INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE : TEAMS AT A GLANCE

KALAMAZOO WINGS

NHL Affiliations: Minnesota North Stars

Coach: Bob Hoffmeyer

1990-91 Record: 52-29-1

Regular-Season Finish: First

Impact Players: Former Winnipeg defenseman Brad Berry. Minnesota rookie center Cal McGowan (139 points at WHL Kamloops in ‘90) and rookie right wing Doug Barrault (88 points at WHL Seattle).

Top Returning Players: Steve Gotaas, Mitch Messier, top two scorers.

Outlook: The 1990-91 team was gutted when North Stars sent half their roster to expansion San Jose team, but a flood of talented free agents could make this potentially high-scoring team as strong as it was last year.

INDIANAPOLIS ICE

Team: Indianapolis Ice

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks

Coach: John Marks

1990-91 Record: 48-29-5

Regular-Season Finish: Second

Impact Player: Left wing Dan Vincelette, acquired from Quebec.

Top Returning Players: Center Sean Williams, wings Tracy Egeland and Owen Lessard, defensemen Cam Russell and Ryan McGill.

Outlook: If wing Mike Stapleton is sent down by Chicago, the Ice will return a nucleus of scorers. But goaltending and defense are a question for a team that had the second-highest goals-against mark in the league last season. Marks, who led Kalamazoo to a 52-29-1 record last year, has a big but young team.

FT. WAYNE KOMETS

NHL Affiliation: None

Coach: Al Sims

1990-91 Record: 43-35-5

Regular-Season Finish: Third

Impact Players: Jean-Marc Richard, joined Komets for playoffs and had three goals, nine assists.

Top Returning Players: Center Colin Chin, wings Bruce Boudreau, Bob Lakso and Steve Fletcher, defenseman Carry Lucyk.

Outlook: League’s leading scorer, Lonnie Loach (55 G, 76 A, 131 Points) has gone to AHL Adirondack, leaving behind an aging team. Chin, Lakso, Lucyk and Fletcher are 29, Boudreau, who scored 120 points last year, is 36. How much longer can they produce?

MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS

NHL Affiliation: Pittsburgh Penguins

Coach: Phil Russell (interim)

1990-91 Record: 38-40-5

Regular-Season Finish: Fourth

Impact Player: Left wing Dave Michayluk, 29, the only player in pro hockey, besides Wayne Gretzky, to score more than 100 points in six consecutive seasons.

Top Returning Players: Scoring leaders Jock Callander, Perry Ganchar, Jamie Leach and Sandy Smith.

Outlook: Callander, 30, the team’s oldest player, is coming off reconstructive surgery on his left knee and leads a talented offense. But the Penguins have given the Lumberjacks nothing but rookies and a journeyman goalie for defense.

PEORIA RIVERMEN

NHL Affiliation: St. Louis Blues

Coach: Harold Snepsts

1990-91 Record: 58-19-5

Regular-Season Finish: First

Impact Players: Brian McKee, the highest-scoring defenseman in the IHL last year (30 goals at Fort Wayne). Left wings Dave Mackey and Jason Ruff.

Top Returning Player: Center Michel Mongeau.

Outlook: After dominating the league and winning the Turner Cup, the Rivermen have been raided of top scorers David Bruce (Kansas City via San Jose), Dave Thomlinson (Boston) and Jim Vesey (AHL Maine). Turner Cup MVP Mongeau now must groom Ruff, 21, who scored 66 goals at WL Lethbridge last year. Being groomed as a coach is Snepsts, who retired as a player with the Blues after last season.

SALT LAKE GOLDEN EAGLES

NHL Affiliation: Calgary Flames

Coach: Bob Francis

1990-91 Record: 50-28-5

Regular-Season Finish: Second

Impact Players: Todd Strueby, tough guy goal-scorer returning to IHL from stints with Team Canada and in Europe. Center David Struch, wings Mark Woolf, Matt Hoffman and Todd Gillingham.

Top Returning Players: Wing Rich Chernomaz, defenseman Kevan Melrose, and tough guys Kevin Grant, Paul Kruse, Kerry Clark and Darren Banks (1,151 combined penalty minutes), goalie Warren Sharples.

Preseason Outlook: With the arrival of some exciting young scorers and a tough defense returning, Salt Lake looks like an early favorite in the West. The team has a blend of youth and experience. Juniors players Struch, 20, and Matt Hoffman, a linemate of Eric Lindros at OHL Oshawa, had a combined 201 points last year. This team may have too many scorers.

PHOENIX ROADRUNNERS

NHL Affiliation: Kings

Coach: Ralph Backstrom & Rich Kozuback

1990-91 Record: 38-36-9

Regular-Season Finish: Third

Impact Players: Wings Scott Bjugstad, John Van Kessell and Sean Whyte, center Jeff Rohlicek, defensemen Paul Holden, Brent Thompson.

Top Returning Players: Center/wing Sylvain Couturier, defenseman Kevin McDonald.

Outlook: With the folding of the Kings’ AHL New Haven farm team, the Roadrunners have inherited several big, fast, skilled players. They lose a combined 128 points with the departure of Chris Kontos and Brian Lawton, and goalie a question without Mario Gosselin. Phoenix should still be stingy on defense.

MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS

NHL Affiliation: Vancouver Canucks

Coach: Jack McIlhargey

1990-91 Record: 36-43-3

Regular-Season Finish: Fourth

Impact Players: Wings Ladislav Tresl, veteran Kings farm hand, and Paul Guay, former IHL defensive player of the year Randy Boyd, forward Robin Bawa.

Top Returning Players: Center Eric Murano, defensemen Ian Kidd, Brian Blad and Don Gibson.

Outlook: A team that mirrors the bulky, physical style of its parent Canucks, picked up six free agents, including Bawa, a once-promising talent with Washington who now drops his gloves for a living. Tresl, 30, is there for leadership.

SAN DIEGO GULLS

NHL Affiliation: None

Coach: Don Waddell

1990-91 Record: 30-45-8

Regular-Season Finish: Fifth

Impact Players: Goalie Bruce Hoffort (4-0-3 in the NHL), defenseman Alan Hepple, center Keith Gretzky, Soviets Dmitri Kvartalnov (wing) and Sergei Starikov (defense), wing Brent Sapergia.

Top Returning Players: Wings Larry Floyd, Steve Martinson, Darcy Norton and Soren True, defenseman Dave Korol.

Outlook: Four of the top six scorers return. The defense, a sore spot last season, should be fortified by the addition of Hepple and Starikov. But 1990-91 defensive MVP Korol is out with a broken arm. The Gulls, who were better on the road than at home last year, are also improved at goalie. Look for new Coach Waddell to turn up the intensity.

KANSAS CITY BLADES

NHL Affiliation: San Jose Sharks

Coach: Kevin Constantine

1990-91 Record: 25-53-4

Regular-Season Finish: Sixth

Impact Players: Wings David Bruce (IHL MVP at Peoria last year), Ed Courtenay (Kalamazoo’s leading scorer), Jeff Madill (New Jersey) and John Carter (Boston), Soviets Artur Irbe (goalie) and Mikhail Kravets (wing).

Top Returning Players: Tough guy Jeff Odgers and defenseman Andrew Akervik.

Outlook: Last year’s leading scorer Ron Handy retired on a team that has been overhauled. But, as is the case in Kalamazoo, the flood of NHL fringe players to expansion San Jose has created a nice spillover for the Blades, who were 9-30-2 on the road last year. They’ll be better.