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Kiprusoff Says Will Not Report If Traded... **Poll |
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As per Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet, Calgary Flames longstanding goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff has stated to Flames management that if his rights are to be traded he will not report to his new team.
Whether the thought process here is that Kiprusoff would like to retire with the Flames, or if it is nothing more than the fact that he and his wife just gave birth to a child and they do not want to relocate at this point is unknown. Kypreos did add that his reasoning was due to family reasons, and the latter would seem to be the likely factor in his decision.
While most fans seem to feel that Miikka has earned the right to deny a trade at this point in his career, I have to say that I am not overly impressed, new child or not. Thing is, these guys are paid millions of dollars to play hockey and they enter into contracts with the initial desire to play out each and every year of their contracts. To say that a player has earned their right to deny their team the ability to trade them in order to acquire much needed assets, to me, is foolish. I am sure many of you disagree with me given the amount of years Kiprusoff has played with the team and carried them on his back, but the reality is – he was paid millions to do it.
Whether or not you agree with me is irrelevant at the end of the day. Kiprusoff stating that he will not play with a new team if traded leaves GM Jay Feaster with one less chip needed to make necessary moves for this franchise to be reconstructed. Furthermore, this leads me to believe that Kiprusoff will likely not play next year with the Flames, either. Calgary is in a situation where they need their veteran tender to either bring back assets for them via trade, or stick around for another year/two to mentor the future goalies of the franchise.
If the above mentioned is true, then Kiprusoff may end up not only denying a trade scenario would could severely help out the struggling franchise, but he may also decide to retire and not play at all next year leaving a large gap between the pipes. Would a move like this tarnish his name?
Well, I’m not so sure it would with the more die hard fans given his contributions over several years...but I can say that this writer is rather upset that he would leave the team arguably high and dry like this with one year remaining on his contract.
Thoughts?
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