From: lli+@cs.cmu.edu (Lori Iannamico)
Subject: The real contract-sigh (was-Re: Mo' money, mo' money)
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 14:34:07 GMT

In article <AedpnXC00WBKM1Ums9@andrew.cmu.edu> Anna Matyas <am2x+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:

>Barrasso was sitting in the perfect spot.  Unless Patrick had some
>incredible scheme cooking to acquire a top-notch goaltender, Barrasso
>was his man.  Who else???  WREGGETT???  Bringing back Frankie???

Barrasso is an intelligent, reasonable guy whose not going to shoot himself
in the foot by making ridiculous contract demands.  He has said from the
beginning that his original request (3 years at 3.9) was flexible, and he
was willing to change his demands to fit the needs of the club.  All he asked
was that he be signed before training camp.  That's why the 5.2 million 
surprised me. 

As with many of the hockey reports in Pgh. lately, the 5.2 million/3 year
deal was wrong.  And as it turned out, the 6.5 million/5 year deal just 
reported yesterday afternoon was wrong.  KDKA has reported that "The real
contract terms" are: 5 years at 1.1 million per.  Which is 2 years more
than Barrasso originally wanted.

In an interview on KDKA last night, he said that he was looking at the big
picture when he was negotiating.  Family security, job security, his relevance
to the team, the financial state of the team and his relationship with Baldwin
all played factors.  He was flattered that Baldwin got involved personally,
and respects him for that.  He said that he felt appreciated and wanted by 
the organization, and that would make playing even more enjoyable.  He said 
all off the above are what led him to sign, not money or length of contract.

>It's hard to say whether or not he's "worth" the contract.  When I think
>of him in terms of my favorite goalies (Roy and Hrudey) I say he's not.
>When I think of the goalies on the Pens bench, I say he is.  We're in
>BIG trouble if Tommy gets hurt.

Tommy is my favorite Pen, and one of my favorite goalies in the league. (Roy
is number #1 with me.  I also like Ranford, Moog, McLean (sp) and Fuhr.) But
I try to be objective when watching him play.  No question, he's the best
goalie the Pens have.  And while I was very hard on Wregget, he really wasn't
given much of chance to show his stuff.  His one playoff appearance was in a
lost cause of a game.  So if Tommy goes down, I really can't condemn Wregget
at this time and say he can't handle it. Because I really don't know.  

>Barrasso was given much of the credit for winning both Cups (and in his
>heart he must know *he* was the MVP last year).  He's got a nice contract
>and things look otherwise ok.  I look for him to have a very strong
>season (and I'm not the optimistic type when it comes to him).  I guess
>a caveat in this prediction is how many more defensive forwards the Pens
>will lose.

As I said in a previous post, Barrasso proved he can play in the playoffs. 
And if his contract were based solely on playoff performance, he would 
justify receiving 5.2 over 3 years. (That point is now moot, considering the
latest contract information.)  But Barrasso's inconsistency in the regular
season made me wonder.  Granted, it all isn't his fault.  But there are games
when you kind of wonder what Tommy's thinking about out there, because it
sure isn't the game.

Lori