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BadgerBob

Mike Commodore's experience with the Wings

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I always thought it was an odd signing given his history with Babs. There is probably some truth in odd bits of what he's saying, wrapped up in his own egotistical ramblings. The guy tanked his NHL career by being a 3rd pairing journeyman Dman on a team with a stacked defence.

Still, a very odd signing by Holland. He seems to like signing players Babcock won't work with.

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Michael, Michael, Michael...do you not know the unwritten commandment of hockey players?

Thou shalt not bite the hand that feeds you.

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Boo-hoo. The guy couldn't get a job and stick any where in the league because he didn't earn a spot even when the Wings had injuries or players under-performing that season. He didn't stand out, and its not Babcock or Boucher's fault. Defensemen are usually a universal need and if he was good enough to stay in the league, he would have stayed, even if he had to earn via a PTO.

The fact of the matter is he couldn't stick in the league for more than 500 games because he couldn't cut it. Honestly, I don't know what makes the guy think so highly of himself. The guy was a career minus player over his 480+ NHL games and averaged about 18 points over every 82 games. And in what universe was he a part of one of the best defense pairings in the league?

Part of the reason he couldn't find a job is that he paints himself as ever the victim instead of doing what needs to be done to get better, and now he is just playing the KHL's PR game to say North American organizations conspired against me to ruin my career.

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Nice Commie22. It's always the GMs, coaches, whatever, who hindered you becoming a Hall of Famer. The only thing thats missing in his story is a blaming of Al Zabatoka preparing the ice in a special way just to hamper his play.

I take his story with caution. He just sounds like a frustrated guy who thinks of himself to be at least a Top #4-Dman. Instead he was/is a reliable 7th maybe 6th D-Man.

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He's playing the blame game.

If he was even a remotely effective defenseman, he would have a spot in the NHL. The Wings gave him an opportunity and all he could do was blame the coach and his ice time.

The Columbus story seals the deal though. He was let go from Columbus because the coach (Hitchcock) was too jealous of how much money Commodore was making?

After this article, and several other comments and incidents in the past, it is very fair to say that the problem is Commodore, not the coaches. A guy who can't get along with anyone who coaches him is a problem. ESPECIALLY if that player is a 7th defenseman AT BEST.

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Guest Crymson

The title also speaks volumes about Commodore's state of mind:

Commie's Russian story: How Babcock sent Mike to the other side of the planet

I know that the title was probably selected by the journalist, but it really does reflect Commodore's tone of frenzied blame. As others have mentioned, the guy can't accept that his inability to stick in the NHL was his own fault. His difficulties with remaining in shape, his poor attitude, his one dimensional-game, and his often poor performance at the NHL level were what drove him out, yet he chooses instead to blame his coaches. This part is particularly rich:

I was thrown off the team in Columbus because I was single and I was making a lot of money. The coach was jealous because he played a lot of years, he had a wife and kids and he felt he didn't earn a lot of money so he booted me off the team.

Right, Mike. Whatever you say.

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The title also speaks volumes about Commodore's state of mind:

Commie's Russian story: How Babcock sent Mike to the other side of the planet

I know that the title was probably selected by the journalist, but it really does reflect Commodore's tone of frenzied blame. As others have mentioned, the guy can't accept that his inability to stick in the NHL was his own fault. His difficulties with remaining in shape, his poor attitude, his one dimensional-game, and his often poor performance at the NHL level were what drove him out, yet he chooses instead to blame his coaches. This part is particularly rich:

I was thrown off the team in Columbus because I was single and I was making a lot of money. The coach was jealous because he played a lot of years, he had a wife and kids and he felt he didn't earn a lot of money so he booted me off the team.

Right, Mike. Whatever you say.

So, according to Mike's logic, Crosby should be on his way to the KHL.

I'll believe that when I see it, thanks.

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The guy is only known for one thing and it wasn't how good of a hockey player he was. People only know his name because he had big bushy red hair that sold some wigs the year a team that nobody cares about won a stanley cup. Sounds like he is looking for another 15 mins.

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In other flash-in-the-pan-former-NHLer-in-the-KHL news, Johnathon Cheechoo receives a quote "brutal" hit to the head from behind... apparently something is lost in translation and the Russian word for "soft" is easily confused with the word for "brutal". From what I can see he barely gets a shove from behind and you'd think his head came clean off his shoulders the way he dropped.

http://www.khl.hr/en/medvescak/video-cheechoo-brutally-hit-in-the-head


Is it too soon to make a joke about taking him off the ice in a tarp? :confused:

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"I was thrown off the team in Columbus because I was single and I was making a lot of money. The coach was jealous because he played a lot of years, he had a wife and kids and he felt he didn't earn a lot of money so he booted me off the team."

I love to think that someone could be so delusional and paranoid that this thought would inhabit them long enough to become a personal reality.

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Guest Playmaker

Commodore wasn't sharing an innocuous story about an isolated event from years past. He was ranting about a series of events across an entire season, and much of his material was flat-out wrong. I suspect that he deliberately exaggerated his experience to the interviewer.

This wasn't an objective recounting of the facts. It was a petulant diatribe.

I have (obviously) strongly objected to Babcock's use of Cleary in the past two seasons, but I cvertheless appreciate that there are no perfect coaches anywhere, and that imperfect does not mean atrocious.

Exactly, which is why the "facts" really don't matter.

Not a fan of Commodore, and his failings are not on the coaches he's had, however, his situation and Cleary's to some extent does give credence to those that feel that it isn't always all business, its sometimes personal. I remember many in the media who were totally befuddled at the time of the Commodore signing, citing the bitter history between the two. I think it applies to Tootoo as well. I hated the signing at the time, but even so, it seems like he never really got a fair shake here.

It does seem at times that there's a bit of a cat and mouse game with Holland and Babcock.

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I liked the style of play Commodore brought to the table, but he's had the reputation of being a whiner for a long time, and deservedly so, in my opinion. He was brought in to play the role of a rugged, scrappy shut-down defenseman. For his size, he should've been a hell of a lot more physical and willing to drop the gloves. Not that he didn't do these things at all, but I don't specifically remember him being the most physical guy out there. He filled the role average, at best. He dropped the gloves a whopping 3 times in 17 games in the regular season with Detroit. He came off as kind of a ****** due to some of the stuff he posted online of the course of his NHL career, as well.

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I really feel for him but I'd endure what he went through for $1mill

As would I, and I'd even do a better job with the toilets than Conklin, and Hudler wouldn't have needed to remind me about the stairs, either.

;)

Edited by TheXym

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Guest Crymson

Exactly, which is why the "facts" really don't matter.

Unless one is deliberately trying to sound like a vociferous whiner, the facts always matter.

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Exactly, which is why the "facts" really don't matter.

Not a fan of Commodore, and his failings are not on the coaches he's had, however, his situation and Cleary's to some extent does give credence to those that feel that it isn't always all business, its sometimes personal. I remember many in the media who were totally befuddled at the time of the Commodore signing, citing the bitter history between the two. I think it applies to Tootoo as well. I hated the signing at the time, but even so, it seems like he never really got a fair shake here.

It does seem at times that there's a bit of a cat and mouse game with Holland and Babcock.

The facts do matter, it's just that a reputable source would've fact checked, then gone back to Commodore with the discrepancy before finishing the article. Not to make him look bad but just to point out the actual facts so he could know and comment on them. Because I agree that if it's an off the cuff interview he shouldn't be expected to remember all the exact details.

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