Kariya Situation Still Unresolved

By HELENE ELLIOTT

Oct. 4, 1997 12 AM PT

There has been no change in the status of the Mighty Ducks’ contract negotiations with holdout left wing Paul Kariya: There are no talks in progress, there haven’t been any for several weeks and none are planned.

“I’m not going to the auction by myself,” said Tony Tavares, the Ducks’ president.

He also said no additional offers have been made to Kariya, who missed the team’s opener at Tokyo. The Ducks’ initial proposal was a five-year, $25-million deal. They later made another offer for what is believed to be a shorter term.

Tavares said he has received some letters and calls from fans who are irate over Kariya’s absence, but not as many as he expected.

“In this situation, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” he said.

The Ducks’ season ticket sale is down about 350 from last season.

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Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

Kariya Situation Still Unresolved

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