OTTAWA — Management sources from two different teams told Slap Shots late in the week that they expect Ray Bourque to be in play with the Mar. 14 trade deadline approaching and the Bruin organization disintegrating.

Bourque, who turned 39 in late December and is completing his 21st season in Boston, has chosen not to move before, notably three years ago when

after long, hard thought he invoked his veto power to reject a deal that would have sent him to Detroit. He has in the past made it clear that quality of life family considerations — e.g., not moving — were of a much higher priority than winning the Stanley Cup.

Now, however, the situation in Boston has become so polluted that not even Bourque can ignore it. A captain who has alienated a number of teammates by publicly supporting management in contract battles long after it had become obvious that ownership placed winning a championship secondary to raking in handsome profits, Bourque, we’re told, is absolutely fed up with the way the front office has scapegoated Pat Burns, a particular favorite of his.

For that reason, Bourque, who has not yet declared his intentions for next season and who is earning a $6 million base in the final year of his contract, may this time agree to allow the Bruins to trade him to a contender … if not request such a parole.

If he does so, if Bourque is finally willing to explore horizons beyond the tattered spoked-B, the Red Wings, who last year added Chris Chelios at the deadline and are always in the market for veteran defensemen, will take another serious run at him.

IF Marty McSorley truly intends to play in the NHL next year, neither he nor his new employer should expect the defenseman to start his season in October when everyone else does.

An individual with connections has advised Slap Shots that McSorley is liable to receive an additional 13-to-17 game sentence from Gary Bettman before the dishonorably discharged Bruin is permitted by the commissioner to return to the league.

McSorley was the picture of dejection and contrition immediately following the Monday night game in Vancouver during which he stalked Donald Brashear from behind before using the heel of his stick blade to crack his foe across the right side of the head.

But rather than appearing in New York for Wednesday’s disciplinary hearing, McSorley remained incommunicado. Using the Vancouver police investigation into the incident as cause, McSorley chose to allow the NHLPA to seek a 48-hour adjournment on his behalf. Nonsense.

Frankly, we’re flabbergasted that McSorley, agent Mike Barnett, and the union itself, did not understand the intrinsic value of having the once-proud enforcer appear in Manhattan to offer his public apology to Brashear, to the sport, to whomever wanted an apology, while at the same time protecting his legal rights against self-incrimination, given that he had pretty much prosecuted himself on Monday.

It was not smart.

JOEL Quenneville has had the Adams Award for Coach-of-the-Year locked up since Thanksgiving, but moving up quickly to place and show are Montreal’s Alain Vigneault and the Islanders’ Butch Goring. Vigneault and Goring have managed to get more out of less than anyone could have dreamed, have managed to instill and maintain strong work ethics in teams that would have been forgiven long ago for waving the white flag.

The Canadiens’ emergence as serious playoff contenders has clouded the picture for management. Knocking on the door, can Montreal now trade potential unrestricted free agents Vladimir Malakhov and Shayne Corson? Can Montreal trade goaltender Jeff Hackett, who has combined with Jose Theodore to produce the league’s fourth-best goals-against average?

We’re told that the Flyers have targeted Malakhov, for whom the price is going to be very, very high.

If the Sharks fail to make the playoffs, does Darryl Sutter still have the option of signing that long-term deal that’s been on the table since the beginning of the year? If so, why? And though we keep hearing that the Blackhawks may want him back, again, given the track record out west, we again have to ask, why?

League spin doctors can trot out all the attendance figures they wish, but when Washington gets an announced 12,000 one night for Pavel Bure and Carolina gets an announced 10,000 or so the next night for Bure — in games with playoff implications — the NHL has a problem.

More to the point, though, when Florida gets one sellout all season (last Saturday against Pittsburgh) despite having Bure in the lineup, the NHL has a problem.

PETR Nedved, proud centerpiece of the Czechmates, the only NHL line extant named after its players’ country of birth, is not eligible to play for the Czech Republic should the pros compete in the 2002 Salt Lake Games. That’s because Nedved has already represented Canada in the Olympics, in 1994 in Lillehammer while embroiled in a contract dispute with the Canucks.

“I think that the International Ice Hockey Federation should definitely change the rule and allow players with dual citizenship to choose and not be restricted to representing one country,” Nedved told Slap Shots on Thursday. “I have no regrets at all about playing for Canada, they really wanted me, I’m very proud to have done that. It was awesome, and it was one of the best times of my hockey career, but I don’t think I should be disqualified now from representing the Czech Republic.

“If there were a lot of players who were affected by this, there might be some pressure on the federation to change things but with only a few players in my position there probably isn’t very much I can do about it. I’m going to ask my agent [Mike Barnett] over the summer to investigate it and see if anything can be done.

“I really hope it changes because I’d love to play in the Olympics again, and let’s face it, with the NHL going, my chances to asked by Canada again are probably not too good.”

FINALLY, of their final 20 games, the Canadiens have two against Atlanta, three against Tampa Bay, two against Boston, one against Chicago. Of their final 20, the Hurricanes have three against Atlanta, one against Chicago, one against Boston, one against Nashville.

And of their final 18, Rangers have two against Detroit, one against Dallas, two against Philadelphia, two against Florida, two in Pittsburgh.

In other words, 16 days before the deadline, it’s time to go Moose hunting.