Mike Loftus

In an unlocked landscape, Sergei Samsonov wouldn't be considered a visitor until next Wednesday, when he and the Boston Bruins were to play a game at Buffalo. The stalemate between NHL team owners and the NHL Players Association leaves the league in lockout mode, though, so when Samsonov's in the Boston area these days, he's only passing through. Samsonov, one of the few locked-out Bruins who has elected not to seek a playing job in another league, was in Peabody yesterday to do a good deed. Through a connection with the Celebrities for Charity (CFC) Foundation operated by former NHL goalie and Canton native Cleon Daskalakis, Samsonov and recently- enshrined Hockey Hall of Famer Ray Bourque appeared on behalf of Adventures for Angels, a group trying to complete funding for a Handicap Universal playground before construction costs rise on Jan. 1. 

Samsonov, who has worked with CFC for several years, probably would have found time to make yesterday's appearance even if it had been a practice day in Boston. He and his wife, Meghan, are the still-new parents of a baby girl, and fatherhood makes kids' causes all the more important to him. "Oh, definitely," Samsonov said before yesterday's appearance. "It really gives you a totally different perspective on so many things. When you're lucky enough to become a parent, and you're fortunate enough to have a healthy child ... you look at parents of kids who have handicaps, and you can only imagine how much more they have to do for their kids." His playground these days is a rink outside Detroit, where the Samsonovs are based for the lockout. (His wife is a native of the area, where Samsonov spent 1996-97 with the Detroit Vipers of the since- shuttered International Hockey League).

 He's skating with a group of Red Wings and other Michigan-bred NHLers, but that could change. "It makes the most sense, with a young baby, to just stay out there and skate," Samsonov said. "We're near my wife's family, and it gives me a chance to skate with NHL players. "I'm not playing right now, because I still want to give the NHL season a chance. I have some options, though. My agent (Neil Abbott) keeps in touch with teams in Europe, but at this point I still want to wait and see. I'll make a decision at the end of December, beginning of January." As the silence between owners and players approaches the two-month mark (the sides haven't discussed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement since a Sept. 9 proposal from the NHLPA was rejected the same day by the NHL), Samsonov's decision appears to be between a job in Europe or a year without any hockey at all. "It's hard to see there being a season at this point," he said. "The sides are just so far apart. The hardest part is that they're not talking. We're running out of time, and that's scary."

Samsonov keeps tabs on the situation via the union's web site, and he hasn't missed news reports of the growing number of NHLers finding employment in European leagues. "It's getting close to half the players in the NHL playing over there now," said the crowd-pleasing, 26-year-old winger, a Bruin since they selected him in the first round of the 1997 entry draft. "I think that shows how strongly they believe they're willing to wait as long as it takes to get a deal done. The owners seem to have the same strong beliefs in their position." 

Samsonov is trying to remain optimistic that negotiations can begin, and a deal struck, in time for the NHL to stage a shortened season. Like most with any attachment to the NHL, though, his hopes for a 2004-05 campaign are fading. "Realistically, I don't see that we have time to get everything done," he said. "It's just tough to see that something big is going to change on either side in time to put a season together in a hurry." CFC is trying to help Adventures for Angels raise the last $40,000 in construction costs for the $165,000 play area, which will offer access for handicapped children and all other area kids. The Foundation is holding a largely sports-themed raffle (prizes include lunch with Bourque, autographed items by New England Patriots - including quarterback Tom Brady - Celtics tickets, etc.), with one prize awarded each day in December. A $25 donation makes the entrant (who must be 18 or older) eligible for every drawing; tickets must be purchased by Nov. 30. For more information and a prize calendar, visit celebritiesforcharity.org