The Hockey News has been "hit or miss" lately. I guess journalism as a whole has become "hit or miss". Overall, the article isn't too bad, but he could have left the last sentence out. It went from teetering on "fair" to "hey, I just put myself into my own story and gave you an opinion you should take as gospel". Everyone has an opinion nowadays; the need to compete with blogs and message boards sickens me.
I think it's pretty sad that a guy who has given the club a number of good seasons, has to the best of any of our knowledge, never been a distraction in the locker room, who the majority of us thought was a steal when the arbitrator awarded $4.35 over two years not $4.35 per, was considered an integral part of the team and someone management should 'mortgage the farm' for, is now being criticised so heavily by the fans purely because he wants to 'suck it and see' before commiting to the club into his UFA years.
He's was robbed of being drafted first for really no good reason, has been paired with pylons and underpaid.
After the comments I've been reading since he signed his one year deal I'm sure some Florida fans will agree with Campbell and I don't think Bouwmeester deserves this backlash.
He may have been compared to Pronger style-wise, but he's not doing to Florida what Pronger did to Edmonton, but the negativity has started full force from some quarters.
If he doesn't want to stay he doesn't want to stay. End of.
People change their place of work all the time.
Last season was not up to the standard of his previous season, but he skated more minutes than any other dman, against opponent's top lines and regularly shorthanded, than any other skater in the NHL and that was on the back of off season hip surgery.
I don't think the guy owes anyone here a damn thing and it's such a shame people resort to pulling apart every lapse, every mistake, every decision to finess his way around the rink instead of smash his way around, when they'd be over the moon had he signed long term.
I agree with a lot of what the THN writter says, but to say that he won't be a star is going little too far.
The hype has been too much, and thus far he has not lived up to it nor put up the numbers to make it legit. The fact that he has never played a single playoff game at the junior level or the NHL level could not be good for his development. But at 24/25 he still has time and I think with a better team he can reach his potential and be closer to the star he was to be, play with more confidence etc.
The hype has been a bit much. Jay is a terrific skater, and has the "potential" to be a star, but doesn't appear to have the personality of one.
So unless he transforms himself, I don't think he's worth the money, the press, the agony of wondering what to do.
Ever see Dion Phanuef in an interview?
Ever see Jay in an interview?
2 completely different people and styles.
If it's Dion that Jay wants to compare himself to, then he has a long way to go, and should be about 2 million shy of Dion's salary. Kind of like where he is now.
Honestly I don't think of him as someone who is "hyped" per se. You don't see tons of articles or coverage on him on tv or anything.
Now has the Florida media overhyped him or maybe the drafting/HF style coverage? Maybe, and keep in mind that being overhyped does not include how many trade proposals he's in on here.
That said, he's not overhyped as a skater or as a highly touted defenseman for his age. He does a great job night in and night out for such a workload. Let's not forget he isn't exactly in his prime yet either. Those numbers are nothing to sneeze at nor is his defensive skill.
Now does he have the right to leave here? Yes he does. Saying that "oh he's gracious enough to give the Panthers a shot"...well in actuality, that is being pretty gracious. No offense to the management, but if I were Bouwmeester, I wouldn't be all that impressed either. What he's really giving the chance to is JM as just GM and DeBoer's potential impact. That is the last chance he'll give them. And frankly that's as fair as he can be at this point.
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Florida Panthers: 2011-2012 Southeast Division Champions
Overall, the article isn't too bad, but he could have left the last sentence out. It went from teetering on "fair" to "hey, I just put myself into my own story and gave you an opinion you should take as gospel". Everyone has an opinion nowadays; the need to compete with blogs and message boards sickens me.
