MSL Season to Get Under Way Without Wright

The Baltimore Blast open the MSL season today by playing host to the Dallas Sidekicks. They will do so without the services of ex-Socker forward Paul Wright, whose contractual status with the team remains in limbo.

Wright and the Blast entered an arbitration hearing Friday, but “our lawyers started squabbling and it got lengthy,” Wright said.

The result is that the hearing will resume Tuesday and a decision will not be forthcoming until Thursday at the earliest.

Wright is seeking free agency.

“In a way I’m disappointed,” Wright said. “But I must say I had a good feeling about it.”

The league’s seven teams are expected to have their 16-player rosters settled by Thursday, which means they will have allocated their $550,000 allowed under the salary cap. That would make it difficult for any team, including the Blast, to sign Wright.

Wright doesn’t seem bothered by the prospects.

“I’ve missed the first game of the season, that’s for sure,” Wright said. “But that’s not a problem because I’m in shape and ready to go.”

Socker Coach Ron Newman, who has been holding off signing players in case Wright was granted free agency, has decided to fill his roster, which is four players short of completion after Friday’s signing of Jacques Ladouceur.