BURNABY, B.C. (CP) - It's a good thing forward Matt Cooke and the Vancouver Canucks have agreed on a three-year, $4.5-million US contract because the two sides have different opinions on how the deal was reached.
Cooke said after a summer of negotiating, the deal came together in the last few days.
''A month ago this deal wasn't on the table,'' Cooke said Wednesday after skating with some of his teammates at the Canucks practice facility.
''The deal got different the last couple of days. That was enough of a respect move I was willing to come back for a lengthy term. I wanted to be in Vancouver and always have.''
But Dave Nonis, the Canucks general manager, denied the NHL team had sweetened its offer.
''Nothing changed from the middle of August to today,'' said Nonis, before flying to Edmonton for an exhibition game with the Oilers.
''They realized we made a fair offer back in August and that we weren't really about to change it. I think the notion there was major changes as we want along isn't true.''
Cooke's signing also moves the Canucks to within about $500,000 US of the NHL's $39 million US salary cap.
Besides Cooke, Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison, Dan Cloutier and free-agent signing Anson Carter didn't dress for the team's first pre-season game.
Cooke missed the first week of the Canucks training camp while his agent Pat Morris negotiated the deal.
''It's a lot harder than you think to sit out,'' said the 27-year-old who will likely play on the Canucks third line.
''I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing. The last time I rushed into a situation that some would say got me underpaid. This time I wasn't prepared to do that. I'm back with the team in plenty of time to get back into the mix of things.''
The size of Cooke's deal has raised eyebrows. He was paid $525,000 in 2003-04, while scoring 11 goals and 12 assists and was scheduled to earn $750,000 during the lockout year.
He will be paid about $250,000 a year more than Daniel and Henrik Sedin, first-round draft picks who play on the Canucks's second line.
''I feel like I've earned the position I'm at,'' said Cooke.
''Now I have to keep earning my wage.''
Nonis has heard the callers to the local sports radio shows saying Cooke is being over paid.
''Everyone has their opinion about what players should be paid,'' said Nonis.
''The players who play like Matt, that's really the number they are at. If Daniel and Henrik would have signed a three-year deal (instead of one-yard contracts) they would have received more.''
Cooke, a native of Belleville, Ont., can play either wing and is one of the team's top penalty killers. In the spring of 2004 he moved onto Vancouver's top line with Naslund and Morrison after Bertuzzi was suspended for the remainder of the season for his on-ice attack of Steve Moore.
His best season with the Canucks was 2002-03 when he had 15 goals, 27 assists and 42 points. In 379 career NHL games the six-foot, 205-pound Cooke has scored 58 goals, added 81 assists and collected 426 penalty minutes.
In 31 career playoff games he has recorded eight goals and four assists.
Cooke, who was taken 144th overall in the 1997 draft, can be an irritant on the ice. He plays a physical game that crosses over to dirty with a slash or a spear. He rarely fights, which frustrates opposing players.
He knows new contract will raise expectations.
''I'd love to have the opportunity to go out and put more pressure on myself to be one of the guys that puts up points every night,'' he said.
''Hopefully I get some opportunity.''