July 11, 2001 - The Day Rebuilding Began?
Contributing Writers | Pittsburgh Penguins
Aug 10, 01:38 PM | Hype this story!
_The following has been written by Brian Metzer, a friend of Faceoff Factor’s, who writes for HockeyBuzz.com
Just six years ago the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled off one of the biggest trades in team history. Some would call it the worst.
On July 11, 2001, the Penguins sent Jaromir Jagr, their disgruntled super star, along with Frantisek Kucera to the Washington Capitals for three prospects: Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, Ross Lupaschuk and $4.9 Million dollars.
The Penguins weren’t left with many options in the situation. The team was in a transitional period, Mario Lemieux had just come out of retirement, and they were no longer able to keep up with the NHL Joneses in matters of payroll. The team owed Jagr upwards of $20.7 million over the next two seasons and had to worry about resigning the entire KLS line (Kovalev, Lang, and Straka).
The fact of the matter was that Jagr no longer wanted to be in Pittsburgh. They had to move him or risk creating a locker room pariah. One who had already publicly shown up his coach and seemed to resent the fact that a legend, Lemieux, had returned to much ballyhoo.
Jagr publicly voiced his unrest on numerous occasions.
“I feel like I’m dying alive. ... I don’t feel comfortable here right now,” said Jagr. “It’s not the same for me right now. We’ll see what happens. Maybe I’m going to think about retirement pretty soon.”
Little did Jagr know that “I feel like I’m dying alive” would become the tagline for his time in Pittsburgh. That line stung a fan base that wanted him to be a forever Penguin…it was the line that made a lot of us drink the proverbial kool aid when a deal was consummated.
I wanted to believe that Kris Beech was a “Ron Francis type” when Craig Patrick said it. Or that Michal Sivek would become a strong 2nd or 3rd line center. I even tried to convince myself that Ross Lupaschuck would be a NHL defenseman some day. Unfortunately, all was for not.
The only players who are even left in North America, let alone the NHL are Jagr and Beech. Though Jagr started being Jagr again after several very mediocre years in Washington, Kris Beech never really became Ron Francis. In fact, until recently he could barely crack a NHL line-up.
As Penguin fans, we are forever left to wonder what might have been. Could Jagr have stayed and worked the situation out? Maybe… Did Glenn Sather really offer Mike York, Kim Johnsson and Jan Hlavac, all of which have had some successes at the NHL level? We will never know…
The one thing that is certain about the Jaromir Jagr trade is that it was step one in the rebuilding process that produced Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and the rest of this exciting young team.
It will be the event that changed the dynamic of the organization and though it hasn’t been overnight, it may be the event that brings Lord Stanley back to Pittsburgh
Comments
Ashley
Aug 10, 02:03 PM
Really makes you see how a bad trade could end up being okay in the long run.
I hate to be a stickler about this, but I wanted to ask a question of sorts. You say that it’s been 6 years this Saturday since that trade, which would be August 11th. I’m not sure when the trade actually took place, so I don’t know if it’s July or August, but I thought I’d point out this typo.
Matt Bodenschatz
Aug 10, 02:30 PM
Ashley – that has been fixed. Thanks for the heads up!
And to Brian, welcome aboard — a great article to start (hopefully) a great tenure here at Faceoff Factor. Hope all of your flooding issues have subsided.
Brian Metzer
Aug 10, 02:40 PM
Boy…I am a month behind in my head! Sorry about that…thanks for the heads up.
Glad to finally get things going over here at ff!
B
aard
Aug 11, 07:04 AM
You left out the main reason for the Jagr trade – to make Mario rich. The KLS stuff was a largely a smoke screen. Most of the money saved by dumping Jagr went into a raise for Mario.
The Pens money problems always revolved around Mario and his greed. He quit on team to collect $20 some million for hockey that he never played which helped drive the team into bankruptcy. When he came back, the Pens traded every decent player and cried poor. Mean while he tried to sneak through $5 million for himself under the table to increase his salary to a whopping $10 million. All the while crying poor.
The Mario worshipers like to write Mario out of the Penguins financial problems. But it is his greed that caused much of the Penguins’ problems for the first part of the decade.
Matt Bodenschatz
Aug 11, 10:55 AM
Aard, you have a valid argument, without a doubt. However, I disagree, and will counter your argument with this statement: The Mario detractors like to write about Mario making money and causing the Penguins’ financial problems. But his skills are what enabled this team to be competitive for so long.
Mario is not without fault. He has made many questionable decisions as owner of the team, but suggesting that the best player in the game should make less money simply because he owns the team — well, that’s just ridiculous. Would it have been nice if Mario took a paycut or played for league minimum? Of course, but would you do the same if in his shoes?
I’m not suggesting that everyone should worship Mario — I, a die-hard Penguins fan, don’t even do so — but I am saying that he certainly deserves credit for keeping the team in Pittsburgh on several occasions, regardless of motives and regardless of the on-ice product. I — and the majority of hockey fans — would much rather watch a last place team than watch no team at all.
Everyone has their views, and I respect that — but the reality is that Jagr wanted out long before Mario returned. One of Mario’s big reasons for returning was to try to change Jagr’s mind. It didn’t work. Thanks so much for your comments, and I hope to see you around these parts more often!
Ashley
Aug 11, 11:14 AM
Hey guys
I’m not a ‘Mario worshipper’ either, but I remember hearing a version of the story that was a little different. I heard that Mario deferred millions of his salary in the 1990’s because the team was in such a bad financial position. When he bought the team and came out of retirement, I heard that he only took the average player salary of about $1.5M so that he could pay his union dues and keep his pension.
Did you guys hear something like this, or did someone feed me a bunch of lies?
A
Matt Bodenschatz
Aug 11, 05:35 PM
I can’t answer that for sure, but for those who automatically assume Lemieux is money hungry, here is a piece of information that shows the opposite. News broke a few years ago that Lemieux had paid off every single person the Pittsburgh Penguins owed money to. When he purchased the team, he vowed to do so. Sound greedy? Not to me. That’s an impressive feat that I think few people ever would consider doing, let along follow through on.
DaBich
Aug 14, 11:44 AM
I want to add my two cents worth. I’m not a Mario worshipper either. How many players would have stuck around in their early years as he did? When the team stunk worse than a skunk that got run over by a big Mack truck? That man played hockey in lousy conditions (horrible team mates) and WITH the physical problems he had. They would have quit. Sure, there were weeks without end he complained about it. So what? He’s human. He stuck around. That’s more than I can say for Jagr. Don’t get me wrong. I liked Jagr, he’s a good player. He learned from one of the best. But he doesn’t have the commitment Mario had and HAS for Pittsburgh. That man adopted the city and it became his second home. Nuff said.
DaBich
Aug 14, 11:44 AM
Oh,and by the way, nice job Brian :)
Matt Bodenschatz
Aug 14, 11:58 AM
Good points, Dabich. Mario has shown great dedication to this city, despite threatening to sale to out-of-towners. The fact is, Mario has done what he promised in keeping the team here and, though he did pay himself more than he could have, he still played for far less than he was worth. Plain and simple, he IS the reason this team remains in Pittsburgh, and so I find it a bit difficult to criticize his paychecks.
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