Agent Hyperbole

Browsing through the NHL news, I came across this gem at TSN: Thrashers top prospect Pavelec won’t report to AHL. That’s odd, I thought, considering that the AHL is where ‘prospects’ have a tendency to play before getting their shot. Reading on:

”When Ondrej signed two years ago, [Thrashers GM Don Waddell] gave Ondrej his word. He sat there at the table and gave Ondrej his personal word that Ondrej would never be held back,” Allan Walsh, Pavelec’s agent, told Sporting News. ”Last year he led Chicago to an American League championship. This year he played in the first exhibition game and then the third period on October 3 — they threw him into the game cold in the third period. That is criminal mismanagement of a young goalie.”

Really, now? I looked up that second game – he didn’t exactly get thrown in as he started in goal coming out from the second intermission, which is a common occurrence in the pre-season. You want your guy to go to the KHL, fine, I get it, but don’t make getting put in to start the period for a struggling Hedberg sound like he got shoved onto the ice without his pads on.