Fedorov Might Sit Out Season

Restricted free agent Sergei Fedorov says he is prepared to sit out the season if that’s what it takes for him to get the contract he wants from the Detroit Red Wings.

“There’s been precedence--back in the early or late ‘70s when [former Montreal goalie] Ken Dryden sat out one year, and, boy, did he make the money,” Fedorov told WJBK-TV in Detroit in an interview broadcast Monday. “I can see myself doing that. Why not? Because it’s not about money. Because it’s about what I believe in.”

The former MVP said it has been a long 3 1/2 months, but it’s worth it for him to wait out his bitter contract dispute with the Detroit Red Wings.

“It seems to me it’s going to take a little longer, I guess. That’s fine,” he said.

The Russian center reportedly is seeking a $6-million-a-year salary in a four-year contract. The Red Wings reportedly have offered $5 million a year over four years.

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John A. Spano Jr., who tried to borrow $80 million to buy the New York Islanders, pleaded guilty in Boston to charges of federal bank fraud in connection with the failed deal.

Spano, from Dallas, is accused of scheming to defraud Fleet National Bank and four other financial institutions in an attempt to purchase the hockey team.

According to federal prosecutors, Spano defrauded the banks by telling them he was qualified to purchase the team for $165 million, and provided bankers with false financial statements.

In April 1997, at the closing for the purchase of the team, Spano provided a bogus Federal Reserve wire transfer number to confirm he had wired millions to Fleet as required under the loan agreement, according to federal officials.

Prosecutors also said Spano claimed to have put almost $25 million of his own money into the purchase, when in fact, he had invested none.

Spano is currently free on $2-million bond, according to Amy Rindskopf, a spokeswoman for the U.S. District Attorney’s office in Boston. Spano will be sentenced in New York at a later date, Rindskopf said.

The case will be consolidated for sentencing with charges pending against Spano in New York and Texas. Spano has pleaded guilty to those charges, according to federal prosecutors.

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Brian Conacher resigned as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ vice president of building operations, citing a desire to face “new challenges.”

Conacher was a member of Toronto’s 1967 Stanley Cup-winning team--the last Leafs’ team to win the Cup.