Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
PITTSBURGH - Ed Olczyk, a longtime player who became a broadcaster, was hired Wednesday as the Penguins' fifth coach in five years despite having no coaching experience.
Olczyk became emotional moments after the announcement and said he was excited about taking over.
"I've wanted this for a long time," Olczyk said. "Craig (Patrick) and I have talked for a long time, and he knew a couple of years ago I wanted to do this. I know people are going to doubt it and have questions about what is going on, but that's all right. This is an opportunity of a lifetime."
Olczyk, 36, spent 16 seasons in the NHL as a player, including a brief stay with the Penguins, but his only coaching was with a group of 15- and 16-year-olds in Chicago.
Patrick, the Penguins general manager, wanted to hire a coach who can relate to and work with the team's younger players. The Penguins have gutted their roster since making the Eastfinal two years ago, trading Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Kovalev, Jan Hrdina and a number of other experienced players in an effort to rebuild with much younger and lower-priced talent.
"He's the perfect guy to do what we're asking," Patrick said. "He has an infectious-type personality. He's outgoing. He's a great teacher. He's got great hockey knowledge."
The Penguins are coming off their worst season since owner-player Mario Lemieux's rookie season in 1984-85, losing all but two of the final 21 games and finishing 27-44-6-5 under former coach Rick Kehoe. He was fired April 15 after the Penguins won only 55 in two seasons.
HALL OF FAME: Former Oilers goalie Grant Fuhr, who made his living as the last line of defense on one of hockey's great offensive powerhouses, was elected to the Hall.
"It's a fabulous honor," said Fuhr, who won five Stanley Cups with Edmonton and the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender in 1988. "It's the topping on which was the most enjoyable of things to do for a living. This is the ice cream on the cake."
Fuhr, the first black member of the Hall, was joined by forward Pat LaFontaine, Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch and junior team coach Brian Kilrea.
LaFontaine had 468 goals and had 545 assists in 865 games with the Islanders, Rangers and Sabres. He had his best season in 1992-93, scoring 53 and adding 95 assists. He was the third American to reach 1,000 career points.
Ilitch, whose empire also includes baseball's Detroit Tigers and the Little Caesars pizza chain, purchased the Red Wings in 1982. They won Stanley Cups in 1997 and '98, and again in 2002.
Kilrea reached 1,000 wins this season behind the Ottawa 67s bench, making him the second coach to surpass that mark, behind the NHL's Scotty Bowman. Kilrea, 68, just finished his 26th season coaching the 67s.
BLUES: Goaltender Chris Osgood, who was acquired at the trade deadline in March, re-signed. The team did not release terms of the contract.
Osgood played in nine games for the Blues after being traded from the Islanders, and was 4-3-2 with two shutouts.
DEVILS: Defenseman Ken Daneyko is considering ending his 18-year career on a high note after New Jersey's third Stanley Cup title in nine years.
"I have certainly had an incredible run if that is it," Daneyko said. "The game hasn't cheated me and I don't think I have cheated it. So whatever is decided, I'll be happy."
Daneyko, 39, plans to discuss it with his family and chief executive Lou Lamoriello during the offseason, but he indicated he was leaning toward retirement.
"This one seems to be the icing on the cake," said Daneyko, who also won the Cup in 1995 and 2000.
LIGHTNING: Prospect Paul Ranger is one of 44 junior players invited to Canada's national junior team development camp Aug. 9-18 in Calgary. The camp is the first step in constructing Canada's national junior team. Thirty players will be invited to the selection camp in December.
Ranger, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound defenseman, played for OHL Oshawa last season. He was selected by Tampa Bay in the sixth round of the 2002 draft (183rd overall).
OILERS: Coach Craig MacTavish signed a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2005-06 season. The team has reached the playoffs in two of three seasons under MacTavish, a former center for the Oilers.
RANGERS: Eric Lindros exercised his $3.3-million option for next season to remain with the team.
He could earn another $6-million in bonuses, unless his contract is restructured during talks this summer between general manager Glen Sather and Carl Lindros, who is his son's agent.
The Rangers have said they do not intend to buy out the contract for $2.2-million by the July 1 deadline, which would make Lindros an unrestricted free agent.
RED WINGS: Forward Igor Grigorenko, considered by the team to be its top prospect, was released from a hospital nearly a month after an automobile accident in Russia.
Grigorenko, 20, had surgery on his left leg and hip after the May 16 accident, then developed an embolism in his left lung. He lost consciousness and spent several days on a ventilator under heavy sedation. He was taken off the ventilator late last week and went home from the hospital Tuesday.
SENATORS: Defenseman Shane Hnidy signed a one-year deal. He had eight assists and 130 penalty minutes in 67 games last season.
- Times staff writer Damian Cristodero contributed to this report.