dirty, and if his reputation factored into the punishment, fine. It might make him more cautious, which could save someone else’s knee. . . . Restricted free agent Sergei Fedorov is back in Detroit, but he’s still not close to signing.

Be careful what you wish for because, you just might get it: John MacLean asked the New Jersey Devils--the top team in the East--to trade him and they shipped him to San Jose, which ranks 10th in the West. MacLean, who had three 40-goal seasons, was wasted as a checking winger in Coach Jacques Lemaire’s stifling system. Defenseman Doug Bodger, acquired with Dody Wood, may help the Devil power play but he’s weak defensively.

Vancouver Canuck owner John McCaw, intrigued by the success of new coach Mike Keenan, joined him behind the bench last week for an up-close look at how Keenan works. . . . Oiler owner Peter Pocklington faces a Thursday deadline to find a buyer for the club or the Alberta Treasury Branches, to which he owes more than $100 million, will start its own search. . . . The Montreal Gazette reported Canadien defenseman Dave Manson needed minor surgery to remove a Christmas tree needle that got stuck in his ear. Ho, ho, ow!