Where is the 'team'?

It's funny to me that often times professional athletes make comments that have to be smoothed over by someone within their respective organization soon after they are made. Minnesota Wild Assistant General Manager Tom Lynn was given that task today after the local media was graced by Minnesota Wild forward Marian Gaborik, who held a press conference yesterday updating us on his status after his surgical procedure. I have read the sugar coatings dropped by Lynn, and I don't buy them. Maybe instead of hiring what I am sure are high-priced physical therapists and personal trainers, the Wild should consider investing in a personal publicist for Gaborik.

It did not always be like this. The drill had always been that the team came first. You are probably familiar with the phrase, 'there is no I in team'. But somewhere along the way, professional athletes turned their focus and priorities away from the 'team' and turned them to 'I'. Maybe the millions of dollars that were handed to them for doing nothing more than displaying their God-given talent had something to do with it, I am not sure. But what I am sure of is that many pro's like to elevate themselves above the rest, including their own teammates.

We all know the stories. The great receiver did not want to hang around the football field for the remaining moments of his teams loss, so he walked off by himself before the game ended. The upcoming basketball player, on a young and promising team, was upset that he no longer was considered the 'show', so he demanded a trade. And now the latest came from our own hockey player announcing to his teammates, the fans, and anybody else listening, that during his now 55 game absence he has not even watched the Wild play.

"Quite frankly I haven’t really been watching games. I’ve been following the scores but I haven’t been watching games. From my perspective, I just really need to focus on how am I feeling, how everything goes with me and then if everything goes good I’m going to jump in to play".

Unbelievable and downright selfish. And if there is some sort of miss communication, than I beg the Wild to heed my advise and hire someone to help the man.

Marian Gaborik may never play another game wearing a Wild uniform, and that would be fine by me. This latest display only solidifies the notion that Gaborik is in this for himself and not for the team. We all were dealt a hint of this when we listened to the Gaborik camp explain to us the details, reasons, and such, of his decision to undergo his latest procedure. His assessment differed greatly from that of the Wild organization and left us thinking that this procedure could possibly be considered an 'elective' one. It's almost as if the Wild did not think it was a necessary thing to do. And now the comments that he did not even watch his teammates...

I had been one of the Wild fans who really wanted the team to re-sign Gaborik. Now I don't think that would be a good idea. Hockey, for the most part, has been 'behind the times' if you will, with few elitist type athletes. Lets face it, looking over the NFL, NBA, and MLB, the most down to earth professional athletes you can find are in the NHL. You can hear it in their interviews and quotes, and see it in the games. But slowly things are changing with hockey players. I say to Gaborik, 'don't let the door hit you...on your way out'.

Backstrom re-signs

The Wild managed to lock-up goaltender Niklas Backstrom for another 4 years, at a price of $24 million. My first guess was that if the team was able to sign Backstrom, it would have to come at a discount but this does not seem to be the case. Only 4 goaltenders, Luongo (7.500), Kiprusoff(7.000), Lundqvist(6.875), & Miller(6.250), are slated to earn more money starting next season. And the $6 million Backstom will earn next season, is the same figure that Giguere & Nabokov will earn as well. Considering that Backstrom was really the only big asset that the Wild could have used in a trade, you would think that any additional moves made by the Wild will be minor ones at best. Hopefully this off-season the Wild will turn their attention to the offensive side of the rink, as now the net will be occupied by an All-Star, for at least 4 more seasons.