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"There are average players, there are real good players and then there are great players who are franchise players....Where his agent is pegging it, he is putting him up there with the franchise players. He may be that player some day, but he's not there yet."
--The Hurricanes' Jim Rutherford, on salary negotiations with restricted free agent Keith Primeau. The Canes' captain scored a team-leading 30 goals in 1998-99.
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  "Pundits in Raleigh predict the 19,000-seat facility will be half-full (half-empty?) most nights. The Hurricanes are prepared to let Primeau's contract squabble go into November. They'll check out the attendance situation, and if it is as dismal as some are predicting, they'll move Primeau."
--Tim Wharnsby in the Toronto Sun
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April-October, 1997 / November, 1997-May, 1998 / June-September, 1998 / October-December, 1998 / January-May 1999 / October 1999-present

June, 1999

The Hurricanes announce that the team will no longer be affiliated with the AHL Beast of New Haven, leaving the future of that team in jeopardy. The Beast and the Hurricanes had been working since January in an attempt to forge a long-term aggreement, but negotiations between the teams break down. "We were looking for an agreement that would make a long-term commitment for New Haven,'' Beast president and general manager David Gregory says. "As we got closer and closer to it, it became a little bit more clear that we weren't going to be able to do that.'' The Beast have been affiliated with the Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers since their inception in 1997. The Beast knew going into the 1998-99 season their affiliation with Florida would be terminated at the end of the 1998-99 season. The Hurricanes, who announce that they don't have enough prospects and don't have the cash to sign at least five veteran free agents to surround them, decide not to affiliate themselves with an AHL team for the 1999-2000 season, instead sending a handful of players to Cincinnati of the IHL. Despite extensions from the league and several days of desperate phone calls to unaffiliated NHL clubs, Gerogry is unable to work out a deal for players and announces that the Beast will suspend operations, perhaps for two years, perhaps indefinitely.

"The Beast knew from the start of their operations two years ago that Florida planned to switch its AHL affiliation to Louisville for the 1999-2000 season," writes columnist George Wadley, "but the Hurricanes apparently stabbed Beast president and general manager David Gregory and the Beast ownership group, Paragon Sports Properties, with the same knife they directed at Hartford's back when they moved the Whalers to Tobacco Road.... It's almost as if the Hurricanes willfully are determined to destroy the heritage of Connecticut hockey. Gregory thought he had a deal worked out with the Hurricanes to buy the former Carolina Monarchs AHL franchise, but that agreement with the Hurricanes was squelched even though the NHL team eventually did purchase the Monarchs.... That the Hurricanes then announced they will use Cincinnati of the International Hockey League as their primary development club casts a shadowy suspicion of subterfuge on the Monarchs deal."

The Hurricanes opt to protect 15 players in the 1999 expansion draft, exposing goaltender Trevor Kidd to the Atlanta Thrashers. Former Whalers left exposed include Paul Coffey, Curtis Leschyshyn, Kevin Dineen, Robert Kron, Paul Ranheim and Kevin Smyth.

Atlanta chooses Kidd, then promptly trades him to Florida, where he will join former Whalers goalie Sean Burke. Kidd, 27, appeared to be Carolina's goalie of the future after he finished the 1997-98 season with career bests in goals-against average (2.17) and save percentage (.922). But he allowed seven goals in the first two games of the 1998-99 season and lost the No. 1 job to Arturs Irbe. Kidd appeared in only 25 games in 1998-99, going 7-10-6 with two shutouts, and didn't play in any of the six games in Carolina's first-round playoff series loss to the Boston Bruins.

The Thrashers, who must select one player from each team (except Nashville), also select former Whalers Jody Hull from Philadelphia and Terry Yake from St. Louis. Hull and Yake were both drafted in 1987 by the Whalers -- Hull 18th and Yake 81st overall.

The Canes, suddenly rather thin on stoppers (the only other goalie under contract in the organization is Randy Petruk of the East Coast Hockey League's Florida Everblades; minor-league goalies Mike Fountain and Pat Jablonski are unrestricted free agents), shore up that position wih the acquisition of Eric Fichaud, 23. The Canes trade a fourth-round pick and future considerations to the Nashville Predators for Fichaud, the 16th overall pick by the Islanders in 1994. The Canes' first pick (16th overall) in the 1999 entry draft is defenseman David Tanabe, a native of Minneapolis and a freshman at the University of Wisconsin.

July, 1999

The Canes re-sign checking center Kent Manderville, one of the team's restricted free agents, to a multi-year contract.
Manderville, 28, joined the franchise for their last campaign in Hartford.He registered 16 points and 38 penalty minutes in 81 1998-99 games.

A bit stickier is the signing of captain Keith Primeau. The Hurricanes offer Primeau a contract extension worth $4 million a season -- double his salary for 1998-99 -- but no deal is struck, and Primeau becomes a restricted free agent July 1. If he is offered a contract by another team, the Hurricanes would have one week to match it or receive five No. 1 draft picks. Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford says Carolina would match an offer as high as $5 million per season, but that Primeau might then be traded as the Hurricanes attempt to pare their $31 million payroll. The Canes have already announced that they do not intend to re-sign unrestricted free agent Ray Sheppard, who made $1.7 million in 1998-99. "We'll continue to negotiate with him, but once we get to a point where we think we're at a dead end, then we'll put him out there for offers to other teams," Rutherford says. It is believed Primeau wants close to $6 million a year. Primeau led the team in scoring with 30 goals and 32 assists in 78 games.

"Even though Primeau is Carolina's premier player, the Hurricanes won't budge -- with good reason," writes Tim Wharnsby in the Toronto Sun. "Yes, the attendance- challenged team is scheduled to move into the new $152-million Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena this fall. Sure, the Hurricanes boasted midway through last season that the building's 75 luxury suites already were sold. But pundits in Raleigh predict the 19,000-seat facility will be half-full (half-empty?) most nights. That is why Rutherford is in no hurry to sign Primeau, who made $2 million US last season. The Hurricanes are prepared to let Primeau's contract squabble go into November. They'll check out the attendance situation, and if it is as dismal as some are predicting, they'll move Primeau."

Speaking of that arena: Fearing that the lucrative Ledge Lounge -- a luxury seating section in the south end of the arena, along with a nearby team store, hospitality lounge and kitchen -- won't be finished when the building opens in the fall, the Hurricanes offer to take over the task. The team's revenue would have plummeted without the Ledge Lounge, not to mention the embarrassment of a gaping hole in the seating bowl. The Canes think they can get the work done faster and cheaper than the arena authority. The south end of the building was redesigned in midstream and the work was not included in the original construction budget. The authority's relations with its contractors have grown a bit sticky, with the submission of claims for up to $12.5 million in extra money to finish construction by Oct. 20 -- still seven weeks behind the Sept. 1 completion schedule. Lawyers are, as they say, involved.

"Remember all those empty seats the past two seasons in Greensboro?" asks Pat Hickey in a July 30 Montréal Gazette column. "It might not be much different in the Carolina Hurricanes' new home in Raleigh. The Hurricanes won't say how many season tickets they've sold, prompting speculation that sales are slow. Last season, the Hurricanes averaged 8,118 fans in the 20,000-seat Greensboro Coliseum, and it was dubbed Green Acres because of all the empty green seats. The seats in the new arena are red, and one wag has already suggested that the empty seats could remind folks of the Red Sea."

On another front: Frustrated by a television contract that restricts exposure of their games, the Canes are reported to be interested in starting a statewide cable sports network. Capital Sports has aired Canes games statewide on the Fox Sports South and Home Team Sports networks. But Canes games are televised only when they don't conflict with the pro teams already on the networks: the NBA's Hornets and the Wizards; the NHL's Capitals; and baseball's Orioles and Braves.

The Canes close out the month by re-signing former Whaler Jeff O'Neill and free agent Andrei Kovalenko to one-year deals.

August, 1999

Whalers Sidelight: Whalers South? In preparation for their inaugural season, the Atlanta Thrashers sign a number of former Whalers. Among them are Ray Ferraro, a Hartford pick (88th overall) in the 1982 entry draft, and Nelson Emerson, who was with the Whalers for their final campaign in Hartford. Ferraro has scored at least 20 goals 10 times, including a career-high 41 with Hartford in 1988-89. The Thrashers selected former Whalers Jody Hull and Terry Yake in the expansion draft, and pick up unrestricted free agent Ulf Samuelsson from the Red Wings for future considerations.

Contract talks with Canes captain Keith Primeau are stalled, with the start of training camp just a month away. The Canes' latest offer, believed to be a five-year package averaging $4 million a season, was rejected by agent Don Reynolds. The sides have not talked face-to-face or on the telephone in more than a month. Primeau opted not to file for salary arbitration earlier in the summer; it is widely believed that he will not report to camp without a contract. As a restricted free agent, Carolina has the right to match any offer for Primeau or risk losing him for a series of draft picks.

Also unsigned is the Canes' former captain, right wing Kevin Dineen. Dineen has been offered a one-year contract at a base salary lower than he received in 1998-99. The Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks have reportedly courted Dineen. "Ottawa has last year's coach of the year, Jacques Martin, and coaching is something that I aspire to do at some level," says Dineen. "To play for Martin and soak up that kind of knowledge would be a neat thing." Dineen's brother, Gord, played for the Senators from 1992-94.

With just 10 weeks before its planned grand opening, the Canes invite 2,000 invited guests to view the progress on the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena. "I'm just surprised by how much work they still have to do here," said Al Hardie of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. "Wires still hanging down, unfinished walls, not enough seats in. It looks like they've got a long way to go." The eight-sided scoreboard rests on the arena floor, 10,000 of the 18,711 hockey seats are not in place and none of the 61 luxury suites is finished. "The arena absolutely will be ready for the Hurricanes' first game October 29," says Davin Olson, arena operations director.

About those seats...word out of Raleigh is that North Carolina State University, whose Wolfpack basketball team will be the arena's primary tenant, is unhappy with the color. Rather than the bright NCSU red they expected, the seats are closer to maroon.

August 26: After a summer of speculation in the press (most of it unkind), the Hurricanes finally lift the veil of secrecy surrounding ticket sales. More than 4,000 season tickets have been sold, Canes' CEO Dean Jordan announces, for a team whose inaugural game in its new arena is nine weeks away. Jordan claims that figure could rise to 6,000 by the time the season opens, and notes that the Florida Panthers sold just 6,300 season tickets in their inaugural season, 1993-94. (He does not point out that the Nashville Predators and the Atlanta Thrashers, which joined the league in 1998 and 1999, respectively, were required to sell 12,000 season tickets.)

Despite predictions of 10,000-12,000 tickets for the first season in North Carolina, the Canes sold only 3,083 season tickets in 1997-98 and the team finished last in NHL home attendance in both seasons in Greensboro. The Whalers sold 9,200 season tickets for their last campaign in Hartford, in 1996-97.

September, 1999

September 2: Offered a one-year deal that would have paid him less than he earned in 1998-99, former captain Kevin Dineen opts for a multi-year contract with the Ottawa Senators. In 15 seasons, Dineen has 338 goals, 382 assists and 1,972 penalty minutes in 992 games for the Flyers, Whalers and Hurricanes. He set career highs with 45 goals, 44 assists and 89 points for the Whalers in 1988-89. Selected as an underage junior by the Whalers in the third round (56th pick overall) of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, "Kevin Eleven" was the final captain of the Hartford Whalers.

The Hurricanes open their 1999 training camp without captain Keith Primeau, who has not been able to reach a satisfactory financial agreement with the team. "Keith's very important for our team and we'll do our best to sign him, at a very responsible figure," Canes owner Peter Karmanos says. "I can't tell you what his motives are, but we're trying to look out for the health of our team, and we'll make sure we pay him fairly but in relation to what our financial situation is." Primeau is reportedly hoping to secure a contract comparable to Ron Francis' 1999-2000 salary of $5 million, but the Canes point out that Primeau has not reached certain career milestones that would put him on a par with Francis.

In mid-September, the team gets a tour of its new home; many of them are seeing the arena for the first time. Though the players' dressing rooms, lounges, exercise rooms, trainer's room and video room aren't ready, they are assured that all will be ready for the grand opening in six weeks. Exterior work has been completed, and nearly all of the 18,711 seats in place.

Those seats, however, have become another point of controversy in an arena project that is seemingly star-crossed. Rather than the bright red of North Carolina State's athletic uniforms, the seats are dark red, and the university wants them changed. The Hurricanes say NCSU athletics director Les Robinson and basketball coach Herb Sendek signed off on the color, and N.C. State should pay to make a seat switch. NCSU officials say the Canes ordered the seats and should pay for their replacement, at an estimated cost of $611,000. NCSU Chancellor Marye Anne Fox also says about 10,000 seat frames are the wrong color -- black or gray -- and must be replaced. The Centennial Authority, which oversees the construction of the arena, votes to withhold $1.5 million in seat payments to the Canes while the issue is debated.

The Canes return to their temporary home, the Greensboro Coliseum, for an exhibition game against the Florida Panthers. A crowd of 3,204 (in an arena with a capacity reduced to 11,059 by the infamous black curtains) watches the Southeast Division champions tie the Panthers 2-2. "With so many college football games going on today, I thought the turnout actually was pretty good," Canes coach Paul Maurice says. "The fans here were loud, and they were cheering for us." Nashville draws 15,243 that night for a game against the Red Wings; a game between the Rangers and the Boston Bruins at the Hartford Civic Center the next day draws 9,108. The Canes are committed to playing one Greensboro exhibition game each year for the next five years.

Individual game tickets for the Canes' inaugural season in Raleigh go on sale; tickets remain for the October 29 home opener against New Jersey, although the Canes claim they don't know how many.

September 26: The New York Post reports that the Rangers (perpetually in need of firepower) may be interested in a swap of defenseman Mathieu Schneider for Keith Primeau. "But owner Peter Karmanos, we're told, has all but been cut off by his bank, meaning the money he's spending these days is coming out of his own pocket," writes Larry Brooks. "It's very unlikely indeed that the Hurricanes would be willing to take on Schneider's contract.....The Rangers, you should know, checked in with Don Reynolds, the agent for Primeau, within the last couple of weeks. There is, however, no expectation whatsoever of an offer sheet. More of a casual, stay-in-touch call than anything, is what it was....By the way: If Karmanos can't afford to pay Primeau because his team has sold fewer than 5,000 season tickets for its first year in Raleigh, whose fault is that? And when and to where does the owner pull up stakes next time?"

With the season fast approaching and no movement on a contract, Primeau tells the News and Observer that he understands that others may think him foolish for leaving $20 million in guaranteed money on the table. "I'm making a business decision," Primeau says. "At this point, I don't have any alternative. If I'm not offered the right deal, then I have no alternative but to sit and wait." Asked if he's willing to sit out the entire season, Primeau does not hesitate. "Yes. No question," he says. "I just want people to understand that I'm making a business decision. Unfortunately, every few years the business side of hockey intrudes, and I'm in the business side now. Once my deal is done, I'll be back to the hockey side." Canes general manager Jim Rutherford confirms he has offered Primeau contracts of three, four and five years worth $4 million annually. "Our contract offer is very fair within the league structure of what people like him make and is certainly within the structure of what we thought he should make," Rutherford says. "Based on my talks with Pete Karmanos, we're not going to change our position. It upsets me that someone thinks the longer he sits, the better off he's going to be."

The Canes are not alone in taking a hard line on player salaries. With the exception of teams such as the Rangers (who with the frugality of drunken sailors spent about $70 million on six free agents, including right winger Theo Fleury, who will make $7 million annually) and Red Wings, fiscal prudence has suddenly become the order of the day. Former Whaler Pat Verbeek, who made $3.2 million last season with the Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars, is unemployed. Negotiations between the Bruins and Vezina-finalist goaltender Byron Dafoe become increasingly acrimonious, with Dafoe finally walking out of negotiations and asking for a trade. The Ottawa Senators threaten to sue team captain Alexei Yashin if the center holds out for a $5 million salary rather than honor a contract that pays him $3.6 million a year. The Bruins also take the unprecedented step of walking away from what they felt was an overly generous arbitration award to Dmitri Khristich after the 29-goal scorer turned down an offer of $1.95 million; the Bruins give Khristich up to free agency.

Primeau, however, isn't the only contract headache for the Canes. Draft pick David Tanabe, who played well enough in the exhibition season to earn a spot on Carolina's roster, instead packs his bags and heads for British Columbia and the junior-league team that drafted him in the Western Hockey League. "I was a little taken aback by the offer the team made," Tanabe says of the three-year contract with a signing bonus of $500,000. "You come in and have a good camp and you expect the team to make a better offer." Tanabe, taken 16th overall pick in the June draft, expected an offer comparable to what the 17th pick, defenseman Barret Jackman, got from the St. Louis Blues: a $1 million signing bonus and a three-year deal worth $2.65 million. Tanabe's agent calls the Canes' offer "beyond surprising, really mind-boggling." The total package is "not even half of what Jackman is getting." However, it is a symptom of just how quickly things can change in negotiations that Tanabe reverses himself in just a few days and comes to terms with the team.

ESPN's season preview predicts a falloff for the Hurricanes: four fewer wins and no return trip to the playoffs. Noting that the Florida Panthers (with a healthy Pavel Bure in the lineup) are a serious threat in the Southeast Division, the sports network foresees a big improvement from former Whaler Sami Kapanen but a big disappointment from goalie Arturs Irbe -- and without a first-place finish guaranteeing a seed in the playoffs, the Hurricanes will not be playing in May.

April-October, 1997 / November, 1997-May, 1998 / June-September, 1998 / October-December, 1998 / January-May 1999 / October 1999-present

How's It Goin', Pete? // Whalers Warehouse // The Story So Far // John's Home Page

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