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Sunday, October 31, 1999
Primeau not worth the hassle
Answer: Keith Primeau's silly contract dispute with Jim Rutherford and the Carolina Hurricanes.
It has reached the point where anything either man touches turns to mould -- the Hartford Whalers, the 1998 Canadian Olympic team, owner Peter Karmanos' bank accounts ...
Lately, even Primeau's teammates have become annoyed with him. Eventually, Karmanos -- who claims to have lost $100 million on the Whalers/Hurricanes over the past five seasons -- will wake up and tie a can to general manager Rutherford's butt, too.
Primeau, who three years ago kicked and screamed his way out of Detroit -- claiming he was underpaid and terribly under-appreciated, too -- now believes he's worth the same $5 million-a-season Ron Francis got from the Hurricanes.
Forget for a moment that Francis is the sixth-highest point-getter in NHL history, that he won back-to-back Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh, or that he also owns two Lady Byngs and a Frank Selke Trophy.
THINK HARD
Instead, try and recall the most recent time Primeau, or a Primeau team, won anything, anywhere.
Though his career began in Detroit, the Red Wings won their first of back-to-back Cups a year after they dealt Primeau to Hartford for Brendan Shanahan. Primeau's Whalers/Hurricanes missed the playoffs in both of Detroit's championship seasons.
Primeau was a member of Canada's ill-fated 1996 World Cup team which suffered a humiliating defeat to Team USA in the best-of-three final. Primeau also skated with Canada's non-medal winning team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
Though he did lead Carolina in scoring last season, the 6-foot-4 Whitby native failed to score in the Hurricanes' first and only playoff round against Boston.
Which brings us around to Rutherford, a nice enough fellow who nevertheless has seen his team miss the playoffs four times in the five year's he's managed the franchise.
This, of course, is the same GM who, two years ago, sent NHL salaries skyrocketing after presenting Detroit free agent Sergei Fedorov with a six-year, $38-million offer sheet that included a potential $12- million playoff bonus up front.
So, now Rutherford is leading the crusade against out-of-whack player stipends?
Fortunately for the GM, Primeau's salary impasse doesn't mean much to the folks in the still virgin hockey outpost of Raleigh, N.C.
By the same token Hurricane season-ticket holders currently number about 6,000 -- enough to stuff two Volkswagen Beetles and a Bell South telephone booth.
Not that Karmanos should be surprised.
NO CRYBABY HERE: St. Louis Blues forward Michal Handzus earned the instant respect of NHLers every where after Bobby Holik's skate sliced through his face and into his cheekbone Wednesday against New Jersey.
Though the wound took 28 stitches to close, Handzus finished the game.
"The skate went right through his cheek," Blues trainer Ray Barile said. "A normal guy would be on tubes in the hospital right now."
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