Thursday, March 20, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
When the Las Vegas Thunder takes the ice in Houston Friday night, head coach Chris McSorley might need a program to identify his players.
On Wednesday, the Thunder not only discovered it would receive goaltender Parris Duffus back from the Phoen ix Coyotes, but acquired veteran NHL center Alexander Semak and Sa sha Lakovic, noted tough guy.
Las Vegas dealt forward Rhett Trombley to Syracuse of the American Hockey League for Semak while defenseman Ryan Bast was sent to Saint John, also of the AHL, for Lakovic and future considerations.
The Thunder, however, will place both Trombley and Bast on its playoff roster, allowing both to play here after their new teams are eliminated from the AHL postseason.
Semak, a free agent after this season, comes to the Thunder from the Vancouver Canucks organization. The 31-year-old Russian played 18 games for the Canucks this season, recording two goals, one assist and two penalty minutes. In 23 games with Syracuse, Semak notched 10 goals, 14 assists and 12 penalty minutes.
"A very, very exciting player," Thunder general manager Bob Strumm said of Semak. "He's very creative and has a great shot. He's like a water bug, very quick. He's a world-class player and that's exciting when we can add a player like that."
Semak's best season came with the New Jersey Devils in 1992-93, when he registered career highs with 37 goals, 42 assists and 70 penalty minutes.
The Thunder hopes Semak will offset the absence of center Sergei Zholtok, the team's leading goal scorer before his November call-up to the Ottawa Senators.
Strumm, who has one more trade in the works before this afternoon's International Hockey League trade deadline, was able to land Semak as a result of Vancouver's interest in Trombley, whose contract with the Florida Panthers expires after this season. In 44 games with Las Vegas, he had four goals, three assists and 199 penalty minutes.
"It's positive when anyone steps forward and wants to acquire your services," Trombley said. "Basically, I just have to worry about finding a job for next year, and this is a shot."
The enigmatic Lakovic, completing a one-year contract with the Calgary Flames, has had a strange season, even by his standards. The "Pit Bull" saw NHL time early, but incurred a lengthy league suspension and fine for climbing the glass to fight a fan. In February, Saint John told Lakovic to go away. He later was spotted playing in the recreational Fish and Brew Gentleman's Hockey League under an assumed name, according to a published report.
In 49 games with the Thunder last season, Lakovic amassed 416 penalty minutes against a goal and two assists.
"He's a feared player," Strumm said. "He brings an element nobody else in the league has and that's a skater, hitter, fighter. He does it all."
Strumm did say he hated to lose Bast, who has performed admirably as a rookie. In 49 games with Las Vegas, "Time Bomb" had two goals, three assists and 266 penalty minutes.
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