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Thursday, December 30
Vernon goes to Panthers in three-way deal

SportsTicker

NEW YORK -- The Florida Panthers on Thursday addressed a need at goaltender by acquiring two-time Stanley Cup winner Mike Vernon from the San Jose Sharks in a three-team trade involving the New York Rangers.


	San Jose hopes Harvey can find his way to stay healthy and out of the penalty box.

Florida sent right wing Radek Dvorak to San Jose for Vernon and a third-round draft pick in 2000. The Sharks then shipped Dvorak to New York for right wing Todd Harvey and a fourth-round choice in 2001.

The Panthers needed a goalie because Trevor Kidd's career season was interrupted by a dislocated shoulder suffered Dec. 13 during the team's skills competition. Kidd could miss another two months.

Vernon, 36, was solid as Steve Shields' backup this season, and was acquired to help the first-place Panthers stay afloat without Kidd. He is 353-228-84 in 17 NHL seasons, guiding the 1989 Calgary Flames and 1997 Detroit Red Wings to Stanley Cup titles.

"Mike Vernon's record stands on its own," Florida general manager Bryan Murray said. "With Trevor Kidd out for a while, we wanted to give our team the best possible chance to make the playoffs and win some games once we are there.

"You hate to lose a promising young player like Radek Dvorak, but we felt that we needed strong goaltending to keep our team competitive for the rest of the season and in the playoffs."

The Rangers may have grown frustrated with Harvey's inability to stay healthy and out of the penalty box. A gritty winger, Harvey, 24, has never played a full NHL season. Through 31 games this season, he is a minus-9 with 62 penalty minutes.

"Harvey has shown the ability to score goals and he brings a lot of energy, as well as showing the capacity to be a leader," said Sharks general manager Dean Lombardi. "It's a dimension we felt we had to add to this group in terms of making us better."

Dvorak, a 22-year-old native of the Czech Republic, is a talented offensive player. He has seven goals and 10 assists with a plus-5 rating in 35 games this season, his fifth in the NHL.

The Panthers dealt the former first-round pick in order to acquire Vernon, who is third among active goaltenders in wins behing Colorado's Patrick Roy and Calgary's Grant Fuhr.

A four-time Stanley Cup finalist and six-time All-Star, Vernon is a proven winner. He ranks fifth all-time in playoff victories with 77 and is the only NHL goalie to amass at least 30 postseason wins with two clubs.

Vernon proved his worth, even at an advanced age, when he discarded his backup tag in 1997 to guide the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after going 16-4 with a 1.76 goals-against average.

The Panthers have prospered without Kidd, who has been out more than two weeks but still ranks sixth in wins at 13-4-2. His .930 save percentage is tops in the league and his 2.08 GAA is fourth.

San Jose has sputtered since a terrific start, but is still second in the Pacific Division, two points behind Phoenix. Harvey could play a valuable role on the Sharks, who have a talented corps of forwards but few physical players.

When healthy, Harvey is an effective agitator and capable scorer. He has 52 goals, 81 assists and 583 penalty minutes in 307 NHL games for the Rangers and Dallas Stars, but has missed 73 games due to injury the last three seasons.

The Rangers continue to look for a spark to a team that is in danger of missing the playoffs for the third straight season. They are winless in their last five games (0-3-2) and are 11th in the Eastern Conference at 12-18-6, with three overtime losses.

Dvorak has 69 goals and 93 assists in 336 NHL games -- all with the Panthers. He had his best season in 1998-99, when he recorded 19 goals and 24 assists in 82 games.