So the Bruins no longer have to bear Tim Thomas's $5 million cap hit. And the Islanders were able to reach the minimum salary cap number without paying a player. That's a nice little loophole the Islanders found.
And maybe finally, Bruins fans can stop being melodramatic about what Thomas did, since he no longer has an impact on the salary cap. The word from Thomas's agent is that things are still "status quo" for the now former Bruins goalie. At the moment, he seems just as uninterested in playing for the Islanders as he was to play for the Bruins.
The Bruins no longer have to carry the burden of his cap hit. So it's time to get over it, people.
And if you want to accuse Thomas of being selfish, and not putting his team first, the Bruins were very honest with him that they were looking to move him to another team. So is Thomas disloyal to Boston and the Bruins because he didn't want to stick around and be traded away from Boston and the Bruins? He should have been loyal to the team that didn't want him?
Of all the selfish things athletes sometimes do, deciding to take a year off, and forfeit $3 million in salary to do it, does not seem to be high on the scale. I have yet to hear or read a coherent argument that what Thomas did is especially selfish and deserves as much crap as some Bruins fans enjoy heaping onto him.
The level of criticism he's been the subject of has greatly outweighed what he did.
And if you think Thomas wasn't a good teammate, remember this?
And for the surly and sour people out there who still dislike Thomas, please don't wear any Bruins Stanley Cup hats or t-shirts. You wouldn't have those without Thomas.
-The Captain
5 comments:
Do you think the same way about Curt Schilling? If it weren't for Curt we would have never won the WS?
Ummmmmm what?
How are they alike in any way? Schilling took money from the state of RI to run his stupid video game companies. Then he only talked to media that asked softball questions. He apologized but then blamed the politicians he took money from for the downfall of his poorly run company.
And he blocked me on Twitter.
I liked Schilling until he did all that.
I don't see much similarity between that, and taking a year off from the NHL, or being "disloyal" to a team that was trying to send you to another city.
no im saying we wouldn't have won a WS without Schilling. So by your logic, if you dislike him or question his mistakes you shouldn't be allowed to wear red sox ws gear?
No because that's incomplete logic because they did different things. I'm not saying you forgive, forget, or like everything an athlete does if they win you a title.
But the haters out there, who now dislike Thomas because of his weirdness, his awkward statements, and his taking a lockout-shortened season off, have developed much more animosity for a man based on what he's done.
And if they truly dislike Thomas as much as they seem to, they should throw out that Cup gear because he's the BIGGEST reason they can own such merchandise. It's like saying you hate your ex-wife/husband, but continuing to show off the engagement ring.
Schilling's contributions to the Red Sox WS were nowhere near Thomas's to the Bruins Cup. Schilling's actions were off the field crap he did in his retirement. The people who dislike Thomas hate him for what they think he's done to affect the Bruins on the ice.
I responded in the other thread, but I feel like the conversations has migrated here, so I'll post it here. I'm sorry if it feels a bit out of context, but I didn't want it to get buried.
I never said anything about loyalty here Rob. You don't need to be loyal to somebody to fulfill your contractual obligations to them. In April 2009 he made a deal with the Bruins in good faith that he would play as their goaltender for the next four seasons. I took a look to try and get some of the more specifics of the deal. It seems like his contract was more front loaded.
"Thomas will make $6 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11, $5 million in 2011-12, and $3 million in 2012-13, the source said."
I wonder if it's a coincidence that he chose to take the $3MM year off rather than the $5MM or $6MM years off?
I also never said anything about his opting out of the White House visit. I've said before that if he doesn't want to meet the President he doesn't have to. He did try to warp the whole thing into a political statement and he had to know how the fans in a heavy blue state like Massachusetts would react. If he wants to make statements and butt heads with a mostly liberal fanbase in his spare time he's welcome to it, but don't tell me you can't do your fucking job because of it.
There's no "theory" here about why Thomas took the time off. His own stated reasons are flimsy.
"From the earliest age I can remember, I've wanted to be a hockey player. I've been blessed in my life to not only be able to live that dream, but to achieve more than I ever thought possible.
The singleminded focus that is necessary to accomplish a dream of this magnitude entails (by necessity) sacrifice in other areas and relationships in life.
At the age of 38, I believe it is time to put my time and energies into those areas and relationships that I have neglected. That is why at this time I feel the most important thing I can do in my life is to reconnect with the three F's.
Friends, Family, and Faith.
This is what I plan on doing over the course of the next year.
On top of this, I will continue to train using the ARP/POV system www.ultrafitevosport.com and work with G-Form www.g-form.com in the development of protective equipment.
What does this portend for the future?
We'll see….God's will be done.
TT"
I can't look at this and say anything other than WTF. This is why you're not fulfilling your obligations? Really? Couldn't you just retire next year and spend the rest of your fucking life worrying about those things? Is there an expiration date on this? Is somebody dying of cancer?
What if the shoe was on the other foot here? What if the Bruins said "Hey Tim, I know we said we'd pay you those millions of dollars this year to do your job, but nevermind, I think I'd rather use that money to focus on the three Fs". It's not as bad as it could have been because Tukka is an excellent replacement, everybody was focused on the lockout, the Bruins didn't seem crazy about having him around going forward and they were able to unload his contract eventually.
A deal is a deal, but not to Tim Thomas I guess.
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