Blackhawks’ Pulford Leaves Front Office Job

Bob Pulford, who saw the Chicago Blackhawks get to the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of his 20 seasons as general manager, resigned Thursday, leaving the job to assistant general manager and player personnel director Bob Murray.

“It’s something that’s been on my mind for quite awhile,” Pulford said in Chicago. “It’s time. I’ve been here 20 years and I’ve been extremely fortunate to be with the best organization in hockey.”

“I’ve been in the NHL since I was 19 and it’s time for me to slow down,” said Pulford, 62, who coached the Kings for five seasons in the 1970s.

He will stay with the Blackhawks as senior vice president, a post he was appointed to in 1990, and says he’ll be available to advise Murray.

Pulford’s departure from day-to-day decision-making came after a tumultuous year which included the departures of fan favorites Jeremy Roenick and Ed Belfour and an early exit from the playoffs. One of Pulford’s last acts was to sign Coach Craig Hartsburg to a two-year contract extension last month.

Murray has been director of player personnel since 1991 and has been assistant general manager for the past two years. He spent his entire 15-year playing career with the Blackhawks.

Murray takes over a team that went 34-35-13 last season. The Blackhawks, however, made the playoffs for the 28th consecutive season, the longest streak in pro sports. But Chicago didn’t qualify until the next-to-last regular-season game and was eliminated in the first round by the Colorado Avalanche.

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Negotiations between the Boston Bruins and the NHL’s No. 1 draft pick, Joe Thornton, have snagged over what Boston General Manager Harry Sinden called an “ominous” proposal from the 17-year-old forward’s agent.

A rookie scale sets Thornton’s base salary at no more than $925,000. Left for negotiations are incentives.

The Bruins thought they had agreed to a general incentive structure before Thornton was drafted last month.

But when the seven-page counterproposal came back from Thornton’s agent, Michael Barnett, it caught the Bruins by surprise.

“We expected their numbers to be higher than ours,” Mike O’Connell, assistant general manager, told the Herald. “But not quite like this.”

Barnett could not be reached for comment.

“I brought it home to read, and I’m not sure if I’m going to digest it or throw it up,” Sinden told the Boston Herald.

“We have to analyze the options and see if any of them work. It’s difficult to understand at first blush, but right now it looks kind of ominous. But we’re going to talk to them and see if there’s a way to compromise.”

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The Toronto Maple Leafs dipped into the free-agent market, signing left wing Derek King of the Carolina Hurricanes and forward Mike Kennedy of the Dallas Stars.

Contract terms were not available for King, while Kennedy signed a two-year deal and will receive $350,000 during the 1997-98 season and $400,000 the next season.

King spent his career with the New York Islanders before being traded to Hartford on the eve of the trading deadline last season for a fifth-round draft pick. He finished the season with 26 goals and 33 assists.

Kennedy has played his entire career with the Stars, collecting one goal and six assists in 24 games last season.

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Free-agent defenseman Shawn Chambers signed a new three-year deal with the Dallas Stars with an option for a fourth. The Stars did not release contract terms.

Chambers, 30, had been with the New Jersey Devils for the past 2 1/2 seasons, including their 1995 Stanley Cup champion.

In Chambers’ 10-year NHL career, he has played in 503 games, scoring 46 goals and 154 assists.