Nostalgia and Bobby Holik

With Bobby Holik announcing his retirement it got me reflecting back on what it used to mean to be a Leafs fan earlier this century:

It was the summer of 2002 and I remember driving to an ultimate game well north of the city, listening to Prime Time Sports and being bummed out – and a little shell shocked – upon learning that noted Leafs-killer Bobby Holik had spurned Toronto’s advances and had signed with the Rangers for 5 years and $45 million. I believe the Leafs had refused to go above $42 million. Fans were apoplectic that the bean counters at the OTPP wouldn’t cough up a few million more to sign that year’s plum free agent.

In the first year of his big contract Holik played 64 games, notching 16 goals and 19 assists. During what would have been the 5 year term of that deal  he scored 35, 56, 33, 29 and 34 points. However, he was actually bought out by the Rangers after the lockout, so he didn't actually play 5 seasons under the terms of that monster contract. This isn’t entirely fair to Holik as he was never about the numbers, and had only scored 54 points (G: 25, A: 29) in the season leading up to his UFA summer, but it does go to show the UFA insanity pre-lockout.

Holik’s career stats can be found here: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=2332.