Predators HangFire!
Posted 11:33 PM ET | Comments 0
Hello and welcome, wherever you are reading this from today, thank you for making the Gray Area part of your day. I wanted give the fans of the Nashville Predators my reaction to this offseason with the handling of the Shea Weber contract, as well has some thoughts on the players added to the roster, and also what players are on twitter. I will mention the last part first before getting into the rest. I think Twitter is a great thing for professional athletes and celebrities. It gives them a connection to their fans and humanizes them to the people who idolize them. I use it for my blog and as a way to know what is happening in the sports world. It amazes me that twitter is becoming the news first media, its first tweeted then confirmed. To me it is a tool for those trying get into the media business and should not be used as a means to attack the famous people on it.
On to Shea Weber and his contract with the Nashville Predators. Here is my run down of what has happened. This time a year ago he was the top priority to resign and should still be. As a show of good faith that the team would sign him to a long term deal they named him captain, in my opinion. While that is all well and good here we are a year later the contract went to arbitration and Shea Weber was awarded a one year $7.5 million contract. Shea Weber is worth that money and general manager Poile along with the organization knows he is. So the question is why did this have to go to arbitration? And why now is the organization bringing up that Ryan Suter and Pekka Rinne will be up for contracts next year? They promised the fans with all the player cuts and loses to free agency the team’s payroll for this coming season would be doubled. SO why not pay the man what he is worth and quit screwing around?
As most of you will see if you look back on previous stories I have written I represent the bite of the Nashville fans. I do not shy away from calling out the organization or its players when things need to be said. I have also shown that I will say what I think most of you are thinking about the management of the team. Here is the cold hard facts for my softer, kinder, and more experienced fellow Nashville bloggers. If we don’t write harder when the team is going the wrong direction we will continue to have a franchise that is not looking to win a Stanley Cup ,but one that is just trying to turn a profit.
That being said the organization needs to decide now, and I mean right now whether or not Shea Weber fits this team for the long term. If you are not going to pay him, then you better trade him and get a few good players. For the record I think they should talk to Weber and lay a plan out there that keeps him in Nashville for the long term. You talk to him and work a deal where Shea gets paid is $7.5 million for 2011-2012 but it’s a long deal say 6 years. You work the money out so that you can resign Suter and Rinne while keeping Weber’s average salary over the length of the contract at $7.5 million. How hard is that? You cannot tell me that Chicago can work out deals to keep all the majority of their top players and Nashville cannot do the same. Shea is the captain and I believe the organization should involve him in the direction the team is going. I really think if the management shows him a plan for future and asks him to spread his money out he would work with them. Otherwise this will probably be his last season in a Predators uniform.
With the offseason player additions the only one that makes me excited is Niclas Bergfors. He is still a young player who I think has a lot of potential. He should be this season’s break out player similar to Kostitsyn. I wrote after the season that Nashville was in the position to reload. Instead with the loss of Goc, Ward, and trade of Franson I think the team took a step back. I liked the buyout of Dumont and I am happy Steve Sullivan is on a team that can compete for the Cup next year.
Is anyone other than me tired of Poile finding possible diamonds in the rough? Josh Cooper of the Tennessean (Who I respect a lot) thinks that is exactly what Poile has found in newly signed defensemen Jack Hillen. Both Kyle Wilson and Zack Stortini are typical grinder like players the fans are used to seeing on the club. Where is the top six forward promised this offseason? I am going to call this offseason a hangfire by the predator’s organization. For those who do not know a hangfire is when a gun is loaded yet fails to fire. We will see what happens with the young guys coming up. I am much more excited about the young players like Blake Geoffrion, Jon Blum, Austin Watson, and newest pro Craig Smith.
Speaking of the young guys a few of them are on twitter and I encourage preds fans to follow them. Jonathan Blum (JonBlum7) and Blake Geoffrion (BlakeGeoffrion) are probably the most active on twitter. Mike Fisher, Austin Watson, and Jordin Tootoo are on as well and put out more during the season. I think this is a great way for the fans to support their team and encourage a connection to the home crowd. I have gotten responses back from Boomer and JB when they have sent out questions on twitter to the masses. Well there you have it for now, thank you for making the Gray Area Part of your busy day! If you want to reach out to me you can email me at [email][email protected][/email] or hit me up on twitter @chrisgrayarea.
On to Shea Weber and his contract with the Nashville Predators. Here is my run down of what has happened. This time a year ago he was the top priority to resign and should still be. As a show of good faith that the team would sign him to a long term deal they named him captain, in my opinion. While that is all well and good here we are a year later the contract went to arbitration and Shea Weber was awarded a one year $7.5 million contract. Shea Weber is worth that money and general manager Poile along with the organization knows he is. So the question is why did this have to go to arbitration? And why now is the organization bringing up that Ryan Suter and Pekka Rinne will be up for contracts next year? They promised the fans with all the player cuts and loses to free agency the team’s payroll for this coming season would be doubled. SO why not pay the man what he is worth and quit screwing around?
As most of you will see if you look back on previous stories I have written I represent the bite of the Nashville fans. I do not shy away from calling out the organization or its players when things need to be said. I have also shown that I will say what I think most of you are thinking about the management of the team. Here is the cold hard facts for my softer, kinder, and more experienced fellow Nashville bloggers. If we don’t write harder when the team is going the wrong direction we will continue to have a franchise that is not looking to win a Stanley Cup ,but one that is just trying to turn a profit.
That being said the organization needs to decide now, and I mean right now whether or not Shea Weber fits this team for the long term. If you are not going to pay him, then you better trade him and get a few good players. For the record I think they should talk to Weber and lay a plan out there that keeps him in Nashville for the long term. You talk to him and work a deal where Shea gets paid is $7.5 million for 2011-2012 but it’s a long deal say 6 years. You work the money out so that you can resign Suter and Rinne while keeping Weber’s average salary over the length of the contract at $7.5 million. How hard is that? You cannot tell me that Chicago can work out deals to keep all the majority of their top players and Nashville cannot do the same. Shea is the captain and I believe the organization should involve him in the direction the team is going. I really think if the management shows him a plan for future and asks him to spread his money out he would work with them. Otherwise this will probably be his last season in a Predators uniform.
With the offseason player additions the only one that makes me excited is Niclas Bergfors. He is still a young player who I think has a lot of potential. He should be this season’s break out player similar to Kostitsyn. I wrote after the season that Nashville was in the position to reload. Instead with the loss of Goc, Ward, and trade of Franson I think the team took a step back. I liked the buyout of Dumont and I am happy Steve Sullivan is on a team that can compete for the Cup next year.
Is anyone other than me tired of Poile finding possible diamonds in the rough? Josh Cooper of the Tennessean (Who I respect a lot) thinks that is exactly what Poile has found in newly signed defensemen Jack Hillen. Both Kyle Wilson and Zack Stortini are typical grinder like players the fans are used to seeing on the club. Where is the top six forward promised this offseason? I am going to call this offseason a hangfire by the predator’s organization. For those who do not know a hangfire is when a gun is loaded yet fails to fire. We will see what happens with the young guys coming up. I am much more excited about the young players like Blake Geoffrion, Jon Blum, Austin Watson, and newest pro Craig Smith.
Speaking of the young guys a few of them are on twitter and I encourage preds fans to follow them. Jonathan Blum (JonBlum7) and Blake Geoffrion (BlakeGeoffrion) are probably the most active on twitter. Mike Fisher, Austin Watson, and Jordin Tootoo are on as well and put out more during the season. I think this is a great way for the fans to support their team and encourage a connection to the home crowd. I have gotten responses back from Boomer and JB when they have sent out questions on twitter to the masses. Well there you have it for now, thank you for making the Gray Area Part of your busy day! If you want to reach out to me you can email me at [email][email protected][/email] or hit me up on twitter @chrisgrayarea.