NHL NOTES : Complaints About Garden Ice Resurface

Complaints about the ice in Madison Square Garden have been prevalent for 15 years, since the Rangers’ Dale Rolfe caught a skate in a rut and fractured an ankle that ended his career.

The situation escalated within the past week, as both the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders protested that the Garden surface was too dangerous for proper play.

The Islanders claimed after a 6-3 loss that three players had been injured because of the poor ice--Derek King with a twisted knee and Jeff Norton and Patrick Flatley with aggravations of strained abdominal muscles.

The ice was resurfaced twice during the first intermission, resulting in a lengthy delay. When Islanders Coach Al Arbour protested again during the second intermission, he was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by referee Rob Shick.

The Rangers broke a 3-3 tie with a goal on the ensuing power play. Afterward, General Manager Bill Torrey had to restrain Arbour from going after Shick.

“I told (supervisor of officials) Matt Pavelich that the players shouldn’t be on that ice,� Torrey told The New York Times. “The referee and one of the linesmen agreed with me. They said it was the worst they had ever seen.�

The Boston game was delayed before the start when the ice was ordered resurfaced a second time, following complaints by Coach Mike Milbury.

Attempts to figure out what is wrong have left people scratching their heads. Between the Boston and Islanders games, the Washington Capitals played at the Garden and Coach Terry Murray said: “When we were there, the ice was great. The guys knew there had been problems and they commented about how good it was.�

Murray wishes the ice had been that good one night in 1972 when he suffered a broken leg while playing for the California Golden Seals.

“I was coming back into our end real hard, I caught my skate in a rut and fell into the goalpost,� Murray recalled. “I broke my leg and it definitely was because of the ice.�

Professional hockey is returning to Richmond, where the Washington Capitals had an American League affiliate 15 years ago and where Murray played as a farmhand of the Philadelphia Flyers.

The new entry will be an expansion club in the rapidly expanding East Coast Hockey League, which currently features eight teams spread from Erie, Pa., in the north to Nashville, in the west.

The easternmost link is in Norfolk, where the surprising success of the Hampton Roads Admirals--guided by former Toronto coach John Brophy--prompted Richmond interests to host a transplanted league match last week between Hampton Roads and Winston-Salem.

When 9,000 persons turned up at Richmond Coliseum, it was decided to move ahead with a franchise in Richmond.

Latest candidate to put on a spurt in the Calder Trophy race for NHL rookie of the year is Darren Turcotte of the New York Rangers. Turcotte had registered nine goals in his previous seven games.

“I’ve always been a streaky player,� Turcotte said. “The streaks just never lasted this long before.�

Turcotte, recently returned to his natural center position after struggling on the wing, leads all rookies with 28 goals. When he recorded his second NHL hat trick against Boston last week, fans littered the ice with gym bags they had received as a promotional giveaway.

Turcotte celebrated his 22nd birthday Friday. If he wins the Calder, he would be the second consecutive American winner--teammate Brian Leetch was honored last year--and the third in five years (Calgary’s Gary Suter won it in 1986).