PJ over at Sharkspage has a lengthy piece on comments made by Sean Avery to LA Times Columnist Bill Plaschke… It’s emotional and it’s just a ot of what seems right.
To draw a comparison, Avery’s comments almost sound like a Iraqi War supporters remorse after learning of misleads and misdeeds by the Bush Administration leading up to war.
I am furious at Bob. Bob brainwashed players like me… To be honest with you, most of us didn’t know what was going on. Guys had no control over the situation. Guys were out there giving interviews and we didn’t know the real story. Bob embarrassed a lot of guys.That, coupled with Manny Legace going off on the NHLPA as a whole made me think of players as not giving in but getting a clue that their NHLPA leaders were not bargaining in good faith, let alone with players in mind.
Which brings me to Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards, Lightning player rep Tim Taylor and others who repeated the party line but seemed as if they were blank on what the real deal was.
Brad Richards had earned my wrath from comments he made from an uninformed perspective. Brad’s about my age and I know that it’s hard to get involved with politics and in-depth business discussion, but Richards was wrong in his take. He admitted he was trying to stay out of labor negotiations and it seems to underline the brainwashing claim from Avery.
Martin St. Louis went off on Gary Bettman way back when which was the chic thing to do among players — in that Bob-Said-We-Should kind of way. Martin went on and said — and this was before the salary-rollback proposal of 24 percent — that the players were making all the concessions, and that Bettman was acting as a dictator…
Marty and Brad, I love both you guys… but man… You guys both made me cringe… You both should come out and be open and honest about being misled and misinformed…. Or flat out in the support-your-“union” tizzy.
Which leads me to Tim Taylor…
As team rep, Taylor had a great role for the Lightning roster and the NHLPA itself: he sold propoganda in the south and to the elite players on the Stanley Cup Champion roster. A day before Marty’s triade on Bettman, Taylor was mouthing off…
“I felt good after the meeting,” Taylor said. “The guys who spoke out (recently) are minor leaguers, guys who have played 50 games in the NHL. They don’t speak for the majority. But you know what? The NHLPA is fighting for those guys, too.”And with everyone else speaking out now, Tim, and saying the NHLPA threw away a season due to some as-yet-unknown negotiating plan, can you still say the PA was fighting for these players? Can you say the PA is fighting for anyone?
I can honestly forgive Marty and Brad for their comments. I can probably forgive Vincent Lecavalier and anyone else on the team that spouted Pro-Union BS during the lockout… Except you, Tim. You, being the vocal representative of the Union on this team, earn the label “Misleader.” When Bob and other player reps fed you bile, you spread it around quite happily where and when you could. Thru misinformation and propoganda, you helped to secure a 1984-like dictatorship / false-utopia among the players you were overseeing.
You’re just as guilty as Goodenow in my eyes. Or just as guilty as other politicos who mislead to achieve what they desire – be they legal or illegal achievements.
I appreciate Sean Avery’s candor and – even though I am not a Kings fan — accept any and all apologies fully. You were mislead. How many times was that repeated in the 700-man PA? How many were really in the know?
I stand by my blame of the players for the lockout lasting as long as it has – not the PA but the players. Unified and informed, they would have been more powerful and resolute – and possibly could have come up with a better strategy than the head honchos of the NHLPA. Unfortunately they listened to the misdirection of the few and we all have paid for it – financially and emotionally.
