ghdi

 

nobody knows what Lou is doing now. But 1-2-3-4-5 weeks before free agency, there's no difference really other than he has more time to make things happen. Point is at that point it's too late for plan B.

 

What we do know (from reports and from people involved in different situations through the years and quotes taken from interviews and sh!t. Lou does not want to talk contracts during the season. He's secretive and all we all know that. But with Lou himself saying its that way and many many agents and players confirming it, im taking it for cash at this point. 

 

I didnt want to quote you in full, but you don't seem to realize it's a two-way street. The player has to want to stay too and they're not going to be honest with the media if asked. Lou "broke the mold" with Zajac earlier this year. Did anyone expect that? Is it absolutely sure that Lou didnt approach Parise in early 2012 about re-signing, but his agents said "we're going to UFA"? It's not a far fetched thought. Zach knew he was going to be the biggest name on the market last year, just as Clarkson (and Elias) know that they will get plenty of attention this year.

I just don't believe we have enough information to put all the grievances you seem to have on Lou. The players are culpable as well and not everyone wants to stay in New Jersey, which historically, despite our success, is not a high profile place to play.

What would be your Plan B this year? Lets say the worst happens and we lose Elias, Zubrus, and Clarkson. If Plan B was Horton or Weiss and both decided to sign elsewhere for less money, would that be Lou's fault?

I agree that there's things that Lou has done (The 3Ms, the Salvador contract) that I shake my head or scoff at, but some of the things that seem to rattle you read to me like you're being petulant/impatient. At least wait til the worst happens before assuming it's going to. I believe Lou mostly does everything he can to keep a guy, but sometimes it's just not going to happen and we don't have all the reasons as to why not b/c they're not shared with us. I also do not take the word of an agent (espc) or player as concrete, regardless if its stated regularly as their egos and public image are more important than Lou's. Lou is not going to get in a pissing match with anyone.

The only thing I can say to you is WAIT. We don't know what Lou has been doing b/c this team doesn't make announcements until they're official. The fact that Loktionov has agreed gives me more than enough hope that there is hope. Again, for all we know, Lou has agreements in place with Elias and Clarkson right now and is waiting til it can be made official to announce it. We just don't do things like other teams and never have.

ok well whatever.. lets just put it to rest here. i feel bad for anyone else who has to read this.. were both devil fans here ... i agree to get along or attempt to if your down with it? and hopefully we hear some news soon on our ufa's

I wasn't attempting to fight with you. I was only stating that I felt you misrepresented something and you escalated it. Its not a big deal. I interpreted what you said as coming from within the Leafs organization. The end.

fvck the Rangers.

I never stated that Toronto was not in the market on him where everyone assumed them to be dollar wise.. as you quoted and bolded my words (good job) i said that they MAY NOT not that they werent.... obviously what i was saying was based off of what i read and who wrote it.. jesus christ.. talk about over reading into something someone said on a forum board.. but go ahead if you want to be a douche im down for that.

Jesus christ. I wasn't attacking you. I was stating that I felt you misrepresented what the article was about. You stated "Toronto may not be". This blogger doesn't speak for the organization. It's one guy's opinion and nothing more. It's not based in fact, when your original quotes makes it sound like it came from the team. Get it? There's no need to be so defensive. So what if another blogger stated that he felt Clarkson was worth $6M per. Would that be "Toronto may be willing to spend the cashola"?  

thats true and alright... work with me here. And you're right that not everyone wants to stay with their franchise. And thats part of my point. 

 

2- its STRICTLY about me not liking the situation Lou is putting himself and the players in term of negotiations. We can throw examples all day long that this and this and this happened or that this this and this could happen sometimes it turned out good and sometimes it didnt.

 

All i'd like from Lou is that he'd start talks earlier not to get a direct results but to be able to handle situations with all the inputs that he can get and make the right moves in order to calculate and minimize problems. He's not doing that.

 

Questions for you. Most are rhetorical, but answer if you want. I'm not attacking you either, so don't take it that way.

How do you KNOW that Lou is not negotiating right now? How do you know that nothing has been agreed to yet?

Let me give you an example this year. Loktionov. We've already heard from his agent and Lou himself that Loktionov is coming back. There's not been an official announcement. You know why? Because guys can't officially re-sign yet. I don't know the date (its before 7/5 and Triumph knows it haha). The only reason it got out is because Larionov mentioned it to Russian media. Lou doesn't say anything until things are official. The only reason Lou answered it is b/c Gulutti asked him and he didn't want to contradict Larionov. 

The fact is, we DONT KNOW what Lou is or isn't doing, b/c he doesnt make announcements until they're official. We also don't know the mindsets of these players. They could want to go to UFA to find out what they're worth. If I was Clarkson, there would be no way in hell I'd re-sign before 7/5 b/c the quality of the market is down and this is likely his only chance to make very big money (for his calibur of play). This is Lou's way. I'm used to it. I'd much rather our front office be more up front with us, but they're not. So be it. 

You've obviously been a fan of this team for a long time. Is it because we're not as good as we once were that it matters so much that we're not getting info? WE NEVER HAVE. Any information about this team before its announced 99.9% of the time comes out from the other side.

Thats what the entire article is about that he may not be worth to Toronto what everyone is thinking.. did you read the article? Ill break it down for you, the blogger that writes for Toronto is guessing that they are not going to pay him what everyone thinks.. if they are even as interested in him as what everyone thinks

Let me break it down for you. Your quote "toronto may not be willing to dish out the cashola for clarkson that everyone has been projecting" made it sound like the article had information from inside the organization. Period. That's the only thing I was referring to. Its an opinion that Clarky may not be worth the amount of money that is being rumored, and in fact (http://theleafsnatio...ig-ufa-contract) there is nothing in this article that states the Leafs are not willing to pay it. The only thing it does state is that the writer doesn't think he's worth a big contract. I don't think anyone disagrees with that. I agree with him, I think Clarkson is a 3M player, and that whole article is just one person's opinion with nothing mentioning the organization's possible motivation or lack thereof.

Get it? You misrepresented what you stated the article to be about. Did you even read it? Had you said "This guy doesnt think Clarkson is worth it" would describe the article. He's not an insider.

I'd also give Mirtle's opinion (who states that Clarkson could double his salary) quite a bit more weight being that he's a Toronto-based hockey writer for one of their biggest publications and not a Leafs blogger based in Vancouver.