Daily Haterade: Radim Vrbata, Why did you abandon us?

Radim Vrbata tried to work out deal with Arizona Coyotes

That was the story on azcentral.com last July.

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To be completely fair, I don’t *hate* Radim Vrbata so much as I hate that he is no longer a member of the Arizona Coyotes.

I mean I am already having Vrbata addiction sweats from missing his awesome shootout moves he put on the goaltender. On that note, if you know Vrbata’s classic move to his backhand, he completely faked out Luongo, making him look silly.

Most of you who are Coyotes fans know the story of Vrbata’s departure. GMDM (Don Maloney) decided that Vrbata’s demand to add a no-trade clause to a potential contract with the Coyotes was too much for him to swallow. So, he let Vrbata seek employment elsewhere, which was against what Radim wanted. To the contrary, he and his family quite liked the friendly confines of Gila River Arena, and for that matter the Valley of the Sun. But, he is a professional athlete, and he realizes that it is a BUSINESS.

“I don’t think I’m a good free agent kind of guy,” he said. “It was stressful. You wanted the right decision. If I was single and had no family, then you can enjoy it probably because you can go for the highest bid. When you have a family, there are more things to consider and you want to make the right decision and the right choice”, stated Vrbata.

With that in mind, On July 2, 2014, Vrbata left the Coyotes and signed as a free agent to a two-year $10 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks.  Vrbata stated the opportunity to play with the Sedin twins was a large factor in his decision. But, like any NHL player money was a factor as well. The Coyotes were only offering a four year contract for less, with a limited no-movement clause.

In the end the opportunity to play alongside the Sedin twins was too much to pass up. Vrbata has had the most success in his career while playing alongside other European style players. Set-up man Ray Whitney, who had a strong feel for that style of play, helped spur Vrbata to career-highs in goals (35) and points (62) in 2011-12. He’d been lacking that type of wingman with the Coyotes for the past two seasons.

So, he’s gone but not forgotten.. and perhaps this should be a haterade directed towards GM Don Maloney instead…. maybe another time. Believe me he has done wonders for this team, but I think he made a bad decision here.

I always have an issue with getting adjusted to a player switching teams, especially if it’s a player on my favorite team. I think it starts to register when you see a highlight of that player in an opposing team’s uniform, or watch a game where that player is playing against his former team.

In the end, Vrbata is fitting in very nicely, thank you very much with his new linemates, the Sedin Twins.. and who wouldn’t?

JUST SO YOU KNOW, RADIM — EVERY TIME WE GO INTO A SHOOTOUT, I MISS THE HECK OUT OF YOUR WILD SHOT. COME BACK.