Why did we let Don MacLean go?

[wingsrock34 0]

I know he was not a superstar or a rookie but, from what I remembered he played hard on his call up and did what we asked of him. He had a goal and an assist in his 3 games with the wings.

The next year he signed with the Coyotes and started the year with them and I really thought he would do good and get ice time since the Coyotes suck then he was sent down for the rest of the year. They chose not to resign him even though he was about a point a game in the AHL, like he was for us.

Now this is really what I don't get I went over to hockeyDB to see where he was playing since tsn took his profile down and he's not signed by an nhl team or an AHL team he's played for 2 teams this season. The Swiss league and the Austrian league???? Those league's are not even that good. I mean Russian, Sweaden, and even Finland I could understand but I just thought this was weird.

2007-08 Zurich Swiss-A

2007-08 Salzburg EC Aust

Did he have a bad attitude or something? Looking at his profile he has moved around a lot, but that could just be a coincidence.

So does anyone have an answer?

[Legendary D In 03 50]

Bye, bye, Miss American Pie?

[Heaton 1]

Because he's a career minor leaguer.

[wingsrock34 0]

Because he's a career minor leaguer.

Yes. thank you I understand that but he could still be in the AHL at the very least. If he got lucky he could be considered a call up, not playing in B level Europe hockey leagues. I think he had enough talent to play on the 'yotes last year, so I was really wondering if he's got an attitude problem.

[imisssergei 0]

Yes. thank you I understand that but he could still be in the AHL at the very least. If he got lucky he could be considered a call up, not playing in B level Europe hockey leagues. I think he had enough talent to play on the 'yotes last year, so I was really wondering if he's got an attitude problem.

The answer is more $$ and PT most likely.

[wingsrock34 0]

The answer is more $$ and PT most likely.

I know in Russia the hockey deals are tax free, place to live, and a car. I don't know if he would get all that but, is it like that in other countries? I was under the impression that they did not have the money to do things like that.

[imisssergei 0]

I know in Russia the hockey deals are tax free, place to live, and a car. I don't know if he would get all that but, is it like that in other countries? I was under the impression that they did not have the money to do things like that.

I'm not exactly sure what each country is like. However, MacLean wasn't that impressive over here. Typically, guys go overseas to play because they get paid more, and get more PT.

[BeeRYCE 2]

...'Cause he started singing...

Bye, bye Ms. American Pie, drove his chevy to the levee but the levee was dry...

[Winther 6]

I know in Russia the hockey deals are tax free, place to live, and a car. I don't know if he would get all that but, is it like that in other countries? I was under the impression that they did not have the money to do things like that.

My impression (im from sweden) is that you can get more cash in the swiss and austrian league, atleast more then in sweden. During the lockout many NHLers chose between Russia and Switzerland, i think mainly because of money. Theres probably lower taxes in those countries then it is in Finland and Sweden aswell. Money talks..

[Spongewingredpants 75]

I know he was not a superstar or a rookie but, from what I remembered he played hard on his call up and did what we asked of him. He had a goal and an assist in his 3 games with the wings.

The next year he signed with the Coyotes and started the year with them and I really thought he would do good and get ice time since the Coyotes suck then he was sent down for the rest of the year. They chose not to resign him even though he was about a point a game in the AHL, like he was for us.

Now this is really what I don't get I went over to hockeyDB to see where he was playing since tsn took his profile down and he's not signed by an nhl team or an AHL team he's played for 2 teams this season. The Swiss league and the Austrian league???? Those league's are not even that good. I mean Russian, Sweaden, and even Finland I could understand but I just thought this was weird.

2007-08 Zurich Swiss-A

2007-08 Salzburg EC Aust

Did he have a bad attitude or something? Looking at his profile he has moved around a lot, but that could just be a coincidence.

So does anyone have an answer?

very simple answer. The Swiss league is 44 games long and he earned close to 300K playing for Zurich. pretty much a no-brainer. as for the swiss league not being very good. whats your definition of that. Bern for instance packs in 16000 people at every home game, which i believe is still the biggest arena in all of europe.

Edited February 3, 2008 by Spongewingredpants

[Spongewingredpants 75]

My impression (im from sweden) is that you can get more cash in the swiss and austrian league, atleast more then in sweden. During the lockout many NHLers chose between Russia and Switzerland, i think mainly because of money. Theres probably lower taxes in those countries then it is in Finland and Sweden aswell. Money talks..

you are absolutely right!!! i forgot to mention that, plus in Switzerland the travel is kept to a minimum due to the size of the country and you might have on average 2 games a week.

[auxlepli 17]

Odd that this thread started February 3. Or maybe it was on purpose.

[toby91_ca 620]

Here's the brief story:

After junior, he started his career in the NHL at 20 years old (didn't play at all in the AHL). He won a spot on the team in training camp and actually played pretty well to start the year, but then he got hurt. From that point on, his NHL career was pretty much done, with a big reason why being business (he had a two-way contract and always did from that point forward).

He did make it on to some teams over the years simply because the teams had no choice since he played so well in pre-season, even lead the entire NHL in scoring one pre-season. However, he was never really given a decent shot. After his brief stint with the Wings, he signed with Phoenix with the hopes of getting back to the NHL. He actually contemplated remaining overseas, but wanted to give the NHL one last shot. He actually got some decent time there for 8 or 9 games due to injury, but after that, he was stuck back in the AHL again.

I am a little biased on him, I'm not going to lie, his set back is his skating. Not that he is a bad skater, he is a great skater to the average player, well, even to a high level player, just not to top end NHLers. Other than that, he's got a lot of tools. His shot is well above the NHL average. I think he could have had a decent NHL career had some circumstances been different.

Fast forward to the current year, he actually had another year left on his contract with Phoenix, but if he was going to be stuck in the AHL, it made far more financial sense to go overseas. I ran into him in the grocery store in Nova Scotia, I pretty much only see him once or twice a year, normally in Nova Scotia, even though I live in Toronto and I knew at that point that he'd be overseas. I'm not sure what happened with Zurich, if he was injured or what, but that didn't last long.

Apparently, he must be on a tear in the last couple games. Last I checked, he had 7 goals and 11 points in 10 games, I check today and he has 11 goals and 17pts in 12 games....so, 4 goals, 7 points in his last 2, not bad.

In terms of AHL ability, he could certainly be on e of the top players in that league, but he would only be making about 1/3 of what he can make overseas. If he isn't in the NHL, it doesn't make sense for him to be in North America.

[CenterIce 83]

I believe he was an unrestricted free agent, at the end of his stint with Detroit. He knew he wasn't going to get a lot of playing time with Detroit, so he signed with Phoenix.

Edited February 3, 2008 by CenterIce

[wingsrock34 0]

Here's the brief story:

After junior, he started his career in the NHL at 20 years old (didn't play at all in the AHL). He won a spot on the team in training camp and actually played pretty well to start the year, but then he got hurt. From that point on, his NHL career was pretty much done, with a big reason why being business (he had a two-way contract and always did from that point forward).

He did make it on to some teams over the years simply because the teams had no choice since he played so well in pre-season, even lead the entire NHL in scoring one pre-season. However, he was never really given a decent shot. After his brief stint with the Wings, he signed with Phoenix with the hopes of getting back to the NHL. He actually contemplated remaining overseas, but wanted to give the NHL one last shot. He actually got some decent time there for 8 or 9 games due to injury, but after that, he was stuck back in the AHL again.

I am a little biased on him, I'm not going to lie, his set back is his skating. Not that he is a bad skater, he is a great skater to the average player, well, even to a high level player, just not to top end NHLers. Other than that, he's got a lot of tools. His shot is well above the NHL average. I think he could have had a decent NHL career had some circumstances been different.

Fast forward to the current year, he actually had another year left on his contract with Phoenix, but if he was going to be stuck in the AHL, it made far more financial sense to go overseas. I ran into him in the grocery store in Nova Scotia, I pretty much only see him once or twice a year, normally in Nova Scotia, even though I live in Toronto and I knew at that point that he'd be overseas. I'm not sure what happened with Zurich, if he was injured or what, but that didn't last long.

Apparently, he must be on a tear in the last couple games. Last I checked, he had 7 goals and 11 points in 10 games, I check today and he has 11 goals and 17pts in 12 games....so, 4 goals, 7 points in his last 2, not bad.

In terms of AHL ability, he could certainly be on e of the top players in that league, but he would only be making about 1/3 of what he can make overseas. If he isn't in the NHL, it doesn't make sense for him to be in North America.

Wow! Thanks for the real answer, it's much appreciated.

Since you seem to be very knowledgable do you know what the deal was/is with Pavel Rosa?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Rosa

[Jaks19 1]

I saw him playing in Zurich Switzerland as I'm a Season Ticket holder here. He was awful. Very slow and not the expected sniper. As we have just a few spots for foreign players (5) his contract has been released and he headed over to Austria.

Just to give you some information about European Hockey. Russia, Sweden and Finland have a stronger league than we here in Sitzerland. I would say we are behind these 3. But Austria is much worse than the Swiss League.

All these players are playing in the Swiss League: Josh Holden, Jurai Kolnik, Erik Westrum, Serge Aubin, Jeff Toms, Stacy Roest, Mariusz Czerkawski, Sebastien Bordeleau, Christian Berglund, Domenico Pittis, Hnat Domenichelli, Kirby Law, Alexandre Daigle, Janne Niinimaa, Ramzi Abid, Peter Sejna, Vaclav Varada, Radoslav Suchy, Travis Green and Simon Gamache.

Some of you may know them from NHL and AHL.