Koivu and the Ducks

Sounds like a song from the 70's... alongside the likes of Mott the Hopple and Benny and the Jets.

Oh well what are we to do? Koivu in Anaheim, Kovalev in Ottawa, and Komisarek in dirty TO. A team which was dismantled due to a change in philosophy, due to a bad year after a good one. Was it really enough to push for such drastic measures? Are there not enough prospects in the wings that could have bolstered the 08/09 team without dropping the top line?

I wish the guys luck, all but Komisarek. Why? For a measley extra yr and 500,000. Where's the loyalty? Gone are the days that players bled the colors of their jerseys. Gone are the days that TEAM meant making sacrifices so that the whole can be better than the sum of its parts. (Detroit being the anomoly to this).Koivu was one of these guys. Unfortunately, the team was going a different direction. I don't like to think we abandoned our leader, but I do feel that they did. I just feel we did a disservice to the longest tenured captain in Habs history. My apology will not bring him back, and it certainly won't bring back the leadership he possessed the whole 13 yrs he has spent here. I worry that Cammalari, Gomez, nor Gionta will bring leadership to this ship.

I guess the 2009 offseason was highlighted by the retirement of a man who lived for his team- despite the poor product that was put out there in recent years. Joe Sakic is one of the last of an era. Classy. Simply put. Played for his nation, for his team, and did as much as he could. With scoring over 80 pts on average on a year, he was a quiet leader. I doubt he complained about playing time, or that someone who only averages 67 points getting close on the same amount of money somewhere else. No the guy was a team player.  Gone too are the days that ownership treats their players as individual human beings, rather than financial commodities. (Though I do wonder if Gainey took into consideration where Higgins/McDonaugh grew up before offering them to a team closer to home?)

Worried is what I am.