Found this on Kelowna.com. It's an interesting little tidbit that might offer a little more insight as to why Sammy left Detroit..When asked why he decided to leave the Red Wings, with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 2008, Samuelsson hinted that he felt like he was in a bit of a rut in the Motor City.
“I felt my role there was a little stuck, like maybe second or third line."
“I felt my role there was a little stuck, like maybe second or third line."
Sammy at first told TSN this about the signing...
"Obviously that (the money) was the key, I shouldn't lie."
Turns out that the lucrative contract wasn't the only thing that chased Mikael "William Tell" Samuelsson out of the Winged-Wheel jersey; he was sick of getting second or third line minutes.
So are we to assume that Sammy thinks that he deserves a top line spot on a different team? He may be getting his wish while playing with the twins in Vancouver...but really?
This was a guy who was nearly out of the league a couple years ago. Nobody wanted him until Ken Holland signed him in Detroit. Now the guy, who bounced around between 5 teams from 2000-2005 and has never scored more than 50 points, gets out of the best organ-i-zation in sports because he gets stuck in the second or third line? Give me a break.
A little harsh reaction? Maybe. But Sammy is probably in for a rude awakening in what it means to be a "product of the system"...anyone else remember Martin Lapointe?
Barley, and that's the point. Of all the players who have left the Wings for greener pastures (or other reasons), only two has come out with any success. Mike Knuble and Kozlov. For everyone else, it was downhill from there.
ReplyDeleteThink Lapointe, Fedorov, Dandenault, Anders Eriksson, Devereaux, Schneider, and others.