THE NHL / HELENE ELLIOTT : TV to Shed a Little Light on the Puck

The biggest difficulty in televising hockey games has always been following the puck because it’s small, travels fast and blends in with sticks and skates. Various ideas to make pucks more visible have been proposed over the years, including tinting them orange or red. Charles O. Finley had his Oakland Seals wear white skates, which provided a color contrast, but hockey purists hated it. So did players who feared they resembled figure skaters.

Finally, someone came up with an idea that promises to solve the problem without trampling on tradition.

The Fox network, whose All-Star telecast Saturday begins the second year of its five-year, $155-million deal with the NHL, has been experimenting with a chip that’s embedded in pucks and illuminates them for easier viewing. The chip also measures the puck’s speed for display on your TV screen, without changing the puck’s size, color or shape. Fans at games will see no difference.

Fox spokesman Vince Wladika declined to comment about the innovation before it’s officially unveiled at a news conference Thursday in Boston. It has been tried by members of the San Jose Sharks’ staff in pickup games and was used in a game last week between the Sharks and New Jersey Devils.

It’s an expensive experiment for Fox. In addition to the cost of embedding the chip in pucks--and the many spares that must be prepared to replace those that land in the stands--special equipment is required to pick up the signal the chips emit. Fox’s willingness to spend the money and its creative thinking speak well for its commitment to making its telecasts entertaining.

Fox Sports President David Hill is advocating another change: playing games in 15-minute quarters instead of three 20-minute periods. Illuminated pucks, yes. Playing games in quarters, no.

DONE DEAL

The Edmonton Oilers were taking bids on Bill Ranford and Curtis Joseph before they traded Ranford to Boston last week for Sean Brown, Mariusz Czerkawski and a first-round pick in the June draft. The deciding factor for Oiler General Manager Glen Sather was that Joseph agreed to a three-year deal and Ranford would sign for only one year. Their salaries and ages are nearly identical.

Because Sather and Bruin General Manager Harry Sinden tried for months and couldn’t make a deal, Sinden let his assistant, Mike O’Connell, conclude the talks. “I feel very confident [the Bruins’ goaltending questions] are answered, but you know the nature of this beast,” Sinden said.

The trade, which sent Ranford back to the city where he started his career in 1985-86, left Edmonton with only one player (Kelly Buchberger) from its 1990 Stanley Cup-winning team. It also produced several funny comments.

“When I got to Boston, Harry told people I was the Bruins’ goalie of the future. I just don’t think he thought the future was 10 years away,” Ranford said.

Said Sinden: “We just sent Billy to Edmonton for seasoning.”

Sather might have more moves in store. He’s said to be interested in New York Islander center Kirk Muller, seeing Muller as a tutor for youngsters Jason Arnott and Doug Weight. Muller told Islander General Manager-Coach Mike Milbury last week he’s no longer insisting on being traded to a contending team or that his contract be renegotiated. That should help end a stalemate that began Nov. 12 when Milbury’s predecessor, Don Maloney, sent Muller home.

NO BEEF FROM JYRKI

Vancouver Canuck defenseman Jyrki Lumme admits he didn’t meet the Montreal Canadiens’ standards when he played there in 1988-90. In addition to once missing a curfew, Lumme, a native of Finland, acknowledges he probably wasn’t ready for life in the NHL.

“I was young and stupid then. Now I’m not young anymore,” he said. “I was learning about everything, adapting to life in a different place. Also, [then-coach] Pat Burns didn’t appreciate the style I played. I don’t blame him. I don’t think I played that well [in Montreal].”

WINNER BY A NECK

In Gary Roberts’ first game back with the Calgary Flames after two operations to relieve pressure on the nerves in his neck, he took a cross-check to his neck from Hartford’s Jeff Brown. Roberts got revenge by cuffing Brown--and by scoring a goal.

“I know I’m fair game out there,” Roberts said. “I wouldn’t be coming back to the lineup if I couldn’t take little hits like that.”

Roberts has proved he’s ready. In three games back, he has four goals and six points and hasn’t hesitated to go into the corners and play his old, rugged game. The Flames, with a modest 3-0-1 streak that’s their best this season, have moved within three points of the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.

MURPHY FOR THE DEFENSE

Larry Murphy hopes Toronto, the fifth stop in his career, will be his last. Then again, he hoped the same would be true in Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Washington and Los Angeles.

“Without a doubt, I’d like to finish my career here,” said Murphy, who is having an outstanding season with 41 points and a plus-seven plus-minus. “But who’s to know in this game? Once you’ve been traded once, it seems like it’s easy to trade you again.”

Murphy is 34 points from 1,000 for his career and is fourth among defensemen in lifetime scoring, behind Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque and Denis Potvin. He’s productive, useful on the power play and durable, having missed one game the last three seasons. Why has he been traded so often? General managers expect a 6-foot-2, 210-pound defenseman to bang bodies, and that’s not his game.

Through all the upheavals, he has kept his sense of humor. His many moves, he said, qualify him to advise the Cleveland Browns on their planned move to Baltimore. “I could tell them how to mark boxes and which to unpack first,” he said.

SLAP SHOTS

Philadelphia Flyer Coach Terry Murray broke up the Eric Lindros-Mikael Renberg-John LeClair “Legion of Doom” line Saturday in a 4-0 loss to the Rangers. The Flyers realize they’re not as deep or muscular as they thought. . . . The Pittsburgh Penguins and Mario Lemieux altered his contract to spread out a lump payment he was due next season. The payout reportedly would have exceeded $11 million. Penguin owner Howard Baldwin denied that but wouldn’t say what it was--or will be. . . . San Jose Coach Jim Wiley held two of his top scorers, Owen Nolan and Ray Sheppard, out of the lineup Thursday after they missed the bus to the game-day skate. The Sharks beat the Devils and followed that with a wild 10-8 victory over the Penguins on Saturday, only the second time this season they have won consecutive games.

Tampa Bay defenseman Roman Hamrlik didn’t expect to be picked for the All-Star game, so he bought tickets to an AC/DC concert at the ThunderDome. It was a tough call, but he picked the game over the heavy-metal music. . . . The city of Boston denied Nike permission to paint a mural of Bruin forward Cam Neely on the side of a downtown building. The city’s Inspectional Services Dept. rejected the application on the grounds that it was outdoor advertising and not a work of art. . . . Brian Savage, who had 17 goals in Montreal’s first 20 games, has four in the last 24. . . . The Board of Governors will meet Friday in Boston to approve the sale of the Dallas Stars and the Winnipeg Jets’ move to Phoenix. The board will also discuss the status of the Florida Panthers, who have offers from one buyer who wants to keep the team in Florida and three out-of-state buyers. Expansion isn’t on the agenda.

After selling only 9,100 season tickets for the 18,500-seat Palladium, the Ottawa Senators cut ticket prices by as much as $12.50. The arena opens Wednesday. . . . The New York Rangers’ All-Star break began after their 3-3 tie with St. Louis on Sunday. They have no games or practices until next Monday. . . . Ranger right wing Pat Verbeek has 13 goals and 23 points in his last 14 games. With 32 goals, he’s on pace to surpass his career-high of 46, set in 1987-88 with the Devils.