I admit I didnt really know anything about him before he came back but in the few games he played i can see that hes very talented, but the off ice **** ruines it for any team that woukd want him
Double standard is a double standard. Last I checked nobody forced Rick Nash to sign a huge extension in Columbus in 2009 when they were playing decent. But he did because all he cared about was money. But he's allowed to be lazy and not play up to his capabilities because his team stinks "come on it must be hard to be stuck on such a lousy team". It is interesting how when Canadians pull stuff like this it's acceptable.. like when Dany Heatley wanted out of Atlanta. "It's understandable, the guy just needs a fresh start" is what everyone in Ottawa says. Years later he pulls the same schtick and he's a super-villain despite not having killed anyone this time.
How is it a double standard? Do you know what double standard means?
He's not exactly Patrik Elias, I'll say that much.
Of course, people lumping him in with Aleksey Morozov are also wrong. Radulov's a first line player in the NHL. He's not a great one (if he hadn't jumped the pond, he wouldn't exactly have been displacing Marty St Louis, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Hossa, Sharp, Marleau, Skinner, Gaborik from a few years ago...maybe not even James Neal now or Semin a few years back, though both of those are arguable), but Radulov is legitimately good enough to fill the #1 wing role, even with the warts in his game.
Aleksey Morozov is a washout who was never good enough to stick. Radulov's definitely not that.
I don't get why people seem to get all butthurt about him leaving the NHL and turn it into a slight against his character. The KHL is not a beer league, and the gap between it an the NHL is understated. He signed a 4 year deal worth 9M per, he'd get maybe 6M in the NHL. We can talk about whether or not it's OK to be "in it for the money", but to me the bottom line is that in the blink of any eye your career can end, and leaving 12M on the table like that is a risky move. I'd understand the argument if he went to the KHL and got 6.5 per, but we're talking a 12 million dollar difference over 4 years (even more with the lockout). That's without getting into the quality of life side of it. He's playing at home, in a league he's familiar with, in a culture he knows, and a language he knows.
Say you're working for a NA company, the second best company in their industry, and you're one of their top guys. A Russian rival to your firm, the undisputed best in the world in the same industry, offers you 6M in salary to come work for them in Russia. Your current company offers you 9 million in salary to stay at home. That's how Radulov would see this. Stay at home and make 9M, or go halfway across the world for 6M. In his shoes (like the NA vs Russian company example), I'd do the same.
The fact is that while being hurt and not having played on the small ice in years, he was Nashville's best player by far. After which Nashville pulled one of the stupidest moves in the history of hockey by benching their best two players after they were 15 min late for curfew while being down in a playoff series. With stupidity like that running the team, no wonder he wanted out of there.
Is Radulov the best player in the world? No. Is he one of the top forwards playing hockey right now, absolutely. Guys like Semin and Datsyuk and Kovalev are more skilled then Radulov but what people don't really know about him is his amazing hockey vision, hockey IQ and an unquenchable fire to score, win and be the hero.
It's funny how people here accuse him of being a coward or not playing hard when he is known to be a no fear, play your ass off kind of player in the KHL.
All you guys who discount the accomplishments of guys like Radulov and Morozov in the KHL are just ignorant. There is great hockey out side of the NHL that requires a different skill set and it's nobody's fault but your own that you guys are ignorant of it. For example Kiril Koltsov is one of the best offensive defensemen in the world and what percentage of HFboards even knows who he is?
Canuck fans bring him up every so often and dream of what could of been..... (I still create him in EA games)
Bundles of offensive skill, bad skating, defensive liability, bad attitude. Overrated by Russian homers and underrated by North American nationalistic mini Don Cherry's.
Where is this label coming from ? Radulov skates very awkwardly perhaps but it is certainly not one of his weaknesses. In the NHL standard he is a good skater at minimum. He has decent agility, quick feet and speed, lacks maybe a bit of balance though.
So you seriously believe everybody who isn't an idiot would rather live in the US than their own home country? Really?! Even by "objective" standards, I don't see a particular reason why someone who clearly enjoys living in the country he was born in would prefer to live in a small town (compared to Moscow) as an immigrant, getting paid multiple times less than what he's currently getting. As an immigrant to Canada myself, I'm clearly biased towards that move overseas, but even with such bias I somehow manage to see other people's viewpoints might differ from mine.
No. I think everyone who's not an idiot would rather take their career to the highest level in the U.S., than stay in their own country given the opportunity. It's silly to say that it's merely a preference of country, and discount any possible career or attitude related motivations.
If you want to say he's in it for the money, fine, say he's in it for the money. It's also possible that he'd rather be a big fish in a smaller pond, than just another fish in the ocean. Both of these make more sense to me than "he likes Russia better." Neither of them are exactly noble, however.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryker
And the level of hockey is not "much higher" in the NHL. It's higher, but I guess you haven't seen a KHL game before if you think the difference is that pronounced.
Quite right, the level of hockey is higher in the NHL, the prestige of the stanley cup is much greater than the Gagarin cup, and it all comes with an added bonus: you're very much less likely to die travelling to, or playing in an NHL game than a KHL game.
No. I think everyone who's not an idiot would rather take their career to the highest level in the U.S., than stay in their own country given the opportunity. It's silly to say that it's merely a preference of country, and discount any possible career or attitude related motivations.
If you want to say he's in it for the money, fine, say he's in it for the money. It's also possible that he'd rather be a big fish in a smaller pond, than just another fish in the ocean. Both of these make more sense to me than "he likes Russia better." Neither of them are exactly noble, however.
Quite right, the level of hockey is higher in the NHL, the prestige of the stanley cup is much greater than the Gagarin cup, and it all comes with an added bonus: you're very much less likely to die travelling to, or playing in an NHL game than a KHL game.
Why is that, exactly? Not everyone on the planet prefers to live abroad in a VERY different culture far away from home while making less money in a dull city (compared to Moscow, that is).
Noble blah blah etc, why is it deemed more noble to play for less abroad than making a lot of money in his native country close to his entire family and childhood friends?
Why is that, exactly? Not everyone on the planet prefers to live abroad in a VERY different culture far away from home while making less money in a dull city (compared to Moscow, that is).
Noble blah blah etc, why is it deemed more noble to play for less abroad than making a lot of money in his native country close to his entire family and childhood friends?
Yeah, I'm sure he gives a single **** about his childhood friends. He flies them in to Moscow for every game from Nizhny Tagil. Those reasons make more sense for me because even everyone defending him says "he makes more money in Russia."
Why don't we all just say it: he's doing it for one reason, the money. Now why is that all of a sudden such a noble pursuit?
Yeah, I'm sure he gives a single **** about his childhood friends. He flies them in to Moscow for every game from Nizhny Tagil. Those reasons make more sense for me because even everyone defending him says "he makes more money in Russia."
Why don't we all just say it: he's doing it for one reason, the money. Now why is that all of a sudden such a noble pursuit?
Or maybe he's doing it because he just don't like it in America.
The silly notion that everyone who doesn't WANT to play in the NHL is a greedy second rate player is incredibly tiresome.
Quite right, the level of hockey is higher in the NHL, the prestige of the stanley cup is much greater than the Gagarin cup, and it all comes with an added bonus: you're very much less likely to die travelling to, or playing in an NHL game than a KHL game.
I heard Russia planned to send a monkey to Mars... A cushy job
Or maybe he's doing it because he just don't like it in America.
The silly notion that everyone who doesn't WANT to play in the NHL is a greedy second rate player is incredibly tiresome.
Then why would you bring up the fact that he's making more money to support your argument?
Then why would you bring up the fact that he's making more money to support your argument?
His choice was mercenary at best.
Maybe because while it probably wasn't Radulov's only consideration I am pretty sure like every other professional athlete on earth money did factor into his decision of where he was going to play.
That might make Radulov a mercenary but it certainly doesn't make him much different than most other hockey players. Based on this past summer he certainly wasn't the only player on Nashville's playoff roster who is/was a 'mercenary'.
Last edited by CoolForumNamePending: 11-15-2012 at 12:40 PM.
I think hes highly underrated because he plays in the KHL and not the NHL. Yet he seems a lil off, a lil crazy at times and no restrictions. Idk if hes a top 10 player... its hard to judge those things but I do believe hes one of the best in the world.
Maybe because while it probably wasn't Radulov's only consideration I am pretty sure like every other professional athlete on earth money did factor into his decision of where he was going to play.
The difference being that while Lebron gets lambasted for being the sell-out he is, Radulov isn't because, apparently, he wanted to play in front of childhood friends, or some ****.
Bottom line, the most important factor wasn't the hockey. Why should he therefore be respected from a hockey standpoint?
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoolForumNamePending
That might make Radulov a mercenary but it certainly doesn't make him much different than most other hockey players. Based on this past summer he certainly wasn't the only player on Nashville's playoff roster who is/was a 'mercenary'.
Perhaps I should point this out to people: why tu quoque, or "you/them too" is a bad argument is because it's equally possible for two or more people from different demographics to be pieces of ****. You have established that Radulov, while a mercenary(exactly what I said he was), is not exactly unique in this regard. Others have said that it's also not because he's Russian.
Congratulations: not one thing I said depended on Radulov being unique, or Russian.
The difference being that while Lebron gets lambasted for being the sell-out he is, Radulov isn't because, apparently, he wanted to play in front of childhood friends, or some ****.
Bottom line, the most important factor wasn't the hockey. Why should he therefore be respected from a hockey standpoint?
Because even if the most important factor wasn't hockey (which I'm not saying it wasn't), he plays good hockey. That's why he should be respected from a hockey standpoint. Because hockey is not religion, where morals are made up and people sheepishly parrot to others this is how things should be.
Because even if the most important factor wasn't hockey (which I'm not saying it wasn't), he plays good hockey.
IT WAS FOR THE MONEY. He's a good player, but he's still a sell-out, a mercenary, and in my opinion, a man without principle. Kovalev was a great player. He also happened to be lazy. Is it not possible to consider his lazyness because he was a great player?
When you have kids are you going to tell them "whenever you do something in this life, do it for the money."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryker
Because hockey is not religion, where morals are made up and people sheepishly parrot to others this is how things should be.
The only people parroting anything in this thread in the last day or so has been you and the rest of the Radulov backers.
I wonder, how many of you who are tripping over yourselves to say that Radulov is just the same as any other sell-out, will support those other sell outs with such fervor?
IT WAS FOR THE MONEY. He's a good player, but he's still a sell-out, a mercenary, and in my opinion, a man without principle. Kovalev was a great player. He also happened to be lazy. Is it not possible to consider his lazyness because he was a great player?
When you have kids are you going to tell them "whenever you do something in this life, do it for the money."
The only people parroting anything in this thread in the last day or so has been you and the rest of the Radulov backers.
I wonder, how many of you who are tripping over yourselves to say that Radulov is just the same as any other sell-out, will support those other sell outs with such fervor?
Assumptions and false accusations aside, what are you talking about since 2 days here ?
Tu quoque ? Tu quoque my lol. You've got zero argument to prove what kind of thing really motivated him to go back playing hockey in his own country.
Where is this label coming from ? Radulov skates very awkwardly perhaps but it is certainly not one of his weaknesses. In the NHL standard he is a good skater at minimum. He has decent agility, quick feet and speed, lacks maybe a bit of balance though.
No intention of overhype, just for his skating.
The guy's no speed demon and his stride isn't pretty, but he gets where he needs to be to produce and he's sort of tough to track one on one. Skating's probably not a strength for him, but it's no liability either.
The guy's no speed demon and his stride isn't pretty, but he gets where he needs to be to produce and he's sort of tough to track one on one. Skating's probably not a strength for him, but it's no liability either.
Yep, he's not the fastest out there and skates bizarrely. I didn't agree with people saying he's a bad skater. You're spot on with your last sentence, I guess.
The difference being that while Lebron gets lambasted for being the sell-out he is, Radulov isn't because, apparently, he wanted to play in front of childhood friends, or some ****..
Radulov hasn't been critized? The same people defending Radulov in this thread were criticizing Lebron in/on another thread/message board? I am not sure what your point is here. Is your point anyone who has ever left one team to take what they thought was a better offer from another team is a sellout? If so that's cool. At least your consistant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NotProkofievian
Bottom line, the most important factor wasn't the hockey. Why should he therefore be respected from a hockey standpoint?
Because he is pretty good at it and has accomplished more in it than the vast majority of people who have ever played the game. Besides that when it comes to hockey maybe he has decided he values helping to build/legitimize a league in Russia or being available to play in the WC every spring over the NHL and Stanley Cup. Maybe he rather be the undisputed 'go to guy' on a team that will be expected to spend/contend for championships every year and not 'just' a 1st liner even if it means playing in a league that isn't considered the best. I am sure to many here those ideas seem crazy (perhaps even to me) but who are we to tell someone what they should value or want to accomplish in their life and/or career.
With that being said Radulov seems a bit well... I dunno... Who knows what he's really thinking or wants.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NotProkofievian
Perhaps I should point this out to people: why tu quoque, or "you/them too" is a bad argument is because it's equally possible for two or more people from different demographics to be pieces of ****. You have established that Radulov, while a mercenary(exactly what I said he was), is not exactly unique in this regard. Others have said that it's also not because he's Russian.
So we agree then that 'mercenary' players is the rule and not the exception? If this is the case we can also probably agree that it is not worth getting bent out of shape everytime a player bolts a team (or league) to take what they think is a better offer/situation. I get Nashville fans being upset, but fans of other teams being mad about it is weird.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NotProkofievian
Congratulations: not one thing I said depended on Radulov being unique, or Russian.
I never said you did but I will happily take your kudos anyway.
Last edited by CoolForumNamePending: 11-15-2012 at 02:52 PM.
