|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Pay the sniper Flyers' Clarke, LeClair to talk long-term deal
Philadelphia Flyers president Bob Clarke meets with John LeClair's agent this week in an effort to hammer out a multiyear deal. The big left wing was awarded $7 million by an arbitrator for 2000-2001 and will become an unrestricted free agent after the season. LeClair has said he wants to remain a Flyer but, curiously, has imposed a training-camp deadline on negotiations for a long-term deal. He wants a contract that would pay him at least $8 million annually. LeClair has scored more goals than any NHLer the past five seasons. However, he is the only one of the top snipers to have played virtually every game. He's also had the advantage of playing along side Eric Lindros.
Flames' Smith on the comeback trialAgainst the odds, Calgary Flames captain Steve Smith is making yet another comeback -- assuming he can pass the training camp physical. The 37-year-old defenseman, who came out of retirement two years ago, underwent a spinal fusion last season that aborted a not terribly productive year. Even if he is cleared to play, Smith would come into camp rated no better than the seventh defenseman. Former coach Brian Sutter was blindly loyal to Smith, but new general manager Craig Button and coach Don Hay don't have the same ties.
Front-office fire sale in PhoenixThe sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to Wayne Gretzky and Steve Ellman will be finalized before the season, pending a payment of $10 million, but the exodus of personnel already has started. Last week, assistant coach Wayne Fleming left for the Canadian national team. Earlier, amateur scouting director Bill Lesuk, a 20-year veteran of the Winnipeg-Phoenix franchise, took the same job and a five-year contract with the Chicago. General manager Bobby Smith will be out once Ellman and Gretzky take over, but coach Bobby Francis might have earned himself another season if the sale drags on late into September. One name that has surfaced as a possible successor if Francis is dismissed is Pat Conacher, a former Gretzky teammate in Los Angeles who has coached in the IHL. Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Farber covers the NHL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
