Retirements:
Lamar Jackson, NYC,
NO, DAL, CHI, 1988-2008
When Lamar Jackson joined his hometown Civics in 1988, the
Civics were coming off six consecutive last-place finishes in the Atlantic
Division. By the ‘90s, the Civics had become one of the top teams in the league
and Jackson was a big reason why. In 1997, Lamar Jackson, along with Aaron
Duplacy, and Jeremy Kitchen, finally won the Lewis Cup. In 2001, with the
departure of Duplacy, Jackson was named the Civics’ captain. Jackson served two
years as captain before signing with the New Orleans Sound in the midst of one
of the most tumultuous off-seasons ever for any franchise, as Sound owner Sam
Bendt irrationally fired the team’s GM before checking into rehab. Jackson
handled the entire situation with class and proved to be one of the few bright
spots for the Sound in their final days in Louisiana. Ultimately, Jackson was
dealt to the Dallas Desperados. After just over a season in Dallas, Jackson
signed with Chicago, where he finished his 20-year career with a Lewis Cup
victory in 2008.
Martin Vannier, CHI,
1988-2008
One of the most underrated players of his generation, Martin
Vannier was a steady presence as Chicago’s second-line center for 20 years.
Playing behind Vladimir Gaganov first, then Jonathan Wheatley, Vannier rarely
got the attention he deserved around the league but was one of the most popular
Shamrocks of all time in Chicago. In 1994, Vannier’s popularity reach new
heights when the Shamrocks won the Lewis Cup and Vannier scored the winning
goal. The following year, Vannier was the hero again, sending Chicago back to
the finals, where they would ultimately lose to the Montreal Royale. Vannier
would remain loyal to the Shamrocks into the 2000s, and his loyalty was
rewarded in his last season, when the Shamrocks won the Lewis Cup for the first
time since 1994.
Igor Kharitonov, DET,
TOR, HOU, 1991-2008
The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a flood of Russian
players heading to the PHL during the 1991-92 season. One of those players was
Igor Kharitonov, who joined the Detroit Mustangs. Kharitonov was the lone
bright spot during a tough decade for the Mustangs, leading the team in scoring
every year from 1992-93 to 2004-05. In 2005, Kharitonov left for Toronto, where
in his first season as a Racer, he helped the team to a Lewis Cup title. Kharitonov
played just one more season in Toronto before being dealt to Houston, where he
would finish his career.
Jeremy Sutton, MIA,
BOS, 1989-2008
Jeremy Sutton was drafted in 1989 to be the franchise player
for the expansion Miami Stingrays. In his early years, Sutton was mentored by veteran
Craig Tucker and at the start of the 1994-95 season, he was finally named the
Stingrays’ captain. That season, the Stingrays made the playoffs for the first
time. In 2002, Miami unexpectedly reached the Lewis Cup Finals, where they lost
to the Seattle Grey Wolves. Unfortunately, that would be the closest Sutton
would ever get. In 2008, Sutton was dealt to the Boston Bulldogs at the trade
deadline with the hopes of winning a championship, but the Bulldogs would lose
in the second round.
2008 Entry Draft
The
2008 entry draft marked a new era for the New York Civics, as the Civics
finally selected phenom Erik Camden
with the 1st overall pick. Camden took the stage and was presented
with a jersey already prepared with his number 89 on it. “I can’t wait for
training camp” said Camden. “Hopefully I can make an impact right away.” With the
second selection, the Montreal Royale selected speedy swedish defenseman Filip Linden, while Kansas City took Eric Bennett with the third pick. Bennett had been passed over in the 2007 draft
but enjoyed a huge year in 2007-08 and his draft stock shot up.
Transactions
The
Logan deal was the first major one of the summer, as the cash-strapped
Wranglers took the opportunity to unload Logan’s $10 Million/year contract and
take another promising young player. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, felt the need to
accelerate their rebuild. “We feel that Kyle can put us over the top” said GM
Jacques Corbet. “Our goal will be to make the playoffs this season.” Oakland
made several moves shortly after the draft to navigate their salary cap issues.
Teppo Sarri was sent to Pittsburgh
after 17 seasons in the Bay area in exchange for the Stingers’ second and third
round picks in 2009. But the big move came when the Nuggets sent star winger Kyle Clark to Houston in exchange for
prospect Jayden O'Connor and
goaltending prospect Cameron Burgess.
In
one of the biggest re-signings of the summer, goaltender Mark Davis signed a ten-year deal with the Bulldogs worth $10
Million/year. With the deal, the Bulldogs were unable to re-sign defenseman Igor Novavich, so Novavich signed with
the hated rival Philadelphia Redshirts for $9 Million/year for 8 years. Big
contracts for goalies seemed to be a theme in 2008, as Denver locked up Martin Barker for ten years at $10
Million/year. The deal was criticized as Barker was still somewhat unproven,
and now the Bulls were committed until 2018.
With
the selection of Erik Camden, the Civics kicked their rebuild into high gear. When
free agency opened on July 1, the Civics immediately landed one of the biggest
names on the open market, signing longtime Monreal star Zdeno Kadlec to a six-year deal worth $9 Million/year. The Civics
also added 6’4”, 234 lb Todd Beck to
protect their new star. Meanwhile, Chicago was also busy, adding signing star
defenseman Jyrki Rainimak to a
3-year deal worth $8 Million/year. Rainimak chose to leave Portland for an opportunity
to win a title in Chicago. One of the biggest moves came two weeks into July,
when Dallas Desperados captain AJ Vernon,
frustrated with yet another playoff failure, decided to leave for
Philadelphia. Vernon took a $3 Million pay cut to sign with the Redshirts with
the hope that he could help Philly win a championship.
News
The
hockey world was on edge in the summer of 2008. The collective bargaining
agreement was set to expire in September and, especially amidst the Great
Recession, the outlook wasn’t great. The only possitive was that commissioner
Greg Nolan was determined to salvage the game’s image and knew a lengthy work
stoppage could be devastating. Meanwhile, PHPA president Brian Hunt was nearing
his 60th birthday and planned to retire once the deal was signed.
Hunt’s wife, Wendy was dying of cancer and some wondered if the former Denver
Bulls captain was up to leading negotiations. Hunt was training Vancouver
winger Eric Moon to take over as Union president.
Negotiations
heated up through the months of June and July. Nolan and the league wanted to
put a limit on contract lengths, citing the 13-year deal signed by Kris Nazarenko
in 2005 as the precident. Hunt said the players could accept term limits but
only with major concessions from the league. The league put negotiations on
hold in August for the World Hockey Challenge but Nolan sounded cautiously
optimistic. “We have a long way to go but there has been some progress” said
Nolan.
The
immiment CBA expiration was not the only challenge facing the league in 2008.
The Calgary Wranglers faced the possibility of relocation, while an investment
group known as the “Cowtown Three” featuring former Wranglers Don Taylor and
Shannon Michaels and Rodeo legend Ricky Adams was attempting to purchase the
team and fund a new arena. In August, they caught a break. A Toronto-based
sofware company, Prism, announced they were willing to help the the group pay
for half of the arena if the city of Calgary would pay for the rest. The city
finally agreed to pay for 49 percent, but the franchise would still need to be
purchased. Greg Nolan would not approve a local sale unless the arena deal was
finalized and so the investors took a huge gamble and moved forward with the
arena deal. A new 16,000 building in Downtown Calgary would be built and
hopefully completed by the fall of 2010. It would be a significant reduction in
capacity from the 20,000 seat Exhibition but many saw this as a good thing. The
team had struggled to fill the huge arena for years and it was critical to keep
costs low. The team would need to remain at the Beltline Arena for two seasons.
The Wranglers would live to play at least another season.
While
things were starting to look up in Alberta, the Cleveland Cosmos ran into
problems of their own. In July, the team’s owner, real estate tycoon David
Farber, was forced to declare bankrupcy. Farber was hit hard when the housing
market crashed and now the team would go up for sale. “We believe in Cleveland
as a market, and we will do anything we can to keep PHL hockey in Cleveland”
said Greg Nolan.
