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From Staff and Wire Reports
Wednesday, March 12, 2003 Page: 1B
It is beginning to seem like the best way for a member of the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to get a one-way ticket out of here is to
become a fan favorite.
Defenseman Francois Leroux, a rugged defenseman who had fans at the First
Union Arena chanting his name on Saturday night, was sent packing on Tuesday
as the parent Pittsburgh Penguins executed a payroll purge prior to the
National Hockey League’s trading deadline.
The deal involving Leroux was one of five that Pittsburgh General Manager
Craig Patrick made prior to the deadline, which was at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
Forward Jan Hrdina and Leroux were sent to Phoenix in exchange for forwards
Ramzi Abid and Guillaume Lefebvre and defenseman Dan Focht.
In the other deals, center Wayne Primeau was traded to San Jose for right
wing Matt Bradley, defenseman Ian Moran went to Boston for a fourth-round
draft pick, defenseman Marc Bergevin was sent to Tampa Bay for forward Brian
Holzinger, and right wing Shean Donovan was traded to Calgary for defenseman
Micki DuPont and center Mathias Johansson.
Of those players, DuPont was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which
provided an ironic twist. Dupont was with the Saint John Flames, who are in
town today to take on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in an American Hockey League
contest (7:05 p.m. faceoff, First Union Arena).
Craig Patrick said that Pittsburgh will call up a player or players from
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton prior to today’s game. The parent club hosts Nashville
tonight.
Leroux isn’t the first popular Penguin who has been sent packing. There was
defenseman John Slaney, who was traded to Philadelphia in January of 2001.
There was winger Dennis Bonvie, who was allowed to become a free agent in the
summer of 2001. And there was center Darcy Verot, who was allowed to become a
free agent this past summer and makes his return to the First Union Arena
tonight with Saint John.
However, changing scenery is part of the landscape in pro hockey,
especially in the minors, and the fact that area fans had warmed up to Leroux
had no bearing on the deal. With Pittsburgh having its playoff hopes dead
thanks to a current nine-game losing streak, the team’s focus has turned to
the future.
“We’re in a survival mode,” Craig Patrick said. “We’ve got to spend
properly and make sure we can put the best team on the ice with what we have
to spend. This is a move looking forward to a new collective bargaining
agreement. We plan to come out of it with a strong team. But right now and
going into next year, we’re pretty much in a survival mode. The group of
people we’ve had here hasn’t gotten the job done that we expected, so now
we’ve moved on.”
The moves are expected to leave Pittsburgh with one of the lowest payrolls
in pro sports next season – around $25 million, even less than it was 10 years
ago. Despite that, the cash-strapped team still could lose money this season.
With such a low salary base, Pittsburgh is essentially adopting its own
salary cap while awaiting a new NHL collective bargaining agreement, known as
a CBA. The current deal expires in September 2004.
If the new collective bargaining agreement includes salary restraints,
Patrick said the Penguins can compete on equal terms beginning in the 2004-05
season because “we’ll have way more (young) depth – in the 19-to-23-year-old
range” than any other NHL team.
“We’re looking to come out of this and into a new CBA where we can
compete,” Patrick said. “A lot of these guys we brought in are 22-23 years
old, and they’re going to be 24 or 25 under the new CBA. If we blend those
people in with the people that age we already have in our organization, we
feel we’re going to field a really strong team when we get to that point.”
The five NHL players Pittsburgh traded away make a combined $3.8 million.
None of those acquired makes more than $475,000, except Holzinger, and the
Lightning apparently will pay part of his $1.25 million salary next season.
Aside from shipping out the popular Leroux, Craig Patrick said he didn’t
expect the moves to affect the local Penguins in the long run.
“I don’t think it really affects their progress in any way, negative or
positive,” he said. “The people we brought in are going to step in here for
now and fill the roles we need, and we’re going to have our natural
development go on, whether it’s here or in Wilkes-Barre, until we get to the
point where we reach the new CBA.”
In other matters that will have an impact on the local Penguins, Craig
Patrick said he would send down as many players as the rules allow for the AHL
playoffs once Pittsburgh’s season ends. The rules governing those moves are
complicated, he said.
TONIGHT’S GAME
Saint John Flames (25-34-5-1) at
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (29-27-5-5)
FACEOFF: 7:05 p.m., First Union Arena, Wilkes-Barre Township.
TICKETS: There were a limited number remaining as of Tuesday. Check the
arena box office or Ticketmaster for availability.
TV/RADIO: The game will be televised on WNEP TV’s 24-hour news channel,
available on Adelphia Cable Channel 63. The game can be heard on Oldies 92 and
100 (FM). The radio broadcast is also available over the Internet at the
team’s Web site (www.wbspenguins.com).