Yes I know he helped us win the first Bruins Cup of my lifetime, yes I know about the Vezina trophies, the fun goofy antics both off the ice and usually on it. Trust me I loved Timmy and it shocks me what has happened over the past 6 months...but I'm sorry in my eyes this does not give him a free pass to walk out on his contract and in doing so fuck his teammates and fuck the fans of the Boston Bruins!
For the past three days I have heard so many differing opinions on this. Many have come down on me for my strong views on this and feel like I am being way too hard on him. They feel like with what he did for our organization he is entitled to do whatever the hell he wants to do. Well sorry I completely disagree with this and think its complete bullshit!
Let me just say that IF Timmy's contract was up and he was essentially a free-agent and he chose to walk away or take a "year off" I would be the first one to say "More power to ya Timmy...you deserve it!". The thing is people HE DOES HAVE A CONTRACT! In my eyes this is not about his 3 F's...
It's about 1 F...Fuck You Bruins is the only F I see in this whole debacle.
To touch on the contract for a moment. Does it not smell bad to anyone else that he signs a multi-year deal as an older player...FRONT LOADS THE CONTRACT...and then walks away in the year that he is set to actually make the least amount of money in the deal?? People say "oh well look at all the money he is walking away from!!!" Well actually people he already milked most of the money out of this contract already! Look at what Nick Lidstrom did. For the past few seasons Lidstrom always knew there would be a chance that he needed to step away from the game. So what did he do all those seasons?? Did he sign a 5-year deal like he most likely could have got 3 years ago from the Wings?? No! He kept signing 1-year contracts because he knew at the end of any of those years it could be hist last. So in order to not fuck the organization that had given him so much (and yes he gave them alot back) he just kept doing his 1-year deals so they would not be stuck with a large cap hit for a player no longer playing! Bottom line Timmy...YOU signed a contract...no one held a gun to YOUR head to sign it....LIVE UP TO IT!
Yes I understand family comes first above everything else. But come on...explain to the factory worker working 12-hour days that a guy with 4 months a year off just does not have enough time to spend with his family! Sure these guys are on the road alot but how many hours comparatively to us working stiffs do these guys work on non game days?? Practice in the morning...mix in a work out..all in all about a 5-hour day. Lots of time to pick the kids up from school if he so chooses to do.
In my mind this came down to one thing...Timmy saw the writing on the wall...he heard the trade rumors and speculation and he picked up his toys and left the sand box before he could be told to move to another sand box. I use the sand box analogy because he is acting like a 5-year old right now.
I have heard the term a virtual no trade clause by doing this. Well why the hell didn't he push to have an ACTUAL no trade clause when HE signed that contract I mentioned earlier??
I have also had people say to me "Well if Tuukka is so good then why does it matter?"
Yes Tuukka is SO good and I firmly believe Timmy or no Timmy that Tuukka would have been the # 1 goalie this season. It is definitely Tuukka Time BUT that is not the point! The point is the 5-million Cap hit that we are going to be stuck with!
I've also had people actually say to me "Well its the same thing Savard did...Savard could have negotiated a buy-out of his contract". EXCUSE ME???? How is this the same as Savvy??? The game ripped away Savvy's day to day health and the physical ability to do his job! How the hell are they even close to being compareable? Savvy deserves every penny that is owed to him on his contract. This is a guy who returned to play early in the playoffs (when you don't even get paid) because he wanted to help his team that bad and he just wanted to play!
Also say what you want about the media BUT the media is in place to act as the information source of the fan. Bruins fans deserve to HEAR and SEE Timmy being held accountable and having to actually answer some questions on this matter. Hiding behind your facebook account to make this announcement is cowardly and self-serving.
I would like to say I feel better now after getting that off my chest but the fact is I don't. I still have a sick feeling in my stomach over this with a player who I held in such high regard as a Bruin who now
in my opinion has turned his back on the organization, on a contract he signed and has left a 5-million dollar hole for us to somehow climb out of!
Selfish!
