Thread: Clock's Ticking Mr. O'Sullivan

Originally Posted by vindogla

You know, like Kopi and Brownie, have a little chat with Sully, then maybe they go back and talk to Dean, what could it hurt?

You are suggesting that players interfere with contract negotiations? Also the better that o'Sullivan makes out, the better it is for Kopitar.

Well there are two sides to every argument and this boils down to either: cheap AEG, or misguided (perhaps even greedy) POS, or some combination therof.

I do agree that POS has to consider that being too inflexible in this situation may hurt his career (and down the line his wallet); his decisions now may ultimately harm his own objectives. I do agree with the premise that it is too early in his career and he is as yet an unproven entity in the NHL. So maybe he is posturing inappropriately.

I hope that arbitration can be avoided. The stink of that with Cammilleri didn't help the team any.

Insofar as AEG is concerned, I never know if they are being astute businessmen or just plain cheap with the Kings being an insigificant entity in their media empire. I am skeptical.


Anyhow, I can't wait until Monday to listen to the first exhibition game. I miss hockey tremendously !!!

To be fair to Phil Esposito and many of the players from his era it should probably be pointed out that many of them, including Espo, returned home to Canada to work in mills, mines, foudndries, and farms during the off season. Most players weren't paid enough in the NHL back then for them to not work during the off-season...

Folks should read Thunder and Lightening by Phil Esposito. It gives a decent insight into Espo's era NHL and some of the dealings of that time...

Originally Posted by simonsez

And as someone else mentioned, it's also ridiculous to say that he's unproven and may not amount to much but we NEED to lock him up for 5+ years. DL is the one insisting on a long-term contract, and he's said that if it was going to be a short-term contract the deal would already be done. Sully & his agent are fine with signing a short-term contract and letting him show what he can do, but DL is determined to lock him up. This tells you that ALL PARTIES INVOLVED (including DL) are convinced that his value is going to go up over the next few years.

Thank you, Thank you!

This aspect of the situation tends to disappear at times. I think Lombardi realizes that there is a distinct possibility that on a short-term deal the kid is going to shove Lombardi's rhetoric right up his ass through his play and have to be paid...