Jagr Says Contract Too Long, Wants To Cut Off Three Years

Suddenly, Jaromir Jagr doesn’t want a long-term contract.

For weeks, the Pittsburgh Penguins star has been on the verge of signing a seven-year, $53 million deal that would be among the NHL’s richest.

Now, Jagr says he would sign a four-year contract for the same average salary. What’s new is that Jagr fears a pricey, long-term contract could get him traded if the Penguins experience money trouble.

He wants to end his career in Pittsburgh - which is strange, considering that he wants a shorter deal.

“I think it’s too long,” Jagr said Tuesday at the team’s practice rink. “I think it’s long for the Penguins, and it’s long for me, too.

“Nobody knows what could happen to me. Seven years is too long. I’ve said that the average for seven years, if they offer that same average for four years, I would sign it right now.”

Jagr doesn’t want to be traded after spending every season with the Penguins after they selected him fifth overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. He suspects that he could be dealt.

Olympians to have company

National Hockey League players participating in the Winter Olympic Games can bring a guest to Nagano, Japan, at no cost - a travel package worth about $15,000 - under an agreement brokered by the National Hockey League Players’ Association.

The pact negotiated with hockey’s international governing body, the Geneva-based International Ice Hockey Federation, provides first-class airfare, hotel accommodations and tickets to Olympic hockey games to one person designated by each NHL representative.

“The players really aren’t getting anything extra for going over there, so this is a nice way of making things more enjoyable,” Bob Goodenow, president of the National Hockey League Players Association, told Bloomberg News.

For the first time in Olympic history, NHL players will compete in the games. The NHL has interrupted its season from Feb. 8-24 and is supplying about 125 players for nine different countries, including some of the league’s most marketable stars, Eric Lindros and Wayne Gretzky.

On the ice

Jari Kurri scored his 600th goal and the Colorado Avalanche scored four second-period goals in a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

Kurri became the eighth player in NHL history to score 600 goals and the sixth with 600 plus 800 assists.

The New York Rangers used a shuffle in personnel and three assists from Wayne Gretzky to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 after Madison Square Garden president Dave Checketts threatened a team shakeup.