Boy, you sure flip flopped on that pretty quick, eh?
What does Panarin deserve blame for? People want to make claims about Panarin during the deadline, but Atkinson literally called Bobrovsky out by name.....
Panarin played out his contract and was professional enough about things with his on ice play and actions. BOBROVSKY DID NOT!!
Maybe I should clarify. Since you clearly
don't get
it.
The "I don't blame anyone" thing was about if either caused the other to want to leave. Not about the drama at hand.
I don't blame Bob or Panarin for leaving. I don't think one caused the other to leave or one jaded the other. It really bothers me that people really think Bobrovsky had any impact on Panarin staying and vice versa.
However, the drama of last year, and all of that shit that it brought to the team. That 100% lies within both of those guys.
Panarin for stringing the team along last year, saying he was interested in negotiating and staying in Columbus a long time, and then the about face in the offseason. Again, it's in his right to do this, but of course that was going to bring a lot of attention. If he was truly not interested in staying, or didn't know if he wanted to, he shouldn't have made statements saying he was excited to get to negotiations two years ago. Then, of course, he yo-yo'd this year too as it was reported he was "considering" us around the January meeting we had with his representation, and then of course the trade deadline and all of that. Panarin was a distraction.
Bob, same thing but in a more serious matter. We all know about the pre-season media day, and how poorly he handled that. It cast a huge shadow on the team and required the players to take charge and address the issues Bob put forth. Anyway, Bobrovsky handled the entire situation worse than Panarin did, but I think he showed up to work everyday and worked hard when he was here. Which is all you can ask of either player.
You say Panarin was professional with how he handled the season on the ice, but aside from one incident in Tampa, Bobrovsky was the same. If you want to say Panarin was better because he had no incident, then okay? But it's not like Bobrovsky was short of effort either. And need I remind you MANY people were calling out Panarin for his lack of effort at the end of the season past the trade deadline. I disagreed, and still do, but it was out there.
So yeah, I don't blame them for leaving, and I don't truly believe Bobrovsky was jaded by Panarin (and Bobrovsky isn't the reason Panarin didn't stay, because my god, if it was wouldn't they have gone to the same team?) But I do blame both players (and the organization a bit) for how much drama filled the last season.