Inside the NHL
Posted: Tuesday November 17, 1998 05:35 PM
This week's topics:
Unexpected Jolt | A
Poor Career Decision
Let's
Talk to The Expert | The Heat's On
In The Crease
Unexpected Jolt
A rejuvenated Wendel Clark has brought electricity to the Lightning
By Kostya Kennedy 
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The rugged but injury-prone Clark is now healthy and among the league's leading goal scorers. Tim DeFrisco |
Wendel Clark was creaking
to a halt. As last season ended, Clark, then a 31-year-old Maple Leafs left
wing, had missed 339 games with numerous ailments over an otherwise stellar
13-year career. He had a chronically sore back, was set to undergo surgery
to repair a torn groin muscle and was coming off a season in which he had
played only 47 games and finished with 12 goals and a -21 rating. Little
wonder that Toronto didn't even try to keep Clark, who was an unrestricted
free agent. When the lowly Lightning signed him to a one-year, $1.5
million contract in July, NHL observers branded the deal as another bit of
barminess on the part of Tampa Bay's then general manager, Phil Esposito.
At best, it was felt, Clark might be a serviceable spare part. What no one
expected was that Clark would not only be as hardy as kale and have a
team-high nine goals (tied for fourth in the league through Sunday) but
also would be anchoring the top line of an improved club (6-9-2). "The
puck's bouncing right," says the modest Clark, who has a wicked wrist shot.
While his scoring has been abetted by the excellent passing of center
Craig Janney, Clark's other contributions to the Lightning have been purely
his own. Last year Tampa Bay was plagued by a lack of unity, and Clark set
about changing that in training camp. He rounded up stragglers and led them
into the weight room. He organized team lunches and demanded full
attendance. When the season started he was the first player at the rink on
game nights. "One time we had a bad practice, and even before the coaches
came in, Wendel was all over us," says center Darcy Tucker. "He has such a
presence that you have an ear to everything he says." Coach Jacques
Demers has Clark rooming with 18-year-old center Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa
Bay's future, and Clark's locker is adjacent to that of right wing
Alexander Selivanov, a talented offensive player who needs to add some hard
edges to his game. "Wendel brings professionalism and determination," says
Demers. "Players are following him because he's Wendel Clark—but also
because he's scoring." Back to
the top A Poor
Career Decision Picture a
marvelously skilled center, 27 years old, the kind of man who can bring 40
goals and as many assists to an NHL team. Imagine him following a path he
believes will make him rich, but instead he finds himself in self-imposed
purgatory: Though healthy and able, he's missing the heyday of his career.
A case you might only find...in the Twilight Zone. Petr Nedved's
prolonged holdout is indeed that bizarre. Nedved, a restricted free agent
who hasn't put on an NHL uniform since April 1997, vows never to play again
for Pittsburgh, a team for which he had a combined 78 goals and 92 assists
during the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons. In October 1997 he rejected a
five-year, $14.8 million offer from the Penguins, who, in turn, rejected
Nedved's five-year, $18.5 million counteroffer. Subsequent negotiations
have proved futile. No one in the league would be surprised if Nedved
were traded tomorrow, but irreparable damage has already been done to his
career. He has not only lost a significant chunk of his prime earning
years, but he has also become a symbol of the increasingly difficult
dealings between NHL players and teams. In September, Bruins general
manager Harry Sinden characterized three Boston players who were not in
camp because of contract spats as "Nedveds." "It's not O.K.," Nedved
says of the time he has missed. "If you ask 100 people, 95 percent would
say I made the wrong decision. I have to live with it." Nedved, who
recently fired his longtime agent, Tony Kondel, and hired the respected
Mike Barnett (whose clients include Wayne Gretzky and Brett Hull), has a
history of sitting down for his rights. After scoring 38 goals for the
Canucks in 1992-93, he became a restricted free agent but didn't sign with
a team until March '94, when the Blues gave him $4.05 million for three
years. Then, after being acquired by the Penguins, he sat out the '96
preseason before agreeing to a one-year, $1.7 million deal. This time,
however, Nedved miscalculated. His contract demands weren't
ridiculous—16 centers and 32 forwards will earn more than $3 million
this year—but Pittsburgh general manager Craig Patrick, restrained by
the Penguins' financial woes and fed up with Nedved's and Kondel's
hardballing ways, refused to buckle. Now Nedved is playing for a minimal
wage (no more than $150,000) in the IHL and hoping Pittsburgh will trade
him. Unfortunately he has been devalued in the eyes of NHL general managers
wary of both the ice time Nedved has missed and his attitude. Says Mighty
Ducks general manager Pierre Gauthier, "I wouldn't pay him as much money
now as I would have a year ago." Back to the top The Sutter Family: Let's Talk to The Expert When center Jeff Shantz was traded from the
Blackhawks to the Flames last month, he completed the circuit of the Sutter
brothers, hockey's hard-nosed sextet. Brian Sutter is Calgary's coach, and
Shantz had previously been coached by Duane in the minors and by Darryl in
Chicago. He also roomed with forwards Brent and Rich during his five-year
stint with the Blackhawks, and worked at a hockey camp with Ron. Shantz
extols all the Sutters for their dedication to hockey and says that Brent
is the brother "most likely to put Vaseline in your helmet" and the one
you'd least like to meet in an alley. Because he has had three Sutters in
his face as coaches and three as roommates on the road, Shantz is qualified
to answer a more intimate inquiry: Which Sutter has the best breath? "Hmmm,
that's tough," Shantz says. "They're all bad." Back to the top The Heat's On
DIRK GRAHAM
Coach, Blackhawks
When rookie coach Graham, Chicago's former rugged captain, was hired in
June, his mandate was to galvanize the listless Hawks. But in its first 16
games under Graham, through Sunday, Chicago often came out flat and stayed
that way, earning only four wins. In addition, Graham feuded with assistant
Denis Savard over game plans. Said Graham last week, "I've let the team
down." Back to the
top Issue date: November 23,
1998
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