Wow. It’s looking like The A Daily Show with Jon Stewart Indecision 2008 when it comes to Peter Forsberg right now. Everyone is on Forsberg watch, wondering where he will sign, if he will sign, or if he’s even worth it. The latest? Forsberg is planning to sign with a contender. From The Sporting News:
Forsberg told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter he has been training off the ice for the past month and hopes to return to the NHL, but is unsure what team he would play for. The deadline to sign with a team is Feb. 26.
The most likely scenario would have him signing with the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I will definitely choose a team that is guaranteed to reach the playoffs, that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup,” Forsberg said.
Really? So Forsberg wants to be a Rent-A-Player for a Cup run? I always love when foreign news is quoted as gospel, not because it’s inaccurate, but because there is always something lost in translation.
But perhaps that is what Peter the Great wants, another shot at a Stanley Cup. But perhaps it isn’t. When you are one of the best players in the game, and you have been dedicating your life to the sport, what are your needs? What is it that drives you? I have my guesses, but I’m not sure they are correct. I would think that the proof that you are still at the top of your game is part of it. Maybe one more championship is motivation, or maybe it’s proving that you are worth taking a chance on. I really don’t know.
What I wonder is why a team would take that kind of chance on Peter Forsberg in the salary cap era. If you are a Cup contender, and you have only so much you are able – or willing – to spend on a Cup run, would you take a chance on Forsberg? Would you be ready to take the risk that the Peter Forsberg you hire to give your team that extra boost after February 26th is the same Peter Forsberg that won Stanley Cups before, that has the scoring touch, and who can make the players around him better, and not be the player that went to the Nashville Predators? Are you willing, or able for that matter, to take that chance?
What led me to all this? Adrian Dater, of course. I am not interested in becoming a hockey blog that follows the MSM into the fold, only commenting on what they have to say, adding my own thoughts, and moving on. I like to come up with an original idea or two on my own, and put it out there for the world to see. But for some reason, good or bad, Dater gets me going. And not a few days after his last Forsberg post, his new one mirrors my thoughts:
But is Forsberg worth all the trouble again? I ask this being in awe of him as a player just like anybody else. But is that a bygone era?
I can tell you what I think. And I already have.
But every time someone needs some scoring punch, which the Avs need badly these days – and that just feels so wrong to type – Peter Forsberg’s name gets dragged out like some frozen head, ready to be thawed out and put on a new body that isn’t so injury prone. Sure, it would be fun to see Forsberg in an Avs jersey again. And it would be great to get that old scoring touch back in the lineup, along with some of that old chemistry. But there is a reason they say you can never go home again.
Forsberg showed in Nashville that he isn’t the cure-all for a team. He is not able to carry a team on his back, nor was he ever. The Avalanche lost him during the 2001 playoffs and still won a Cup , and have had him out of the lineup for long stretches at other times, and still had success. That isn’t to take away from what a great player he was, and still may be. But it does say that there is some perspective lost when you have needs that aren’t being met, expectations that are put to high, and solutions that are one sided and lumped on one players shoulders.
And you know what? If Peter Forsberg does make a successful NHL comeback, and if he does or does not win a Stanley Cup, good for him. I wish the man all the success in the world, and for a person so dedicated to the sport that he loves to have success, that in itself is something we all wish for ourselves. He has worked hard in the past to rehab the injuries that have hampered him, and I am sure he is working hard to make his current situation appealing to NHL teams that may be interested in him.
But what happens next is going to be very interesting.