Tweet
Here's a letter that Bob Pulford sent out to Chicago Blackhawks season ticket holders:
Here's Sullivan's reply:
I wanted to address the trading of Steve Sullivan and to explain the reasons to you as to why it was the right thing to do.
First of all, we tried to re-sign Sullivan to a 3-year deal worth $2.5 million per season. He turned the deal down. The Blackhawks would have had to qualify Steve next year for the $3 million salary he was currently making. If we had done that, it still would not have guaranteed that he would have been here next year.
Steve had the right and his agent, in fact, had told us that they would be taking the Blackhawks to arbitration. With the uncertainty of arbitration cases, the Blackhawks may have had to walk away from the decision and come away with nothing.
That being our decision, we tried to make the best deal we could for Steve. We felt that the deal with Nashville was the best deal we could make at this time. We felt it was important to get something in return for Steve instead of losing him for nothing at the end of the season.
I know that some of you are upset over this decision. However, you can rest assured that the Blackhawks will invest that money on players in the free agent market who will make us a much more competitive team next year. We are positioned and well-prepared to enter the free agent market as well as continuing to draft and develop our young players. Together, these things will help us to become a much more competitive team next year.
I hope you now understand why we felt trading Steve Sullivan was the right thing to do at this time.
I thank you for your continued interest and support of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Sincerely,
Bob Pulford
First of all, we tried to re-sign Sullivan to a 3-year deal worth $2.5 million per season. He turned the deal down. The Blackhawks would have had to qualify Steve next year for the $3 million salary he was currently making. If we had done that, it still would not have guaranteed that he would have been here next year.
Steve had the right and his agent, in fact, had told us that they would be taking the Blackhawks to arbitration. With the uncertainty of arbitration cases, the Blackhawks may have had to walk away from the decision and come away with nothing.
That being our decision, we tried to make the best deal we could for Steve. We felt that the deal with Nashville was the best deal we could make at this time. We felt it was important to get something in return for Steve instead of losing him for nothing at the end of the season.
I know that some of you are upset over this decision. However, you can rest assured that the Blackhawks will invest that money on players in the free agent market who will make us a much more competitive team next year. We are positioned and well-prepared to enter the free agent market as well as continuing to draft and develop our young players. Together, these things will help us to become a much more competitive team next year.
I hope you now understand why we felt trading Steve Sullivan was the right thing to do at this time.
I thank you for your continued interest and support of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Sincerely,
Bob Pulford
Comment