I agree totally. I didn’t mean low-ball in the sense of giving him less than he deserved. I meant low-ball in the sense of offering him something (a little less money and a reduced role) that he probably know he wouldn’t accept, and didn’t. I personally thought Blake was a bad influence and poison. He appears to me to have the attitude that he deserves to be on a winner because he is a winner; he was embarrassed by being a King in 2000-2001, and it was the same in 2007. Plus, I didn’t like his ass-checks. Especially when I noticed they frequently lead to the other team scoring.

Re Brown as captain:

If I didn’t say it here I said it somewhere else, that I have no idea what Brown is like in the room or how much of the team “heart and soul” is due to him. But what I do know is that he seems to disappear frequently when needed most, seems not to step up when teammates (e.g. Kopitar, Doughty, Armstrong last year) are run, and frankly doesn’t inspire confidence whenever I hear him speak. This last point I can live without, since athletes set the bar pretty low for public speaking. But I can’t say I see a team inspired by Brown’s example, other than the fact that he encouraged people to come in and train over the summer. To be a leader, it’s not enough to be talented (Gretzky), or want to lead, or to be a really nice guy (all describe Brown). People have to want to follow you and they have to believe in you. Do they? I don’t have a clue. But I don’t have any evidence that they do.

I am on board with trading Brown if it lands up Kovi but only if that’s our only option. You have to give to get, afterall. But Kovi better have some decent character or he’ll screw up the chemistry big time.