Skarks' Suter Placed On IR

The National Hockey League's only winless team took another hit Thursday as the San Jose Sharks placed defenseman Gary Suter on injured reserve.

Suter has played just one game since signing a three-year, $10 million contract as a free agent on July 2nd. He is bothered by a torn left triceps tendon and will be sidelined indefinitely.

The 32-year-old defenseman became an unrestricted free agent after spending four seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was third on the team in scoring last season with 14 goals and 28 assists and was expected to add offensive punch to a defense that combined for only 28 goals in 1997-98.

Suter won the Calder Trophy in 1986 as rookie of the year with the Calgary Flames. He spent nearly nine seasons with Calgary before being traded to the Hartford Whalers in a six-player deal on March 10th, 1994. The following day, he was shipped to Chicago in a four-player swap.

Suter is a four-time All-Star who represented the United States at the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 and at the Nagano Olympics. In 919 NHL games, he has 181 goals and 563 assists with 1,156 penalty minutes.

San Jose fell to 0-5-2 after Wednesday's 4-2 home loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. The worst start in team history was 0-7-4 in 1995-96 and the Sharks are 15-57-9 all-time in October.

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