Wednesday, April 8, 1998 | 11:06 a.m.
It promised to be a gala event, not unlike a New Year's Eve party. After all, Tuesday night was supposed to mark the beginning of a new season for the Las Vegas Thunder.
The heralded addition of Petr Nedved was going to provide the panache. The return of Jeff Christian was supposed to add pop.
But the party was a flop. The Thunder allowed six goals in the second period and trailed 8-0 heading into the third en route to an 8-3 loss to the Long Beach Ice Dogs at the Thomas & Mack Center. Nedved scored the Thunder's first goal and assisted on the other two.
The IHL attempted to play the role of bouncer before the game and prohibit Nedved from playing. A rule states that after Feb. 2, a team cannot sign someone who has played solely in Europe during the season.
Nedved was placed on the Thunder's postseason roster two weeks ago after working out in Europe. In the meantime, however, the Pittsburgh Penguins' free-agent holdout played six games for Sparta Praha in his hometown of Prague, Czech Republic.
But the Thunder filed a temporary injuction with District Judge Myron Leavitt that allowed Nedved to play. A permanent injunction ruling will be made by Leavitt Friday at 9 a.m.
"As far as I'm concerned, everything is on track," Nedved said. "I don't want to get into that right now because I don't know all the rules. But I will gather all the information I can in the next couple days because I want to play."
According to Thunder general manager Bob Strumm, Nedved should be allowed to play because he was not paid by Sparta Praha.
"Obviously, we wouldn;t be doing this if we didn't feel strongly he was eligible," Strumm said. "There are so many loopholes and rules unattended to in this league that a precedent is set every week."
"Nedved's status is questionable at best," said Long Beach head coach John Van Boxmeer, who played the game under protest but will not file the grievance because his team won.
Although the Thunder's result Tuesday night was 180 degrees from what it expected, Nedved's presence gave the team hope for the postseason.
Nedved showed some of the flash that made him a 45-goal, 54-assist center for the Penguins two seasons ago. But his new teammates weren't much of a complement.
"We weren't playing smart," Nedved said. "They were scoring goals and we didn't know how to stop it.
"But I think we've got a good team. If we score early in the first period we probably would have had a game."
Starting goaltender Manny Legace was pulled at 9:55 of the second period after allowing five goals on 24 shots. The Thunder took 26 shots, but six came from Nedved's stick.
"We were sitting back watching the show," Thunder head coach Clint Malarchuk said. "Everyone was looking to see how good Petr was."
After a 12-hour flight, Nedved arrived in Las Vegas from Prague around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. "I felt tired out there today," Nedved said.
But when the game started at 7:05 p.m. -- or 4:05 a.m. Czech time -- he didn't show it.
He started the game as the second-line center and was omnipresent on power plays, of which the Thunder converted 2 of 10.
"He was pretty dominant," Malarchuk said. "Every time he was on the ice you knew he was out there. He was always on the puck, he controlled the puck and he saw the ice well."
And once Nedved does assimilate to Las Vegas, Malarchuk claims his new weapon will provide even more reason to celebrate.
"He'll just dominate," Malarchuk said. "He's a superstar. He's one of the premier players in the NHL. When he comes down here (to the IHL) he excels."
Nedved scored his goal 39 seconds into the third period off an assist from Trent McCleary. Nedved also assisted on goals by Jesse Belanger and Trevor Roenick.
IHL points leader Patrice Lefebvre also assisted Belanger's goal, giving him 111 points on the season, three shy of his own team scoring record set in 1995-96.
Thunderbolts
* GET USED TO IT: It appears the Las Vegas Thunder will face the Long Beach Ice Dogs to open the Turner Cup playoffs next week. The Ice Dogs' 8-3 whacking further solidified them as the No. 1 Western Conference seed and the Thunder (32-37-10) as the No. 8 seed. Each team has three games remaining. The Ice Dogs (50-20-9) will own home-ice advantage in the best-of-5 first round. ... The Thunder is 2-10-1 against the Ice Dogs this season, including 1-6-0 at the Thomas & Mack Center. The teams meet again in the regular season finale Sunday in Long Beach.
* LOOSE PUCKS: With Petr Nedved and Jeff Christian in the lineup, the Thunder scratched defensemen Brian Curran and Rodrigo Lavinsh. Curran was hit above the right eye with a puck in Monday's practice and was kept out for precautionary reasons. Lavinsh was sent to Tacoma of the West Coast Hockey League. ... Tuesday night's loss guarantees the Thunder a sub.-500 season, its first in franchise history.
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