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Friday, January 12, 2001
'We will still not consider any other teams'
By Al Morganti
Special to ESPN.com
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The never ending story line concerning the Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers took another twist on Thursday when Flyers chairman Ed Snider announced on a Toronto radio station that he had directed club general manager Bob Clarke to stop negotiations with the Maple Leafs.
However, when reached on Thursday night, Lindros's lawyer Gordon Kirke said that nothing has changed. "Whatever was said by Ed Snider, it doesn't alter our position. Eric's only focus at this point, and our only focus is to see a deal made in which Eric will play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"We will still not consider any other teams."
Snider and Clarke were not immediately available, but sources within the Flyers organization indicate that Sinder is becoming increasingly upset at the Lindros demand that he will only play for the Leafs. Both Snider and Clarke have been annoyed that all offers from the Leafs remain far below what they consider market value for Lindros.
There is also the underlying theme that the Flyers are sick of Lindros "calling all the shots," and they want to deal Lindros where they can get the best deal – not where Lindros demands to play.
Up to this point, the Flyers have fielded interest from other teams, including the Bruins and Rangers, by directing them Kirke. And the answer has always been that the Lindros side wants to exhaust all possibilities of landing in Toronto before they move on to another possibility.
Well, Snider finally became exhausted with that scenario.
Since the day that Lindros announced that he wanted to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Flyers general manager Bob Clarke has been very clear that the Leafs were not willing to pay the price the Flyers wanted for Lindros. He has also maintained that the so-called deal that Lindros thought he had with the Leafs was nothing more than a lot of possibilities.
Any "deal" with the Leafs was going to have to include a "shared responsibility" with the Flyers – and Clarke had no interest in sharing any responsibilities involving a deal for Lindros.
As we head toward the second half of the season, that has not changed. Yes, the Leafs continue to have some dialogue with the Flyers. There has even been "talk" as recently as this week, but there really has been no headway made in the so-called negotiations. Frankly, the Leafs management team has never been as interested in Lindros as the club's ownership.
If Lindros wants to return to the NHL this season, the next step is for Lindros, through his lawyer Gordon Kirke, to advise the Flyers on where else he would play. After that, the Flyers could attempt to strike a deal, or Team Lindros could try to work out a deal, as it has tried with the Leafs.
The Leafs' argument, and the argument of any team that has interest in Lindros, is that he is such a huge risk that they have to make a "conditional offer." Clarke remains adamant that he wants what he considers equal value up front.
If that sounds absurd, remember that the Flyers did offer Lindros a contract of $8.5 million in order to keep his rights. Also take note that the Flyers truly do not believe that Lindros is as damaged as others might believe. Their own medical opinion is that the concussions before the mega-hit by Scott Stevens in the playoffs were not severe.
Their belief is that Lindros has a very good chance to continue his hockey career, with some added risk of concussions, but not as overwhelming a risk as others believe.
The Flyers wanted Lindros to return to Philly, prove he could still be an effective player, and then try to trade him. There is just no way that was going to happen as long as Clarke remains general manager.
If Lindros thought the Flyers would have to trade him to change the club's fortunes, consider the Flyers first half of the season: a coach was fired (Craig Ramsay), their highly-rated young goalie Brian Boucher has become a backup, their top player, John LeClair, has been out with back surgery, their next-best player Mark Recchi is having an off-year, and their franchise defenseman, Eric Desjardins, is also struggling.
And yet the club has lost just two of its last dozen games, and remains in the race for the top spot in the conference. So, the theory involving "pressure" to trade Lindros has also evaporated.
Various friends and acquaintances of Lindros have let it be known that, if all attempts fail with the Leafs, he would consider playing in St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Jose, Boston, or with the Rangers. The Flyers have their eyes on some of the Rangers' better prospects, and are just waiting for word from the Lindros camp to try to make a deal with New York or anybody else.
Texas showdown isn't over
It's been a rough few weeks for a couple of the NHL's premier goalies, and perhaps the beginning of the final chapters for Ed Belfour with the Dallas Stars and Dominik Hasek with the Buffalo Sabres.
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Belfour is back with the team after snapping at coach Ken Hitchcock. Although GM Bob Gainey can smooth things over for the short-term, the issue of a longer-term truce between Belfour and Hitchcock is another matter.
Gainey has always backed Hitchcock when there have been clashes with players, and the issue of Hitchcock's harsh coaching style is nothing new. Hitchcock is facing a daunting task as he tries to keep the Stars emotional level at a pitch to keep pace with Colorado and St. Louis.
Hitchcock has been an extraordinary coach, winning the Cup (1999), then doing what might have been an even better job by reaching the finals again last season. But he has grated on star players such as Mike Modano and (of course) Brett Hull.
Gainey will surely back his coach the remainder of this season. But what transpires the remainder of the season will likely determine the short-term tenure of Belfour, and the longer-term tenure of Hitchcock.
Dominating someone else's nets?
Meanwhile, The Dominator has been so far from dominating in Buffalo that there is talk that the time has come for Martin Biron to get some more time in goal for the Sabres.
| |  | | | Hasek |
Biron's back-to-back shutouts against the Islanders and Nashville prompted coach Lindy Ruff to use him in a key start Tuesday night in San Jose, where he again played well in a 2-1 loss to the Sharks.
As is the case with Belfour, the bigger question is the long-term future of Hasek in Buffalo. The club has an option on Hasek for $9.5 million next year. And if Biron is for real, that $9.5 million, plus another $3 million the club will save if Doug Gilmour retires, could go a long way to re-tooling the franchise.
Remember that Hasek and the Sabres were knocked out of the playoffs last spring by the Flyers and rookie goalie Brian Boucher, and Biron is regarded a more promising goalie than Boucher, who has struggled this season.
So, you can expect the name of Hasek to come up at the trade deadline, and when that happens you can fully expect the Los Angeles Kings to have some interest.
Now, adding some interest to this scenario is the uncertain future of general manager Darcy Regier, who has done a remarkable job in a small market such as Buffalo, where he arrived in the midst of some big-time problems between GM John Muckler and coach Ted Nolan.
Regier is in the final year of a contract, and with jobs very likely to open in Florida and perhaps on Long Island, the Sabres ownership should seriously consider locking Regier into a long-term deal, especially when there are major decisions to be made on Hasek and still-unsigned free agent captain Michael Peca.
Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.
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