|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Desperately seeking Sather Expect Rangers to nab former Oilers general manager
Posted: Monday May 22, 2000 11:47 PM
We've got to tell you that the intrigue in the NHL's Western prairies is every bit as fascinating as the playoff series that are still going on. Most of it involves Edmonton GM Glen Sather. Sources insist Sather has had several conversations with the New York Rangers regarding the open GM job there, but others maintain the Phoenix opportunity is starting to really gather some legs. Wayne Gretzky could indeed jump on board as an owner there, bringing Sather with him. This is being fueled by a leaked story that the Oilers have given the Coyotes permission to talk to Sather, a story that has rocked the Coyotes front office where GM Bobby Smith thought he was secure with two years left on his contract. When informed that owner-in-waiting Steve Ellman had sought -- and apparently received -- permission to talk to Sather, Smith said he was surprised. He also noted that his long resume as a GM overqualified him to work as somebody else's assistant. Translation: Buy me out of here. And where did the leak come from? Well, that depends on who you talk to. Some say from Sather himself. Others claim it was Ellman. Still others finger the Oilers ownership group. In any event, Sather has positioned himself in the middle of a bidding war. He leave Edmonton to an uncertain future after delivering five Stanley Cup championships before being hamstrung by financial considerations. This is a war likely to be won by the Rangers, the team with the deepest checkbook (there's already a report of a three-year $8.2 million offer) and the willingness to clean house to Sather's liking. That doesn't mean the Coyotes aren't in the hunt, assuming Wayne Gretzky is even partly serious about coming on board as an owner. But it's almost a given that the Coyotes would have to throw a piece of the ownership action Sather's way. It's really the only way they could entice Sather away from the Rangers. That, along with a rumored interest from Montreal, isn't likely to happen. The beauty of all this is that no one, including most of the principal players, seems to have a clue as to what is actually going to happen. It's a safe bet that there will be more rumors of Sather's comings and goings than there are Elvis sightings in the days, maybe weeks to come. There were reports circulating that Sather has had enough of a long-term feud with Chairman of the Board Cal Nichols even before he resigned. True enough, but one gets the sense that this is a brokered deal and that Bettman's behind-the-scene hands are all over it. In the end, look for Sather to saddle up with the Rangers and the Oilers to get some token compensation for their loss. It's the best way out of a messy deal for everyone. A little south of Edmonton it's a different story. The Flames are facing do-or-die time in their save-the-Flames season ticket drive. The drive is almost stalled and word out of Calgary is that the Flames hope to catch a new wave of sales by naming a general manager this week. Though NHL VP Mike Murphy remains in the hunt, the newest name to surface is Detroit VP Jim Nill. Once the GM is named -- and Nill appears to be someone who might actually take the job -- the Flames hope to sell several more thousand season tickets, hopefully getting to about 14,000 (the amount needed to keep the team in Calgary at least for another season or two). Jim Kelley covers the NHL -- and the Sabres -- for the Buffalo News. His notebook and Rumor Mill appear weekly on CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
| ||||||||||||||||
