Comments on: Antti Niemi: Stanley Cup-winning goalie doesn't want to play in Europe

By: Hoog

Hoog — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:48:48 +0000

Fair assessment of the situation. While he’s not the next Patrick Roy, there were games during the playoffs where he made the difference, no doubt about it.
What that being said, I don’t think his agent dealt with his best interests at heart. He didn’t read the goalie market right, and I’m sure the Hawks offered some sort of contract, which the agent rejected. Neimi played well this year, but it was only for one year. If the Hawks hadn’t been up against the cap, I’m sure they would have signed him. In my honest opinion, the agent dropped the ball on Niemi. It sure seems that he might have taken a lesser contract to re-sign with the Hawks.
Business is business, and the Hawks did the right thing by getting an proven, albeit older, goalie in Turco, for a cheaper price. Niemi seems like a good kid who was filled with the wrong ideas by Zito.

By: robert

robert — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:39:21 +0000

It is a shame, but I still place the blame in Niemi’s camp. There was plenty of time after the Hjalmarsson resolution before Niemi’s arbitration, and with or without the Sharks stepping in and trying to Hjalmarsson, the writing was certainly on the wall as it pertained to the Hawks salary cap problems.
Niemi overvalued himself out of a job. Not only on the Hawks, it seems, but in the entire league. It’s too bad, because there’s really not much to dislike about Niemi, and his ceiling is still uknown.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 02:13:00 +0000

I’m not sure it’s fair to say Niemi was foolish. He couldn’t have known that five days after filing for arbitration the Sharks would throw a grenade in Stan Bowman’s lap with the $3.5m offer sheet to Hjalmarsson. That offer sheet effectively shipped Niemi out of town as the Hawks were otherwise likely to accept the $2.75m award.
It’s a shame, too. Niemi seems like a good kid and now he’s homeless and without much leverage months after playing a key role for a Stanley Cup championship team. It’s a tough time to be a goalie.

By: robert

robert — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:52:58 +0000

I don’t think it’s fair to say he didn’t steal any games for the Hawks in the playoffs. I think there were at least three games this postseason that could’ve been called a “goalie win.”
Niemi knew the Hawks salary cap position, so it was foolish to head to arbitration, and even more foolish to ask for what he was asking. He should’ve accepted a one-year deal with the Hawks at a lower price, built up his resume, and rolled the dice again next year for a lucrative contract if that’s what he wanted.
Or, he could’ve taken the multi-year contract that was also offered to him by the Hawks. He may be bitter how quickly they went to Turco, but the Hawks appear to have given him options to stay.
I bet he’d take that Turco contract now, though.