We can try to be dispassionate and logical about Vincent Lecavalier's decision to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers instead of his hometown team, but I understand the anger felt by some fans, and the scorn aimed in his direction. Sure, he got more money out of Philly, but really, his financial security is not in question. He could have been a legend in Montréal, whereas now he'll be kind of Pierre Turgeon, a good scorer who kind of bounced around the league and won't have a real legacy. I'm irked that he wasn't more daring, and that wearing the bleu-blanc-rouge in Montréal on a Saturday night didn't mean more to him than that.
I keep telling myself that Vincent was born in 1980, so he missed the Stanley Cups in the seventies, and probably doesn't remember the playoff wars with the Flyers in the 80's, so he doesn't have the same emotions I do with respect to either jerseys, but I'm still disappointed. It's not as if he chose the Bruins, but almost as bad. The Flyers are the worst offenders when it comes to goonery and anti-hockey, and he shouldn't legitimize them by agreeing to their terms.
Sure, $22.5M over five years is a lot of cake, but he should have seized the opportunity, wrangled a bit more from Marc Bergevin if the $3M for 3 years offer was just too low, come to an agreement.
He should have manned up and worn the 44 with an A on his chest, and later possibly a C. Instead, he went to the town that booed Santa Claus and that really goes for hockey when the Eagles are out of it and the Sixers are struggling. Clearly, he messed up.
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