It was interesting yesterday to be sitting at our regular staff meeting in Starbucks and have a complete stranger come up and tell us the news that Ryan Smyth had just been traded by the Oilers. (I'm starting to get a complex about that table!) :)
It's been interesting to experience the outcry. To me it seems like the ripples of that trade are being felt all across the city. Virtually everybody knew within hours of the trade, and the response has certainly been massive. Two sides have emerged: responses that are quite emotional (and very upset) and responses that are much more muted and unemotional. Some feel betrayed and others see it as simply a business move; regretable, but nevertheless, a business move that had to be made.
I'm somewhere inbetween. Yes, I see the business side of it. But there is a dimension of that business side that is hard to quantify: the impact on the city. For the first time in my life, I decided to join the throngs of people who are writing comments to the Journal (and the Sun). I don't know if it will get published or not, in their sports rant section, but either way, I thought I would share my thoughts here as well:
"A major piece of this trade that seems to have been missed is that Ryan Smyth WANTED to play and live in Edmonton. For years we've watched our best players leave either because we were too small a city to pay them or because they simply didn't like living here, and I think it has given our city a bit of a inferiority complex. David Staples' Journal recent article (Feb. 25) made the point that in the 'new NHL', it is critical to factor in 'player perks' in trying to keep players around; given that players like Chris Pronger simply don't want to live in Edmonton, what 'perks' can the Oilers offer to entice players to come here and actually stay? That's what makes the Smyth deal so painful: He liked Edmonton, which, in this 'new NHL' is apparently a major issue! I agree, Smyth wanted too much money, but how do you put a dollar sign on the leadership and enthusiasm that Smyth brought to the locker room about playing in Edmonton? How can a trade ever replace that? Perhaps we should have given Smyth the money he asked for, simply because we desperately need a visible and vocal player who says 'Hey, Edmonton is a great city to live in and play in.' The image of a city is important, both around the NHL and also within the city itself. The Smyth trade is a significant blow to that image on both fronts."
So there you have it. Some of my initial thoughts. I have many others on this topic as well, but I want to work them out a bit more in my head first.
June 4 - Psalm 16
10 years ago
3 comments:
I'm still hoping that Smitty will do what Doug Weight and Mark Recci did last year - they went to the Hurricanes at the trade deadline, then signed with their former teams when they became free agents at the end of the year.
If that is the case, then Kevin Lowe will look like a genius!
He's over rated. Don't get me wrong I like the guy, but there are other "superstars" out there making 5 million a year, and I'll take them. As for the the argument of he's a leader, and face of the city and that has no price tag, yadda, yadda, yadda, just rants of people who need a way to justify their emotional state. They would be the same people two years from now who would be crying that Lowe made a stupid move by letting his emotions make a decision, because now we can't afford to sign other players because we paid smyth way too much, and for way too long...i hope he comes back, but not for a 4-5 year deal......he's in his prime now, not 3 years from now. :-)
I’m with Craig MacTavish – “I don’t feel sorry for anyone bringing home and NHL salary”.
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