The Vincent Lecavalier Thread-Part III: Philly loves dumb contracts (22.5/5, NMC)

[overlords]

He's clearly a prima donna for not wanting to uproot his family for 3 years at 3mil a year.

I know right, peanuts!


It's already been confirmed that money and term were not a deciding factor. point is moot.

 

[WhiskeySeven*]

I know right, peanuts!


It's already been confirmed that money and term were not a deciding factor. point is moot.

I mean, there's arguments to both ends. Point is I think we should've aggressively targeted him and he fit our needs like a glove, you may disagree, but I don't think anyone calling him a coward or a prima donna is fair when he would've had to leave OVER TEN MILLION on the table.

 

[Coldplay]

I know right, peanuts!


It's already been confirmed that money and term were not a deciding factor. point is moot.

"External factors".

 

[Kriss E]

I mean, there's arguments to both ends. Point is I think we should've aggressively targeted him and he fit our needs like a glove, you may disagree, but I don't think anyone calling him a coward or a prima donna is fair when he would've had to leave OVER TEN MILLION on the table.

Maybe we did aggressively pursue him, and then Philly went crazy by upping their offer to something ridiculous. Who knows.
All I know is that whatever the deal, he would have gotten a lot more endorsement deals if he played here which probably would have leveled the field a lot more.
Also, after the 3years, if he played well, then he could have gotten extended. So that 10M dollar figure isn't quite precise. It's not 3y for 9M vs 3 years for 19M.
Vinny would have made a little over 1M more in Philly during the next 3years, something I'm sure he would have exceeded here with endorsements.

I don't think he's a coward or a prima donna. I think he's just full of BS and never wanted to play here. I would have no problem if he admitted or just ignored it, but the fact he played that card twice makes me lose respect.
I appreciate Briere a lot more who was honest about having doubts on coming here due to the pressure/fan/media scrutiny. He didn't want his kids to be made fun of or bullied in school because of the attention his dad got. I respect that.

But Vinny didn't say that. He said it was always a dream of his to play here, it would be special, blablabla, but then goes elsewhere for cash.

I mean, if it were me and I was already an established millionaire, with millions guaranteed to be coming into my account for more than the next decade, I'm pretty sure I'd be more than happy to leave plenty of cash on the table in order to go live my dream.
We're not talking about a poor man here, nor a guy looking to sign his first major deal.

People are upset at Vinny because it just seems like he was completely dishonest about his desire.

 

[HuGo Sham]

get used to it - it's an old phenomena that will not change. the local boy coming home is a MYTH and the leafs have the same problem.
https://twitter.com/RobRossi_Trib/status/352447057488912384


most guys who live and train here in the summer, save maybe Perron who seemed to be openly petitioning to be traded to habs yesterday on TSN 690 - lol

 

[Kimota]

get used to it - it's an old phenomena that will not change. the local boy coming home is a MYTH and the leafs have the same problem.
https://twitter.com/RobRossi_Trib/status/352447057488912384


most guys who live and train here in the summer, save maybe Perron who seemed to be openly petitioning to be traded to habs yesterday on TSN 690 - lol

It's the same reason Cammalleri signed with us instead of the Leafs, he wanted to spend his summer in peace in Toronto.

 

[Kimota]

Vinny is not "Ours". In an era of international rosters, there is no more room for tight little clans. There's something unhealthy, cloying, clingy & smothering about a fan base that pressures its local boys to live upstairs from Grandma.

29 other fan bases celebrate the very best talent from all around the planet. Time for Habs fans to stop paddling around the St-Lawrence river.

Yea but when the Habs used to be "ours" it was filled with local boys and we were winning Stanley Cups. That's why the romantic dream will always endure.

 

[overlords]

Yea but when the Habs used to be "ours" it was filled with local boys and we were winning Stanley Cups. That's why the romantic dream will always endure.

So then producing less players here in quebec is a way of actually helping the habs by hurting their competition.... genius.

 

[Kimota]

I don't blame any Quebec born player for not wanting to play here.

Look at this thread. Look at the absurd and borderline psychotic sense of entitlement you people have towards these players. It's insane. Deny it all you want, but this is why they feel they can't go out in public.

You call it psychotic, I call it passion. A Quebec offensive star would use that passion to make the Bell Center explode, use that frantic element to his advantage.

That is why I don't get why you wouldn't want to embrace that. Briere must have had a good time in Philly but dammit if he would have scored those goals in Montreal, the place would have been crazy, he would have been a hero and that passion would have helped him get better.

Look at the crowd roaring when Kovalev made great plays, Kovy never got any sort of reaction of this level anywhere else.

 

[Kimota]

So then producing less players here in quebec is a way of actually helping the habs by hurting their competition.... genius.

What do you mean?

 

[overlords]

What do you mean?

Was just a joke. Meant that if all local players are going to go elsewhere anyway, having our local hockey programs suck takes away all that potential talent from rival teams

 

[Coldplay]

Maybe we did aggressively pursue him, and then Philly went crazy by upping their offer to something ridiculous. Who knows.
All I know is that whatever the deal, he would have gotten a lot more endorsement deals if he played here which probably would have leveled the field a lot more.
Also, after the 3years, if he played well, then he could have gotten extended. So that 10M dollar figure isn't quite precise. It's not 3y for 9M vs 3 years for 19M.
Vinny would have made a little over 1M more in Philly during the next 3years, something I'm sure he would have exceeded here with endorsements.

I don't think he's a coward or a prima donna. I think he's just full of BS and never wanted to play here. I would have no problem if he admitted or just ignored it, but the fact he played that card twice makes me lose respect.
I appreciate Briere a lot more who was honest about having doubts on coming here due to the pressure/fan/media scrutiny. He didn't want his kids to be made fun of or bullied in school because of the attention his dad got. I respect that.

But Vinny didn't say that. He said it was always a dream of his to play here, it would be special, blablabla, but then goes elsewhere for cash.

I mean, if it were me and I was already an established millionaire, with millions guaranteed to be coming into my account for more than the next decade, I'm pretty sure I'd be more than happy to leave plenty of cash on the table in order to go live my dream.
We're not talking about a poor man here, nor a guy looking to sign his first major deal.

People are upset at Vinny because it just seems like he was completely dishonest about his desire.

Every word of this.

 

[waffledave]

You call it psychotic, I call it passion. A Quebec offensive star would use that passion to make the Bell Center explode, use that frantic element to his advantage.

That is why I don't get why you wouldn't want to embrace that. Briere must have had a good time in Philly but dammit if he would have scored those goals in Montreal, the place would have been crazy, he would have been a hero and that passion would have helped him get better.

Look at the crowd roaring when Kovalev made great plays, Kovy never got any sort of reaction of this level anywhere else.

They don't care as much as you think they do.

 

[Saintpatrick*]

If you guys offered 3/3, he's making 13.5M more than he would if he has signed with you guys. Just sayin

That's the point. The Habs offered him a reasonable contract after being bought out of an exceptionally unreasonable contract. He's set for life and so is his family. He will continue to get paid long after he has retired. Money shouldn't be the main concern with him now. Instead of signing with a team that he said in the past that he wanted to play for he took an offer with a team that has zero chance at winning the cup. He took the biggest offer on the table and ran. Playing where the spotlight and pressure is far less than it would be here. That is very telling and a testament to what very little character he has. I applaud MB for not offering him what Philly did. I'd much rather we spend our cap space more wisely anyways.

 

[Nedved]

lecavalier was going to philly around post 200, we're now at 1000, and should be on a 4th thread.

bonkers.

 

[HabsByTheBay]

The fact is we're not good enough. We've been more or less a 90 point team since Roy was traded. If we were a 100 point contender for the Cup, more guys including Quebecers would want to play for us. The taxes, the attention, etc. come second to the rings for most players. They want to win.

I do wonder if we need to sell ourselves better. Oh the attention blah blah blah. Look at the guys from the 70s, 86 and 93 who are still cashing in cheques from those Cup wins. You win a Cup in Montreal and you're a hero for life. I don't know if big Jean wants to chill out or not in his golden years but I would have loved for MB to get him on the phone going to Lecavalier, hey bro, you want to be me then play for the Canadiens like I did. There are guys who have the talent but also the ambition to aspire to be icons in Quebec like Beliveau, Henri Richard and Yvan Cournoyer are.

But in the end if we want Quebecers we'll have to grow our own. The draft was actually interesting in that regard...we only drafted two Quebecers but we hit the Q harder than we did for quite a long time. Didn't MB want Morin or Gauthier as well?

 

[Saintpatrick*]

The fact is we're not good enough. We've been more or less a 90 point team since Roy was traded. If we were a 100 point contender for the Cup, more guys including Quebecers would want to play for us. The taxes, the attention, etc. come second to the rings for most players. They want to win.

I do wonder if we need to sell ourselves better. Oh the attention blah blah blah. Look at the guys from the 70s, 86 and 93 who are still cashing in cheques from those Cup wins. You win a Cup in Montreal and you're a hero for life. I don't know if big Jean wants to chill out or not in his golden years but I would have loved for MB to get him on the phone going to Lecavalier, hey bro, you want to be me then play for the Canadiens like I did. There are guys who have the talent but also the ambition to aspire to be icons in Quebec like Beliveau, Henri Richard and Yvan Cournoyer are.

But in the end if we want Quebecers we'll have to grow our own. The draft was actually interesting in that regard...we only drafted two Quebecers but we hit the Q harder than we did for quite a long time. Didn't MB want Morin or Gauthier as well?

Exactly. I'd much rather we draft and develop our own Quebecers before going after these old overpaid "stars".

 

[Miller Time]

They don't care as much as you think they do.

i can assure you that they do care much more than you think they do...

at least the great ones do.

 

[habsfanatics*]

I think we dodged a bullet here. I couldn't be happier.

 

[Chili]

This story reminded me of Toronto's long love affair with Eric Lindros.

Lindros actually did eventually make it to the Leafs, even a year younger then Lecavalier is now...He didn't do much and was out of the league not long after. You can bring up his injuries but he had had a full year to recover (the lockout year).

The Flyers may regret this deal, we'll see.

Also, can you imagine if Briere had signed with the Habs? History would probably be much different with respect to who the Habs brought in but they also could have been the ones buying him out this week.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

Its over, time to move on. He would have been a decent addition in Montreal however as much as media and fans care about local talent on the habs, the actual local players couldnt care less about it. While many fans and media have playing for your home town very high on the list, the local players dont factor it in at all which for me, makes it really difficult to care whether a local players for a team. Pretty much if he doesnt care, why should we put such a priority on it.

It stings simply cause he addressed a need in Montreal, it seems more people are hurt cause he seemingly turned his back on Montreal. If he wasnt French, most would just be saying "sucks we lost out on him"

 

[Jee]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1461111

 

[Malakhov]

Also, can you imagine if Briere had signed with the Habs? History would probably be much different with respect to who the Habs brought in but they also could have been the ones buying him out this week.

But we would of never acquired Gomez, thus, still have McDonagh...

Think about it.

It's all Briere's fault

 

[lou4gehrig]

I don't understand this thread (the now merged UFA thread). Wht exactly are we missing out on? We were a top 5 team in the league this season while premiere UFA destination Philly was crap.

Are you still sad we missed out on Briere? Yeah he's a warrior and won lots of cups for Philly. Who else have missed out on? Or maybe you wanted superstar Gaborik or Richards? Both have been amazing for the NYR. Or maybe you wanted us to pay Bryzgalov $40M before buyout instead of Philly?

Taking the law of averages, landing guys like Camm, Prust and Gionta out of all the teams in the league seem like we're doing fine in free agency. It has nothing to do with anything but team philosophy. If pressure and money really mattered we have nobody playing here. PK and Gal and Maxpac. anf Price would all demand to be traded.

 

[Hope Of Glory]

I'm away for 2 and half day and Philly goes crazy and gets Lecavalier for a ridiculous contract, we trade Kristo for another young guy and we're supposedly interested in Danny Briere?

I'm always away when nothing important happens, it seems