Avalance Match $21-Million Offer Made To Sakic

Joe won’t go. Enticed by a lucrative free-agent offer from the New York Rangers, Joe Sakic will remain with the Colorado Avalanche.

The Avalanche confirmed Wednesday they have matched the three-year, $21-million offer by the Rangers, ensuring their star center and captain will stay with the only NHL organization he has played for.

“We intended to match it from the moment the offer sheet came in,” said Charlie Lyons, CEO of Ascent Entertainment Group, owner of the Avalanche and Denver Nuggets. “We were never going to lose our captain.”

In Dallas, John Spano Jr., whose failed bid to buy the New York Islanders prompted a criminal investigation, was indicted on charges that he defrauded two lenders of at least $5.1 million.

U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins announced that the Dallas businessman, who already faces unrelated fraud charges in New York, was indicted in Fort Worth on charges of bank fraud and wire fraud.

National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman will settle a dispute between the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning regarding the rights to free-agent center Chris Gratton.

The Flyers said they signed Gratton, a restricted Group II free agent, to an offer sheet late Tuesday night. The Blackhawks claim they negotiated a trade for the 22-year-old Gratton before he signed the offer sheet.