Quote:
Originally Posted by Chazz Reinhold
I'm sorry but I don't buy it. They didn't have to trade either of them.
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A couple of weeks before the trades, Carter and his agent both were told he wouldn't be traded. They both heard the rumours and when Carter's agent called Homer, Homer told him there would be no trade and that if Jeff wanted to come in and talk to him, he'd tell him the same thing to his face. So Carter went in, was told there would be no trade and then was traded. I think they decided that Richards would flip out if Carter was traded after being lied to, after signing a very long term extension/friendly cap hit contract. Carter made $5 million for the past 3 years and went up just over $200,000 to help the team cap wise and it blew up in his face. So I think that was a big part of the reason Richards was also traded, he would not have reacted well to what happened.
I also believe Pronger was involved. He always patted Richards on the head to the media, rarely gave him full credit or defended him like he should have. When the trades came down, Pronger was on the radio here in Toronto and was asked if he had talked to Richards and Carter and he said he'd call them after giving them a day or two to deal with it. When Richards had his feature on TSN with Cabbie, he was asked if he had talked to Pronger since the trades and he said no. He also kept saying over the past couple of years that they were friends, but either he was acting or is very naive. If Pronger REALLY was a friend, he would have called. Richards said his phone rang off the hook yet no call from Pronger. Yet we heard repeatedly that Pronger called Simmonds and Jagr immediately so we know he's capable of using a phone.