Kovalchuk Clippings
by Quisp on Sep 8, 2010 12:47 PM PDT
in Free Agency
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PrintA couple of clips from the MSM on the Summer of Kovalchuk. The first is from Hradek at ESPN, possibly a little insight into Kovalchuk's "process." The second, from Sporting News, is that same process two months later.
ESPN: Hradek: Lombardi's intense questioning turned off Kovalchuk - HFBoards
[...] The Kings present Kovalchuk with a 15-year offer worth approximately $80 million. One source would later tell me that Kovalchuk was turned off by intense questioning from Kings GM Dean Lombardi. At the time, though, the Kings appear to be the favorite to land the sniper.
To which I say, yay.
Next up, this is agent Grossman talking to the Sporting News about his client:
Ilya Kovalchuk's agent looks back at a long, hot summer - NHL - Sporting News
"Before we submitted the second contract to the league, the question was raised: 'Are we going down the right path?' I said, 'Look, nobody is walking away from you.'"
Kovalchuk asked his agent, last week, "are we going down the right path?" That is fascinating. I wonder if Grossman really meant to reveal that.
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What happened to fact checking?
This is exactly what is wrong with today’s “reporters”; they just regurgitate the misinformation that is out there. Matt “Money” Smith said on t he radio that the rumored Kings offer was $80/15 and now everyone takes it as a fact when Lombardi himself said it was a 13-year deal. No one bothers going to the actual source anymore.
[sigh]
Very Intense Questioning
I think I know how it went down.
Dean: So, are you willing to get a Kings tattoo? Preferably on your buttock?
Kovalchuk: Uh…? What?
Dean: It doesn’t hurt much. Wanna see mine?
Kovalchuk: …I…I think I’d be more comfortable dodging jam jars from Lou.
(later)
Willie Mitchell: Make it two years instead of one, and I’ll march down and get one right now.
Dean: Perfect. I know a guy in Venice Beach who does real nice work. Wanna see m—
Mitchell: How ’bout I just sign right here and take your word for it.
Dean: What a character guy. (shakes hand) Deal.
In Dinglebarn We Trust
by Niesy on Sep 8, 2010 2:06 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I can believe Hradek's account, even if the numbers are a little off
And who could reasonably blame Lombardi for wanting to look under the hood and kick the tires?
I’m baffled by the HF commenters who somehow think it was inappropriate or dumb for Dean to ask tough questions of a man before committing $80 of his boss’ money and pinning the hopes and dreams of his team’s fans on him.
And a follow-on point:
One of the HF commenters compared it to getting a bad vibe from a prospective boss when he interviews you for a job.
But a player’s most important relationship is not with his GM, it’s with his coaches (which is also why I think this business about JMFJ having it in for Dean is overblown). The GM is just the guy who counter-signs your contract and tells you when you’ve been traded.
Also, i would think that asking tough questions was a deliberate test of character by Dean. Again, if you’re going to spend $80 mil on a guy, you want to see how he responds to a little pressure before, not after. You want a guy who will rise to a challenge. You don’t want a guy who will get pissy about it.
they just want someone to blame
so either lombardi screwed up or kovalchuk is “entitled.”
since I never thought signing kovalchuk was a great idea no matter the price, and since his character (what with never having proven anything…) is at best a big question mark, I would think it was insane for lombardi not to talk seriously to him. And of course it’s not unusual, for people who think they deserve to be catered to, to bristle at any suggestion that they might actually have to bring something to the table. Kovalchuk’s actions do suggest that he believes he is, as his agent just said in the article to which I just linked, that he is “the Hope Diamond.” In that context, I’m not surprised that Kovalchuk would be put off by all this talk of “playing for the team.”
Having said all that, Lombardi’s is notorious for being somewhat wordy. I like it. Others don’t. So it’s also easy for me to imagine that the whole thing is made up, by MSM reporters just imagining that they were flies on the wall of those meetings. We ourselves made several jokes about Dean talking his ear off. So it’s a rumor that writes itself. It’s funny. Doesn’t make it true.
Wait till this year.
The Hope Diamond. Ooooo. Something incredibly expensive, which changes hands many times? J/K.
so either lombardi screwed up or kovalchuk is "entitled."
I think this is spot on. No one knows the details, so they’ll take it as proof of whatever belief they already have about the principals.
I don’t dismiss the idea of a personality mismatch, but this story does seem to suggest the possibility that if Dean had just been more charming, that extra 20 million would have ceased to matter. Um…I’m just going to go ahead and doubt that. Just like I’m sure the extra money swayed Willie Mitchell, for all that he was impressed by the org and what they said.
And anyway, wouldn’t he be more likely to take a lesser amount to play with the historic franchise, where he felt more comfortable, and where Lou was always so nice to him, etc., etc? Except he didn’t.
In Dinglebarn We Trust
And the Hope Diamond cursed whomever owned it, right? :-D
I suspect that I’m just as fond of Dean’s quirks and affect as Quisp is. In all the interviews I’ve seen, print, audio and video alike, he never comes across as unpleasant or off-putting. I’m guessing he knows how to ask ‘tough questions’ (whatever that really means in this context) without being a jerk about it.
Again, I have to say that if it went down that way, it was probably just one of life’s little tests, that IK was either going to pass… or not.
Exactly. Like most legends, probably overblown. But it’s funny that Grossman chose that analogy.
Who is Vanderbeek, then, Louis XVI?
In Dinglebarn We Trust
These guys are rarely in command of their metaphors.
Even our own GM likened the Kings progress to “Hamburger Hill,” (last year at this time maybe), and revealed that he has a patented “Hamburger Hill” speech, apparently not realizing that Hamburger Hill — to many people — suggests an endeavor of extreme (and especially bureaucratic) futility in which everybody dies.
Wait till this year.
Hossa was not going to sign a one-year deal to play in Carolina.
He would only do that to play in Detroit. To win a cup. It’s always going to be about getting paid as much as you can to win as much as you can. Kovalchuk came to LA because there was no f***ing offer from New Jersey that was any better than LA’s offer at that point. Or he would have signed it. Obviously, Vanderbeek had some kind of break-down and forced Lou to make the crazy rejected offer, and the rest is history. Lombardi and Lamoriello were just fine sweating him (Kovalchuk) out, and had they been left to it, Kovalchuk would have been forced to sign a deal for a cap hit in the 5MM range, and whoever got him would have had a contract that might actually be tradeable in 5-7 years. Whereas this one won’t be. Because nobody is going to want to take a $7MM cap hit for a 20 goal scorer who doesn’t backcheck with ten years left on his contract. I guess that’s when Sather makes his move…
Wait till this year.
Kovalchuk had the $100 million offer from NJ before he flew to LA.
The contract offer was released by the NY Post days before the announcement that Kovalchuk was flying to LA (~$100/17 was what the NY Post reported). Kovalchuk clearly wanted to play in LA and was trying to get Lombardi to up his offer. Lombardi mentioned in his interview after Kovalchuk signed with NJ that the “$100 million offer was out there”, but he didn’t completely believe it. Brooks may “spice” up his stories, but he was correct about almost everything with the Kovalchuk saga.
I remember when everyone was saying that Lou would never offer a 17 year deal and definitely not for over $100 million.
Didn’t Dean say in an interview that he made it clear from the very beginning that they were not interested in doing anything like 10 million in 10 years? And yet they came out hoping to change his mind anyway.
I can definitely believe that DL didn’t think Lou actually made that offer, especially if Kovalchuk and Grossman flew out to LA.
In Dinglebarn We Trust
for all we know the rumored 102/17 offer was completely different from the final one
they may well have started out with a reasonable tail and kept pushing more and more money to the front until he said yes.
Wait till this year.
Ruffled his feathers a little eh?
What a sissy…
"I still love my ex-wife, but only when we're not talking"
Leave the CBA. Take the Cannoli.
The Spirit of MeatTrain'10!
by DodgerBlueBalls on Sep 9, 2010 10:10 AM PDT up reply actions
"Come over here, kid, learn something. You never know, you might have to cook for twenty guys someday.
You see, you start out with a little bit of oil. Then you fry some garlic. Then you throw in some tomatoes, tomato paste. You fry it. You make sure it doesn’t stick. You get it to a boil. You shove in all your sausage and your meatballs. And a little bit of wine. And a little bit of sugar. And that’s my trick."
Wait till this year.
He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time! Players couldn’t get a drink at the table! What’s wrong with you?
The Spirit of MeatTrain'10!
by DodgerBlueBalls on Sep 9, 2010 11:14 AM PDT up reply actions
There was this kid I grew up with. He was younger than me. Sort of looked up to me, you know.
We did our first work together, worked our way out of the street. Things were good, we made the most of it. During Prohibition, we ran molasses into Canada. Made a fortune. Your father, too. As much as anyone, I loved him and trusted him. Later on he had an idea to build a city out of a desert stopover for GIs on the way to the West Coast. That kid’s name was Moe Green and the city he invented was Las Vegas. This was a great man, a man of vision and guts. And there isn’t even a plaque or a signpost or a statue of him in that town. Someone put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn’t angry. I knew Moe. I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the business we’ve chosen. I didn’t ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business.
Wait till this year.
I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!
The Spirit of MeatTrain'10!
by DodgerBlueBalls on Sep 9, 2010 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions
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