Also hier mal ein Bericht, den ich gefunden habe, war vor einem Jahr, also vor der Saison 02/03
Dwayne Norris will not be a St.
John’s Maple Leaf next
season.
Early this morning, the
32-year-old St. John’s native
left for Germany, where he will
prepare for his eighth season
with the Cologne Sharks. And
while Norris is satisfied to be
returning to last year’s German
elite champions, he says he is
disappointed and more than a
bit disillusioned about his
failure to reach a deal that would have allowed him to play in his
hometown for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ AHL farm team.
“I thought I had a great deal to offer at a reasonable price, but for
some reason, the Leafs didn’t seem to be as serious about me
playing for them as I was,” said Norris.
“Hockey is a business and different opinions will come from
different sides, but I really don’t understand why this couldn’t get
done.”
Norris has an agent, but in this case, he did his own negotiating
with Bill Watters, the Toronto assistant to the president and St.
John’s general manager.
Norris, who is married with three young sons, says he was looking
for a contract that would have paid him $100,000 US plus a
housing allowance to play for the AHL Leafs, but that Toronto
wasn’t willing to meet his price.
“I think the last hard figure I heard from them was a two-year deal
that would have paid me $85,000 this season,” said Norris, who
has one year left on his contract with Cologne, an agreement that
provided an off-season window to negotiate with a North
American team.
Factoring in benefits and tax exemptions, Norris says his contract
with the Sharks is worth “more than twice” the $100,000 he was
asking from the Leafs.
“I was willing to give up a lot to sign with Toronto, but the $100,000
was my bottom line. It was a matter of principle for me to stick to
that number,” said Norris, a five-foot-10 forward who played 20
NHL games and more than 200 AHL contests before leaving for
Cologne in 1996.
His best AHL season was when he scored 101 points for the
Baltimore Bandits in 1995-96, but most hockey fans recognize
him for his heroics in international hockey, scoring the gold-medal
clinching goal for Canada in the 1990 world junior championship
and wearing the maple leaf at the 1994 Olympics in Norway.
“I thought it was a bargain for them,” he said. “I told them I would
be a leader and one of their top three scorers for St. John’s and I
think it’s fair to say that I would have helped increase attendance
here. Maybe they didn’t see it that way, but I wouldn’t know for
sure, because I never really heard back.
“Maybe they thought it was too much to pay for a 32-year-old
player who has been kind of out of sight in Europe for the last
seven years. But I thought I had a lot to offer.”
Norris had 40 points in 48 games for Cologne last season. His
career numbers with the Sharks show 264 points in 333 games.
(By: Brendan McCarthy)
MINNESOTA WILD - WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALIST 2002/2003
Houston Aeros - Calder Cup Champion 2003
Lions Forum Playoff Tippspiel Champion 2003
Wild Goons - Fantasy Hockey League Champion 2002/2003
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HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE
Da isses schonmal besser geworden
