[News] Rostislav Klesla retires from the NHL - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Drury18 · 03-08-2014, 05:30 PM

As per Darren Dreger:

Quote:

Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger 16m
Klesla: ""With all due respect to the Sabres organization, I decided this week not to continue playing hockey this season"...

Quote:

Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger 15m
Klesla: "It has been a tough year for injury and moving several times to new teams. I will now take some time off...

Quote:

Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger 14m
....and get ready to continue my career in Europe. I would like to thank my fans and all the people that have helped me."...

Quote:

Darren Dreger ‏@DarrenDreger 14m
"I am grateful for the career I have had in the NHL and all the people that I have met along the way who have supported me and my family...

jaginla · 03-08-2014, 05:31 PM

Ouch

Drury18 · 03-08-2014, 05:34 PM

Former 4th overall pick and has run into some injury issues including a concussion in pre-season.

Was buried in the minors all year and then the Coyotes made the Erat trade only on the condition of Washington taking him and was then flipped to Buffalo on the same condition.

Would imagine he will continue his career with Trinec of the Czech League next season.

alan21 · 03-08-2014, 05:34 PM

Buffmonton!

I'm taking my ball and I'm going home!

mrdonkey · 03-08-2014, 06:38 PM

I would also rather play in Europe than Buffalo.

moon · 03-08-2014, 06:39 PM

He is allowed to just retire and go play in Europe or does he have some sort of agreement worked out with the Sabres?

Erick Estrada · 03-08-2014, 06:40 PM

The stench of Doug MacLean still permeates through the league long after his exile.

flamesfan6 · 03-08-2014, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moon

He is allowed to just retire and go play in Europe or does he have some sort of agreement worked out with the Sabres?

he's going to start in europe next season, not playing hockey for the rest of this season. He's a UFA at end of this season.

Drury18 · 03-08-2014, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moon

He is allowed to just retire and go play in Europe or does he have some sort of agreement worked out with the Sabres?

I believe he will be either suspended by the Sabres/Amerks (so that the payment to him stops) or maybe he's put in his retirement papers to have his contract ended.

If he's suspended, he is a UFA as of July 1st so he can play in Europe next season. He has had a few injuries this season (and many other) so I would imagine he's going to let himself heal up and then reassess things come next September.

Alberta_Beef · 03-08-2014, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moon

He is allowed to just retire and go play in Europe or does he have some sort of agreement worked out with the Sabres?

It's no different than Kovalchuk, he is playing in Europe without any issue after retiring from the NHL

moon · 03-08-2014, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

It's no different than Kovalchuk, he is playing in Europe without any issue after retiring from the NHL

But didn't the Devils and him agree to terminate his deal?

Why didn't Radulov just retire from the NHL and then go play in the KHL?

Da_Chief · 03-08-2014, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alan21

Buffmonton!

I'm taking my ball and I'm going home!

huh?? The guy has been a warrior wherever he played, too bad injuries caught up to him. This year he's gone from Phoenix to Portland to Washington to Buffalo. I don't blame him with the injuries, age and having to play for the worst team in the league that clearly has no intention of winning this year or next. He can do better, go play at home.

Good luck Rusty!

Cleveland Steam Whistle · 03-09-2014, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

huh?? The guy has been a warrior wherever he played, too bad injuries caught up to him. This year he's gone from Phoenix to Portland to Washington to Buffalo. I don't blame him with the injuries, age and having to play for the worst team in the league that clearly has no intention of winning this year or next. He can do better, go play at home.

Good luck Rusty!

Disagree. Not about what you said about how he's played the game, but IMO this move is unacceptable. If he wanted to control where he played, he should have negotiated an NTC into his contract. I don't care how much of a warrior he's been, NHL players have the best job in the world, the get to play a game for a living, and even the worst players are paid ridiculous amounts. There are very few downsides to their jobs, and being traded and having to move around for what will end up actually being a small portion of his life is one of the few downsides, but as mentioned, he's compensated more than fairly for it.

Very few things can come up that warrant bailing on your contract IMO for these guys, and unless there's more to Klesla's story, his reason simply doesn't make the cut. Sorry Klesla's that you've maid millions in your career in this game but this year was a tough one on you in regards to moving around, but them's the breaks. He's even done at the end of this year if he wants, he should have honoured his contract and played out the season.

Drury18 · 03-09-2014, 01:25 AM

I'm inclined to think that he may have had some help with his decision to end the contract.

Phoenix forced Washington to take Klesla as a condition of the Erat trade to get rid of his contract since it was handcuffing him and the same thing was done to Buffalo when Washington acquired Halak a day later. He was a salary dump by two teams because his contract was out of whack for the new salary cap. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Buffalo approached him in some way much like the Devils did with Kovalchuk and asked if he would like out of his contract early as he was set to be a UFA at season's end. He was an afterthought in both trades and only moved as a $ rather then a player that either team had a plan for. Buffalo in the press conference when acquired even stated "Well he's in the AHL now, so why would we waste a recall on him" and then pointed out there was a cap savings to leave him in the AHL.

The guy is a businessman, he owns a hotel and restaurant in the Czech Republic which he has a hand in managing and has never done anything close to this before in his career. He's never been a diva player, he's never had a contract negotiation go bad or held out, he was apparently well liked in Portland where he played for 20 games and didn't go all high and mighty on them. To have a sudden change of heart and completely jump ship in this fashion seems like there is more to it then being said. Same way that when Phoenix put him on waivers the first time as a "shot across the bow" to all the players, it really seemed like there was more to it then demoting a player that was playing "poorly". He was recalled fairly quickly after that when Zbynek went down and then waived again at almost the 50% mark of his contract with Maloney was just hoping someone took his cash off their hands. Neither Tippet or Maloney would specially say why he was demoted and Maloney claimed he "had a plan" when he waived Klesla and when he wasn't claimed, the plan was ruined.

rbochan · 03-09-2014, 06:54 AM

What a loser.

Stanathan · 03-09-2014, 07:46 AM

I have a lot of respect for this cat and the way he played. Hopefully he recovers completely and enjoys many more years in Europe.

GreenLantern · 03-09-2014, 08:26 AM

13 or 14 seasons in the NHL is nothing to shake a stick at! (what does that even mean?)

Congrats to him on a great career, I hope he finds happiness in Europe.

Resolute 14 · 03-09-2014, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moon

But didn't the Devils and him agree to terminate his deal?

Why didn't Radulov just retire from the NHL and then go play in the KHL?

As you say, they negotiated an exit. The Devils wanted the hell out from under that contract. Nashville didn't want to lose Radulov.

As far as Klesla goes, he flat out quit. Calling it "retiring from the NHL" is far too charitable to describe his actions. That said, Buffalo won't be making a fuss over it. If they dumped him to Rochester, they didn't have any plans for him anyway.

PeteMoss · 03-09-2014, 09:40 AM

The hilarious ripping of players continues. Its not like he's demanding Buffalo pay him while he leaves. His contract is up at the end of this season and he's not asking out to go play somewhere else this year. If he doesn't want to play anymore why should he?

Enoch Root · 03-09-2014, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

Disagree. Not about what you said about how he's played the game, but IMO this move is unacceptable. If he wanted to control where he played, he should have negotiated an NTC into his contract. I don't care how much of a warrior he's been, NHL players have the best job in the world, the get to play a game for a living, and even the worst players are paid ridiculous amounts. There are very few downsides to their jobs, and being traded and having to move around for what will end up actually being a small portion of his life is one of the few downsides, but as mentioned, he's compensated more than fairly for it.

Very few things can come up that warrant bailing on your contract IMO for these guys, and unless there's more to Klesla's story, his reason simply doesn't make the cut. Sorry Klesla's that you've maid millions in your career in this game but this year was a tough one on you in regards to moving around, but them's the breaks. He's even done at the end of this year if he wants, he should have honoured his contract and played out the season.

Yes, it's a dream job and all that.

But how is it wrong to want to retire? If his heart isn't in it, why on earth should he be forced to stay with the team?

As a player, I would not want anyone in the room that didn't want to be there.

It boggles my mind that fans get upset when a player retires