| The first
Stinger is no longer a Stinger. Center Dennis Sobchuk the first player signed when the
Cincinnati Stingers opened for business as a franchise in the World Hockey Association
four years ago, was traded Friday to the Edmonton Oilers. The trade came one day before
the Stingers meet a Russian national team tonight (7:35 p.m.) at Riverfront Coliseum.
Sobchuk, who was signed to a much publicized 10-year pact which reportedly ran near $1.7
million, goes to the OIlers for a first and second round draft pick, the WHA negotiating
rights to University of Michigan center Dave Debol, and an undisclosed amount of cash. The cash is probably the most significant aspect of the trade. In addition to
picking up Sobchuk's contract for the remainder of this year and next year as well as a
new pact for another five, the Oilers undoubtedly came up with a substantial amount of
money to get the flashy forward. For Sobchuk, who has a home in suburban Madeira and has
considered Cincinnati his home, the trade was a shock at first. But the 6-foot-2, 180
pound native of Lang, Saskatchewan took the news with a positive attitude.
"It's going to hard to leave Cincinnati," Sobchuk said
Friday night after meeting for nearly an hour with Stingers' executive vice president Bill
DeWitt Jr. "I've made a lot of good friends here. But I have no hard feelings. This
is a business, and I'm certain Mr. DeWitt felt he couldn't turn down the deal. He said it
was a good deal for the Stingers. He couldn't look the other way on every offer."
Sobchuk said he learned of the trade from DeWitt about 4:30 p.m.
Friday. "I didn't anticipate anything like this, and at first I had a big hollow
feeling in my gut. But I felt a lot better after talking to Mr. DeWitt. He told me it had
nothing to do with my performance and, in fact, he said I had fulfilled all my obligations
and gone beyond." Sobchuk, who will report to the Oilers next Wednesday, took a
philosophic view of the trade. He was safe to leave Cincinnati but realized times had
changed for the Stingers. "When I was signed, I was the superstar they were going to
build the team around," he said. "But the Stingers don;t need a superstar
anymore. They have good goal scorers and the nucleus of a good, hardworking hockey team.
Maybe by trading me they will get two or three good young players."
Sobchuk, who had nothing but praise for the Stingers organization
and DeWitt in particular, has been out of the lineup the last two games because of a
stretched ligament in his left wrist. He indicated he probably would be 100% by Christmas.
Th Stingers made another trade with Edmonton at the same time, sending winger Del Hall to
the Oilers for winger Butch Deadmarsh. Deadmarsh is the former Cincinnati Swords player
who was a teammate of Stinger captain Rick Dudley.
The trade raises some questions. It comes on the heels of weeklong
rumors that the Stingers would sell Dudley to his former team, the NHL Buffalo Sabres, for
a reported $350,000. On the surface there is some indication that the Stingers are
unloading big contracts to pick up some cash to put in the bank. The Dudley deal, however,
has been nothing but a rumor and may never come to fruition. "I don't think it's a
housecleaning," said Sobchuk. "I feel it was simply a matter of making a deal
that looked good to the Stingers."
As far as the draft picks and Debol's rights are concerned, they may
be worth exactly nothing. With a WHA-NHL merger still a possibility, the draft structure
would undoubtedly change next season. And the Chicago Blackhawks hold Debol's rights. The
20-year-old center is considered one of the best college players in the country this year
and Chicago probably has the inside track there.
Regardless of the trade's side effects, it will make a big
difference for Sobchuk. He'll be closer to his home and parents in Lang, but he'll be
leaving his second home here. "It's going to seem strange putting a for sale sign on
the house," he said. "It will be good to be closer to home and I played junior
hockey in Edmonton so I'm well known there, but I'm going to miss Cincinnati.."
Sobchuk, who turns 24 on January 12, had expected to celebrate his birthday here with the
Stingers having an off day. "I'll be here on January 11 so I'll celebrate my birthday
in Cincinnati, but I'll be with the Oilers, not the Stingers. After four years, it's going
to be strange."
Winger Peter Marsh has been living in Sobchuk's house here during
the season, and he was one of the first to know of the trade, along with coach Jacques
Demers, after DeWitt informed Sobchuk. Marsh's name also came to light in hockey circles
this week when the Pittsburgh Penguins completed their deal with the Montreal Canadiens by
giving Marsh's NHL rights to Montreal. The Penguins traded Pierre Larouche to the
Canadiens for Peter Mahovlich and Peter Lee. The trade also included future considerations
and that's where Marsh came in. It's interesting to note that Marsh's parents live in
Montreal and the young winger played his junior hockey with the Sherbrooke Quebec team. |
