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HAF
11-13-2005, 02:20 AM
Sales Agreement Handcuffs Americans
By Jim Riley
Special to the Tri-Cities Republic

Ever wonder why Bob Tory, the Tri-City Americans' general manager, known around the Western Hockey League as Trader Bob, hasn't pulled the trigger on a blockbuster deal yet this season?
There are three very good reasons.
To keep the Americans in the Tri-Cities, the current ownership group, led by Stu Barnes and Olaf Kolzig, was forced to pay a heavy price that will continue to be collected for years.
That price had nothing to do with the $2.6 million the group ponied up to buy the franchise from Darryl Porter and the previous ownership group. As part of that sales agreement, the Americans will be forced to give up three times as many players as the other 19 teams in the league when the expansion draft is held next year to stock a new franchise owned by Porter and his group in Chilliwack, B. C.
While each of the other 19 teams can protect their best 16 players and then lose only one player to Chilliwack from their 50-player list, the Americans may only protect their top 12 players and then Chilliwack can choose any three Tri-City players in the draft.
When the Western Hockey League agreed to the blatant expansion heist, they were in fear that the deal would fall through and that Porter and his group would make good on threats to sell the team to Edmonton, regardless of the league approval. That would have kept lawyers in both Canada and the Unites States busy for years and further undermine the credibility of a league that has stick-handled around problems in the Tri-Cities for years.
The WHL did show how concerned it was about the high tariff imposed on the future of the Tri-City franchise and made one weak move to amend it. In order to ensure some semblance of fairness, it specifically excluded the Bruins from selecting any Tri-City players born in 1990.
That, at least, allows Tory to strengthen that age group without fear it will be plundered by Chilliwack. While it would have been nice for the WHL to have had the backbone to say that it would not agree to any changes in its expansion draft rules, which were unlikely since Porter made the extra picks a deal buster.
To further compound the problem for the Americans, they lost to Chilliwack, without compensation it should be noted, former director of player personnel Darrell May. He is now that Team's general manager and is certain to use his intimate knowledge of the best young players on the Tri-City protected list when he makes his draft picks.
It should also be noted that the league already has a generous expansion package that includes the addition of two 20-year-old players, a fact that allowed Everett to advance all the way to the league finals in its first season of existence.
Tory, who owns a small part of the team, is understandably hesitant to trade older players for young talent he knows could be raided by Chilliwack in the expansion draft. As the possibility of Tri -City making the playoffs this year dims - the big question at this point is which of the other four teams in the division the Americans will be able to jump over-it only makes sense to give younger players an increaqsing majority of the ice time.
That will no doubt happen, but there will be the tendency for the Americans to keep their cards as close to their vest as possible. The Americans do have a major asset in Carey Price, the goal tender the Montreal Canadiens selected in the first round with the fifth pick in last years National Hockey Leqague draft.
Price, 18, probably has one more year left in the WHL before he turns professional, and one team that would love to have him is the Vancouver Giants. The Giants, owned by another former Tri-City owner Ron Toigo, will host the Memorial Cup next season. That automatically gives the Giants an entry into the championship tournament and having a mediocre team for the grand celebration is not an option.
The most glaring need for the Giants is at goaltender, and despite the so-so numbers he's put up this season, Price is the most skilled goaltender in the lague. Put Price behind a very skilled Vancouver defense corps and the Giants would be only another move or two away from being a very formidable team.
Even if Vancouver offers enough young talent to make the Americans contenders for years, Tory will have to wait until after the expansion draft to even consider moving his best player.
"There's no question that Vancouver is going to have to overpay for talent to be competitive at the Memorial Cup," one general manager confided earlier this week. "They would love to have Price and a deal like that could set up the Americans for years to come."
So, while the Americans will undoubtedly need to make some bold, courageous moves to get out of the hole they've resided in for the majority of their existence, it probably won't happen for a while. Be patient. It's coming. It's only a matter of when.