Friday, October 31, 2008

Valetenko is just a family guy

Hmm. I'm sort of torn on this. Apparently, Pavel Valetenko supports his entire family on his hockey salary. His Hamilton salary just wasn't cutting it, so he had to go home to make more in the KHL. I can appreciate someone who just wants to do right by his family.

Here are some money quotes about the situation:

- His goal was to play in the NHL, but financially, playing in the AHL wasn't cutting it.
- He came over here to make the NHL. He didn't just run home. He had to do it. He knows he shouldn't have done what he did contractually, but he had to. It's not a Radulov situation.


Those quotes are courtesy of Rolland Hedges, Valetenko's agent. Most agents are lawyers, and most lawyers are full of shit. So those quotes may be suspect, and that's why I'm torn.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Valentenko and his agent explored other options, such as having the Canadiens lend him to Moscow Dynamo for the season, as other teams have done. That way he wouldn't have had to burn his NHL bridges.

mr. gillis said...

what a douche!!! a couple of months ago he was saying his dream is to play in the nhl and now hes going back to the motherland because theres a pile of cash waiting for him.

If a $150 000 a year plus a $60 000signing bonus isn't enough to support a family then most of the people on earth are fucked

Number31 said...

I still think the mob is involved... Geez, poor Tank :/

Anonymous said...

It's at least plausible. In the US, there are young basketball players who support entire families. The sad thing to me is how many of these young kids have been pushed by their families to succeed in sports and get the big contract for that very reason - their parents didn't see them so much as talented kids, but more as a meal ticket. Also why so many sports stars who make a ton of money wind up with nothing later on in life.

Probably the mob, too. Too many factors pulling him in one direction for the kid. :(