Comments on Bolts Blog: January's Lecavalier-Montréal Trade Rumor

Frat boys describes them and of course I have been...

2009-02-20T19:14:00.000-05:00

Frat boys describes them and of course I have been one to say that the team is being run like a fantasy league team... The hollywood writers thing is just a new take on it. I saw "The Majestic" again the other night and had the "I got me a what if..." phrase in my head.

I always thought that naivette would make Oren Koules a better guy to run the team than Doug MacLean when the sale announcement came up in 2007 and the entire sale situation festered like a sore for a while. I now officially say I stand corrected.

Vinny was quoted in a local paper as saying yester...

2009-02-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

Vinny was quoted in a local paper as saying yesterday that he thought they were just rumors. And he looked very angry to me when I was watching the game - which seemed strange to me. So either he was in denial at the time, or he genuinely didn't know.

Interestingly enough, I've read that they've been testing the waters with trading Vinny since November. Don't know how true that is, but the timing makes sense. It was common knowledge that Vinny didn't like Melrose - so it was probably either Melrose or Lecavalier. If it was true, it makes me wonder if Melrose was only let go because they couldn't trade Vinny - because they were asking for too much in return from other teams.

I've read others call them "frat boys," which seems like a better fit. And I've read that the ownership is running the team like a fantasy league. Both of which seem about right to me.

The saddest part of all is that the people who run the team played hockey themselves. You'd think they'd know better. But instead, they think they know more than they actually do. And that's too bad, really. The team and the city deserve better than that.

How it should ahve been from day one with these co...

2009-02-20T17:59:00.000-05:00

How it should ahve been from day one with these cowboys is expecting the moon, the stars and the sun for players like Boyle, Lecavalier or Marty (who has the biggest trade value at current with a contract that underpays what he puts out on ice).

I say this because the guys should have been untouchable - not trade bait... Only and if only the sun, the moon, the stars adn the rest of the galaxy are offered should the core be touched.

The problem is, ownership (and I do say ownership and not Lawton on this -- though I could be wrong) doesn't look at trades like that. They do it Hollywood writing brainstorming style. "I got me a what if!" Impulsive moves that will either make things a blockbuster or a bust. You can't manage a roster like that as it effects things long term.

To trade Lecavalier would have resulted in advertising being worth bupkus as the fans would have left... So knowing advertisers were revolting would make sense. Same thing may happen with a Marty deal. I see four forwards that, in a perfect world, are untouchable. But these four are the guys the Cowboys will try to sell off first and foremost: Vinny, Marty, Malone and Halpern. They'll say it's all because of finances and in truth -- it's because they gutted the franchise last summer while not knowing what they wanted in the present... Which has screwed the long term viability of hockey in Tampa Bay.

And if Vinny found out just last night about the truth to the rumors, then I'm sort of surprised. Brad Richards laid some quotes when he was visiting (Dallas at Tampa Bay) that made it sound like both he and Vinny knew ownership was the one behind things.