Chris Chelios is coming back to the Red Wings for another season of ageless defense.
After he filled in when younger players couldn’t during the past two seasons, Detroit re- signed the 45-year-old Chelios to a a one-year contract Tuesday, bringing the three-time Norris Trophy winner back for his 24th NHL season and ninth with Detroit.
Chelios, who said the deal will pay him the same as last year’s $850,000, can reach another milestone next spring.
He needs to appear in two more playoff appearances to surpass Patrick Roy for the most career postseason games in the NHL.
Of course, Chelios, who turns 46 in January, has more than that in mind after the Red Wings’ playoff elimination this season in six games at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks, who went on to win the Stanley Cup.
“We were pretty close again to being back in the finals and having a chance of winning that Cup,” Chelios told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “One bounce, one game and I thought we were as good as any team. We just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities. Anaheim did.”
Chelios played a key role for the Red Wings after Jiri Fischer was sidelined with a heart ailment during the 2005-06 season and Niklas Kronwall suffered a fractured hip late last season. He logged more than 20 minutes a game in the last seven games of the playoffs after Mathieu Schneider’s wrist broke in Game 5 of the second round against the San Jose Sharks.
Ducks: Fans set an NHL record by spending an average of $24.70 on team merchandise during Anaheim’s Stanley Cup-clinching Game 5 victory.
That was up $7.70 – 45 percent – from the previous record of $17, which was set during Game 5 of the 2002 Finals between Detroit and Carolina.
The Ducks took an early lead on the way to a 6-2 win Wednesday night, giving fans plenty of time to shop.
“This is another great example of the strength of our local economy and the impact of winning the Stanley Cup,” said Ducks executive vice president and chief operating officer Tim Ryan.
* Left winger Travis Moen and right winger George Parros signed two-year extensions that will keep both under contract through the 2008-09 season.
Maple Leafs: Mats Sundin agreed to a $5.5 million, one-year contract.
The 36-year-old Swede, also Toronto’s captain, had 76 points (27 goals, 49 assists) in 75 games with the Leafs last season while earning $7.6 million.
Sabres: Coach Lindy Ruff and general manager Darcy Regier have agreed to new contracts, allowing Buffalo to retain the architects of a team coming off consecutive Eastern Conference finals appearances.
The deals will be announced later this week, a person familiar with the negotiations told The AP. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Sabres have not yet announced the signings.
Ruff is a finalist to win his second consecutive Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL’s coach of the year. He is the franchise’s winningest coach, registering a 358-289-71 record over nine seasons, and the longest tenured NHL coach with the same team over that span.
Regier has been the GM since 1997, and he has been credited with leading the franchise through its lowest point when the Sabres were without an owner and forced to declare bankruptcy in January 2003. He is also credited with having the foresight to build a fast and offensively-talented group that has been the model of success since the NHL returned from its lockout in the summer of 2005.
Bruins: Defenseman Andrew Alberts agreed to a multiyear contract extension.
Alberts, who made his NHL debut in 2005, has played in 146 games for the Bruins in the past two seasons, scoring one goal with 16 assists. Last season he had 10 assists in 76 games and also led the team with 124 penalty minutes.
