Bruins At Odds With No.1 Pick Thornton

Negotiations between the Boston Bruins and the NHL’s No. 1 draft pick, Joe Thornton, have snagged over what Boston general manager Harry Sinden called an “ominous” proposal from the 17-year-old forward’s agent.

“I brought it home to read, and I’m not sure if I’m going to digest it or throw it up,” Sinden said.

A rookie scale sets Thornton’s base salary at no more than $925,000. Left for negotiations are incentives.

The problem for the Bruins is threefold: They don’t want to break the bank for a 17-year-old rookie, they don’t want to set a precedent for future draft picks, and they don’t want to encourage players to think of their own statistics first.

Bob Pulford, who saw the Chicago Blackhawks get to the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of his 20 seasons as general manager, resigned, leaving the job to assistant general manager and player personnel director Bob Murray.

Pulford, 62, will stay with the team as senior vice president. Murray spent his entire 15-year playing career with the Blackhawks.

Brian Sutter was introduced as the new coach of the Calgary Flames.

Sutter coached the Blues from 1988-89 to 1991-92 and the Boston Bruins from 1992-93 to 1994-95. He was named NHL coach of the year in 1991.