From David Franke:
``We raised our offer some, but the main thing I think is that he started thinking if he really wanted to go to Europe. For one thing, he has a sister who is going to have a baby, and he wants to go home over Christmas and see her and the baby. Another thing is I don't know how many more years he's going to play, but he wanted to play for Pat again. Those are the main reasons.''
Regarding keeping eight veterans and the thought that Kelly Miller might be on the bubble:
``I don't think that at all. We'll find room for eight veterans. Kelly Miller does a lot for this club and we'll just take it to training camp and see what happens. I don't have a problem starting the season with eight veterans, and I don't think this spells the end of Kelly Miller at all. There are certain things he does, playing aggressively, good speed, good in the shootout, that we'll need. We'll just go with eight veterans for a while and let it sort itself out.''
Are they done looking for players?
``I think we're done right now, but that doesn't mean that we couldn't start campa nd get somebody in here. We have 29 players now, but as it always does, once training camp starts, people start getting cut in other leagues. We'll keep our eyes open.''
When do they expect to see the defenseman from Hershey? Toward the end of training camp or in the first week of the season.
