Chartier Named In Trade

Three different stories rolled into one, and they all involve the Elmira Jackals defensive corps. Scott Chartier has been selected by the Knoxville Speed in return for the off-season acquisition of Nick Bilotto. Bilotto was sent to Elmira for future considerations, and the Speed have announced their selection of the big defenseman to fulfill Elmira's end of the deal. Chartier had 3G, 4A this year in 11 games for the Jackals.

Meanwhile, Darren Wright has been placed on team suspension while he ponders his future in hockey. Wright has returned home to Canada to nurse a bulging disk in his back.

"It's not something you want to mess with (the back)," Wright said. "The doctors told me if I keep playing, I may require surgery more than once. If I stop now, I can live a normal life, and not have many problems with it."

Wright faces the question that many athletes hope they never have to deal with in their professional carrers: Shut it down now and avoid more pain and problems later? Or continue to play and grit your teeth through the pain? Wright seems to be leaning more towards the former.

"I'm going home to think about it, but in the end I'll probably decide to retire," Wright said. "It's not worth it."

That leaves the plight of Tim O'Connell. O'Connell traveled to Washington to meet President Clinton Thursday as part of a ceremony honoring the North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey team, who won the NCAA Championship last season. Due to flight scheduling, O'Connell was not be able to make it back for last night's game. The Jackals will dressed five defensemen for tonight's game.

"As far as defensemen go, despite losing Wright and Chartier, we'll still be okay" said Head Coach Todd Brost. "Legault isn't a true defenseman but he's done a good job back there. We'll be okay for now, but I'd like to bring in another defenseman. Once Tim is back in the lineup, we'll have six."

"There's lots of forwards out there," Brost smiled, "but not a lot of D-men."

The Jackals will continue to sojourn through their inaugural season at home against Kalamazoo Saturday, then a day trip takes them to New Haven on Sunday. Tickets for all Jackals home games are on sale now through the Coach USA Center Box Office, all TicketMaster locations, TicketMaster.com, or charge by phone at (607) 722-3711. For game information, call (607) 735-9512.