Sports

KEENAN OUT, SO FETISOV MAY BE SLATS’ MAN

APPARENTLY the Panthers did not miss the bonus payment owed Mike Keenan for finishing 28th overall.

Because still under contract to Florida, Keenan was denied permission to speak to the Rangers about their coaching position when Glen Sather requested it from team chairman Alan Cohen, Slap Shots has learned.

After denying the Blueshirts permission to chat with the only coach to win a Cup in Manhattan in the last 62 years, Cohen met with Keenan, who by all accounts accepted the decision with equanimity.

Meanwhile, the search continues, and though the Rangers aren’t rushin’, Sather, according to an individual who surely knows, is “intrigued” with the prospect of hiring a Russian to fill the post.

Slap Shots has learned that the GM will seek clearance from Lou Lamoriello to speak with Slava Fetisov, dismissed as a Devils assistant in the January purge, and the bronze medal-winning coach of the Russian Olympic Team.

“I would never stand in Slava’s way if that’s what he wants to do,” Lamoriello told us on Thursday. “I would do whatever I could to help him.”

Fetisov, who has told confidantes that he would cherish the opportunity to become an NHL head coach, is pondering an offer to become the head of Russian sports ministry, a cabinet-level position from which he would direct all national sports programs. Indeed, The Great Man is returning to Russia tomorrow for a two-week stay during which time he will investigate that situation.

“I don’t know if he is ready for that kind of a desk job if he can be a head coach,” a source told Slap Shots. “I think he feels a responsibility to Russia, but at the same time, it is his dream to become a head coach in the NHL.

“He feels that he is ready for the job.”

Devils players were unanimous in endorsing Fetisov’s qualifications for the job, citing his work ethic, demand for accountability, preparation, and comprehensive knowledge of the game. All, however, agreed that he would need a strong assistant who would be able to help him communicate his philosophy to the team, each citing occasional difficulties presented by his reasonably heavy accent.

“He has brilliant ideas about the way the game should be played,” one player said. “He won’t accept anything less than a maximum effort.

“The only problem is that sometimes it’s hard to understand him when he gets excited on the bench. But there’s no doubt in my mind that he would get the best out of the Rangers – or any team. He won’t accept failure.”

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So there we were, reading the year-old quotes from Ken Hitchcock presented so earnestly somewhere else in which the former Dallas coach took backhand shots at Ron Low in praising the preparation of Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish, who followed Low in Edmonton.

Which was pretty interesting considering that Low’s 81-point Oilers came from the West’s seven-hole to stun Hitchcock’s 104-point Stars in the first round of the 1997 playoffs, winning Game 7 in Dallas on an OT breakaway dash by Todd Marchant.

Guess if Low had had his team prepared, the Oilers would have won in four.

But then, Captain Kangaroo probably just wiped away the memory of losing to as nice a guy as Mr. Greenjeans.

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There’s swill circulating throughout the St. Louis room, we’re told, none of which, by the way, is being stirred by Keith Tkachuk. The way we hear it, Chris Pronger, the heretofore unimpeachable captain, has become quite the source of contention while attempting to win friends and influence people in the owners’ suite.

So Dallas GM Doug Armstrong was in Carolina for Game 1 vs. the Devils, in Boston the next night for the Canadiens-Bruins, then back south the following evening for Game 2 in Raleigh.

Couldn’t have anything to do with prospective free agents Bobby Holik and Billy Guerin, could it? Didn’t think so.

If Mike Richter and the Rangers don’t reach an agreement on a new deal, there’s every chance of Jeff Hackett becoming Dan Blackburn’s partner next season.

Byron Dafoe doesn’t seem to be helping his cause, does he?

The Blackhawks, who are going to walk away from Tony Amonte without so much as an offer – this smells quite like a smoke-filled room victory for Mike Smith over Bob Pulford – will instead use that money (and much more) in an effort to land Curtis Joseph, we’ve been told.

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Finally, have you caught the remake of “It Happens Every Spring,” this one starring Alexei Yashin?