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REDDEN DID THE RIGHT THING |
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Ek's Note: I am extremely humbled that Yvon has joined our team. He is easily the most famous person around here and our first hockey Hall of Famer. He will be blogging in English and French, covering the Montreal Canadiens along with the NHL. His blogs will be appearing up top with Berger, Clement, Pang, Engblom and Strickland just as soon as we get the graphic ready with his photo. ENJOY!
REDDEN DID THE RIGHT THING
First let me say that I am extremely happy to now be a full-time member of Hockeybuzz.com. This is one of the best hockey places on the internet and is read widely by people throughout the industry. I feel that Eklund deserves the success the site has gotten as he works very hard and is a very good rumour finder. I like the site so much that I have accepted an invitation to serve on the Board of Advisors for Hockeybuzz as well.
I will be writing an English blog between now and the Trade Deadline, and then after that I shall be continuing the English blog but also launching a French blog as well with other guests including some very prestigious hockey people.
Onto Wade Redden.
There are many people out there that are blaming Wade Redden for not allowing the Ottawa Senators to trade him this past week. I say, "good on him."
It is not his fault in the least. You must remember here that the Ottawa Senators when choosing between Redden and Chara a few summers back chose Redden and his agent negotiated a deal that was agreed to by the Senators. It is of course OK for Wade to be asked by the Senators to waive his No Trade, but it is equally right that Wade say, "No Thank You" and be allowed to move on without scrutiny.
Wade wants to stay in Ottawa. That is clear to everyone now and it is also clear that this summer Wade will try to stay in Ottawa even though it means he will take less money to do so. He is likely to give a discount to remain a Senator. Fans who are getting on him should probably be looking at the glass as half full and realize that in this day and age of players going for the almighty dollar, Wade has instead chosen to stay and play for an organization. As a fan that loyalty should be encouraged with some positive re-enforcement.
I will tell you who else is happy about this decision by Redden. The NHLPA. Currently there are 100 players with some form of No Trade Clause in their contracts. That's many more than you likely thought, true? The NHLPA is happy because if players always waive the NTC, the NTC loses value in future negotiations, and players will be forced to waive.
So what Redden did was NOT an easy thing to do, but it was the right thing to do.
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