Agent Claims to Represent Hockey Star

Robb Stauber, winner of the 1988 Hobey Baker Award as the most outstanding player in collegiate hockey, rejected a contract offer from the Kings last week and plans to return to the University of Minnesota for his senior year, his attorney said Sunday.

However, agent Ron Salcer of Manhattan Beach said that he had been retained by Stauber, which would be a violation of National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rules. Stauber could be declared ineligible for next season.

Salcer said that he was hired by Stauber last Thursday and that he and the Kings were close to reaching a contract agreement until Stauber, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound goaltender, had a change of heart on Saturday.

Stauber, 21, was en route Sunday to the World Hockey Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, and was unavailable for comment.

His attorney, Wayne Faris of Minneapolis, said that Stauber, after receiving a contract offer from the Kings last Monday, did not retain any agent to represent him.

Faris said that Salcer acted on his own in negotiating with the Kings, who drafted Stauber in the sixth round in 1986.

“They were hoping to keep it quiet. We didn’t want it known he had retained an agent,” Salcer said.