Former player James Wisniewski blames Hockey Hall of Famer for ending his NHL career
During a recent appearance on the 'Cam & Strick Podcast', 11-year NHL veteran James Wisniewski discussed a number of topics, but took aim at the Carolina Hurricanes and their former General Manager Ron Francis.
Wisniewski said that Francis ended his career in the National Hockey League, by not allowing him to return at the end of the 2015-16 season after suffering a torn ACL. He added that Francis told him to sit out and not risk it, but just a couple months later, the Hurricanes decided to buy out the remaining year on his contract.
"I got bought out by Carolina and I was healthy enough to play the final five-to-eight games and they're like, 'oh, no no, why press it? Don't press it, just wait until next year, save it.' The reason I'm telling you this is because then I'm like, 'okay' and I kept doing my thing, training and skating by myself and whatever and then sure enough at the draft, I get a call from Ron Francis that they're going to buy my contract out." Wisniewski said.
He added, "And I'm like, 'You motherfucker', because the difference between buying my contract out if I played the last five games of the season, even if I look like shit, at least it shows that I'm healthy enough to play a game. Because then If I don't play those last five games and get bought out, other teams are like 'hmm, he's had four (ACL tears), I don't know if I want to take a chance. If I would have played one game, I guarantee if I was bought out, I would have signed a contract no matter what, instead of getting a tryout."
He added, "And I'm like, 'You motherfucker', because the difference between buying my contract out if I played the last five games of the season, even if I look like shit, at least it shows that I'm healthy enough to play a game. Because then If I don't play those last five games and get bought out, other teams are like 'hmm, he's had four (ACL tears), I don't know if I want to take a chance. If I would have played one game, I guarantee if I was bought out, I would have signed a contract no matter what, instead of getting a tryout."
Later that summer, Wisniewski signed a professional tryout contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but was released just before the start of the 2016-17 season. He went on to split that season between the Chicago Wolves in the AHL and the Vladivostok Admiral in the KHL. He returned to Europe for the following season as well, playing with the Kassel Huskies in DEL-2, which gave him the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 13 | 319 ANSWERS Former player James Wisniewski blames Hockey Hall of Famer for ending his NHL career Was Ron Francis wrong? | ||
| Yes | 151 | 47.3 % |
| No | 77 | 24.1 % |
| He was at the end of his career anyway | 91 | 28.5 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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