Colin Elmes
Active Member
"Thomas R.?" = Tomasz Radzinski?
Listen, I'm not trying to make a case for or against Owen Hargreaves, but it's not as if he couldn't go play for Canada if he wanted to. No club is going to stand in the way of a player of that quality's desire to suit up for his country, even if it's Canada.
I'm not in OH's inner circle or anything, but I'm sure if he told Rumminenge and Magath or whoever else was in charge at FCB at the time that he was going on INTL duty for the CMNT they would have accepted it, not necessarily fine with it, but accepted it...
Let's not sugarcoat it: Hargreaves chose England because there's a certain amount of status and worth that comes along with being an English International... like a bigger pay packet, more exposure for endorsements, etc.
He made the right choice for his career that has certainly hamstrung Canada, but then how much of a debt does he really owe the CSA and the CMNT programs? Not a lot in my estimation... he owes a lot more probably to Foothills in Calgary and the ASA.
When your employer basically tells you that its not a good move for you from the Clubs perspective what are you to do. Not sure about current but back in the day of OH I think the players were getting a $1500 appearance fee from CSA and about 3 different flights to get to where they needed to go( some of the players payed for their own ticks first class to relieve some of the travel burden).
Lets look at it this way. You are an NHL player from Great Britain. You have been called up mid season to play an international hockey game for the UK. So you are traveling eight time zones to play what I am sure your NHL GM believes is a worthless fixture. You are gone from your paying job for a week minimum in a team where you are likely just a fringe player anyways. You come back to find that your spot on the roster has been taken by an inform player who was below you when you left. Career now on the skids......
What would you do?