NORRIS DIVISION

Swedish sniper ready to start firing

Just what the Pittsburgh Penguins need, another goal-scorer. But the league’s most talented offensive team will have another lethal weapon in its arsenal when-not if-Markus Naslund of Sweden joins the Penguins next season. Naslund gave the Penguins a tempting but disappointing glimpse of his talents during training camp. Tempting because the Penguins thought of persuading Naslund to break the final season of his contract with MoDo in the Swedish Elite League. Disappointing because the 19-year-old wouldn’t hear of it. “I’d like to do it in a nice way, to leave as a friend,” said Naslund, who speaks almost perfect English. “Maybe after a few years the people would forget about it, but they wouldn’t like you too much if you did that.” Goalies can be thankful Naslund is a man of principle. After this…

Nicholls faces tough times with gravely ill son

Life has delivered Bernie Nicholls another painful blow. Eight days after he was traded to the New Jersey Devils, ending an unhappy chapter in his hockey career with the Edmonton Oilers, Nicholls was told his two-month-old son, Jake, is gravely ill with spinal meningitis. The infant, bom Nov. 25 with Downs Syndrome, remained in critical condition in a Long Beach, Calif., hospital while Nicholls flew from Loast to coast between his ailing son and new teammates. “The first couple of months of the season were all right, but a lot has happened since,” Nicholls said. That was an understatement. Nicholls was traded by the New York Rangers to the Oilers on Oct. 4, 1991, in the Mark Messier deal. He held out for two months last season before reporting to the Oilers while his wife,…

WHALERS

Hartford Whalers’ general manager Brian Burke recently compared his hockey team to a pregnant woman. “And after nine painful months and the delivery, finally you have something you can have fun with,” Burke said. “Afterward, you never heard your wife say that she wish it never happened, did you?” With a team obviously going nowhere fast, Burke’s point is he already has the embryo of his future growing within his NHL roster. Geoff Sanderson, Patrick Poulin and Michael Nylander are playing major roles for the Whalers. Even 1992 No. 1 pick Robert Petrovicky is with Hartford, although playing sparingly. “Nobody has as many young forwards in important positions as we do,” Burke said. He’s right. But there are still some others who could help this club in the coming years. Here are the top five prospects…