Lil Sebastian Cossa
Opinions are share are my own personal opinions.
- Jul 6, 2012
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Well that's when you have a little bit of understanding and grace, and treat loyal players like human beings in a familial environment, which is an image the Wings org has tried to cultivate.
On a personal level, Holland signing an extension then doing some hockey work and realizing how much he still wants to be GM and asking for a move isn't all that different from Datsyuk signing a deal and going on vacation and realizing he's ready to move on and enjoy his home and his family. The lambasting of his character and implication that he 'swindled' the Wings from the same fans who cheered him on when he was winning them Cups while dismissing a similar action from Holland is just too thick with hypocrisy to ignore.
There are cap implications with Datsyuk but as was demonstrated at the first possible opportunity in the offseason those were far from insurmountable. They should have moved his contract, thanked him for his service, and wished him the best in the future. Just not in a passive-aggressive jilted ex way which they did.
What? Holland signed an extension that included a clause that if a team wanted him to be GM he could leave. Holland had already essentially stepped aside for Yzerman. Being senior VP is kind of like a promotion to being a figurehead. It's a fancy title for a guy who doesn't have a say in day to day actions anymore. Datsyuk could have signed year to year deals if he was worried about going to Russia. If he wanted to go home as badly as you say in 2015, he would not have been negotiating starting with a 5 year deal. Gary Greenstin and Datsyuk made it clear that if Holland went year by year, which was the intelligent way to go, Datsyuk would not sign with Detroit. Datsyuk clearly was not playing "loyalty" or "family" with Detroit. And frankly, if he was missing home, his opportunity to go home and not be bound by a contract was right there. He was a UFA when the deal went. He could have done year to year and nobody would have been put out or whatever. But he and Greenstin wanted a big payday, wanted more money than Detroit could give him year to year.
I did miss the senior VP extension, so I was wrong on that point.
Would you be thinking that Al Murray was a jackass if he had left Tampa to come to Detroit? It isn't a similar action. Datsyuk signed an extension ostensibly saying he wanted to play and then wanted gone after year one. And so there isn't "blah rumors", Ken Holland and co threatened to toll his contract for years two and three if he didn't come back. That was an action that happened. Holland signed an extension for senior VP that had an out clause if a team came and wanted him for a GM slot. These two scenarios are only similar in your mind, where you think Datsyuk has been mortally wronged. They aren't similar at all. One contract was binding and forced a move. The other included a clause in the written text that allowed him to leave.