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Thursday, October 5, 2000
Rangers deny deal with Chicago is connected
Associated Press
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NEW YORK -- Stephane Quintal left his heart in Montreal and
now must try to find his career with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Quintal bolted the Montreal Canadiens before last season for
greener, richer pastures with the New York Rangers. After publicly
questioning his decision to leave Montreal, Quintal wore out his
welcome in New York.
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The Blackhawks claimed the 31-year-old defenseman Thursday after
the Rangers placed him on waivers. The clubs also completed a deal
that sent defenseman Brad Brown and left wing Michal Grosek to the
Rangers for future considerations.
Last April, toward the end of the first year of a four-year
$11.4 million contract, Quintal was quoted in a Montreal newspaper
as saying that his heart was still in the Canadian city despite
leaving to take more money from the Rangers.
Quintal was immediately suspended for the remainder of the
season by Madison Square Garden president Dave Checketts, already
frustrated by the Rangers' third-straight non-playoff year.
With new general manager Glen Sather in place, it appeared
Quintal might get a second chance in New York. But Quintal's
preseason performance killed that opportunity quickly.
"What happened last summer I told him was over with," Sather
said. "If he had come to training camp and played like he played
in Montreal a few years ago, chances are he might not have been
placed on waivers.
"I didn't see any indication of that right from the start of
training camp through. I wasn't mad at him for what happened. I
think we buried the hatchet on that situation. That incident as far
as I was concerned was dead."
Quintal, a 12-year NHL veteran, appeared in 75 games for the
Rangers. He had two goals, 14 assists and 77 penalty minutes. He
has 48 goals, 142 assists and 1,021 penalty minutes in 750 NHL
games for the Rangers, Boston, St. Louis, Winnipeg and Montreal.
Sather did not feel Quintal would regain his old form if he
stayed.
"I heard that he wanted to play here, but when I saw him at
training camp and when I saw him in the games that he played, I
just thought that it was better that he left here, for him and for
us," Sather said. "He looked like a nervous wreck in the game he
played at the Garden.
"There was some stigma left over in the Garden that I didn't
think he was going to get over right away and we didn't have time
to wait."
Quintal has a clause in his contract that guarantees a $3
million fifth-year if he was traded. The waiver move avoided that.
The New York Post reported Thursday the two deals were related
and the arrangement is intended to circumvent the clause.
"I don't think I got around anything," Sather said. "The
clause in his contract was if he was traded. He wasn't traded. He
was placed on waivers and claimed on waivers."
Sather added that the deal for Brown and Grosek probably would
have gone through anyway had a team other than the Blackhawks
claimed Quintal. That would have just changed the future
considerations.
Blackhawks assistant GM Nick Beverley would not comment on
whether the deals were related.
The move was Chicago's second to acquire a defenseman this week.
The Blackhawks acquired Alexander Karpovtsev from Toronto on Monday
in exchange for Bryan McCabe.
"Our whole premise is we wanted to get our defense better and
we think we've done that in the last few days here," Beverley said
prior to Chicago's season-opener at Buffalo.
"We're looking for guys that can move the puck, get it up to
our forwards. Obviously, Alpo Suhonen is the kind of coach that
likes the offensive game. So we needed to address that."
Brown, 24, had nine assists and 134 penalty minutes in 57 games
last season. Brown has one goal and 16 assists in 131 career games
with Chicago and Montreal.
Grosek, 25, was acquired by the Blackhawks in March from
Buffalo. He finished with 13 goals and 27 assists in 75 games. He
has 77 goals and 104 assists in 350 games with Chicago, Buffalo and
Winnipeg.
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