Kubina on leaving the Lightning and being with the Flyers

NHL.com had a great post on Pavel Kubina leaving the Lightning and how it was an emotional departure for the vereran on his second stint with the Lightning.

Here is an exeprt from the article:

"Steve (Yzerman) brought me to the office a couple of days ago and asked me for a list of five teams," Kubina said. "He said, 'We would like to move you,' and after that he sent me home."

Kubina never supplied the list, but the trade came about quickly anyway.

"I was just sitting home, waiting for what was going to happen. I could have come up with a list of five teams but I didn't do it," Kubina said.  "I could have waited another seven days to do that, but when I spoke to Steve (Yzerman) about Philly, I thought it was the right thing to do.

"He told me there was a great offer coming from Philadelphia and after that I thought about it: it's a great team, a mix of young players and stars and obviously players like [Flyers forward Jaromir] Jagr, and it's a very good team. I thought about it and talked to my family. I love playing hockey and it's another chance for me to go and play for a great team and a Stanley Cup contender and be in the playoffs again."

He was very honest in saying that he thought the "Lightning are getting a lot for me". "I'm 34 years old and they got a second and a fourth round pick, so that's a lot for me." (NHL.com) For that honesty and his hard work with the team, I wish only the best of luck for him. He was a gamer and played a physical style that I think has gotten overlooked during the past two seasons. We've talked a lot about Hedman's improvement and Brewer's impact, but a lot can be said for Kubina coming bac to sign with the team he get drafted by.

He didn't mince words when talking about talking about coming back or his exit out, and I feel like there is a mix of anger and dissappointment when he says this about how he saw his career ending:

"To be honest, when I signed to come back here (in 2010) I had better offers from other teams; more years and for more money, and I took this deal because this team belongs to my heart and I spent so many great times here. I was drafted by Phil Esposito (seventh round in 1996), then we struggled so much for a few years -- I had a chance to grow up in the NHL and play here for around 700 games. I grew up as a player and then we won the Stanley Cup and I made so many good friends here, so many friends for life. I met so many good people, it's hard to leave and like I said, this team will always belong to my heart.

"I always thought this team, even when we were out of the playoffs by eight or ten points, I still hoped that we would make the playoffs. This is a great group of guys and we proved it last year; this year was pretty much the same team. We struggled this year, but this team is still fighting for a playoff spot and now they are only six points out and they have a great shot at it, so I was a little disappointed that Steve lost the patience and the hope for us."

If he does well in Philly, we may still see Kubina in the future, though in a Flyers jersey. Today in the Philly blog Broad Street Bull, he says “If I play well for this team and they want me, I don’t want to go anywhere and test the water,” he said. “That is the way I am and hopefully it will go that way.”