NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE 1990-91 SCHEDULE

KINGS

The Edmonton Oilers have moved on—to another Stanley Cup. Now, it’s Wayne Gretzky’s turn. The king of the Kings had the last laugh two years ago when he helped his new team engineer the overthrow of the dynasty that traded him. But last year, it was the Oilers who thanked the Kings for their first-round ouster of the defending-champion Calgary Flames with a four-game facial in the Smythe Division finals. Edmonton proved there’s life after Gretzky. Now, it’s up to the Kings to prove there’s life beyond the second round of the playoffs with The Great One. And time is of the essence. By the end of the 1990-91 season, even Gretzky will be a member of the Kings’ thirtysomething club, whose membership already includes forwards Dave Taylor (34), John Tonelli (33) and Mike…

SIGNS OF DIVISION

Inside HOCKEY asked four newspaper reporters to tell us what they like and dislike about the NHL’s four divisions. Jim Kelley of the Buffalo News, Tom McMillan of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Gary Loewen of the Globe and Mail, and Eric Duhatschek of the Calgary Herald, supplied us with these lists. ADAMS LIKES Watching Boston and Buffalo in a home-and-home series. Two teams that stick and move like middleweights. Small rinks, big bodies. Montreal’s Mike McPhee challenging Hartford’s Ulf Samuelsson for the right of passage to the net. The human variation of the irresistable force meeting the immovable object. Boston Garden national anthem singer Rene Rancourt. Roger Doucet he’s not. but the dignified Rancourt gives the old dump a special aura. Twenty-three Stanley Cup pennants in the Montreal Forum. No fuss no clutter, no insipid division title…

BLUES

Last season, NHL insiders cackled at the St. Louis Blues and their shoestring budget—which included a league-low $3.5 million player payroll. League executives aren’t laughing any more. With a series of aggressive and costly moves, the Blues have beefed up their roster while wreaking havoc on the league’s salary structure. Here’s what general manager Ron Caron and team president Jack Quinn did over a 16-month period: • At the end of the 1988-89 season, the Blues lured Michigan State freshman Rod Brind’Amour out of college with a four-year contract worth more than $900,000. • Before the 1989 entry draft, St. Louis won a bidding war for Wisconsin goaltender Curtis Joseph with an offer of $1.1 million over four years. • After Brett Hull scored a league-high 72 goals while playing out his option, a new contract…