Bruins goalie Tim Thomas may sit out next season..

[gcostanza]

..... At this point the Bruins can go forward with Rask and use his salary to fill a hole elsewhere.

Tim Thomas's salary will remain on the cap this season, regardless of whether he plays or not.

 

[kirmit129]

Agreed, most people don't consider how stressful this was on the team. Every player was being bombarded by the media asking about what they thought about what thomas had done, it was a huge distraction during a very important part of the season. It was a selfish move by thomas, he never has the team's interests in mind

You may come up with as many alternate scenarios as you like but without question:

1)this was a team function that he declined to attend and

2)it proved to be a big distraction with all the resulting questioning and Thomas getting pissed off about the questioning.

Hence, my point stands. He created a distraction by not attending and as such it also created a controversy that (directly or indirectly) affected the team. He acted selfishly, putting his personal beliefs to the forefront, such that the team was adversely affected.

Again, you guys proved my point. The media caused the controversy after the event.

btw, my alternate scenarios fit your 2 points as well. Why is the white house an exemption?

Again, had this been a charity golf tournament, this would not have been an issue. This also would have been a team function. You said it yourself shack, the white house is "a meaningless ritual nowadays". Why is it ok not to attend a charity golf tournament and not ok to not go to the white house? If a person is against abortion, most people would not blame that person for not participating in a pro abortion charity event with his team yet the white house is different!?!?

You asked me if there were any hypocrisy in not going to the white and I still believe that going to the white house would be hypocrisy and not the other way around.

 

[jrobertson1]

Again, you guys proved my point. The media caused the controversy after the event.

btw, my alternate scenarios fit your 2 points as well. Why is the white house an exemption?

Again, had this been a charity golf tournament, this would not have been an issue. This also would have been a team function. You said it yourself shack, the white house is "a meaningless ritual nowadays". Why is it ok not to attend a charity golf tournament and not ok to not go to the white house? If a person is against abortion, most people would not blame that person for not participating in a pro abortion charity event with his team yet the white house is different!?!?

You asked me if there were any hypocrisy in not going to the white and I still believe that going to the white house would be hypocrisy and not the other way around.

I think you're missing the point completely

It's not the fact that he did not go to the White House that is such a big deal, it's the way that he expressed his reasons behind it. He very publicly broadcasted his opinions against the current government. For that reason, your charity golf tournament example is completely irrelevant. Plus an entire nhl hockey team would never be invited to a pro-abortion golf tournament. A more accurate equivalent would be if the Bruins were invited to a charity golf tournament raising funds for sick kids, and Thomas very publicly broadcasted that he strongly opposes helping those who are sick, especially children.

But I'll level with you for the sake of argument. If there was a charity golf tournament for pro-abortion, and every Bruin player except Thomas went to this tournament, AND Thomas publicly broadcasted why he is against abortion, then the exact same situation would have occurred. People would have criticized him for not shutting his fat mouth and just attending the meaningless ritual (a TEAM function). Instead, he decides to make a huge scene and make a way bigger deal out of it than it should be. He put unmeasurable stress on his teammates, and he refused to offer any remedy to the situation by refusing to talk to the media about it in the aftermath.

And the reality is, this wasn't a pointless charity golf event, this was an opportunity to meet the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, and go inside the White House, an opportunity that most people will never have in their lifetime. In simple terms, its a big deal. Why would try to create controversy?

 

[shack]

Again, you guys proved my point. The media caused the controversy after the event.

Of course the media caused the controversy. Who else would? Anybody, including Thomas, could have figured that out beforehand. Actually, they didn't really cause the controversy, they just kept pressing the issue that Thomas created and wouldn't let him off the hook.

Which, again, comes back to the point, he knew very well what would happen but didn't give a shit about the disruption to his team, just his agenda.

Good post by jrob1.

 

[MrBruce]

That "may" be true IF the Bruins had no reliable goalie to fall back on which is not the case. He took the time to consult with the GM and the GM does not seem to have a problem with that.

Oh I'm pretty sure Chiarelli was might pissed off about Thomas bailing out on next season, he just chose not to openly express his displeasure with the media. Thomas was trade bait and would not have been back in Boston next year. They would trade him for a bag of pucks just to get rid of him and his ego and I guarantee this is his way of sticking it to the Bruins. He wants the upper hand and clearly has an issue with anyone in a position of authority telling him what to do so he packed up his gear and went home like a spoiled baby. This whole family thing or whatever the hell he's trying to peddle to the media is BS. I for one hope he's gone forever.