OT: Players that wanted to stay in Edmonton but got traded or wasn't signed.

[Soli]

For anyone that's interested I highly recommend the Spitting Chiclets Maroon interview in its entirety.
Apparently its against the rules for me to post the link to the interview but if you do a web search it will come up.

The Maroon interview starts at the 24 minute mark.

Alright I'm going to try and fill in the blanks here, you tell me how close I am.

You know that there are two threads with very similar words in their titles out there... right?

1) "OT: Players that wanted to stay in Edmonton but got traded or wasn't signed." - by McMettleOilers. This is the thread you are in now.

2) "What players wanted out of Edmonton or did not want to play for Edmonton over the years?" - By gymrat

You posted this Spittin Chicklets interview twice already in this thread. Actually, only four posts above this one I'm replying to. You seem to really want people to know about this interview, haha.

But I ask because you also made this peculiar post in the other thread:

Both my posts have been deleted. No explanation given. The site I linked to for the interview has been allowed in the past.


"It sucks": Patrick Maroon on losing in hockey-mad Edmonton

https://hfboards.mandatory.com/thre...monton-over-the-years.2521477/#post-148430709

 

[guymez]

Alright I'm going to try and fill in the blanks here, you tell me how close I am.

You know that there are two threads with very similar words in their titles out there... right?

1) "OT: Players that wanted to stay in Edmonton but got traded or wasn't signed." - by McMettleOilers. This is the thread you are in now.

2) "What players wanted out of Edmonton or did not want to play for Edmonton over the years?" - By gymrat

You posted this Spittin Chicklets interview twice already in this thread. Actually, only four posts above this one I'm replying to. You seem to really want people to know about this interview, haha.

But I ask because you also made this peculiar post in the other thread:



https://hfboards.mandatory.com/thre...monton-over-the-years.2521477/#post-148430709

My bad. I didnt realize I had done that.

I thought I had put it in this thread...lol

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

Charlie Huddy (the coach, not the player)

 

[Soli]

My bad. I didnt realize I had done that.

Haha, no worries, just nice to solve that post, was giving my brain an itch.

 

[rboomercat90]

Ryan Smyth was a hard-minutes 31 year old negotiating for a contract through 37 years old in the middle of a career year he was not even close to likely to repeat. He was asking for the modern day equivalent (in terms of cap percentage) of 9.6 million dollars per season. I do disagree that he was there best player overall (Ales Hemsky was better before, would go back to being better after 06-07). More importantly, he was not going to be the player you lean on as your best if you wanted to win.

Kevin Lowe drawing the arbitrary line at 250,000 per year IS dumb, but signing him to that money was... not the right decision to make any way IMO. He would be overpaid for literally every year of his career until his retirement; even his last year. The bigger criticism I have is the return. Robert Nilsson is a player I liked a lot in 07-08, but was a suspect at the time of his trade and would obviously not turn out super well. Had that pick been an actual NHL player, that would have helped too.

It wasn’t a surprise that Smyth was going to ask for the moon after Horcoff, Pisani, Roloson, Torres, Stoll and others all more than doubled their salaries that offseason. Why wouldn’t Smyth, after taking below market on his two previous deals, expect to be cashing in? I say Lowe created the mess by not getting Smyth done first before he saw the team was able to spend more. I agree it was too much for him but was it necessary for it to get to that point?

In addition to losing arguably the best Oiler post dynasty player for nothing, Lowe painted himself into a corner and had to do the shitty deal just hours before the Mark Messier jersey retirement ceremony. The trade ruined a once in a lifetime moment for everybody. That he couldn’t see that one coming well in advance made me question his intelligence.

 

[Senor Catface]

My bad. I didnt realize I had done that.

I thought I had put it in this thread...lol

You sir, are a monster!

...but so is Soli, so it evens out.

 

[780il]

Ryan Smyth man... He is serioisly one of the goats imo. The guys heart, passion, and drive was just crazy. Seriously a great role model.

 

[guymez]

Haha, no worries, just nice to solve that post, was giving my brain an itch.

 

[guymez]

You sir, are a monster!

...but so is Soli, so it evens out.

Ha...this board does need balance.

 

[SK13]

It wasn’t a surprise that Smyth was going to ask for the moon after Horcoff, Pisani, Roloson, Torres, Stoll and others all more than doubled their salaries that offseason. Why wouldn’t Smyth, after taking below market on his two previous deals, expect to be cashing in? I say Lowe created the mess by not getting Smyth done first before he saw the team was able to spend more. I agree it was too much for him but was it necessary for it to get to that point?

In addition to losing arguably the best Oiler post dynasty player for nothing, Lowe painted himself into a corner and had to do the ****ty deal just hours before the Mark Messier jersey retirement ceremony. The trade ruined a once in a lifetime moment for everybody. That he couldn’t see that one coming well in advance made me question his intelligence.

I'm not at all critical of Ryan Smyth wanting to cash in on his last long term contract extension during his career year at the time where the Oilers finally had the scratch to pay him. What I'm not critical of is Kevin Lowe not signing that deal and moving on, as that was a bad contract (both what Lowe offered and what Smyth eventually got).

Say what you want about Horcoff's deal, he was a younger player who had a better PPG those two years playing a more important position. Torres, Stoll and Roloson were not 31 year old wingers and not a one was signing for >11% of the cap.

It was right to move on from Ryan Smyth. Put it this way, the Oilers acquired Dustin Penner as a replacement that summer and Dustin scored more goals in the next 4 years than Ryan did at >2M cheaper clip, and then got spun for a first round pick that became Oscar Klefbom. What happens for the Oilers if they keep Ryan Smyth for 6M? Are they a good team? Probably not. Do they do better with assets in the end? Doubtful.

 

[redgrant]

Ryan Smyth was a hard-minutes 31 year old negotiating for a contract through 37 years old in the middle of a career year he was not even close to likely to repeat. He was asking for the modern day equivalent (in terms of cap percentage) of 9.6 million dollars per season. I do disagree that he was there best player overall (Ales Hemsky was better before, would go back to being better after 06-07). More importantly, he was not going to be the player you lean on as your best if you wanted to win.

It was no different than the contract gifted to horcoff "first line centre". Only difference is Smyth was genuinely a star.

 

[rboomercat90]

I'm not at all critical of Ryan Smyth wanting to cash in on his last long term contract extension during his career year at the time where the Oilers finally had the scratch to pay him. What I'm not critical of is Kevin Lowe not signing that deal and moving on, as that was a bad contract (both what Lowe offered and what Smyth eventually got).

Say what you want about Horcoff's deal, he was a younger player who had a better PPG those two years playing a more important position. Torres, Stoll and Roloson were not 31 year old wingers and not a one was signing for >11% of the cap.

It was right to move on from Ryan Smyth. Put it this way, the Oilers acquired Dustin Penner as a replacement that summer and Dustin scored more goals in the next 4 years than Ryan did at >2M cheaper clip, and then got spun for a first round pick that became Oscar Klefbom. What happens for the Oilers if they keep Ryan Smyth for 6M? Are they a good team? Probably not. Do they do better with assets in the end? Doubtful.

I’m not really arguing that they made the wrong decision to move on from Smyth. Like I said earlier, I didn’t think he was worth the money or term. There was going to be anger from the fan base when they moved him. What angered me most is they dealt him hours before the Mark Messier ceremony and it was ruined because of it. This was something that should have been avoided at all costs. That ceremony was announced months in advance and Lowe was even asked at that time if he was concerned it was trade deadline day and that Smyth could be moved then. Lowe, who was never much of a big picture thinker, said he wasn’t worried about it. The whole thing could have, and should have, been handled so much better.

 

[SK13]

It was no different than the contract gifted to horcoff "first line centre". Only difference is Smyth was genuinely a star.

There were many more differences than that. Horcoff was a younger player playing a more important position, who was scoring at a better point clip than Smyth over those two years.

EDIT: Actually, looking back, this response doesn't even come close to holding water anyway. Ryan Smyth was traded in February 2007 and Horcoff signed his deal in July 2008. The cap when they were negotiating a 6M dollar extension for Smyth was 44M. It was 56.7M when Horcoff signed his 5.5M deal.

This is the modern difference between Tarasenko's contract and Carey Price's contract.

 

[oilers'72]

Smyth got traded because of a 100K difference. The Oil were offering 5.4 million and Smyth (or more than likely his agent) wanted 5.5. I don't know if it was true or not but, at the time, it seemed that an agreement may have been reached but the agent tossed out the 5.5 the day of the trade deadline.

Looking this up, Smyth's team rejected the 5.4 million deal in a game of chicken within the last half of the deadline. Lowe backed off and Smyth was traded. Lowe had even come up from around 5 mil to try to sign him. So, Smyth was either the willing or unwilling master of his own demise. While that was bad losing Smyth, the return was Gretzky to LA-like appalling.

PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News

 

[Jumptheshark]

Not sure if he has been mentioned--But Janne Niinimaa loved his time in Edmonton and did not want to get traded. At the world championships a few years ago, I literally bumped into him and after we said to each other--he asked where I was from and when I said Edmonton his eye lit up. He told me who he was. It was a brief discussion--but I got the sense he truly loved his time in Edmonton

 

[Jumptheshark]

Mark Lamb continued to live in Edmonton for many years after he had left the oilers--I think he lived in the Strathcona area

 

[lakai17]

Laraque loves Edmonton.

 

[joestevens29]

Ladislav never wanted to be dealt. Hangs out a lot in Edmonton still, but with mact around he was/is never going to have anything to do with this organization

 

[joestevens29]

Not sure if he has been mentioned--But Janne Niinimaa loved his time in Edmonton and did not want to get traded. At the world championships a few years ago, I literally bumped into him and after we said to each other--he asked where I was from and when I said Edmonton his eye lit up. He told me who he was. It was a brief discussion--but I got the sense he truly loved his time in Edmonton

unfortnately Janne was having a little too much fun here. Guy let th booze take over a little too much. Was a very well timed trade that worked out well for us

 

[Drivesaitl]

Lee Fogolin stayed here in Edmonton, wanted to finish career here but Oilers oddly traded him to Buffalo, he played 9 games there and retired. Not sure what that was about. Fogolin did get caught in the numbers game his last season here and only played 35 games and not at all in the playoffs. I seem to recall hearing it was kind of difficult on him but the team had got better all round and went with younger D. So that there was no real place left for a player that was so important to the development of this young Oilers team and who was a father figure and role model to a lot of the players.

Fogolin was a special guy, a special player on that club, and shaped the maturity of the club.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Lee Fogolin stayed here in Edmonton, wanted to finish career here but Oilers oddly traded him to Buffalo, he played 9 games there and retired. Not sure what that was about. Fogolin did get caught in the numbers game his last season here and only played 35 games and not at all in the playoffs. I seem to recall hearing it was kind of difficult on him but the team had got better all round and went with younger D. So that there was no real place left for a player that was so important to the development of this young Oilers team and who was a father figure and role model to a lot of the players.

Fogolin was a special guy, a special player on that club, and shaped the maturity of the club.

Something happened between the Oilers and Fogolin--media guys talk about it but never actually say what happened. I know after the death of his son Michael that him and the oilers started talking again and he did a few things with the alum. I think it was Radio guy Hall who mentioned that while Fogey was married with kids--the core were all single and so he was off by himself a lot of the time

 

[Drivesaitl]

Something happened between the Oilers and Fogolin--media guys talk about it but never actually say what happened. I know after the death of his son Michael that him and the oilers started talking again and he did a few things with the alum. I think it was Radio guy Hall who mentioned that while Fogey was married with kids--the core were all single and so he was off by himself a lot of the time

Its all a bit sad. He was kind of forgotten. In earlier years of the team he was often mentioned as one of the rock vets of the team that young kids learned how to be an NHLer from. Fogolin was an atypical pro player. Very down to Earth, loved to work with his hands, carpentry and such and a very down to Earth guy. He used to live nearby and I saw him at takeouts, gas station etc and he would just talk to anybody. He had none of this pro ego at all. Anybody he met was as good as he was. Really loved how he presented. Semenko was the other player that was like that. Both very nice guys.

 

[rboomercat90]

Not sure if he has been mentioned--But Janne Niinimaa loved his time in Edmonton and did not want to get traded. At the world championships a few years ago, I literally bumped into him and after we said to each other--he asked where I was from and when I said Edmonton his eye lit up. He told me who he was. It was a brief discussion--but I got the sense he truly loved his time in Edmonton

Niinimaa loved Whyte Avenue.

 

[GodPucker]

Bill Guerin was gutted when traded. That line with Smyth and Weight was the #1 line that year in the NHL until he left.

 

[Kahvi]

Not sure if he has been mentioned--But Janne Niinimaa loved his time in Edmonton and did not want to get traded. At the world championships a few years ago, I literally bumped into him and after we said to each other--he asked where I was from and when I said Edmonton his eye lit up. He told me who he was. It was a brief discussion--but I got the sense he truly loved his time in Edmonton

unfortnately Janne was having a little too much fun here. Guy let th booze take over a little too much. Was a very well timed trade that worked out well for us

Niinimaa loved Whyte Avenue.

I think I wrote this on the main boards on some stupid thread about which city is the best for NHL's.

Niinimaa is from Northern Finland (Oulu), he grew up fishing and hunting. That's the reason he loved Edmonton and pretty much hated NY. I think he's told some stories about going fishing with Sather in the off-season in Edmonton.

I really wouldn't want to comment on the stuff about partying, but even if he had a little bit too much liking for beer, it basically has nothing do to with his like or dislike of the city. It's more about Finnish mentality, where it's more accepted to get drunk if there's nothing important going on.