You make it sound as though he's some veteran goalie that's entitled to a bajillion dollar a year contract. His NHL debut was two years ago, and even then he only was between the pipes for three games. And this past year, he was the backup until Huet could let beach balls past him, about half way through the year. So, for all intensive purposes, he hasn't been a starting goalie for an entire season. I just don't think it's fair to say that Niemi, who has only been with the team for less than two years, and active for less than a quarter of that, should file for arbitration. It honestly does seem a little greedy.
Do I think Niemi deserved more money? Sure, I do. If it were up to me, I'd pay him the 3 million, or whatever it was, and keep him around. It would be completely unfair not to, after standing on his head in the playoffs. But unfortunately, the salary cap bit us in the ass and in order to keep Niemi, we're have to drop more players to make for cap space.
Would I have done the same thing? Probably. I'd go where the fat pay check is, and that's a sad reality, frankly.
But the bottom line is that he came through for the Hawks, and we're all happy and thankful for it. It just sucks to see him go.
