Patrick O'Sullivan, Kings agree on new contract
NEWSWIRE
Forward will get $8,775,000 over three years, and team takes a salary-cap hit of $2.925 million per season.
Forward Patrick O'Sullivan and the Kings agreed on a three-year, $8,775,000 contract Tuesday, four days before the team's season opener at San Jose.
O'Sullivan, who was a restricted free agent and did not attend training camp, was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles on Tuesday and report to the Kings' practice facility in El Segundo today.
He will be paid $4 million this season and $2,387,500 in 2009-10 and 2010-11, an average and salary-cap hit of $2.925 million per season. He was the Kings' fourth-leading scorer in 2007-08 with 22 goals and 53 points and is considered one of the key figures in their rebuilding process.
"When it goes this long I don't think either party is going to say they won," said O'Sullivan's agent, Pat Morris of Toronto-based Newport Sports Management.
"We would have liked a little more and they would have liked a whole lot less, but everybody wants this done. Patrick is excited to get back on the ice."
Dean Lombardi, the Kings' general manager, said the deal "was fair, and it also fits with putting this group together with some term." He added, "It was one of those things that certainly once it started moving on we felt, 'Let's get this done right now,' instead of going for a stopgap."
--Helene Elliott
PRO FOOTBALL
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New Orleans Saints cornerback Tracy Porter will miss the rest of his rookie season after dislocating his right wrist during Monday night's game against Minnesota.
Porter hurt the wrist while attempting to defend a desperation heave by Minnesota's Gus Frerotte.
Bernard Berrian caught the pass for the tying touchdown as he collided with teammate Aundrae Allison, Porter and Saints safety Josh Bullocks near the goal line.
The NFL suspended Cincinnati Bengals reserve linebacker Darryl Blackstock for the next four games because he used a performance-enhancing substance.
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Venus eliminated in first round at Moscow
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The Canadian Grand Prix was dropped from a revised 2009 Formula One race schedule, leaving North America without an event in the world's most popular auto-racing series. Montreal's Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve has staged a Formula One race since 1978.
