By Terry Frei 
Denver Post Sports Writer 

April 11 - The day after telling The Denver Post the information about him in an upcoming magazine story is "bull----,'' Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Kamensky on Friday repeated the assertion after the team's practice at the University of Denver. 

 "I am very upset with this article because it's not true,'' Kamensky said. "If you need some information, call the NHL. The NHL knows everything about this . . . I'm upset because I never hear about Russian mafia. (They) never bothered me and I have never contacted them. 

 "It is wrong. It bothers my family, too, because my son goes to school and maybe some guys ask him these things.'' 

 Much of the information in the piece written by contributing editor Robert I. Friedman in the May issue of Details is a rehash of previous published and public-record material, particularly the passages about extortion and threats the Russian NHL players have received from the Russian mob, both in Europe and North America. 

 But there are several intriguing bits of newer information in the story - including what it claims was Kamensky's involvement in the admission of Vyacheslav Sliva, a notorious Russian crime figure, into Canada in 1994; and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Slava Fetisov's signing of incorporation papers for another Russian mobster's New York "front company.'' 

 The story asserted that Kamensky asked Quebec Nordiques coowner Marcel Aubut to write a letter to Canadian authorities on behalf of Sliva, whom FBI documents said had served 10 years in a Russian gulag for extortion and torture. Friedman wrote that Aubut's letter went to the Canadian embassy in Moscow, and asked: "Please issue a visitor's visa to a friend of one of our players, Valeri Kamensky.'' 

 So did Kamensky ask Aubut to write the letter? 

 "No,'' Kamensky said, then added: "I don't remember. It's long time ago, you know? They do lots of paper, like here, everywhere.'' 

 Asked about his relationship with specific Russian crime figures, Kamensky deferred to the league. 

 Friedman wrote that Sliva said during his interview with Canadian immigration officials that he was coming to Canada to visit Kamensky, but that he actually had been sent by the Russian mob to coordinate its activities in Toronto in conjunction with Brooklyn's Brighton Beach branch run by Sliva's brother-in-law, Vyacheslav Ivankov. Ivankov, Friedman wrote, was behind the company for which Fetisov signed the incorporation papers. 

 Sliva was deported to Russia by Canadian officials in 1997 after officials determined he had lied about his criminal past. Ivankov was arrested in 1995 and convicted of extortion. He is in a Lake Placid, N.Y., prison. At the time of his arrest, the FBI and Interpol had labeled him as the most powerful man in the Russian mob in the United States. 

 Shortly after his arrest in June 1995, The Denver Post reported that cellular phone records indicated that Ivankov had been in Denver in March 1995, and also that he had been issued a Colorado driver's license in September 1993. The address he gave was the southeast Denver home of Vatchagan Petrossov and his wife, Vachagan. 

 The Petrossovs have been involved in the ownership of the St. Petersburg restaurant in Glendale, which has been renamed Maverick's Steak House. Friedman wrote that the FBI has monitored "hundreds'' of conversations between Kamensky and Vatchagan Petrossov, and he contended that FBI documents call Petrossov the head of the Russian mob in Denver. Ka mensky has done commercials for the restaurant, which is known as a gathering point for Denver's Russian community 

 In Detroit on Wednesday, Fetisov - Kamensky's longtime teammate on the Soviet Red Army and national teams - reacted similarly to the Details article. "I have no relationship, no business to deal with any Russian mob,'' Fetisov told The Detroit News. 

 The Detroit News confirmed, however, that Fetisov's name was on the papers incorporating the alleged "front'' company, Slavic Inc., and also the papers that dissolved the firm this year. And Fetisov, the Detroit paper reported, still officially is listed as chairman of the board. 

 But Fetisov denied any involvement to the News. "I told you, I never had any business to deal with anybody,'' he said. 

Valeri Kamensky's left shoulder is still a bit tender, but it has no problem shrugging itself when the question of his countrymen's participation in the 1998 Winter Olympics is concerned. 
The Russian left wing of the Colorado Avalanche shrugs with ease, but has a hard time figuring out why anyone would not want to play in the upcoming Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. 

Kamensky will play for Russia, along with Avs teammate Alexei Gusarov. Some of the more high-profile Russians won't; among them are Detroit's Sergei Fedorov, Viacheslav Fetisov and Igor Larionov. 

"I spoke with a couple guys. They say "We're tired, we need rest," Kamensky said Sunday. 

The look on Kamensky's face clearly indicated he doesn't buy their explanations. 

Although the need for rest has been the official reason given why some Russians won't compete, there is more to the story. 

At the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, there was turmoil among the Russian team. Among the reasons why, dissatisfaction with the coaching staff's rigid on- and off- 

 ice rules. Even though the Iron Curtain had long since fallen, many players felt the Russian hockey hierarchy was still stuck in the old world. 

In particular, Fetisov's refusal to play in 1998 was a surprise, as he is affectionately known among current Russian NHL players as "Papa Bear.'' Fetisov was the first Russian player to defect to the NHL in 1989-90, to New Jersey. 

Kamensky doesn't like to talk about the political climate surrounding Russian hockey. But, he made it clear he thinks the Olympics is a special event and can't understand why anybody would miss it. 

"You go to play for your country. That's it,'' Kamensky said. "You play for two weeks and go back. Nobody bothers you. Just enjoy your time and play in the Olympics. It's a great tournament.'' 

Kamensky, who has missed the last three games with a bruised left shoulder, took part in Sunday's optional practice and will play Tuesday at home against Los Angeles.