Stuart may miss start of Round 2

[Frozen-Man 144]

Technically speaking...its a job, which IMO is more important than a game, but none of which are even close to being as important as being there with your family while your child is delivered.

I actually meant it from a different slant, more from the standpoint that I hate when it seems like it is a job for an athlete. That was what I percieved the problem to be from Lang he went out there and did his "job" for the Wings but never played like someone playing a game that they love. However, as important as the love for the game that they play is it is sad to me when you see a player who has let that become his love above his family.

[Copenhagen848 58]

Family first, work second. I see nothing wrong with this. Hope mom and baby are healthy.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

I actually meant it from a different slant, more from the standpoint that I hate when it seems like it is a job for an athlete. That was what I percieved the problem to be from Lang he went out there and did his "job" for the Wings but never played like someone playing a game that they love. However, as important as the love for the game that they play is it is sad to me when you see a player who has let that become his love above his family.

I gotcha, but I wasn't trying to split hairs. We should all be so lucky as to love our jobs (even though it doesn't always happen), but I was just saying that technically speaking he is compensated to play this game, and it is how he makes his living. Nothing more.

Lastly, I would agree with you that I can't stand people that look like they just don't care about the ultimate prize.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Never Forget Mac #25

[Vladiator 116]

Just one word comes to mind - INDUCE

[CenterIce 83]

Maybe this is why Ericsson was practicing with the regulars, recently.

Edited April 23, 2008 by CenterIce

[zombiewing 3]

I'd like to see Ericsson take his place tomorrow night if he isn't back.

I would like to see Ericsson as well, but I also expect Lebda to fill in.

[StevieBoy 2]

I completely DISAGREE with it being OK. If he was going away for a day or two then OK. But saying he won't come back until his child is born means he could be out for weeks and miss the entire series...or even part of the next. I'm really not a cold person and I understand why he wants to be there for the birth of his child but this sort of openended absence is not cool at all. He's a professional hockey player and with all the advantages of that (huge salary, fame, etc) comes some responsibility. A good part of that responsibility is linked to the fact that the whole point of an NHL team is being in the playoffs and being successful in the playoffs. To absent from the playoffs for an undertermined amount of time is not OK.

When she goes into labor, leave. Go right to the airport and get there. But to leave for what could be weeks while he's out shopping for baby clothes is unacceptible.

Edited April 23, 2008 by StevieBoy

[Sergei Fedorov91 24]

Foresberg says there isn't anything wrong with taking time off during a season

[zata40 3]

Foresberg says there isn't anything wrong with taking time off during a season

niedermayer agrees

[GoWings1905 2,694]

I completely DISAGREE with it being OK. If he was going away for a day or two then OK. But saying he won't come back until his child is born means he could be out for weeks and miss the entire series...or even part of the next. I'm really not a cold person and I understand why he wants to be there for the birth of his child but this sort of openended absence is not cool at all. He's a professional hockey player and with all the advantages of that (huge salary, fame, etc) comes some responsibility. A good part of that responsibility is linked to the fact that the whole point of an NHL team is being in the playoffs and being successful in the playoffs. To absent from the playoffs for an undertermined amount of time is not OK.

When she goes into labor, leave. Go right to the airport and get there. But to leave for what could be weeks while he's out shopping for baby clothes is unacceptible.

I believe your post kind of proves that statement to be false.

There are more important things in life than a hockey game.

[Sergeiwasmyfav 0]

I believe your post kind of proves that statement to be false.

There are more important things in life than a hockey game.

[/quo

I don't think he is a cold person for what he said. He is just saying that if this is going to last like two weeks, that is a little bit ridiculous. I took it to mean she is due any day, and this baby is coming within the next few days. If it is going to be more than a week, however, I agree with him: there is no need to leave your team for that long to wait for your wife to have the baby. Like I said in an earlier post in this thread, how many "regular people" jobs would let you do that? None that I can think of, unless you have a ton of vacation time or something. He was just saying that if this is going to last like two weeks, that is a little ridiculous, which I agree with. I guess if that makes me cold too, then so be it.

[StevieBoy 2]

I believe your post kind of proves that statement to be false.

There are more important things in life than a hockey game.

There are more important things than hockey. But he chose hockey to be the thing that allows him to live the life he does. I want to be clear...I am not saying I don't think he should be there for the birth of his child. I'm saying that the statement 'he will not play until his child is born' means he could be in San Jose waiting for that to happen for weeks and weeks. If he wants to have a job paying him millions of dollars then he shouldn't take an open-ended vacation during the most important time for his employer.

[FireCaptain 563]

In all fairness, he was playing for the LA Kings and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be in the playoffs.

There should be some kind of contract stipulation about no player copulation in the months of July-September!

[StevieBoy 2]

I don't think he is a cold person for what he said. He is just saying that if this is going to last like two weeks, that is a little bit ridiculous. I took it to mean she is due any day, and this baby is coming within the next few days. If it is going to be more than a week, however, I agree with him: there is no need to leave your team for that long to wait for your wife to have the baby. Like I said in an earlier post in this thread, how many "regular people" jobs would let you do that? None that I can think of, unless you have a ton of vacation time or something. He was just saying that if this is going to last like two weeks, that is a little ridiculous, which I agree with. I guess if that makes me cold too, then so be it.

Thank you...that is exactly what I meant. The article did suggest she's do any day now but in reality giving birth is not on a schedule. It could happen tonight or it could happen weeks down the road.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Thank you...that is exactly what I meant. The article did suggest she's do any day now but in reality giving birth is not on a schedule. It could happen tonight or it could happen weeks down the road.

Fair enough. Stuart does have an obligation to the Red Wings, but without question he should be there for the birth of his child. I doubt it will be any longer than the first two games anyways. I would think Stuart and the Red Wings organization understand that this isn't going to drag on for weeks.

Just recall how classless the Canucks fans/media were towards Luongo when this same situation arose. I don't think you are cold for what you said. Your post just came across more along the lines that Stuart was at fault for leaving the team.

[AUWingsFan 0]

I'm glad to see that the Wings are letting him get the time off.....hopefully everything will be alright for the mother and child. As most everyone has said there are more important things than hockey...even more important things than your job in general. The Wings and Stuart are doing the right thing.

So does anyone know if the plan might just be for him to miss both games 1 and 2 so he'd already be out west so he can just meet up with the team for game 3 or is it a sort of one game at a time thing?

Regardless I hope he'll be back sooner rather than later as it'd mean there weren't any problems which would be great...hopefully Lilja's play will be elevated after being out of the lineup for awhile. I've never questioned his desire or physical play it's just the turnovers, so hopefully he'll be on top of things!

[Casey 145]

I'm sure it's a play it by ear thing at the moment. The kid could show up tonight, or not for a few days, but generally the docs are pretty good at guessing.

Best of wishes to him!

[Nero 20]

Hopefully whenever he returns to the lineup his finger is doing a little better.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

There are more important things than hockey. But he chose hockey to be the thing that allows him to live the life he does. I want to be clear...I am not saying I don't think he should be there for the birth of his child. I'm saying that the statement 'he will not play until his child is born' means he could be in San Jose waiting for that to happen for weeks and weeks. If he wants to have a job paying him millions of dollars then he shouldn't take an open-ended vacation during the most important time for his employer.

Understood as career is definitely important.

I apologize in advance if it sounds like I'm being snobbish to you, but I am curious to know from your first response to this thread.

Do you have kids? I just don't know if you fully understand how powerful a feeling or an event it is to see your child being born for the first time ever. I personally do not have kids, but I have a nephew who is close to 5, and a second nephew on the way in probably about 6 weeks, and I absolutely cannot wait to see this kid, and he isn't even mine.

Hell, the spouse of one of my co-workers showed up at our office today and showed off their daughter that was recently born about 7 weeks ago. I was tickled like crazy when I first saw the baby today, she is adorable.

Work is definitely important, we all have to work, and winning the Stanley Cup has got to be an extremely special occassion, but none of that comes remotely close (at least to me) to witnessing a child being born or seeing a child for the first time ever. Family and your children is most important in the grand scheme of things.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

I wonder if people would be so understanding of this decision, if it wasn't Stuart but Lidstrom instead, who was taking time off to be with his family in this playoff series?

Somehow, I doubt people here would react the same in that situation.

[Frozen-Man 144]

[/quo

I don't think he is a cold person for what he said. He is just saying that if this is going to last like two weeks, that is a little bit ridiculous. I took it to mean she is due any day, and this baby is coming within the next few days. If it is going to be more than a week, however, I agree with him: there is no need to leave your team for that long to wait for your wife to have the baby. Like I said in an earlier post in this thread, how many "regular people" jobs would let you do that? None that I can think of, unless you have a ton of vacation time or something. He was just saying that if this is going to last like two weeks, that is a little ridiculous, which I agree with. I guess if that makes me cold too, then so be it.

I'm not sure whether you are in U.S. or not but in America not only will most employers let you take some time off but they are required to let you take off time for the birth of a child (up to 12 weeks actually). It's call the Family and Medical Leaves Act and applies to most employers and employees. While it is unpaid leave most employees has that right under Federal law.

[Yzerfan75 0]

[/quo

I don't think he is a cold person for what he said. He is just saying that if this is going to last like two weeks, that is a little bit ridiculous. I took it to mean she is due any day, and this baby is coming within the next few days. If it is going to be more than a week, however, I agree with him: there is no need to leave your team for that long to wait for your wife to have the baby. Like I said in an earlier post in this thread, how many "regular people" jobs would let you do that? None that I can think of, unless you have a ton of vacation time or something. He was just saying that if this is going to last like two weeks, that is a little ridiculous, which I agree with. I guess if that makes me cold too, then so be it.

I'm not sure whether you are in U.S. or not but in America not only will most employers let you take some time off but they are required to let you take off time for the birth of a child (up to 12 weeks actually). It's call the Family and Medical Leaves Act and applies to most employers and employees. While it is unpaid leave most employees has that right under Federal law.

Does he have to forfeit pay? How does the MFLA law apply to pro athletes? I'm not trying to be a smartass, but I was curious. I work in education and know that many of my female coworkers can opt to use short-term disability for maternity leave (as do the male educators who have wives who are/will give birth).

[Frozen-Man 144]

Does he have to forfeit pay? How does the MFLA law apply to pro athletes? I'm not trying to be a smartass, but I was curious. I work in education and know that many of my female coworkers can opt to use short-term disability for maternity leave (as do the male educators who have wives who are/will give birth).

I'm not an expert in how it works, I just know that it is required for all employers who employer a certain number of workers (I think 50) for more than 20 weeks per year. It allows up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for the birth and care of a child and husbands can make use of it. It's covered under the U.S. Department of Labor and here is one of the links to some info about it. http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/ and some more basic user friendly info can be found at http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs28.htm I don't really know much else about it, I just remember getting a quick overview in law school.

[Airborn 0]

I think people who are comparing Stuart taking this time off to an average "joe" taking time off for his child's birth are way off-base. I don't know about you guys, but if I take a day off work, there's zero chance my company could go out of business, no matter what day I take off!

As a father of 3, I'm honestly conflicted. I understand the great feeling involved with being at your child's birth. However, athletes are compensated at extreme levels, and their is generally an understanding that goes with that: "The team comes first." It's not a bad deal, as you set yourself and family up for life by playing a childs game for about 10 to 15 years on average, and then you could choose to retire.

I can't ever remember a situation where a player missed a playoff game for a child's birth. Who knows, maybe times are a changin, but I know I'll be pretty disappointed if Stuart isn't there for game one.

Edit: The only other thing I'd add is that we might not know all the details. If there were any type of complication or consern for the mother or baby's health, then I think it would be a no-brainer to give him as much time as he needs.

Edited April 24, 2008 by Airborn

[Frozen-Man 144]

I think people who are comparing Stuart taking this time off to an average "joe" taking time off for his child's birth are way off-base. I don't know about you guys, but if I take a day off work, there's zero chance my company could go out of business, no matter what day I take off!

As a father of 3, I'm honestly conflicted. I understand the great feeling involved with being at your child's birth. However, athletes are compensated at extreme levels, and their is generally an understanding that goes with that: "The team comes first." It's not a bad deal, as you set yourself and family up for life by playing a childs game for about 10 to 15 years on average, and then you could choose to retire.

I can't ever remember a situation where a player missed a playoff game for a child's birth. Who knows, maybe times are a changin, but I know I'll be pretty disappointed if Stuart isn't there for game one.

Edit: The only other thing I'd add is that we might not know all the details. If there were any type of complication or consern for the mother or baby's health, then I think it would be a no-brainer to give him as much time as he needs.

But also remeber that unlike most people he is and has been almost 2500 miles away from his wife while she is about to have their first child and will be involved in this series for more than a week before he can be there for her. Just something else to think about.