Max Talbot's Fan-Friendly Departure

Anyone who says #3 well.. I’ll be nice and not call them dirty names ;)

Talbot was a grinder and sometimes pest, with class. Great guy and lockeroom guy who will always be remembered for the SHHH moment and those 2 wonderful goals.

ditto.

I’ve met Max. Max is a funny guy, and really nice to the fans. He’ll always have my support and respect.

His first call was to longtime friend Sidney Crosby.

“One of toughest phone calls I’ve ever had to make,” Talbot said. “Eventually he said, ‘Yeah, it makes sense for you to go’ … but he didn’t tell me to go to Philly.”

Read more: Talbot hopes Pens fans remember him fondly – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_745080.html#ixzz1R3stPvy6

I loved Max as a Penguin. I really, truly did. I remember making comments when he was a rookie that he looked like a guy who, if you cut off his arms and legs, would try to block a shot with his face. Just loved his style of play.

But he’s a Flyer now. That’s O.K. on a certain level, but on the level of a Penguins fan, it’s a big no-no. These are your rivals, your most loathed, hated, historical rivals.

Sure, the Devils trap and Washington’s nouveau riche, but the Flyers have been diametrically opposed to the essence of what is Pittsburgh Penguins hockey for as long as I can remember.

Max Talbot, of anyone, should know this well. He’s been in the fights, been booed mercilessly, shushed the crowd.

These things endeared him to Penguins fans not only because they showed he had nails in his blood, but because he did them against the Flyers. He’s seen how Pittsburgh fans feel about the Flyers and he should know very well how he will gradually be received as the years go by on his deal.

That isn’t to say he shouldn’t have taken the deal or he betrayed Penguins fans or anything like that… but he is the rival now, maybe he’ll get a pleasant welcome on his return home.

But it won’t last. He’ll grind a little too hard, or he’ll do something that really gets under a Pens fan/player’s skin the way he did against the Islanders last year. Either way, Max will not be beloved or missed while he’s in a Flyers jersey.

As a detached person, I’d like to wish Max the best in his future endeavors. As a fan, I hope for nothing but pain, agony and sadness while he’s draped in orange.

Max was honest. And his love and respect for penguins fans clearly shows in the interview. Thats the difference between him and Jagr. Hell, even when Jagr was in town he never really engaged himself with the community. and thats why I wish Max a 30 pt season except when he plays the Pens.

As usual Frank, good job.
-——————————————————-

Max wasn’t, isn’t and probably won’t be a 20-goal scorer at any point in his career. He wasn’t a hard hitter, a set-up man or even a cog in the wheel. He was an energy guy. A scrappy guy. A “put your life on the line to stop a shot even if it’s not a playoff game” sort of guy.

Anotherwords he’s a dime a dozen. Enjoy the money traitor.
Sorry Frank had to do it one last time. ;)

Great job Frank. I say good luck to Max(except against us).I’m happy for him that he got a big check from a GM who doesn’t know what he is doing. Thanks for the memories, and all the charity work you did in Pigh.

Good luck, Max.
Awesome memories.

Plus, glad to see you get (over)paid.
Its great to see “energy” guys cash in.

Option #1 & the 2nd part of #2. Hope he scores the consolation in a 6-1 drubbing on his return, after, of course, #44 catches J@$r with his head down and levels him!

Nice piece Frank. I feel the same, sad to watch Talbot go even though we all knew it was inevitable.

I do echo some of Stephen Cat’s points from above- though it was nice Talbot went out a classy way, he did join the worst possible team, from this perspective. The same place that chants Crosby sucks and boo’s one of your closest friends? Gotta be tough.

Penguin fans, over time, will probably get over it, Talbot has a special lore in Penguin history that he’s unlikely to create in Philly. Talbot made a good business decision, but an upsetting one here. If he gets boo’ed in his return to Pittsburgh it won’t be worrisome to me.

Asshole.

GAME 7!

I’ve been trying to think of why Max’s signing with the Flyers feels so much worse than Rupp signing with the Rangers. Both were great team guys who seemed to really like it here. Both were offered contracts with the Penguins but left for a longer term.

Part of it’s obviously that Max signed with our most hated rival, that he will be in orange when their horrible fans are shouting Crosby sucks and mocking injured players and all of that. We certainly hate the Rangers, but it’s not as bad. But I think for me, the main reason it hurts is that Max always acted like he was loyal to Pittsburgh, like he cared about our rivalries, like he had a special bond with the city and the fans. Looking back, a lot of it was just attention whoring and self-promotion. But he worked to create that impression, so when he left it felt like a betrayal. Mike Rupp was always very complimentary about the organization, the city, and the fans, but he never pretended like he was a loyal, diehard Pittsburgh guy. So when he left for more money, fans basically said, “Yeah, I get that. Good luck man.”

It’s like Jagr saying his heart was in Pittsburgh then signing with Philly — it would have been so much less painful for Pens fans if he had been upfront about his priorities from the beginning.

but don’t lump him with Jagr.

hear! hear!

Personally, I look at this from the perspective of the players and not the fans. For the players, this is a job/career. Yes, they definitely understand rivals and the competitive nature of the game, but in the end it is about doing what is best for them. Talbot is a perfect example of this. He is a quality guy that found the best deal for him and took it. Unfortunately, for all Pens fans that was with the Flyers.

From the hockey perspective, I am no longer a Talbot fan. From the human perspective, I wish him happiness and the best of luck.

I’m still feeling pretty burned.

I mean, Max Talbot’s a pretty integral part of our 2009 championship story. Between the 2 goals he scored in Game 7 & the Shh! that he sent the Flyers fans, he made himself a hero for us. Going to the Flyers will forever be a blemish on that record.

Between the classless gorillas that jeer our captain, the fact that Jagr signed just mere hours before Max did, even if Philly overpaid, it’ll be extremely difficult to forgive him. I would be okay with ANY team signing him, even the Capitals or the Bruins. But the team that had been & forever will be our Arch-Rival?

Fare thee well, Max. Thanks for the memories. Flower was right, Max is a douche. Aruetyc scum.

Since it’ll come up sooner or later, on behalf of all Flyers fans, I’d like to just take the egg to the face for the Talbot contract screw up and just get it over with. ::Stands at Wall of Shame:: Go ahead, hit me.

….as Max, I would have gone out west to play, so as not to hurt those I cared about or go to a bitter, hated rival such as Filthy-delphia (HELL, those fans boo their own moms if the eggs are cooked wrong)!!! But many athletes (Hossa) are mercenaries and will trade sides if the money is right, no matter who they screw!!! I did cheer for Recchi to win the cup against Thelma and Louise (aka the Sedins), but this move is going too far!! Oh, thanks for helping us win the cup, Max, but as a wayward son, you are now dead to us Pen fans…enjoy the money, but wait until after game 82 to spend it!!! Here’s hoping you have tons of time on your hands!!!!

Hockey is life…the rest is details

Jukeboxhero1951

1) I don’t really hate to see him go, he’s not irreplaceable and with the money he got…better the Flyers than us.

2) Thanks for the memories, but no good luck from me. You’re a Flyer now.

3) He’s not a traitor, this is probably the 1 chance in his life to get a bigger contract…even if the Flyers are idiots for giving him that much. I can’t blame him for taking that $

Max will forever have a special place in my Penguin memories, and not just for the 2 goals in game 7. But he’s not Sid or Geno. That would be a kick in the nuts to lose either of them.

I feel like this is some kind of karma for me as I defended Johnny Damon signing with the Yankees after his contract with the Red Sox was up. Once in you’re in that position, though, it hurts. It’s like a breakup that way: it can have a million good reasons for happening (or 9 million), but that doesn’t make it easier or sting less.

A Rangers fan once told me Talbot was the dirtiest player on the Penguins because he uses his stick more than he should. That basically told me that at some point, I will hate Talbot for the stuff he does against the Penguins. Once his career is over, though, I’ll be able to remember Talbot for the reasons I loved having him on the Pens in the first place: his big heart, his work ethic, and Game 7.

Word on the street is that Talbot’s deal with Philadelphia may be called back by the NHL for violating the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. You can read the blog post about it here on Puck Daddy. The Flyers front office are expected to restructure the deal to make it more palatable under the rules established last year after the whole Ilya Kovalchuk thing. It’ll be interesting to see what changes.

A Problem with Max’s Contract?

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=370862