Recchi decides to play another season

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Mark Recchi has decided to play at least one more season in the NHL.
Recchi, who is one of the five owners of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, signed a one-year contract worth US$1 million, plus incentive bonuses, with the NHL’s Boston Bruins on Thursday.
A year ago, the Kamloops native signed a one-year free-agent deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning and then, at the trade deadline, he was moved to the Bruins.
Recchi, who turns 42 on Feb. 1, had 16 points, including eight goals, in 18 regular-season games with Boston and added six points in 11 playoff games before the Bruins were ousted in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Recchi, a certain Hall of Famer once he retires, has played 1,490 regular-season games, 14th on the all-time list. Should he play another 60 games in what will be his 21st NHL season, Recchi would move past Phil Housley, Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman, Johnny Bucyk and Alex Delvecchio (1,549) and move into ninth. Of those five, of course, only Shanahan played last season.
Recchi also has 545 career goals, good for 26th on the NHL career list. Ahead of him are Michel Goulet (548), Ron Francis (549), Bucyk (556) and Guy Lafleur (560).
Recchi is 18th in career assists, with 897, four behind Bryan Trottier, and 14th in career points, with 1,442, with Stan Mikita (1,467) next in line.
Recchi also has played on two Stanley Cup-winners — the 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes.
Other players with ties to the Blazers to have signed since Tuesday:
D Scott Niedermayer re-signed with the Anaheim Ducks, getting one year at US $6 million.
(On Thursday, Niedermayer, defenceman Robyn Regehr, centre Shane Doan and right-winger Jarome Iginla, all of them ex-Blazers, were among the 46 players invited to the Canadian Olympic team’s orientation camp in Calgary, Aug. 24-27.)
C Erik Christensen re-signed with Anaheim for US$750,000 over one season.
D Jason Strudwick re-signed (one year, US$700,000) with the Edmonton Oilers.
RW Colton Orr got four years and US$4 million from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had been with the New York Rangers.
D Nolan Baumgartner re-signed with the Vancouver Canucks. He spent the season with the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.