Whalers defenseman Alexander Godynyuk adjusted his skates for weeks. He tested the strength in his legs. No problem.

Through the middle part of the season, Godynyuk searched for answers to his loss of quickness, which had been such a key to his success in training camp and the first five games of the season.

Finally, the solution was found on film. He watched the way he skated in those first five games. He saw how he skated in January, when he was minus-4 and had one point as the team struggled. There was a difference. When he played well, his first few strides were short, quick.

"After I came back from my back injury {in early November}, it still bothered me and I was uncomfortable," Godynyuk said. "What I think happened is my stride got bigger, so I couldn't react as quick as I always did. It took me a while to figure out what was wrong. I didn't lose any power in my legs. I didn't lose anything.

"It didn't come back right away. It took a couple games to get going and I worked with Tommy {Webster, Whalers assistant coach}. I needed to be in a game situation. Practice is so different."

The tape session was about a month ago, in the middle of eight consecutive games as a healthy scratch. In all, he missed 11 of 14 games. The three he played were when injuries depleted the defense.

But when the Whalers (29-36-10) traded disappointing Gerald Diduck just before the trading deadline, the door was open a crack for Godynyuk. Marek Malik got the first shot at the sixth spot on defense against St. Louis March 20, but injured his knee. Godynyuk stepped in against Dallas the next night and hasn't left. He will be in the lineup tonight against Montreal (28-34-14) at the Civic Center.

"To me, {Godynyuk's} much quicker now," Whalers coach Paul Maurice said. "He's getting to pucks that he wasn't before and he's playing physically. . . . He's seized his opportunity."

It has been nothing spectacular. Godynyuk is even in the past five games, without a point. He has one goal (opening night), six assists and is minus-10 overall in 48 games.

Godynyuk, 27, had some good hits and wasn't pulled out of position in the Dallas game. He was aggressive against Colorado in the next game and played with a nasty edge against Tampa Bay Thursday, hanging in during his first fight of the season against Lightning defenseman Jamie Huscroft after the brawler grabbed him from behind by the neck.

"The Dallas game was a good step for me," Godynyuk said. "I felt good about myself and that brought back a lot of confidence."

Godynyuk, a left shot, plays on the right side and has been paired with Kevin Haller the past four games. Early on, he was paired with Diduck and playing on the left side.

But after five games, Godynyuk developed a sore back and missed four games. Late in November, he missed five games with a groin strain. In and around the injuries, he was minus-6 until Jan. 1, when he began a stretch of 16 consecutive games in the lineup.

Godynyuk, who spent most of last season in the IHL and AHL, won a job with some solid play in training camp after re-doing his contract and adding another year next season at $425,000. He was plus-4 with a goal and two assists in the first five regular season games. He was also physically involved, knocking Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr on his back side three times in the second game of the season. Though 6 feet, 207 pounds, he was playing as if bigger.

"I feel there's no difference from now to the beginning of the year," Godynyuk said. "I'm trying not to think about the rest of the year that brought me down."

Godynyuk will get a severe test in the next three games against offensive-minded, free-skating Montreal and Pittsburgh (Thursday).

Maurice has been pleased with the way the defense has limited teams in the neutral zone of late, especially Saturday in the 2-1 victory over the Rangers. That will have to happen again the next four days if the Whalers are their first playoff spot since 1992.

"There's not a whole lot of difference {in these teams} than the Rangers in a lot of ways," Maurice said. "They've got some offensive guys that can hurt you. The team that plays the tightest is going to have the best chance to win, because you're going to trade some chances no matter what."

30 ноября 1990 года. 
Mystery shrouds Soviet // Toronto Star

General manager Floyd Smith insisted yesterday that the Maple Leaf organization had no part in bringing Soviet prospect Alexander Godynyuk to North America.

The 20-year-old defenceman himself, meanwhile, remained evasive about how he left his native Ukraine home, repeating over and over that his parents were supportive of the move and that he is in Canada on a six-week visitor's visa.

Any questions about what ties he may or may not have with the Sokol Kiev club of the Soviet major league were answered with shoulder shrugs and blank stares.

Furthermore, Vitali Shevchenko, the Vancouver-based agent who represents the 20-year-old defenceman, said he has no idea how Godynyuk exited the Soviet Union.

Cloak and dagger

"Is good question. Very interesting," Shevchenko responded with a smile yesterday when asked how Godynyuk fled from the Ukraine.

A report Wednesday in the Soviet newspaper Izvestia suggested that Shevchenko helped Godynyuk escape. "There is a version that Godynyuk got a foreign passport, travelled to Poland and from there flew to Canada," Izvestia reported.

It's obvious Godynyuk, the Leafs' sixth-round pick and the 115th player chosen over-all in last June's draft, came to Canada under very mysterious circumstances.

And it's abundantly apparent that it could take a substantial amount of time before the Leafs and the National Hockey League can straighten out the details of whatever contractual ties he has to his Soviet club and soothe some ruffled Soviet feathers.

Smith said he spoke with NHL president John Ziegler this week, after he'd learned of Godynyuk's arrival in Canada, and realized the youngster's decision to leave had caused a considerable stir both in the Soviet Union and at league headquarters.

"It's putting him (Ziegler) in a bad spot, really, because we (the NHL) have negotiations going on all the time with the Russians and this is something that we hope doesn't cause any problems," said Smith, sounding almost apologetic.

"But the kid came here. How he got here, I don't know, but what am I going to do, send him home? I don't want to be a rebel or anything like that. But we're going to try to do what's best for the Toronto Maple Leafs, what's best for the NHL and whatever John Ziegler tells us, we can do."

Junior all-star

Smith said the Leafs have kept in touch with Godynyuk since they drafted him last June and have kept apprised of his progress with Sokol Kiev by Shevchenko, but would not say if he or anyone else in the Leaf organization had actually visted with him in the Soviet Union.

"Let's just say we talked with him," said Smith, who mentioned later in an interview that "we've met him and talked to him and knew that he was very anxious to come and he told us he'd come."

What Smith claimed he didn't know was when the former world junior tournament all-star would come to Canada.

"When I learned he was here I was as surprised as anyone," Smith said. "I would've been just as happy to see him play in the Soviet Union for the rest of this year and then worry about him next summer.

"He's a young kid and another year isn't going to hurt him. But when he shows he wants to come this badly, it's hard to ignore it."

Smith said the Soviets had sent a copy of Godynyuk's "working agreement" with Sokol Kiev to NHL headquarters, but had no idea whether it was a binding contract that the NHL would honor.

When Sergei Federov defected from the Soviet squad at last summer's Goodwill Games in Seattle to join the Detroit Red Wings, the Soviets claimed he, too, was under contract but the NHL did not recognize the agreement as a legitimate player's contract.

Skated with Leafs

Plumbers and physical education instructors were under the same sort of agreement, the NHL said.

"One day, Soviet papers say (Godynyuk) must play one more year and a half on his contract, the next day they say the team will take money from the Maple Leafs," said Shevchenko, claiming Godynyuk's "working agreement" was no different than Federov's.

Immediately after Federov's defection, however, Soviet officials made all players on that Goodwill Games squad sign valid player contracts. Godynyuk was not on that Soviet team.

Godynyuk, meanwhile, skated with the Leafs yesterday despite being bothered by a slight ankle injury and had his share of troubles, but was complimentary toward everyone afterwards.

"Good team, good players," said Godynyuk, who will travel to Toronto this weekend and begin practising with the club on a daily basis next week.

6 декабря 1990 года. 
Godynyuk's already a hit with Leaf fans // Toronto Star

  Alexander Godynyuk's name still isn't on a contract - it probably won't be for some time - but last night the Soviet defenceman found out what being a Maple Leaf might be like.

The 20-year-old was besieged by autograph seekers as he sat watching last night's game from - appropriately enough - the red seats at the Gardens.

"The fans were asking me to sign T-shirts and everything," he said through interpreter/agent Vitali Shevchenko. "I played for a Soviet team for two years and no one recognized me. When I walk into Maple Leaf Gardens, everybody recognizes me."

While the adulation is flattering, Godynyuk is still faced with finding a place to play. The NHL has ruled that the working agreement the defenceman signed with Soviet club team Sokol Kiev is valid.

Simply put, that means Godynyuk can't play with the Leafs, Newmarket or any junior team until an agreement is worked out with the Soviets. That will probably cost Toronto anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 in compensation.

"For now we want to get him playing somewhere," said Bob Stellick, the Leafs' director of business and communications. "He's really only skated once in the last three weeks. We have to find a place for him."

Stellick said one option, although it hasn't been fully explored, is to have Godynyuk work out with the University of Toronto Blues, a team Tom Watt used to coach. Minnesota goalie Brian Hayward worked out a similar arrangement for himself this year with the McGill University team while he was waiting to be traded from Montreal.

For now though, the Leafs will put Godynyuk up at a downtown hotel and, says Stellick, "show him the same consideration we would for any high draft choice."

Stellick said that includes letting him work out with the Leafs when they're in town. Godynyuk will also receive therapy from the club for a sprained ankle he suffered in the Soviet Union.

For now, though, there is nothing to suggest he will soon be in a Toronto uniform.

"Everything is up to the Maple Leafs," said the defenceman, who arrived in Toronto from Vancouver late yesterday afternoon.

"I'd like to play with them right now but the paper work has to be straightened out."

Coincidentally, Godynyuk is familiar with the Minnesota team he watched last night. He said his Sokol Kiev club defeated the North Stars 5-0 during the NHL's team pre-season Soviet tour.

Godynyuk didn't get a goal or an assist in that game but he says he did have a fight with Minnesota tough guy Basil McRae.

"It was draw," says Godynyuk.

McRae was unavailable for comment.

Interviewed between the first and second period, Godynyuk showed that, if he can't play hockey, he certainly has a future as a diplomat. The defenceman described the first 20 minutes of last night's sleepy exhibition as "good hockey."

Not surprisingly, he saw no reason why he couldn't step right in and play.