Vagrant
The Czech Condor
The thing is that evaluations of players need to be relative to each other inside the same confines, because by and large they're facing the same individual challenges. It's ridiculously hard for one player to stand alone and look worth their money when they're surrounded by people that aren't getting results either. The fact that Eric and Semin have been saddled by Tlusty's lack of scoring and scoring woes of their own means they have to be evaluated as a unit. A unit that, right now, isn't functioning properly. What I took to mean by "Exhibit A" as mentioned by Luke was that it was another way of saying "Primary Example of an overpaid player", or perhaps "Best example of a player not earning his money", which to me was erroneous and typical to the rhetoric that has followed Semin through his career. There's no future in smearing Eric Staal in the press and these guys know where they eat. We've made Eric Staal one of the most well-compensated and well-connected players in the hockey world and one that if you're going to work in North Carolina hockey, you'd better at least play nice with. No such risk exists with Semin because he's neither well-connected nor well-liked, thus an easy target to pin your disappointment upon. He paid for Ovechkin's likability in Washington and he's paying for Eric's here. It's like being mad at your wife and kicking your dog. The frustration needs to come out, but even in your anger you know you'd better not lash out in the wrong way.
