Gulls, Starikov Agree to 1-Year Deal

The Gulls and defenseman Sergei Starikov have reached agreement on a new one-year contract. The team also has made offers to defenseman Alan Hepple and center Len Hachborn, Vice President Don Waddell said Thursday.

Terms of Starikov’s contract were not disclosed and Waddell says he hopes to settle with Hepple and Hachborn on Monday.

Gull Coach Rick Dudley has asked AHL veteran John Anderson to be his assistant coach. But Waddell said the Hartford Whalers have invited Anderson to training camp after he spent the 1991-92 season playing at New Haven of the AHL.

“He’s got an option on the table,” Waddell said of Anderson, who was the AHL’s Most Valuable Player last season. “But he wants to get into the coaching end of it. He could still play in the NHL. He’s got great speed.”

Anderson scored 282 goals with 349 assists in 814 NHL games with the Whalers and Toronto Maple Leafs, including 27 points in 37 playoff games.

Starikov had four goals and 31 assists in 69 games with the Gulls last year. He had the team’s second-best plus-minus rating of plus-15.

The Gulls have also invited three junior players from the Western Hockey League to training camp, which starts the third week of September. Shawn Yakimishyn, 20, a center from the Saskatoon Blades, Cory Dosdall, 20, a right wing from the Tri-City Americans and Rob Hartnell, 20, a center from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, are all free agents.

INDOOR SOCCER

The survivors of the Major Soccer League began going their way Thursday as Baltimore Blast Coach Kenny Cooper headed a group that was admitted into the National Professional Soccer League.

Meanwhile, three other former MSL franchises--the Sockers, Dallas Sidekicks and Cleveland Crunch--are keeping their options open and will meet with Jerry Buss of the proposed Continental Indoor Soccer League next week.

“I’ve been given every indication that the Sockers are going to do everything in their power to make sure they participate in our league,” said Ron Weinstein, who has been putting together the CISL during the past two years. “And that goes for Dallas, too.”

Weinstein said he expects Cleveland Crunch owner George Hoffman to team up with owners of the NBA Cavaliers and bring the Crunch into the CISL.

Socker Vice President Fred Whitacre said the club still has doubts about the CISL.

“Oscar wants to be confident that the league has a marketing plan and commitments from teams for a certain time period,” Whitacre said. “But I do think the league has a good chance of ultimate success because of the kind of ownership they have. These people are used to success.”

Several CISL franchises are being formed by owners of NBA teams.

FOOTBALL

San Diego State announced it will sell season tickets as low as $25 for five home games. Season tickets will be $75 for preferred locations, $37.50 for the closed end zone area and $25 for the view level. The Aztecs open their regular home schedule with a game against Texas El Paso on Oct. 17.