Coach/GM Mike Keenan said Tuesday it isn`t his place to lobby for AIDS testing in the NHL, but he added that the issue should be closely examined by the league and Players Association. ”Almost every game there`s blood on the bench from somebody getting clipped,” he said. ”It could be a safety problem.”
In the wake of Magic Johnson`s revelation of being HIV-positive came the news Tuesday out of Montreal that a woman who died of AIDS two years ago had claimed she slept with about 50 NHL players, according to her doctor. After the Johnson story broke, Montreal coach Pat Burns suggested condoms be available for his players in the dressing room. Keenan noted that he was told Vancouver also had put a condom dispenser in its locker room.
”They also have a policy where if a player is driving and drinking, he can take a cab home and turn in the receipt to the team for reimbursement,”
Keenan said. ”I like the concept, but I`d expect the player to pay his own cab fare. I`d expect the same of myself.
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”Whether it`s our responsibility to supply condoms, I don`t know. But it`s not a moral issue. It`s life and death. We`ve always had our doctor
(Louis Kolb) talk to players about AIDS, even before Magic Johnson.”
Keenan said his arrest last season for driving under the influence of alcohol has made him more aware. ”You realize how vulnerable you are, and realize the responsibility you have to yourself and society,” he said. ”You must protect others.”
– The Hawks returned to the Stadium Tuesday to find color pictures of themselves mounted above each of their lockers. ”That`s so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes,” Stu Grimson quipped.
– Don`t start with the Winnipeg jokes if you`re talking to Ed Belfour, who is from Carman, Manitoba. Told that the subzero temperatures the Hawks encountered last weekend in Winnipeg were awful, the goalie said: ”I used to play street hockey every night in that weather. What`s wrong with it? When I come back to Chicago, I`m kind of hot.”
Belfour also wondered, by the way, whether he wasn`t tackled by a Jets player last Sunday after making the initial save on defenseman Phil Housley. Thomas Steen collected the rebound and tied the score 2-2 with seven seconds left. Winnipeg won 3-2 in overtime.
”I think that might have been interference,” Belfour said.
– The Stadium seats 17,317 for hockey, so that is considered a sellout. Those are common occurences at the Stadium. But they could have their first ”full” sellout this season Thursday night when Wayne Gretzky comes to town with the Los Angeles Kings. That would add 1,155 standing-room areas for a crowd total of 18,472.
– Keenan said Indianapolis Ice coach John Marks has told him Trent Yawney has been his best defensemen in the International League. That may help Keenan make a deal for Yawney. At his own request, Yawney remains in the IHL even now that his two-week conditioning period is over.