Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 28, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C4 C 4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2015 SPORTS winnipegfreepress. com MONTREAL - The Montreal Impact made perhaps the biggest player acquisition in club history on Monday - former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. The Chicago Fire signed and then traded Drogba to the Impact for a substantial amount of allocation money. He is to join the team once he receives his international transfer certificate and Canadian work visa and is to arrive in Montreal later this week. The Impact confirmed the deal in a tweet that said " Deal Done. Didier Drogba in bleu- blanc- noir." Impact president Joey Saputo said in a statement it was an honour to have one of the top stars of international soccer on his club. " From the first conversation I had with him, I sensed he really wanted to play in Montreal," Saputo said. " It's a great day in the history of the club and his arrival will help us at every level." Impact defender Laurent Ciman tweeted: " All class. I can't wait to work with him." Chicago had acquired the 37- yearold's Major League Soccer rights when they placed him on their " discovery' list weeks ago. Drogba had left Chelsea and was reported to be looking at a move to North America. The Impact also pushed hard for the Ivory Coast international, who appears to have preferred Montreal because it is a mainly French speaking city. Salary details were not released but he will be the club's second designated player after Argentine midfielder Ignacio Piatti. ESPN reported an offer of an 18- month deal worth $ 3 million. Chicago also confirmed it claimed Brazilian striker Gilberto, a designated player, off waivers from Toronto FC when its bid for Drogba fell through. " With regards to the trade, we felt this move was in the best interest of our club," Fire coach Frank Yallop said in a statement. " We received a significant amount of allocation money from Montreal, giving us the spending flexibility to find another player in this window or down the line. " We respect Mr. Drogba's professionalism throughout this process and wish him luck, but we are excited to welcome Gilberto to the club and move forward toward the MLS Cup playoffs and the U. S. Open Cup semifinals." Drogba scored 163 goals and won four Premier League titles in two stints with Chelsea. While his best days appear to be behind him, Drogba would give the Impact a proven scorer with the star power to match recent signings in MLS that include Kaka in Orlando, David Villa and Frank Lampard with New York City and Steven Gerrard with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He had seven goals in 28 games for Chelsea last season. The Impact have been seeking an elite forward since Italian veteran Marco Di Vaio, who joined the club as a designated player in its first MLS campaign in 2012, retired after last season. Drogba, who split his childhood between Ivory Coast and France, amassed 17 trophies in a career that began in 1998 with French second division side Le Mans in 1998. He played at Guingamp and Marseille in France before transferring to Chelsea in 2004. With the Blues, he also won four FA Cups, three League Cups and two Community Shields. He won the UEFA Champions League title in 2012. The fourth highest scorer in Chelsea history also won the Premier League golden boot award in 2007 and 2010. He took three Turkish club prizes with Galatasaray in 2013- 14. Internationally, he is Ivory Coast's all- time scoring leader with 65 goals in 104 games. He helped the West African side to World Cup appearances in 2006, 2010 and 2014. Drogba announced his retirement from international competition in August, 2014. - The Canadian Press Former Chelsea star Drogba signs with Montreal By Bill Beacon N EW YORK - The New York Rangers and centre Derek Stepan have avoided salary arbitration, agreeing on a six- year contract. General manager Jeff Gorton announced the deal Monday, hours before a contract arbitration hearing for the 25- year- old Stepan was to be held in Toronto. Stepan said the two sides have been close to agreement in recent days, but there was no guarantee that it would get done before the arbitration. He said there was " no bad blood" during the talks. " These things take a lot of time," Stepan said on a conference call. " We're talking, essentially for me, a life- changing contract so we wanted to make sure both sides were happy with the direction that talks were going." Stepan said the contract was six years in length, adding there was a notrade clause for the third and fourth years of the deal. There were several reports it was worth $ 39 million. A restricted free agent, Stepan had 16 goals and 39 assists in 68 games as the Rangers posted the NHL's best regular- season record. He also had five goals and seven assists in 19 post- season games, tallying the gamewinning goal in overtime in Game 7 against Washington in the Eastern Conference semifinal. Stepan was one of two NHL players who ranked tied for fifth or higher on his respective team in all of the following categories in 2014- 15: assists, points, game- winning goals, plus/ minus rating, shots on goal, power play goals, power- play assists, power- play points, short- handed goals, short- handed assists, and short- handed points. The other was Jonathan Toews of the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks. Stepan established career highs in assists per game ( 0.57), plus/ minus rating ( plus 26), short- handed goals ( two), and short- handed points ( five), and tied a career high in short- handed assists ( three) this past season. He tied for the NHL lead in short- handed assists and tied for second in the NHL in short- handed points. Stepan has skated in 362 games over five seasons, all with the Rangers, registering 89 goals and 163 assists, with a plus- 85 rating. He has 15 goals and 26 assists in 80 playoff games. Stepan skated with Team USA in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. Wilson gets 4- year deal NASHVILLE - The Nashville Predators have signed forward Colin Wilson to a four- year contract worth $ 15.75 million. Under terms of the agreement announced Monday, Wilson receives $ 3.75 million in 2015- 16 and $ 4 million each of the next three seasons. Wilson was a restricted free agent. The 25- year- old Wilson set career highs in goals ( 20) and points ( 42) and tied a personal best in assists ( 22) in 2014- 15. His plus- minus rating of plus- 19 led the Predators. Wilson, a Winnipeg product, scored five goals in six games during the Predators' first- round playoff loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. Wilson, 6- 1, 216 pounds, has 77 career goals and 101 assists in 368 NHL games. He has spent his entire NHL career with Nashville. Bills' boss joining Sabres BUFFALO, N. Y. - Buffalo Bills president Russ Brandon's role is expanding to include overseeing the NHL's Buffalo Sabres as part of a front- office restructuring under Terry and Kim Pegula, who own both teams. Brandon will assume the duties of Sabres president Ted Black who has reached a mutual agreement to part ways with the franchise, the team announced Monday. The announcement comes as a significant surprise, as Black had held the role since the Pegulas purchased the Sabres in February 2011. And the decision comes after the Pegulas added to their sports holdings in October, when they bought the Bills for an NFL- record $ 1.4 billion from the estate of Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson. Brandon has been with the Bills since 1997, and has served as the team's president since 2013. - The Associated Press Rangers centre Stepan scores six- year, $ 39- M contract Overtime hero gets sweet deal GARY WIEPERT / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES The Predators' Colin Wilson finished the season plus 19, best on the team. JULIE JACOBSON / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES New York Rangers centre Derek Stepan was king of the world when he scored in overtime of Game 7 last spring to eliminate the Washington Capitals. REBECCA BLACKWELL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba is the country's all- time leading scorer. 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