TORONTO SUN'S FIDLIN SAYS NHL IS FILLED WITH MEDIOCRE PLAY

          After last night's Maple Leafs 3-1 win over the Sharks,
     Ken Fidlin wrote, "As the minutes drained away and the game
     droned on like some medieval dirge, we got a serious look at
     the future of hockey."  As the league sets to expand to 30
     teams by 2000, Fidlin writes, "Lord help us all."  He adds
     that the Sharks and Leafs have played 125 minutes of hockey
     this season and scored four goals: "Good lord, this stuff is
     nearly unwatchable. .. The league slogan should be 'The
     Cruellest Game on Earth' because it is pure torture to
     witness two mediocre teams skating in sand for three hours." 
     In the "modern" NHL, "teams will improve and others will
     wither.  But the overall product will remain where it is
     now: Stuck at mediocre" (TORONTO SUN, 11/26).