SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Hockey
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
COLUMNS
NHL
The Teams
Full Schedule
Monthly Schedule
Standings
Statistics
Rosters
Injury list
Movement
Trades
Hits Gallery
INTERACTIVE
JUNIOR
MORE HOCKEY
ALSO ON SLAM!
Tuesday, November 9, 1999
Yashin matter will likely end in arbitration
OTTAWA - For fans here and in Toronto, hope got thrown out at home Monday.
In Bytown, they waited word on a star possibly arriving.
In Hogtown, they waited to find out if one would be departing.
Two cities, two midnight deadlines.
It was bad news in both cases.
The closest thing to an Alexei Yashin sighting here was his girlfriend, supermodel Carol Alt, appearing on the Regis and Kathie Lee television program and proclaiming him the smartest boyfriend she has ever had.
It's not clear if that's good or bad news for Yashin.
Monday was the Ottawa Senators' deadline for Yashin to end his contract holdout and report to the club or face being suspended for the rest of this National Hockey League season.
Yashin, currently practising in Switzerland, has no plans to return to Ottawa any time soon, said Todd Diamond, one of Yashin's agents.
"(The deadline) is something they imposed themselves. It's an arbitrary date," said Diamond. "I don't know how they chose it. The only way Alexei is going to return is with either a contract extension or he's traded."
The Senators are expected to officially suspend Yashin for the rest of this season Tuesday and take the position his contract - which had this year to run at a salary of $3.6 million - has not been fulfilled.
The club's position: "(Yashin) will be obligated to deliver to our Club a full season in the next year in which he decides to play in the National Hockey League, under the terms and conditions of his contract for this year. Restricted free agency would arise only after that performance," was the way Senators general manager Marshall Johnston put it in a letter to Yashin's agent, Mark Gandler.
It's expected the whole matter will wind up in the lap of an arbitrator, since the National Hockey League Players' Association is sure to argue on Yashin's behalf there is no provision in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement for terms of Yashin's contract to carry over to "the next year in which he decides to play in the National Hockey League."
Senators players would have been surprised as anyone to see their captain walk into the dressing room Monday.
"I don't have a clue what will happen," said acting captain Daniel Alfredsson. "I'm just like everybody else."
Senators goaltender Ron Tugnutt talked to Yashin the other day, picking up the telephone to let him know he would be welcome in the dressing room if he decided to return.
"I just wanted to call and see how he was doing and what he was up to," said Tugnutt, perhaps Yashin's best friend on the team.
"He seemed in pretty good spirits. It was the day before his birthday (Friday) and he was excited about everybody (Gandler, Alt and his parents) coming to visit him.
"We didn't talk much about the hockey side. He mentioned his new girlfriend to me and how he was quite happy with her, too. They're getting along great.
"I just wanted him to know a lot of the guys talked about it and if he was concerned at all about what it would be like here (in the dressing room) if or when he returned, he would be welcome. This would probably be the only place he would be comfortable."
In Toronto, fans found out the L.A. Dodgers had until midnight to sign outfielder Shawn Green to a new deal, the completion of which would trigger a deal with the Blue Jays.
The deal was done and the deal was done. The Blue Jays shipped out their clean-cut and clear-cut leader, a homegrown product who now heads for his home in SoCal. Green was shipped to the L.A. Dodgers for Raul Mondesi, with some bit parts thrown in both ways.
The rumblings have been there for a while, the Jays doing little things that ticked off Green, each thing, the hiring of Cito Gaston as batting coach, the departure of the scout who signed Green, building a wall between them.
Green landed a six-year $84 million contract extension from the Dodgers, his requested destination.
Mondesi comes a little cheaper (about $3 million a season), but the money didn't seem to matter. Green wanted out no matter how much green was waved at him. No more reassuring is Mondesi, because's a veteran traded in the middle of his contract, can ask for a trade after next season.
In Seattle, they're waiting to find out where Ken Griffey, Jr., is going and how much closer he'll be to his family in Orlando.
"Ideally, you like to build from within and retain those players," said Jays general manager Gord Ash of Green. "The reality of baseball is that there's probably not going to be any more George Bretts or Cal Ripkin, Jrs., who play their whole career with one club."
The reality is it's getting tough to root for the home team, especially if your team is in a place the stars don't want to call home.
 Bert's back on blades Blue Jays boot game Bombers drop Peterson Felicien rebuilds race | Visit our Polls Archive |