NHL NOW A DIFFERENT WORLD FROM WAYNE'S.

Byline: Matt McHale

This is not the time to be tugging on Superman's cape, especially with Wayne Gretzky's induction Monday night in Hockey's Hall of Fame.

In the sport he helped shape - to everything from salaries to expansion to an international consciousness - it is highly unlikely he could duplicate his scoring feats in today's NHL.

That sounds absurd since he retired just last April. But since the early to mid-1980s, when Gretzky was in the midst of eight consecutive scoring titles and averaging more than 200 points for four consecutive seasons, the game has changed drastically.

In the past two years, Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr has won scoring titles with point totals about half of those in Gretzky's prime.

The Mighty Ducks' Teemu Selanne led the NHL last season with 47 goals. Gretzky reached 50 nine times, including once in the season's first 32 games, and 60 six times.

On the day he retired from the New York Rangers last April with more than 90 regular-season and playoff records, Gretzky was asked about his legacy as the greatest player to ever play the game.

Typically humble but always astute, Gretzky responded that the sport has never been more exciting and will be continue to improve in the years to come.

That can't be said of football, basketball or baseball. The players in those sports are more athletic than ever, but the changes to the sport have been more subtle.

Hockey is clearly better.

How did it happen? Will there ever be a player as dominant as Gretzky, who finished with 894 goals and 2,857 points during the regular season with 122 more goals during the playoffs?

``You hate to say that there are records that will never be broken,'' said Luc Robitaille, Gretzky's former teammate with the Kings. ``But I don't see how anyone will ever score 92 goals in one season again. That's like hitting 100 home runs in a season. They're hitting a lot these day, not like that. Hockey has become something bigger and faster than it was even 10 years ago.''

To combat all the scoring of the past 20 years, the game has been slowed by a defensive strategy between the blue lines called the neutral-zone trap.

But the biggest change is the massive migration of players from Europe - finesse players much like Gretzky who have helped turn the NHL into a speed game.

Thirty years ago, the league was 98 percent Canadian and had a rough style of play developed through that country's junior hockey system. Today, the NHL is 48 percent Canadian. And you thought the Canadian dollar was doing badly.

Gretzky was a generation ahead of his time, bringing an extraordinary vision to the ice that many say will never be duplicated.

But through conditioning and strength-training programs, players are bigger and faster than 15 years ago, when Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers won four Stanley Cups.

``They went into games knowing there was no chance they could lose,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``Today, no team can say that. By bringing in the Europeans, you created greater balance. The skill level is phenomenal.''

Every move is scouted on videotape. There are very few secrets.

Robitaille agreed. ``Teams used to have maybe two top defensemen that would challenge the best players,'' he said. ``Now everyone has four or five very skilled defensemen to take them on.

``A friend of mine put it best: `It's not that it is so much better than it used to be, but it is so much harder to do what you used to be able to do.' ''

In today's NHL, Edmonton is an afterthought. The Oilers generate the same revenue as the Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars, but because of the exchange rate, they must take $12 million off the top.

With escalating salaries brought on by free agency, the small-market Oilers would have no chance of maintaining a club that included future Hall of Famers Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri and Grant Fuhr.

Kurri and Messier each scored more than 600 goals in their careers. What could you pay them today in Canada, where the dollar is worth less than 75 cents in U.S currency.

``With the weakened Canadian dollar, it wouldn't be possible for Edmonton to keep it together,'' Murray said. ``There was so much talent there. Wayne Gretzky was the dominant player of any era, but he had some great talent beside him.''

Blue Lines

Assisting the great one

While Wayne Gretzky was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night, there were plenty of others taking bows. Take Toronto banker Jim Anstett, who recently was honored at a reunion for assisting on Gretzky's first goal in organized hockey 32 years ago. Gretzky, then just 6, scored just one goal for the 1967-68 Brantford Novice All-Stars. ``I took a shot that hit the goalie and (Gretzky) shoved it in,'' Anstett said. ``I said `Kid, an assist is more valuable than a goal.' Wayne took it to heart, went out and changed the game forever.'' Three years later, Gretzky compiled 278 goals and the legend was born.

DUCK LUCK

The Mighty Ducks' 6-3 loss at Detroit last week should not have come as a surprise. They are 4-24-5 lifetime against Detroit, which includes 0-8 in the playoffs. What is surprising is the team's poor showing on special teams. Last year, the Ducks had the league's best power play with 83 goals in 82 games, and their penalty killing was average. But this season, the Ducks power play is 9 for 67 (13.4 percent), fourth-worst in the league. Their penalty killing is last in the league at 17 for 63 (73 percent).

BACK TO EARTH

After four straight victories in place of Dominek Hasek, Sabres rookie goalie Martin Biron has come back to earth, losing the next three. Biron lost to lowly Tampa Bay and was yanked against Pittsburgh after giving up three in the first period, even with Jaromir Jagr out with a bad groin. All this came after Biron was named NHL Player of the Week.

FATHER KNOWS BEST

Edmonton's Alexander Selivanov, who scored 14 goals on only 32 shots in his first 17 games with the Oilers, used to play for Tampa Bay and future father-in-law Phil Esposito. ``He came to me and asked me if he could marry (daughter) Carrie before he asked her. I said, `You want to do what?' I thought he was just going to ask for more ice time.''

PASSES FOR PAVEL

For years, Florida's Ray Sheppard was considered one of the premier goal scorers in the NHL. From 1991-96, he and Jagr were the only two players to score at least 30 goals in those five seasons. The season that ended the string was 1996-97, when Sheppard scored 29 goals for the Panthers. Now back in Florida after signing a one-year, $750,000 contract, Sheppard will be asked to score. But he has a bigger job now, feeding superstar Pavel Bure, who has struggled to find a compatible linemate.

BURKE STAYS HOT

Goalie Sean Burke moved from Florida to Phoenix this past week, a move the Coyotes made when it became apparent restricted free agent Nikolai Khabibulin will not be back this year. Khabibulin wants between $4 million and $5 million. The Coyotes won't pay him or honor his trade request. Phoenix looked fine when backup Mikhail Shtalenkov was named NHL Player of the Month for October. But then he lost his first four November starts. Bob Essensa is 5-0-1, including a victory over the Kings last Thursday, but the team isn't ready to give him more playing time.

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