Two Prince Edward Islanders are waiting to see the next move in the NHL lockout.
“I’m not really sure what I am going to do,” Adam McQuaid said Tuesday.
“For me, personally, I’m just going to wait for a bit and we’ll see how things play out over the next few weeks.”
The lockout only began Saturday but already some of his Boston Bruins teammates have started to weigh their options.
“It’s kind of funny, we’re only a few days in but guys are already talking about different options,” said McQuaid.
The Cornwall defenceman and most of his teammates have been working on and off the ice in Boston.
“We’re just skating together here and working out. Just trying to keep each other sharp.”
New York Rangers centre Brad Richards said he plans to keep skating and training in the Big Apple. The Murray Harbour native is one of about 15 Rangers currently skating together and waiting to see what happens.
“I don’t know where it goes from here and how long it’s going to go,” he said Tuesday.
Richards was in the NHL when the 2004-05 season was lost during the last lockout.
“I think we gave and did a lot for the owners and gave them
a lot of money back out of our pockets to get the system they wanted,” he said.
“We were told that system would be what would correct everything and now they want to do it again.”
Some players have already started signing with teams overseas. McQuaid said he would make his final decision in a couple weeks.
“I think you’ll see some guys leave in the next few weeks,” he said. “Things might change a little bit then, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
He's talking about Salary rollbacks that are covering struggling franchises. Revenue sharing is what keeps teams like Phoenix going, and Atlanta for years until they moved to Winnipeg. NJ is in financial distrait, getting money from the league that came from the players. 10% of their money currently goes into a fund to keep the league afloat. You are the only one who is making it sound the way you say. I don`t care what they make for Salary or what the owners make. I just want to see some progress in this mess. Kudos to Richards for not leaving overseas and taking away a job from someone who needs it. He is not one of the greedy ones. Yet.