Pronger? Wants out?
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp?content=20060623_153924_3904
He wants out of Edmonton? Don't we all...
Really though, i think this is the downside of the salary cap for smaller places. Given that the top flight players can earn the same amount anywhere now, things like quality of life and where the wife wants to live will become pretty important. Sucks though because it could hurt a fair number of teams.
posted by Prus @ 4:33 PM
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Well, seeing as how this was initially reported by Al Strachan (Toronto writer, Sun Media writer AND notorious for reporting bull-ish), and regurgitated - or so it would seem - by Sportsnet (I'll wait to see if Bob MacKenzie has anything to say about this), I'm buying into this story about as much as I bought O.J. being innocent the first time I heard it. Perfect timing for Strachan to put out this story though: Pronger just left for a vacation and can't be reached for comment. Thus, if he can't deny it himself, this story will build up steam, grow to unnecessary proportions, and everyone will suddenly be convinced that Pronger doesn't really want to be here. And then, subsequently, no coveted free agent or marquee player will "want to play here" either.
Plus, it makes you wonder, then, why Pronger signed here for 5 years in the first place.
If (somehow) this is true, though, my guess is that Edmonton will be looking into a deal for Roberto Luongo. If such is this case, you'll probably see me on the 6:00 news for some rage-induced, violent crime. The last thing I want to see is Roberto Luongo in Edmonton. Why? Because, in my estimation - and I don't give a fisherman's fuck if anyone thinks otherwise - Roberto Luongo IS overrated. And at around, likely, $7 million/season, it's just wouldn't be worth it since a number of our forwards next year would have to be rookies, added to the fact that we'd have no rock on the back-end like Chris Pronger. And none of this "oh, but he makes 50 saves a night" junk; how many years did he have a losing record with an AVERAGE blueline in Florida? If we have Pronger in our top-6, we can make an average-above average goalie look real good; if we have an average D-corps for Luongo, he'll, likewise, look average.
Pronger > Luongo, every day of the week.
If this story was fake or wrong the team and the agent would have put it out right away. Stuff like this doesn't do the team or player any good so for it to still have legs means there's something to the story.
If you add this and the fact that the NHL Draft is in prime time tomorrow i think this weekend is going to be extremly intresting. I call Phil Kessel going between 5-6 with the Blue Jackets passing out in glee if he somehow falls to them.
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=169528&hubname=
When asked if Pronger had asked to be traded, Lowe responded: "He hasn't' asked me. I'll just leave it at that."
Now we just need Pat Morris (Pronger's agent) to help stomp out some of the flames, and we're good.
Although, who knows, maybe Lowe IS just being defensive because Pronger HAS asked him for a trade and he doesn't want to start an even bigger frenzy than what seems to be going on right now.
Or maybe I'm just getting defensive because, as a life-long fan of the team, I don't want to see another marquee player lost because of one of the many issues that plague our team: money, unattractiveness of city to player/family, etc.
I was going to be glued to the draft all weekend anyways. Now I have an even bigger reason to.
UPDATE: At least we won't be getting Luongo if this whole Pronger thing comes to pass. He's being traded to Vancouver for Todd Bertuzzi.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=169536&hubname=
OJ didn't do shit. He's putting every effort forward to find the killer(s).
Also, I thought Pronger's agent went to Kevin Lowe and asked for the trade. If he does go this weekend, the Oilers are at least in a position to get something good for him.
Finally, whatever happened to telling your wife to shut the hell up and/or suck it, I'm playing on a team that made it to the Finals this year? There are times in life when you have to show the pimp hand, and this is definitely one of them.
Yup Chris, Morris told Lowe that Prongs wanted the trade, and then told TSn that he asked Lowe.
That's some cold shit. Asking for a trade is pretty much the most classless thing an athlete can do. While I'm sure it won't affect his market value in the least (as far as American teams go, anyway), you've got to wonder about a players' loyalties/priorities when he wants out from a team that just made a run like the Oilers did. I say send him to a US shithole like Atlanta, where his wife will be happy going to Popeye's every night, and he can help the Thrashers pick up 20 wins next year. Maybe he can get backstage passes to Outkast shows. ATLiens, baby!
Chris, I like where your head's at. As long as the Oil get someone like Marian Hossa in exchange.
I can just picture Prongs throwin' down every night in the dressing room with Lil' Jon and his crew, drinking Red Bull and cognac out of a gas can.
O-KAAAAY!
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