Did Prospal Talk His Way Out of Tampa?

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In the wake of the NHL trade deadline, most pundits are counting the Flyers somewhere between the winners and the losers of St. Swapping's Day. This is probably because they didn't improve the team as much as most believe they should have, especially in the form of a solid blueliner. But they did bolster their injury-decimated forward lines by trading for Vinny Prospal, a talented scorer that Tampa Bay was surprisingly willing to deal.

The experts have also been divided in their response to the Penguins' trade of two solid NHL players, their top pick
from last year, and their #1 pick in this year's draft for the talented
sniper Marian Hossa. Some say they overpaid (I agree), but
none can argue that the Pens have shifted into "Win Now" mode, and
they've certainly improved the team in the short term. With a healthy Sidney Crosby, they'll be contenders for the Cup this year. Historically,
Hossa is a superior talent to Prospal, but this season, Prospal has
more goals (29) and points (57) than Hossa (26 and 56, respectively).
With both players becoming UFAs this summer, why was Tampa so willing to
deal Prospal, who currently makes less than $2 million per season (which is also about
$4 million less than Hossa)?

Chris Illuminati of phillyBurbs pointed us to this interesting story, in which Ed Moran of the Daily News reported that Prospal recently expressed his unhappiness with Lightning coach John Tortorella... during a live interview over the jumbotron at their arena.

After a 3-2 win over Montreal on Feb. 12, a game in which he scored two
goals, Prospal let coach John Tortorella know how he felt about being
taken off the top line with Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis.

"For me personally this is the biggest satisfaction I have had as a
hockey player, the biggest," Prospal said in the interview. "I hope I
shove it up to somebody's butt."

Myeah, that might get you traded. Prospal says his getting shipped had nothing to do with the interview. Somehow we doubt it.

>>Prospal talked his way to the Flyers [phillyBurbs]
>>Prospal's criticism of Lightning coach may have sparked trade to Flyers [Daily News]

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