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SLAM! Sports Notebook Free-agent-to-be Blake has to like Pronger deal
By Mike Zeisberger, SLAM! Sports Memo to Chris Pronger, now the highest-paid defenceman in the National Hockey League. Rob Blake thanks you. According to a report out of Los Angeles, Blake has closely monitored the contract negotiations involving Pronger and the St. Louis Blues. Blake, one of the premier blue liners in the game, is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2000-01 season and will draw heavy interest around the league. So imagine the euphoria Blake must have felt this week upon hearing that Pronger had signed a three-year, $29.5-million pact with the Blues. Pronger last season became the first defenceman since Bobby Orr in 1972 to win the Hart Trophy, awarded to the league's most valuable player. Pronger's deal definitely has raised the bar for subsequent contract negotiations for Blake, who had been making a bid for a three-year, $24-million contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings. The two sides have not talked contract since training camp and Blake is remaining tight-lipped about the subject. Instead, he is letting his play do his talking. After missing three games with a hairline fracture in his lower back, Blake returned this week for two games against Anaheim. The Mighty Ducks had gone 3-0-1 coming in to the home-and-home series, but the Kings swept both games with Blake leading the way with a goal in each. It is believed the Maple Leafs could have interest in Blake, who grew up down the road in Simcoe, Ont. If so, Pat Quinn and Co. had better be prepared to drive a Brinks truck right up to his front door. DESERT DOINGS Sources have told the Arizona Republic that Wayne Gretzky and investment partner Steve Ellman are prepared to formally close on their $87-million purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes from Richard Burke at some point next week. Gretzky reportedly likes head coach Bobby Francis and is on record as saying the one thing he won't tinker with is the coaching staff, although there still is a vacant assistant's job available. Could Pat Burns, fired by the Boston Bruins Wednesday, be a candidate? After all, Francis served as an assistant under Burns in Boston during the 1998-99 season. "No way," one Phoenix player said. "[Burns] is a head coach, not an assistant coach. Another job will open up before long and he'll probably get it, if he wants it." CZECH, PLEASE A controversy is brewing between the Ottawa Senators and Ocelari Trinec, forward Martin Havlat's junior team in the Czech Republic. Havlat's position on the Sens' fourth line, and the limited ice time that goes with it, does not sit well with officials of the Czech team, who have spoken to the Senators. If Havlat is not going to get a reasonable amount of ice time with the Senators, the Czechs feel he would be better off at home. The Senators, meanwhile, think that Havlat, who has two goals and two assists, is doing fine. The Senators feel they can monitor his progress much better this way than if he were playing overseas. Ocelari Trinec general manager Petr Husicka told a Prague newspaper that he expects a decision next Wednesday. The Senators have given no indication that they intend to send Havlat back, although he may be allowed to play for the Czech Republic in December's world junior championship. BOILING BOUCHER The sophomore jinx appears to be taken its toll on Brian Boucher, on and off the ice. Frustrated at the slow start that both he and his team have endured, the second-year goaltender of the Philadelphia Flyers snapped during practice on Wednesday. Fuelling the outburst was a 3-on-1 drill in which Boucher couldn't seem to stop a thing. Boucher responded to that drill by pulverizing his goalie stick, then picking up a hunk of the shaft and firing it in frustration. Boucher's antics, however, did not catch his teammates off-guard. "He's always like that," Flyers defenceman Luke Richardson said. "He's a competitor. He can't stand it when they score [against him]. It's unfamiliar territory, not just for him but for the whole team right now." An emotional Boucher still was revved up when he met with the media afterward. "Did you see me today? I stunk," he said. "I was awful today. But everybody has a bad day. You guys keep asking me about this stuff, but it's practice. Ever get angry? You ever want to break something?" Perhaps Boucher should snap more often. One day later, he stopped 32 shots en route to shutting out the New York Rangers 3-0. MURRAY MIFFED Florida Panthers coach Terry Murray is sick and tired of seeing players hit blind-side into the boards. Murray was fuming this week after losing defenceman Mike Wilson for at least two months with a dislocated right shoulder and a broken bone in his upper right arm. Wilson was driven head-first into the boards by Minnesota Wild forward Maxim Sushinsky during a rare 0-0 tie. "I don't know when the players are going to wake up and start playing the game with some poise and some intelligence," Murray said. "That is the dumbest play that has happened too many times over the years. That's a head-first situation where our guy could have been paralyzed. "The Players' Association better wake up and talk to its employees." A decision on whether Wilson will rehab the shoulder or undergo surgery is pending. CROSSCHECKS Phoenix Coyotes centre Jeremy Roenick, who for Mike Keenan in Chicago, was happy to see Iron Mike land the Boston Bruins head coaching job. "I'm glad to see him back in the league," Roenick said. "He's a great coach and if anyone can turn a team around, he can." Roenick then sparked more trade rumours with this statement: "I'd play for him in a heartbeat. He's still one of my favourite coaches in the game." Roenick just happens to be a native of New England ... San Jose Sharks defenceman Gary Suter played his 1,000th NHL game Wednesday. Not bad for a guy who was drafted 180th overall in 1984 -- 179 picks after Mario Lemieux and 111 picks after the Los Angeles Kings chose a center by the name of Tom Glavine, who went on to become an all-star pitcher with the Atlanta Braves. GAME-FACE BLUES Clarke Wilm now has the type of face only a wife could love. Just ask him. "It's a good thing I'm already married," the Calgary Flames centre said after his nose was mashed by a Steve Thomas shot during the Maple Leafs' visit to Calgary last Saturday. Wilm needed three stitches to repair torn cartilage between his nostrils. He will require plastic surgery during the off-season. In the meantime, Wilm has played with a full mask and cotton stuffed in his nostrils. Very attractive, eh Mrs. Wilm? GEORGES LAWRECK? Georges Laraque is accustomed to administering hits, not absorbing them. So imagine his shock when his BMW was clunked in a car/motorcycle accident recently. The biker reportedly was at fault in the incident, which left some damage to Laraque's slick set of wheels. A headline in a local Edmonton paper the following day called him Georges LaWreck. Looking to minimize the buzz generated by the story, the Oilers resident tough guy gave his team a chalk talk. "I didn't want to have to explain to 20 guys what happened so I got up to the board in the dressing room the next morning and diagrammed exactly what went on,'' Laraque said. "I guess that was our pre-game scouting report.'' MASKED MARVELS Call it a battle of the bands Phoenix Coyotes style. Sean Burke, the No. 1 goaltender of the Coyotes, has received plenty of attention for his mask, which reflects his love of rock 'n' roll. Burke's mask features images of guitar legends Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, two men he has idolized since he was a boy. But Burke isn't the only Phoenix goalie with a fondness for tunes. Backup Robert Esche has come up with his own tribute to music, although he prefers the country variety. Esche's mask features images of country music legends Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr.
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