Chris Thomas. I knew Chris when I first started working in radio in Baltimore. We ran his radio show on the Sports talk station I took care of in Sarasota as well.
Great guy
Fantastic guy. Friendly to nearly everyone, loved sports and horses. Damn shame hes gone.
Sportsnet just reported that Vinny will not waive his NMC under any circumstances...Brophy made it sound like he called and asked his agent, but wasn't specific.
Honestly, the fact that we even give these rumors a second look at this point is just silly. There has been talk of trading Vinny long before he became the superstar he is today, and there will be talk long after. Let's review all the rumors that have occurred in the last six months:
1. We're going to trade Vinny if we end up being able to draft Tavares.
2. We're going to trade Vinny to the Kings in return for Jack Johnson.
3. We're going to trade Vinny to the Kings in return for Jack Johnson, but he doesn't want to play for us so we're going to trade him to the Penguins in return for Jordan Staal.
4. We're going to trade Lecavalier at the draft to the Canadiens, and the deal has already been worked out but Gainey is waiting to announce it during the draft because it's taking place in Montreal and he wants it to be a huge deal.
That didn't happen, so then we get this:
5. The deal was going to happen, but then Len Barrie vetoed it at the last second because the Lightning can't make any major moves without the approval of both owners. As soon as Barrie is out, Vinny leaves Tampa.
That still hasn't happened. So now in the last couple of months we have:
6. Vinny isn't happy in Tampa and wants to be traded, specifically because he's been bumped down to the third line and doesn't get to play with Marty.
7. Vinny is going to get traded to the New York Rangers and go play for Torts again.
8. Vinny is going to get traded to Philadelphia for Carter and Coburn.
9. Montreal hasn't named a captain yet because they're waiting to get Lecavalier. (This one is a personal favorite of mine.)
10. Once the Lightning gets a new majority owner, the first thing he's going to do is cut major payroll and ship Vinny off to any team that will take him.
And I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but I'd say that covers most of the rumors that have popped up in the last half-year alone. A few of them are "pending", but in the case of the others, have any of them come true? No. Not even close, from what we know. So why start taking the rumors seriously now?
Honestly, as much as we say Vinny isn't the type of guy to not waive his NMC if asked, I could see him refusing to do it at this point. He's been put through a lot, he's deeply involved in the community, his girlfriend is pregnant (and she does live with him full-time here in Tampa now, for those that didn't know)...I mean, him leaving just does not make sense right now, both professionally and personally.
With that being said, I don't think he'll be traded. I believe his home will be Tampa for many years to come.
My personal favorite was we were trading Vinny to Toronto because of the players we dumped on the Leafs last year (the Heward trade) for a draft pick and prospect and that "We owed them."
How does everyone think Vinik's "very little" hockey background will play into this situation? Positively or negatively?
Very little to no effect. He's obviously not a dumb guy so he isn't going to jump in and act like he's Ken Holland. Just speculation but I've wondered if he was a Bruins fan during Espo's time in Boston. I wonder if he could lean on him a bit.
Plus you could argue that being a "hockey guy" is a negative. After all both OK and LB had huge hockey backgrounds.
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"Embrace and savor the moment." -- WF
My personal favorite was we were trading Vinny to Toronto because of the players we dumped on the Leafs last year (the Heward trade) for a draft pick and prospect and that "We owed them."
Oh yes, how could I forget about that one? Also heard that if the Isles drafted Hedman and we had the opportunity to take Tavares, we were going to trade the 2nd overall pick to the Leafs because we "owed them" for taking our salary. We apparently were going to get Schenn in return.
Like someone said earlier, it wouldn't be a normal day in Tampa without Vinny rumors. We all should be somewhat immune to it by now.
As far as sports coverage goes in the Bay area, Roy Cummings was the best Lightning beat writer when the franchise first started but now he's been moved over to the Bucs where you can't say anything bad otherwise the Glazer's won't let you on the Bucs playground anymore. St. Pete Times is far better than the Tribune's 2-page sports which isn't surprising. The Tribune owns Channel 8 which dropped Chris Thomas and every other sportscaster when they deemed sports not important enough and that we needed more weather coverage so I moved over to Channel 28 which isn't really that great either meaning what you saw at 6pm you can see at 11 also. Channel 13 and 10 are in la-la-land so...yeah....The Bay Area has pretty much crap for sports coverage!
As far as Lecavalier goes, I think he needs to go on his own terms and not in our Conference if he decides to. Last thing we need is another Dan Boyle-Brad Richards fiasco with a new owner. It probably would be better for the Lightning in the long run, but if it's not done properly, then the Lightning's done IMO.
I heard the same type of **** about how Brad Richards didn't have wingers and they needed to trade him because he was supposed to make his winger better. We have the same situation with Lecavalier and people want to give him a 'pass'.
A couple of points here. Rock Riley is a great guy, a good reporter, and one of the most liked people in media circles in this town. That being said, (and I say this liking and respecting him) he probably has no clue about the hockey news report or much of what is going on with the ownership situation . I never got the impression with him that hockey was up there in terms of knowledge. I know that is the case with a lot of people in this town.
Also, something to keep in mind here. A lot of you probably didn't even know either who Rock Riley was or that he had a radio show. In the world of low advertising budgets, he did his job to a tee today. If he gains one listener off of those comments, it was worth it to him. It may not always be fair to the people involved or right (and I am not saying he was being malicious in his comments, he doesnt have a malicious bone in his body) but good hosts gain listeners by throwing crazy crap against the wall and watching the phone lines light up like a Christmas tree with people wanting to tell you what a dumbass you are. You call them an idiot, hang up on them, repeat, and watch as you win in the ratings. There is an afternoon host in this town that has it perfected.
As for Vinny not waiving his no trade clause, in my opinion, don't think for a second he wouldn't waive it for the right opportunity. I dont give a damn what Sportsnet claims.
Getting 10 million to sit in the pressbox is great for you and me but any player who has an ounce of respect for themself or the game will want to play.
The building is empty while Lecavalier is still on the team so what difference would it make if he's traded? Fans, especially Lightning fans are idiots, the second the Lightning stop being an embarrassment they will come back. Maybe not the ones who jumped on the wagon June 7th 2004 but alot of them.
I'm fine with Lecavalier on the team, but if it costs us Stamkos/Hedman in the future or we turn into what Atlanta will be if they re-sign Kovalchuk I will be disappointed. But then again I freely admit I root for the crest on the front, not the name on the back. I've been a Lightning fan long before Vinny and will be one long after.
LOL, Hedman or Stamkos?
I'd give away Hedman for free to keep Vinny.
He is one the best players in the NHL. Bad streaks and the area don't give him the credit he deserves.
Plus the idiots around here thinking we'd be better off without him are insane.
The Lightning and Vinik can be as selfish as they want too. Don't want to say yes to a trade? Okay, you're a healthy scratch until you do. There are probably other things that can be done too.
Yeah, that will work well. Shortly we'll be receiving our renewel notices and possibly attempts to sell us playoff tickets (gasp). Meanwhile the captain / face of the franchise and theoretically most talented player is in the pressbox because he actually WANTS to play for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Common sense excludes the benching scenario, at least until early next season. If Vincent (on the trade board, someone was extremely upset with people calling him Vinny) really wants to stay, he will sit a game out to make ownership look like fools.
