01-18-2019, 03:50 PM
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#164
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Franchise Player
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sureLoss
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Need some pepper?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Split98
I have no time for anyone who pulls that garbage.
Time to go home.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Split98
Sure, he feels burned...
...but refusing to play for the team who gave up assets to have you on the roster is about as crappy as you can be. That nearly $13M wasn't enough for you to play hockey in a city that isn't your favourite is inexcusable.
That he and his agent failed in their responsibility to submit teams as well just further aids to this apparent tantrum being an embarrassment to this professional hockey player.
Good riddance.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Split98
I think where my opinion splits from everyone else, is I do not see professional athletes as a group that shares the same working conditions as 99% of us out there. What we're all talking about is very important, and I fully agree.
However, this isn't an electrician who was transferred without any consent across the country at a moment's notice. He is playing in the same National league, is supported by the same Players Association, and I have yet to hear of any dangerous or unethical practices the Buffalo Sabres asked him to perform that the St. Louis Blues did not. He signed a contract to play hockey, was compensated immensely for his services and threw in the towel when he didn't get what he wanted. I'm not seeing much else here, and I'm fairly surprised a player who refuses to play for a team he was traded to has such support. This isn't some labour dispute... it's a player who seemingly only plays for teams he likes.
As well, if this was a player who was traded to the Sabres, contributed to the team as he did for St. Louis, and Buffalo treated him like garbage in return... we have a different story. But it's still only December, so this narrative doesn't seem to diverge too much from "I don't want to play for Buffalo". Which is garbage. Let's also not forget that he had a very simple option of submitting the teams he was obligated to submit... and he didn't.
Family is also very important. A lot of people never become pro athletes due to the travel and distance from your family. Maroon, for example, signed contract in St. Louis to be with his family. He would have a lot of support from myself if he simply walked away from the game when his contract ended.
So again... "good riddance".
He can do what he wants - but I think he's pretty scummy for it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Split98
Again, I'll eat my words if something besides 'it's just not ideal for me'.
I've been pretty clear that I am against Berglund refusing to play for an NHL team he doesn't like. That is very scummy and he can join Drouin on the list of scum-players I hope never play here.
Given the timeline, it seems pretty clear that he doesn't like the trade - and you're optimistically reaching to assume there's much more.
Does he want to go home? Why did he sign a 5-year contract last year?
Is being near STL important? How much of that $3,850,000 were you not willing to give up in negotiations?
I also can't state enough that if playing in Buffalo was this much of an issue for him it was very much on the table for him to refuse the trade. He failed to do so, and is unwilling to accept the consequences. I don't understand how this is a supported view.
This also started after he was scratched. He put up a whopping 2 pts in October, and only added 2 pts (in a 9-1 win over OTT) before being scratched mid-Nov. Since then, he's refused to show up for the team.
That's a pretty firm timeline that leads me to believe that there's not much more than him disliking his time in Buffalo, and taking the road of screwing off over upholding his commitments. Pretty scummy if you ask me.
If we scratched Neal right now and he stopped showing up are all of you going to line up to tell me how great he is? What if we gave up an asset like O'Reilly to get him?
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