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Posted: Tuesday July 06, 1999 02:42 PM

Dudley Do Right  

Hiring Rick Dudley as general manager has already paid off for Tampa Bay

By Kostya Kennedy

At the June 26 entry draft Rick Dudley, the Lightning's new head of hockey operations, did something no man has done in 16 years: He traded the No. 1 pick. That gutsy move, and another deal that quickly followed, reaped such a promising payoff for the franchise that Tampa Bay fans have started believing that the 50-year-old Dudley could do the unthinkable and transform the lowly team into a winner. The Lightning went 19-54-9 last season and has gone 176-306-62 in a seven-year history that has featured corrupt ownership and bumbling management. "Anyone who knows Rick Dudley knows that the day he took over [June 8], the Lightning became a better franchise," says Thrashers general manager Don Waddell.

If the Rangers have their way, free agent Fleury will be starring on Broadway. David E. Klutho

On draft day Dudley dealt the top pick for the No. 4 selection plus two third-rounders. Dudley then sent that fourth pick to the Rangers for a substantial return: 23-year-old goalie Dan Cloutier, two-way forward Niklas Sundstrom and New York's first- and third-round picks next year. All told, Dudley, who was up wheeling and dealing at 5 a.m., parlayed one pick into a group of players and draft picks who might one day form the backbone of his team.

Dudley, a former NHL player and coach, distinguished himself as a workaholic general manager in the minors, where his teams went to their league finals eight times in 10 years. Last summer he was hired as general manager of the Senators, who went on to finish with the second-best record in the East (44-23-15) only to be swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Sabres.

In the meantime a group led by Detroit Pistons managing partner Bill Davidson had purchased the Lightning. (The sale became official on June 28 but had been imminent since March.) That group, Palace Sports and Entertainment, employed Dudley from 1994-95 through '97-98 as general manager of the International Hockey League's Detroit Vipers. "If Bill Davidson had bought a team in Alaska," says Dudley, "I was going to go to Alaska."

Palace Sports' president, Tom Wilson, compensated Ottawa with draft picks and money to extricate Dudley from his three-year contract. Wilson said he liked Dudley because of the "tireless effort he puts into his job," and that effort was evident when Dudley flew straight from his introductory press conference in Tampa to scout a minor league game in Rochester.

A few days before the draft Dudley had set up a trade for Stars goalie Roman Turek, but outgoing Lightning owner Art Williams scotched the deal. Forced to scramble for another netminder, Dudley landed Cloutier and showed he can thrive in the executive backwaters of the NHL. "I don't believe in crises," Dudley says of the ill-fated Turek deal. "I believe in solutions."

Dudley may be the solution to what's been ailing Tampa Bay for years.

Rangers' Makeover:  
New-Look New York

Rangers general manager Neil Smith was rightfully hailed for his draft day maneuvers that brought youth and skill to what had been an old, slow team. The moves were shrewd; he did not have to spend a penny to make them; and, with team owner Cablevision's bankroll behind him, Smith knew the players he gave up could be replaced with free agents this summer.

In two trades New York surrendered three NHL players (Cloutier and forwards Sundstrom and Marc Savard) and a pair of picks in the 2000 draft for the fourth and ninth selections in this year's draft, wing Pavel Brendl and center Jamie Lundmark, respectively. Brendl and Lundmark, both 18, were high scorers in juniors last season and could be lighting up Broadway soon and for years to come.

The Rangers have long planned to be aggressive in this year's free-agent period, and that was evident when players went up for bid beginning last Thursday. Smith and Madison Square Garden president Dave Checketts flew west to woo free agents such as Avalanche winger Theo Fleury and Canadiens defenseman Stephane Quintal. Smith also made overtures to winger Valeri Kamensky and defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre, both of Colorado. As of Monday it looked as if New York was on the verge of signing Kamensky, who has averaged nearly a point a game in his eight NHL seasons, and Quintal, a tough, crease-clearing blueliner. The Rangers were also closing in on Fleury, who scored 40 goals in 75 games last season. Neither New York nor Fleury -- whom SI reached on a houseboat in British Columbia -- would discuss the negotiations, but he's likely to command about $8 million per annum.

Smith was roundly booed by the draft day crowd at Boston's FleetCenter on June 26 when he stepped to the microphone to take Brendl, and a half hour later he was hooted again when he returned to select Lundmark. After the second set of boos, Smith graciously addressed his audience. "The Rangers would like to thank the Boston Bruins and their fans for their hospitality," he said, breaking into a grin. It was the satisfied smile of a man in the comfort of money.

Ron Hextall Cut Loose:  
Does This Waive Mean Good-bye?

Goaltender Ron Hextall has been characterized many ways during his 13-year NHL career. He has been labeled a phenom (for leading the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals and being voted playoff MVP as a rookie in '86-87), a pioneer (for his expertise in puckhandling), a madman (for attacking Canadiens defenseman Chris Chelios in the 1989 Eastern Conference finals) and a playoff sieve (for allowing 16 goals in three postseason games while with the Islanders in '94). After Hextall was waived by Philadelphia last week, his detractors may now hang another tag on him: has-been.

Hextall went 10-7-4 with a respectable 2.53 goals-against average as John Vanbiesbrouck's backup last season, but the Flyers had lost confidence in him because of his propensity to allow soft goals. Even though the club bought out the last year of his contract for $800,000 and is expected to offer him a nonplaying job in the organization, there is no doubt that Hextall, 35, remains good enough to tend goal in the NHL. However, Hextall, Philadelphia's alltime wins leader (240) after two stints with the Flyers totaling 11 seasons, is loath to uproot his wife, Diane, and their four school-age children from their home in Voorhees, N.J.

If Hextall retires, he will be missed. He has been one of the most impassioned, colorful goalies of his time, and a man who, in both good times and bad, has faced his critics with respect and dignity.

Issue date: July 12, 1999

 

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