Keep Your WANG Where Your Mouth Is!
Simply put, there is too much Wang slander going on in this forum.
As obscure as the DiPietro signing is there is a lot more to be said…
Note: there was more important news on the day than that signing.…a lot that doesn’t have to do with everything else going on in the league.
Every simple discussion turns into a Wang remark.
People quit playing with your Wangs.
Here is the Facts, DiPietro came off of a career year. He got 30 wins for the first time in his career, on a garbage team, in a year when the rules were as clear as mudd. Fluke, maybe, but I doubt it.
Yes, his GAA and Save% took a hit, but then so did almost every goalies. But in a year with every goalies declining numbers and the favor being tilted back towards the offensive side of the game , this young guy stood on his head, pulled of a career year, which would be harder for goalies then the rest of the posiotions.
Again, he pulled off 30 wins, on the Island.
That says a lot for him.
Furthermore, last playoffs proved that the emphasis on goaltending is relaxing as decent teams found that they can get by on slightly above average goaltending, and a decent shut down defense. Not to flashy but it works, especially with the new emphasis on a transitions style game.
So Wang, locking in a improving goaltender, who was scouted to be better than Luongo – hence the trade, for the duration of his career with outs for injuries, early retirement and retaining the ability to trade, is not such a bad idea.
It is a visionary move. The question remains is Wang’s vision blurred.
That being said, as shocking as the term is, it works out to 4.25-4.5M depending on your source. And doesn’t in anyway constrain the team’s finances.
So as the news is shocking, a little, the constant references to the Wang deal can be dropped, and not mentioned everytime something does or doesn’t happen. The comments were ammusing at first but, boring after the second time you’ve read them.
Take a further note that Wang is taking notes from other GMs. The Blue Jackets contoversially signed Nash to a 5 year 25 million dollar deal, before he ‘proved’ he deserved it. All Wang did was take an up and comer, like Nash, and sign him to a longer term. Remember, for whatever reason, DiPietro LOVES it on the Island. So he is getting a good hard competitor whom is dedicated strictly to the team, for the duration of his career, seemingly no questions asked. Not to Stupid when you look at it. Other GMs are only pissed because they are not necessarilly in the same position.
AND by the way the bigger and more important news on the day was Flyers GM Bob Clarke, quietly- due to DiPeitro’s shocker, tendering the first Offer sheet to a Restricted Free Agent – Ryan Kesler or the Vancouver Canucks. Kesler, according to TSN, had been tendered an offer of last years salary by the Canucks to retain his rights, and were actually just using that to work out a deal around 850,000. Clarke, who tried to trade for him last summer, offered him 1.9 million. The Canucks, knowing of Clarkes intentions, said they would match, and now only have 1 million left under the cap after signing Kesler.
This was the first time in 8 years since this was done, and ten years since it was done with prominent players Joe Sakic and Sergei Federov, by the Rangers and Hurricanes respectively.
(see TSN.CA for the article).
Again, Clarke breaks the mold for the NHL GM and goes out of bounds. Thus far the GMs and owners had quietely had an agreement not to tender RFAs and pick at each others corpses like vultures, now that all has changed. This was surprisingly late, as many thought there would have been a flurry of such signings this summer.
This could effectively drive the cost of business up, or at least make the ability to retain stars a little harder, as costs are fix at 54% of league earnings on player salaries with wages garnished by escrew payments if teams go over.
That can have HUGE GI-NORMOUS impacts compared to the obscure signing of DiPietro.
So Please, Keep your Wangs where your mouth is, and get to real hockey talk.
Hit Me.
30 Responses to Keep Your WANG Where Your Mouth Is!
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Honestly, I am surprised that there havn’t been a lot more Offer Sheet offers to good quality restricted free agents, this time around. Clarke did the right thing. You may see more of these in the future.
As far as Wang is concerned, let’s just leave him on the island, isolated as he is.
Poor Garth Snow. He unfortunately suffers from dyslexia and was heard at the press conference muttering over and over “Gawd, such and IDIOT, 15 million over 6 years….15 million over 6 YEARS”
First off, the article title has the gayest conotation that I have ever heard…. and not only that, you might be the gayest individual for trying to justify this terrible signing. I dont care if your Ovechkin, Crosby, anyone…. You do not sign a player for 15 years cause it takes one hit to end someones career. Maybe not force them to retire, but players like Lindros who seriously downgraded after all his concussions… What if Dipietro gets injured next year and it lingers and he plays like 40 games over the next 3 seasons…. is that someone u want for 15 years getting paid 4.5 million dollars, ***** THAT.
Ha, gayest individual, funny stuff.
You can debate DiPietro’s abilities in any possible way, but one thing that cannot be denied, is that although he is promising, he has yet to prove beyond doubt that he will live up to the expectation of a premier goaltender. There certainly have been glimpses of it, but there are no assurances. And therein lies the issue…
From a financial standpoint, considering inflation, and tendencies of player salaries, even with a CBA that will certainly drive back the prices once it goes above 54% of the league intake (as it surely will if the trend continues) signing a starting goaltending to a lifetime contract of $4.5M/year is brilliant. The price is certainly manageable for cap purposes, and it is not prohibitive for any budget. I have yet to say anything bad about the monetary side of this contract, because it certainly has the potential to be brilliant. If things did escalate further as far as salaries go, DiPietro in the long run could be the most underpaid starting goaltender some long years from now.
The issue is practicality. The problem is that the amount of players in history that have demonstrated a worth of an entire career of consistency and high performance are extremely few. If in retrospect all of Gretzky, Lemieux, Hull, Sakic, Yzerman and the like could have been signed from the beginning to reasonable amounts and career contracts, all owners would have done so. There is a reason why GMs typically at most 5-7 year contracts when they are set on a player. They look at the long history of a player and look for consistency in order to make such a decision and investment. DiPietro, simply put, does not have enough worthy history to make a calculated decision of a 7-year contract, let alone one that more than doubles that length. And the risks are all on Wang’s side. For example, I am completely supportive to paying out the entire contract of a player whose career ends because of injury. That is manageable even in a 7-year contract, but not a 15-year contract. If DiPietro were to end his career three years from now due to injury, Wang would be out a ridiculous amount of money. And I personally feel that goaltenders with the new rules, are very prone to being injured and I believe certain rules should be changed because the goaltenders are too vulnerable as is. But that is a different subject.
As I mentioned in another post, it is impractical and impossible to predict the output of a player for an entire career. And I believe this is reflected in drafted players. If half the players that come into the draft panned out to be true NHLers, the league would be in constant change of personnel and the prices of players would be low, because of a long list of players waiting to do the same job at an entry-level cost. And I am talking about 50% predictability; I am not even trying to come to business-sense odds like 6-sigma and the like (for those who understand business production models). We are talking about the same odds of flipping a coin, here. And that is just trying to figure out a young player’s worth in three-years time.
Trying to predict 15 years worth of output from a young goaltender, who has yet to prove he belongs among the top goaltenders in the league, is simply put moronic, irresponsible to the team, and an unimaginable business risk. I am not even going to touch the possibility of a trade, or a buyout, or any of a number of other views into this, but I can assure you that other than the averaged salary if DiPietro does become a bona-fide top goaltender in the league for his entire career (and what a big if at a position that is so hard to get long-term anything from players), this contract is a very bad and risky venture from every point of view, especially from the business sense.
Other than that, Wang did a wonderful job with the contract.
PS I do agree that the boneheaded move by Clarke is far more important news. Wang’s move only really affects the Islanders in a negative way, whereas Clarke’s has many unconstructive ramifications for the rest of the league throughout.
Well said, best post on this issue thus far.
i personally keep my wang and my mouth very far from eachother
unfortunately me too.
Unless your name is Marilyn Manson, and you have a rib medically removed, it’s damn near impossible to keep your wang near your mouth. If you want to talk about Bob Clarke and Ryan Kessler, Go to the HTR FEATURE ARTICLE “Ryan Kessler a Flyer if Canucks don’t Match” and talk about it all you want. This article was almost as retarded as all those “Sleeper Pick” articles.
I agree with your statements, but one. Nash had won the Rocket Richard trophy by the time he signed the 5 year deal. Was it a fluke? Not by his output with the limited season he played last year.
this contract is a very bad and risky venture from every point of view, especially from the business sense.
Other than that, Wang did a wonderful job with the contract.
Other than it being a bad and risky veture, he did a good job! Isn’t that like saying other than the fact the DiPietro sucks and cannot stop a beach ball, he’s a great goaltender!
This signing is flat out the worst signing in the history of pro sports. This guy is not the next patrick Roy! He’s a 25 year old who has been mediocre from the beginning. This signing would be like the Leafs signing Antropov to a 15 year 4.5 mil contract. He was a first rounder, why not do it? If he turns out to be a superstar and the economics of the league increase astronomically, he’d be a great deal!
I guess I shoud point it out to you, because you were to focused on hiding your own sexual orientation, that I wrote that there was an out for major injury or career threatening injury, as it was reported.
So other than hiding in the closet, while portraying a homophobe, why don’t you re-read the article Princess.
There is no out if he plays but sucks becuase of injury which is what i was talking about.. and by they way HE SUCKS WITHOUT INJURY
I have my own theory on how this contract got signed…
Garth Snow, seeing he was condamned to be second string for what was left of his career made a pact with Dipietro. Here’s what he told Dipietro…
“I’m gonna retire and take advantage of Wang’s stupidity to take the GM job. After that, I’ll give you a huge stupid contract IF you give me 15% of it for the next 15 years!”
Have you seen the handshake and the hug at the press conference… That’s the sign of a pact!!!
Try and prove me wrong…
I kept that in mind.
And as the Richard trophy was important, it spoke volumes to Nash’s worth, while at the same time, DiPietro put up respectable numbers on the team he was given. Not that he won the Vezina, at which point many critics might be a little less vocal, but respectable all the same.
Luongo never won a Vezina, but he got a huge contract, nobody said anything. In fact he too, just won 30+ games for the first time in his career. So as DiPietro was found by the Islanders to be of better value, and having made 30 wins himself isn’t too much of a long shot when you compare the numbers. Luongo had a better Save % and GAA, but he has never been in the playoffs let alone the chance to prove he can perform there.
Like DiPietro. So when you take in the whole picture it is not too scary, if you have the money.
Bottom line is DiPeitro, like Luongo, as someone on radio yesterday (I think Kyprios, but I’m not sure) said, “faces more rubber than a hooker on saturday night” the jury will still be out. But if the Islanders even manage to get one Stanley Cup in his presumabely 15 year reign, then it is probably worth it.
At least they are showing some dedication they want to compete.
On a Side note I think DiPietro should work in a gimmick with his helmets where he puts a tally mark on the side for each year he makes it.
Just a thought.
LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Why doesn’t that comment surprise me if it did in fact come from Kyprios? LOL
I think your point about the difference between Luongo and DiPietro is a valid one as well. I think, however, the difference is that Luongo has been the more consistant one of the two. The fact that he has represented Canada and done relatively well, where as DiPietro did seemingly fall on his face when he had a chance to represent the US.
If I recall this was at the World Cup a couple of years ago when that happened. Therefore the perception that Luongo is the better of the two is why there really wasn’t the outcry for his salary.
I can understand your frustration at all of the reporting of this, if you are an Isles fan. But you’ve got to face the facts: This is a very big sports story. It was plastered all over every big sports website, when it happened, ESPN, TSN, you name it.
There are many fundamental problems with a guaranteed deal of that length. Not the least of which, is that not many goalies in the history of the league have played well, into their late 30’s, and early 40’s. Which is what they are gambling on, with DiPietro.
And look at the situation with Yashin. With Yashin, they are paying franchise player-type money to a guy who is not a franchise player. What if DiPietro’s performance drops off, or has chronic injury issues that affect his play? You just never know. Then, you are really up a creek. In a salary cap era, this move just makes no sense at all.
There is a BIG difference from the Nash contract. First, Nash actually is a proven player. He is a power forward, and his deal with carry through his most effective years. He is a solid 40 goal scorer, and when healthy, will compete for the Richard Trophy. With DiPietro…you have a player who is a solid overall goalie, but is definitely not a superstar who can carry his team. And you don’t know if that will actually happen or not. And seeing as how there is a 10 year difference, from Nash’s contract to DiPietro’s…it’s very silly comparing the two. Bottom line is, no contract in the NHL compares to DiPietro’s. Except for Yashin’s. And we know how that is turning out.
DiPietro is a good competitor, yes. And considering that the Isles have guaranteed him a paycheck for the rest of his career….he’d better be the most competitive goalie in the history of the league, because he no longer has that big contract to gun for. Which is what a lot of NHL players strive for. Maybe it’ll happen and he’ll bring the Isles a few Stanley Cups. At that price, it had better happen.
This is a colossal risk on Wang’s part. He looks at DiPietro as a pure investment. But in the sports world, there are so many risks, especially as DiPietro gets older, you have to wonder at the sanity of this.
I figured that would come up, and yes your right in international play.
Luongo is actually a Olympic gold medalist. I won’t bother chekcing World Cup, but I wouldn’t be surpriesed if he had one or more.
I’m not saying Luongo isn’t better, just that they are comparable. And that is noted in the 2 million dollar difference in salary.
I responded to the same stuff in a previous reply below.
Other than that, it was an excellent play, said Mrs. Lincoln.
The sarcasm of my reference to the contract as a whole was lost in you, even though you understood the contradiction. I thought it was obvious enough, especially considering the context of the entire post, but apparently it was not.
You took it as face value, and it was not meant that way. Sorry that you missed it. Hopefully others will pick it up, and if not at least now they have these posts to clarify that line for them.
There you go talking about sucking again.
And chek yor punKuation and GrAHMer, because what you wrote makes little CENTS.
You are right, the stats do show that they are comparable. I’m just saying the PERCEPTION is that Luongo is currently the better of the 2 at this point in time.
Luongo hasn’t won Olympic Gold (yet, he will start for Canada in 2010). World Championship Gold (2x), World Cup Gold, but he was only on the 2006 Canadian Olympic squad which brought home nothing.
Its pretty *****ing sad that when a General Manager, doing his job no less, uses the new rules to his advantage gets blasted by other teams. The NHL is a business, simple as that, Clarke had the balls to do it and why not? Kesler is a very good player, the Flyers certainly could use him on the 3rd line and Vancouver are trying to ***** him over(offering less than entry level contract).
Im very happy Clarke did this and contrary to what everyone thinks, this wont trigger a metric shit ton of offer sheets in the following years… Clarke just showed again how much he wants to Flyers to succeed, he doesn’t give a shit about other GMs, he wants to win, end of the line. And thats how EVERY GM shoudl think.
And btw, read the TSN interview with Clarke about it, everything he says makes 100% sense…
You are stupid, no more, no less
Except that it wasn’t Snow who made the deal but Wang. Maybe he hasn’t mastered english yet.
Milbury tried to sign him to a 15 year $60 million deal before he stepped down. There, I proved you wrong. Here’s a link:
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=177281&hubname=
My apologies, that is quite right.
Somehow, I had confused him with Cujo that year.
Big Dumb stupid mistake on my part.
I appreciate that. I kind of thought that was the case.