Time to Exhale: Jimmy Vesey Picks the Rangers

Last week, I was out on a short vacation. While I was out, I followed the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes from my deck at the summer refuge. When the decision was made last Friday, I have to say that I was shocked. Apparently, on the beat writers from Sabre nation isn’t all too happy with the way things went, and I think he has some really good points here.

Mike Harrington, The Buffalo News --- Let’s not forget this important point: Vesey was not a free agent until midnight on Tuesday. He was Sabres property until then. But that didn’t stop agents Peter Fish and Peter Donatelli from doing numerous media interviews the last month espousing the virtues of what it would be like for Vesey to play in Boston, or in Chicago, or (hmmm) in New York.

That’s shameful stuff right there. The agents should know better.

Vesey’s summer league games were often attended by NHL GMs, with Chicago’s Stan Bowman a regular attendee. Coach Joel Quenneville hit the Wednesday night circuit in Foxborough, Mass., once too. Yes, the games were open to the public and anyone can say they were there to watch anyone. But come on. The optics aren’t good for the Hawks in this one at all. Repeating: You were watching a player who was someone else’s property and just waiting to pounce. Not cool.

We can now relax until the hockey season begin. Finally, collusion? What do you? I guess one could make that case for that.