Berg Balks, Threatens Return to Finland

There are differences in accounting, differences in opinion, differences in about anything you can name when the topic is Aki Berg and the Kings.

Six months ago, Berg was a hero in his homeland after helping Finland to the bronze medal in the Nagano Olympic Games.

“He was one of the top two defensemen on Finland’s team,” agent Larry Kelly said Monday.

That and a zero-goal, eight-assist season in the NHL are worth a 10% raise from the Kings and an admonition for Berg to bulk up and work on his offense in the off-season.

That’s an increase to $495,000, or 10% more than the $450,000 he earned last season, by King accounting.

That’s actually a $330,000 pay cut, according to Kelly.

“Aki made $825,000 last year,” said Kelly, adding that the Kings have offered a three-year contract with salaries of $600,000, $700,000 and $800,000.

Countered King General Manager Dave Taylor: “Part of that [$825,000] was his signing bonus.”

Berg was the Kings’ top choice in the 1995 entry draft, the third pick overall, and his signing bonus of $1 million was prorated over three seasons.

Those seasons have passed, and Berg, 14 pounds heavier and bristling at the Kings’ offer, has a plane ticket from Ottawa, Canada, to Finland on Wednesday.

That was only because he couldn’t get one for Monday or today.

In Finland, Berg figures to play for TPS, earning less money but “getting 30 minutes a game for 80 or 90 games, counting the national team,” he said.

That’s more than he could expect from the Kings, who acquired veterans Steve Duchesne and Doug Bodger in the off-season and also have Rob Blake, their Norris Trophy-winning captain. Or will have Blake when they get him signed.

“We’ve got 8-10 defensemen in camp who can play,” Coach Larry Robinson said.

And one apparently on his way to Finland, though Taylor said he was open to negotiation, had spoken with Kelly on Monday and expected to again.

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Taylor said that there was no progress on other contract fronts. Besides Blake and Berg, goaltender Jamie Storr and forward Matt Johnson are unsigned. . . . With Jozef Stumpel out because of a twisted ankle, rookie Olli Jokinen moved to center Monday from left wing. In a scrimmage, Jokinen centered a pass to Luc Robitaille, who scored and lavished praise on the 19-year-old. . . . Joe Rullier was a casualty, taking a stick in the face that chipped a tooth and sent him to the dentist.