Columbus Blue Jackets Vinny Prospal signs on with Hometown Czech Club -NHL Update
Vinny Prospal, after waiting around for over a month to see how the negotiations between the National Hockey League (NHL) and Players’ Association would turn out, has finally decided that enough is enough.
The Columbus Blue Jackets player made his move on October 30th, according to the Columbus Dispatch and has signed on with hometown team in the Czech Republic, the Ceske Budejovice.
Prospal is one of the few players who has seen three lockouts now, and at the age of 37, he is looking towards playing as much as possible instead of waiting around and calling it a day.
"The game has never been at a higher level," Prospal told The Dispatch two days into the lockout. "The fans, the exposure ... the circus that comes around the actual games, it's never been bigger. It's an unreal amount of money we're generating every year,
and it's growing. That's the part that makes my mind wonder.”
The veteran forward has always been open about his thoughts when such matter arise in the NHL and for him, it is definitely NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman who seems to be unwilling at cutting a fair deal and ending the lockout right now.
"We have one guy (Bettman) who keeps saying we have the greatest fans in the world, but this could seriously bite them in the butt. They might end up paying a hefty price for it this time. Some people live for this sport, and this is no way to treat them."
Prospal is a 71st overall draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers and was selected back in 1993. He is a native of Ceske Budejovice and has a number of years of experience playing in the NHL with teams like Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers,
Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks, New York Rangers and now, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Up until now, the veteran has appeared in 1,060 games and has registered 735 points for 243 goals and 492 assists along with 549 minutes in penalty time. In terms of having witnessed the most lockouts, he is just one below Jaromir Jagr, who has seen four.
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